#i feel like it would be comparable in terms of difficult to understand and primarily done to be annoying

[big-ass-magnet]

Ok i do want to write a silly girl genius college au drabble, it would be easy to drop them in college in Europa but I am enamored with the idea of a modern AU where the Jägers are all members of a fraternity Agatha’s family founded.

[mossbark]

You are defining "gender affirming care" and "care trans people receive" and the people on the post are defining it as "care which is sought out and used to affirm one's gender".

You are correct that Viagra and HRT for menopausal cis woman are not medically exactly equivalent to HRT for trans people, but that is not the point being argued. The point being argued is that cis people also take medical actions that are primarily to make them feel better in their gender.

It is similar to the common point that a cis woman with a moustache who does laser hair removal for it is doing so because a moustache does not fit her idea of her own gender presentation; this is the same reason a trans woman might get laser hair removal.

"The point being argued is that cis people also take medical actions that are primarily to make them feel better in their gender."

The point I am actually making is that cis people are not taking Viagra or estrogen to primarily affirm their gender. They are taking them to correct symptoms of physiological dysfunction. This isn't a hard distinction to grasp.

"I can't maintain an erection, which makes sexual intimacy difficult if not impossible. (And/or) I also have concerns about high blood pressure." Viagra.

"I am suffering from fatigue, hot flashes, hair loss, osteoporosis, insomnia, unstable mood, and pain during sexual intercourse due to my body's natural hormonal cycle being discontinued as I age." Estrogen for menopause. Also, for what it's worth, there are numerous physiological risks associated with being estrogen-deficient long-term, including an increased risk of dementia.

I think it is utterly out of touch, and uncompassionate, to completely ignore all these symptoms so these treatments can be framed as being about gender identity instead of physical day-to-day functioning. Again, I cannot overstate, I am in favor of gender-affirming therapies for those who want them, but it is crucial to understand why it isn't fair, accurate, or helpful to declare apples are really oranges because they're both round fruits. Overlap can exist between treatment outcomes, but that doesn't make the treatment the same.

While I agree cis women, trans women, and anyone else who gets LHR (edit: Lazer hair Removal) likely do so for the same reasons, you're again comparing apples to oranges by saying medical intervention is similar to a cosmetic procedure. You can also get into a discussion that goes beyond the scope of this conversation about drawing the line between personal aesthetic and gender presentation, which I would argue is what most cis people are actually experiencing in these given contexts as opposed to gender dysphoria. A woman who feels ugly because her skin is wrinkling and her hair is falling out is experiencing body dysmorphia, a diagnostic category that can overlap with gender dysphoria, but also includes eating disorders. If this same women declared she felt like less of a woman because she doesn't feel beautiful, you should probably have the empathy to understand she isn't declaring she doesn't truly feel misaligned with her gender identity, but is lamenting her appearance. These are fundamentally different experiences that due to the limitations of language, may be expressed verbally in similar ways. Also, I think the discomfort *most* presented in the initial argument is wildly overstated.

My biggest contention with everyone who has engaged with my perspective is that they are prioritizing gender expression, which is reflective of their own lived experiences, over the realities of these given diagnoses. It amounts to speaking over the lived experience of patients. To put it in perspective for you, how does this argument break down if a trans woman has ED, but wants to have PIV sex with her partner? What if a transgender man, who realized his identity later in life and does not want to seek transition, suffers from osteoporosis after entering menopause, and opts for estrogen therapy to reduce bone loss? In these situations, the argument breaks down and is no longer about affirming gender. The ultimate point I am making, simply put, is that treatments meant to restore bodily function are not the same as gender-affirming care because of coincidental overlap. The targeted symptoms are different, and it is a blatant misrepresentation to claim that cis people seek out these treatments primarily to feel better aligned with their gender.

Its popular on this website to demonize the fields of psychology and psychiatry, because I suppose they can feel restrictive to people who are untrained and uneducated on why we abide by the DSM and other treatment guidelines. This conversation is a perfect example of why it requires a master's or above to even get a job in the field. It requires critical thinking, good judgement, scientific integrity, and a solid understanding to tease out the nuances of why one diagnosis over another. I think it has become common to assume bigotry is at the root of every distinction, and sometimes it is, but this particular subject is not one to take at face value.

Hopefully this clarifies why I think this conversation is getting redundant, because at the end of the day, it's an argument the OP admitted is based on their personal politics and desire to push social boundaries rather than an understanding of how the human body works.

TL;DR not everything is the same and it doesn't have to be.

[statsstatsstats]

Thank you so much to everyone that filled in the survey!

it'll still be open so if you really want to lmk something then feel free to but these are the main interesting results to me for now

I forgot to add that in the poll but if you want to see something specfic for specific drivers like a comparison of Magnussen vs Albon or whatever you can always just send me an ask. It takes me absolutely no time/effort to make most plots.

People are interested in the qualifying bar chart. Which actually kinda suprised me but I also does make sense. But I really wasn't expecting that I just kinda made it because it's not super difficult.

People want the lap time tables alongside the FP3 race sims which makes perfect sense. But I was worried that maybe that would be too much information.

Someone asked about the mini sector FP plots for all teams which you are absolutely right Williams doesn't get shown much. But the question is always who are you comparing them too. So one option I've come up with is to just compare all of them at once. So we get a map of who was the absolute fastest where and the smaller teams do show up in those maps. I also have another idea but I need to think about that some more to figure out if it even holds any valuable information.

I was also asked to group the tyre strat plot by tyre strat because I gets confusing which I wholeheartedly agree with. Rn the tyre plot is ordered by final result which is obviously not the same as the average race pace that it's going to be paired with. And ordering it by strategy in terms of amount of pitstops is super simple. But I was also thinking about like maybe adding a different looking bar chart of the final gaps between drivers or something to add the actual final standings in there somewhere. Because it is kinda relevant.

There is definitely interest in the code/tutorials which is great! Going off of the fact that the same number of people said they'd be interested in getting more info on how to get started with fastf1 I'm for now going to assume that it's primarily people that have no to limited experience with python and coding. So I was thinking what way of doing it would make the most sense. I'm definitely going to share a lot of the code once I've made it presentable. But I was thinking about tutorials and there are quite a few written tutorials available but I always feel like those don't really explain what happens why. So I had the thought of doing them in like a video format because it is much easier to make it not actually interactive but it makes it easier to explain what does what and so on because showing results in the middle is easier. And I think it makes understanding easier.

So snuck in here at the very end is a little question that I didn't want to make a whole new form for but maybe you can send me an ask if you are interested: Are you starting from zero as in do you have coding/python experience? And would you rather have a written text tutorial that is less in depth alongside access to the code or a video situation where I talk you through what does what (the videos would probably be lengthy)?

The same applies to the information on how to get started with python/fastf1 too.

Again thank you very much for anyone that has given/ is giving their opinion! it is very appreciated!

Especially re the code and tutorial situation because I felt very thrown in the deep end when I had to start coding for uni so this would just help me figure out where people are and what you'd actually be interested in.

[jambenvs3000f24]

Describe your ideal role of environmental interpreter. What might it entail? Where might it be? What skills might you need?

My ideal role as an environmental interpreter is one who finds ways to make science, research, and information more accessible. Science has a long history of being predominantly championed by white men; while this is slowly changing science is in many ways still inaccessible. Concepts like evolution and climate change are primarily discredited by people who either were never given the tools to properly understand these complicated topics or by people who are directly benefited by the system ahem*oil and gas companies*ahem. Providing science education and critical thinking skills is so important, especially online as misinformation is widely prevalent and conspiracy theory pipelines rely on people not understanding, oftentimes at no fault of their own, but by an education and social system that failed them.

I think finding ways to make science more approachable is so crucial to remove boundaries such as wealth, race, gender, etc. from science. I would like to summarize complex topics almost in a non-academic way, instead of focusing on terminology or specific processes finding ways to make it more approachable for a general audience. When scientific terms are needed (when maybe a good synonym doesn’t exist), explaining them in an approachable way using metaphors, practical examples, and limiting their use when possible. There are some really great examples of this already online that I absolutely look up to and think are so vitally important, examples like Hank Green, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Minuteman, etc. While their experience and specialty are different they are notably all men and 66% white. 

For me complex topics look like scientific papers which can be dozens of pages, filled with technical jargon and even more complicated methods from sampling, statistical analysis, so much more that even other scientists without a specialization within the specific field can sometimes feel like gibberish. In addition to just scientific papers talking about scientific discoveries like fossils, cumulative reports, and others which require some background to fully understand which can be difficult to obtain, especially if you don’t even know where to start.

Finding ways to share content whether that is online via instagram, tik tok, youtube, etc. or within community programs would be so rewarding. I would like to target teen to adult audiences. While I think having a basic knowledge in children is so important I can’t say I’m the person for that job. I love children as much as the next guy, but, I: one don’t want to be responsible for children, two, I’m more interested in topics with a little bit of controversy  and providing nitty gritty details for larger concepts, three I have a bit of a potty mouth and would rather be able to do work where I don’t have to censor myself, at least to the same degree. I also think providing information and resources to people who already have a basic understanding of the world (whether or not that perspective is rooted in actual information or misinformation being irrelevant) is more interesting. Children are compared to sponges, soaking up information, because to them everything is new and adults don’t lie. Adults on the other hand know other adults lie, they have biases, they have experiences which shape not only their current perspective but also their response to new information, especially information that challenges their world view. To me this makes them not only a very different type of a challenge to make content for but also leads to more interesting discussions, more back and forth, and even occasionally the shifting of a mindset in either or both parties.

I would need good interpretive skills to take information such as scientific papers, reports, etc. and relay it in more common language without losing the meaning as is so often the case. I’d like to be able to provide information outside of bias which means looking at sources from varying political, social, and geographical origin, evaluating them on quality of research (sampling methods, type of analysis, interpretation of results, and so on) rather than their association. Some of the best ways to dismantle conspiracy and cult-like mentality, is providing alternative explanations for false positives and false negatives (type I vs type II errors) and education on other sources. If I were to actually create online content, especially as a female presenting human would need thick skin, to deal with the inevitable hate that everyone online receives, but also the special kind of hate directed especially at women.

I’ve thought a lot about making online content, as I’m sure everyone in my generation has, but keep deciding against it for one reason or another. Maybe someday I’ll actually do it.

[catsnotebook]

Feeling like my age

I am currently 24 years old, and in April I will turn 25. This is basically halfway to 30 which means I am halfway through my 20's. While this feels slightly terrifying and strange, because... 30? It also feels somewhat like a relief.

My late teens and early 20's were an extremely difficult time for me. Especially because I was struggling with my mental health but also trauma I was caused by people around me (both as a child and young adult). Finding my identity was also on my plate full of other thoughts residing in my small brain.

There is a quote I heard not too long ago on TikTok that resonated with me:

"Your 20's are for figuring out your trauma. Your 30's are for figuring out who you are."

This, I feel, seems pretty spot on in terms of what I am going through right now in my mid 20's. When I was in my late teens and early 20's, I often felt lost and confused; clouded with negative emotions and negative experiences. I was very angry about many things in my life. Things I couldn't control, people I couldn't control. Always feeling like I could not have any say in my own life.

When I moved out, things changed drastically for me. But not without hardship. When I moved out, it was the first time I really could feel myself detaching from who I was at the time: a person I longed (for what felt like forever) to no longer be.

I did not like who I was, and what my life was like.

