#how long does it take nathaniel to develop that photo

[heckblade]

to this very day I wish I had the money to commission an artist to draw the picture that nathaniel took of the circle of needle & thread on the elevator down into the fourth pharos

marion’s little thumbs up. the grin on sean’s face as they descend slowly towards the inevitable. god.

[agentofscifi]

Success is the Best Kind of Revenge Ch. 3

Heels click onto the floor of my office as Chloe pushes open my doors. My hands were currently holding up the train of a dress hung on Juleka. Alix follows after Chloe, tinkering with some kind of camera in her hand. Over the years, as we all graduated from University and done pretty well for ourselves.  

Juleka ended up changing her major in school after three semesters. Instead of going into performing arts for instruments, she went and got a composition degree. Juleka wrote music for a variety of artists and was one of the most sought-after songwriters. When she wasn’t doing all of that, she was modeling for my company. Juleka did a variety of photoshoots for several companies, mine included throughout her University Years. After I opened up my first few stores, we signed a formal contract. She’d been working for me for almost a decade. She split her time between Paris and Nashville in America. 

Alix decides to focus on a degree in art history. She worked at an Auction House company in Paris, moving between the various countries of Europe to authenticate pieces of art and then handle their sales. She was rather successful at her work, earning many bonuses for rather extremely successful sales. Alix’s unique style and comfortable professionalism made her easily approachable to buyings. She was rather blunt, and it did her well in her job. On her off-hours, Alix did some minor modeling and promoting much of my athletic pieces. Alix’s popularity grew as she competed in several X-Games in and after university. She won several titles in skateboarding, BMX freestyling, rollerskating, and snowboarding before retiring after a slip-up when snowboarding. She shattered her kneecap, broke a leg, her collarbone, and dislocated her arm in two places. She still did BMX biking, skateboarding, rollerblading, and snowboarding, just not in a professional capacity. That being said, little kids still asked for her autographs all the time.  

Chloe graduated from the London Business School with Honors and then proceeded to attend the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York to get a Graduate Degree in Global Fashion Management. She modeled some of my designs, worked connections, handled all my brand’s social media accounts, and finalized contracts. Now, she had several people working underneath her, to handle the day-to-day operations. Either way, Chloe handled all of the Brand’s business dealings and flourishes.  

As for me, I attend the London College of Fashion. I got a Bachelor’s Degree in Fashion Design and Development with honors. After those years, I went to Milan to attend Istituto Marangoni International for a Master’s Degree in Luxury Accessories Design & Management. After that, I relocated back to Paris. My first boutique opened up quickly after that along with a small factory with a loan from a bank. I ended up having to open a second factory within three months due to demands. More boutiques opened up worldwide as the Brand became a household name.  

“Hello Chloe, how is everything?”  

“We got invitations to a reunion for Lycée. Alya sent them, as she was the class representative when we all graduated. Personally, I think she wants to get her hands on you or Juleka for an interview. You know her journalism career is in the gutter.”  

Alix snorts. “And who’s fault is that?” 

Chloe rolls her eyes. “Her’s. The idiot ruined her blog when she was a teenager and she never changed. She still does idiotic and frankly dangerous things to get a scoop. Sure, she does some basic research now, but the girl’s been detained several times for endangering people and disrupting the peace. No University would touch her, and no place will hire her.”  

Alix looks up from the camera. “So, you didn’t inform everyone in the fashion journalism world about her history, knowing it would spread to all major news and journalism networks.  

Chloe raises an eyebrow. “Look, this company’s image is important. I was not going to let Miss Blogger ruin it for 15 minutes of fame. She dug her own grave.”  

I sigh. “This is great and all, but are you all going?”  

There’s a snort right behind me. “Not on any of our lives. We will not be sinking that low.”  

“Chloe!” Juleka’s face is red and slightly scandalized.  

“What? Why would we go to this reunion? To see how everyone is doing? It’s rather simple. Alya’s a tabloid writer. Nino is a barely successful DJ who works at a music store to help pay his bills. Max is an IT guy at a company. That fake research paper haunts him to this day. Kim works at a gym. The drugs screwed his athletic chances over and he never planned for anything beyond going to the Olympics. Nathaniel works at an art store and does nighttime classes. He’s unsuccessfully worked with 7 different writers for his comics after leaving Marc.   

Now, Myléne and Ivan are happy, at least. Myléne works as a secretary and Ivan as a grocery store manager. Both are part-time so one of them can stay home with their kids at a time. They have millions of photos of their family on their Instagram accounts. Neither one can do much with charities. The fraud they committed was spread around the charity communities fast.  

Rose, Adrien, and Sabrina are the only ones who did what they wanted to do. Rose had a few years of fame with her music before getting married and settling down as a youth music teacher. Adrien moved to America and works for a University. However, I know for a fact that he will not be returning to Paris for anything less than a funeral or a wedding. As for Sabrina, after some therapy, ended up as a Detective in Marseille.”  

“Didn’t you pay for her therapy?” I tie off my last stitch and let the train fall to the platform.  

Chloe purses her lips. “I owed her that much. I screwed her childhood up, majorly.”  

“Did you stalk everyone to find out all of this?” Alix has a mischievous look.  

Another eye roll from Chloe. “I didn’t need to. In this day and age, all you need to do is type their name into the internet and all of their social media pops up.”  

I hum. “What about Lila?”  

“She’s still in prison. Tried another appeal a little while ago, to no avail. Her long list of offenses and the “assisting a terrorist” change isn’t something any judge would want to touch, even with a 10 ft pole.”  

Juleka simply shrugs. “Back to the point at hand. I’m not going to this reunion. Rose is the only one I wanted to keep in contact with, and she’s not going. It’s her five-year anniversary with her husband. She’s going to Spain that week.”  

Alix shugs. “I’m not going either. Kim has tried to contact me so many times to help him get back into the sports world. I am not giving him another chance. Besides, there’s this huge auction going on in Russia for that week. I am not missing that for a few hours with our childhood classmates.”  

I look at Chloe. She raises a perfect eyebrow. “Not a chance and you are not going either. Heavens forbid Alya posts something on that new blog of hers.”  

I set my needle and thread down on a work table and gesture to Juleka to get changed. “I’m not going if none of you are. Besides, there’s this fashion show in Milan that weekend. It’s for freshly graduated designers to show off their talents to possible employers. I was planning to go to find some who would specialize in Fashion Contour. I’ve been doing quite a bit of work in that field and want to get a fresh pair of eyes that will eventually take over that area of our brand. I was also hoping to look for someone to start a Make-up department. One of your people mentioned the idea at a meeting.”  

Chloe nods and starts to type into her phone. “I’ll tell my assistant to look through the applications we have to see if anyone fulfills the requirements for that job. Just find that new department head.”  

I give Chloe a nod as Juleka hands me the dress from before. A custom-made wedding dress for a woman who happened to be Juleka’s exact size. One of the many I had made of the years since I’d started my fashion business.   

Some part of me wanted to thank Lila. If I was honest with myself, I wouldn’t be where I was if she hadn’t arrived at my class and taken everyone’s loyalty. They weren’t bad people, but thanks to Ms. Bustier, they were a drain on my energy and abilities. Now, however, I was one of the most well-known and successful fashion designers with over two dozen people for me in Design. I could not be happier. 

Ch. 1 ~~~~~ Ch. 2

[mcheang]

The girl squad overhear Adrien and Marinette talking/arguing about Lila; they learn that Adrien knew Lila was lying and told Marinette to take the high road. When Adrien again says that the lies aren't hurting anyone, the girls confront him and explain just how the lies could hurt them. They also learn about Lila harassing Adrien and threatening Marinette. Bonus: Chloe redemption and having her care about Adrien as a friend.

Friends stand up for each other

Post Ikari Gozen. This is a draft.

While bonding with each other, Kagami and Marinette relate about their familial akumatizations. Marinette told about Weredad, Befana and Bakerix. Kagami talked about her mother and her own experiences.

Marinette: did I mention I’m sorry.

Kagami: do not be upset. You were nervous. Besides, you didn’t mean to, unlike that Lila girl.

Marinette: you know Lila?

Kagami: not exactly. I was busy practising one afternoon, then all of a sudden a random number sends me a picture of a stranger kissing Adrien.

Marinette startled. “Wait, if you never met Lila, how did she get your number?”

Kagami: Adrien thinks she must have copied off his contacts list.

Marinette: that is so wrong

Kagami: indeed

Marinette: lying is one thing, but this is downright harassment and invasion of privacy.

Kagami: lying?

Marinette: Lila likes to make herself sound grander than she really is. Apparently she’s Ladybug’s best friend.

Having met Ladybug, Kagami raised her brows skeptically. “With how Ladybug values her privacy, I’m surprised anyone believes that claim.”

Marinette sighed. “My friend Alya runs the Ladyblog. She gets very excited over any rumor about Ladybug.”

Kagami: like thinking Chloé was Ladybug despite being saved by her from Stoneheart?

Marinette: it is so nice to finally meet someone who does their research.

Kagami: I developed an interest after my own akumatization. But back to this liar, why haven’t you exposed her?

Marinette: I tried to. But she puts on this sweet front and people think I’m just jealous about Adrien.

Kagami: if they could see us now, they might change their minds.

Marinette: I doubt it. Things have gone too far. And the only other witness who believes me is Adrien, and he wants to take the high road and let Lila’s lies crumble on their own.

Kagami frowned. “He told me as much when I asked him what he was going to do about her.”

Marinette: be honest with me, do you wish we didn’t have to take the high road.

Kagami: the question is, would we be taking it if it didn’t involve Adrien.

Marinette snorted. “Alya would scramble to bring the truth to light asap. Rose would want to warn everyone so nobody gets their hopes crushed. And Alix already has her brother coming up with fantastical ideas, she doesn’t need someone else to do it in school too.”

Kagami: then we have our answer.

Marinette stopped. Kagami followed suit.

Marinette: we do, don’t we.

Kagami: It’s a shame that, based on what you’ve said, people would say we’re jealous.

Marinette: so how do we prove we’re not?

Kagami: I need a chance to improve my planning skills (especially since she ruined Ladybug’s first plan) and this is an excellent way to bond.

Marinette grinned.

The next day, the girls in class were astonished to see Marinette and Adrien arguing in the distance.

Lila hasn’t arrived yet. (Tikki may have locked her in her bedroom.)

Curious, Alya led the group to spy on their endgame. They were just around the corner, out of sight, but able to hear everything.

“...too long and her influence is only growing stronger.”

“She’s done nothing serious yet.”

“Are we supposed to wait until something bad really happens before Lila’s exposed?“ This again? The girls barely hid their groans. On a side note, how did Marinette convince Adrien to join her team?

“We’ll stop her before she goes too far,” Adrien assured Marinette.

“Really? Like how you stopped her from taking Kagami’s phone number? Lila’s already convinced Mylene to let her join in on her fundraiser. What if she steals the funds?”

“Relax. Lila’s not going to do anything that daring. She’ll probably just flake as usual.” Wow. Adrien really thinks bad of Lila now. What did Marinette say to him?

“Adrien, we’re talking about a girl who loves to get what she wants. Do you honestly think Lila will be satisfied with a simple no show. She’ll insist she handle the funds to make up for her absence.”

“We don’t have any proof she’s a thief. Ok, she’s a liar. But who doesn’t lie?”

“Adrien…I saw her steal your dad’s book.”

“What?!” Adrien’s outcry expressed what the girls were thinking.

“How do you think I know she’s a liar. I saw Ladybug confront her right after I saw her dump a book in the bin.“

Pause.

“Do you honestly think she won’t stoop so low as to steal Mylene’s funds if she didn’t even care that you were under house arrest?”

Silence before Adrien struggled to say, “She didn’t mean for me to get pulled out of school.”

“Oh come on!” This time the outburst came from Alix, one of the first to recover.

Adrien and Marinette turned around. Adrien paled. “Were you girls eavesdropping?”

Alya glared at him, “Why so upset? It’s not like we’re hurting anybody.”

Adrien cringed from the mocking tone.

Rose looked tearfully at Marinette. “All this time, you were trying to protect us, weren’t you? And we only accused you of being jealous.”

“You’ve finally seen the light. Hallelujah!”

Adrien: you girls aren’t going to tell anybody else, right?

They stared at him in disbelief. “Of course we are. Duh.”

“But then Lila won’t have any friends in our class!”

Alya scoffed. “Like I’m letting Nino listen to anymore of her garbage.”

Mylene nodded furiously. “Ivan and I trusted her!”

Alix: I have to tell Nathaniel. It’s what friends do. Oh, and Kim, too I suppose.

Rose: And Kim will tell Max, who will tell Markov.

Juleka: That leaves Chloe and Sabrina…but they don’t like anyone else but you, Adrien.

Adrien stammered. “It’s mean of you to do that.”

