#i would be entering such a supremely powerful phase of my life Right Now were it not for the Health Issues

[pochapal]

clocks changed and now it's bright out at 7pm

[amazingdriverfics]

Crowned by the devil - ch. 7

Summary: Kylo shows to you just how much you care and you change your mind.

Warnings: injury treatment, NSFW content, lil bit of angst

A/N: forgive me for cutting the smut, but next chapter we’ll have a bigger part dedicated to it. Also sorry for not posting so much this week, my College just said we’re going to have online classes and I lost my mind for a bit. 

Hope you like it! 

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Hot and salty were the tears falling down your face, it wasn’t long after Kylo left when you broke down. For starters you hated medical environments, it remembered you too much of the day you lost Juney and the fact that Ren mentioned her during your argument wasn’t very helpful. You knew he was right, your adoptive mother always wanted you to leave Tatooine, to be happy and to have a chance to enjoy all the things Kreat didn’t allow you to.

One thing led to another and you never had the strength to leave the sandy planet or your past behind no matter how much it hurted. You tried to forget a part of it covering the biggest part of your scars with tattoos, however, the ‘K’ couldn’t be covered and no matter how much money you got from the bounty hunts, there was no way you could afford the proceedings to make it less visible, so you stopped looking at it and only touched it when showering. Part of your weakness towards Kylo came from the fact that you allowed him to touch the scar, Stars you were stupid.

To make it worst, the dark knight was right about the rest too, you knew the two of you were too much alike, you felt a connection - one you had been trying so hard to ignore -,  you were angry all the time - it was the only way you knew how to deal with your feelings - and, yes, you were pretty sure you didn’t deserve anything good, after all when was the last time something good had happened, you had given up happiness long ago and you convinced yourself  that you were okay with it, then Kylo Ren got in the way and rubbed in your face just how tired you were of your sorry life. Living in the Steadfast made you feel alive, Cardo was the first friend you ever made, Phasma taught you something after years of nothing and Kylo was something else, he not only turned you on, but was the only one to make you feel vulnerable and, at the same time, brave enough to tell the truth straight to your face. No matter how much you tried to hate him, you couldn’t do it, you didn’t love or trust him, but you were somehow grateful for his presence in your life. 

Before you could try to figure out your life some more, a white medical droid entered the room caring a lot of black bandages and a couple of pots filled with blue viscous bacta. “Miss l/n?”, immediately, you turned your head in its direction. “Yes” you answered awaiting for instructions. “I’m medical droid F-88L and I’m here to start your bacta treatment. I’ll help you to sit on the bedside”. 

Sitting for the first time was hard and painful, despite the painkillers running in your veins, your side complained and throbbed, pain hitting you in strong yet slow waves causing your finally dry eyes to become wet again. When you were finally able to shift positions, legs falling out of the medical bed, feet almost touching the cold ground, a relieved moan left your mouth and tears left the side of your red and puffy eyes. It wasn’t long before the droid started to move, applying the cold liquid to your wounds after taking your small medical vest off leaving you only in your panties. 

The sensation of the bacta against your skin wasn’t the most pleasant, it was sticky, but at the same time it provided some very much needed relief, and thanks to the black bandage which also sticked perfectly to the hurt area, the bacta didn’t met areas where it wasn’t necessary.

All of a sudden, you felt the sticky sensation on your back precisely where the ‘K’ insignia you carried for all those years was, causing you to jump out of the bed, the brusque movement making your side complain and your blood pressure to go down clouding your vision as the room became blurry. Without you noticing, a pair of nurses entered the room helping the droid to place you in the position you had been. “Please calm down, miss” one of the nurses said her voice still seeming a little far, but you allowed yourself to calm down, your breathing becoming steadier, your blood pressure returning to normal levels. 

“Wh-why are you applying bacta to my scar?” you asked voice failing as you stuttered, pain clouding you mind at the same time that fear ran through your veins, triggered by the touch on your scar. “The Supreme Leader asked us to treat it, we will make it less visible”. Her words made you cry again, the thought of Kylo caring so much about you that he would spent his Order’s money to help you deal with the worst memory of your life hit all your buttons. “Hm, okay, go on”. 

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Kylo watched as she slept on the medical bay from the small window the room had, the drugs made y/n seem at peace as she probably slept a sleep without any dreams, she was always so stunning he thought to himself. The fight had taken a toll on him, he knew he was right, but at the same time she was as well, they didn’t really know each other very well and Ren was determined to change the scenario. As an apology he asked the doctor to treat the ‘K’ shaped scar on her back since the words ‘I’m sorry’ would never leave his mouth. He also knew how much those memories haunted her and he wanted to do everything in his power to keep her safe even if it meant keeping her safe from herself. 

“Master Ren” Cardo’s voice echoed in the corridor causing Kylo to be slightly ashamed from being caught staring at y/n sleeping. Clearing his throat he looked to his knight preventing his face from showing any emotion, in times like these he missed his mask. “Yes, Cardo?”.

“Well, don’t get me wrong, sir, but me and my brothers are a little worried about you” the knight threw up his words as if speaking quickly would prevent Kylo from being angry. “Why?” Ren asked, face already showing irritation as his tone increased a bit. “You see, y/n is a troublemaker” Cardo laughed a bit remembering their training sessions “ - and that’s exactly what makes the two of you perfect for each other, but we all know how you feel about her and we are afraid of the outcome -” his speech was interrupted as the Supreme Leader angrily said “That is nothing of your business” as he stomped out of the medical bay. 

Kylo knew things would work out between him and his Empress, simply because he could no longer imagine living without her.

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It had been a full cycle since the last time you had seen Kylo and you were dying to see him again. You needed to thank him for the treatment and, even though you weren’t going to say you were sorry for what happened, you wanted to say that after thinking a lot you decided to give the experiment a try. You didn’t really have anything to lose after all and you owned it to him - or you told yourself that -. The truth was that in the same amount your feared love, you wished for it and as much as you tried to deny it, Ren was getting in your soft spot, despite your previous belief that it didn’t really existed.

The time you spent without him was also very sad, you spent all the time looking into the wall and not having what to do took your mind to bad places, memories flooding your brain constantly making you wish to disappear, you were also constantly thinking about Ren, how you were going to say what you wanted, if you should give in to your needs and desires exploring his body with yours, if you should really try to get to know the man, if you had what it took to rule a Galaxy - the answer in your head often being no -. The good part of your endless obsessive thinking was that it clouded the physical pain almost like medicine, the price - your mental health - wasn’t worth it though. 

“Troublemaker?” the nickname and his tone instantly made you laugh, you hadn’t realized just how much you missed Cardo until he showed up. He felt like comfort and as you looked right into his blue eyes the bad thoughts went away. “Hey, asshole” you said, trying to hide the relief you felt in the knight’s presence with your mocking tone. 

“Good to know you aren’t easy to kill” he said giving you a tired smile and sitting in the couch Kylo had previously slept in. “I’m offended that you even considered me easy to kill” you said putting a dramatic facade on. 

“You’re tiny don’t blame me” he mocked, resting his chin on his hand, eyes glimmering with amusement knowing it would piss you off. “Very funny, Cardo” you faked a laugh “Next time we fight I’ll hit your crotch and we’ll see how defenceless I am”.

“You worried me” he said, losing the brave facade and the mocking tone, vulnerability showing in his traces. “I saw it all, and even though I have seen and done some pretty nasty things I thought that I would pass out”. 

“Yes, I didn’t think I would make it either, but I guess I’m tougher than I presumed” a sad smile cracking on your face as the words left your mouth echoing through the white room. “Now I will have to endure the next phase of this ‘experiment’ whatever that is” you shrugged. “I can’t tell you what it is, but you are not going to like it at all.” Cardo said, his relaxed posture coming back and causing you to get a little bit scared of what was coming. “Unfortunately, I have to go troublemaker, need to kill some bad guys” he said faking an attack to illustrate what he was about to do.

Before you could even interrogate the man, he stood up ready to leave the facility. “Wait, can you please tell Kylo to come if you see him?”, Cardo gave you a quick nod and left you behind to deal once again with your memories.

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“You called me?” his deep voice filled your ears making you jump a little bit from the scare, as anxiety immediately started to eat your insides as you remembered why you asked Cardo to get his master. “Hm, yes. I need to talk to you” you said trying to sound confident as you usually sounded like. As you started to get up, Kylo went to help, his touch on your arms making you shiver. 

When you were finally sat, the knight skins left yours, making where he touched feel cold. “Thank you. I’m going to start talking before I regret it” you started avoiding to look at the tall figure still standing, but this time near the couch. “I wanted to thank you, really thank you, what you are doing for me by treating my scar is something I can never repay” you looked at him quickly seeing his face showing no emotion as his hands were in fists. “And, well, I’ve been thinking about the discussion we had - if you can call it that - and, turns out you weren’t totally wrong, so I decided to give this, whatever this is, a chance”. 

As soon as you were done, your eyes travelled to him again waiting anxiously for his reaction. While he didn’t say anything, an uncomfortable silence started to fill the room making it impossible for you to breath. The man stood still watching you just as hard as you watched him, not doing anything to show you that he cared for what you said, just as it was about to become unbearable, his voice echoed through the walls. 

“You don’t have to thank me for it, I did because I wanted to” he shrugged, body finally starting to move as whole as he made his way to the bed sitting next to you. “I’m glad you decided to try, you won’t regret it. I’m also taking the fact you said I was right - even though I already knew that - as a personal victory” while mocking you a smile showed up in his face, lighting his features and eyes up, it almost stopped you from giving him a remarck back. “You shouldn’t, I was the one mostly correct” a smile also making its way into your features. 

“Let me show you how grateful I am for your decision” he purred in your ear, ignoring your comment. Soon he was in his feet again walking towards the door and locking it also making sure that the small window was covered with the curtains. “What are you-” your question was interrupted with his lips as they sealed yours in a deep kiss, Kylo’s tongue dominating yours without mercy. His hands explored your body, always careful with your wound, his right one finding home in your tight squeezing it hard as you kissed while his left one stayed in your hair pushing it slightly every now and then. 

You tried to win over his grip in your tight to press them together, a gesture to relieve the pressure building in your core as the blood flooded directly into your clit, making it sore and getting you wet. 

Kylo finished the kiss trapping your lower lip between his teeth while his brown eyes, almost black with the desire, bored directly into yours making you even wetter. His hands left your body and made their way to the bottom of the medical vest before carefully taking it off. As soon as your bare chest was exposed, he stood a couple of inches away, taking in the sight of your body, as instinct you rubbed your thighs again and placed your fingers on your nipples squeezing them. Just as you started to play with your nipples, an animal sound left Ren’s mouth while he got closer, his hands taking yours off your nubs as he substituted them with his mouth. 

He kissed your nipples just like he had done with your mouth, switching between teasing it with his tongue lapping and swirling around it and trapping the tip with his teeth pulling it slightly as his hands massaged the bottom of your breasts. You were a moaning mess, the building sexual tension and the amount of ruined sex moments with the knight making you more sensitive to his touch.

With his eyes fixed on yours, Kylo started to make his way down slowly in an almost torturing pace, kissing the path to your clothed pussy, lips closing around the skin on your belly leaving some red marks on it, tongue teasing the skin just above the underwear you still had on. Trying to make him go faster, you put your hands on his soft black hair and tried to push him down, but the man was stronger and the only result you got was a smirk in his face. Keeping your hand in place you let him do his way, watching as he kissed the inside of your thighs shortly after you spread them for him.

“Who would’ve known that such a bitter person would smell so sweet” Kylo whispered into your underwear, nose lightly touching your clit making you squirm. Taking his time he lowered your panties letting it fall to the ground, with his fingers he spread your pussy lips showing yourself completely to him. “Such a pretty pussy, I’ve been dreaming of eating this out”. As soon as the words left his mouth, his tongue met your folds in a long lap starting right from your hole and ending on your sore clit causing your head to fall back as a relieved moan left your mouth and your grip on his hair became tighter. 

Everytime a pleasured sound came from you, you could feel his smile against your cunt and because of the way his tongue lapped over and over again on your clit alternating directions, there were too many of them. The man was a master at pussy eating, he knew just how much pressure to put on your nub and from the way he did it you could tell he liked it. 

As two of his thick fingers entered your hole, curling inside of you and hitting the sweet spot, his tongue continued the work causing your inner walls to clench from the amount of pleasure coursing through your veins. It wasn’t long before you were rubbing your cunt against his face, making him a mess, his chin and cheeks shimmering with your pleasure as he moaned into your pussy aroused by your actions. 

When Kylo stopped licking on your clit to suck on it, the building orgasm crashed causing your eyes to close, as your body shook, your legs closing on his head and keeping his mouth connected to your cunt. The only thing leaving your mouth was his name over and over again, your senses clouded from how much pleasure you felt. After Ren finished fingering you through your orgasm, he got up proudly showing his face covered in cum as his fingers sticky and shiny traveled to his mouth, leaving it cleaned not a trace of your arousal on it. “I will never be able to live without eating this pussy, I’ll eat it for breakfast from now on” he said, voice deeper than normal. All you could do was nod, not trusting your voice after having the most incredible orgasm ever.

[lady-divine-writes]

The Prince of the Sea and his Child of Fire - On Kurt’s Island (Rated NC17)

This is one of two one-shots I wrote for this story that is just a bit of happy fluff to follow the HEA :)

Read on AO3.

Blaine reclines on the sand and watches his Fairy King construct his arbor, wishing he could steal Kurt’s attention away from the meticulous work he’s doing. Blaine knows he shouldn’t bother him. Kurt has been trying to build this structure for the better part of five days. And Blaine … well, he’s of little help in that arena, never having had created anything that’s stood on land. But watching Kurt work - the muscles in his back stretching as he reaches, his wings fluttering in reflex - Blaine can’t help his urges.

Those wings. Those gorgeous, ethereal wings are Blaine’s weakness. Blaine loves looking at Kurt’s wings. Blaine can say it’s because he comes from the sea and there are no creatures below the water with appendages like those, but that’s not the complete truth. There are many fish with gossamer fins that look remarkably like wings. They might not fly through the water the same way Kurt soars through the sky, but they hang and drift, suspended on the current. The effect can be described as similar, but it’s in no way the same.