And while I was during a detachment process to become the person I wanted to be, there were still forces (cough, people) around me that kept pulling me backwards. These forces are still around today, but less prevalent than before. I feel today that I have more power over my life now than I ever did a year ago. I am however not yet in full control. Keyword: Yet.

A year ago I would sometimes nearly slip up and say I was 21 or 19 if someone would ask me my age. Somehow, I felt like I was much younger than I actually was. Even though my physical age was 23 or 24, it was this feeling of being younger. A feeling saying "Hey, you're growing up too fast! Your mind hasn't caught up with your body yet..."

Today, in January 2023, I feel like my age.

I feel like my mind has caught up. The only factor to credit for this is the fact that I gained a lot more independence, life experiences, and a deeper understanding of different, but all vital, aspects of my life.

Doing the work to truly and deeply understand my adult relationships around me as well as my own wants and needs unlocked a clarity I didn't have before. I learned to identify patterns and problems well before they occurred. I learned to emotionally regulate better, to be critical of others' behavior and mine too. I learned to better say no, to distance myself from what harmed my mental health.

I also unpacked trauma I didn't even know I had. This was, however, primarily possible because I now have a support system (which I did not have prior to this) that helps me feel safe and allows me to express myself without any fear of rejection.

When you have a support system bringing you safety, repressed memories no longer become repressed because your body is no longer in survival mode. And when these memories resurface, that is the time to talk about them and process. Confronting memories, but also people, is difficult. I try to take it one step at a time. It is rarely easy.

None of this I did with therapy, of course. Just educating myself (thank you Internet) and keeping safe people around me. And a guidance counsellor. But had I had therapy, which I hope to have very soon, I believe I would have progressed much further in my life and mental health compared to now.

Still, I will not discredit my journey and achievements thus far. I am proud of myself and how far I have truly come. Detaching myself from the person I once used to be: unhappy, angry, feeling out of control.

My path is still long, but look how far I have come.

As such, the TikTok quote currently rings true for my life. My 20's have been, thus far, spent trying to figure out my trauma. As I am halfway through my 20's, I would like to imagine I am halfway through figuring out my trauma. Wishful thinking. 💭

I am looking forward to figuring out who I am when I am 30.

Love, Cat

[idontwanttospoiltheparty]

can you speak more to that re johns insecurities over their friendship. idk, maybe it could be johns close proximity to the relationship and not being able to see from a birds eyed view but i feel there were so many instances where paul really showcased his loyalty to john and their bond. ie being there and defending him during the Jesus affair, actually trying to understand his and yoko’s relationship (albeit not enthusiastically, but none of them truly did in the beginning, however you have Paul in the let it be tapes discussing trying to understand John & Yokos relationship and explaining it’s importance to John to the rest of the gang). paul going with j&y to sir John lockwood’s office when two virgins was going to be released and providing his support. Paul letting j&y live with him for a while. even on the white album, paul being there while john plays julia, providing encouragement over the intercom on such a personal topic for john. I don’t think paul is fully innocent or anything in the band dynamics (i think the way he especially treated George during the beatle years really should have been better), but in terms of john, idk I feel he really tried to make an effort at least? i take the point that heroin obviously play a part, but John was already doubting before H was ever in the picture (e.g. family way). i really wonder why.

Hi anon!

I think this is a very difficult topic, to be honest, which doesn't have a very straightforward answer. I think there are multiple things that factor into this.

1) First off, there's the fact that John probably wanted some sort of sexual relationship from Paul. Maybe Paul and he even engaged in SOME kind of sexual thing at some point — though I don't tend to believe that — but I'd say it's pretty clear that whatever they had going on, John wanted more commitment, as can be attested by this quote:

The only thing ever lacking in working with another artist and they were usually male – whether it was Stuart Sutcliffe (my art school friend) or Paul McCartney (my musical friend) – is that the relationship only goes as far as the front door and after that you are alone in bed. It's a plus not a minus. The plus is that your best friend can also hold you. (x)

There's a few other quotes where John seems to imply that, to him, romantic/sexual love is the natural next step beyond friendship.

((I actually find it interesting how in In My Life, he compares the subject to both friends and lovers, but that's sort of veering off-topic))

My main point here is that I think John interpreted Paul's unwillingness to commit to him more as being a result of a lack of "sufficient" love, not incompatibility or other factors.

2) John pretty clearly had very deep-seated, life-long abandonment issues, which don't go away just because your friend is nice to you. Ultimately, his insecurity was due to his own unhealthy outlook on life and/or mental health problems, not primarily due to how Paul treated him.

3) I do think though, that Paul just is a kind of emotionally closed off person who also doesn't tend to express his feelings with words. John was probably a "Words of Affirmation" kind of guy. I get the impression from that dialogue where John is saying "Do you hate me? I'm crazy, you know?" that he's heavily baiting Paul to contradict and thereby reassure him. It's both an indirect way to get external help to alleviate your insecurities and, with people who don't really "think" of saying nice things, it can give them the idea to go out of their way to express their affection.

Also don't necessarily see Paul as an apologetic person who sought reconciliation after he'd messed up, which several people have attested John actually was. This would definitely be frustrating and contribute to insecurities.

4) I think it's quite likely that some part of John wanted Paul to push back against Yoko and "claim" John for himself, but Paul tended to take what John said at face value and instead tried to support JohnandYoko, which John may've interpreted as Paul simply not caring about who John was with. John seems to have kind of had a habit of saying one thing to Paul and hoping he guessed that he actually meant the opposite, like with The Family Way. It comes across as some twisted idea of what it means to be a friend, that true friends are mindreaders. Where he got this idea from, I'm honestly not sure, but I can fully believe that before the end of touring they were more on each other's wavelength generally, because they spent so much time together, and maybe John missed that later on.

5) LSD: I think John probably felt some kind of hurt from the fact that Paul wouldn't take the leap and drop acid with him for months. This probably made him somewhat doubt Paul's overall loyalty.

6) Heroin: From what I can tell, the biggest issue within their relationship that H contributed was making it generally harder for John to relate to the world outside his bubble and severely dampening his communication skills, which worsened some of the above points.

7) John might've felt like their friendship was built on John being the dominant leader, who set the pace, and if Paul was starting to be more in control, this could mean that John would one day no longer be necessary, which would've flared up his abandonment issues.

I think that's all my theories, others are free to add factors they think are relevant!

[thewhiteroseofvermilion]

Moving Forward

Hello everyone. It’s been a long time since I’ve last spoken to you all, and an even longer time since I’ve last updated this story. Over the months and years, my absence has saddened, frustrated, and even angered many of you. Despite my own valid feelings of how—to put it bluntly—I don’t owe any of you anything as this is something I do for free and in my own free time, I still recognize how it must feel for you all to see something you enjoy so much slowly lose momentum and eventually grind to a halt. Furthermore, my habit of making enthusiastic yet empty statements in between didn’t help either. 

As such, a proper and honest explanation is due, as anything less would be unkind. This will be lengthy, but please bear with me. 

For the past four years, it’s been increasingly difficult to find the time, energy, and motivation for me to properly sit down and write. Seemingly gone are the early days of this story’s life when I was able to publish a new chapter every month or so, or even every two weeks when I was at the top of my game in terms of activeness. Even though I had an immense workload due to being a double major in college, leading me to adopt the best work ethic I’ve ever had, I still led a sheltered lifestyle where I didn’t have to worry about the many looming, inevitable adult responsibilities that were ahead of me.

Those tranquil years of course came to an end when I graduated, and I soon felt immense pressure to shift my attention to finding work, living independently, and working on things that would further my career. While I received support as an aspiring writer from the majority of my family, those being my mother and sister, the both of them commented more frequently as time passed by that my “fanfiction” wasn’t something that I should be spending so much time on anymore. After all, it’s not like I could sell the work as my own, and the fact that despite fanfiction absolutely being a valid artform, it wasn’t something that the world of professional employers cared about. 

Nonetheless, when I did eventually find work as a film freelancer, I still tried to persevere and write on the side. My goal back then was to work in film in order to sustain my pursuit in writing. Film was something I went to school for, greatly enjoyed, and even saw a possible future career for myself in, but it was the writing aspect of it that I was truly after, that being primarily screenwriting. 

After two years of living at home, I felt the need to try and live independently as I outgrew my tiny room and my mom started dating a man that I didn’t particularly like. I knew it wasn’t financially smart of me to do so when my mom allowed me to live with her rent-free. But at the time I thought that it would help me to become more mature and productive, as I would have to force myself to work in order to put a roof over my head and food on the table—as opposed to living a sheltered life at home where everything was taken care of for me. Essentially, I was longing for the lifestyle I had in college, thinking that once I returned to it, I would be able to reacquire that once incredible work ethic I had. 

So, I became roommates with a friend from college and together we rented a townhouse together. Rent wasn’t terribly expensive, but it wasn’t cheap either. Regardless, I was able to make ends meet. My greatest challenge however, was to live up to my family’s spoken and unspoken expectations. On one hand, my mother was sweet and understanding, naturally giving me her full support. My father, on the other, always thought that it’d be better for me to pursue something safer and more lucrative, and to not risk being a starving artist. But the one I had to prove myself the most to was my older sister, who was wildly more successful than I was—financially and professionally. My pay compared to hers was like a drop in a bucket, and I felt both indirect and direct pressure from her to be more “professional” like her. Therefore, I threw myself into my work, which is when things slowly began to go downhill. 

As a film freelancer, my work hours usually averaged between 10-12 hours a day, and with my work taking me all over my home state of Maryland and even into neighboring Washington DC and Virginia, my commute time to and from work ranged anywhere from an additional 1-3 hours. It became incredibly common for me to wake up for work anywhere between 3-6 AM and not get home until 8-10 PM. 

Unbeknownst to me at the time, I slowly slipped into a routine where when I did have the “time” to write, I had zero energy or motivation as my work was so taxing. I reached the point where I had to drink two energy drinks with 300mg of caffeine to get myself to and from work. I saw less and less of my roommate and friends. I spent an alarming amount of money and gained weight from ordering take-out so often because I hadn’t the energy to cook for myself when I got home late from work. There would even be days when I fell into what felt like comas, sleeping up to two days straight at one point. My physical, mental, and emotional health was in serious decline. And yet I didn’t see it that way, as I had become obsessed with trying to prove to my family, my sister in particular, that I wasn’t a failure and that my pursuit of writing wasn’t a hopeless one.

During the first month of COVID-19′s outbreak last year, I finally had a much-needed vacation. This was undoubtedly the best time for me to have returned to writing—but I didn’t. At this point, so much time had passed since my last proper writing session that the few times I did try to write, I found myself completely unable to write anything. I was so out of practice and so out of touch with what I had written. This honestly frightened me, and I soon began to doubt if I could ever be able continue the story with the same quality that so many readers fell in love with. Regrettably, I fled from this revelation long enough for a full month to pass by, and I soon found myself busy with yet another distraction: unemployment. 

I was out of work for about 4.5 months, from the middle of March to the beginning of August. During this time, I had to rely on state unemployment, which earned me great scorn from my older sister. Our relationship had always been uneven since we were kids, but it was becoming increasingly toxic as of late since our college years. I felt so ashamed to tell her how much money I made in a year from my job as a film freelancer, and how I barely managed to move to a better position after four years of work. Riddled with guilt and disappointment in myself, when work became readily available again in August, I frantically threw myself back in harder than ever before. In the past where I had turned down the occasional job to give myself some time to relax or in order to make it to a social outing with friends, I now accepted every job thrown my way, only declining those that would make me double-book myself. I earned a lot of money during those months as a result, and I was so happy to finally distance myself from the stigma of being “unemployed.” However, I once again failed to see that I was yet again sliding back into the lifestyle that had been slowly poisoning me for the past two years. 

