#in any universe they would have a creative partnership in some form let’s be real

[franklyimissparis]

thinking about the alternate universe where miles kane accepted the role of john lennon in nowhere boy. and also the alternate universe where miles and alex actually finish that 60s superhero movie script and have it made. and the one where they decided they are, in fact, intellectually capable of writing a book together.

[cocochannel00]

The Azoff Family: A Case Study on one of the Music Industry’s Most Connected Families

(ft. a breakdown of the Grammy voting process and problems)

This is very long so I will try and split it up into categories for everyone (sorry I got carried away- I spent like 2 hours writing this) but enjoy!

*Disclaimer: I want to preface while the majority of this is based in research, some parts may be speculation. I don’t know the family personally so I can’t tell you what goes on behind closed doors but I can tell you how parts of the entertainment/music industry work. I’ve had 5 internships in the industry (one in marketing at one of the big record labels) and the rest of my work is publicity (what I enjoy) and events and a former advisor used to run in the same circles as Irving Azoff (and he spilled some tea last year) I’m not out here to diminish the hard work of any artists or their teams, I’m simply here to showcase parts of the industry that aren’t always shown.*

Please also see: Story Time: How Fan Pages Directly Impact Columbia Records Decisions and Harry Styles Image

IRVING AZOFF: NEVER STOP THE GRIND

Let’s begin with the great business man himself Mr. Irving Azoff Irving Azoff is the literal posture child for connections and power in the music industry (he was also inducted into the 2020 rock and roll hall of fame class which is like a huge fucking deal for a manager to be inducted so you know he's the real deal)

In conclusion, I love Irving Azoff and his drive.

Irving Azoff: Early Years Run Down:

He came up middle class (dad was a pharmacist, mom a bookkeeper) in Danville, Illinois

He dropped out of college to run a small Midwestern concert-booking empire and managed local acts in the era

Opportunity came knocking and he got the chance to manage the Eagles and the rest is history

He's one of the best negotiators and has negotiated business on behalf of stars like Stevie Nicks, the Eagles, and Jimmy Buffet

Azoff has been an incredible manager and his drive to always advocate for his clients while basically not giving two sh*ts about what people think of him has gotten him the incredible reputation he has today.

All of Irving Azoff’s Major Job Positions:

Former President MCA (major label)

Former CEO of Ticketmaster and executive chairman of Live Nation Entertainment, the behemoth formed from Ticketmaster’s merger with Live Nation.

In 2013 he and Cablevision Systems Corp. CEO and New York Knicks owner James Dolan formed a partnership, Azoff MSG Entertainment (Currently still CEO)

----> Azoff also ran the Forum in Inglewood under Azoff MSG Entertainment after MSG purchased it in 2012 (it was sold in 2020 to the owner of the Clippers) — why do you think Harry played the forum for the Fine Line show? Azoff connection

Azoff MSG Entertainment encompasses all of the other companies including Full Stop Management, Global Music Rights (performance-rights org), and the Oak View Group (arena developing company)

He also is the co-founder and manager of the lobbying group Music Artists Coalition, a group that helps lobby for artists-rights issues such as royalty rates, copyright issue and healthcare insurance (see he's not all bad)

Essentially what I'm getting at is this man knows anybody who's anybody. He's the man you want on your team to help promote your music, plan your tour, and get you on that Grammy nom list.

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JEFFREY AZOFF: THE CHILD OF NEPOTISM

So for those of you that don't know, Jeffery Azoff is Harry's current manager and the son of Irving Azoff (the third of four kids). He's currently a partner at Full Stop Management, the company owned by Irving and the one artists such as Harry, Haim, the Eagles, Kings of Leon, and Meghan Trainer are signed to.

Jeffrey graduated from the University of Colorado's Leeds School of Business and started working fresh out of college at his father's old Management company (Frontline Management) working under Maroon 5's manager Jordan Feldstein (the only way you get that kind of internship/job as a 21 year old fresh out of college is if your family or family friends gives it to you). He worked here for 5 years.

Direct Quote from Irving Azoff to Jeffrey (really tells you a lot): "Listen carefully, because I’m going to say this one time. You have a phone and you have my last name. If you can’t figure it out, you’re not my son."

After working for his father, Jeffrey moved on to the talent agency CAA (Creative Artist Agency) where he worked for roughly 3 and half years before joining his dad in forming Full Stop Management in 2016.

While he was at CAA, Irving moved over clients like Christina Aguilera and the Eagles to the talent agency to help with tour booking instead of doing it internally through LiveNation (he was CEO).

Even though I'm sure Jeff has had to work somewhat hard to get to where he is (or at least to mess up his dad's work as he doesn't seem like the type to take laziness well), the door into the industry and every job was basically handed to him on a silver platter.