Kurt’s wings are a magical thing to behold. They are magnificent in span, even compared to others of his kind, and they look like skeletal lace. During the day, they capture the rays of the sun and glimmer like twin flames. And at night, they hold the moonlight and reflect it like an aurora. The fairies tried to fashion the windows of Kurt’s palace after them, out of woven gold mesh and fine, spindly, pearlescent glass, except that the effect of Kurt’s wings could never be re-created. They are unique, singular, exceptional.

Just like the Great Fairy King himself.

For Blaine, being around Kurt is like drinking a fine wine, one that you don’t have to put your lips to in order to feel its effects. Kurt makes Blaine dizzy. He makes Blaine’s world spin in several different directions at once. He makes everything brighter and warmer and effervescent.

Kurt is a force of nature. Blaine knows that firsthand.

He creates fire from his fingertips.

He can make flowers grow.

And he outshines the sun.

Watching Kurt work and listening to him sing gives Blaine fuel to daydream. He often watches Kurt and wonders how things would have turned out if everything had gone the way Kurt had originally wanted, and they had made it to that Star. Blaine imagines that things for them would not be much different. They would be together, the way they are on this little island of theirs, and they would be in love. But they would be starting the world over – Blaine controlling the water, filling it with life, with Kurt doing the same on the surface.

The only difference would be that the world where they were born would be gone - a victim of their parents’ intolerance and hate.

Blaine prefers this so much better.

Blaine watches as Kurt carefully crafts his roses one petal at a time. Kurt’s patience astounds Blaine. Blaine was often told that the fairies of the fire were impetuous, prone to rash decisions, and that the sprites of the water were the level-headed ones. But in Blaine’s experience with Kurt, nothing could be further from the truth. Yes, Kurt has a temper to rival any fairy, but he had the patience of the moon waiting through its phases to show its entire face to the world. That’s how Kurt creates. He’s perfected the art of manipulating light. He could spend all evening on a single flower, infusing it with every color ever known from the cells on out.

If Blaine lets him … which he finds that he can’t, and not because of the rising sun calling to them, warning them of its appearance. They’ve found ways around the sunrise. Kurt’s arbor is one of them, but that’s not all. They’ve spent whole days chasing the night, from one side of the world to the other, just to spend time together. Kurt also discovered that his palace has an outlet to an underground waterway. He never knew about it because the only way to reach it is through a staircase in the Queen’s chambers – his mother’s room. He likes to believe that his mother had it built that way in case Malek ever decided to return to her. Blaine uses it in his father’s stead to visit Kurt in his palace, sleep beside him in his bed.

But aside from all of this, in Kurt’s arms, the sun doesn’t harm Blaine, just as in Blaine’s arms, the water leaves Kurt be.

Blaine rises from the sand and walks over to his busy fairy, eager to touch him. Kurt’s body is Blaine’s paradise. It’s warm and comforting. His skin feels like satin, his hair like silk, and his mouth ...

Whenever Blaine feels like going to heaven, that’s the first place he visits.

Kissing his Fairy King takes him straight there.

“You know,” Kurt says, as Blaine wraps his arms around him from behind, “this arbor’s never going to get done.”

“Yes, it will,” Blaine says, pressing cool kisses to Kurt’s shoulder. “And if it doesn’t, it will have very little to do with me, my King, and more to do with the fact that you’re such a perfectionist.”

“This arbor is for you, my love,” Kurt points out. He pauses a moment where he’s been darkening a petal to the exact shade of gold as Blaine’s lust blown eyes to lean into Blaine’s skin and surrender to his kisses. “I would like it to be as close to perfect as possible.”

“It will be …” Blaine tightens his arms around Kurt’s waist “… if it has you in it.”

Kurt smiles. “Well, of course,” he agrees, completing his petal, then snapping his fingers to make the others around it the exact same shade.

“It’s gorgeous,” Blaine says of Kurt’s rose. “Now, make half of them that color, and it’ll be wonderful.”

Wh-what about the other half?” Kurt’s words waver when Blaine moves his kisses to the junction of Kurt’s wings where they meet his shoulder. Kurt never imagined that would feel as good as it does. He never liked having his wings – any part of them – touched before. But Blaine is so gentle about it, his mouth so tender around them, that it has become the one touch Kurt craves most.

“Make those the color of your eyes,” Blaine whispers against the glassine flesh of his wings, “and I will be supremely happy.”

“So blue then?” Kurt asks, trembling fingers moving to a bare branch of the arbor. White roses bloom at his touch, waiting to be transformed.

“No.” Blaine shakes his head, brushing the nape of Kurt’s neck with his hair, that sensation sizzling with the memory of other times Blaine’s hair has brushed the nape of the Fairy King’s neck, in what throes of passionate embrace they were locked in. “Not just blue. Some should be blue like the sky at sunset when I first see you - that deep, mysterious shade of lapis that heralds the dark.” Blaine’s tongue lingers at the top of Kurt’s spine, licking in small circles that make Kurt’s wings vibrate from pure pleasure. “Make some of them the blue at sunrise, right before we say good-bye – that light, wispy, dreamlike blue that seems so cheerful, but for us, can be so sad. Then make the rest gray, closer to silver, like the sky before a hurricane.”

“When are my eyes that color?” Kurt asks. The question comes out whispered, bordering on a gasp.

“They’re that color right now, my love,” Blaine says, the sentence drifting down Kurt’s back. “They’re the color your eyes become when you want me.” Blaine’s lips wander back up Kurt’s spine to hover around the edge of his ear. “How can I have you, my King? Tell me what I have to do.”

Kurt turns in Blaine’s arms to rest his hands on Blaine’s shoulders and gaze into his eyes. “Is it in the nature of the Great Sea King to kneel?” he teases.

“Only for you,” Blaine says, dropping to his knees, understanding what Kurt wants, what’s sometimes hard for him to say out loud.

Kurt watches Blaine lower himself for him, peeling his pants down his legs as he goes. It seems to please Blaine to do this, to make Kurt feel good. He expresses his love for Kurt this way, without saying a single word.

Kurt’s skin is pure heat when Blaine takes him into his mouth. Everything about Kurt is light and fire and power. It’s an intoxicating feeling having that in Blaine’s body, to feel that strength, knowing Kurt reserves it for him only.

As Blaine does for Kurt.

They belong to one another – powerful elementals. Together they form balance, life. If things were different, if they were enemies, the power of one could surely extinguish the other.

If they suffered the sin of vanity that their parents bequeathed to them.

But together like this, they create harmony.

With Kurt’s head thrown back, his voice singing with pleasure, the trees above him bear fruit, the flowers of the arbor his hands rest on flourish like wild, bursting in vivid shades of blue and green - and as he gets closer to climaxing, a fiery autumn red. The waters pull up to the shore and the clouds in the sky part.

“No,” Kurt begs, removing one hand from his roses to thread his fingers through Blaine’s hair. “Not yet. Not without you.”

Blaine pulls off his Fairy King and kisses around his hips. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. Please.”

“If that’s what you wish.”

“I do.” Kurt falls to wobbly knees to address his Sea King’s flushed face. “That’s all I ever want.”

No one taught them how to do this. No one told them how it was done. Kurt knew absolutely nothing about it and Blaine, he had heard talk from tactless guards around his palace. But from the moment he saw Kurt tending his fire, he’d dreamed of this, knew it could become a reality if Kurt would ever fall in love with him. They’ve made it more than a reality. It’s so much better than Blaine could have ever imagined, so much better than the ways he experimented on himself, alone in his room.

Being with Kurt like this has turned reality into a dream.

Blaine doesn’t enter Kurt. He becomes one with him. Just because Blaine leans over Kurt from behind doesn’t, in any way, put him above his Fairy King. When they make love, they’re the same person, joined together, moving as one. There are points on Kurt’s skin that Blaine swears he can feel deep inside when he touches them, places that seem like doorways from one to the other. Every stroke, every kiss, every caress is more than an act with a drive towards a goal. It’s a way for them to communicate, and not only with one another, but with the earth beneath them, the sky above.

Blaine has often said that Kurt��s moans of ecstasy trigger the sun to rise, and Kurt has many times claimed that Blaine calling out his name makes the earth beneath the sea quake. With Blaine inside him, Kurt’s skin glows pink. He becomes his own star, and the stars above them twinkle in response.

Blaine puts a hand to Kurt’s cheek and turns his face, needing to look in Kurt’s eyes when he cums. He stares with wonder at Kurt’s smiling face, his eyes shimmering in the starlight, and as much as Kurt adores it, he has to look away. Sometimes it’s just too much, the emotion that Blaine keeps in his eyes – the love, the loss, all the near misses, the things that they thought would never be. But here together on Kurt’s island, there is no loss, and their lives are forever.

When love making ends, when they collapse, still connected, and moans fade into sighs, they relax in the sand together, with Blaine’s head pressed against Kurt’s back, listening to the beat of his heart serenade him sweetly. They look up at the sky, which seems to be filled with hundreds more stars, called out of hiding, called into existence, by the love of the Sea King and his Fire Child.

“Kurt,” Blaine says, “you are, without a doubt, the greatest thing that has ever existed in my life.”

Kurt places kisses on Blaine’s fingertips and smiles. “And you, my King, are the greatest in mine.”

[howiexperiencemusic]

cat heaven

honestly i’ve loved a lot of albums in my life. i’ve been fixated on musicians, songs and albums until one day i just simply move on. so my obsession with cat heaven isn’t entirely unfounded; but this album in particular, i’m completely enamored. i love everything about it, every song means the world to me and i just can’t stop playing them all. i’ve had phases with every single song at different times, i’ve also had phases where i just loop the album as a whole or i can’t stop playing a three-song run in it. it all makes sense to me and it’s one of the few things that does. this isn’t a review or a reaction, this is a scattered recollection of everything i’ve been through and how cat heaven says it all. it’s messy and scattered in a million directions so don’t expect perfect grammar and phrasing.

i initially came across roy about a year or so ago being a fan of enya, and finding out he was her boyfriend. i had the music video for happy recommended to me on youtube and once i finally gave in and clicked it, i saw myself on the screen. of course i cannot relate to the nitty gritty details of the lyrics, they’re just so personal, but i found those same feelings in myself. i heard his voice say everything on his mind in a way that was familiar yet new. it made me long for what i once felt but only the idea of it all. the sound was expansive, it took me up into the sky at night and crash-landed me into raw earth. the sound was so specific to myself i couldn’t help but pay attention.

over the course of the last year, my life has changed entirely. everything i’ve ever known got upended and destroyed, with no chance of getting it back. i’ve had to learn how adaptable i truly am, and explore my ability to land on my feet when nobody is there to tell me how. i had lived life before that was difficult but manageable. i had a life that wasn’t without challenge, but didn’t necessarily have a lot at risk. however, over the course of the year i had my home, my relationships, my finances, my life as i knew it, uprooted. and there was nothing i could have done and nothing i could do to ever get it back.

now, all that to say this album has been my soundtrack for it all. it would be disingenuous to say it was the only thing i listened to the entire time. of course, i listened to other artists throughout this time and found other things to obsess over (posts for those forthcoming), but this album was the definitive supreme over it all. when i look back at my twentieth trip around the sun, i will forever hear cat heaven being the soundtrack to it all. and for that, it has entered into the upper echelon of albums defining my life. and i am so appreciative of it. there isn’t a moment on this album that isn’t special to me in some way, whether it’s the quiet part during the bridge of thunder, the fuzzy awakening of grow up,or the triumph of hazel, a bittersweet anthem. it’s his searing honesty in the face of a world that had wronged him. he told his story regardless of who wanted to listen and it gives me chills to even think about how powerful that is.

when i say i’ve had a phase with every song here, i mean every. single. song. grow up is the perfect opener, it starts the album and every day when i wake up and press play, it begins my day in the same way. that song will forever be special to me because in a lot of ways it represents me waking up in a brand new life i can’t escape.

alex comes in like an energetic jolt of lightning. he quite literally says “i’m gonna lose my mind tonight, no one in the world is gonna stop me” it’s so empowered and positive, he doesn’t just promise to enjoy himself regardless, he threatens it. this song for me fills me with so much happiness it single-handedly got me out of bed and ready some days because it fueled me. alex is the song i want people to know if they want to get to know me.

family simmers at first, it’s lowkey and you almost miss it. he’s quiet and it’s ominous. he says “pain keeps growing taking over my life, i don’t really care it’s been like this for a long time” and you almost believe he doesn’t care until you hear the chorus and you hear how pissed he is. the chorus looks you in the eyes while it openly bleeds. this song was all i could hear during the darkest times in 2019. so many things wronged me this year. when i let the anger encompass me, i found solace in knowing someone else had my same fury.

perfume is the sugary delicacy i can’t stop eating. when i was streaming this song with my sister one time, she asked me “when he says ‘everything i do is for you’ who do you think of? since you’ve never been in love.” it was a read for sure and i laughed when she said it. but i told her that for me, when i hear him say that to someone, i think about how much nerve it takes to say that to someone, and how much courage i would need to ever put it into a song and i’m blown away. sometimes love songs are even more vulnerable than they appear on the surface. i aspire to love somebody so hard i forget the fear of expressing emotions. and when i hear that i don’t think of a boy, i think of a concept i may one day attain. it’s beautiful and pure.

thunder had to grow on me. thunder doesn’t go out of it’s way to be in your face like perfume or alex. it makes you wait for all of the best parts of it and it takes it’s time getting there. every second is pure quality and it’s perfect. he gives you time to think about everything he says and it’s important you do because he says it so perfectly. but once i heard it the way i needed to, i now regard it as one of my favorites on the entire album. it’s s u c h a good song and i am still in awe he had the emotional maturity to create it. it’s the perfect song to stare at the stars and listen to and if you haven’t done that yet, get on it!

jane is my current favorite on the album. it’s my most recent fixation and i listen to it for hours on end sometimes and just savor every second. the drums are so vocal and the guitar communicates such a specific feeling i can’t put it into words. the part that sits in my soul the most is when he says “the best thing about not having you around, i can finally be myself, think out loud. and the trees tall since i always look down.” it’s quietly bittersweet. it refuses to let you be completely happy or sad it just forces you to hear it for what it is. and the outro is just pure perfection it sets the scene for what’s to come and helps the album feel the way it does.

kansas is special to me because in the last year i’ve driven across the us twice and that songs feels e x a c t l y like middle america when you’re driving through it. there’s so many miles of nothingness and it’s lonely and beautiful all at the same time. the night sky is clear when you look up at it and there’s no noise. just miles of plains and you wonder how people live there. how people have to live in a town with 20 people in it. when you see a random house in the middle of nowhere and it looks abandoned and you just have to wonder what happened. so much wondering while wandering and kansas is the perfect song for it.