Alix laughed. “Oh, we’re mean? How about you? Did you care to tell Alya her blog credibility is being ruined?”

Mylene: Did you think to warn us that Lila might always be absent at our volunteer parties.

Marinette: Did you consider Kagami’s feelings when you told her you would do nothing to scold Lila for upsetting her.

Adrien looked down, unable to find an answer.

A sharp voice barked out. “Get back, you peasants!”

Chloe had arrived. “Need I remind you Adrikins is still new to having more than one friend. His only real teachers are cartoons with their happily ever afters. While I don’t really care if Lila steals and brags about falsehoods, I care if she does that to you, Adrikins. Dupain-Cheng told me about the photo and asked me to talk sense into you!”

Chloe was plan B. Marinette had asked Kagami to share the photo. Chloe was outraged. She saw that it was a forced kiss, and learned from Kagami how Lila was basically a snoop.

Adrien: Chloe, what do you mean exactly?

Chloe: I don’t care about exposing that liar…much…let’s wait for a slow day before we bring out the popcorn. What I care is that she’s sexually harassing you. i see her constantly moving into your personal space as you lean back. i saw her force that kiss on you so can have a souvenir you never agreed to. Now I hear she’s been snooping around your room, instead of actually studying. Adrikins, I love you, I know what our parents can be like, but that doesn’t mean you should let everybody walk all over you like that.

The girls pause as they take in what Chloe has been saying. Lila has been sexually harassing Adrien.

Adrien croaked out, “What should I do?” He wasn’t asking Chloe. He was asking everybody.

Marinette softened. “If you can’t say no yet, then ask for help. Tell Nino and the guys how Lila’s been bothering you. They’re your friends. If you can’t tell any of us your troubles, then who? Friends are here for each other, no matter what.”

Adrien nodded slowly. While he didn’t like being a tattletale, he also admitted he wanted Lila as far from him as possible. And if Lila was wrong, then he should tattle then? Right?

Alya: as for exposing Lila…

Chloe: we are not doing any exposing until we get a slow day.

Alix: When is a school day not a slow day?

Sabrina: When we learn to expect an akuma at least once a week.

Alya: There was an akuma 4 days ago.

Juleka: There should be one soon, then.

Mylene: How about 2 days after the next akuma attack? That gives us enough time to research, time for the akuma excitement to die down, and time before the next akuma shows up.

Chloe scowled: fine.

Alya: I’ll get right on it!

After that, Lila was irritated that whenever she tried to approach Adrien, someone would block her path, asking for help or stories or whatever. And Mylene had kicked her out of her charity after deciding that Lila was so busy, she didn’t want to interfere with her work with Ali. Ugh. Maybe Lila could convince Mylene to let her handle the cheques later. And the girls didn’t seem to want to hang out with her anymore. Before they always invited her out, but now they claim they’ve accepted her busy schedule. When Lila claimed to be free, someone asked her to help them with some chore.

After the debut of Monsieur Rat, Lila was called to the Principal’s Office. When she came back, she was accompanied by Mrs Rossi and Damocles.

Damocles: Class, I believe Miss Rossi here has something she would like to say.

Lila gritted her teeth as she forced out the words: “Ladybug is not my Best Friend. I don’t know Prince Ali. Jagged never had a kitten….”

The list went on, so many were her lies. While Ms Bustier gasped in betrayal, the girls were secretly munching on candy. Except for Chloe who was openly savouring her honeyed popcorn. Lila glared at her, suspicious of her involvement. Damocles coughed but said nothing. The boys were shocked and angry. It was one thing to unknowingly sexually harass Adrien, it was another to take advantage of their trust.

Mrs Rossi: As of now, my daughter will be heading to a convent school. The nuns there are known for being alert to their students’ activities, and are used to liars. It will also be far enough away that Hawkmoth can’t akumatize my daughter, who apparently thinks I would not be interested to know she has been akumatized who knows how many times!”

Lila: I told you it was only 2 times!

Mrs Rossi: akumas are newsworthy information! (Ok, how she missed out on the heroes defeating the villains is beyond me. For a diplomat, she is ridiculously oblivious about Paris.)

Alya: then who cast that illusion of Ladybug on Heroes Day? Lila was certainly around to be akumatized.

Lila gaped at Alya, who showed no surprise at her exposure. was she behind this?

Chloe gave a wave. “Bye bye, Lie-la”

After this, the girls were insistent Adrien learn to expose any wrongdoings or he is only enabling the bully. Chloé was more of the opinion he should learn to stand up to his father. Nino was on Chloé’s side for once.

[seungnoir]

My Current top 10 favorite Miraculous Ladybug Episodes and why (+analysis)

1. timetagger - the amount of possibilities this brings to the plot and insight is so fun. also, it’s one of the few things of writing and planning i appreciate in this series because it was hinted in the very beginning of s1 that alix’s watch was a miraculous, but now we get to see that connection. Seeing things that were hinted long ago end up having substance makes it more interesting. Also, I do thoroughly Alix as a character and loved to see her and see that she will have a bigger role in the future. This episode alone leads to so many theories and things that can be analyzed and makes it so fun - such as the idea that there is someone (besides master fu) that knows about their identities, and even further, about what happens in the future. The idea of a new hawk moth also comes to play. The akumatized villain from the future proves that there is a hawk moth in the future, but that it isn’t gabriel agreste. This brings into question of what happened to Gabriel and the current Hawk Moth? How did someone else of ill-intention end up the miraculous after hawk moth? Who is this new Hawk Moth? This brings so many theories and possibilities to where the show is heading. We also see chat noir and ladybug do still exist in the future as adults. We can only wonder and theorize about how theyve developed between present and future, though. Another small detail at the end that was interesting is i’m pretty sure chat broke the fourth wall?? At the end of the episode, chat is talking to ladybug and about what alix said about the future as they walk away, and started saying “maybe in the future you might even agree to see a movie with me. Hey, what if it was in the very near future? Like, the next show...”

2. sandboy - there are many reasons i enjoy this episode. first, i love the kwamis and i love learning more about them and having some focus on them. We learned more about background and history of the kwamis as well as see more than we had before. In addition, I think it brought good development to character, particularly for adrien/chat noir. Marinette’s and ladybug’s biggest nightmares weren’t too much of a surprise, and neither was adrien and chat noir’s when you think about it but foes bring more insight to him as a character and helps set up ideas for his character and things later. As adrien, his biggest nightmare was being trapped and cornered, obviously a result of how he’s treated by his father. While adrien tends to always seem chill and nice around people and like everything’s always fine, it shows there’s more we don’t see. Then, as chat noir, his biggest nightmare was that ladybug hated him. It was important to show how much chat noir really cares about his relationship with her, and not just romantically. It shows us this not only as a watcher, but so that ladybug sees too. This sets up well for the ny special, where ladybug gets upset with chat and says she can’t trust him. While not exactly like his nightmare where she despises him, it is parallel to his literal biggest nightmare and shows why he reacted the way he did and shows just how much ladybug saying that would affect him. I also very thoroughly enjoy the moment where adrien sees the sock plagg left when he sneaked out and he went “Plagg! who turned you into a sock!” i think i find it funnier than i should. 

3. heroes day p2 - not to be a ladynoir stan but that’s a big reason i enjoy this episode. When the other heroes they recruited fall, Ladybug gets worried and begins to lose hope. This isn’t very common for her, but it shows she’s not some perfect hero, she has times where she has doubts. However, chat noir was right there for her. He was able to encourage her and get her back into the spirit. I think this is important to show their relationship without thinking about it in a romantic way. It shows chat noirs full trust in ladybug, and how even if ladybug doesn’t always express it, it shows how she does appreciate and trust chat noir and that he is able to help her when she’s down, it’s a balance. Also, when chat noir is encouraging ladybug, one thing he says “let’s go back to what always worked - you and me against the world, m’lady.” In my eyes, this reinforces the “soulmate” idea and the importance of the two. Don’t get me wrong, I love the other heroes and miraculouses being used, and maybe its just me, but I think it’s important that despite the other heroes being helpful, chat noir and ladybug are the core, and that reinforces that. Also I honestly love that adrien was detransformed at the time of saying that line. In addition to ladynoir, there’s the plot and villain progression of hawk moth and nathalie, which sparks the plot to really start picking up after this event. 

4. reverser - I love marc a lot, i relate to his character a lot so i enjoyed having him and I wish we had more outside of this episode. There are also other fun characters we get to see that we don’t see as much (Alex and nathaniel). I also like the akumartizaion set up, i think it’s a very realistic situation in which misunderstanding takes over and there’s no specific person to blame, and i appreciate the demonstration of that. Not to be a chat noir stan, but him being a “scaredy cat” after getting hit by the reverser was so cute and funny and i enjoyed that. Again, back to the other characters, as i mentioned before i like alix a lot. i enjoyed her mocking chloe in the episode and then not caring when the teacher tried to say she should be nice. and then i liked the moment she scared chat noir. and then i enjoyed seeing her role in helping the duo in defeating reverser. also, there was a moment on the beginning of the episode where adrien teased marinette and any moment where adriens chat noir side comes out is my favorite. in conclusion, i love seeing the characters we see in this episode and chat noir was cute. 

5. puppeteer 2 - as much as the wax statue scene gives me the worst second hand embarrassment of my entire life, the episode gave us a clearer insight to adriens perspective on his relation with marinette, which i enjoyed, and made me like him as a character even more. while i love a good “she’s just a friend” joke, it is confirmed in this episode he’s genuinely oblivious - which he shouldn’t be perceived as dumb for. social cues are harder for some people and can cause problems but it’s not smth people can help, we also have to remember he has very limited experience with people. anyway, it gives us that insight and i believe it’s important. he even expressed acknowledgment of how he doesn’t pick these things up sometimes. so he interpreted marinettes reaction wrong, and he believed marinette even didn’t like him. it distressed him so much to think that was the case. this was the insight we needed to see how adrien perceives their relationship and how much it really developed. even if he doesn’t have a crush on her, it introduces the idea that he still genuinely cares about her and having a relationship with her - parallel to us seeing ladybug see that with chat, which i believe is very important for the development of lovesquare and the plot. not to mention the frusturation of dramatic irony at the end when adrien, seemingly for the first time we’ve seen him as adrien, mention to someone else how he DOES love someone. while painful for marinette, i do think it’s interested because i don’t even think he’s mentioned the fact he loves someone to nino, showing how he still considers marinette as someone he can be close too. 

6. ikari gozen - I love Kagami and I appreciated this kind of redemption arc. I wasn’t sure how I felt about her at first, but after this episode she’s one of the most relatable characters, personally. In turn, it also helps Marinette learn a good lesson. So yeah, the main reason i enjoy this episode is Kagami’s character development and her character. Ryuko is also so cool.

7. kwamibuster - i mentioned this before but i love the kwamis a lot and i love getting to see them in episodes. in this episode we got to see not only interactions between plagg and tikki, but get a chance to meet other kwamis and see their miraculous jewelry and some of their abilities. we also see that marinette and adrien are not incapable of connecting dots, realizing both plagg and tikki were in the same school. however, plagg and tikki try to reason them out of it and they both did things to throw the other of their track, so they didn’t keep their theories - but it does show they’re not Completely Oblivious. 

8. troublemaker - there’s a lot of small things and moments that make me appreciate this episode rather than one big thing. to start, i enjoy penny’s character a lot and this is one the few episodes we really get to see her and the only one where we get focus on her. in addition, she was a good villain and arguably the closest a villain got to taking ladybug’s miraculous, taking an earring. then theres marinettes adrien photo collection being exposed, and adriens facial expressions in reaction to it made me laugh. and then of course, the scene following the fight, adrien talks to marinette. one noticeable thing is that marinette didnt stutter as much as she had and got out full thoughts. good for her ! and it shows that she is slowly beginning to be more comfortable with him. then of course, adrien. he starts by asking if she was okay since the fight happened at her house (even though he was literally there and knows damn well marinette wasn’t even there, kinda anyway). and then, as i mentioned before, my favorite thing ever is adriens chat noir side coming out, which is exactly what happened. he teased marinette for the photos, both asking if she was lying and then the “even in the most unlikely places” line. the thing about this is that this is something we barely see happen with adrien as adrien, yet it happened with marinette, which shows he’s comfortable enough with her to do that. and then of course the sincere moment of him saying he’s glad she’s her fan, he’s just so sweet good for him i love him. 