Not to mention if you watch episodes of keeping up with the  kardashians (like myself) you can actually see Jeff hanging out with kendall and the rest of the fam at their Palm Springs house (you know you're a nepotism kid if you have an in with the Kardashian crew). Invite me next time Jeffrey!!!

Think of the Azoff's as the mafia family of the music industry, you don't mess with the mafia

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THE GRAMMY AWARDS: STUDENT COUNCIL ELECTIONS ON STEROIDS

Ok so here's where we’re going to get into a bit more of the speculation/grey area. I don't need to tell you that award shows are corrupt (See the Golden Globes Emily in Paris scandal) and the Grammys are not an exception. Think of the Grammys as one big student council/government elections where despite the fact the teachers tell you six times to vote for the best candidate, you're still going to vote for your friends even if they aren't the best.

A simplified break-down of Grammy voting:

1) Recording Academy voting members (artists, producers, musicians- anyone involved first hand with the creation of music; All voting members must have been producers, performers or engineers on six or more tracks of a commercially released album (or 12 or more digital tracks) and record labels will submit nominations in various categories to the grammys (songs need to be released commercially between October 1 of the previous year and September 30th of this year). You can also become a voting member by either winning a grammy or being endorsed by a current voting member (hint hint)

2) Once received, the recording academy with have the academy of trustees and its reviewers organize them and approve any changes to the 30 categories/fields (aka they can add new categories or remove old ones; so no best ukulele album of the year -- this is where things get funky)

There's speculation that during this stage when these special groups of 8-10 people are organizing genres, there's an "unwritten rule" that you need to be careful what album you green light (especially for famous artists) if you don't want them to win) (Rob Kenner said this- he used to be on one of these committees). Famous people tend to get more votes from clueless or lay Academy members that don't know the specialized categories or don't care enough to listen to songs that aren't radio trending.

3) After the nominations occur, Voting members begin their first voting. Members can vote for the four general categories of record of the year, album of the year, song of the year and best new artist and a maximum of 15 categories, all within their areas of expertise. Now the interesting thing is that while these are the guidelines there is literally nothing stopping them from voting in whatever categories they want (i.g. a rapper voting in the opera category despite not listening to opera). Theses ballots are all tallied and the top 20 entries are determined in each category (funky moment #2)

In 12 of the 84 categories those top 20 go to the ballot and it's done; for the rest it’s not like that. 59 categories including the big four go to a "nomination review committees" (identities are protected so they can't get lobbied... sure) who take a look at the top 20 and narrow it down to 7 or 8. (these are the special committees the Weekend talked about when he was snubbed). They're supposed to choose the nominees "based solely on the artistic and technical merits of the eligible recordings" which lets be real if that was the case Watermelon Sugar (along with most of the others in the category) I don't think would have been nomimated as they are very generic pop (none of them are special... sorry to the WM lovers out there).

This committee is basically held to THE HONOR CODE SYSTEM... I mean tell me when the last time the honor code system worked in literally any scenario (literally wtf). Don't take my word for it though the former CEO of the Academy Deborah Dugan (a queen) filed a complaint against the Recording Academy basically claiming that the nomination review process was rigged (she was fired after 5 months on the job).

Quote from Deborah Dugan "Members of the board [of trustees] and the secret committees chose artists with whom they have personal or business relationships... It is not unusual for artists who have relationships with Board members and who ranked at the bottom of the initial 20-artist list to end up receiving nominations."

These review committees can also exploit there power by adding up to two nominees that don't appear on the top 20 list to the final voting ballot (except in the 4 big categories - which watermelon sugar that one wasn't nominated for)

They also have craft committees for like non performance stuff (like album notes, engineering and arranging) that don't even get voted on by the academy voting members

4) After all of that fucked up mess, the grammy's decided is ok, the ballots go back to the voting members for the final vote. Deloitte (an accounting firm) then counts all of them, seals them in envelopes, and delivers them to the Grammy award show.

** The Grammy's just announced this year they're removing the "secret committees" so let's see how things shift in the next couple of years**

So obviously I'm not saying this to discredit Harry's nomination or his win as Fine Line was in the US top 20 albums for the majority of 2020, however, we must acknowledge privilege. Harry has a big name to him and a huge following, and while all of that shouldn't be taken into account, it does. He also has the Azoffs, a very well connected family with friends in lots of places that would be able to put in a good word here and there to get support behind Harry. Harry won best pop solo performance for Watermelon Sugar in a category with Doja Cat, Justin Bieber, Billie Eilish, Taylor Swift, and Dua Lipa. Look at the names there, the songs (ya'll can try and remember them cause I'm too lazy to write it out) and tell me that those top names with all of the music produced didn't get there through some connections.