september is like a kindling of a smile on my face. it wraps me up in the feeling of home. home for me is no longer a place and now all i can do is hope that the feeling of home returns to me one day. when i listen to that song one day i hope i can mean what i feel. it’s slow-going and it has nowhere it needs to be other than right here. and all that to say it isn’t a happy song. it’s sad but resigned. and that’s exactly where i’m at too.

switchblade defines my time living in a place i wasn’t happy in. when i lived in that place i felt such anger at the world and i needed everyone who lived there to know i didn’t like them. roy spits out these words with such venom you know he still feels that same rage he felt from living there and i know it exactly. when he says “you don’t mean shit to me” i have vivid memories of me in the car yelling that to the world with him. it killed my throat to yell like that but it felt good. it matched the fury burning in me over an unfair world humbling me again. it’s so excellent.

in a broken world where everything turns it’s back on you, grand theft auto reminds you what’s important. he describes a series of things in his life that are broken or ineffective and doesn’t care because “you’re all i’ve got” he’s found his peace despite the fact that life isn’t what he wanted it to be. it’s wisdom.

california is everything to me. this year i left california and moved so far away. it was a circumstance completely out of my control. to hear this ballad about leaving california it means something completely different to me than it does to him. it makes me cry and miss california. “the sun rules on but the leaves got a hole in the center.” he says we need to slow it down. the song is sonically gorgeous but being born and raised in california, i know it’s my speed. the most bittersweet part of it all is that even if i were to return, it would never be the same.

hazel is also one of my absolute favorites on the whole album. it’s just the perfect ending. i’ll never forget my last month living in the place i hated. i listened to this song the whole month. it was a beacon of hope that i knew i was leaving behind the last person i had to cling to in life. it played when i left and i chose to put myself first for the first time in my life. while i still haven’t recovered from that, this song helps me so much in seeing how beautiful life is. it reminds me to look at myself and my choices and love who i am. even if i don’t think i deserve such reverence. “nights in the rv, i won’t remember, rides in your car seat i won’t forget” is just the most perfect line. “the times where i thought it was love, were just peaks. a mountain a month between terrible weeks.” chills. lyrically and sonically he pulls out the stops and it’s stark and stunning. even the part that says “just stay forever,” like he knows it’s impossible but it’s still what he wants. if my life were a movie, the moment i died this would be the first song in the credits. the end is once again immaculate. he closes the album with an audio clip and the last thing you hear is a door closing, when you know the ride you just went on this whole album is over. but before that he winds down and it gives you time to breathe and take in everything he just took you through. you can’t make out the sounds in the closing portion, you hear voices but it’s almost like they’re coming from down the hallway and you’re speeding through your life too fast to focus on just one sound. you hear everything. there’s an overwhelming comforting loneliness. and that’s where he leaves us off at.

this is not a review, this isn’t supposed to make sense. it’s scattered and raw and my stream of consciousness while hearing the album i’ve listened to more than anything else. to an album that understands when i find out once again life isn’t fair and doesn’t owe me anything. there are few things in life that can get me to shut the fuck up and just listen. music has the capacity to do that for me but when it can make me cry just by hearing it, when it narrates my life, there is something special about it. i am so appreciative it came to me in this time and i am even more appreciative of the fact that i got through some really hard times with this comforting me. i can only speak for myself but if i’m the only person on this earth who loves this album like this that makes it worth it. and one day i hope i can make something so powerful.

cat heaven forever

[kaibashadow]

Story:

Seto Kaiba overhears a rumor about KaibaShadow possibly getting over him and goes to investigate the source. He finds Kokichi Ouma standing outside somewhere in the middle of the day and confronts him.

Kokichi decides to tease the CEO of the company, mainly stating that he, himself, is more superior in every way and a much more better choice for her than Kaiba will ever be.

Kaiba knows that this guy has track record of lying so much and thinks that he is up to his usual antics right now. He doesn’t believe that he lost KaibaShadow even for just a second. He smacks Kokichi right across the face, which leave a very distinct red, painful mark on his cheek and a very distraught supreme leader turning away from Kaiba in order to conceal the damage he has done to him.

Kaiba leaves Kokichi and goes to find his so-called “friends” just randomly standing in the middle of the road in some remote location. He tells them in great detail what he has done, and when the others start reacting and retaliating, saying that he shouldn’t have punched Kokichi, Kaiba just laughs. He doesn’t take orders or advice from anyone. He is in this all for himself. As long as he has his fan-base to support him, he thinks that everything that he does will be justified in any way.

He walks away from the group, needing time to spend for himself.

- - -

At night, Kaiba enters his secret base and starts turning on his terminal and his computer. He wants to know if Kokichi really does serve as a competition to him. Kaiba decides to see what KaibaShadow was viewing last time in her search history. He discovers Kokichi Ouma’s biography page and schematics and starts reading through them with such disgust.

Suddenly, one of Kaiba’s cameras starts alerting him of an intruder in the area. He checks the main camera to see what might be going on.

Kokichi Ouma appears right on his computer screen, almost scaring Kaiba in the process. Apparently, Kokichi found Kaiba’s secret base and locates one of his hidden cameras and thought that it would be fun if Kaiba knew that his base was now compromised by his beautiful presence.

Kokichi has a proposition for Kaiba. “Heeeeyyy, Kaiba! You want to know why KaibaShadow has been so interested in me lately? Well, I’m gonna tell you now. So, get ready!” Kokichi takes a deep breath as if he is ready to explain in great detail his whole life story, but then, he states, “That was just a lie! If you really want to know, then meet me later tonight at this location.” Kokichi tapes a piece of paper to Kaiba’s camera, completely obscuring the camera’s view in the process. Kokichi later leaves the premises without Kaiba knowing how or when Kokichi was able to enter or leave his base.

Kaiba is shocked that Kokichi was easily able to track down his current secret base and is appalled to even think that Kokichi would have revealed himself and shed some light on the matter right then and there. He contemplates whether he should go find out the truth from the talented trickster. In the back of his mind, he has a feeling that Kokichi won’t really say anything about it and thinks that he is going to trick Kaiba again. But, what choice does Kaiba have? If he wants to find out what really happened, then he has no choice but to go, right?

Kaiba gets up and closes his monitor and his lights. He goes out late at night, thinking that he might have a lead.

- - -

When Kaiba meets up at the given location with Kokichi, he at first didn’t recognize him. He thought it was just some kid outside just trick-or-treating really late at night, which he finds to be odd considering that this kid was alone by himself with no parent or guardian around to watch him. Kaiba has a quick thought about whether or not his little brother, Mokuba, was still outside trick-or-treating by himself or even if his brother was even doing such a thing in the first place when suddenly, the kid in front of him starts speaking, “So, what do you think about my costume?”

Kaiba scrutinizes at the kid more closely and finally notices the short stature and small features of the boy in front of him. He can now see that this person is his newest rival. “What are you supposed to even be?” he questions with a glaring tone.

Kokichi smiles and says, “Isn’t it obvious? I’m just a skeleton! Or a Soul Reaper! Or maybe even the Grim Reaper! Pick or choose whichever. Anyways, where’s your costume?”

Kaiba doesn’t answer his question. Instead, he remarks and laughs maniacally, “Your costume is lame! Hahahahaha!” He gloats with a wide-open smile when he sees Kokichi about to be in tears and ponders that this guy has no chance over winning KaibaShadow’s heart. He thinks that coming here was just a waste of time and he leaves abruptly.

What Kaiba doesn’t know is that this was all an act just to see how desperate he was to getting the information. Kokichi wanted to know if he was bothering Kaiba just by the mere sight of him, and he definitely got his answer right then. He has everything falling into place, especially KaibaShadow’s undivided attention.

Kokichi tries to give a fair warning to Kaiba, but he’s already out of sight. “If you try to break me…”

- - -

Kokichi changes out of his costume and into his own clothing. He snickers and grins, knowing that he has everything now at his fingertips. Now, all he has to do to Kaiba… “I’m gonna burn you down!” Kokichi is a force to be reckoned with, and Kaiba has no idea what he’s in for.

- - -

The next day, Kokichi challenges Kaiba to play a game at the gym.

For some reason, Kaiba just doesn’t seem to know how to say no to this person, and they start the game.

Some time passes, and Kokichi appears to be the one who is winning so far. But, Kaiba doesn’t give in. He knows he is capable of bouncing right back to win the game just as he did countless times before.

However, Kokichi finds this moment as an opportunity to finally reveal to Kaiba the whereabouts of KaibaShadow. KaibaShadow has apparently have two interests in mind, and neither one of them happens to be the beholder of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon cards. Kokichi states with such veracity, “Baby, KaibaShadow’s done with you. She’s not coming back for you.”

And, with that statement, Kokichi automatically wins the duel. He beats Kaiba in his own game and mischievously teases, “I didn’t know we were playing Duel Links.”

 Devastated with the loss, Kaiba decides to find a way to enter the after life to find the Pharaoh for a duel without trying to harm himself in order to get there.

Instead, he finds himself in another place and in a different school currently wearing school clothes at this time. He didn’t want to cause a scene, so he plans on waiting until school is over to see where exactly did he end up.

However, Uryu Ishida just happens to notice Seto Kaiba, whereas, the rest of the class didn’t. He knows that Kaiba doesn’t belong here and senses that his spiritual pressure is a threat to this world. He also knows that Kaiba was once a favorite of KaibaShadow’s, but now there is no room for him to be on her mind. Uryu makes it his mission to eliminate the being as quickly as he can.

Uryu glares intensely at Kaiba while skillfully sewing during his free time.

Kaiba, trying to read a book that he clearly can’t understand as if it was written in a new language he has never seen before, notices Uryu and thinks that maybe he’s been made. But, Kaiba makes this the least of his worries. He’s been trying to figure out who Kokichi Ouma was talking about when he mentioned that there are two interests that KaibaShadow has in mind. One of them just has to be Kokichi Ouma, which she has made a definitive mistake on, but who is this other one? he contemplates to himself.

- - -

The school bell finally rings for the end of the day. Kaiba gets out of his school clothes and dresses himself in his normal attire. However, he was not expecting to come face-to-face with another person.

Uryu carefully draws his bow and releases the arrow with such grace, surrounding Kaiba in a bright and intense light.

Kaiba isn’t sure how or what exactly set this person off or what was bothering him when suddenly, he gets a sinking feeling that this might be the other “interest” that the little gremlin was talking about. He questions the guy in front of him, “So tell me, who or what are you?”

Uryu stands his ground and wears a serious look on his face. “Uryu Ishida. I’m a Quincy.” He eyes the person in front of him meticulously and points assertively at him. “Seto Kaiba, you are my enemy!”

Kaiba certainly isn’t one who backs down from a fight, but he has never met a person who has powers like Uryu, or so he thinks. Kaiba concludes that it might be best to stay out of Uryu’s way, not that this so called “Quincy” poses any kind of threat to him. He’d rather just not get himself involved with the situation as of yet.

- - -

Kaiba walks alone at night by himself just trying to figure out where he still is and if he’s any closer to getting to the after life to meet the Pharaoh. Being alone with his own thoughts makes him feel susceptible to thinking about anything, especially his encounter with Uryu. “So, he has special powers, wears glasses, and knows how to sew. What exactly makes him so special?” he continues to ponder, “This is just a phase KaibaShadow is going through. She’s going to get over him and come back to me. Same goes for that Kokichi.”

He continues to walk on, but suddenly, he hears something and looks over his shoulder. He certainly wasn’t expecting to see him tonight.

Uryu Ishida was just out walking in the street by himself when he senses Kaiba’s awful spiritual pressure. As if reading his mind, he warns Kaiba, “Know I’m nothing like the others.”

(Note: KaibaShadow has plushies of some of her favorite characters from various franchises. Some were given as gifts, and others she bought for herself. So, guess which plushies she recently added to her collection?)

Uryu takes it upon himself to take Kaiba to the Soul Society for two reasons: 1. To get Kaiba away from his world and his town. 2. The Soul Society is overfilling with reishi, which he can utilize his own powers and defeat Kaiba once and for all.

Once they arrive at the Soul Society, however, Kaiba manages to knock Uryu off of the roof. Kaiba appears to be all high and mighty and is smug about the whole situation. He doesn’t believe he lost KaibaShadow in any way, shape, or form. He warns Uryu, “Stay out of my way! You’re no match compared to me anyways!” Kaiba gets off the roof and walks away.

Uryu takes great offense to that statement as he continues to use his fingers to latch on to the roof to prevent him from falling a great amount of distance towards the ground. He relies on his pride as a Quincy to release his powers and to regain control over this battle. Uryu responds to the CEO, “You shouldn’t have messed with me ‘cuz I heard…” With the use of his powers, he plants himself firmly on his feet and vows to exact revenge, or at least, set them both on the same leverage. He goes to find the wandering Kaiba in the Soul Society.

- - -

Later that night, Uryu finds Kaiba and decides to go beyond his current capabilities in order to set the record straight. Uryu breaks off his glove and immediately feels this new set of powers overflowing almost beyond his control, but Uryu doesn’t quit. He is determined to stop Kaiba at all costs and send him anywhere else but his world and here.

Kaiba finds himself in deep trouble, knowing that a simple card games can’t help him out with this problem. He know that in a fight against this Quincy, he will lose, but his own pride has prevented him from making smart choices. If Kaiba hasn’t felt fear or death before, then he certainly will now. He watches Uryu with careful consideration, knowing that he should probably start running, but he is unable to at that moment. He is frozen in place while he just stands there dumbfounded.

Uryu is fast and gets the high ground before Kaiba could even react. He is ready to take aim at his opponent and send him far away from this place.

Kaiba glances up at Uryu and gases at him like he is an angel. An Angel of Death, that is. He can hear and feel his breath being hitched and his heart painfully pounding in his body. He sees his whole life flash right before his very eyes at the mere sight of seeing Uryu draw his arrow from his bow.

Uryu locks onto his opponent. As his final words to him, ironically, as if to mock Kaiba, he tells him, “You’re afraid of monsters! Monster!” He releases that arrow from his heart, which sends shockwaves throughout the Soul Society.