After essentially working non-stop from August to March, my body, mind, and soul soon returned right back to the brink of collapse. It wasn’t until then at my lowest point when I finally realized how I initially went from working to sustain myself in order to write, to not writing at all and only working to sustain myself to work even more. It was truly scary to see myself fall victim to a brutal cycle of unfulfilling work that could have trapped me for years to come if I hadn’t broken free first. That’s when I realized that my lifestyle was personally unsustainable, and that something had to change. 

Henceforth, I’ve made the difficult decisions to both transition out of film freelancing and to soon return home to live with my father. At the end of April, the homeowner of the townhouse my roommate and I had been living in for close to three years gave us our 30-days-notice to vacate, as they no longer wished to rent but to sell the property. As my roommate had been planning on finding a place of his own with his girlfriend for quite some time, we split amicably at the end of last month in May and I’ve since moved into a temporary apartment with a friend who has traveled back to Maryland for seasonal work. 

Regarding the change in my career, I’ve been looking into applying for writing positions for something that I’ve grown to enjoy over the past few years, which is to write reviews for media such as film, anime, and videogames. This of course is not what I truly want to do in life, but I think that because it actually involves writing, it would be both good practice in terms of practicing my writing and experience in terms of resume-building. Furthermore, a stable “9-5″ job as such would be good for me, I think, as it would introduce some desperately needed structure back into my life. Being a freelancer was definitely fun as I had the power to choose my own schedule, but it unfortunately fostered a lot of laziness and procrastination when I wasn’t completely burnt out. 

I’ve shared with you all this information, a great deal of it being very personal, in the hopes that it helps you better understand who I am as a person and what I’ve been going through these past four years. 

I understand that my word may be difficult to trust due to my history, but I sincerely wish to let you all know from the bottom of my heart that I do plan on continuing writing The White Rose of Vermilion until it’s completed. My fears and insecurities may have alienated me from that promise, but not once did I ever entertain the idea of fully dropping the story. And I promise you, I never will. It most likely will not further my career in any way, bring any revenue in, and will continue to consume a great deal of my precious free time—yet I still choose to pursue continuing it because I can’t see a future where I don’t finish it.

It is after all my most cherished project; the reason that I was able to truly find my calling as an aspiring writer, its success also ultimately being the proof to my mother that I had some skill as a budding writer, who then gave me her full blessings to pursue it as a career. But most important of all is that it’s the reason why I was able to experience first-hand one of the most important and beautiful discoveries in my entire life. That being the incredible phenomenon of how art is like a beacon—its bright light is powerful enough to reach out and inspire others to create art of their own. From Monty Oum to Nancy Phetchareune to myself, I was blessed enough to see readers create wonderful fanart to show me or tell me in a review that reading my story had inspired them to create something of their own.

I am officially leaving behind my prolonged hiatus and returning to working on The White Rose of Vermilion. While I am extremely hesitant to even estimate when the next chapter will be published, please know that I am genuinely trying to leave behind my habits of old and returning to a more consistent schedule. 

The White Rose of Vermilion will return in:

Arc II, Chapter Twenty-Seven: Stranger in the Night

[rigelmejo]

Study Plans May 2021

bold - priority

italic - less important

Chinese - short term (listening/reading):

Continue Listening Reading Method Guardian

Continue reading chinese - ideally some extensive and some intensive (currently reading in Pleco is intensive, Guardian is partly extensive when I do L R Method step 2 or read the print version)

Continue listening to Spoonfed Chinse Audio (I’m getting there!)

Continue adding background chinese listening to my day (lets get to 1,500 hours! Which I suspect is not as far as I think, considering all that cdrama watching probably counted, and I can generally parse some words I ‘know’ when listening and also parse some unknown words enough to look them up - and I can parse more words each time when I re-listen to things).

*priority here is L R Method, in general just strengthening reading and listening skills.

long term (listening/reading, with more shadowing and *hanzi solidifying):

L R Method more, and read in general more - so what I’ve been doing, but hopefully get to more books.

Shadowing with L R Method more.

SHADOWING more - both in general and using my pronunciation apps on my phone (general putonghua app and Chinese Pronunciation Trainer - both of which allow recording so I can compare my own pronunciation)

Experiment with the Re-listening technique (7 steps, a lot of shadowing, compatible with l r method)

Experiment with step 5 of L R Method - translating pieces to and from english/chinese.

Read through Alan Hoenig’s Chinese Characters and READ the mnemonics! write down mnemonics for sound/tone, and practice writing the hanzi (just write it in the book I’m begging you just DO THIS - it should take 1 month or 2 if you can just be dedicated). Basically focus on hanzi solidifying (specifically recognizing radicals, remembering pronunciation).

*idea is to start incorporating more production activities (shadowing, writing, translating)

longer term (grammar solidifying, production of grammar/vocab, *hanzi solidifying):

Start one of my physical Chinese grammar books - probably Chinese Basic Sentence Patterns (or my Textbook, just start one). Prioritize reading through. If reading is accomplished, do journal entries where I practice the sentence patterns/words - and/or do the textbook exercises. (Basically prioritize grammar solidifying, production skills/active vocabulary). *Ideally use a physical book I have so I don’t get distracted (only use a digital HSK book IF you’re studying FOR that test please ;-; )

FINISH Alan Hoenig’s Chinese Character’s book (at MINIMUM read through it i’m begging).

Likely still reading, and L R Method (if I like any audiobooks which lol I can think of a lot) - for these months it would take background to grammar-book work.

priority: solidifying grammar/hanzi, improving written production skills

---

Japanese - short term (vocab/grammar primarily from Nukemarine LLJ):

Continue Nukemarine LLJ courses (make an effort to use mnemonics to remember more kanji/pronunciations, shadow sentences)

READ Tae Kim’s grammar guide (I know I took it off but I GENUINELY need to read a grammar guide it helps how my brain thinks stuff... I can put this step off but if I FEEL like grammar, please go do this over any video or new grammar resource!)

AS DESIRED, check out lets plays, Game Gengo (specifically his grammar vids), game scripts, cure dolly (*LIMIT this one as not priority), playing games. Basically no need to make immersion a priority (as I think 2000 base vocab is what will make immersion more Productive), but doing it to maintain interest and do something when I don’t feel like studying is nice.

*priority here is pretty obvious - get through as much of Nukemarine’s LLC memrise courses as I can asap. In general I think my life will get easier once I do more of it...

long term (I should have 9-10 of nukemarine’s LLJ courses completed before these):

FINISH Nukemarine’s LLJ courses.

Listen to more Japanese - core japanese audio files, japaneseaudiolessons (pick one to start with, listen to it once I’m done with Chinese Spoonfed Audio) - the point is to use this to reinforce vocab/learn vocab, practice listening hours more.

Start playing video games in japanese more regularly, reading things I want to read more regularly. Lets plays more regularly, etc. So more everyday immersion. 

Transcribe rest of Japanese in 30 Hours (not priority, but fun)

*Read through my Japanese Sentence Patterns (I honestly might understand this better than any grammar guide).

*Read my learn to read japanese books (note - if I start this I should consistently read and finish it, hence best to start this after Nukemarine’s LLJ is completed/near complete).

* = activities I may save for MUCH longer term. I think whether I do them sooner or later depends on ease of immersion. If after Nukemarine, immersion is still painfully difficult, then I should probably read one (or both) of these books asap. 

[therapy101]

(1/2) With a rise in young children expressing gender nonconformity being sent to gender clinics, being taught about gender dysphoria and being ‘born in the wrong body’ in schools, being guided towards pubertal blockers and medical transition, I was wondering if I could ask for your more knowledgeable input please. When treating such children and adolescents, why is the underlying assumption that the dysphoric feelings are valid and the body is what needs fixing? Why is APA/psychologists

(”2/2) allowing medical decisions to be made based on outdated mind-body dualism? We don’t affirm anorexia and offer liposuction, or the delusions of schizophrenia for instance, so why is this the only mind-body incongruence that’s treated this way? Does GD in a developing child really warrant medicalizing them for the rest of their lives? Since we’ve scientifically concluded gender is a spectrum, shouldn’t we instead be promoting gender diversity no matter what sexed body we’re born in?”

There are a lot of things to unpack and understand here. 

1. The underlying assumption is not that “the body needs fixing.” Medical transition is not the first step for children, adolescents, or adults with gender dysphoria. From 2004-2016, only 92 total children and adolescents out of six million total patients younger than 19 seen in the sample received a hormone blocker for a transgender-related diagnosis. Even among adults, current estimates for the United States are that between 25-35% of trans and non-binary adults complete any kind of gender affirming surgery (this means, even enough those who have surgery, it may only be one type of surgery and may not impact all relevant body parts). Getting access to trans-affirming medical care is very difficult, and structural inequalities like racism impact access to care, leading some trans people, especially Black trans women, to have to buy hormones from non-medical sources. That’s one of the reasons why the APA has come out to support trans folks and gender affirming care: because otherwise, these folks don’t get any care, or they get mistreated. The point here is to ensure that everyone gets equitable access to high quality medical and mental health care. That includes hormones, hormone blockers, and/or surgery for some people, but not everyone. 

2. All feelings are valid- dysphoric or otherwise. Sometimes feelings don’t fit the facts, or acting upon them doesn’t make sense, but that doesn’t take away from their validity. The question is not whether the feelings are valid for kids with gender dysphoria, the question is how to understand that dysphoria better and how to identify what to do about it, both in terms of gender identity and in terms of coping, support and improving overall mental health. This is a great place for a therapist with expertise to step in and help the child and their family figure it out. 

Sometimes the child or adolescent has known literally or essentially their whole life, and that may mean no dysphoria (which is great!). From Katz-Wise et al., 2017: 

For some youth, primarily but not exclusively those ages 7–12 years, indication of transgender identification occurred early and was described as “immediate.” One father of an 18-year-old trans boy from the Northeast noted, “It was so immediate that it was just, you know, it wasn’t like he was seven and he said, ‘Oh my god he thinks of himself as a boy.’ It was just kinda always like that with him.”

For other youth, it is a more gradual process, and may take some time to sort out. Some youth also don’t have dysphoria while they are doing that so there may not be a reason to seek out therapy unless there is some other mental health issue they are facing. But if they do have dysphoria, or are otherwise experiencing mental health symptoms related to their gender identity, then seeing a therapist can help. 

3. Supporting a child to identify as trans or nonbinary or some other non-cis gender is not “medicalizing them for the rest of their lives.” Hormone blockers can be removed, and hormones can be stopped- but I disagree that these are “medicalizing” in any case. A person cannot be reduced down to the medications they take or the treatments they receive. Is a woman with cancer “medicalized” because she undergoes a hysterectomy? Are the children on puberty blockers for medical reasons “medicalized” (>2000 of them in the study I cited above, but no one seems concerned about them)? What about those people with delusions who are put on antipsychotics, which are known to have severe side effects including higher risk of diabetes and heart disease, seizures, tardive dyskinesia, overwhelming sleepiness impacting ability to work or drive, weight gain (I’ve seen clients gain >70 lbs in 3 months), and more? 