Do with all this information what you will and if you are interested in learning more about the entertainment industry on your own Endeavor (owners of WME, a big talent agency like CAA) is hosting a free online program called the Excellence Program to help guide the future generation of industry executives. The program is a-synchronous and starts on July 12th. Highly recommend giving it a go if you're interested!!!

Alright ya'll that's it. Feel free to message me with your thoughts!

Extra Sources if you'd like to read:

https://www.vice.com/en/article/pkdndn/how-grammys-voting-actually-works-and-where-the-alleged-corruption-lies

https://www.grammy.com/grammys/awards/voting-process

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2020-11-05/irving-azoff-eagles-manager

https://celebrityaccess.com/caarchive/jeffrey-azoff-exits-caa-to-launch-new-management-company/

https://www.rollingstone.com/pro/features/grammy-awards-secret-committees-945532/

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/grammy-awards-eliminate-secret-committees-voting-changes-1163887/

[flickeringart]

Further exploration...

I used this chart when going over the implications of the inner planetary placements (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars) and their aspects. You can find the post here.

I thought I’d move spontaneously with my own train of thought as it applies to this chart in order to explore it a bit more.

This person is pleasant but private. She’s definitely guarded, as would be expected with Pluto in the 1st, not in a way Saturnian way of being walled off, but in an observant and quiet way of attempting to assess the situation. She would appear to be tolerant and open minded, albeit careful with how she expresses herself, what she reveals and how other people respond (Pluto square Venus). There’s definite optimism but with reserve and caution. Her chart ruler, Jupiter, is in the 8th house of the subconscious and intimate relationships. It would seem as if she’s in for some fated discoveries and adventures, a search for meaning through the depths of the human psyche. It would be safe to assume that wisdom is to be derived from confrontations with the unknown and deeper dimensions of the human existence. In a sense, both the Pluto in the 1st  in Sagittarius and Jupiter in Virgo in the 8th points to a brave explorer that is destined to benefit from getting familiar with the best and the worst of human nature. Her confidence and expansion won’t come through anything superficial, bravery is required to remain curious when faced with the intensity of life. As it happens, Jupiter squares Pluto, which not only indicates a link between the principals of unconscious forces and expansion, but a tense link at that. The survival complex might drive her to jump at every opportunity to be more, learn more and see more of what is hidden from view. “What if I don’t become everything I could be?” is the paranoia of this kind of dynamic. This aspect stimulates action, a pressing need to uncover the truth, to soar higher through diving deeper. There might be great fear fueling the drive to make things happen, causing overextension and inflation. A Sagittarius Ascendant always meets life with boldness and optimism for better or for worse. One can’t miss an opportunity to see what lies beyond the horizon, or in this case, beyond the surface layers of reality!

The Sun, representative of the center of the personality, is inconjunct Jupiter and sextile Pluto, which further confirm the theme of expansion and inner subconscious forces in this person’s life. Sun sextile Pluto implies that there are resources of strength that can be used if necessary. She is probably aware of the power she can wield in terms of resilience, focus and dedication. There’s perseverance and stamina to the personality, without it being compulsive. Sun inconjunct Jupiter is a more ambivalent dynamic. Sometimes, the optimism and general faith seem to be present, at other times she might feel the need to reconsider her perspective and ideas in order to get back on track. Nuance should be considered before setting out on quests and careful deliberation is called for. This is especially true since Jupiter is in Virgo, the analytical earth sign. Modesty, moderation and detailed organization are likely to be skills that bring rewards. It’s not wise to overdo anything and to blindly go for things though– in the case of the inconjunct aspect, things could work out sometimes and sometimes not, which is why discernment is called for. The Sun is in Aquarius, which means that this person is civil and respectful in her personality but also very attached to her own intellectual autonomy and freedom. Aquarians are always friendly and interested in others but never at the expense of their own vision. Aquarius is a fixed sign and won’t except that other people have a sounder mind than they have. Beyond a certain point there’s no room for compromise or deliberation – they like to keep their personal universe intact – even if it’s completely different from everyone else’s. In order for the personality to work well with the abundance of Jupiter in Virgo, she should attempt to be a little more flexible and open to questioning her own fixed mental stance on certain topics. It’s possible to remain in integrity while adjusting certain perceptions and reap the rewards that exploration brings.