What do you think happens next? Is Kaiba still alive after an attack like this? Does Kaiba get to meet the Pharaoh in the after life? Will Kaiba find a way to win KaibaShadow’s heart once again? You decide how this goes.

- KᴀɪʙᴀSʜᴀᴅᴏᴡ ♥

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Credit:

Maki Harukawa, Shuichi Saihara, and Kokichi Ouma Plushies: Yoshee G

Beta Kokichi Ouma: @nona-nightingale

Edited: September (Uryu’s part) - October (Kokichi’s part) 2019 Uploaded: October 31, 2019 「EMS」Kokichi Ouma vs Seto Kaiba vs Uryu Ishida - Monster

[newyorkprelawland-blog]

The Ethics of COVID Vaccination Passports

By William Biederman, Cornell University Class of 2022

August 3, 2021

In a phase of the COVID-19 pandemic that many experts are calling a so-called 'pandemic of the un-vaccinated,' many institutions and governments are asking themselves, "How do we do we best go about checking for vaccination or inoculation status, while still respecting medical privacy laws?" For many nations, particularly in Europe, the answer to this question is a vaccine passport, a digital or hardcopy proof-of-vaccination form, that can be required for admission to high-risk settings, such as dining in a restaurant or visiting a museum. In the United States, however, HIPAA and other privacy regulations limit the ability of state governments or other entities to require visitors to present proof of COVID-19 vaccination beyond a self-attestation form. In this short article, I will explore examples of proof-of-vaccination requirements around the globe in contrast to the legality of vaccination passports in the United States.

Firstly, it is necessary to clarify that vaccination passports are not a recent development but have been in use for many years. In Tariro Mzezewa's article, "Coming Soon: The 'Vaccine Passport'", she discusses the history of vaccination passports for travel to countries known to have transmission of highly contagious and dangerous diseases, and how these might serve as an example for how future proof-of-vaccination programs may be implemented [1]. Mzezewa explains, "For decades, people traveling to some countries have had to prove that they have been vaccinated against diseases such as yellow fever, rubella and cholera" [1]. However, Mzezewa acknowledges that the situation with COVID-19 vaccination may be different from previous uses of vaccination proof: "But a major difference between the yellow card of years past and what is being worked on now is the digital component, which comes with new concerns around privacy and accessibility" [1]. As the author mentions, objections to having a mandatory vaccination check have been raised in the name of privacy concerns, particularly with having potentially sensitive health information in the hands of technology companies and the government. Certainly, this is an understandable concern: over the past few years, companies such as Facebook and Google were involved in several lawsuits alleging misuse of personal information, negligent handling of sensitive data, and underhanded data collection. To gain the trust of the public, especially those who are more skeptical about getting the vaccine in the first place, a vaccination passport program should be developed in an open, transparent manner, so that issues of privacy can be addressed quickly. There is little margin for error, as the general public's distrust of the government has been growing steadily throughout the pandemic due to the bait-and-switch nature of lockdown and other mitigating measures and recommendations: "There are ways this could be done right or done terribly wrong, and the wrong ways could lead us to a techno dystopia" [1]. Taking this all into consideration, the next question that must be asked is, what are other countries around the world doing to create a vaccination passport that provides the necessary documentation, while still protecting the privacy of the end-user?

Many countries in Europe have started to roll out coronavirus vaccine passport apps for smartphones as a way of eliminating the possibility of 'unknown vaccination status' in public spaces where transmission is likely to occur. For example, Denmark is using a mandatory vaccination passport program, known as CoronaPas, to verify the vaccination status of citizens and visitors for admission to venues, restaurants, and museums [2]. While unvaccinated persons can still enjoy outdoor areas in Denmark, to enter indoor facilities, persons must present proof of vaccination through the state-sponsored COVID-19 vaccination passport. Having recently traveled to Demark this summer, I can speak from experience that knowing that everyone who is going to the same museum, for example, is vaccinated against COVID, I felt more comfortable knowing that I could enjoy the exhibit without the risk of contracting the virus. In addition to Denmark, the European Union health authorities have developed their passport, known as 'Digital Green Pass,' which was created "with the aim of allowing people who have been vaccinated against the coronavirus to travel more freely. Under the proposed rules, each nation within the bloc could decide which travel restrictions, such as obligatory quarantine, to waive for Digital Green holders" [2]. Unfortunately, because it took the EU such a long time to develop their vaccine passport, we will have to wait many months before we see its potential impact. Coupled with the long development periods, we have seen limited use of vaccine passports globally until relatively recently and there are still questions about their widespread use because many places around the world (especially in economically depressed regions) are still struggling with access to the COVID-19 vaccine.

Now that Europe is slowly moving towards national vaccination passport applications, what are some examples of similar systems in the United States? Unsurprisingly, these examples are few and far between. While New York State has released the "Excelsior Pass" and has encouraged some businesses and venues, such as Yankee Stadium and Madison Square Garden, to require persons to show their Excelsior Pass QR codes for admission, other states around the country have gone so far as to outright ban proof-of-vaccination requirements. Murphy explains, "Lawmakers in at least a half-dozen states, including Texas, Florida and Arkansas, have moved to ban businesses from requiring vaccination, saying it is a privacy violation or will slow down reopening of commerce" [2]. If privacy concerns are address, this objection holds little water based on the resurgence of the virus amongst unvaccinated persons returning to pre-pandemic life without wear masks or having any protection against the virus themselves, which has led to more lockdowns, more infections, and sadly, more preventable deaths. However, we must not forget that because many people in the United States and around the globe lack any identification, such as a passport or driver's license, "digital documents that show vaccine status may heighten inequality and risk, leaving many people behind" [2]. The lack of identification is just another inequity that the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed and one we will be forced to grapple with within the coming months and years as we move into a post-pandemic world.

And now, after comparing several vaccination passport programs around the world, one question remains: Are vaccine passports legal in the United States, and if so, what is the best way to use them? According to Richard Warren and Nhan Ho's article in The National Law Review, they explain, "There is no federal law specifically prohibiting employers from mandating COVID-19 vaccination in the workplace" [3]. Not only that, but "recently, a district court dismissed a lawsuit brought by hospital employees who were required to get vaccinated as a condition of continued employment" [3]. If this decision serves as precedent, and if we are talking specifically about privately-owned workplaces and companies, proof of vaccination against COVID-19 can legally be a condition for employment. However, it is important to mention that "state and local laws may prohibit a workplace vaccination mandate" [3] More generally though, the consensus in the legal community is that vaccine passports are "generally [legal], [but] in a society so divided, politicians are already girding for a fight" [4]. Furthermore, "government entities like school boards and the Army can require vaccinations for entry, service, and travel — practices that flow from a 1905 Supreme Court ruling that said states could require residents to be vaccinated against smallpox or pay a fine" [4]. As I have discussed at length in my previous articles, due to the state of emergency declarations made at the local, state, and federal levels, special powers, and privileges are granted to governments to protect against and/or mitigate the effects of the current crisis, even at the reasonable cost of some freedoms in a limited and specific scope.

Despite evidence that such a system requiring vaccinations would not only be legal but would help tamp down the spread of the virus amongst unvaccinated persons, the Biden Administration stated that "the government is not now, nor will we be supporting a system that requires Americans to carry a credential," a somewhat unexpected decision. What is likely the case is that the Biden White House wants to avoid a political minefield, especially considering the degree of resistance towards vaccines in the first place, and thus, they do not want to 'fuel the fire' by requiring a system of documentation that many people have serious ethical and privacy concerns about. The road forward for vaccination passports is uncertain, even more so given the lack of appetite for the program in the United States -- as for the rest of the world, the early adopters of these proof of vaccination systems will serve as a proving ground for examining just how effective these programs are. What is clear is that we are unlikely to see any kind of federally mandated vaccine passport system anytime soon, if at all, despite indications that such a system would prevent infections and deaths and allow many cautious persons to feel more comfortable to return to pre-COVID life.

______________________________________________________________

William Biederman is a rising senior at Cornell University, majoring in History and minoring in Law and Society. He has a strong interest in healthcare and criminal law, and the medical sciences.

______________________________________________________________

1.    Mzezewa, T. (2021, February 4). Coming soon: The 'vaccine passport.' The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/04/travel/coronavirus-vaccine-passports.html

2.    Murphy, H. (2021, April 26). A look at covid-19 vaccine 'passports,' passes, and apps around the globe. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/26/travel/vaccine-passport-cards-apps.html

3.    Covid-19 vaccine passports & policy in the workplace. (n.d.). The National Law Review. Retrieved July 22, 2021, from https://www.natlawreview.com/article/covid-19-vaccine-passports-policy-workplace

4.    Stolberg, S. G., & Liptak, A. (2021, April 6). Likely legal, 'vaccine passports' emerge as the next coronavirus divide. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/06/us/politics/vaccine-passports-coronavirus.html

Photo Credit: Juliettpapa97

[pamphletstoinspire]

Catholic Prophecy - Part 11

20 Catholic Prophecy

De Mediatate Lunae ("From the Midst of the Moon," often translated, "From the Half of the Moon"). The biblical symbolism of the "moon" is "the worldly kingdom" or the "temporal order." This Pope may therefore be elected from the midst of cardinals who are mainly influenced by worldly ideas (social gospel, etc.), or he may be elected at a time when the forces of Satan (the "Prince of this World") have virtual control of the entire earth via their secret government, possibly even influencing the papal election, so that an agent of the world antichrist government is elected Pope. Still another explanation is that he will be a bad Pope, himself influenced and dominated by worldly ideas, and thus do great havoc to the Church. Finally, this enigmatic formula may indicate that during his reign, the Moslem world (the crescent or "half moon") will gain ascendancy and possibly even attack Europe, as Monk Hilarion's prophecy, below, would indicate.

De Lahore Soils ("Of the Labour of the Sun"). This is the same symbol as that of Apocalype 12: 1-5, of a woman clothed with the sun in labor to give birth to a son, who subsequently rules the earth with "a rod of iron." H. B. Kramer, interpreting the Apocalypse in his Book of Destiny, maintains this figure represents a highly disputed papal election (dispute = labor; woman = Church; sun = the light of divine truth).

De Gloria Olivae ("Of the Glory of the Olive Tree"). May refer to the glorious period of peace under the Great King (wherein the Church is consoled and succored as with the balm of the olive), but it may also refer to the rising power of Israel (the Olive).

Petrus Romanus ("Peter the Roman"). The last Pope, whose name will probably be Peter II. This motto is accompanied by a description referring to the last persecutions and to the last judgment.

|j 19. Monk Hilarion (15th century). "Before the Christian churches are reunited and renovated, God will send the Eagle who will travel to Rome and bring much happiness and good.

The Holy Man will bring peace between the clergy and the Eagle, and his reign will last for four years. After his death God will send three men who are rich in wisdom and virtue. They will spread Christianity everywhere. There will be one flock, one shepherd, one faith, one law, one life, and one baptism throughout the world.

"The people of the peninsula of Europe will suffer by needless wars until the Holy Man comes. The Lion will come from

Paragraph 20 21

a high mountain in the enlightened nation. Then will the people of the half-moon of the tribe of Agar overrun many nations towards midnight and commit many atrocities. They will stay three years destroying everything. Yet, in the third year, will one of the unconquerable Eagles who reigns over the enlightened nation between the Rhine and the North sea, with a great army meet them by the mouth of the River Rhine and, in a fearful battle, almost entirely annihilate them."

Comment: This prophecy contains much symbolism and is anything but clear. A few details, however, stand out, and with correlations drawn from other prophecies, it is possible to suggest a tentative explanation: the Eagle, who is also often called the Lion, is the Great King, at first disliked by the Clergy, but who will be supported by the Pope. Of this Pope it is said elsewhere that he will be very holy (hence: "Holy Man"), yet very firm (will rule with u a rod of iron"). He will restore the former disciplines (apparently abolished by a previous Pope), and he will censure the bishops who refuse to submit to his rule. It is under his leadership that the Church will be reborn. He will reign only four years, and three more Popes are to follow him. Then, the scriptural prophecy "one flock, one pope, one faith" will be fulfilled.

Before the reign of the Holy Man, however, Europe — and Italy in particular — will suffer greatly through wars. The Mohammedans will take advantage of the complete anarchy in Europe and invade the land (a great many prophecies say so). But they will eventually be thrown back into the sea by the Great King who comes from the Ardennes, in Belgium (The Ardennes is the cradle of the Capetian Royal family).

|f 20.1 Old English Prophecy (On a tombstone at the Kirby cemetery, Essex).

When pictures look alive, with movements free,

(T.V. and movies)

When ships like fish swim beneath the sea,

(Submarines)

When men outstripping birds can soar the sky,

(Jets and rockets)

Then half the world deep drenched in blood shall die.

|f 20.2

In Germany begins a dance,

22 Catholic Prophecy

Which passeth through Italy, Spain and France.

But England shall pay the piper.

(A 20th-century German prophecy says exactly the same thing: strife will start in Germany, spread to Italy, France and Spain, but England will suffer most.)

fl20.3

When Our Lady shall lie on Our Lord's lap,

Then England will meet with a strange mishap.

(This seems to refer to a Feast of Our Lady occurring between two Feasts of Our Lord, perhaps a Feast of Mary on Easter Saturday by opposition to Good Friday when Our Lord rested on Mary's lap after the Crucifixion)

|f 21. St. Pius X (20th century). "I saw one of my successors taking to flight over the bodies of his brethren. He will take refuge in disguise somewhere; and after a short retirement he will die a cruel death. The present wickedness of the world is only the beginning of the sorrows which must take place before the end of the world."

|f 22. Pius XII (20th century). u We believe that the present hour is a dread phase of the events foretold by Christ. It seems that darkness is about to fall on the world. Humanity is in the grip of a supreme crisis."

Comment: After quoting St. Pius X and Pius XII, however, it is of some interest to contrast what John XXIII said at the opening of the Second Council of the Vatican:

"We feel we must disagree with those prophets of gloom, who are always forecasting disaster, as though the end of the world was at hand.

'in the present order of things, Divine Providence is leading us to a new order of human relations which, by men's own efforts and even beyond their very expectations, are directed towards the fulfilment of God's superior and inscrutable designs. And everything, even human differences, leads to the greater good of the Church."