I would encourage you to read either of these great studies by Katz-Wise et al: 1 or 2 to understand this better. When you ask trans youth about themselves, the medical aspect is such a small part- they are talking about their whole selves, their hopes for the future, their families and friends, and their wishes to be able to be loved and accepted for who they really are. Some of it is about their bodies, sure, and that can mean that some decide to use hormones and/or hormone blockers or undergo surgery (although we’ve seen that those rates aren’t super higher ). But they’re also just talking about being called the right name and pronoun, getting to wear the clothes that make them feel authentic, getting to date and marry and have sex, and: getting to live. Not being ostracized and assaulted and killed. Like this 8 year old who identifies as a girlish boy worrying he’ll never be able to get married AND be his true self (from the second Katz-Wise et al):

An 8-year-old youth participant who identified as a “girlish boy” similarly worried about other people's reactions related to gender norms in the long-term future, as told by his mother,

He said [to me], ‘But I'm not going to get married, because if I married a boy I'd want to be the bride...I would want to wear a dress and people would laugh at me because I'm marrying a boy and I'd be wearing a dress.

He is 8 years old and these are his worries. As a mental health professional, my immediate thought is that he deserves any and all support that makes sense to him and his family so that he doesn’t have to worry like this. So that he can be 8. 

4. Finally, and probably most importantly: gender dysphoria is different because treating it with hormone blockers, hormones, and surgery is literally life saving. 

As high as 42% of trans people have attempted suicide at least once. For comparison, the lifetime prevalence of suicide attempts in the general population is 3%.  

Study after study has shown that there are three primary factors that reduce suicide risk: 1. Timely medical and legal transition for those who want it; 2. Family acceptance and general support from friends and loved ones; 3. Reduced transphobia and internalized transphobia. (1 2 3 4 5). 

Psychologists want to help people live, and live well. Living well means having a life you enjoy and find meaningful. If medical transition means someone’s suicide risk decreases and their mental health improves, then they can pursue the life they want. Being affirmed in their gender means they can have that part of the life they want. It might also help them get to other things they want (like having the marriage and wedding they envision, like that example). These are things we as psychologists prioritize. Period. 

It’s not the same as anorexia because providing a liposuction for two reasons. One: It would not resolve the dysphoria. People with anorexia who lose weight do not feel better about themselves and their bodies. That’s the dysphoria: people with anorexia (and other eating disorders, sometimes) often cannot see their bodies as they really are. Changing the body won’t help. Unlike in gender dysphoria, where changing the body- either in presentation or actually medically -actually does help. Two: Liposuction for an underweight person with anorexia could kill them. As we’ve discussed, gender affirming surgeries for trans people can save their lives. These are not comparable. 

The comparison to delusions doesn’t work very well because there isn’t really a “medical” intervention you would do to affirm someone’s delusion. But, since you may not know this: we sometimes do affirm people’s delusions, and it’s not necessarily psychologically helpful to try to change someone’s mind about a delusion. Delusions are not bad all on their own, and: sometimes things we think are delusional, actually aren’t, so it’s super important not to assume we know someone’s life and experiences better than they do. (Just recently a nurse assumed a patient was delusional, but actually they were quite rich and owned several expensive cars. People can be rich and have a significant mental illness.) So anyway- I don’t know how that applies. 

Overall: we as a field are still understanding the full spectrum of gender identities and how to do good treatment and good science in relationship with that. But what’s clear is that medical transition is sometimes a part of a good treatment plan for both youth and adults, and that it can save people’s lives. It can make their lives better. I am 100% about saving people’s lives, so I am 100% about a medical transition when appropriate and gender affirming care in general. 

References: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

(email me at academic.consultant101 gmail.com if you need full texts)

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[ordelion]

[ 👨‍🏫 ] how much does your muse care about image? how would they react if something personal got leaked about them?

Lysithea, as I interpret her, cares for her image quite a bit, yet in a diverse set of ways. One prominent place she cares for her image is in how she tries to give herself a very mature look- although her conceptualization of what a "mature" individual is can sometimes backfire on both her overall enjoyment of life, and this façade of maturity’s limited effectiveness. A few key ways she acts to look more "mature" include using an expansive, obtuse vocabulary, reading books that are text-heavy with very few pictures, enjoying sweet food only in private while eating meals with more difficult flavors in public, and spending meticulous amounts of time on her handwriting & signature to make sure it looks far above average in its detail, (although this level of meticulousness is an intrinsic element of Lysithea's character even aside from her image). Romantic inclinations are very much a point of dissonance in this facet of her image- while she realizes that most mature people are in search of, or already have, a romantic partner, she reviles the concept innately and has made it an open secret that she doesn’t wish to be married for a long time, far after she expects to have passed away. Occasionally, she tries to spin it as a mature disdain for “childish” tendencies for impossible crushes and useless pining, but most people probably brush it off as her age acting upon her considerations, even her parents. While I have dipped between headcanoning her as asexual, verses writing her as being merely disinterested- right now I hold to the latter- it has just never been a part of her life, and is not something she wishes to have for as long as she’s alive. That could change, but it would take a lot of time. At the same time, she also tries to give herself the image of someone who isn't too noticeable, and she has so far shied away from the societal norms of gossip among the nobility. She avoids controversies as best she can, primarily by talking about plain, inoffensive, academic topics while around any sort of noble clique, only speaking her mind's true opinions in close, one-on-one conversations. Yet, this refusal to engage with the social traditions of the nobles, combined with her fierce innate temper and inherently striking appearance & list of accomplishments, has ironically garnered her far more noble attention than any tiny scandal may have otherwise. So far, this attention is limited to a novelty, which she does not like, but can tolerate. How this develops remains to be seen. In contrast to this, she cares only moderately for the image of other people. She understands, for the sake of her parents if not herself, that she cannot be publically around places, people, or groups which are "beneath" her minor-noble status, although this understanding is entirely out of pragmatism instead of an internalized feeling of elitism. When outside of polite company, she doesn't take other people's reputation much into account, in part due to her disdain for noble norms and her own brash nature. She instead relies on her own gut instincts around people combined with how she's seen them act in the past to formulate an opinion on others. People without crests are an exception- she envies them and is intrigued by them inherently. In IntSys’ lovely game, I've noticed that Lysi's reaction to her secrets being leaked is rather muted compared to how they were being hyped up. Thusly, I've instead chosen to interpret her defensiveness of her secrets to be more radical than in, say, Linhardt or Hanneman’s supports. Reactions to such a leaking of secrets would vary depending on their level of magnitude- on one end, her secret of liking sweets being ousted to one non-gossiping friend would perhaps earn a cold shoulder or a small attempt at bargaining at most, while on the other end, having all of high society know of her time with TWSITD and her twin crests might very well lead to constant nervous breakdowns, swinging from being utterly, inconsolably despondent, to violently lashing out in rage. It also depends on her attitude towards herself, for if she’s more self-confident, more stable, or more supported by friends, these reactions could be less life-shaking- and even, if she can progress enough, come out by her own volition. Conversely, if she’s unstable, alone, or stricken by various ills already, even the most minor of leaked secrets could set her off into lunacy and misery. No matter what secret, however, a typical initial reaction is one of disbelief and confusion- perhaps even with her imagining it’s merely a nightmare. In terms of strategy for dealing with leaked secrets, she's got a severe case of "if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail”; in this case, the hammer is magic. While she may limit herself to verbal sparring in more minor cases, with her back against the wall, she’d certainly threaten to fling a dangerous spell or two, and she’d be more than willing to go through with this magical assault if pushed far enough. This is where my Lysithea diverges most sharply from canon- that capacity for retaliation that I suspected was bubbling beneath her in most supports, in which the conditions were set so that such a reaction was not possible. This defensiveness was influenced by her parent’s desire to keep Lysithea’s secrets locked up, out of a hope that she could escape having this scandal hook on to her throughout her entire life. Her parents are the few people she trusts and loves wholeheartedly, so their wishes and actions were taken quite a lot into her consideration on how she’d deal with her past. It was also affected by her days in TWSITD that I had previously headcanoned; her escape was only possible through violence and poisonings, so why not the same here? As well, her quick temper and propensity for insults only fan this flame.

[musedysfunctixn-m]

Kanna Kuwajima - Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba OC

“This is the Land of the Rising Sun, I will not allow your existence to desecrate this beautiful nation. Let me guide your soul to the after life.”

Aged 21 years old ( different ages can be played upon request )

Member of the Demon Slayer Corps

The current Thunder Hashira/Pillar

Kanna is a woman who stands at 167 cm ( 5′6″ ), she is characterized by her rather athletic build, though has plenty of distinct feminine features that are very striking. She is able to use a sword with a straight edged blade since she has enough physical prowess to decapitate a demon little to no problems. Despite a lot, Kanna is very agile, which can give her an advantage in any sort of conflict with ease. She has an hourglass body figure, though it’s rare visible, usually covered by her haori and uniform, she is the kind the that wears a skirt rather than the standard uniform pants. Her hair is black, often compared to the dark stormy sky during a thunderstorm at night, it progressively gets lighter and descends into a light yellow at the tips. It’s usually held in pigtails and pinned with two lightning pins. Her eyes are an orchid purple, making them very striking, though her hair seems to be her most notable feature when it comes to everything. To end this all off, she has a creamy peach skin complexion.

It’s not hard to see that she is a Thunder Breath Technique user, having mastered all of the forms that there are, much like Zenitsu and Kaigaku she was trained by Jigoro Kuwajima aka Gramps, who happens to be her biological grandfather. With her advanced sword skills, Kanna relies heavily on her instincts when it comes to anything combat related, as a result, fights are more than usually always in her favor since she can anticipate a whole lot. Fighting and combat are incredibly difficult because of this since she’s often described as being extremely unpredictable.

Kanna has the most wonderful people skills and truly cares about the happiness and well-being of others. People see her as a giver. Her primary way to evaluate people and situations is externally and this means that she considers everything based on how well it fits into her values systems. This makes her incredibly patient, understanding and kind. Because she has an outward focus on other people, she sees possibilities where others see obstacles. Kanna tends to have a natural ability to love, nurture, and care for others as well as bring out the best in them. She thoroughly enjoys seeing other people happy and having a good time. Kanna is extremely unselfish, but some may think she uses natural people skills to manipulate others. Kanna gets her nickname “The Protagonist” (and “mentor” or “teacher”) because she supports others. She genuinely cares about bringing out the best in others, and will use her skills to do so. People with her personality type will feel challenged by spending time alone. Being extraverted, this can seem like a punishment rather than the opportunity for rest and reflection that it really is. She finds herself filling her life with non-stop activity and more relationships than she can reasonably handle to avoid this discomfort. It’s essential that she consider her own needs to avoid burnout and being taken advantage of by others. Compared to other extraverted personality types, Kanna has more difficulty expressing her opinions and letting people get to know her at an intimate level. When she does express her beliefs, it’s not likely that they will be too personal. The main reason for this is that Kanna doesn’t want to alienate anyone. However, she then runs the risk of feeling lonely even when constantly surrounded by others because it’s hard for her to reveal her true self.