9. origins - a classic. provides us background we needed on how things start and characters meant. there’s so much things to take from origins about their characters and the story in general. for one, marinette not even wanting to be ladybug. i feel this fit her character and was more realistic than if she accepted it right away. and then her being a bit of a mess the first time and not even capturing the akuma. i think that was important; to show ladybug and marinette are not perfect, but that’s what makes her a better and more relatable character. it wouldn’t be fun if she were perfect from the beginning. and then chat noir, who was a lot less reluctant. in contrast to marinette. he had been isolated his whole life and forced to try to fit a perfect mold. this gave him not only physical freedom he always desired but also the personal freedom to be able to be who he wanted. it of course also shows the balance of the two heroes. ladybug was nervous and had no hope at the beginning, but was able to get though with chat noirs encouragement - which is something that comes up every so often, but shows their balance and dynamic. and then of course . the umbrella scene. one of the most iconic moments, and also one thing i’ve noted is that we barely ever seeadrien laugh like he did in that scene, and it makes me treasure that moment more. and despite the whole “she’s just a friend” thing, it was important in that moment and you can see how important it is to him that he has a friend, and probably establishes the trust and appreciation for marinette we see as the show progresses as she was very important to him being kind of his first friend and that it holds a different kind of importance to him. 

10. glaciator - an iconic episode of course. while marichat is probably my least favorite in terms of love square ships, i think marichat moments are some of the best. i think it’s where the two are more showing themselves to each other than in any other way. chat gets to see truly marinette in which she isn’t a nervous mess and is actually acting like herself, and marinette gets to see chat has more to him than she saw previously as ladybug. with his constant flirting and joking with her, it seemed that she interpreted this as this is just his personality and it didn’t mean much, that maybe he acted the same with anyone. but with the interactions of this episode, she learns that’s not the case, he genuinely and truly loves and cares and about ladybug, it was more than just joking around. this realization is big for marinette and she even comments that she misjudged him. this episode allows eachother to rlly learn more about eachother. and then it helps ladybug be honest. she’s completely honest with chat after that, saying there’s someone else and she doesn’t want to lead him on, but that sets the stage for them to still grow on their platonic relationship, which is still important. ladybug for the seemingly first time directly tells chat how he’s important to her, and chat admits that his friendship with her is the most important thing to him, showing us more about adrien/chats character, as well as demonstrates despite his love for ladybug the platonic relationship still holds great importance with seems to contrast how marinette views adrien at this moment. 

honorable mentions: 

reflekdoll - this was almost in the top 10 but i changed it last minute. i appreciate learning more about juleka and hope we get more to grown on that later. and not to be an adrien stan but he looked really pretty with his outfit for marinettes shoot. one thing i feel is also important to notice is how easily he was willing to take off his miraculous for the sake of marinettes shoot. he didn’t even really hesitate? that wasn’t really surprising for marinette to do, but for adrien it again represents a small thing that shows he really appreciates and cares about her (whether it’s romantic or not). the concept of them switching miraculouses were also fun, and seeing a little bit of tikki and plagg interactions again. the reason that it didn’t end up in the top 10 was because i think the execution of their miraculous switch should’ve been done much better. i feel like the writing made chat look dumber than he is and made ladybug look more bossy than she is. while i feel part of this was meant to demonstrate they’re truly made for their own miraculous, it could’ve been demonstrated without making the character look worse. 

startrain - i don’t mean to be basic but the adrinette in this episode was super cute. however that’s not the only reason this episode stood out. hawk moth rlly sent his own son into space, u know as one does. and then the irony of him saying “how ironic i have to depend on my enemies (ladybug and chat noir) to save my son” like if you think that’s ironic then… but anyway . i also enjoyed seeing more max in the episode. his transformation is fun and i think we deserved a max based episode where he (or markov) didn’t have to get akumatized. also i feel like in the beginning of the episode, i like how adrien flat out decided to go to london without even asking his dad. i think he’s slowly stopping to care so much about his fathers rules and realizing what he needs for himself and this shows that. 

[tearsofahime]

Anyways buckle down folks this has been sitting in my head ever since I started seeing spoilers about the identities of the zodiac heroes that have been revealed in Season 3

Click below on why I think Marc Anciel will get a miraculous in season 4/5 and what I will predict it will be (Spoilers for everything up to Party Crasher and Ikari Gozen):

The first and obvious piece of evidence that would lend some form of credibility to this theory is based off of the number of confirmed (and shown) miraculouses in the show vs the number of eligible users. As of season 3, we know that there are 19 miraculouses in Paris: The Ladybug and Black Cat, The 2nd-tier Miraculouses (Bee, Fox, and Turtle as well as the Butterfly and Peacock), and the 12 Zodiac miraculouses (Rat, Ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig). Take away 2 of them (the Butterfly and Peacock as they go to Gabriel and Nathalie) and you are left with 17 miraculouses that can be given to new heroes.

As we have seen from past episodes, Ladybug tends to appoint new heroes based off of who she is close with and can trust as well as who is best fit for the task at hand. So far, the people Ladybug has appointed as heroes have all been Marinette’s friends (or her peers), and given that this is also a kid’s show designed to cater to and be relatable to kids, it would stand to reason that ALL of the new heroes would be around Marinette’s age. In addition, in “Timetagger”, Older!Alix also talks about there being a TEAM of superheroes in the future, which presents plenty of opportunity to explore the lore of the show through each Kwami and their powers and what better way to do that then to add new superheroes to the Miraculous team (plus it would be a waste to see some miraculouses be used but not all of them over the course of the show, even if some light is shed on past heroes in history).

Back to the math: There are 17 miraculouses, and 15 members of Madame Bustier’s class (including Lila), plus recurring students like Luka, Kagami, and Marc, totalling to 18 candidates for kwamis. As “Ikari Gozen” and “Party Crasher” confirmed, Kagami and Luka both get Miraculouses, leaving 15 to be distributed amongst Marinette’s peers and classmates. The Cat, Ladybug, Fox, Turtle, and Bee miraculouses were all accounted for with Adrien, Marinette, Alya, Nino and Chloe, leaving a total of ten left. Alix, Kim and Max were confirmed to be Zodiac heroes of the Rabbit, Monkey, and Horse, respectively. This leaves 7 miraculouses remaining, and 8 potential candidates.

Now this is where the theory and predictions of who will get what remaining miraculouses occurs.

If you go off of the popular fan theory that the girls of the class will each get a miraculous (Which many had used to predict Alya and Alix’s miraculous holder statuses so would hold more weight as a basis for a theory), the remaining girls in the photo, Juleka, Mylene and Rose, will each respectively get the Tiger, Rat, and Pig miraculouses. I know it’s confirmed through reference image leaks posted by Jeremy Zag that Marinette will be a temporary wielder of the Rat miraculous, but that is just that: Temporary. Marinette is Primarily the Ladybug holder and as such if given the chance (which is certain there will be), she will gladly give it to someone else who can use it to assist her in saving the day.

Many a Fan theorist will also suggest that Sabrina, due to her immense personality trait of her loyalty to Chloe, will be a shoe-in for the Dog Miraculous.

This now just leaves Ivan, Nathaniel, Lila, and Marc and the Ox, Rooster, and Goat miraculouses to be distributed amongst them.

As stated earlier, we’ve seen that Ladybug appoints new heroes based off of people she knows she can trust from her civilian life (with the exceptions of Queen Bee, which was an accident but one that served to better Chloe, and Kim, who Master Fu himself appointed, although I’m sure had he not given Kim a miraculous then Marinette would have anyway). With the matter of trust, we can ABSOLUTELY rule out Lila based on the virtue of her being a liar hell-bent on ruining Marinette’s life (As well as how the show seems to hint/imply her being a future villain from the end of “Timetagger” and from Lila allying herself with Gabriel which means from a plot standpoint, her being willingly given even one of the “Lesser miraculouses” like a zodiac one will be unlikely).

With Lila out of the way, that leaves an equal kwami-to-remaining-friend ratio. If one goes off of physical appearances and traits, Ivan with his size and strength would be a shoo-in for the Ox, and Nathaniel with his bright red hair and fiesty-if-you-anger-him temperament could work well with the Rooster (who could also help him learn to open up and be less shy).

That leaves Marc with the goat.

“Why Marc? Why not another recurring teenager like Aurore or Wayhem as an alternative candidate to Lila?”

It’s doubtful that Marinette even KNOWS Wayhem personally outside of being Adrien’s fanboy, and we’ve hardly seen Aurore on-screen except to have Stormy Weather be a plot vehicle for the intro episode and a recap episode, and we hve yet to see Marinette and Aurore interact in a way that would suggest that they’re actually FRIENDS and not just mere acquaintances.

MARC on the other hand, has been established in the show as being a friend of Marinette’s (as seen in “Reverser” with Marinette already showing her familiarity with him), and is also the one character outside of Madame Bustier’s class that is seen frequently hanging out with the rest of the ensemble class (as seen as being invited to the Heroes Day Picnic in “Mayura”, getting invited to test play Max’s new video game, and getting invited to Adrien’s boy’s-only party (that had initially just been amongst Adrien’s school friends).  

With Marinette already being familiar enough to Marc to be friends with him and him being close enough to Nathaniel and the rest of the class to be invited to hang out with them relatively frequently, it is ABSOLUTELY plausible that Marinette would consider him to be trustworthy and enough of a team player to give him a miraculous.

“Why the Goat though?”

Marc getting the Goat miraculous would be fitting for many reasons. One of the most obvious would be the similarities in color schemes and patterns between Marc’s Reverser form and Ziggy (the goat kwami).

This would not be the first time that a Kwami-Holder match-up would make a callback to the holder’s past akumatization: Alix’s time travel powers as Timebreaker ended up being similar to her powers as Bunnyx, and other Kwamis like the snake, fox, and bee kwamis all design-wise had at least SOME similarity to their holders in terms of physical appearances/character designs.

Another reason, appearances aside, that a goat would be suitable for Marc is that his personality would be suitable to be matched with a goat. Goats/sheep are popularly characterized as skittish, anxious, and overall kind of shy, which are all personality traits that can be used to describe Marc. Some kwamis match their users in terms of similarity of personality, others are opposites that complement their holder’s personalities. Either way, one would agree that a goat would be very fitting personality for Marc. There is also the fact that Hope Morphin (a friend of Thomas Astruc and who was the inspiration for marc) also said on her twitter (I couldn’t find the tweet at the moment) that Marc’s favorite animal is the sheep/goat. Make of that what you will, as she could just be banking on a popular theory.

Speaking of Hope, the creators of the show, through various tweets have confirmed Marc is LGBT, and given that Marc was based on Hope, who identifies as genderfluid and bi.

That, along with Marc’s comparatively more “feminine” features (like his painted nails, his visible eyelashes and his pink-tinted lips which suggests he wears lip gloss), lends to lots of fans and show creators referring to him as “androgynous”.

Why bring up Marc’s androgyny as a point? Good question. Consider Ziggy the Kwami. Thomas Astruc confirmed in a tweet that Ziggy was named after David Bowie’s stage persona, Ziggy Stardust.

David Bowie’s “Ziggy Stardust” alter ego was FAMOUSLY known for his androgyny.

Now back to Ziggy the kwami. Another interesting feature design-wise about the goat kwami is her seemingly “feminine” features like her long eyelashes (just like a certain androgynous writer). The goat kwami, though genderless like all other kwamis, does prefer female pronouns according to the wiki. However, just because Ziggy uses feminine pronouns doesn’t automatically mean that it rules out that Marc won’t get the goat simply because he doesn’t match the “gender” of the kwami, as although most of the male miraculous holders have been given kwamis with preferred masculine pronouns, female holders like Ryukko and Rena Rouge have kwamis that use masculine pronouns. Given Marc’s androgynous design and behaviors, it wouldn’t be out of the question for him to have Ziggy as his kwami at all, On the contrary, it would be a PERFECT fit from a symbolic standpoint (and let’s face it, writers, ESPECIALLY showwriters like the miraculous ladybug team, LOVE their symbolism).

“I don’t think Marc should get a Miraculous. He’s hardly there in the story.”

We’re all entitled to our opinions and I respect yours as long as it doesn’t step on mine. Personally, I think giving characters a day in the limelight as a newly-appointed hero provides for LOTS of character-development, which is something that admittedly, most of the miracuclass could benefit from having more of. Even so, the show was confirmed for their fourth and fifth seasons, which leave plenty of episodes for which less frequently-seen-but-still-relevant-enough characters like Marc (and let’s face it, Nathaniel too) could get more episodes focusing on them. And if not, they’re still considered very good enough friends of Marinette’s and valuable and cherished members of the Miracuclass to still be considered in the running to be Zodiac heroes, especially over other characters that have even LESS story presence like Wayhem or Aurore.

[cottontail20]

The Domestic Life Of The Vision And His Witch, Chapter 6: What Makes A Home

Summary:  For Wanda, their new cottage doesn't feel like 'Home'. Not quite yet.

Ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18461504/chapters/44547409

It had been a very long time since Wanda Maximoff had had a place that she could truly call Home. The only one she could really think of had been blown apart when she was just ten years old, an event that had set her on a misguided quest for revenge for most of her life.

Then, just as the Avengers Compound had started to feel like it could become Home, the Avenger's Civil War had happened.. They were all so very ashamed of that now, knowing that it had gone much too far.