Continuing on with the Sun, it forms a conjunction with Neptune, which means that the personality goes hand in hand with the archetypal redeemer, sacrificial victim and artist. There’s softness to this person, passivity and an air of otherworldliness perhaps. In more negative terms, the person might have a personality that exhibits the “holier than thou” attitude. This person can be whatever she likes to be because the identity is not very defined. Yet, she definitely lives in the real world and is keen on materializing the dream, to find herself through her capacity to be potent in the real world (Sun in the 2nd house). The famous painter Frida Kahlo had Sun conjunct Neptune, albeit in Cancer in the 11th house, which indicates a more sensitive and feeling based personality that expressed though art – in the sphere of the collective matters, ideas and change. In the case of this person and this chart, there’s also awareness and emphasis on collective movement and how it affects identity, seeing as the conjunction sits in Aquarius. Self-actualization and individual purpose won’t be found in the sphere of the collective however, it will be found through developing personal control and potency in the real world of material possessions. It’s likely that the person is unaware that the sense of self is tied up with the Neptunian ideal of redemption – conjunct planets usually let us assume that everyone else is the same way – perfectly imperfect, abstract and fluid. Neptune is not very comfortable in the 2nd, being a transcendent principle in a primordial sphere of life. There’s a big risk that when money or possessions are lost that the identity follows down the drain – and painful disillusionment and disappointment instills. Uranus, the Sun ruler, is in Pisces, with further confirms the theme of universal love and collective identity tied to potency in the physical world.

As far as career and work goes, there are a couple of pieces that conspire to make up a certain picture. The ruler of the 10th house of career is Libra, although containing a good bit of Scorpio as well. Venus, the ruler of Libra is in Pisces in the 3rd house of communication, Neptune, the ruler of Pisces conjuncts the Sun in the 2nd. The ruler of the 6th house of work and employment is Gemini, with the ruler Mercury in Capricorn in the 2nd house. Without following the trail any further it’s obvious that there’s a theme of aestheticism and refinement (Libra and Venus) tied up with the redemptive artistic dream (Neptune and Pisces). There’s also interaction, communication and intellectual creativity (Gemini) tied up with material assets (Mercury in the 2nd). Not to mention, Mercury sextiles Venus - a definite indicator of someone who has great writing and communicative skills. There’s a big chance that anything from artistry, writing, sharing, interacting and helping people could be in the cards for this person. As noted, Libra might be the ruler of the 10th but Scorpio also has a presence in the sphere of career matters. In fact, Venus, the ruler of Libra squares Pluto, the ruler of Scorpio. The Venus principle of beauty, love and sophistication makes a tense connection to Pluto, the primitive force, destroyer and transformer. This person might go through power struggles in love and relationships, attempting to control how one is perceived, using subtle dominance tactics to enforce a certain impression. Sociability and charm characterizes the public image as well as privacy, secrecy and guardedness.

Let’s look at relationships, needs and emotions a little bit closer. There are a few things worth exploring, Venus (the sense of beauty and harmony), the 7th house of other people and partnerships, the 8th house of intimacy, death and transformation and the Moon (emotional and physical needs). Since Venus has been touched upon already, let’s look to the 7th house. Gemini is the ruler but Cancer takes up a lot of space as well. The person would seek mental stimulation and interaction through other people, learning and exchange of information. The 7th house is the sphere of life in which the person has to adjust, seek equilibrium and cooperation through the signs occupying the house. Gemini is good at seeing both sides, adapting and playing parts for the fun of it. Cancer is good at sensing the atmosphere and avoiding direct confrontation in order to create safety. The person might encounter struggle and work when tapping into the emotional requirements of being in a relationship, seeing as Saturn is placed here. It would take deliberate striving and concentration in order to achieve some kind of emotional well-being. Since planets in the 7th are easily projected, the person might think other people are walled off, rigid and defensive of vulnerability when in fact it’s a reflection of oneself. The person might have difficulty relating to others on an emotional – physical level, admitting to her instinctual needs and allowing herself to be nurtured and cared for. The Moon, the ruler of Cancer is in Leo in the 8th, quite hidden and brooding underneath the conscious surface. A Leo Moon wants to shine, to be seen and appreciated, but in this case, it lives this out in secret, behind closed doors and through intimate bonds. It’s a powerful Moon, trining both Mars (the personal aggressive drive) and Pluto (the inner emotional forces). Emotionally, this person would be quite demanding, insisting on getting her way. Interestingly, the Moon is also part of a yod figuration, being at the mercy of Venus and Mercury trying to modify and adjust the emotional nature through reason and values. The person might be prone to rationalize and idealize emotion, or try to adjust emotional needs to fit intellectual preferences. There’s a slight polarization of the rational mind - personal preferences and emotional needs. Needless to say this could prove somewhat challenging in relationships. In addition to these aspects, the Moon finds itself in opposition to the Sun (personal identity and purpose) and Uranus (mental convictions and progressive outlooks). In other words the feminine mother archetype is pitted against the masculine father archetype in her life.