At a young age, Kanna’s home life wasn’t easy by any means, often being quite rowdy and causing trouble for her parents. As a child, she was incredibly outgoing and very much acted like a tomboy, being far from refined like her parents wanted her to be. She was often subjected to having her social interaction limited because of the way that she ended up acting around other children, even though she was nothing but friendly. Time and time again, she got told that no one would want her or accept her for the way that she ended up acting. Eventually a breaking point was reached and it all came crashing down when her father and mother openly ridiculed her out in public. Kanna was only 7 when this all happened. Not long after, she ran away to live with her grandfather that her family no longer associated with. A friendly traveler was able to help her get their safely without getting harmed or anything.

From that time forward, she trained with her grandfather, the retired Thunder Hashira. There were no problems teaching her from such a young age especially with her strong fighting spirit. She learned very quickly and had little struggle when it came to the various Thunder Breathing forms, being a very promising Demon Slayer in the making. Much like everyone else, at age 15 she went to Final Selection upon approval from her grandfather that she was very much ready to move forward. Before the Final Selection process happened, she briefly met both Giyuu and Sabito who were also there. She did happen to be quite chatty with them. Of course, she didn’t hear of the tragedy until much later on. After about a year of advancing her skills and mastering them, Kanna filled the vacant Thunder Hashira position. Through the years, she had the opportunity to go back and visit her grandfather, meeting both Kaigaku and Zenitsu. It was very much intended for Kanna to take Kaigaku on as her Tsuguko, but this didn’t happen due to constant clashes in he and Kanna’s personalities. Zenitsu becoming her next consideration, though she very much waited on him to get a better hold on himself so that she could.

She is seen to have good relations with all the other Hashira and she always tries her hardest to stay in the good graces of all of them since they are her allies. Despite having two biological siblings that Kanna has never met, she has plenty of self proclaimed ones. Primarily Shinobu and Mitsuri, very much acting like the elder sister to the other two female Hashira. Of course, Zenitsu being the other one, mostly since she promised her grandfather that she would keep an eye on him and look after her. So, it’s not uncommon for her to periodically check up on him, even if she comes off as somewhat overbearing and he doesn’t want to have her around, she still puts forth the effort to try, even if it ends up being a major pain. When it came to the whole situation with Tanjiro and Nezuko, she remained heavily unbiased and didn’t really offer a proper opinion, though she very much understands the situation and fully supports Tanjiro having his sister around.

SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT!!!

Just like all the other Hashira, Kanna very much struggled with the death of Kyojuro and it was hard for her to cope since it was so sudden. If anything, she just struggled to come to terms with the fact that one of the strongest Hashira had ended up dying. It was just hard for her to wrap her brain around. However, when the time came, she readily accepted Yūna into their Hashira ranks, mostly because she was sure that her predecessor would’ve wanted her to fit in rather than be some sort of outcast. Once again, Kanna willingly added the other girl to her list of self proclaimed siblings. She and Yūna becoming a duo. Prior to the Red Light District Arc, she did offer Zenitsu a lot of encouragement when it came to the mission he would be participating in. Also including how important and crucial he was to the mission that he was about to go on. She was there to bid him farewell and good luck before he left with Tengen.

When it came to the final training before the final battle, Kanna worked with Yūna to make a stealth training exercise, just so that everyone wasn’t so spread thin. Admittedly, she and Yūna made the exercise very difficult, since it was stealth and it was meant to be hard since it would be such a huge asset. Nothing can compare to the amount of strenuous training that she undertook just to make sure that she was prepared. Though, more than anything it was used to cope with the unexpected passing of her grandfather, who had committed seppuku. Such a thing was incomprehensible to her, especially since he had the person who practically raised her after she had up and left her parents. In the end, it kind of broke her will to fight anymore with the fear that she would lose a lot more because of the final battle that lie ahead. Yūna was the one who helped her pull it all together, since she knew as well as anyone that they would probably need all the strength they had to achieve victory.

During the final battle, Kanna was constantly drifting between different fights to help the best that she possibly could. Mostly being caught up in the fight that was happening between Zenitsu and Kaigaku then attending to Zenitsu’s wounds the best that she possibly could before she moved onto the next fight. It was extremely exhausting, but she did all that she possibly could to help with what was going on. Along the way, she did sustain a fairly life threatening injury, but kept fighting despite how bad that it was. Of course, she fought alongside the few remaining Hashira as everything came to a close. She nearly succumbed to her injury and spent a long while just recovering from it, though it allowed for a lot of self reflection on her part and she was frequented by Yūna and Zenitsu throughout her recovery process. With the three others, she attended the last Hashira meeting before seeking to live a peaceful life at her grandfather’s estate that he left to her.

[margridarnauds]

Can you recommend any good Celtic mythology books for someone who understands the basics, but wants to know more?

I can! So, I’m going to presume that you’ve done what I always scream up into the heavens over and have looked at your Lady Gregory, Gods and Fighting Men, some of the books along those lines, and want something slightly less romanticized, more meaty, but still accessible. (Gods and Fighting Men is.....impressive, for the time it was written in, I DO recommend it for beginners, with a VERY big caveat that this is a Victorian author’s interpretation of the myths as opposed to a direct translation.) 

So, I talk a LOT about Ireland’s Immortals, but it’s really a solid book; academic without being bogged down in academia (which is good because we can be.....very jargon filled, as a field.) If you’re interested in the question of how the Irish gods and our perception of them developed over time, this is The Book on that. 

The Celtic Heroic Age by Johns Carey and Koch is also a VERY good book, in terms of it being a very broad sourcebook that includes everything from Gaulish inscriptions to Gerald of Wales. 

Seriously. 

This is what my copy looks like. Look at all the bookmarks in that bitch. That’s not even counting all the places that are highlighted or underlined. 

I can also tell you that if, say, you were taking a course on Celtic Myth and Religion at my college, this would be the first thing on your reading list. Is it EVERYTHING on the Celts and Celtic Mythology? No, but it’s a GREAT start to get you off the ground and was basically my first “scholarly” book in the field as well. 

Proinsias Mac Cana’s Celtic Mythology. Look, I don’t OWN this book, I’ve only really perused it once, it isn’t my all time fav, and I disagree with Mac Cana on a few points, given that, by nature, I am VERY cautious when it comes to assigning divinity to figures and he can go a little sovereignty goddess crazy. That being said. It’s accessible, it’s actually fairly slender, and he isn’t QUITE as rampantly nativist as you would think from reading, say, Kim McCone’s work, and he did know his material and gave a fairly solid run down of some concepts. It’s probably one of the more accessible books you can get, until we as a field get our shit together to produce something better. 

Jeffrey Gantz is another option. I don’t like his translations as much as I do in Celtic Heroic Age, but they’re there and will at least give you more detail on the stories themselves. His translation of the Mabinogion is actually the one that I have in my room and consult when I’m in a pinch because the school bookstore was selling it and I was too lazy to get another edition. I will say that, in the world of Welsh Myth, I am NOT an expert; it’s a bit of a tragedy of Celtic Studies as a field that, even though in theory we are CELTIC studies, in practice we tend to be “Irish studies with Welsh occasionally brought in for comparative reasons” in practice, with a couple of dedicated Welshicists saying “LOOK AT THIS COOL THING I FOUND” and everyone else kind of nodding and going “Oh, that’s neat....anyway, back to Cú Chulainn and Medb.” AKA “In which Welshicists and Irish-focused Mythographers have a bit in common.” 

Rip to Breton, Manx, Gaelic, and Cornish, who are....THERE, and do have dedicated scholars in them, but are. Well. Kind of treated as a niche in a niche. 

Anyway, I can TALK about Welsh myth, to some extent, but that is also why I tend to identify myself primarily by my interest in Irish Mythology and Irish Studies as opposed to the broader Celtic Studies, though that is the official-if-not-controversial-name. Because I do feel on some level that it’s an area I’m not really qualified to speak on with the same background that I can with Irish Mythology. One Welshicist I do know who is MUCH better at this sort of thing than I am would be my dear friend, @cicelythereaper, if she wants to talk Welsh Myths in our time of academic crisis. 

You’ll probably notice that with just about everything I’ve discussed here, there were multiple caveats, and that’s because Celticists, as a field, tend to disagree with one another quite a bit on how to interpret these myths, and that runs right down to translations and what are the necessary texts to get started, what aren’t, etc. Which subsequently makes getting into it very difficult. The best thing I can say is to read, absorb, and interrogate. If you’re interested in any individual myths, figures, etc., I can also (hopefully) be of help there, since I can point you directly to stories in which those figures appear, as well as some secondary sources. Especially if it’s related to the Tuatha dé, Fomoire, or Fir Bolg. How I really got into it and learned the myths was by basically going to the translations on Mary Jones and the CELT database and essentially just. Diving in. Not that I know EVERYTHING, because no one really can, except maybe my supervisor, who is at least trying to, but. I did get a solid background in quite a few texts because of that and gave myself an edge because of that, though the translations there are mainly public domain aka “Old as fuck and outdated in places”. 

[zoryany]

Starry Gets Personal

hello, friends and followers! this blog is primarily for fandom, writing, and the odd miscellaneous sort of post, and I don’t get super personal here very often, but recent events have spurred me to open up about a couple aspects of my mental health, specifically my experiences as someone who has been diagnosed with both Borderline Personality Disorder and Bipolar II.

I will go into a bit more detail, below the cut, because this is very personal and I know not everybody wants to read a big long post about mental health, but my tl;dr version is basically that... my mental illnesses have caused me to do and say some pretty awful shit. they’ve caused me to make some decisions that I absolutely regret. and these things that I’ve said and done have had very real and very harmful consequences for myself and others. but I am a person who is capable of growth. of recognizing when I might be slipping up. and sometimes things go sour anyways. but I do not wish to be defined by my mental illness. nobody should be.

now, if you wish to keep scrolling, by all means, I hope your day is wonderful. if you’re interested in some more details, click on... potential cw for discussion of self-harm, suicidality, abuse and substance use (all fairly mild, no explicit details)

now, I’m not interested in publicly airing dirty laundry. there are certain boundaries I will not cross in the telling of this tale. I have permission to share things about myself, but I have no interest in smearing anyone else, so details will be omitted or altered where possible, and vague when not.

I’ve had some difficulties with friendships before. some have been because of petty, young girl “pal” bullying, some because we’ve just fallen out of touch, and some because there’s a perception that I’ve somehow changed. it can take me some time to open up and be more vulnerable with people. while I try to be open, I’m much more likely to offer up a shoulder to cry on than to ask for one myself. then, as I get more comfortable with people, I will ask for a bit more support. and often, all I really need is a bit of reassurance, a sign that there is care, and I’m pretty good at self-soothing from there. I can have incredibly violent mood swings, at times, but they die down fairly easily, as is common in borderline. in addition, I have never self-harmed. I have never been actively suicidal, beyond the odd time of “wow, not existing right now would be really rad, wouldn’t it?” I am incredibly lucky, in this regard, because the statistics regarding borderline, bipolar, self-harm, hospitalization and suicide are incredibly grim. but that is not me, and because I am taking medication and regularly seeing my therapist, I am actively making sure it will never be me.

in addition to BPD and bipolar, I have ADHD. these things combined mean rejection and abandonment sting real bad. to the point of a straight up meltdown / tantrum bad. and I am willing to call some of my episodes meltdowns or tantrums. this is not true for all people with these conditions, but for me, that’s kinda what it feels like. these intense feelings just need to flare up and burn themselves out for a bit and then I’m usually fine within a few minutes, hours or, in the most extreme cases, days. these emotional episodes are not always related to abandonment or rejection, but they can be, and they can lead to some pretty nasty things. I can dissociate. I can enter a state where I genuinely don’t recognize what I’m saying. and I like to compare them to fire that has been inadvertently fueled far more than expected. the fire cannot help that it flares. it cannot help that it lashed out and was stronger than anyone meant it to be. that does not heal the burns it caused, though.

earlier this year, I had a pretty... rough falling out with a friend. for the duration of our friendship, both my borderline and bipolar were undiagnosed. I had received a depression diagnosis before and borderline was suspected at a couple of points, but neither diagnosis was confirmed or treated until after the friendship ended. while I was able to make do when things were generally good, the lack of a diagnosis or treatment for either borderline or bipolar made things extremely difficult when things got bad. 

the two of us were online friends for nearly two years, and we had gotten really close. spoke every day, hung out most nights, shared a lot of very personal things with one another. it felt really good to have that kind of connection with someone. because it felt so good in these early stages, and because I was undiagnosed at the time, the friendship developed into one that didn’t really have clear boundaries. 

it is important in a relationship with a person who has BPD to establish boundaries. I have been determined to be much more careful about these boundaries since receiving my diagnosis, because I cannot place that responsibility solely on the other person in any sort of relationship. I have also seen the consequences of carrying forth with a relationship that does not have boundaries, and I do not wish to subject myself or anyone else to that level of pain.

now, again, I will not go into a great level of detail, but I would like to discuss the last week or so of this friendship.