The closest Wanda had come to feeling at Home was at the Barton House, with Vision and their sons. Clint and Laura had been so eager to make them feel welcome, and had helped Wanda and Vision so much as they adjusted to being parents. Lila would come to Wanda for 'girl talk', and Nathaniel Pietro was old enough now to enjoy hearing stories about his namesake. During one of Nat's visits, she'd caught Clint telling her that it was nice to have all his 'kids' under the one roof. He'd seemed a little embarrassed when he'd thought Wanda had heard, so she wandered off pretending that she hadn't heard a thing, smiling to herself when she was out of their sight. Clint could never replace her lost Father, and Wanda knew he would never try. However, it was nice to have a 'Dad' figure in her life after spending such a large chunk of it without any positive adult influences.

Unfortunately, living with the Barton's was never a long-term solution. So now, there was the cottage.

The Cottage wasn't really 'Home', Wanda thought, a few days after they had moved in. At least, not quite yet. But it could be.

Wanda was slowly working out where to display their photos. Her few pictures of Pietro. One of her parents. A photo of she and Vision at the Barton Farm, a few new ones of Tommy and Billy, who were starting to smile for the camera now. Vision was becoming quite the artist. All of their favorite paintings of his were proudly displayed on the Cottage walls.. Well, almost all of their favorites. A special, very private portrait of Wanda was triple-wrapped and hidden deep in a closet. They would have to find a more secure place for it once Tommy and Billy were old enough to explore.

Bit by bit, they were making the cottage theirs. It helped, a little, that their friends were constantly dropping by with gifts.. Or sending them. --

"I do not recall ordering a new couch and armchairs recently.." Vision's brow furrowed in confusion as an unfamiliar man at the door asked him to sign for a delivery from a furniture store. He turned, calling to Wanda as she fed the twins in the Kitchen. "Wanda, did we order a new couch and armchairs?"

"No.." Wanda had called back, sounding equally confused.

Vision frowned, until a thought came to him, and he turned back to the delivery man.

"May I ask who paid for these items?"

"Uh.. oh. Tony Stark?"

"Of course.." Vision chuckled, quickly signing for the delivery.

They received a washing machine, a brand-new TV, and a swing-set for the twins in the same fashion. Meanwhile, Steve dropped off a few boxes of Wanda and Vision's things that had been left behind at the compound, and a cookbook collection, since he knew Wanda loved to cook. Sam gave them a Kindle, because Vision loved to read. Scott, somehow forgetting that the boys were only five and a half months old, had showed up with an a very elaborate ant farm. Thankfully, Vision was happy to care for his sons' new 'pets'. --

Around two weeks after they had moved in, Natasha came to visit with a brand new coffee maker in hand. But..

"Nat, I don't really drink coffee" Wanda reminded her.

"And I don't drink.. well, anything" Vision added.

"I know" Nat replied, pushing the coffee maker into Vision's arms anyway. "But I do, and I'm going to be a regular visitor."

"That is true" Vision shrugged, carrying the coffee maker to the Kitchen.

"It is" Wanda smiled, and rushed off for a moment.

"Where are you going?" Nat frowned. "If one of the twins is up, I get dibs on first cuddle!"

"Not yet" Wanda returned and dropped something small and metal into Natasha's hand. "Key to the cottage. Use it any time you need, okay? The spare room is set up for you."

"Whoa.. that.. Thank you."

"Cu placere. We have to look after Tommy and Billy's Godmother, don't we?"Wanda headed for the Kitchen. "Would you like a coffee now? The machine shouldn't take long to set up, Vision has inherited Tony's talent with these things."

"Yeah. That would be great, thanks." Nat swallowed the lump in her throat, staring at the key, then smiled softly, tucking the key into her pocket. A baby's cry echoed through the cottage, and her smile widened. "I'll get him!"

After that day, a photograph of Natasha Romanoff with her beloved Godsons joined the others displayed around the house. --

"Hi, Miss Maximoff. I brought a present for your new house!"

"Peter, you can call me Wanda.." Wanda greeted him with a warm smile, although she had been somewhat surprised opening the door late one afternoon to find Peter Parker on the other side clutching a pot plant, a heavy looking backpack slung over his shoulder. Billy, settled on Wanda's hip, squealed joyfully and reached for him. Peter was a favorite with the twins.

"Hey, little guy" Peter reached out with one hand to tickle Billy's tummy. Billy giggled, and Wanda's smile widened.

"This is a pleasant surprise. What brings you here Today?"

"I'm doing a project on Vibranium for school" Peter explained, setting the plant down as he stepped inside. "Is it okay if I talk to Vision?"

"Of course. He's just through here.." Wanda led him into the lounge room.

Vision looked up from the couch where he was bouncing Tommy on his lap, giggling as his little feet kicked at his Daddy's knees. Tommy was beginning to like using his legs.

"Oh. Hello, Peter."

"Peter needs to talk to you about a school project" said Wanda.

"Well, I am always open for educational discussions" Vision smiled.

"Great, thank you! Let me just get my stuff ready" Peter sat down on the couch beside him, and began pulling out the work he had done so far. A map of Wakanda, a diagram of Cap's shield, pages of notes.

Wanda watched, impressed. She knew that Peter was smart, supposedly a Stark-level tech genius in the making, but he was really going all out. She couldn't help but worry whether the boy was working himself too hard.. Peter Parker tended to bring out the Mother in her.

"Will you be here for dinner, Peter?"

"Uh.." Peter licked his lips. He had developed a taste for Wanda's cooking. "Yes, Miss Maximoff. If that's okay."

"Wanda" she reminded him. "And of course it is okay, baiat dulce. We love having you over."

She would make sure to cook extra Tonight. Peter was a growing boy, after all. --

A few weeks later, Wanda received a call from Tony. Peter had won an award for his Vibranium project, so Tony, proud Da.. Mentor that he was, was treating everyone to dinner. He had booked two high chairs for the twins.

So on the night of said dinner, Wanda and Vision, each holding a twin (it seemed silly to bring a pram and clutter the place up), arrived at the restaurant Tony had booked, to find they were not the first to arrive. Scott Lang was standing outside with a dark haired woman, looking rather confused. Wanda had never seen the woman before, but she guessed that she was Hope Van Dyne. Scott had been gushing about her when he came by with the Ant-farm.

"So, what name is the booking under?" Hope was asking.

"I don't know. The invite came from Stark, but the dinner is for Parker.. or was it Pepper.." Scott frowned, but his eyes brightened when he spotted Wanda and Vision. "Hey, you guys! How are the ants?"

"Doing well" Vision replied, shifting Billy to a more comfortable position in his arms.

"Hey, I know you.." Hope pointed at Wanda, a smile spreading over her face. "From the news.. You defeated Thanos.."

"I only held him still.." Wanda blushed. "Thor was the one who actually killed him."

"Still, nice effort" The other woman extended a hand. "I'm Hope."

"Wanda" Wanda moved Tommy to one arm to take the hand Hope offered. "That's Vision, and these are our sons, Tommy and Billy."

"Nice to meet you all" Hope smiled. "So, do you two happen to know what name we're booked under?"

"Stark, I believe" said Vision, as they all headed in together.

Hope glanced at Tommy, squirming slightly in Vision's arms.

"Your babies are adorable."

"Thank you.. would you like to hold him?"

"Ooh, yes please" Hope took Tommy from Wanda as a waiter took them to their Table, where Steve, Bucky, Sam, Nat, Bruce, Thor, Tony, Pepper, Peter, and Peter's Aunt May were already waiting. "I love kids."

"She does" Scott confirmed, rather proud. "Hope's great with Cassie." --

While not entirely uneventful- Clint arrived late, delayed with dropping Lila at a sleepover, and Thor drank his way through a great deal of the restaurant's alcohol stores- The dinner went about as well as a group dinner with the Avengers was ever likely to go.

Everyone wanted a turn with the twins, who, to their parents' great relief, behaved nicely as they were passed around the table. Wanda cast a glance at Vision, beaming at the wide smile plastered on his face. He was such a proud Daddy.

Peter had the night of his life, being congratulated and fussed over by his heroes.

At the end of the night, Tony insisted on having a group photo taken. He thrust his phone into the hands of the waiter who had offered to take the picture, then ran back to the group, wrapping one arm around Pepper's waist, the other over Peter's shoulders.

"Everyone say 'Vibranium'!"

"Vibranium!" --

A parcel arrived at the cottage a few days later, containing a framed copy of the group photo. Wanda quickly found a place for it among the others. A warm, fuzzy feeling filled her.. a feeling like something was complete.

Vision wrapped his arms around her from behind, kissing the top of her head.

"It's a very nice picture, isn't it? And it fits so perfectly with the others.."

"It does" Wanda smiled softly, turning in Vision's arms to kiss him. Then, she glanced towards the lounge.

Natasha, who had stayed over the night before, sat cross legged on the floor, playing peek-a-boo with the twins. Happy baby laughter echoed through the room.

Wanda sighed contentedly, relaxing into Vision's arms.

"You seem very happy Today" He smiled, always glad to see her content.

"I am" Wanda replied. "Sunt acasa."

Because now, she understood. 'Home' wasn't just a place.. It was people.

--

Notes:

Translation:

Cu placere: You're welcome.

baiat dulce: sweet boy.

Sunt acasa: I'm Home.

[deadmanzp]

aftg asks; questions by triquetrine

these are so interesting so i did all of them.. i want to come back after a year and see if id still answer the same! 

op is the post before this or also tagged “misc” 

neil josten: favorite/most iconic line?

first one that comes to mind I’m not sure is a favorite or iconic line? but it’s a line i think about a lot and it always hurts to read. it’s when they're at the cabin in TKM. 

“He didn’t care how much it hurt so long as he could pull Andrew closer, and he let Andrew take him apart until he couldn’t think anymore.”

that comes at the very end of Chapter 14 and gosh just the paragraph that line comes from and the paragraph before…. the fact neil thinks andrew doesnt care about him the way he cares/feels about andrew is like….. CMON MAN but also i just love the pining angst of it. i like this line especially because the line right before it mentions neil working his “bandaged fingers into Andrew’s hair”. so the “he didnt care how much it hurt” to me always carried a double meaning of 1. the physical pain he felt bc of his injuries but also 2. the pain of unfamiliarity abt his feelings towards andrew and thinking it was unreciprocal AND THAT HED HAVE TO “WARN” ANDREW like the implication.. of neil thinking abt their “relationship” possibly ending bc andrew doesnt feel the same and maybe wouldnt want to be entangled in whatever neil was feeling …… IM LIKE neil knows andrew so well and him being so sure abt this but hes like …. WRONG …. e

nathaniel wesninski: one thing you would change about the books? (plot, characters, etc)

there is very little id change about the books if at all. mainly bc while i know there are upsetting things that happen/the charas do, i think all of those things make the series really interesting to analyze and talk about. i will say a moment i hated was when neil touches andrews scars when andrew makes it clear he doesn't want neil to pry about them. i know neil offers his scars in turn when he's trying to convince andrew to let neil look over kevin but that was controlled. he let andrew touch them and find out about them of his own volition. neil touches something directly related to the trauma andrew had just experienced again when he had 0 permission to do so. while i always get mad at neil for this when i read it i still dont think id change it or get rid of it. im not really sure how id change it anyways and i think andrews relationship with his scars (and himself in general) is probably what allows him to brush it off(?)/never bring this up (plus maybe neil offering his scars was enough for andrew) but i havent thought too hard about this. but ya i remember i got rlly angry w neil the first time i read this scene and i still get mad abt it when i reread.

andrew minyard: if you could be friends with one of the characters, who would you pick?

i mean realistically i wouldnt be friends w jocks ILL BE REAL LOL and i think as much as i love the monsters, theres no way id be friends w them haha uhm but prob dan would be most realistic! maybe even katelyn tbh.. 

kevin day: if you played exy, what would your position be?

oh i think dealer! in sports i liked being able to do both defense and offense bc it made me feel i had more control over the field, like i could always do something if there were any holes

dan wilds: favorite moment/scene?

definitely the hotel reunion scene. theres so much to it; it drives me nuts!!!!! but honestly there are probably a lot of really good moments im forgetting. to me the whole series is really enjoyable and every scene has something i could say about it haha

matt boyd: song you would love to see in a live-action adaptation?