Comment: On the strength of this declaration we cannot but observe that John XXIII disagreed with St. Pius X and Pius XII, as well as with all the holy souls who have been granted

Paragraph 23 23

private revelations. Further, we are now to believe that men's efforts will, automatically so to speak, bring about the fulfilment of God's designs, even though men's efforts today are not conspicuously directed to the greater glory of God. I cannot help recalling one of the pet theses of Teilhard de Chardin (whose books were condemned by the Holy Office) which equated human progress (technological or otherwise) with spiritual development. The last sentence of the above passage further aggravates this piece of Teilhardian humanism by claiming that even differences lead to the greater good of the Church. May I suggest that since 1962, when this address was given, the growing differences within the Catholic Church do not appear to have done a lot of good! Karl Marx, to be sure, taught that conflicts and differences always work for the good of the cause concerned, but we were not quite prepared to hear this from the mouth of a Pope. In justice to good Pope John, however, I must add that this opening address was written for him by the then Cardinal Montini.

Let us go back to the safer ground of our prophecies. As you will see in due course, many tell us that men's present efforts will lead the world to chaos and destruction. Biblical  prophecies, too, warn us that the end will be close when men worship the work of their own hands — which is precisely the case today when machines and motor-cars are more important than children, when higher production targets are boldly promoted along with abortion laws.

|| 23. Bishop Christianos Ageda ( 12th century). "In the 20th century there will be wars and fury which will last a long time; whole provinces shall be emptied of their inhabitants, and kingdoms shall be thrown into confusion. In many places the land shall be left untilled, and there shall be great slaughters of the upper class. The right hand of the world shall fear the left, and the north shall prevail over the south/'

jj 24. St. John of the Cleft Rock (14th century). "It is said that twenty centuries after the Incarnation of the Word, the Beast in its turn shall become man. About the year 2000 A.D., Antichrist will reveal himself to the world."

1f 25. Sister Bouquillion (19th century). "The beginning of the end shall not come in the 19th century, but in the 20th for sure."

|j 26. Old Saxon Prophecy. "The seven-headed city, now

24 Catholic Prophecy

more admirable than Jerusalem, shall be a place more desolate than Jerusalem. The Dog shall enter Germany but shall afterwards forsake his master and choose for himself a new man, whereby Scripture shall be fulfilled. This Dog shall signify the Turk which shall forsake his Mohammed and choose unto him the name Christian, which is a sign the day of doom is at hand, when all the earth is subject unto God, or that all people acknowledge one only God. The Fleur-de-Lys (lily) and France shall live long at variance, but at last agree. Then shall the clear Word spring forth and flourish throughout the world.

"But after all these things the end of the world shall approach, and there shall be heavy and pitiful days."

Comment: The seven-headed city is probably Rome (septicolis — seven hills). Other prophecies predict that it will be looted and destroyed by the Mohammedans, who will go as far as Germany where, as we have seen, they will be defeated by the Great King. The King will cross the seas and carry the war into Arab lands, which will eventually bring about the conversion of the Mohammedans. France will be without a monarchy for a long time, but it will be finally restored and, as a result, French thinkers will spread words of truth and wisdom (instead of errors and follies). All these things will take place during the reign of the Great European and Christian King, shortly before the coming of Antichrist and the end of the world (See previous prophecies in this respect).

|| 27. Old German Prophecy. "When the world becomes godless, revolutions will break out against kings. Fathers will fight their sons, and the sons their fathers. The doctrine will be perverted, and they will try to overthrow the Catholic Church.

Men will be pleasure-loving. A terrible war will find the North fighting the South. The South will be led by a Prince wearing a white coat with a cross on the front; he will be lame afoot.

He will gather his forces at Bremen for Mass. Then he will lead them into battle beyond Woerl near the birch-tree country (Westphalia). After a terrible battle at a brook running eastwards near Berdberg and Sondern, the South will be victorious.

Comment: This prophecy does not contradict Bishop Ageda's quoted earlier. For the North will be victorious at first (See St. Methodius and Pius IX above). Note, too, the

Paragraph 27 25

prediction about the perversion of doctrine in the Catholic Church, which is the case today, especially since the introduction of the New Order of the Mass (Novus Ordo Missae) which has given official status to earlier anti-Catholic trends.

Again, the overthrow of the Catholic Church has now become a very real threat with the existence of IDO-C to which many priests belong.

This prophecy mentions also the Prince who will be "lame afoot." He is none other than the Great King to-be. His lameness is also referred to by Sister Anne Catherine Emmerich in a 19th-century prophecy which we shall see later. This Prince, or King, whose arrival is foretold in a large number of prophecies, will engage the enemy although his forces will be greatly outnumbered. He will first take his troops to Mass and, with the help of God, he will throw back the enemy. The battle described above is that of the "Birch-tree," well known by all students of private prophecies and described in many prophecies. It will be fought mainly against Russian and East German troops. The King's troops will be mainly made up of Spanish, Italian, Austrian and French soldiers. All these precisions may well seem incredible, but that is what the prophecies say. The reader may not believe it all (but, please, spare me the disgrace of thinking that I am making up stories, for I am only relating what I have read).

The American reader may wonder why American troops have nowhere been mentioned so far. Indeed, except for a few prophecies mentioning rather vaguely some overseas soldiers who may or may not be Americans, the presence of the U.S.A. in Western Europe is nowhere clearly indicated in the hagiographical prophecies that I know of. There is some reason to believe that the U.S.A. will have its hands full in the Far-East, and will also have to deal with serious civil strife at home. This may explain why the U.S.A. will not intervene in Western Europe at the beginning. It must also be borne in mind that the coming disaster (which I purposely do not call World War III) is not likely to start with a conventional  foreign invasion, but rather internally through civil war and revolution. In this case, American intervention would be very unlikely indeed.

[shrlekha10]

Le Classique Realty: Setting New and Improved Standards in Real Estate Advisory

Over the years we have seen how technology has changed the property buying process. We use apps, websites and many other digital platforms to find potential properties and even set alerts for new listings that suit our needs.

However, the power of a potential property buyer ends with just finding the information. They still need an agent or broker to let them inspect the property and if suitable proceed with other legal or documentary processes.

This is when there comes a need for real estate consultants. Their proficiency paired with profound knowledge and experience helps them deliver the best service and address their clients’ needs. Real estate consultants help in navigating the property and housing and property market while providing insight into current trends and conditions. With services tailored to the clients’ needs and their best interest in mind real estate consultants provide true objectivity and a keen eye for detail.

Now when we pair technology and an industry expert, the results would be extraordinary. Leveraging the right technologies will enable real estate consultants to be more effective and agile. It will help them to serve more buyers in less time and also help them improve client satisfaction.

Recognizing this opportunity, Yogesh Jaiswal the Director of Le Classique Realty entered into the realm of the real estate industry with an aim to offer efficient customer-centric and tech-driven services. This company offers solutions that empower property buyers to make an informed decision and make a deal. The below-conversation with Mr. Jaisawl will give us further insight into how his company provides real-estate management services of the highest caliber.

Kindly brief us about your company.

Le Classique Realty Pvt ltd was found in August 2019 and is headquartered at Dahisar. However, we also operate from the various sites we have a mandate with. Usually, our sales team operates out of the site venues. Employee strength, to begin with, was 2 employees and it has grown to 60+ since we started.

What inspired you to step into the construction industry?

Over the years I have spent in real estate, there has always been this burning desire to do my own. I have always apprehended the need for a reliable professional channel between developers and buyers.

The RERA Act has brought real estate brokers under its ambit – but there is no minimum qualification, experience, or certification for agents. It was evident to me that there is a massive opportunity for large and upcoming organized broking firms to address this gap.

Upon observing this gap in the industry I decided to bridge this gap and bring the desired change. However, it was very clear that the business approach in today’s date cannot be the way we have done it even 5 years back. There were many drawbacks and loopholes.  In all my earlier stints at various realty organizations, I have tried to bring this change in go to market strategy.

But it never worked out and soon I realized I was never in the driving seat. I wasn’t the owner of any of these organizations. And because of that I could not influence such radical change or bring complete paradigm shifts in the way we look at the industry sales. It then I realized that it’s time to do my own. Le Classique is in the business of providing end-to-end services to its customers through a tech-driven approach and organized professional human interface. The vision with which I established this company is, “to be the first choice for our consumers in their journey of home buying.”

Brief us about the industry scenario from your perspective.

The Indian real estate industry has been badly hit by the pandemic and there seems to be no respite in the near future. The sector is already experiencing a major dip in property visits and reduced buyer interest. Sales figures have dipped sharply and the decline will continue for the next 6-9 months. Public sentiment is just not viable for new purchase and the fear of project delivery getting postponed is lurking large.

Developers are trying their best to attract consumers by whatever means they can. Few developers have come out with an online booking option and heavy discounts on agreement value.

One has offered “buy1 unit and get 1 free”, of course, the free unit is not of the same project but another cheaper option in some other relatively less expensive location. The math is always calculated in such offers. The realtors today may resort to earning lesser profit but wisely keeping the price point much above the construction and incurred cost.

There is no sense of having any new launches at this point in time until such time Digital launches are figured out as an alternative.

Sops might work for a segment, as there will be few consumers who will take these situations to their advantage and get the extra benefit along with their purchase. But by and large, Indian consumer sentiment is that such high priced products cannot be purchased without physically seeing the project. This buying behaviour may prove to be a dampener since the sites are shut for visits for the time being.

The developers will still hold on to prices and rather offer schemes and sops for sales, which they know will be temporary in nature and will not impact their brand value.

But eventually, if the situation worsens or government lock-down prolongs beyond 45-60 days, then chances are extremely high that the realtors will soon be cutting through their prices. The cost of holding up will be too high for most of the developers to sustain.

The drop in prices is only a temporary phenomenon. Prices will remain unchanged majorly for all large developers. The correction will happen only in the secondary market and category B and C developers and their projects where unsold inventory is large. We just may see prices falling off the shelf by min 5 % to 10% on the total consideration value.

Kindly tell us about the challenges you faced to withstand the complexities of the industry.

Like any other startup, I faced the challenge of developing my core team. I knew from the beginning that I needed a strong senior team and the rest can be taken care of. Initially, we had also faced a lot of trust issues from the developers in terms of getting a complete mandate of their projects. People were skeptical about how well we will be able to deliver sales and improve their cash flows.

However, I was slightly lucky with team development. I have worked with many realty companies in my past and always been excellent with my work. Frankly speaking, I had a lot of fan following in my previous companies. That worked!  It helped me to pick up the best people from there and trust me. My core team joined me at a much lower package then they were at. Everyone believed in me and hence the first challenge was met.

On the other hand, developers took about 45 days to have faith in me by giving their complete revenue streams as mandate projects. I understood and started doing retail and successfully delivered supreme results. I knew the word will spread in the market and also to the developers I was eyeing for business. That’s exactly how it shaped and here I am today with 10 mandates across Mumbai, Pune, and Shirdi.

Kindly introduce us to the current projects you are working on.

Currently, we are working with –

Baya Goldspot, Mumbai (The Baya Group)

Akash Complex, Mumbai (lxmi Infrastructures)

Yes Residency, Pune (Yemul and Sancheti associates)

Shree residency, Pune (Ranka developers)

VTP Urban life, Talegaon (VTP Group)

VTP Bhagyasthan, Talegaon (VTP Group)

Shraddha Residency, Shirdi (Sangram realty)

In Process:

Mont Vert Cresta, Lonavla (Mont Vert Group)

Mont Vert Valencia, Lonavla (Mont Vert Group)

Omkar Vive and Meridia, Mumbai (Omkar Group)

Sugandha Gardens, Pune

PVR MAHA, Hyderabad (PVR Developers)

Kindly state about your company’s achievements.

Despite being a new company in this industry, I am proud to say that we are continuously striving and moving up the ladder.  For instance, in just 9 months we have grown employee size-wise and now have 72 employees.  To calculate our achievement in terms of revenue and sales, we achieved sales of 28 units during this pandemic lock-down and are at the Topline revenue of 106 cr for 9 months. However, I consider our achievement as my team’s unfathomable zeal and persistence in offering the premium quality service.

What kind of future advancements you expect in the construction industry and how well equipped are you to face those changes?

The construction industry is all set to go majorly online and tech-friendly. We have anyway initiated these changes long back. The company has a tech-driven approach from pre-sales, lead gen to sales, and online booking methodology right from day one.

Also, we see this phase as a momentary pause to the real estate growth and hence we never stopped hiring. We are not only expanding but also in the process of opening new branches across the country.

Tell us about the future plans of the company.

India is fast on track to become a USD 5 trillion economy and the Indian broking business currently is estimated to be worth nearly USD 1.8 billion, there remains vast untapped potential in the new housing purchase business.

In the coming years, we aim to spread our operations to 8 cities in the next 6 months with 500+ professionals across. We are also about to launch Channel Partner Business vertical application, which will be completely technology-driven and will track from the site visit to closure to automated payments to CP’s.

In the market, we want to be known as Trustworthy, Friendly, Expert, and Professional to the consumers and ‘Jeannie’ to the developers. Whenever the developer or the consumer thinks of availing real estate services, LC should feature in the Top 3 as Top of the mind recall.

Below-mentioned is also some of the other goals that we aim to achieve:

Reach Revenue positive at Gross margin level in 9 months, Positive in Business contribution level in 18 months, and EBITDA positive in 24 months.

Have a 50 seater call center for presales within 12 months.

Have operations spread across 6 major cities of India (Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Delhi, Kolkata, and Hyderabad)

Have a sales team of 150 plus members in 18 months.

Have min 30 plus developer mandates across the above 6 cities in the first 18 months.

Develop a core team of 12 members spread across divisions (sales, presales, digital marketing, collections, PR) within 12 months and ensure they are well-taken care off, as they form the pillars of LC.

Achieve 200 numbers of transactions in 15 months.

Achieve sales productivity of 6 times in 12 months, 8times in 18 months, and 10 times in 24 months.

https://www.insightssuccess.in/le-classique-realty-setting-new-and-improved-standards-in-real-estate-advisory/

[petersaysthings]

Prelude: A Brief History of Viktorium (Part I of V)

by Benoit Laurent IT BEGAN WITH THE DREAM of a young boy, as all things must. An innocent childhood fancy imbued with the spark of imagination. Throughout the course of his life, this spark would be heavily nurtured. His parents indulged him, this boy, as most born to affluence would—with immediate response to every demand and a condescending attitude toward his peers. This of course would leave him unprepared for the devastation that was to follow in his personal life as he dealt with its natural lessons such as death, betrayal, and above all, failure. ‘But what if one did not have to learn such things?’ he thought. This question, more than any other, became the primary driving force behind his life pursuits as he reached the age of adulthood.