I began to feel that this friend was pulling away from me. I also just so happened to be PMSing, which can amplify symptoms of my mental illnesses. this friend wished to take a bit of a break. I have never had a friend who has actively asked for a break before. it felt like confirmation that they were pulling away. I did not react well. I cannot recall all of the details. I dissociated through a lot of it. but I do remember that I said some horrendous things both over text chat and voice call. things that were manipulative. things that were abusive. I lashed out, I hurt, sought to make my pain felt, was angry... 

these things really hurt this former friend. so much so that they did end up leading to them calling it quits. they no longer felt safe in the relationship. that led to even more lashing out on my end, even more hurt, and it was all around unpleasant, to put it mildly. there is a very real pain that can spring up with BPD, and it doesn’t always isolate itself to the person who has the disorder. 

I have not spoken to this friend since we called it quits. one week later, to the day, I saw a psychiatrist and received my diagnoses: Borderline Personality Disorder, Bipolar II, ADHD and Generalized Anxiety Disorder. I am taking medication. I am seeing a therapist. I have grown as a person since this experience and gained new tools to handle extreme emotional situations.

there are still times when impulsivity will flare up and I’ll spend more money than I should on things I don’t need or over-indulge in substances at a gathering. there are still times when my emotions get the best of me. I still occasionally fall into hypomanic episodes and become someone who may not quite be myself. these are things that have placed strain on me, my family and my friends. but I am working on them. continually. 

I do not think that people with mental illness, disorders or disabilities should be exempt from critique of their actions. I know that my actions have consequences, and I have seen them multiple times. what I refuse to believe, however, is that I am a fundamentally terrible, awful, abusive person because of these actions. coming to terms with my diagnoses and my symptoms has been a journey, and while I do regret a lot of things I have done or said over the years and wish I could change countless outcomes, all I can do is to continue to press forward and strive to be the best me I can be.

thank you for making it this far. I hope that if any of this resonated with you, whether you share a diagnosis with me or have other similar experiences, then you may feel some level of reassurance. and I hope you all understand me just a little bit better. all love to you!

Starry

[lunarr-rrose]

Magazine 05 - How To Negotiate Contract

The toughest aspects of investing in self storage is negotiating contracts. Coming to an agreement between two parties despite conflicting economic factors is difficult. The buyer thinks the price is too high while the seller thinks it is too low.  The ideal scenario is everyone walks out feeling that they have accomplished what they wanted. As much as possible, you want every negotiation to be a win-win. 

The world of real estate and especially self-storage is very small. People talk and the last thing you want is a bad reputation and no one even considers doing a deal with you.

Avoid wasting time and energy with letters of intent. There is a very good reason for this.

The seller in the negotiation will end up shopping the offer against other potential buyers. This can be time-consuming and simply delay the entire process. And worse, you could end up in an auction where you are bidding against another investor. Skip the letter of intent and move immediately with a contract. Fernando O. Angelucci is Founder and President of Titan Wealth Group. He also leads the firm’s finance and acquisitions departments. Fernando Angelucci and Steven Wear founded Titan Wealth Group in 2015, and under his leadership, the firm’s revenue has grown over 100% year over year. 

Find out more at

https://www.TheStorageStud.com http://titanwealthgroup.com/

Titan Wealth Group operates nationwide sourcing off market investment properties for Titan Wealth Group’s acquisition as well as servicing a network of thousands of active real estate investors world wide. Prior to founding Titan Wealth Group, Fernando worked for Dow Chemical, a Fortune 50 company, rolling out a flagship product estimated to gross $1B in global revenues.

  With an engineering background, Fernando is able to approach real estate investing with a keen analytical mindset that allows Titan Wealth Group to identify opportunities and project accurate pictures of future performance.

  Fernando graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a B.A. degree in Technical Systems Management.

Titan Wealth Group was founded in 2015 with the vision of gathering individual investors that have the means to invest but lack either the time to find high-yield investment opportunities or the access to these off-market deals. All too often, founders Fernando Angelucci & Steven Wear came across investors who had deployed their capital only to regret the lack of consistency or degree of returns their investments were producing. In response, Titan Wealth Group provides access to highly-vetted real estate secured investments and off-market acquisition opportunities primarily in the Greater Chicago MSA. Today, Titan Wealth Group not only assists individual investors but has grown to support the acquisition goals and capital deployment of investment groups, private equity firms, and real estate investment trusts (REITs).

As a facilitator of wealth growth, Titan Wealth Group believes that success is not limited to the sum of our efforts and is infinite with what can be accomplished through partnership. 