Oggghh this is so hard… esp since it takes place in 2007???? Idk.. iconic artists then i suppose ghfgkjhf BUT i think general vibes i think itd be so cool if paramore (time relevant), ptv (also time relevant), and mitski were on the soundtrack……. Ya…….. 

nicky hemmick: which made you more emotional, neil at evermore or neil in baltimore?

neil in baltimore for sure… neil at evermore i can't remember what i felt the first time i read it (maybe pain LOL bc he was doing it for andrew and i felt like riko wouldnt keep his promise) but in my latest reread i was unimpressed by it (mostly bc i think riko is boring and unimpressive). i think i mightve said evermore in the past though….. maybe... neil in baltimore is like … GOD neils emotions are so strong during all of that its really juicy haha. i think like him being angry bc he was on the cusp of having everything he couldve ever dreamed of; the desperation of wanting to fight back and get away; even just the fear of being in the same room as his father for the first time in so long... all really juicy 

aaron minyard: a character you will defend to your death?

defend…. im not sure is the word i would use and i dont think i really believe in defending any of these charas “to death” bc of how flawed and complex they are; id like to acknowledge when they did wrong. i think id “defend” any of the characters if i saw anyone misinterpreting or misunderstanding them.. theyre all really interesting even if they didnt get too much spotlight. except maybe riko. hes incredibly boring to me. and also nathan ig and any of his crew just bc there is Nothing abt them rlly...

katelyn: which minor character do you wish you could see more of?

uhhhmmmmmmmm hmmmmmm….. idk maybe… jeremy…. gjfjgkdngmdghs just bc him and kevin r so funny.. i was thinking maybe jean too but…… idk a diff kind of kevin relationship lol (yikes) (pain) but really im satisfied w jeans screen time. i think ichirou is interesting but again i think he didn't rlly need more. maybe erik actually. im interested to know what nicky is like with him :0

allison reynolds: favorite headcanon about the foxes?

actually something i recently thought abt was neil and photography. iirc? andrew gives neil a camera in the ec and i also imagine kevin eventually gets another camera too (i loved that detail when we saw his room at the nest) so i thought abt neil and kevin sharing/trading pics they take of (mainly) scenery. i imagine neil takes pics of anything he wants to remember/keep while kevin is more prone to taking pics of subjects related to some nerd history stuff (lol) so thats why they trade scenery pics mainly. but i like this small connection bc i want more to their relationship than their exy obsession and i imagine they have room for more now that riko is gone and i just like this other commonality btwn them. i think maybe they mail the developed pics to each other maybe w small descripts/notes but thats it. and i also imagine it kind of just is something that started happening.. neil and andrew r on a roadtrip and some building reminds neil of kevin so he snaps a pic and eventually sends it to kevin w some note. kevin replies 1. either a text being like that is nothing. > neil: shrugs brushes it off but figures he is welcome to send more when kevin sends his own picture back or 2. kevin simply replies back similarly w his own photo. i dont know.. maybe this goes beyond what their actual relationship would be like but i do like the idea of them just bein like… dude friends u know so i want them to have more than just exy and a traumatizing experience between them. 

as for common headcanons within the fanbase…. i do like the allison + neil haircuts thing.. although im not sure if i imagine it the same as most haha i feel neil would know how to cut his own hair from his life on the run (though theyre not Good or bad just like ok u know like passable generic w/e) i think hed definitely be tense the first couple times but he has experience w allison being close from needing to be covered up w make up after winter break so i think she would be allowed. 

renee walker: favorite non-canonical ship? (renison, jerejean, etc)

uhmm to be honest none really… im way too attached to canon to be able to dismiss any established relationships. i think kevemy (??? is that the name) is rlly amusing but i dont want them together necessarily haha i used to rlly like renison mainly bc im a lesbian and i want “main” chara wlw relationships lol but i recently read something abt how bi allison doesnt rlly sit well w some bc she outs andrew and neil during the hotel scene.. i also agree this is kinda :/ if she was bi Mainly bc i feel a lot of ppl (or at least this is what i gather from renison stuff ive seen) portray allison already being established bi? if this makes sense. i think if renison/allison realizing shes bi is a later development id feel better abt it but usually renison is already established so ya her outing them does bother me…. BUT aside from this, thinking about them as characters and what their partners (would) look like… im not sure if theyd rlly choose each other.. but i still enjoy seeing them together in art and in fic bc in the end…. im a sucker for women lol….

seth gordon: most underrated dynamic? (matt & neil, wymack & andrew, etc)

my first thought was wymack and andrew bc i rlllllyy like their dynamic especially after reading their ec stuff. i loved their first meeting (andrews terrible sandwich??!?fhdhfjd) and when andrew breaks into wymacks apartment BUT i think ppl mention them enough its not underrated. i Actually think renee and andrews dynamic/friendship is rlly underrated/overlooked!!! especially after reading the son nefes ec i love their dynamic a lot… 

some son nefes moments of them i liked:  tw // rape

renee convincing andrew to go with her to see matt after his trip to edens

how many knives do u carry / one more than u IS SO FUNNY and just andrews persistence abt fighting renee is also rlly funny to me

tw // rape : the moment when andrew asks renee if she killed her rapist/abuser that whole convo was good… 

their convo in the rain w their tea

i cant remember when this happens or rlly exaclty what was said but renee offers andrew something (some help??) and he says i dont need (w/e it was) and she says something along the lines of  i know but it wouldnt do any harm or SOMETHING like that.. i like this bc she acknowledges their abilities while showing shed still like to offer some help. im p sure she does this another time too (w neil???? or someone i cant remember maybe it was andrew again) and i remember liking it too. she has a way w words and talking (also seen in her convincing andrew to see matt)

BUT regardless of ec stuff i think their relationship/dynamic seen in the books is rlly good too. theres def enough to be intrigued by them and i always have been? so i'm reeeaallly happy son nefes exists i loved reading it..

david wymack: which ncaa team would you play for?

oh to be honest i dont rlly remember many of them but of the Three (ravens, foxes, trojans) prob trojans. i remember i even got them in a uquiz once… 

abby winfield: which character was the most realistically written?

first that came to mind was aaron actually.. i remember before when i didnt rlly like him or care abt him it was actually bc he was too “boring” to me. i always thought he had the most realistic reactions to things which is what made him boring to me amidst the ridiculousness of, well, everything in aftg lol… i still think he is really realistically written but now i dont think hes boring haha

besty dobson: how many times have you read the series?

fully i think…. only 3 times… i wish this were a higher count but i actually feel guilty everytime i try to reread it.

riko moriyama: coolest exy moment? (kevin’s last-minute point against the ravens, andrew shutting down the goal, etc)

uhhmm uhmm i def think kevin during the final game against the ravens…. hes so cool haha but i KNOW there were a lot of game moments that i thought were really cool so i cant rlly say…. oh also i love neil being defense in that game too rlly juicy wish i could pull up obscure moments bc i know i rlly enjoyed reading the games but terrible memory...

jeremy knox: which do you like reading more, domestic!foxes or chaotic!foxes?

uh i guess chaotic? not rlly sure exactly what that could entail but i do like… their chaos.. when they have fights and squabbles and stuff… this includes the high tension moments. ALTHOUGH i do like the tiny lines in the books when we see the monsters just doing like random basic everyday life stuff like playing video games or whatever. i like…. imagining them... fhdjfjshfjs… as for fic def chaos. i feel domestic is usually too softened….. 

jean moreau: favorite friendship?

oh i think this goes back to andrew and renee. but other than them… i do like neil and matts friendship.. though probably not the same as its typically portrayed 

[cliftonsteen]

Understanding Body in Coffee And How to Roast For it

Body makes up one of the essential sensorial experiences in drinking coffee. Whether it’s light or heavy, it doesn’t matter. What’s important is ensuring that the coffee and its desired body is considered while roasting.

Join us as we discover how body varies in different green coffees, why we roast body, and tips on optimising a coffee’s body in a roast.

You may also like: Roasting For Sweetness, Decaf & Otherwise: A Practical Guide

What Is Body in Coffee?

Body in coffee is the sensation of weight and texture that is felt while drinking. It is something we feel, rather than something we taste. For example, does it coat your mouth with a lingering, buttery sensation or is it light and delicate?

It is one of the categories used to complete sensory evaluations of coffee, along with other categories such as aroma, sweetness, flavour, acidity, aftertaste, and balance.

So, what creates body in roasted coffee? It’s down to science. During extraction, soluble compounds, such as caffeine, acids, lipids, sugars, and carbohydrates, will dissolve into water. However, insoluble compounds in proteins and fibers, specifically the oils in these, do not dissolve and contribute to the body of the coffee.

During roasting, high pressure from heat forces oils from the centre of the beans, outwards. The longer a bean is roasted, the more physical and chemical changes that occur, including the movement of oil compounds. Therefore, darker roasts generally have an oilier exterior, which can result in a heavier body.

Understanding Your Beans: How Body Varies in Green Coffee

Roasting isn’t the only factor that affects body. Processing methods can significantly affect green coffee’s body.

Maren Ernst, owner at Ernst Kaffeeroster in Germany, tells me, “What we want to do is understand the complete DNA of the coffee. What is its potential? What can it be for?”

Understanding the processing method of the coffee will help give an understanding of the bean and its potential. It will help determine the body of the coffee and how it needs to be roasted to optimise this.

The natural (dry) method of processing coffee will tend to develop a heavier body. The method involves leaving the cherry intact around the coffee beans during the post-harvest drying process. The beans absorb the natural sugars in the cherry during this process, generally resulting in a sweeter bean, with more body, and less acidity. 

The washed (wet) method of processing, in comparison, tends to have a lighter body. The cherry fruit and mucilage are removed from the bean before drying. With less sugar absorbed in the process, the result is generally a cleaner cup, with a lighter body, and higher acidity. 

Maren explains, “When it comes to body, I really appreciate the honey process coffees. They have very elegant, velvety textures.” The honey process involves the cherry being removed from the coffee bean, but some sticky mucilage remaining on the bean during drying. This results in sweetness from the mucilage, but a more rounded cup due to increased acidity.

Get to know your coffee and how it’s been processed. This will not only affect body, but also sweetness and acidity, which also need to be considered during roasting. 

Why Roast Coffee For Body?

“All in all, in roasting, the biggest challenge is balance,” Maren tells me. Roasting is a tool that can be used to help balance aspects of flavour such as sweetness and acidity. 

Maren explains how they evaluate the need for body in coffee: “When we roast samples, we roast it very light to see if it has body. But, do we want it?… We evaluate it on how far the body can support the overall experience.”

For example, pulped natural process Brazilian coffees are well known for its sweetness, chocolatey flavour notes, and heavier body. So, roasting to enhance the body of the coffee is perfect in this scenario. For an elegant honey-processed Costa Rica that has notes of caramel and sugar you may want a soft, velvety body to support the overall experience.

Maren explains that it also depends on whether you’re roasting for espresso or filter. For example, roasting for body in a fruitier coffee for an espresso roast requires a focus on balance. Maren says, “If you’re roasting a Kenyan for espresso, you are aiming for fruitiness and body. You must be very careful with a high Rate of Rise at the beginning because of acidity… You have to be careful that the development time doesn’t get too harsh so that the acidity with the body and the sweetness is still there. It’s kind of tricky.”

However, some speciality roasters will focus less on body to achieve more complex flavours. A longer development past first crack will result in the production of body-enhancing polymers as well as forcing oil to surface in the bean, which, in turn, attributes to a heavier body, which may not be the desired effect.

It’s all down to knowing your coffee, understanding the desired profile and final product and making the choices to achieve that in roasting.

Roasting coffee at Arabicca Coffee Roasters. Credit: Laura Fornero

Tips on Roasting For Body

Depending on what you want from the bean, you can use roasting to optimise or reduce the body in a coffee.

First, the length of time of roasting affects the body. Generally, the longer the development past first crack, the more body can be achieved. This is due to the reaction of oils being forced to the surface in the beans through increased pressure. These oils then contribute to the overall body.

However, it must be noted that this is not the only method for increasing body. There are other ways to develop body without increasing the time past first crack.

Maren tells me, “We would aim for a later first crack and stretch the Maillard phase.” The production of melanoidins during the Maillard Reaction affects the bean’s colour, but also contributes to mouthfeel and body. So, stretching out this phase can help contribute to a heavier body without losing the more nuanced flavours from origin.

Extending the overall roast time can, therefore, allow for a later first crack which can allow for the development of sweetness and body. However, roasters must be wary that extending roast time or stretching the Maillard Reaction can result in baking the coffee, a roast defect that can leave coffee tasting oaty or bready. This usually occurs when beans have taken too long to reach first crack.

If you’re roasting a fruitier coffee, such as a natural process, close attention must be paid around the first crack. Chemical reactions speed up at this point, where the bean is developing quickly. The longer past first crack, the more caramelisation that takes place which can result in burnt-sugar bitterness, making the natural sweetness and disrupting the body. 

The faster we move through first crack and drop the coffee from the roaster, the less the sugars will be caramelised and burnt through excessive heat. However, excessive heat used to speed up first crack can result in an uneven roast, with an underdeveloped interior and roasted exterior.

The more we understand the intricacies of what we want from a roast, the more understanding there is for the different methods to achieve that.

Body, whether light or heavy, is an important attribute to a great cup of coffee. Roasters must ensure that before roasting there is: first, knowledge of the green coffee and its potential body, and second, an understanding of the desired profile and outcome. This knowledge will help guide what you do to enhance, or perhaps diminish the body, in coffee. 