Thus, the unchecked spark of indulgence was permitted to grow unto its logical conclusion; a dream so grandiose and decadent, its creator would soon realize there was no room left for it in the real world. And once he discovered Viktorium, that was it. The only reason this man ever needed, as it provided an excuse for everything from his narcissistic behavior to his mad scientist tendencies. The fact that it was a literal escape from the real world was perhaps the icing on the cake. ‘Ah, so one does not have to die after all! How might I exploit this?’

Have you all eaten your fill yet?

The man I am referring to of course is Charles DuPont, ‘First King of Viktorium’ as he no doubt likes to be known. By no coincidence, today so happens to be his birthday. I for one certainly hope he is enjoying it where he belongs—in exile!

Unfortunately for Viktorium—and in particular, our fine capital of Cavarice as it stands today—exile was not quite enough to repair the damage that was already done from fifteen long years of his leadership. We still have our share of problems to clean up, and that’s exactly where we lack guidance. Who is responsible enough to lead us into the next era as a Futuristic society? Mayor La Cour and the Republican Council certainly aren’t cutting it. The fact that everyone on both sides of the political sphere fancies themselves the next supreme is not the least of such concerns; they ousted DuPont with no clear backup plan in mind, yet they refuse to take responsibility.

And that is the very crux of the issue. Our current politicians in power were among the first to arrive here. No one in their rational, living, thinking intelligent minds could ever have conceived of the idea of having major responsibilities in the afterlife. Indeed how could they, when the very man who founded this place was just as irresponsible and naïve as they, so much so to have marketed it as a vacation destination? After all, death is the great respite. If you wish to escape death, you must take responsibility for the technological power that permits you to do so. But as is death, so is life! In Viktorium, you must work to earn your fill.

And to that end, I feel I must issue a sincere apology to all new arrivals. Many of you were duped into believing this to be a vacation destination, whilst those of you who came long after perhaps thought you were entering Heaven. Even the criminals recently executed that arrive here are those whom you must now consider your brothers, a rather Marxist law which has been upheld with disastrous results. Article IV of the Constitution of Cavarice which states “Thou shalt not judge new citizens for Earth crimes” was the worst of DuPont’s edicts left over as a relic of his former cabinet. But not to worry, you’ve got our fine upstanding Dispatchers for that, another organization that is not without its share of problems, and certainly not free of corruption either. So where did this all start, you ask?

The Man, The Machine, & The Movie Star

FIRST CROSSOVER, 1906. A man enters a poor rural village claiming he has recently developed a very special vacation destination which has yet to be used. All he needs are enough willing families of the general public to test it out for a couple weeks, which he will allow them to do for free. He uses all sorts of scientific words to describe the location, which you wouldn’t listen to anyway because he keeps pointing at his scantily-dressed assistant. All of your attention is focused on her. You trust him not because he smiles, but because the girl smiles. He goes at the men first.

“If you gentleman bring your wives to Viktorium for some much deserved relaxation, I can promise you they won’t soon forget it!” The girl captures your attention with all sorts of flashy poses as he displays a map of the area. “This is the most sophisticated restaurant in town, just off the waterfront. They serve only the best aged wines, delectable dishes of seafood including the finest caviar, and the best chocolate cakes for the lady here, if it so happens to be your wife’s birthday.” He smiles and pats her behind as she caresses her neck and coos in submissive adoration.

Now any intelligent man from the city could see through such a ridiculous act, but the town of Bezonvaux unfortunately had little experience with carnival marketing tactics. They were simply happy to escape their troubled lives through any means necessary. Then again, that is precisely why Charles DuPont had chosen them to test his machine. Also chosen as part of his marketing act was a then twenty-five year old model and actress by the name of Constance Renou, now the Director of Viktorium-France Transit. Charles’ relationship with her, as well as her role in the deception, remains unclear to this day.

What is most clear, however, is what occurred one month later at a date now known as First Crossover. The very mention of it in Viktorium is enough to make one shudder in abject terror, and rightly so. The Viktoria I machine was the biggest technological disaster of our age. Not that Charles cared. He got what he needed most out of the deal in the end—test subjects. Because for all of his credit as a scientist and innovator, DuPont was still the same ruthless, conniving human being he had been as a child. He had to have his way no matter what, and he would go to any means necessary to get it.

On the night of First Crossover, two hundred and thirteen people entered the Viktoria I never to be seen again, either in Viktorium or anywhere else for that matter. According to Charles himself as he stood trial, the crowd formed an orderly line and talked of their excitement. One by one they stepped into the chamber, each accompanied by a green flash that grew ever brighter. The last lit up the entire sky even ten kilometers away. And just like that, the peaceful village of Bezonvaux was gone forever. The following is from DuPont’s court statement before he was exiled:

I tried to stop it. I had noticed earlier that the matter density array was misaligned to a variance of a few degrees. At first, I thought it was within acceptable limits. When they began entering, everything seemed fine. But the flashes got brighter as time went on, and I realized the phase emitter was failing to compensate as it should have. There was a critical overload and I couldn’t be sure the rest would materialize on the other side. After the first fifty people, I told them we had to stop. But they kept pressuring me to continue firing the switch. ‘You promised us!’ they said. I had never seen a crowd of farmers so upset and angry. Some of them were carrying pistols, others rifles. I was certain more were carrying knives. Despite the fact I had my own pistol, I was outnumbered. Viktorium was no assurance for me either. I knew if I died, I would come here and the ones who had crossed might make further attempts on my life. We’re still not yet certain what happens if you are killed in Viktorium. Where would I go? But I thought they might have gotten through. How is this all my fault again? Surely they must be alive somewhere! We just have to keep looking.

But of course nobody wanted to look, and they won’t bother. There is far too much power at stake. The fact that Charles’ machine was an eventual success is all that matters to Viktorium’s current politicians now. They just needed the right scapegoat to exile him, because even that was difficult enough. He is a most intelligent man, but I digress. The machine must keep running at all costs, even if it should send us to the Reapers!

That was Charles DuPont’s philosophy, and it is that of our current Parliament. So does it not seem strange to you that the parts are still defective, even if the body has changed? Are we truly expecting a different outcome in this world, and will we also expect one in the next, so long as the same tired cranks are still in power? Of course not! These little power plays they make every damned election year are blatant misdirection, folks! The corporate wheels are still turning, and this is the very essence of The Man, The Machine, and The Movie Star.

Because while The Man hides in a magic box somewhere no doubt holding the secret to his miraculous return in his bloody hands, The Movie Star is still here to draw our attention, operating The Machine to the horrid detriment of our society.

God Save Viktorium! God Save Us All!

If you liked this, you can read more of my web serial Adventures In Viktorium here!

[multiformis-dei-blog]

Tarot Reading: 2018, The Year Ahead

This one was, um... well... it was somethin’, that’s for sure.

Using @shadowscapes-stephlaw‘s incredibly watercolored Shadowscapes deck, I pulled a total of 14 cards for the coming year. The first card represents the overall theme from the previous year, the next twelve represent the months of the year to come, and the last card represents the overall theme for the new year. I didn’t lay them out in any particular way; rather, I read each card one-by-one and set it aside when I was done.

2017, The Passing Year - Eight of Swords

I feel trapped, but the bonds that hold me are of my own creation. Rather than being physically encumbered, I’ve been approaching my circumstances from the wrong frame of mind. In so doing, I’ve missed some important details that would allow me to change my part in them. The Eight of Swords suggests that I approach the situation from a different angle so I can see things as they truly are.

The Eight of Swords evokes a sense of powerlessness, of playing the victim. The card wants to remind me that this predicament is one that I’ve allowed by failing to recognize my options or, more likely, to take advantage of the ones set before me. (Thanks, friend.) If I’m going to find my way out of this mess, I’ve got to take back my power, accept a little personal accountability, and press on. Even though it’s not a given that the options laid before me are all good ones, they are options.

In my specific situation, I’m being opposed by family members who are disinclined to accept my autonomy as a person, my right to differing opinions, and my freedom to choose the paths that are best for me. The issue is compounded by the fact that these are ailing, elderly relatives and I’m now living with them as a means of providing support in their twilight years. In their eyes, I’m still very much a child, and significant number of confrontations have arisen as a result. The situation is, quite frankly, toxic, abusive, and demoralizing. Still, I feel obligated and I know I’d be wrestling with a heaping pile of guilt were I to simply up and leave. Even after four months of this, I’m not sure how to find a middle ground wherein everyone feels respected and heard.

January - Queen of Wands

Honestly, I was a little surprised to see the Queen of Wands in this spread, particularly in this position. She is such a strong, independent woman - a dominant, fiery feminine energy who isn’t afraid to show her power and rises to meet her challenges with fierce determination - that I can hardly remember what it’s like to feel that way. What’s more? Though she knows the full extent of her influence, she is still friendly and optimistic toward everyone around her. She’s pretty much #goals.

I think her purpose here is to remind me that I am rather like her in many ways or, at the very least, that I was before. I think she intends to show me that I can take charge of my own life again and that I should pursue that with courage and fervor. Whatever I set out to do, I should tackle with her passion and sunny demeanor, and I should use my connections to make the experience more satisfying for all of us.

I’m going to see a new primary care physician in the middle of the month and I’ve got to admit that I’m a little excited. I’ve heard fantastic things about her and I’ve got a whole laundry list of issues I’d like to address with her. Now that I’ve entered a new decade, it’s more important to me than ever to get a handle on my health so that I can continue to enjoy my life for as long as I’ve got it.

(It’s important to remember that, for all her positive vibes, the Queen of Wands can’t be taken unchecked. I’ve got to be careful that confidence doesn’t turn into brashness and that I’m not tempted to take on an argumentative or self-righteous demeanor. A little humility goes a long way.)

February - The Devil, Reversed

You know, The Devil isn’t a card that I’m ever too worried about. I think he represents our humanity and our connection with the physical world, and that’s not really something I’m ashamed of. Then again, I’m the kind of person who doesn’t really buy into the Christian notion that he’s the master of supreme evil in the first place; rather, in my mind, he’s the most human of all of us. He represents all of our shortcomings and the many ways in which they manifest.

When I see The Devil in a spread, my attention is drawn to the ways in which I’ve allowed my humanity to prevent me from moving forward. Am I spending too much time obsessively browsing Tumblr when I should be doing something to further the good things I got started in January? Probably. Am I allowing my family members to get under my skin and create more stress in my life than I ought to be dealing with? Yeah, that too. More likely than not, I’m well on my way to being knee deep in another depressive episode because, historically speaking, February is a really tough month for me.

I typically handle my emotions by engaging in what my therapist has identified as disordered eating. We’re not entirely sure whether it qualifies as a full-blown binge eating disorder, but we do know that it’s a fairly poor coping mechanism for me and that I’ll end up being more upset by my choices in the end. I think The Devil is acting as a reminder that this is A Thing for me and warning me to be prepared for it. I’m hoping to establish other hoping skills over the next few weeks so I’m not sliding into February with fifteen pints of Ben & Jerry’s, a box of tissues, and a side order of guilt.

March - Nine of Pentacles

After struggling my way through February, the Nine of Pentacles wants me to know that March is the perfect time for a little rest. She suggests that I will be reentering a phase in my life in which I feel self-sufficient, and I couldn’t be more excited about that! Before moving in to care for my relatives, I’d been living on my own for the better part of the last thirteen years. Needless to say, this has been a HUGE change for me.

The leisure time and material comfort afforded by the Nine of Pentacles is usually the result of some great effort beforehand. Perhaps I’ve been working hard toward accomplishing the goals I set for myself in January - hopefully I’ve had the foresight to break things down into smaller, more achievable tasks to keep me motivated! - and a little reward is in order. (The key word, of course, is little.) Because some of my goals stretch over the long term, she’s likely encouraging me to continue with renewed self-determination so that I can reap even greater rewards.

April - Nine of Swords, Reversed

The Nine of Swords is a card of worry. When it’s reversed, the anxiety it represents is unwarranted; I’m probably making more of a fuss than I should because things seem more complicated than they really are. The Nine of Swords needs me to take a deep breath, step back, and figure out what’s actually going on before I get worked into a tizzy. Worrying’s kind of a problem for me anyway, so I’m not very surprised.

May - The Emperor, Reversed

Uuugh. I am not excited about this. Not at all.

The Emperor, in his upright state, represents all that is well and good about its masculine energy. In reverse, the card can basically be summed up in two words: “toxic masculinity.” Already, I’ve got a feeling that this card is intended to represent my male relative, who is prone toward abusing his authority and strong-arming his way through anything that makes him uncomfortable in the slightest. The Emperor is warning me that there will be conflict, probably stemming from my relative’s need to flex his muscle as “man of the house” to mask his insecurities about... well, everything, really. He’s ailing and unable to do many of the things he used to enjoy, and he really doesn’t know how to handle anyone who has thoughts that differ from his own. Add to that the fact that he is losing some of his hearing and misinterprets things, along with an old injury to the frontal lobe that interferes with his judgment and impulse control, and you’ve got a pretty solid recipe for flaring tempers.

It gets ugly with such frequency that I almost have to laugh at this card, and I probably would if not for the fact that I’m worried that this means I’m in for more trouble than usual.

June - Seven of Swords, Reversed

Even though the Seven of Swords often represents a string of challenges that seem insurmountable, its reversal promises that they can be overcome with perseverance. When the time is right, things will budge.

July - The Hanged Man, Reversed

The last couple of months have probably felt pretty stagnant, with little or no progress, but The Hanged Man in reverse indicates that things will be set in motion again soon enough. Though my faith may be hanging on by a thread at this point in the year, this card assures me that I’ve got the tenacity to endure.

August - Ten of Wands

Although the Ten of Wands represents success after a struggle, it acts as a strong reminder that there’s no time for me to rest on my laurels. If I want to keep making progress, there’s still much more to be done. It’s likely that I’ll get burnt out somewhere along the way, constantly struggling against my family and a work schedule that will probably double while my boss takes multiple vacations. Being understaffed and underpaid, then going home to Mr. Grouch himself? Fun times. I’m thrilled.