The opposition of the Moon and the Sun is usually and indicator that there’s a tendency to disown either one’s instinctual-emotional side or the purposeful conscious direction of one’s life. Some would say that the personal father probably couldn’t relate to the personal mother and vice versa, that they lived complementary lives rather than living a shared experience. The fiery, passionate Moon certainly collides with the more intellectual-rational and “spiritual” Sun conjunct Neptune in Aquarius along with Uranus and Venus in Pisces as well as Mercury in Capricorn. People who have their Moon in opposition to the Sun will seem to have contradictory forces going on, with a Libra-Aries opposition for example, there’s a sociable sympathetic airy personality that fronts in a certain circumstance, and at another time and place that very someone is reckless and impulsive, acting completely “out of character”. A swing of the pendulum has occurred and the Aries Moon has come out, fierce and uncompromising as a striking contrast to the diplomatic and smooth Libra Sun. In the case of this person the dynamic would be similar, the Aquarius Sun would be aloof and quite determined and fixed in conceptual freedom, tolerant, intellectual and open-minded. The contrasting Leo Moon would be bursting with creative energy, wanting to be admired and noticed for its talents and expression. The objective quirk in contrast to the inspired creative can’t exist in the same space and must take turns showing up in life. Because Aquarius and Leo are opposite signs, there’s always going to be ambivalence and insecurity present, the person doesn’t quite know how to integrate the two principals, which is understandable.

It’s likely that the person felt torn between the mother and the father growing up, having to alternate between the two.

Let’s take a closer look at father signifiers in the chart. Let’s look at the 4th house (assuming that the 4th relates to the father) with Aries on the cusp and Mars in Taurus. He must have been quite determined and domestic, presumably quite conventional and aligned with the customs and traditions of society seeing as Mars is sextile Saturn, but also quite eccentric, original and innovative seeing as Mars is sextile Uranus. Mars also makes a square to Mercury, which is a clear indicator of someone who is overly convicted of one’s intellectual capacity to the point of it being detrimental. Although there’s force and sharpness to the intellect there’s pride involved, which might take over and lead to this person forcing information down people’s throats. Mars is also trine the Moon in Leo which would point to a warm and nurturing side. All in all, it seems like the father is quite a force to reckon with – stable, dutiful, exciting, warm, and active, with a risk of going over the top when interacting and engaging with others. In addition to the 4th house image, we have to look to the Sun as a father principle. It’s in the 2nd house of material possessions, which perfectly aligns with the 4th house and its connection to Taurus, the fixed earth sign. Not to mention that the Sun is in Aquarius, highlighting the Uranian connection of inspiration and vision. He would surely be a financially and materially focused person with a lot of inspiration and excitement for the future as well as an interest in public affairs and public relations (Sun inconjunct Jupiter). He’s also a Neptunian type and probably has a rich imaginary realm, inevitably deeply affected by the terrors and misfortunes others are put through, overall sympathetic and accepting of all fates and experiences. There’s also the Sun-Moon opposition, pointing to somewhat of a homebody, deeply connected to the emotional past and its memories. He might’ve had difficulty integrating that part of himself, being a strong presence in the outside world and retreating back into a safe space.

Let’s have a look at mother signifiers in the chart as well. The 10thhouse is unoccupied; Libra is the cusp ruler and Scorpio fills the majority of the house. This is a mother that probably was concerned with behaving in all the socially appropriate ways. It’s also indicative of someone who seeks validation and appreciation and gives it to other people in order to create harmonious atmospheres. She’s also somewhat private, watching her back and letting people know that she sees it all and won’t let things slide. This mother is a pleasant social navigator and private, defensive and biting type. Moving on to the Moon, which gives us an image of a woman of passion and courage, a stubborn fighter (Moon trine Mars and Pluto) working in the shadows of the 8th house. She’s not someone to openly display her force, although it’s certain that she has a whole lot going on beneath the surface layers. Passionate nature aside, she’s also very diplomatic and interactive, although she might have to put in some effort to not let her need to please, interact and care get the best of her (Moon inconjunct Mercury and Venus). She would be restless; the kind to feel trapped and kept apart from her own potential and progression (Moon opposite Uranus) as well as her own purpose, self-actualization and possibly even redemption (Moon opposite Sun-Neptune). It would seem as the mother is trapped through conventional reason (Moon inconjunct Mercury in Capricorn) and self-sacrificing ideals (Moon inconjunct Venus in Pisces). The 8thhouse is related to other people and their resources/values indicating that she is living at the mercy of conditions beyond her own control, at least in her own experience. What other people are willing to support or not support determines her situation – it doesn’t lie within her own control.