When you get down to it, it’s all down to preference and finding the method to balance the flavours to achieve that.

Enjoyed this? Check out Roasting For Filter Coffee vs. For Espresso

Written by Josef Mott. Featured photo: Perfect Daily Grind

Featured photo credit: Roasting coffee at Soho Coffee Roasters, Adelaide. Credit: Nicole Motteux

Other photo credit: Fernando Pocasangre, Laura Fornero, Julio Guevara, Nathaniel Soque

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The post Understanding Body in Coffee And How to Roast For it appeared first on Perfect Daily Grind.

Understanding Body in Coffee And How to Roast For it published first on https://espressoexpertweb.weebly.com/

[click2watch]

Everything We Know About Facebook’s Cryptocurrency

The world’s biggest social media company appears dead-set on launching its own cryptocurrency.

Facebook has yet to announce plans publicly but media reports on its crypto ambitions have emerged over the past six months, painting a partial picture of how the social network wants to capitalize on blockchain technology.

In short, a team led by former PayPal president David Marcus is building an asset-backed cryptocurrency, one designed to operate within the company’s existing messaging infrastructure (WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook Messenger).

The most recent news on the project comes from the BBC, with the British outlet reporting that the cryptocurrency – called “GlobalCoin” internally – will launch in “about a dozen countries by the first quarter of 2020.”

However, the signs that Mark Zuckerberg’s company wanted to diversify into fintech first materialized as far back as 2017.

Below is a rundown of what is known so far about Facebook’s cryptocurrency.

December 2017

Looking back, the first sign that Facebook was prepared to be very serious about distributed ledger technology came in December 2017, when David Marcus joined Coinbase’s board of directors.

At the time, Marcus was the vice president of messaging products at Facebook. This would have included two of the biggest messaging platforms in the world, Messenger and WhatsApp (which Facebook acquired in February 2014 for $19 billion).

Though giants in their category, neither of Facebook’s messengers have the payments functionality enjoyed by their top rival: China’s WeChat.

But Marcus was president of PayPal, the U.S.’s leading online payments company. He’s no stranger to solving this category of tech problems.

August 2018

More importantly, the next clue that Facebook intended to take crypto seriously came in August 2018, when CoinDesk first reported that Marcus was leaving Coinbase’s board.

Marcus had been reassigned to focus on blockchain in May 2018. At the time, a Coinbase spokesperson told CoinDesk that Marcus had stepped down to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.

December 2018

In December 2018, Bloomberg reported that Facebook intended to build a stablecoin. Stablecoins are a controversial kind of cryptocurrency that have comparably frictionless settlements as classic cryptocurrencies, without the price volatility.

Long thought to be��impossible without excessive centralization (and perhaps even then), they became one of the hottest forms of cryptocurrency last year, as the most popular – Tether’s USDT – faced significant headwinds and investors poured resources into competitors such as Ampleforth, TrueUSD and the ill-fated Basis.

At that time, Facebook’s entry was reported as a WhatsApp-centered product, primarily focused on India. That might have only been part of it, or Menlo Park’s ambitions might have since expanded.

One source that had visited Facebook told CoinDesk that any doubts about whether the company wanted to do a stablecoin should be set aside. The same source told CoinDesk to look for Facebook to roll out the project with a broad group of noted cryptocurrency companies and leaders backing it, in order to allay doubts that it might be overly centralized.

The next month, the New York Times reported that Facebook wanted to unify Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger. No doubt there are many strategic reasons to do this, but for person-to-person payments it also maximizes the universe of people that can exchange the company’s new cryptocurrency.

February 2019

Early in February, Cheddar broke the news that Facebook had acquired a British blockchain company called Chainspace. Cheddar reported this as an “acqui-hire.” That is, it was more about hiring the people than acquiring Chainspace as a business.

That said, Facebook had also been acquiring talent the old-fashioned way: with a slew of blockchain-related job postings in early 2019.

Shortly thereafter, rumors swirled that Facebook was seeking investors to back its crypto efforts. Many Silicon Valley investors CoinDesk spoke to at the time had “heard” that Facebook was raising money, but details were sparse – especially given the exhaustive scope of Facebook’s non-disclosure practices.

At the end of the month, the first hints about timing came out. Those dates have since been pushed back, but readers also got a sense for how the company was operating.

Multiple sources have confirmed to CoinDesk that the social media giant really only talks about its blockchain efforts behind closed doors in Menlo Park, physically, and only after everyone involved has signed non-disclosure agreements.

Four people that had been briefed on the matter told the New York Times in February that Facebook had already spoken with leading crypto exchanges. In May, Coinbase and Gemini were specifically cited by the Financial Times as two Facebook had discussed listings with.

April 2019

Another major development was Facebook’s announcement of a pivot to privacy, fully articulated by CEO Mark Zuckerberg at the company’s annual F8 event for developers.

“I believe it should be as easy to send money to someone as it is to send a photo,” Zuckerberg was quoted as saying during his presentation.

While not directly a cryptocurrency announcement, it does fit into the larger story. Zuckerberg described a future for Facebook where the public news feed is no longer the site’s main attraction. In fact, the site could become primarily a platform for millions of private conversations.

If this happens, however, end-to-end encrypted content would make targeted ads less feasible. By controlling a new kind of money, Facebook could establish monetizable experiences that could make up for lost advertising revenue.

It’s worth remembering, though, that a full 98 percent of Facebook’s $40 billion in revenue came from advertising in 2017. In March, a Barclays analyst said Facebook’s cryptocurrency could earn the company anywhere from $3 billion to $19 billion by 2021.

May 2019

The rumors about Facebook seeking funding for the project first entered the public sphere in a tweet from Nathaniel Popper, a New York Times reporter.

But then the Wall Street Journal substantiated the claim in early May, indicating that Facebook was looking further afield than just venture capitalists. Facebook had met with payments firms such as Western Union and Visa, the Journal reported.

Meanwhile, Congress began to take notice of Facebook’s efforts and the company subsequently picked up two compliance professionals from Coinbase, with significant prior experience in banking and payments.

Other names started becoming publicly associated with the project, with CoinDesk breaking the news that a notable crypto-economist, MIT’s Christian Catalini, has taken a role at the company.

Then Reuters found that the social media giant had registered a company in Switzerland, Libra Networks, with Facebook Global Holdings as its stakeholder.

The name referenced what the Wall Street Journal had previously identified as a codename for the effort, “Project Libra.” That registration can be seen here, though it simply describes a company working on a combination of financial services products, with blockchain as a component.

Le Temps reported that the person helming Libra also runs Facebook in Switzerland, Majella Goss, which operates out of a Geneva coworking space.

Beyond the GlobalCoin moniker, the BBC reported that testing should begin by the end of this year and the currency itself should roll out in the first quarter of 2020.

Borrowing from the playbook of the Asian e-commerce stablecoin Terra, the BBC story suggests Facebook will seek discounts from online retailers for customers who use GlobalCoin. This could be mutually beneficial both to the retailers and Facebook, as payment services provided by credit card companies come with fees that eat into e-tailers’ profit margins.

Facebook image via Tobias Dziuba/Pexels

This news post is collected from CoinDesk

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[duaneodavila]

Surprising Exactly No One, Skadden Associate Is A Pats Fan

(Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

If the polar vortex and the President’s idiotic tweets on the subject haven’t distracted you, you’re probably aware that the Super Bowl is this weekend. It features what is probably the least exciting matchup of all time — the dominant and detestable New England Patriots and the team without a fan base, the Rams. But I’ve made the Super Bowl a de facto national holiday too long, since well before the treatment of Colin Kaepernick and the specter of CTE made the NFL problematic, to not take notice of the event.

So, this morning when Slate’s Ben Mathis-Lilley published an interview with a Pats fan on what it’s like to be hated for your fandom I took notice. Sure, it’s the “poor little rich girl” of sports takes, but what can I say? The allure of procrastination is strong.

But I sat up and took notice during the introduction of the interview subject:

I spoke to one such chowderhead, 37-year-old Boston attorney Nathaniel Adams, about what it’s like to root for a team that much of the rest of the country is sick of—and whether there are diminishing returns on the joy of victory when victory is all you know.

Hmm, an attorney you say? Perhaps this foray into sports news was not procrastination at all, but research for my actual job. And so, like any blogger worth their salt, I took the .3 seconds needed to google that… and of fucking course, the guy is a Skadden attorney.

Reading between the lines of the interview, there are parallels between his time in Biglaw and being a member of Pats nation. After all, it take a certain constitution to navigate the vitriol of opposing counsel and of Chiefs fans. On the subject of being hated, Adams says he doesn’t take it personally:

You understand that people have various reasons for disliking a team. Some of them are good, some of them are, I think, not so good. But it just comes with the territory of being a sports fan, so I don’t take it personally when I’m a subject of vile personal attacks.

He may not take it personally, but he also took the opportunity to make a dig at the haters — painting them as “vile” without details on what he’s referring to so we can make a judgment call for ourselves. +1 lawyering.

Adams, despite being a mergers & acquisitions attorney, goes on to answer some of the interview questions like a seasoned litigator responding to interrogatories — objecting to the question and admitting nothing:

Q: What do you think are some of the valid criticisms of the Patriots? Do you have a positive case that people should actually admire them?

A: I’m not going to offer anything that I think is admirable about the team [as a whole], because I don’t know if there’s anything particularly admirable about any sports team. I also think that criticisms of the team are a little silly and probably petty and born of jealousy. But I think that the general air of discontent or dissatisfaction around the Patriots has more to do with the way they are treated in the media.

Admittedly, I have a pretty low threshold for listening to Pats fans opine on their team, but I perked up when Adams was asked if losing to Eli Manning in the Super Bowl — twice — still hurt:

The fact that it was Manning is really annoying. Even the 18–1 season, I think I and most fans have moved beyond that, but it would’ve been really cool if they had won, and there were some players on that team that it would’ve been really awesome if they got the ring with the Patriots. Like [Randy] Moss and [Wes] Welker, Junior Seau was on that team.

Listen I am a big Giants fan. And as far as I’m concerned they can wheel Eli Manning’s geriatric ass onto the field into the Ocasio-Cortez administration for one reason. Well, two: Super Bowl XLII and XLVI. The G-Men were the only thing standing between the Patriots and an undefeated season and all the insufferable smugness of their fan base, and a grateful nation thanks them for their ability to get the job done. Somehow it helps the 5-11 season knowing that still stings Pats fans.

Speaking of sports stings, the worst part of the Falcons falling apart in the second half of Super Bowl LI was knowing that it made Donald Trump happy. Maybe some Pats fans would prefer not to be painted with the same brush as MAGA hat wearers, but when your owner, head coach, and QB are stanning for the President, well, you have to deal. But Adams reveals he’d rather the only conversations about the Pats be about how great the Pats are. Good luck with that:

Q: Does the fact that Donald Trump has become a part of the storyline of the team take anything away as a fan—seeing Brady, Belichick, and Kraft popping into these unpleasant, heated national news stories?

A: [Pause for comic effect in the manner of Belichick glaring at a reporter who asked a question he doesn’t want to answer.] Yeah, we’re really just focused on the Rams game.

Not to get into my own personal beliefs, but it’s, I’d say, more annoying than anything because it becomes a sideshow to what you want the story to be, which is “our team is awesome.” And so anything that distracts from that, and I guess you could put something like Deflategate in that category too, anything that gives people a reason to talk about the team but not lavish praise on them for being incredible, is something that grates on you.

So you only want to hear praise… that’s not how any of the things work. I mean, Rowdy Roddy Piper was a tremendous wrestler and athlete and yet his obituary refers to him as the “greatest ‘heel'” in the WWE. You just have to take that as part of the faustian deal the Pats have seemingly made.

And you’d think someone at Skadden would get how it works. It’s a dominant entity in its field that churns through the cogs that makes the machine run. It’s a strategy that has worked for Skadden — receiving the designation as the one of the “Fearsome Foursome” of law firms, considered the most feared law firms in the country. According to the BTI Consulting Fearsome ranking the firms at the top — like Skadden — are known for legal teams that “want to start off with a show of force. They bring a lot of talented attorneys to bear early and come on strong. This initial surge lets the other side know they are in for a bigger fight than they ever dreamed—and their client is wildly committed to getting the outcome they want.”

The parallels between Biglaw life and the Pats are getting just a little too close for comfort.

I know Adams’s team is probably going to add to their legacy on Sunday. But in the face of such repeated successes you have two options: the first, which, based on my limited experiences is almost impossible for a Pats fan, is to cheer for your team with quiet dignity — no one gloats when Team USA wipes the floor with the Lithuanians in men’s basketball. The other is to develop a thick skin. The criticisms of the team aren’t likely to decrease just because they add another championship to their trophy case.

Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

Surprising Exactly No One, Skadden Associate Is A Pats Fan republished via Above the Law

[digitalmark18-blog]

Social Media Roundup: Facebook 3D Photos, Google+ Shutting Down, Instagram Prevents Bullying With AI

New Post has been published on https://britishdigitalmarketingnews.com/social-media-roundup-facebook-3d-photos-google-shutting-down-instagram-prevents-bullying-with-ai/

Social Media Roundup: Facebook 3D Photos, Google+ Shutting Down, Instagram Prevents Bullying With AI

Social media icons appearing on the display of a smartphone (Photo by Muhammed Selim Korkutata/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

“Social Media Roundup” is a weekly roundup of news pertaining to all of your favorite websites and applications used for social networking. Published on Sundays, “Social Media Roundup” will help you stay up-to-date on all the important social media news you need to know.

Bumble

Parent Company Rimberg International Mulling IPO

Rimberg International, the parent company of Bumble, is currently mulling an IPO in the U.S. as part of a plan to become the world’s largest dating company. This was revealed by Rimgberg founder Andrey Andreev in an interview with Bloomberg.

Andreev told Bloomberg that the company is in “deep discussions” with several banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co. to list on the Nasdaq.

Rimberg is also the parent company of other dating apps like Chappy and Badoo. And Badoo is considered the largest dating app in the world with more than 400 million users.

Andreev is hoping that the IPO will enable Rimberg to surpass Tinder owner Match Group as the world’s most valuable dating company. And Andreev is expecting Rimberg’s revenue to hit as much as $400 million this year.

Facebook

Portal

Facebook has announced a new video chat camera device called Portal, which comes in a 10-inch 720p version for $200 (known as Portal) and a 15.6-inch 1080p version for $350 (known as Portal+). The larger version can be rotated from landscape to portrait mode as well.

The Portal supports video chat through Facebook’s Messenger app and you can also use the device for viewing Facebook Watch and listening to Spotify, Pandora and iHeartRadio. Plus the Portal also works as a digital photo frame. YouTube is not supported by Portal.

Rumor has it that Facebook was planning to launch the Portal device at the F8 conference. However, Facebook was dealing with privacy concerns at the time.

The Portal has Amazon Alexa integration built-in so it can also handle voice commands. For example, you can say “Portal, call Steve.” Then the device will call Steve’s Portal or the Messenger app on Steve’s phone.

Plus the Portal device also has a 12-megapixel camera built-in so it can take sharper images. And it is able to identify the shape of users within a 140-degree field of view as part of the Smart Camera feature. With the Smart Camera, the Portal can pan and zoom so that the person is in kept in the frame. You can also add filters to your face and share music with your contacts.

Facebook said it does not listen to conversations or keep the contents of Portal video calls. And Facebook said that you can disable the camera and microphone with a single tap or you can block the camera lens with the cover provided. Plus users cannot perform “Drop In” calls like you can do with Echo devices.

The Facebook Portal can be pre-ordered now. And next month, the Portal will be available in select retail stores.

3D Photos

Facebook’s 3D photosFacebook

Several days ago, Facebook started rolling out support for 3D photos and it will be available for everyone in the coming weeks. This technology is able to capture the distance between the subject in the foreground and the background to add depth and movement to the photos.

How does it work? Simply take a photo in Portrait mode using your compatible dual-lens smartphone such as the iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X or iPhone XS. Facebook said that you will get the best results if the subject is three or four feet away and you can really make the 3D photos pop by trying to capture scenes with multiple layers of depth such as someone standing in a field of flowers. You will get more of a 3D effect when the photo subject has contrasting colors from the background. And Facebook said that you should try to avoid transparent objects such as clear plastic or glass.

You can view the 3D photos in VR using the Oculus Browser on Oculus Go or Firefox on Oculus Rift. And everyone will be able to see 3D photos in the News Feed and VR.

Personal Info Of 30 Million People Stolen, Which Is Smaller Than Reported Before

Last month, Facebook said that 50 million accounts may have been compromised in one of the worst hacks in the company’s history. However, Facebook made a correction that the number of users that were actually affected was 30 million.

The hackers gained access to a digital “token” that allowed them to log in to millions of user accounts. And those hackers were able to collect personal user data from 29 million out of 30 million accounts, including names and contact information (phone numbers and emails). And the hackers also were able to collect additional information from 14 million out of the 29 million users such as gender, language, relationship status, religion and hometowns.

Here is what Facebook VP of Product Management Guy Rosen wrote in a blog post about the issue:

As we’ve said, the attackers exploited a vulnerability in Facebook’s code that existed between July 2017 and September 2018. The vulnerability was the result of a complex interaction of three distinct software bugs and it impacted “View As,” a feature that lets people see what their own profile looks like to someone else. It allowed attackers to steal Facebook access tokens, which they could then use to take over people’s accounts. Access tokens are the equivalent of digital keys that keep people logged in to Facebook so they don’t need to re-enter their password every time they use the app.

Here’s how we found the attack that exploited this vulnerability. We saw an unusual spike of activity that began on September 14, 2018, and we started an investigation. On September 25, we determined this was actually an attack and identified the vulnerability. Within two days, we closed the vulnerability, stopped the attack, and secured people’s accounts by resetting the access tokens for people who were potentially exposed. As a precaution, we also turned off “View As.” We’re cooperating with the FBI, which is actively investigating and asked us not to discuss who may be behind this attack.

If you want to know whether your Facebook account was hacked, then you can find out by going to the Facebook Help center link while logged in at https://www.facebook.com/help/securitynotice?ref=sec. Then scroll down to where it says “Is my Facebook account impacted by this security issue?”

800 Spammy Political Pages Get Shut Down

In a blog post, Facebook Head of Cybersecurity Policy Nathaniel Gleicher and Product Manager Oscar Rodriguez said that 559 Pages and 250 accounts were removed that aimed to profit from political spam posts. A number of those accounts were using sensational political content to drive traffic to their websites

“We’re removing 559 Pages and 251 accounts that have consistently broken our rules against spam and coordinated inauthentic behavior. Given the activity we’ve seen — and its timing ahead of the US midterm elections — we wanted to give some details about the types of behavior that led to this action,” said Facebook. “Many were using fake accounts or multiple accounts with the same names and posted massive amounts of content across a network of Groups and Pages to drive traffic to their websites. Many used the same techniques to make their content appear more popular on Facebook than it really was. Others were ad farms using Facebook to mislead people into thinking that they were forums for legitimate political debate.”

Messenger May Soon Add An ‘Unsend’ Feature

Mobile app engineer Jane Manchun Wong has a track record of finding hints at upcoming features in a number of social media apps. And recently she found that Facebook’s Messenger team is testing out a feature where users would be able to “unsend” messages.

Facebook Messenger is finally working on “Unsend Message” in the app for everyone!

Tip @Techmeme pic.twitter.com/5OtQrmyID3

— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) October 12, 2018

To “unsend” a message, you simply would have to long press on a sent message. Then you will see options to delete it or “unsend” it. Deleting a message just removes it from your device and tapping on “Unsend Message” may prevent the recipient from seeing it. Wong pointed out that you will be able to “unsend” a message within a certain amount of time after it was sent.

It is unknown when this feature will be rolled out to all Messenger users. Facebook’s WhatsApp messaging app also added a similar feature in October 2017.

Google

Google+ Social Network Is Shutting Down

Google has decided it is shutting down the Google+ social network for consumers due to its limited adoption with users. And Google made this announcement in conjunction with a disclosure that up to half a million Google+ accounts may have been compromised by a bug.

“While our engineering teams have put a lot of effort and dedication into building Google+ over the years, it has not achieved broad consumer or developer adoption, and has seen limited user interaction with apps,” said Google in a blog post. “The consumer version of Google+ currently has low usage and engagement: 90 percent of Google+ user sessions are less than five seconds.”

The security issue was discovered and patched in March. And Google said that there was no evidence that any third-party developer was aware of the bug, abused the API or misused profile data such as names, email addresses, occupations, genders and ages.

“Our Privacy & Data Protection Office reviewed this issue, looking at the type of data involved, whether we could accurately identify the users to inform, whether there was any evidence of misuse, and whether there were any actions a developer or user could take in response. None of these thresholds were met in this instance,” added Google.

The wind-down of Google+ will be fully implemented over a ten-month period. And this is expected to be completed by the end of August 2019.

Instagram

Using AI To Prevent Bullying

Instagram head Adam Mosseri has announced that it is now using several tools to combat bullying such as a way to identify and report bullying in photos and a new way to spread kindness in Stories.

To detect bullying in photos, Instagram is using machine learning technology to proactively detect bullying in photos and their captions and send them to the Community Operations team for review — which is especially important for its youngest community members as teenagers experience higher rates of bullying online than others.

Instagram’s bullying comment filter on Live videosInstagram

And Instagram is adding a bullying comment filter to proactively detect and hide bullying comments from Feed, Explore and Profile. This filter is being added to comments on live videos to make sure that Live remains a safe place to authentically connect with your friends and interests.

Instagram has also partnered with author, dancer and actor Maddie Ziegler to launch a kindness camera effect to spread positivity. If you follow Maddie, then you will have the camera effect available automatically.

“In selfie mode, hearts will fill the screen — and you’ll be encouraged to tag a friend you want to support. Your friend will receive a notification that you mentioned them in your story,” said Instagram in the announcement. “They can share it to their own story or use the camera effect to spread kindness to someone else. If you switch to the rear camera, you’ll see an overlay of kind comments in many languages. If you aren’t a follower of Maddie but you see someone else with the effect, tap ‘try it’ to add it to your camera. Learn more about our camera effects here.”

These tools were put together in honor of National Bullying Prevention Month in the US and the upcoming Anti-Bullying Week in the UK.

Testing Tap Navigation

Instagram is reportedly testing out a feature where users tap to see the next photo in the feed rather than scrolling down. This form of navigation is similar to what is used for the Stories feature. The tap-to-scroll navigation feature started being tested on a number of limited users. Matt Navarra of The Next Web said that it is only being tested on the Explore section as of right now:

Instagram is making a major change to how you see posts in your feed… Goodbye scrolling!

H/T @SupraBo_ pic.twitter.com/1W3D5335sJ

— Matt Navarra (@MattNavarra) October 11, 2018

App Based Two-Factor Authentication Is Now Available

Instagram has confirmed with TechCrunch that it has added an app-based SMS two-factor authentication feature to the app for all users. This is an alternative to receiving a code via SMS for logging in to your Instagram.

To set it up, simply go to the Settings menu in Instagram. Then go to the Privacy and Security and select Two-Factor Authentication. And then toggle on the Authentication App setting.

From there, Instagram will see if you have existing authentication apps on your device or recommend you to download one. Some of the options include Google Authenticator or Authy.

LinkedIn

Glint Acquisition

LinkedIn, the professional social network owned by Microsoft, has acquired an employee survey company called Glint. The acquisition was undisclosed, but sources with CNBC said that it was valued at more than $400 million. Prior to the acquisition, Glint raised $20 million in Series D funding at a $220 million valuation in November 2017.

Glint surveys employee satisfaction and provides insights to managers. Generally, the questions that are asked via Glint include issues related to management and compensation.

Snap

Snapchat Originals

Snapchat has announced that it is releasing several new short AR-enabled daily shows. The three new shows are part of the new Snap Originals series of programs. And more shows are expected to be added in the coming months.

Some of the new shows include “Class of Lies” where a group of college students put together a podcast about crime and mysteries; a show about how freshmen are adapting to college life in a comedy program called “Co-Ed”; and a docuseries called “Endless Summer” featuring the lives of YouTube influencers Summer McKeen and Dylan Jordan. Each of the 5-minute episodes will be released daily.

WhatsApp

Video Call Bug Fixed

Messaging app WhatsApp has fixed a video call bug. This video call bug could have caused the app to crash and shut down, according to a security expert. Tavis Ormandy, one of the researchers that discovered the bug, said that this was a “big deal”:

This is a big deal. Just answering a call from an attacker could completely compromise WhatsApp. https://t.co/vjHuWt8JYa

— Tavis Ormandy (@taviso) October 9, 2018

The bug was discovered in late August and fixed early October. Google’s Natalie Silvanovich was the first to discover the vulnerability. The problem existed in the mobile version of WhatsApp, but the desktop version was not. Facebook said that there was no evidence that the bug was exploited by hackers.

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/amitchowdhry/2018/10/14/social-media-roundup-facebook-3d-photos-google-shutting-down-instagram-prevents-bullying-with-ai/

[cliftonsteen]

How Specialty Coffee Blends Have Evolved For Today’s Market

Coffee blends used to be a common offering in the past. However, they’ve fallen out of favour with third wave coffee shop owners and roasters due to increasing concerns over transparency and quality – with many adopting single origin coffees as an alternative.