Without a doubt, the Ten of Wands is reminding me that time management skills are going to be essential to keep me from going completely bonkers. Time management is an area in which I really struggle, so I’m actually pretty thankful that I’ve got this much forewarning so that I can get my shit together well in advance. Streamlining much of my day-to-day life will probably help, too.

September - Nine of Cups, Reversed

Because the Nine of Cups is associated with daydreaming and wish-making, its reversal usually indicates that things just aren’t going according to plan. In my case, it seems highly likely that I’m still stuck in the planning phase of something big, hoping to make things just so before I actually put things in motion. Admittedly, I’m a bit of a perfectionist, so this isn’t really much of a stretch.

If I have managed to get things rolling, it’s possible that the reversed Nine of Cups indicates some discomfort with the way things are unfolding. Sometimes, I get this clear picture in my head of the way things are “supposed to be” and I struggle to let go of that idea. Instead of being happy with the progress I’m making, however small, I tend to get discouraged when I see how little I’ve actually gotten done and how much more there is to do. It’s also entirely possible that I’ll spot mistakes in my work and feel like I need a complete do-over to correct them. I... might be a little difficult sometimes.

October - Two of Swords

Mm... I’m not surprised, really. After having what’ll probably be a fairly fussy September, it looks like I’m stuck in a situation that’ll require a little conflict resolution. Whether the conflict is purely internal or with some outside force is unclear at the moment, but I know myself well enough to think it’s likely to be a little of both. It’s entirely possible that I’ll drag my feet in hopes that I don’t have to make a tough decision, but my nagging conscience will keep whatever it is at the very forefront of my mind until I do.

The blindfolded figure serves as a reminder that I’m not seeing the situation clearly and that I need to gather more information or perhaps a new perspective. I’m the kind of person who likes to weigh all of her options pretty thoroughly before I do anything, so maybe this is suggesting something that really requires my full attention? Whatever the case, the problem appears to be one that can be solved through a logical, possibly persuasive approach.

November - The Sun

In light of the difficulties that September and October’s cards suggest, it appears that a satisfactory conclusion has been, or will soon be, reached by the time November rolls around. The Sun’s warmth and positive energy will provide some very welcome encouragement, and I fully intend to bask in it for as long as possible.

December - Ten of Swords

Sadly, it looks like the feelings of comfort, success, and prosperity won’t be all that long-lived. December’s Ten of Swords brings with it the threat of some sudden, unforeseen disaster. Sometimes there’s enough time to soften the blow, and sometimes you just get wrecked. Ten of Swords doesn’t really make any promises.

Often, the Ten of Swords brings with it feelings of powerlessness and victimization, and a sense of deep loss. It could be that a longstanding relationship falls apart after a shockingly painful betrayal, which is well-supported with the image of a figure being stabbed repeatedly in the back. Whatever the case, the Ten of Swords leaves little doubt that this is when I’ll truly hit rock bottom. There’s some small consolation in knowing that things can only go up from here, but even that’s not much comfort in this situation.

2018, The Coming Year - Page of Cups, Reversed

In his reversed position, the Page of Cups represents someone who is emotionally and spiritually immature. Because he does not have well developed skills in these areas, he has the tendency to be insecure and might, as a result, lash out at other people in ways that are emotionally abusive and self-serving. He is prone to child-like tantrums and a total loss of emotional control, which sounds a lot like someone I know. Though I am very disappointed, I am not at all surprised. What used to be a fairly decent relationship has deteriorated at an alarming rate over the last few months, and I’m tired.

Because The Devil also shows up in my reading, the cards want me to be aware that I may be inclined to overindulge as a way to escape the situation. Usually they’re referring to substance abuse, but I know that food’s far more likely to be my issue. I’ve got to get a better handle on positive coping mechanisms, otherwise I’m in for a whole boatload of setbacks all year.

[shrlekha10]

Le Classique Realty: Setting New and Improved Standards in Real Estate Advisory

Over the years we have seen how technology has changed the property buying process. We use apps, websites and many other digital platforms to find potential properties and even set alerts for new listings that suit our needs.

However, the power of a potential property buyer ends with just finding the information. They still need an agent or broker to let them inspect the property and if suitable proceed with other legal or documentary processes.

This is when there comes a need for real estate consultants. Their proficiency paired with profound knowledge and experience helps them deliver the best service and address their clients’ needs. Real estate consultants help in navigating the property and housing and property market while providing insight into current trends and conditions. With services tailored to the clients’ needs and their best interest in mind real estate consultants provide true objectivity and a keen eye for detail.

Now when we pair technology and an industry expert, the results would be extraordinary. Leveraging the right technologies will enable real estate consultants to be more effective and agile. It will help them to serve more buyers in less time and also help them improve client satisfaction.

Recognizing this opportunity, Yogesh Jaiswal the Director of Le Classique Realty entered into the realm of the real estate industry with an aim to offer efficient customer-centric and tech-driven services. This company offers solutions that empower property buyers to make an informed decision and make a deal. The below-conversation with Mr. Jaisawl will give us further insight into how his company provides real-estate management services of the highest caliber.

Kindly brief us about your company.

Le Classique Realty Pvt ltd was found in August 2019 and is headquartered at Dahisar. However, we also operate from the various sites we have a mandate with. Usually, our sales team operates out of the site venues. Employee strength, to begin with, was 2 employees and it has grown to 60+ since we started.

What inspired you to step into the construction industry?

Over the years I have spent in real estate, there has always been this burning desire to do my own. I have always apprehended the need for a reliable professional channel between developers and buyers.

The RERA Act has brought real estate brokers under its ambit – but there is no minimum qualification, experience, or certification for agents. It was evident to me that there is a massive opportunity for large and upcoming organized broking firms to address this gap.

Upon observing this gap in the industry I decided to bridge this gap and bring the desired change. However, it was very clear that the business approach in today’s date cannot be the way we have done it even 5 years back. There were many drawbacks and loopholes.  In all my earlier stints at various realty organizations, I have tried to bring this change in go to market strategy.

But it never worked out and soon I realized I was never in the driving seat. I wasn’t the owner of any of these organizations. And because of that I could not influence such radical change or bring complete paradigm shifts in the way we look at the industry sales. It then I realized that it’s time to do my own. Le Classique is in the business of providing end-to-end services to its customers through a tech-driven approach and organized professional human interface. The vision with which I established this company is, “to be the first choice for our consumers in their journey of home buying.”

Brief us about the industry scenario from your perspective.

The Indian real estate industry has been badly hit by the pandemic and there seems to be no respite in the near future. The sector is already experiencing a major dip in property visits and reduced buyer interest. Sales figures have dipped sharply and the decline will continue for the next 6-9 months. Public sentiment is just not viable for new purchase and the fear of project delivery getting postponed is lurking large.

Developers are trying their best to attract consumers by whatever means they can. Few developers have come out with an online booking option and heavy discounts on agreement value.

One has offered “buy1 unit and get 1 free”, of course, the free unit is not of the same project but another cheaper option in some other relatively less expensive location. The math is always calculated in such offers. The realtors today may resort to earning lesser profit but wisely keeping the price point much above the construction and incurred cost.

There is no sense of having any new launches at this point in time until such time Digital launches are figured out as an alternative.

Sops might work for a segment, as there will be few consumers who will take these situations to their advantage and get the extra benefit along with their purchase. But by and large, Indian consumer sentiment is that such high priced products cannot be purchased without physically seeing the project. This buying behaviour may prove to be a dampener since the sites are shut for visits for the time being.

The developers will still hold on to prices and rather offer schemes and sops for sales, which they know will be temporary in nature and will not impact their brand value.

But eventually, if the situation worsens or government lock-down prolongs beyond 45-60 days, then chances are extremely high that the realtors will soon be cutting through their prices. The cost of holding up will be too high for most of the developers to sustain.

The drop in prices is only a temporary phenomenon. Prices will remain unchanged majorly for all large developers. The correction will happen only in the secondary market and category B and C developers and their projects where unsold inventory is large. We just may see prices falling off the shelf by min 5 % to 10% on the total consideration value.

Kindly tell us about the challenges you faced to withstand the complexities of the industry.

Like any other startup, I faced the challenge of developing my core team. I knew from the beginning that I needed a strong senior team and the rest can be taken care of. Initially, we had also faced a lot of trust issues from the developers in terms of getting a complete mandate of their projects. People were skeptical about how well we will be able to deliver sales and improve their cash flows.

However, I was slightly lucky with team development. I have worked with many realty companies in my past and always been excellent with my work. Frankly speaking, I had a lot of fan following in my previous companies. That worked!  It helped me to pick up the best people from there and trust me. My core team joined me at a much lower package then they were at. Everyone believed in me and hence the first challenge was met.

On the other hand, developers took about 45 days to have faith in me by giving their complete revenue streams as mandate projects. I understood and started doing retail and successfully delivered supreme results. I knew the word will spread in the market and also to the developers I was eyeing for business. That’s exactly how it shaped and here I am today with 10 mandates across Mumbai, Pune, and Shirdi.

Kindly introduce us to the current projects you are working on.

Currently, we are working with –

Baya Goldspot, Mumbai (The Baya Group)

Akash Complex, Mumbai (lxmi Infrastructures)

Yes Residency, Pune (Yemul and Sancheti associates)

Shree residency, Pune (Ranka developers)

VTP Urban life, Talegaon (VTP Group)

VTP Bhagyasthan, Talegaon (VTP Group)

Shraddha Residency, Shirdi (Sangram realty)

In Process:

Mont Vert Cresta, Lonavla (Mont Vert Group)

Mont Vert Valencia, Lonavla (Mont Vert Group)

Omkar Vive and Meridia, Mumbai (Omkar Group)

Sugandha Gardens, Pune

PVR MAHA, Hyderabad (PVR Developers)

Kindly state about your company’s achievements.

Despite being a new company in this industry, I am proud to say that we are continuously striving and moving up the ladder.  For instance, in just 9 months we have grown employee size-wise and now have 72 employees.  To calculate our achievement in terms of revenue and sales, we achieved sales of 28 units during this pandemic lock-down and are at the Topline revenue of 106 cr for 9 months. However, I consider our achievement as my team’s unfathomable zeal and persistence in offering the premium quality service.

What kind of future advancements you expect in the construction industry and how well equipped are you to face those changes?

The construction industry is all set to go majorly online and tech-friendly. We have anyway initiated these changes long back. The company has a tech-driven approach from pre-sales, lead gen to sales, and online booking methodology right from day one.

Also, we see this phase as a momentary pause to the real estate growth and hence we never stopped hiring. We are not only expanding but also in the process of opening new branches across the country.

Tell us about the future plans of the company.

India is fast on track to become a USD 5 trillion economy and the Indian broking business currently is estimated to be worth nearly USD 1.8 billion, there remains vast untapped potential in the new housing purchase business.

In the coming years, we aim to spread our operations to 8 cities in the next 6 months with 500+ professionals across. We are also about to launch Channel Partner Business vertical application, which will be completely technology-driven and will track from the site visit to closure to automated payments to CP’s.

In the market, we want to be known as Trustworthy, Friendly, Expert, and Professional to the consumers and ‘Jeannie’ to the developers. Whenever the developer or the consumer thinks of availing real estate services, LC should feature in the Top 3 as Top of the mind recall.

Below-mentioned is also some of the other goals that we aim to achieve:

Reach Revenue positive at Gross margin level in 9 months, Positive in Business contribution level in 18 months, and EBITDA positive in 24 months.

Have a 50 seater call center for presales within 12 months.

Have operations spread across 6 major cities of India (Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Delhi, Kolkata, and Hyderabad)

Have a sales team of 150 plus members in 18 months.

Have min 30 plus developer mandates across the above 6 cities in the first 18 months.

Develop a core team of 12 members spread across divisions (sales, presales, digital marketing, collections, PR) within 12 months and ensure they are well-taken care off, as they form the pillars of LC.

Achieve 200 numbers of transactions in 15 months.

Achieve sales productivity of 6 times in 12 months, 8times in 18 months, and 10 times in 24 months.

https://www.insightssuccess.in/le-classique-realty-setting-new-and-improved-standards-in-real-estate-advisory/    

[shrlekha10]

Le Classique Realty: Setting New and Improved Standards in Real Estate Advisory

Over the years we have seen how technology has changed the property buying process. We use apps, websites and many other digital platforms to find potential properties and even set alerts for new listings that suit our needs.

However, the power of a potential property buyer ends with just finding the information. They still need an agent or broker to let them inspect the property and if suitable proceed with other legal or documentary processes.

This is when there comes a need for real estate consultants. Their proficiency paired with profound knowledge and experience helps them deliver the best service and address their clients’ needs. Real estate consultants help in navigating the property and housing and property market while providing insight into current trends and conditions. With services tailored to the clients’ needs and their best interest in mind real estate consultants provide true objectivity and a keen eye for detail.

Now when we pair technology and an industry expert, the results would be extraordinary. Leveraging the right technologies will enable real estate consultants to be more effective and agile. It will help them to serve more buyers in less time and also help them improve client satisfaction.

Recognizing this opportunity, Yogesh Jaiswal the Director of Le Classique Realty entered into the realm of the real estate industry with an aim to offer efficient customer-centric and tech-driven services. This company offers solutions that empower property buyers to make an informed decision and make a deal. The below-conversation with Mr. Jaisawl will give us further insight into how his company provides real-estate management services of the highest caliber.

Kindly brief us about your company.

Le Classique Realty Pvt ltd was found in August 2019 and is headquartered at Dahisar. However, we also operate from the various sites we have a mandate with. Usually, our sales team operates out of the site venues. Employee strength, to begin with, was 2 employees and it has grown to 60+ since we started.

What inspired you to step into the construction industry?

Over the years I have spent in real estate, there has always been this burning desire to do my own. I have always apprehended the need for a reliable professional channel between developers and buyers.

The RERA Act has brought real estate brokers under its ambit – but there is no minimum qualification, experience, or certification for agents. It was evident to me that there is a massive opportunity for large and upcoming organized broking firms to address this gap.

Upon observing this gap in the industry I decided to bridge this gap and bring the desired change. However, it was very clear that the business approach in today’s date cannot be the way we have done it even 5 years back. There were many drawbacks and loopholes.  In all my earlier stints at various realty organizations, I have tried to bring this change in go to market strategy.

But it never worked out and soon I realized I was never in the driving seat. I wasn’t the owner of any of these organizations. And because of that I could not influence such radical change or bring complete paradigm shifts in the way we look at the industry sales. It then I realized that it’s time to do my own. Le Classique is in the business of providing end-to-end services to its customers through a tech-driven approach and organized professional human interface. The vision with which I established this company is, “to be the first choice for our consumers in their journey of home buying.”