#SelfStorage #RealEstateInvesting #AlternativeFunds ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So how do we negotiate contracts? This is a very interesting topic it's near and dear to my heart. I'm a big fan of sales psychology. I really do love to negotiate because the way that I look at negotiation is not a you versus me, but it's you and me versus the economic factors, the world, what's going on out there in the market. So how do we come to terms that we can both feel like we've accomplished what we wanted? We both can walk away from the table feeling like we've got a good deal and you know, it lasting all the way through the due diligence period and the inspections and the closing. So one of the very first things that we do is we usually don't waste time with letters of intent. Letters of intent. The fact that it was a nonbinding offer to purchase real estate. What I have found is that this is usually a waste of time. It usually allows the seller to shop your offer against other offers before you actually have the property under contract and be able to get their other competitors as well. So we usually will skip over the letter of intent and immediately go towards contract. But before we do that, we've got to make sure that we're doing our proper due diligence. So what we'll do is we'll send over a needs list or a due diligence documents list to the seller and say, Hey, here is a list of maybe 28 things that we need from you. We understand that you may not have all of them, but everything that you do have, if you can send those over to us, that will allow us to structure an offer that is accurate for you. The last thing that we want to do is a seller giving us false information, either knowingly or not knowingly, and then us going under contract, and then, you know, a month or two months down the line, we find out that the numbers were inaccurate and then we have to adjust our contract. Nobody likes to do that. It always feels kind of like a blow in the stomach. But it really comes, you know, the more open you are with the counter party, the easier it is to get transactions done in a fast and seamless nature. So we'll ask for all those due diligence documents. And those due diligence documents, not only did we send them over in a list, but once we go to contract, we'll actually include all of those documents named in the purchase of the units. To state, Hey, you know, our due diligence period does not start until you have provided all of these documents because the last thing we want is, you know, we go through the whole process where a day I had a closing and then the bank still hasn't received the seller's tax returns. And then all of a sudden the tax returns come back and show that, you know, he's reporting half the amount of income than what he or she claimed they were intaking from their facility. And again, now, not only are we not able to buy at that price, but the bank won't even lend on the facility at that price, given the information that we receive. So what happens is in our negotiations, in our contract negotiations, the very first thing that we'll ask for is a set of due diligence documents and our due diligence period, which is usually 30 to 45 days, depending on the size of the facility or the land or the real estate, the subject property. That due diligence period does not start until we have all the documents we need to make an informed decision. Now, some sellers are uncomfortable sending these documents before having a signed purchase agreement, which I totally understand. So we always tell them up front, there's two ways we can do this. There is you can give us your numbers verbally without providing any, any documents. And if they're accurate compared to the due diligence documents, we get later on, you know, we can put your property under contract at a price that makes sense based off of what you told us. And then if they're accurate later on, then the price stays the same. But if they are not accurate compared to say your tax returns or your profit and loss statement signed by your CPAs, then we will have to adjust the price down. Or what you can do is you can send us all these due diligence documents right now. Then when we go under contract, that price that we have is going to be unchanging. And the due diligence period will start immediately because the second we go under contract, you already have given us all the documents required. So that's one of the very first things that we do. Another thing that we also do is that we also request the ability to extend our due diligence period or extend our closing period by offering additional earnest money. Now, earnest money is a sign of good faith that you're going to close on a facility. You're not just going to tie them up and then walk away at the end. So there's a penalty for us as buyers. Say that we get through the due diligence period and there was no objections. But then when we go to closing, we're unable to close for whatever reason or the closing timeline doesn't work for us. If we try to cancel that contract, the seller gets to keep our earnest money or our good faith money. So one of the things that we always negotiating these contracts, because, you know, these are not small facilities that we're purchasing on the low side. You're looking at, you know, maybe 800,000 on the high side, you're looking at $12million to $15 million properties. You know, we're putting down $15,000, $25,000, $50,000 in earnest money to show that we're serious and we don't want to lose that. So if there is some external force that causes the transaction to be delayed, we'll actually ask for extensions. And the way that we after these extensions is by offering up additional earnest money. Say, I would like to purchase another 30 days of closing timeline for an additional say, $15,000 or $25,000 in earnest money. That shows that, Hey, we're serious. We're not just dragging this out. There is an end in sight. There's a goal in sight. And to prove that, we're willing to give you more of our money to put at risk in case we don't close. Now, another thing that we always push for in our contracts, and this is a nonnegotiable item, is environmental issues. We will get a phase one environmental report. Now what a phase one environmental report is, is you hire an environmental engineering company and they will look through all the records that ever have been produced from the EPA or from local municipalities, anything having to do with environmental concerns. And they'll go through all of these documents. They'll visit the site, they'll look for any type of issues that may be around. Maybe there's a gas station on the corner that is leaking hydrocarbons. Or maybe the site, you know, maybe we're buying a warehouse to convert to self storage. And it turns out 80 years ago, this warehouse was used to make really nasty industrial chemicals. These are all things we have to be very concerned about because when it comes to environmental law, it is non dilutive. Now what that means is the any type of environmental liability that comes. It doesn't matter who the owner of that property is now. As soon as something happens, say you build an apartment building on a super fund site or a site that has a lot of environmental hazards. And then all of a sudden, five years later, someone in that apartment building gets cancer because of the chemicals that are present in the environment. Not only is the current owner of that facility liable, but everyone in the chain of title is also liable. So the person that sold it to the current owner, the person that sold it to the person that sold it to the current owner. All of these people are liable for the judgment. So environmental liability is something you really don't want to play around with. So we're always going to request the seller, give us any environmental reports that they've received during their tenures owner. We're going to request time and a due diligence contingency to do a phase one environmental. And if anything comes back, hot, as I call it. If any, if the phase one comes back showing hazards, you have two options. One is you can cancel the contract right there and, you know, walk your separate ways. Or you can get to go to the next step up, which is a phase two environmental report. Now with the phase two, what they usually do is they'll come to the site and they'll take physical samples. They'll start drilling 20 foot or 60 foot soil samples from the ground. They'll take air readings, they'll take water readings. And if any of those nasty environmental chemicals show up positive, then again, you have choice to make. So just as far as pricing goes, usually a phase one environmental, depending on the size of the facility will be 2,500 to maybe 5,000. Now, if you go to the phase two, now you're looking at anywhere between $5,000 to $20,000 for that phase two, depending on the size of the site and how many samples they need to take and what type of special equipment they need to test those samples. Say the phase two comes back hot. Now you really have a big decision to make. You can either go your separate ways, which is usually what we do. Usually what happens is if the phase one comes back, we'll request that the seller pay for the phase two, or maybe we'll split the phase two with the seller. The phase two, comes back hot. This is when you're going to need remediation. And remediation can be very drastic. It may require, you know, excavate in the top 16 to 20 feet of top soil. And not only removing that tops out, but going and storing that top soil in a special waste area, a hazardous material waste containment area. Where you have to pay rent on that hazardous material. The cost to do these things are astronomic. It can be anywhere between, you know, 200,000 to a couple million, to a couple hundred million dollars, depending on the scale and the size of the site. At that point to do a phase three remediation, it just usually doesn't make sense. So we will always walk away from the facility. Usually the only people that are going to be doing phase three and above and hazardous material remediation are going to be these super large developers that are buying, you know, a super fund site, which is a site that the government has designated as an environmentally contaminated site. When you buy the sites, they're usually some type of incentive for these investors to clean up the area, build something, add some economic, you know, some economic engine to that area. But usually the costs are so astronomical that it is very, very rarely pencils out without the help of multiple government programs stacked on top of each other. So that's another piece in the contract negotiation that we always will push for. Zoning. For us, we will not buy a property that is not properly zoned. If it is not properly zoned, but we want to change the zoning. We will request that the seller change the zoning or allow us a very long continuancy to work with them, municipalities, to change that zoning for self storage. Before we close on the property, the reason we want to do that is these zoning meetings. You know, the zoning approvals may take six to 12 to 18 months. Sometimes they're not successful. So you just spent a bunch of time and money trying get the zoning approvals changed. So usually what we will do is request that the seller change those for us, or give us, you know, a 12 month or a six month contingency to do those zoning changes ourselves. If we feel confident that the city is receptive to our plans. One of the things that we always request in our purchase agreements as well is a transfer of all of the IP, all of the technical systems. So for example, if I'm buying an existing self storage facility and let's just call it one, two, three self storage. And it has onetwothreeselfstorage.com, and it has, you know, 1-800, you know, 123-self as the phone number. These are all things that we're going to want transferred to our ownership when we buy the property, because that has intrinsic value for the business. That is part of the goodwill of the business. They can pull that have memorized this number memorized as website SEO and PPC traffic going to these websites. The thing that we want to acquire with the facility as well, instead of starting from scratch. When it comes to the actual negotiations of the price, this is one of the things that I get very excited about. And I've read a ton of books on this, a few that I really recommend. The first being Never Split The Difference by Chris Voss. It's a wonderful book written by the lead FBI hostage negotiator. He turned a business later on in his career and he uses what's called Tactical Empathy. Making sure that you're really listening to what the seller wants, as opposed to just waiting to formulate a response, but really intaking what the seller is looking for and uncovering the true motivations of what the seller wants. The seller might say, Hey, I want a million bucks for this facility, but maybe what they really want is they want to be able to put both of their kids through college or both of their grandchildren through college. They want to travel for 12 months and they want an RV camper to travel around the United States. Well, those things have a monetary value and we may be able to accomplish those things for the seller. Not necessarily with a million bucks but maybe we pay them a lower price and carry some financing on the backhand. And maybe we have them seller finance the whole thing. And the down payment is just enough to start some of these, maybe, you know, each year say it's a. This is a type of deal that we've done in the past. There was, this is on a single family home, but there was a seller that wanted to put his kids through college. And the tuition at a college is $14,000 a year. So this seller was asking for the full tuition upfront, but one of the things that we start to say, Hey, why don't we pay you 14,000 a year as installments that way we still accomplish that goal that you're looking for, but it doesn't make us outflow all this cash. You know, there's this simple concept of net present value, which is cash today is worth more than cash tomorrow. So if I'm going to have to shell out a bunch of cash today, as opposed to showing out the same amount of cash over time, it's actually more advantageous for me to show up at the same cash over time. Another book I really recommend when it comes to negotiations and sales psychology is Pitch Anything by Oren Klaff. It's a book that teaches you how to speak to the risk centers of the brain. Everyone thinks that when I speak to you, you're processing it with your prefrontal cortex. The highest level of the brain. But that's really not how it works. What usually happened to the first goes through the, what they call the reptilian brain or the oldest part of the human brain. And that part of the brain just, is just a cognitive miser. It is, using brain powers so expensive on the human body, as far as energy usage, that it's better to first look at something and say, do I need to spend more time analyzing this? Or can I, you know, fight or flight it? Can I run? Is it going to, is it dangerous to me? Whatever it is. And dangerous, it doesn't have to be like physical danger, but it can be, you know, something doesn't feel right or whatever it is that usually that gut reaction you feel that is from you. Your, the oldest part of the brain, really trying to divide information and saying, Hey, does this warrant further analysis or does this, does this, you know, should we just get, get away from this as soon as possible? Then it goes up to the next level, which is kind of the emotional center of the brain. You know, how does this make me feel? How does, how does this interact with my social interact with other people? And then finally I have to mix through that process. Then it goes up to the prefrontal cortex. We started making numbers and math. And does this number make sense as the interest makes sense? So those are two really good books that we recommend all the time for investors when it comes to negotiating contracts. So let's take a step back. We've gotten all our due diligence materials. We've ran through all the numbers and we've found a number that makes sense or a creative financing structure that makes sense with the seller. At this point, we put it on paper. And now we need to start verifying everything. This is going to be, you know, we're going to do market studies. We're going to do competitor analysis to see if all the competitors are full or not full. We're going to see if there's a value add potential to this facility. Maybe I'm buying below my threshold. My typical annual returns that I'll buy at my cap rates. But this say this facility has the ability to be doubled in size and to double the income, you know, over a relatively short period of time, maybe 18 months, then it may make sense to buy it at a lower return because the future value, we can push that value farther up. Now, sometimes it doesn't go according to plan. Sometimes through your due diligence period, you find things that you were not familiar with, or that were misrepresented, and then you're going to have to renegotiate. And one of the biggest things I tell people when it comes to negotiating contracts is, you truly have to be prepared to walk away from the deal. Whoever is willing to walk away from the deal has the upper hand in the negotiation situation. So here's a perfect example. I was buying a self storage facility in the mountains of Tennessee. And when we were speaking with a seller, all the numbers really looked good. Everything looked great. When we asked him about the condition of the property said, Oh, everything's basically brand new, go check it out. Well, it turns out about 45 days into our due diligence period. We took a plane out there and when we walked the facility, we were in awe. When he said everything was new, what he meant was he just painted over any defects in the facility, pretty terribly. But what we found is that all 118 doors are rotted out. So we're going to have to change out all those doors. We're going to have to repair the roofs. We're going to have to level the gravel, the electrical system for the gate wasn't working properly. There was a ton of water damage throughout some of the units had water leaking into them. That was tough. We were on 825 or 850 on the purchase agreement. And I had to call the seller and say, Hey, you know, Mr. Seller, this doesn't, this is not what we agreed to. You said everything was new. When we got to the facility, the manager told us you haven't seen the facility in five years. You haven't been there in five years. You lived in a different state. And that she had requested multiple times to fix a lot of the deferred maintenance, which you refuse to do. So because of that, you know, we're going to have to drop the price about $150,000. And he was, you know, that's not what we agreed upon. We had a contract at this price and I just told him, I said, Mr. Seller, you know, we had a contract based upon the information you gave me. And you told me "Everything is basically new" I'm seeing that we're having a ton of work here. That's going to have to be done. You can either walk away now, or you can lower your price. Well, he was having a hard time lowering his price. So what we ended up doing was hiring a third party to do these assessments for us. So we hired an engineering company. Usually it's a civil engineer, they'll perform this work and they will do, what's called a Property Condition Assessment or a PCA. Usually you can order the PCA and the phase one environmental at the same time and get a better price. So the civil engineer went out to the site. He went through everything, he took a hundred something photos. He did an in depth analysis and he actually created a chart that said over the next 10 years on a yearly basis, here's how much in repairs and deferred maintenance that you will have to fix every year for the next 10 years. And that added up to about $150,000. Well, at that point, I sent that report. The PCA over to the side said, listen, this is not me Fernando saying, I need $150,000. This is a third party, civil engineer that put his license on the line to say that this facility needs 150,000 in deferred maintenance because you neglected it. So there's two ways the seller can make money, right? They can make their money now, or they can make their money later. What the seller chose to do was to make his money now, and as opposed to putting money in and doing the preventative maintenance that would have cost so much less than 150,000, he decided to not put a single diamond to the property, pull all of the money out as possible, just bleed it dry. But then when it came to go sell, he couldn't sell it for the price that he wanted because all of that deferred maintenance was going to have to be recaptured in that purchase. So in the end, we got the property reduced down to 725,000. I was able to cut a couple of deals with some of the contractors to get the price down to where we needed. And we were able to get a really successful deal there. Ended up buying that facility at, I believe somewhere between a 9% and a 10% cap rate today. And then we added a bunch of self storage, climate control, increase the management systems. We increase the occupancy, we did all the evictions that were needed. So that was a really good deal. So that's what I'd say is as far as negotiating contracts, you have to be very careful, not only with the contract terms that you're asking for, because in the end of the day, it's not what you said to each other. In a court of law, the only thing that matters is what was written down on the purchase agreement. So you have to be very careful with the types of terms that you're requesting. And then the second component of that is making sure that you're getting the price to where it needs to be, and that it's accurate and telling the seller upfront, listen, you know, here's how we buy based off of these criteria. And if everything you're telling me is factual, then this price will stay the same. But if there's any misrepresentations in here, we're going to have to drop a price. And we tell that to them upfront, and it usually helps a lot. And it almost puts the ownness of being truthful on them. From the beginning, before we even start the relationship to go down the road of buying the self storage facility. My name is Fernando Angelucci. And I'm The Storage Stud.

[findingtheperfectcharacter]

Logan’s Lowdown’s Typed

A complete collection of Logan’s Lowdowns from the episode. Now in a format that I tried to make readable, but since I threw it all on one post it’s probably still not great.

(13:26) "It would be" directly after Patton says that it'd be unethical to buy frogger when he could be giving money to the homeless

(13:30, said aloud) "It's just me, Logan. I have taken this form because I did not want to be too invasive. (Thomas asks what he's doing) "Well determining what feels right or wrong for you isn't really my area of expertise. Seeing as how there's not much left at stake at this juncture and that regret is unfortunately not an experience that can be expedited. I decided that I need need not expend too much energy on this matter.