[northoftheroad]

Recommeded reading for Dick Grayson / Robin and Nightwing

This is an updated repeat of a couple of lists with reading recommendations with Dick as Robin and Nightwing (Pre-Flashpoint) that I've made earlier. But since I wrote them as answers to asks, the posts don't have a headline, and I find that they can be easy to miss (for me, when I want to look something up...) So I thought I might as well make a new, single post of them.

The stories are in what I imagine would be an in-universe chronology. They are from all periods, ignoring that the Golden age stories and Silver/Bronze/modern age stories have at times been considered two different universes. Most of them are stories that, at the time of their publishing, were canon and in continuity. None is explicitly Elseworld, so you can certainly imagine that they have happened ;-)

To be honest, not all of these comics are examples of great storytelling. Older superhero comics, for instance, are definitely something else compared to modern comics, for better and for worse. I've picked some because they are "the first time" or significant in some way (e.g. the first time Dick was almost killed, when Bruce has to fight to keep custody, an infamous fight between Dick and Bruce, the most well-known different origin stories, panels that are often quoted); others because they have a cute or fun moment. I have also included some books that I don't like myself but are well-known.

Storytelling has changed a lot since Dick was Robin. Back in the Golden and Silver age, with very few exceptions, comics were stand-alone short stories. In later decades, it's usually arcs that span at least a couple of issues and some stories have consequences for years.

Dick has been an active team member since the 1960s, and he has arguably been at his best in some team titles, but I still don't have a lot of team books here. I find it difficult to, off the top of my head, recall any "special Dick issues".

Obviously, these are very personal preferences, and the list is based on what I've read and remembered best.

Robin the Boy Wonder. Detective Comics # 38 (The original origin story. There has been maaany more since then – I've made a list just with origin stories....) (1940).

Batman: Year Three. Batman # 436-439. (An origin story where Dick spent some time at a nice orphanage before he came to Bruce.) (1989)

Robin Annual vol 2 # 4. (Another origin story, where the Gotham authorities remove Dick him from the circus, and he is put in the Gotham City's Youth Center. Not my preferred but it's well known.) (1995)

The Gauntlet. The Batman Chronicles #1. (The test before Batman let Dick start out as Robin.) (1997)

Grimm. Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #149-153. (A story set when Dick is new as Robin and still uncertain about his place. For a while, he wants to leave Batman and stay in a children's underground paradise.) (2002)

Robin: Year One. (Traumatic events during Dick's first year as Robin. He was nearly beat to death by Two-Face. When Bruce said he was not permitted to continue as Robin, Dick ran away because he didn't think there was a place for him at the Manor any more.) (2001)

The case of the honest crook. Batman #5. (1941)

The Batman plays a lone hand. Batman #13. (The first time Bruce ended the Batman and Robin partnership and left Dick to take care of himself.) (1942)

Robin studies his lessons. Batman #18. (1943)

Bruce Wayne loses the guardianship of Dick Grayson. Batman #20. (1944)

Clay. Batman Black and White #6. (2014)

Don't know where, don't know when. Batman Black and White #1. (2013)

Dick Grayson, author. Batman #35. (1946)

The Clocks of Doom. Star Spangled Comics #70.

The man Batman refused to help! Star Spangled Comics #88.

A birthday for Batman. Star Spangled Comics #91.

Robin, the Boy Failure. DC #145. (Dick gets amnesia, and Bruce tries to get him to remember that he’s Robin, without telling him outright.) (1949).

The killer-dog of Gotham city. Star Spangled Comics #100. (1950)

The trial of Bruce Wayne. Batman #57. (1950)

Race of the century. DC #157. (1950)

Dick Grayson, detective. Star Spangled Comics #111. (1950)

The strange costumes of Batman. DC #165. (Dick’s first time as Batman.) (1950)

The robberies in the Batcave. DC #177. (1951)

Partner for Batman. Batman #65. (1951)

Batman II and Robin, junior. Batman #66. (1951)

The plainclothes Robin. Star Spangled Comics #112. (Batman forbids Dick from going out at as Robin; he finds creative ways to use it in other ways.) (1951)

Operation Escape. Star Spangled Comics #124. (1952)

The new team of Superman and Robin. World's Finest Comics #75. (With Batman out of commission, Robin teams up with Superman. Batman is a bit apprehensive about Dick’s joy.) (1955)

Batman, jr. DC #231. (1956)

The grown-up Boy Wonder. Batman #107. (1957)

The last days of Batman. Batman #125. (1959)

Robin's new boss. Batman #137. (Dick wants to leave Bruce and get into a new partnership. Bruce is very distraught indeed.) (1961)