Brief us about the industry scenario from your perspective.

The Indian real estate industry has been badly hit by the pandemic and there seems to be no respite in the near future. The sector is already experiencing a major dip in property visits and reduced buyer interest. Sales figures have dipped sharply and the decline will continue for the next 6-9 months. Public sentiment is just not viable for new purchase and the fear of project delivery getting postponed is lurking large.

Developers are trying their best to attract consumers by whatever means they can. Few developers have come out with an online booking option and heavy discounts on agreement value.

One has offered “buy1 unit and get 1 free”, of course, the free unit is not of the same project but another cheaper option in some other relatively less expensive location. The math is always calculated in such offers. The realtors today may resort to earning lesser profit but wisely keeping the price point much above the construction and incurred cost.

There is no sense of having any new launches at this point in time until such time Digital launches are figured out as an alternative.

Sops might work for a segment, as there will be few consumers who will take these situations to their advantage and get the extra benefit along with their purchase. But by and large, Indian consumer sentiment is that such high priced products cannot be purchased without physically seeing the project. This buying behaviour may prove to be a dampener since the sites are shut for visits for the time being.

The developers will still hold on to prices and rather offer schemes and sops for sales, which they know will be temporary in nature and will not impact their brand value.

But eventually, if the situation worsens or government lock-down prolongs beyond 45-60 days, then chances are extremely high that the realtors will soon be cutting through their prices. The cost of holding up will be too high for most of the developers to sustain.

The drop in prices is only a temporary phenomenon. Prices will remain unchanged majorly for all large developers. The correction will happen only in the secondary market and category B and C developers and their projects where unsold inventory is large. We just may see prices falling off the shelf by min 5 % to 10% on the total consideration value.

Kindly tell us about the challenges you faced to withstand the complexities of the industry.

Like any other startup, I faced the challenge of developing my core team. I knew from the beginning that I needed a strong senior team and the rest can be taken care of. Initially, we had also faced a lot of trust issues from the developers in terms of getting a complete mandate of their projects. People were skeptical about how well we will be able to deliver sales and improve their cash flows.

However, I was slightly lucky with team development. I have worked with many realty companies in my past and always been excellent with my work. Frankly speaking, I had a lot of fan following in my previous companies. That worked!  It helped me to pick up the best people from there and trust me. My core team joined me at a much lower package then they were at. Everyone believed in me and hence the first challenge was met.

On the other hand, developers took about 45 days to have faith in me by giving their complete revenue streams as mandate projects. I understood and started doing retail and successfully delivered supreme results. I knew the word will spread in the market and also to the developers I was eyeing for business. That’s exactly how it shaped and here I am today with 10 mandates across Mumbai, Pune, and Shirdi.

Kindly introduce us to the current projects you are working on.

Currently, we are working with –

Baya Goldspot, Mumbai (The Baya Group)

Akash Complex, Mumbai (lxmi Infrastructures)

Yes Residency, Pune (Yemul and Sancheti associates)

Shree residency, Pune (Ranka developers)

VTP Urban life, Talegaon (VTP Group)

VTP Bhagyasthan, Talegaon (VTP Group)

Shraddha Residency, Shirdi (Sangram realty)

In Process:

Mont Vert Cresta, Lonavla (Mont Vert Group)

Mont Vert Valencia, Lonavla (Mont Vert Group)

Omkar Vive and Meridia, Mumbai (Omkar Group)

Sugandha Gardens, Pune

PVR MAHA, Hyderabad (PVR Developers)

Kindly state about your company’s achievements.

Despite being a new company in this industry, I am proud to say that we are continuously striving and moving up the ladder.  For instance, in just 9 months we have grown employee size-wise and now have 72 employees.  To calculate our achievement in terms of revenue and sales, we achieved sales of 28 units during this pandemic lock-down and are at the Topline revenue of 106 cr for 9 months. However, I consider our achievement as my team’s unfathomable zeal and persistence in offering the premium quality service.

What kind of future advancements you expect in the construction industry and how well equipped are you to face those changes?

The construction industry is all set to go majorly online and tech-friendly. We have anyway initiated these changes long back. The company has a tech-driven approach from pre-sales, lead gen to sales, and online booking methodology right from day one.

Also, we see this phase as a momentary pause to the real estate growth and hence we never stopped hiring. We are not only expanding but also in the process of opening new branches across the country.

Tell us about the future plans of the company.

India is fast on track to become a USD 5 trillion economy and the Indian broking business currently is estimated to be worth nearly USD 1.8 billion, there remains vast untapped potential in the new housing purchase business.

In the coming years, we aim to spread our operations to 8 cities in the next 6 months with 500+ professionals across. We are also about to launch Channel Partner Business vertical application, which will be completely technology-driven and will track from the site visit to closure to automated payments to CP’s.

In the market, we want to be known as Trustworthy, Friendly, Expert, and Professional to the consumers and ‘Jeannie’ to the developers. Whenever the developer or the consumer thinks of availing real estate services, LC should feature in the Top 3 as Top of the mind recall.

Below-mentioned is also some of the other goals that we aim to achieve:

Reach Revenue positive at Gross margin level in 9 months, Positive in Business contribution level in 18 months, and EBITDA positive in 24 months.

Have a 50 seater call center for presales within 12 months.

Have operations spread across 6 major cities of India (Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Delhi, Kolkata, and Hyderabad)

Have a sales team of 150 plus members in 18 months.

Have min 30 plus developer mandates across the above 6 cities in the first 18 months.

Develop a core team of 12 members spread across divisions (sales, presales, digital marketing, collections, PR) within 12 months and ensure they are well-taken care off, as they form the pillars of LC.

Achieve 200 numbers of transactions in 15 months.

Achieve sales productivity of 6 times in 12 months, 8times in 18 months, and 10 times in 24 months.

https://www.insightssuccess.in/le-classique-realty-setting-new-and-improved-standards-in-real-estate-advisory/  

[shrlekha10]

Le Classique Realty: Setting New and Improved Standards in Real Estate Advisory

Over the years we have seen how technology has changed the property buying process. We use apps, websites and many other digital platforms to find potential properties and even set alerts for new listings that suit our needs.

However, the power of a potential property buyer ends with just finding the information. They still need an agent or broker to let them inspect the property and if suitable proceed with other legal or documentary processes.

This is when there comes a need for real estate consultants. Their proficiency paired with profound knowledge and experience helps them deliver the best service and address their clients’ needs. Real estate consultants help in navigating the property and housing and property market while providing insight into current trends and conditions. With services tailored to the clients’ needs and their best interest in mind real estate consultants provide true objectivity and a keen eye for detail.

Now when we pair technology and an industry expert, the results would be extraordinary. Leveraging the right technologies will enable real estate consultants to be more effective and agile. It will help them to serve more buyers in less time and also help them improve client satisfaction.

Recognizing this opportunity, Yogesh Jaiswal the Director of Le Classique Realty entered into the realm of the real estate industry with an aim to offer efficient customer-centric and tech-driven services. This company offers solutions that empower property buyers to make an informed decision and make a deal. The below-conversation with Mr. Jaisawl will give us further insight into how his company provides real-estate management services of the highest caliber.

Kindly brief us about your company.

Le Classique Realty Pvt ltd was found in August 2019 and is headquartered at Dahisar. However, we also operate from the various sites we have a mandate with. Usually, our sales team operates out of the site venues. Employee strength, to begin with, was 2 employees and it has grown to 60+ since we started.

What inspired you to step into the construction industry?

Over the years I have spent in real estate, there has always been this burning desire to do my own. I have always apprehended the need for a reliable professional channel between developers and buyers.

The RERA Act has brought real estate brokers under its ambit – but there is no minimum qualification, experience, or certification for agents. It was evident to me that there is a massive opportunity for large and upcoming organized broking firms to address this gap.

Upon observing this gap in the industry I decided to bridge this gap and bring the desired change. However, it was very clear that the business approach in today’s date cannot be the way we have done it even 5 years back. There were many drawbacks and loopholes.  In all my earlier stints at various realty organizations, I have tried to bring this change in go to market strategy.

But it never worked out and soon I realized I was never in the driving seat. I wasn’t the owner of any of these organizations. And because of that I could not influence such radical change or bring complete paradigm shifts in the way we look at the industry sales. It then I realized that it’s time to do my own. Le Classique is in the business of providing end-to-end services to its customers through a tech-driven approach and organized professional human interface. The vision with which I established this company is, “to be the first choice for our consumers in their journey of home buying.”

Brief us about the industry scenario from your perspective.

The Indian real estate industry has been badly hit by the pandemic and there seems to be no respite in the near future. The sector is already experiencing a major dip in property visits and reduced buyer interest. Sales figures have dipped sharply and the decline will continue for the next 6-9 months. Public sentiment is just not viable for new purchase and the fear of project delivery getting postponed is lurking large.

Developers are trying their best to attract consumers by whatever means they can. Few developers have come out with an online booking option and heavy discounts on agreement value.

One has offered “buy1 unit and get 1 free”, of course, the free unit is not of the same project but another cheaper option in some other relatively less expensive location. The math is always calculated in such offers. The realtors today may resort to earning lesser profit but wisely keeping the price point much above the construction and incurred cost.

There is no sense of having any new launches at this point in time until such time Digital launches are figured out as an alternative.

Sops might work for a segment, as there will be few consumers who will take these situations to their advantage and get the extra benefit along with their purchase. But by and large, Indian consumer sentiment is that such high priced products cannot be purchased without physically seeing the project. This buying behaviour may prove to be a dampener since the sites are shut for visits for the time being.

The developers will still hold on to prices and rather offer schemes and sops for sales, which they know will be temporary in nature and will not impact their brand value.

But eventually, if the situation worsens or government lock-down prolongs beyond 45-60 days, then chances are extremely high that the realtors will soon be cutting through their prices. The cost of holding up will be too high for most of the developers to sustain.

The drop in prices is only a temporary phenomenon. Prices will remain unchanged majorly for all large developers. The correction will happen only in the secondary market and category B and C developers and their projects where unsold inventory is large. We just may see prices falling off the shelf by min 5 % to 10% on the total consideration value.

Kindly tell us about the challenges you faced to withstand the complexities of the industry.

Like any other startup, I faced the challenge of developing my core team. I knew from the beginning that I needed a strong senior team and the rest can be taken care of. Initially, we had also faced a lot of trust issues from the developers in terms of getting a complete mandate of their projects. People were skeptical about how well we will be able to deliver sales and improve their cash flows.

However, I was slightly lucky with team development. I have worked with many realty companies in my past and always been excellent with my work. Frankly speaking, I had a lot of fan following in my previous companies. That worked!  It helped me to pick up the best people from there and trust me. My core team joined me at a much lower package then they were at. Everyone believed in me and hence the first challenge was met.

On the other hand, developers took about 45 days to have faith in me by giving their complete revenue streams as mandate projects. I understood and started doing retail and successfully delivered supreme results. I knew the word will spread in the market and also to the developers I was eyeing for business. That’s exactly how it shaped and here I am today with 10 mandates across Mumbai, Pune, and Shirdi.

Kindly introduce us to the current projects you are working on.

Currently, we are working with –

Baya Goldspot, Mumbai (The Baya Group)

Akash Complex, Mumbai (lxmi Infrastructures)

Yes Residency, Pune (Yemul and Sancheti associates)

Shree residency, Pune (Ranka developers)

VTP Urban life, Talegaon (VTP Group)

VTP Bhagyasthan, Talegaon (VTP Group)

Shraddha Residency, Shirdi (Sangram realty)

In Process:

Mont Vert Cresta, Lonavla (Mont Vert Group)

Mont Vert Valencia, Lonavla (Mont Vert Group)

Omkar Vive and Meridia, Mumbai (Omkar Group)

Sugandha Gardens, Pune

PVR MAHA, Hyderabad (PVR Developers)

Kindly state about your company’s achievements.

Despite being a new company in this industry, I am proud to say that we are continuously striving and moving up the ladder.  For instance, in just 9 months we have grown employee size-wise and now have 72 employees.  To calculate our achievement in terms of revenue and sales, we achieved sales of 28 units during this pandemic lock-down and are at the Topline revenue of 106 cr for 9 months. However, I consider our achievement as my team’s unfathomable zeal and persistence in offering the premium quality service.

What kind of future advancements you expect in the construction industry and how well equipped are you to face those changes?

The construction industry is all set to go majorly online and tech-friendly. We have anyway initiated these changes long back. The company has a tech-driven approach from pre-sales, lead gen to sales, and online booking methodology right from day one.

Also, we see this phase as a momentary pause to the real estate growth and hence we never stopped hiring. We are not only expanding but also in the process of opening new branches across the country.

Tell us about the future plans of the company.

India is fast on track to become a USD 5 trillion economy and the Indian broking business currently is estimated to be worth nearly USD 1.8 billion, there remains vast untapped potential in the new housing purchase business.

In the coming years, we aim to spread our operations to 8 cities in the next 6 months with 500+ professionals across. We are also about to launch Channel Partner Business vertical application, which will be completely technology-driven and will track from the site visit to closure to automated payments to CP’s.

In the market, we want to be known as Trustworthy, Friendly, Expert, and Professional to the consumers and ‘Jeannie’ to the developers. Whenever the developer or the consumer thinks of availing real estate services, LC should feature in the Top 3 as Top of the mind recall.

Below-mentioned is also some of the other goals that we aim to achieve:

Reach Revenue positive at Gross margin level in 9 months, Positive in Business contribution level in 18 months, and EBITDA positive in 24 months.

Have a 50 seater call center for presales within 12 months.

Have operations spread across 6 major cities of India (Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Delhi, Kolkata, and Hyderabad)

Have a sales team of 150 plus members in 18 months.

Have min 30 plus developer mandates across the above 6 cities in the first 18 months.

Develop a core team of 12 members spread across divisions (sales, presales, digital marketing, collections, PR) within 12 months and ensure they are well-taken care off, as they form the pillars of LC.

Achieve 200 numbers of transactions in 15 months.

Achieve sales productivity of 6 times in 12 months, 8times in 18 months, and 10 times in 24 months.

https://www.insightssuccess.in/le-classique-realty-setting-new-and-improved-standards-in-real-estate-advisory/