(13:50 cont from 13:30) However I felt like it would behoove all parties if I provided relevant information to serve as supporting evidence to any of the arguments that are made during today's discussion

(14:08, after Patton suggested his 'factoids' were optional.) *Facts, factoid was a term coined by Norman Miller to describe false facts invented by magazines in order to manipulate the readers  And yes I suppose they could be viewed as optional, those two options being informed or ignorant (14:35) "Thank you Thomas It-

(14:49-14-50 cont from 14:08) It would be an estimated annual cost of 20 billion dollars to eliminate homelessness in the United States according to Mark Johnston, the acting assistant housing secretary for community planning and development. Americans spend more than 20 billion dollars on Christmas decorations and flowers every year. So it would seem that many Americans do have the currency to spare to end homelessness in America forever

(15:16 cont from 14:50) Similarly if every US household were to give up just 1% of their wealth, than that would be enough to end homelessness in the United States for the next 50 years

(17:18, Roman talking about saving Leslie Odom Jr from the Scute bellied beast) Scutes are the short, wide, rung-like scales on the underside of a snake

(18:38, The difference between helping people out for the sake of it and saving people for a reward.) A study was conducted at Berkeley that looked at the correlation between an individual's happiness and the amount of selfless acts they preformed. This was done by comparing three groups. 

Group A was not instructed to preform any acts of kindness, while group B was instructed to meet the quota of 5 acts of kindness within a week. Group C, however was required to preform all 5 acts of kindness within one day. It was found that groups B and C (both of which preformed acts of kindness) saw an increase in how they rated their own happiness. But the most significant increase was in group C (5 acts of kindness in 1 day.)

(20:43 After the trolley problem scene) That scenario was an illustration of the classic philosophy dilemma, the trolley problem. "Trolly problem" is a term coined by Judith Thompson, who also devised its two most famous variants. The "Footbridge" and the "Switch " (the latter being the version that was just demonstrated.) 

(20:55 cont of Trolley problem) The Trolley problem is intended to raise questions about our moral priorities: is it more important to minimize causalities or is it more important to strictly adhere to ethical rules? (The notion that it is wrong to kill another human being in particular). 

(21:06 cont of Trolley problem) Furthermore the Trolley Problem asks us to examine the distinction between actively killing someone, and passively letting someone die.

(21:57 Patton says the ‘how’ and the ‘why’ of flipping the switch matters) What Patton is saying here ties into the principle of Deontology. Deontological ethics prioritizes specific duties above anything and everything else. A value system that is perfectly summed up in expressions such as, "duties for duties sake" and "let justice be done through the heaven's fall."

One of the duties that Patton's appealing to (which I already mentioned earlier as it is the most common argument leveled against redirecting the train in the trolley problem) is the aforementioned ethical rule that one should not murder another human being, even if one finds oneself in a n extremely specific set of circumstances in which homicide preserves more lives than terminated.

There is a natural tension between deontology and consequentialism, as deontology determines whether an action is right or wrong without much consideration of the ends of said action. Furthermore, the deontologically inclined might concern themselves with the intention behind a given action a given action. (a factor that would be completely disregarded by a consequentialist) 

Deontological perspectives were first defined by 18th century German -

(23:08 Patton asks what real Philosophers would have to say about his viewpoints. Said aloud) Well, Freidrich Niezsche really wouldn't have been thrilled with anything you've had to say. Primarily because Pity seems to be at the center of your idea of "putting good into the world". Niezsche famously rejected the idea notion that pity was a virtue. He once claimed that pity 'runs counter to the instincts that preserve and enhance the value of life.' So Thomas is-

{Everything under this point is Janus disguised as Logan.}

(26:54 After Patton suggests that Thomas shouldn’t dedicate too much of his time to frivolity. Said aloud) I have a difference of opinion on this one, Patton. I’m sure we’re all somewhat familiar with the tired metaphor for self care you must put on your own oxygen mask before helping fellow passengers. An analogy that warns against the practice of helping others with their personal issues when you yourself are in need of help.

It is ironic that that illustration’s so overused at this point because it has almost become as easy to tune out that advice as it is to tune out the actual safety instructions on a flight. Easy, and very dangerous. In the event that a plane cabin becomes depressurized, you do not have long to secure your oxygen mask before you risk your oxygen saturation levels dropping too much leading to hypoxia (which is just insufficient oxygen for life functions.)

Hypoxia’s symptoms can include: an inability to communicate, confusion, unconsciousness and possible death. Having heard a piece of information before does not give you licence to ignore it in the future. Especially when the consequences of forgetting are so perilous. 

(28:16, Patton talking about how he’d totally let Thomas self-care in that sort of extreme situation. Said aloud) And just like all of the moral dilemmas we’ve been discussing, it can seem easy to confidently state what you would do in a difficult situation, without knowing how you’d legitimately behave when your instincts take over. 

In theory you believe Thomas can and should take some time to care for himself, but every point you’ve made in this discussion has contradicted that sentiment. 

(28:44 after Roman asks how Patton’s points have been contradictory to Thomas taking care of himself. Said aloud) Nearly every answer Patton has given to moral questions throughout this discussion has suggested that a moral life is a life without spending surplus capital and time on leisure activities. 

Dr. Robert A. Stebbins defined leisure as “... activity engaged in during free time which people want to do and... actually do in either a satisfying or fulfilling way (or both).” Leisure means freedom, its your time and you do what you want with it, which in turn contributes to a feeling of control and improved self-esteem.

 A lack of control, and self esteem are two factors that you all now understand can worsen Thomas’s relationship with intrusive thoughts-- and they have. Additionally, doctors Iwasaki Messina and Hopper wrote that leisure time promotes a joyful life, and if that wasn’t enough pleasurable activities stimulate the production of neurotransmitters which can than improve one’s physical health.

Leisure is something Thomas needs more of in his life in order to feel like he has a life and Patton is essentially suggesting that Thomas isn’t being as good of a person as he’d like him to be if he doesn’t sacrifice himself for others. 

(29:56, after Patton says that isn’t true. Said aloud) Oh, is it not? Please correct me if I’m wrong (Patton says that he’s wrong) So if it was between Thomas’s life or another’s you don’t think Thomas should give his life up? Oh and this other person is an innocent little lamb. Or how about a group of innocents?

(30:40 Patton’s breakdown about not knowing in that kind of scenario what’s right or wrong. Said aloud) You don’t know? Earlier you said that all people naturally understand right and wrong. So? Should Thomas die so that others may live?

(31:32 while Patton’s offering a new Trolley problem with Thomas on one track and Lee and Mary Lee on the other. Said aloud) ENOUGH! This isn’t working. This entire conversation has become so muddled due to a constant misleading, misues of “conscientious” language. You’ll need a sharp side to cut through all this conscientious bull-frog.

{Logan’s back in these lines}

(36:24, Logan’s back! Said aloud) Not that any of you care, but I’m unharmed, and I don’t want to talk about it. I’m just here to deliver you one last fact than I will do you all a favor and spare you my company.

Peter Singer is an Australian Philosopher and activist who champions the movement known as ‘effective altruism.’ The primary feature that differentiates effective altruism from other moral philosophies is its practicality. It employs the heart AND the mind so that effective altruism can earn its namesake and actually... Be effective. 

The aim is to help as many people as possible while maintaining a ‘perfectly adequate standard of living.’ So a poor, sick person giving 5 of their last 15 cents to an aid organization, while incredibly altruistic is not effective altruism because that money won’t go very far. And the act would only harm that person’s already unacceptable standard of living. 

Fellow effective altruist Williams Macaskill recommends people who can and are inclined to should go into fields like banking or finance because more money earned means more money to give. (After Thomas adds that he needs to give himself a buff) And you need to maintain an adequate standard of living. You can’t forget that part. If the variety of generosity in your life is leaving you depressed, or like your life isn’t your own than you need to reevaluate things. 

[darkacademicx]

Hi could I have your thoughts on Marlowe ?

This is really long-winded, but I think I just about covered it.  If you have any specific questions, feel free to reach out!

I assume that you’re talking about Christopher Marlowe, the Elizabethan playwright.  Marlowe was a powerhouse playwright, and it’s such a shame that he’s not as well-known as William Shakespeare, even though quite a few of Shakespeare’s plays were inspired by Marlowe’s works (The Merchant of Venice bears a striking similarity to The Jew of Malta, Richard II explores similar themes to Edward II, Hamlet asks similar questions to Dr Faustus).  

Marlowe’s career is made of six plays: Dido, Queen of Carthage, Tamburlaine the Great, The Jew of Malta, Edward II, The Massacre at Paris, and Dr Faustus.  Marlowe’s earliest work, Dido, Queen of Carthage, shows talent in its long speeches and homages to deities, but fails to have a well-written and well-told story.  This is expected as he is pioneering a new form of drama, which evolves rapidly as other playwrights begin to develop their own works with their own tropes and find out what works and what doesn’t.  

In terms of character development, the main characters always stand out whereas his side characters are very static and flat.  This is different from Shakespeare's plays which sport a large cast of well-developed characters who all aid in the telling of the story.

In terms of language, Marlowe is primarily a poet.  His use of language is not to deliver the message in the shortest possible way, but rather, to give longer flowery speeches that reveal tone and convey very specific moods.

In terms of plot, Marlowe is lacking.  He hasn’t mastered the art of subtlety and often characters are reduced to whatever the main message of the play is by the final act.

With each successive work, Marlowe is able to develop more of a style and his plays become synonymous with controversy and the theatrical.  This culminates in Marlowe’s best-known work: Dr Faustus.  Again, this play places most of the focus on the main character rather than developing a cast of characters and contains some scenes which resemble earlier “morality plays”, but the language used is more appropriate for the theatre.

In terms of the big picture, Marlowe is not as famous as Shakespeare, and these are the factors which I find separate Shakespeare from Marlowe and allowed Shakespeare to reach more modern audiences than Marlowe:

1) Language - Marlowe’s plays are written more like poetry than plays which are generally analysed differently.  The plot of the play also has a tendency to get buried in the language.

2) Style - As Marlowe pioneered a new style of theatre, it took time to establish his writing style, and since there are only six plays, we don’t get to see a consistent style, each play is different from the others and has its own merits and faults.  Shakespeare wrote at least 37 plays which allowed him to better develop a style that was consistent.

3) Number of Plays - Shakespeare wrote more than six times the number of plays that Marlowe wrote, meaning that he had something for everyone.  Marlowe’s career was cut too short and so the plays he wrote are catered to a specific audience rather than a more general one.

4) Controversy/ Inability to Transcend Time - Marlowe’s plays contain plots that were extremely relevant to their own time and don’t have a timeless quality to them, making imitation difficult.  Marlowe’s plays were also really controversial at their time and while personally, I think that (sometimes) controversy is the spice of life, other people didn’t share my opinion. (Disclaimer: I do think The Jew of Malta is inexcusably offensive)

5) Imitation by Shakespeare - Marlowe’s works are comparable to a lot of Shakespeare’s works, but the difference is that Shakespeare succeeded in making stories at points where Marlowe failed. 

This was really long-winded, but ultimately, I think that there wouldn’t be a Shakespeare without Marlowe.  Marlowe’s plays are fun to read, but sometimes it feels like you’re watching a really bad classic movie.  (You can understand why it was popular at the time, but you don’t know why people still watch it now.)  If Marlowe’s career had moved beyond its infancy, he would have absolutely been a direct competitor to Shakespeare.  While I am critical of Marlowe and his plays, I still find value in reading his works.