Robin Dies at Dawn. Batman #156. (Batman gets PTSD after participating in an experiment and he has to hang up the cowl becuase he is endangering Robin. Doctor Simon Hurt, who became a main villain when Grant Morrison wrote Batman, is the nameless doctor in charge of the experiment.) (1963)

The Olsen-Robin team versus the Superman-Batman team. World's Finest Comics #141. (1964)

The thousand-and-one dooms of Mr Twister. The Brave and the Bold #54. (The first team-up of Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad – the first step towards the formation of the Teen Titans.) (1964)

Teen Titans: Year One. (A retelling of the origin of the Teen Titans. The original version was told in Teen Titans vol 1 #53 from 1978, the last issue of the Silver/Bronze age comic book.) (2008)

Midnight raid of the Robin gang. DC #342. (1965)

The Round-Robin death threats. DC #366-367. (1967)

Batgirl breaks up the dynamic duo. DC #369. (1967)

The Nemesis from Batman's boyhood. DC #370. (1967)

Batman! Drop dead… twice. DC #378-379. (1968)

Geometry. Superman #700. (Dick goes out as Robin on his own, against Bruce's order. Superman has to fish him up out the harbour...) (2010)

Menace of the Motorcycle Marauders. Batman #202. (1968)

Operation blindfold. Batman #204-205. (1968)

Angel… or devil. Batman #216. (1969)

Prisoners of the Immortal world. World’s Finest Comics #200. (Dick had moved to Hudson University by now. Together with Superman and a pair of brothers, he's transported to a different world.) (1971)

Daughter of the Demon. Batman #232. (First appearance of Ra's al Ghul, who kidnaps Robin from Hudson as a test to see if Batman is worthy of Talia.) (1971)

Vengeance for a cop. Batman #234-236. (1971)

Night of the Reaper. Batman #237. (1971)

Earth - the monster maker. Justice League of America #91-92. (A story with characters from both Earth-One and Earth-Two, including the adult Robin from Earth-Two who is a member of the Justice Society of America.) (1971)

How many times can a Robin die? Batman #246. (A criminal sets out to revenge himself on Batman by setting up murders of lifelike Robin dummies; since he has kidnapped the real Robin, Batman can't know if the killings are the real thing.) (1972)

The return of the Flying Grayson. Batman #250. (1973)

Color me deadly. Batman #316. (1979)

The Iron solution. DC #487. (1980)

The Man in Black wears Green. DC #493. (1980)

The Lazarus Affair (plus). Batman #331-335. (Another story with Talia and Ra's al Ghul, but also about generation gaps and slum buildings. Robin is angrily opposed to Bruce being with Talia because he doesn't trust her; he seeks out Catwoman to help.) (1981)

Yesterday's heroes. Batman #339. (1981)

To kill a legend. Detective Comics #500. (The Phantom Stranger transports Batman and Robin to a parallel Earth where they have the chance to stop that world's Joe Chill from murdering the Waynes.) (1981)

Who is Donna Troy? New Teen Titans #38. (Dick helps Donna Troy, Wonder girl, to find out where she came from. A great detective story.) (1984)

The Judas contract (when Dick becomes Nightwing). The New Teen Titans # 39-40, Tales of the Teen Titans #41-44, Annual #3. (1984)

Nightwing Year One. Nightwing vol 2 # 101-106. (I honestly don't care much for this story, but it's good to know that it's one of several retellings of how Dick became Nightwing.) (2005)

A Little Nudge, in the Robin 80th Anniversary Special. (An alternate take on Dick leaving Robin to become Nightwing, where Bruce and Dick don’t split on hostile terms – Dick is just a bit annoyed. It is very unclear in what timeline, if any, this is supposed to fit, but I like it a lot better than the Post-Crisis/Pre-Flashpoint versions.) (2020)

Trivial Pursuits. New Teen Titans vol 2 # 32. (A nice breather, when the Titans try just to relax together. It goes as well as can be expected.) (1987)

Wrath Child. (A story from when Dick was fairly new as Nightwing.) Batman Confidential # 13-16. (2008)

Batman # 416. (First post-Crisis meeting with Jason Todd) (1988)

The Cheshire Contract. Action Comics Weekly # 613-618 (Dick helps Roy find his daughter.) (1988)

The New Titans # 55. (Dick learns about Jason's death when the Titans return to Earth after a long period in space. He goes to Bruce to talk and what follows is the infamous scene when Bruce hits Dick, says he should never have had a partner and tells Dick to leave and leave the keys with Alfred.) (1989)

Batman: Year Three. Batman # 436–439. (Flashbacks with a retelling of Dick's origin, during Bruce's third year as Batman. In the "now", Dick tries to reach out to Bruce and Dick's parents' murderer is about to be set free.) (1989)