Recently, there have been signs that blends have evolved and are ready to appear in today’s specialty coffee market – in higher quality, more traceable form. Here’s what could be causing this and what benefits it might offer for those roasting and brewing coffee.

You may also like A Roaster’s Guide to Creating Coffee Blends

Credit: Nathaniel Soque

Why Did Blends Develop a Bad Reputation?

Coffee blends usually consist of two or more coffees combined in different proportions to develop a unique coffee and taste profile. They’re often created by combining the coffees from several farms in one country to create a country blend – or by combining coffees from different origins together and giving it another label.

Blending coffees together won’t necessarily create a poor quality product. The reason that blends have developed a poor reputation is that in the past, some roasters used them to use up leftover or stale coffees, or to mask the negative qualities of other profiles – keeping old stock from accumulating and lowering costs by using low-quality coffees.

Richard Keane, Head of Green Bean Sales at Balzac Brothers, says, “In the past, fair or not fairly, blends have been portrayed to consist of a few unfavourable coffee categories. First, blends may have been made up of a large percentage of lower grade coffee so that companies could bring margins up while offering a coffee that may be easy to source on the green side of things. Secondly, companies could use blends as a way to move older inventory in a volume friendly manner.”

Increasing demand for traceable and origin coffees contributed to the decreasing popularity of blends. This was partly due to consumers seeking out more responsibly and sustainably produced coffee and wanting to know where it came from, who produced it, and how much was paid for it. As Richard explains, “blends may have been frowned upon as the rise of single origin coffees have exploded [in] specialty coffee. The value of traceability and the popularity of origin/farm-specific flavour characteristics have changed how many think of blends.” This shift benefitted producers by helping them secure better margins and competitive benefits throughout the supply chain while helping them get recognition for their coffee, develop a reputation, and avoid exploitation. 

Klaus Thomsen is the Co-founder of Coffee Collective in Copenhagen, Denmark, and explains that another reason that blends could have fallen out of favour is that they erased the individual contributions of producers. He feels that the specialty coffee industry “moved towards more transparency and getting farmers out of anonymity, so they probably viewed most blends as the opposition to that… In blending, each farmer’s work is often masked and most blends are anonymous compositions, where you don’t know where the coffee came from. In some cases, blends will only state ‘The best beans from Latin America’ – or nothing at all.”

Credit: Nathaniel Soque

Reasons For Its Rebirth

There are signs that blends could be making their comeback in specialty coffee by evolving to offer roasters and consumers new benefits. Here are a few of them.

Credit: Nathaniel Soque

Blends Can Create a Better Product

Using blends, roasters can create a unique product that better appeals to their market – and one that could be better in quality and taste than each individual component. Richard says, “If done properly, blending can bring coffees together to bring something to the cup that may have been lacking before.”

Klaus feels the same way, and for him, “there’s a creative process to blending that can be a lot of fun, and sometimes 1+1 equals more than 2. Personally, I often find that I’m able to get a better balance and more depth of flavours in espresso when blending. Somehow, it’s different to me than for filter brewing, where I’m also striving for a more clean and precise cup profile.” 

Blends Can be Creatively Customised

While specific blends can be created for standard extraction methods like espresso or filter, roasters can also create ones tailored to newer beverages, such as cold brew and nitro cold brew. This is something 2012 World Barista Champion Raul Rodas does at Paradigma Café, his coffee shop and roastery in Guatemala. 

When Raul offers nitro cold brew to customers, he might create a blend of 80:20 washed to naturally processed coffee to enhance the fruitiness of the brew. He’s also created two different espresso blends – an acidic, citrusy one, and caramel tasting one. By creating different blends, he could introduce customers to new combinations or variations on what they usually go for.

Blends Offer Consistent Flavour Profiles

While blends can create something unique that can’t be found in individual coffees, it can create a consistent cup of coffee that can be sold throughout the year, to customers who want the same experience with every cup they drink or brew. 

This allows roasters to work around the limitations placed by coffee’s seasonal nature, as most do not have several harvests throughout the year or have different harvest periods from region to region. Creating blends can allow roasters to offer a consistent product all year round – or help them offer single origin coffees for a longer time.

“Roasters will be able to substitute the coffees they use in their blends with whatever coffee is most in season, while still offering consistency in their flavour profiles to their customers. This can be an extremely valuable asset to roasters who are growing in volume while still maintaining high levels of quality in their roasted product. Furthermore, consumers may be happy to find consistency year-round in their roasted coffee”, remarks Richard. 

Credit: Ana Valencia

Blends Offer Roasters Purchasing Flexibility

Creating blends means that roasters can benefit from increased purchasing flexibility, as they’ll be able to offer a coffee throughout the year without sacrificing its quality or taste. 

Richard explains that “blends allow roasters to remain flexible in purchasing coffee without sacrificing freshness from crop to crop.” It means that if any unexpected changes occur in the supply chain, roasters will be less impacted – as coffee production can be affected by everything from pests and diseases to changing weather patterns. 

Should this happen, roasters won’t be left empty-handed, as they won’t be exclusively relying on a single origin offering. This makes blends a more scalable option, as unlike single origin coffees, there’s an almost unlimited production capacity and supply. 

Credit: Ana Valencia

Blends Can be Traceable

While past blends usually lumped the coffees of several producers together into an anonymous blend, modern blends have retained their emphasis on traceability and its importance for producers and consumers. This allows roasters to create blends responsibly, without hiding the efforts of the individual producers responsible for the coffee.

Klaus thinks that “showcasing single farmers is the best way of building their brand and getting customers to appreciate coffee farmers as the exceptional producers they are.” However, he believes that this can be done without erasing their unique contributions, as “blends can showcase each individual component, down to the exact farmer or micro lot”.

For Richard, it’s an opportunity for roasters to improve their overall quality, while still providing producers with credit for their coffees. This often appears on the coffee’s packaging, with each farmer’s contribution to the blend (and the percentages they’ve contributed) being listed. “Traceability is still possible in blends with many roasters listing their blend components while yielding the most complexity in flavour to their customer”.

Credit: Rea Café 

The rebirth of blends is something that can benefit roasters and coffee shop owners in different ways. As long as the emphasis remains on using coffee that’s traceable and responsibly sourced, blends will be able to meet the need of the market – without compromising on quality or minimising the efforts of the producers who grew it. 

Enjoyed this? The take a look at In Defense of Blends: Coffee’s Most Underrated Offering

Feature photo credit: Nathaniel Soque

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How Specialty Coffee Blends Have Evolved For Today’s Market published first on https://espressoexpertweb.weebly.com/

[click2watch]

Project Libra: Everything We Know About Facebook’s Cryptocurrency

The world’s biggest social media company appears dead-set on launching its own cryptocurrency.

Facebook has yet to announce plans publicly but media reports on its crypto ambitions have emerged over the past six months, painting a partial picture of how the social network wants to capitalize on blockchain technology.

In short, a team led by former PayPal president David Marcus is building an asset-backed cryptocurrency, one designed to operate within the company’s existing messaging infrastructure (WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook Messenger).

The most recent news on the project comes from the BBC, with the British outlet reporting that the cryptocurrency – called “GlobalCoin” internally – will launch in “about a dozen countries by the first quarter of 2020.”

However, the signs that Mark Zuckerberg’s company wanted to diversify into fintech first materialized as far back as 2017.

Below is a rundown of what is known so far about Facebook’s cryptocurrency.

December 2017

Looking back, the first sign that Facebook was prepared to be very serious about distributed ledger technology came in December 2017, when David Marcus joined Coinbase’s board of directors.

At the time, Marcus was the vice president of messaging products at Facebook. This would have included two of the biggest messaging platforms in the world, Messenger and WhatsApp (which Facebook acquired in February 2014 for $19 billion).

Though giants in their category, neither of Facebook’s messengers have the payments functionality enjoyed by their top rival: China’s WeChat.

But Marcus was president of PayPal, the U.S.’s leading online payments company. He’s no stranger to solving this category of tech problems.

August 2018

More importantly, the next clue that Facebook intended to take crypto seriously came in August 2018, when CoinDesk first reported that Marcus was leaving Coinbase’s board.

Marcus had been reassigned to focus on blockchain in May 2018. At the time, a Coinbase spokesperson told CoinDesk that Marcus had stepped down to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.

December 2018

In December 2018, Bloomberg reported that Facebook intended to build a stablecoin. Stablecoins are a controversial kind of cryptocurrency that have comparably frictionless settlements as classic cryptocurrencies, without the price volatility.

Long thought to be impossible without excessive centralization (and perhaps even then), they became one of the hottest forms of cryptocurrency last year, as the most popular – Tether’s USDT – faced significant headwinds and investors poured resources into competitors such as Ampleforth, TrueUSD and the ill-fated Basis.

At that time, Facebook’s entry was reported as a WhatsApp-centered product, primarily focused on India. That might have only been part of it, or Menlo Park’s ambitions might have since expanded.

One source that had visited Facebook told CoinDesk that any doubts about whether the company wanted to do a stablecoin should be set aside. The same source told CoinDesk to look for Facebook to roll out the project with a broad group of noted cryptocurrency companies and leaders backing it, in order to allay doubts that it might be overly centralized.

The next month, the New York Times reported that Facebook wanted to unify Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger. No doubt there are many strategic reasons to do this, but for person-to-person payments it also maximizes the universe of people that can exchange the company’s new cryptocurrency.

February 2019

Early in February, Cheddar broke the news that Facebook had acquired a British blockchain company called Chainspace. Cheddar reported this as an “acqui-hire.” That is, it was more about hiring the people than acquiring Chainspace as a business.

That said, Facebook had also been acquiring talent the old-fashioned way: with a slew of blockchain-related job postings in early 2019.

Shortly thereafter, rumors swirled that Facebook was seeking investors to back its crypto efforts. Many Silicon Valley investors CoinDesk spoke to at the time had “heard” that Facebook was raising money, but details were sparse – especially given the exhaustive scope of Facebook’s non-disclosure practices.

At the end of the month, the first hints about timing came out. Those dates have since been pushed back, but readers also got a sense for how the company was operating.

Multiple sources have confirmed to CoinDesk that the social media giant really only talks about its blockchain efforts behind closed doors in Menlo Park, physically, and only after everyone involved has signed non-disclosure agreements.

Four people that had been briefed on the matter told the New York Times in February that Facebook had already spoken with leading crypto exchanges. In May, Coinbase and Gemini were specifically cited by the Financial Times as two Facebook had discussed listings with.

April 2019

Another major development was Facebook’s announcement of a pivot to privacy, fully articulated by CEO Mark Zuckerberg at the company’s annual F8 event for developers.

“I believe it should be as easy to send money to someone as it is to send a photo,” Zuckerberg was quoted as saying during his presentation.

While not directly a cryptocurrency announcement, it does fit into the larger story. Zuckerberg described a future for Facebook where the public news feed is no longer the site’s main attraction. In fact, the site could become primarily a platform for millions of private conversations.

If this happens, however, end-to-end encrypted content would make targeted ads less feasible. By controlling a new kind of money, Facebook could establish monetizable experiences that could make up for lost advertising revenue.

It’s worth remembering, though, that a full 98 percent of Facebook’s $40 billion in revenue came from advertising in 2017. In March, a Barclays analyst said Facebook’s cryptocurrency could earn the company anywhere from $3 billion to $19 billion by 2021.

May 2019

The rumors about Facebook seeking funding for the project first entered the public sphere in a tweet from Nathaniel Popper, a New York Times reporter.

But then the Wall Street Journal substantiated the claim in early May, indicating that Facebook was looking further afield than just venture capitalists. Facebook had met with payments firms such as Western Union and Visa, the Journal reported.

Meanwhile, Congress began to take notice of Facebook’s efforts and the company subsequently picked up two compliance professionals from Coinbase, with significant prior experience in banking and payments.

Other names started becoming publicly associated with the project, with CoinDesk breaking the news that a notable crypto-economist, MIT’s Christian Catalini, has taken a role at the company.

Then Reuters found that the social media giant had registered a company in Switzerland, Libra Networks, with Facebook Global Holdings as its stakeholder.

The name referenced what the Wall Street Journal had previously identified as a codename for the effort, “Project Libra.” That registration can be seen here, though it simply describes a company working on a combination of financial services products, with blockchain as a component.

Le Temps reported that the person helming Libra also runs Facebook in Switzerland, Majella Goss, which operates out of a Geneva coworking space.

Beyond the GlobalCoin moniker, the BBC reported that testing should begin by the end of this year and the currency itself should roll out in the first quarter of 2020.

Borrowing from the playbook of the Asian e-commerce stablecoin Terra, the BBC story suggests Facebook will seek discounts from online retailers for customers who use GlobalCoin. This could be mutually beneficial both to the retailers and Facebook, as payment services provided by credit card companies come with fees that eat into e-tailers’ profit margins.

Facebook image via Tobias Dziuba/Pexels

This news post is collected from CoinDesk

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