A Lonely Place of Dying. Batman # 440-442, New Titans # 60-61. (1990)

The New Titans # 65. (Tim turns up at Dick's place to learn what it is to be Batman's partner.) (1990)

Total Chaos. (In issues of Deathstroke the Terminator, New Titans and Team Titans.) (Mirage, a woman from an alternate future and who has illusion casting powers, takes the form of Starfire and sleeps with Dick, who is shamed by his team members for being unfaithful to Kory, even though this is rape. So, an important fact to know but not something I would recommend to read.) (1992)

Knightfall Prodigal (Dick's first longer stint as Batman. And he takes care of Tim and the Manor on his own!) In Batman #512-514 and three other titles. (1994-1995)

Nightwing Alfred's Return (Kind of fun, when Dick seeks out Alfred, who left Bruce's service because Bruce wasn't taking care of himself, in London.) (1995)

Nightwing vol 1 # 1-4. (I don't love this, but it is a milestone in that it's the first Nightwing solo series, Dick momentarily decides to leave the hero business, and gets his by now classic fingerstripe suit.) (1995)

Like Riding a Bike. (Donna checks up on Dick.) The Batman Chronicles # 7. (1996)

(Nightwing vol 2 began in 1996.)

Nightwing vol 2 # 6. (Tim and Dick talk and fight crooks.) (1997)

Nightwing vol 2 # 12-16. (Batman pays a visit and Dick makes his custom made car.) (1997)

The Flash plus Nightwing. (Dick and Wally on vacation.) (1997)

Then & Now. Teen Titans vol 2 #12-15. (The original four Titan boys find themselves fighting their past selves.) (1997)

Nightwing vol 2 # 25. (Tim and Dick talk and ride on train roofs. Dick has decided to become a cop.) (1998)

Detective Comics # 725 (A heart-to-heart between Bruce and Dick.) (1998)

The Technis Imperative. JLA/Titans #1-3. (1998-1999)

The Titans (1999) # 2. (The start of a new Titans team, Dick tells Superman to give them some room.) (1999)

Nightwing vol 2 # 32–34. (Dick at the Police Academy.) (1999)

Nightwing vol 2 # 35–39. (On a mission from Batman: To take control of Blackgate Prison. Afterwards, he recuperates at Barbara's when her place is attacked.) (1999-2000)

The Titans (1999) #15–16. (The original five Titans try to work out some difficulties.) 2000.

Transference. Batman: Gotham Knights #8-11. (2000)

Nightwing vol 2 # 45-46. (The Hunt for Oracle.) (2000)

Action Comics # 771. (Nightwing and Superman hang out and work together – what's not to like!) 2000

Gods of Gotham. Wonder Woman # 164-167. (2001)

Nightwing vol 2 # 52. (Yet another example of sexual assault when Catwoman kisses Nightwing, in an effort to make Batman jealous.) (2001)

Nightwing vol 2 # 54-58. (Blockbuster, Nightwing's main adversary in Blüdhaven, hires an old enemy of Dick's to deal with the vigilante: Shrike. A character from Robin Year One.) (2001)

Matatoa. Batman: Gotham Knights # 16-17. (Bruce adopts Dick.) (2001)

Who Is Troia? The Titans (1999) # 23-25. (A visit from the Titan's children from the Kingdom Come universe.). (2001)

Retribution. Batman: Gotham Knights # 20-21. (2001)

Nightwing vol 2 # 64. (Nightwing as Santa's elf.) (2001)

Bruce Wayne: Murderer and Bruce Wayne: Fugitive (in several titles). (Dick refuses to believe that Bruce can be a murderer and it causes friction with for instance Tim. Also, a big fight between Dick and Bruce when the latter says he is going to abandon his Bruce identity.) (2002)

Nightwing vol 2 # 75. (Flashback's to Dick's early years with Bruce. Plus the first appearance of Tarantula (Catalina Flores; a controversial figure in Dick's history, she straddled the line between vigilante and villain.)) (2002)

Hush. Batman # 608–619. (# 615 for Dick, but it might be confusing only to read one issue.) (2002-2003)

The Obsidian Age. JLA vol 1 # 68-75. (The Justice League members disappear, Dick leads a new team for a few issues. In # 73, Bruce is quoted: "The only time I ever feel pride is when I look at Nightwing. Sometimes I think he's the only thing I ever did right."). (2002-2003)

Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day # 1-3 (Donna is killed. Dick is devastated and declares that the Titans are finished.) (2003)

Nightwing vol 2 # 80-83. (Deathstroke is in Blüdhaven to kill someone close to Dick. Bruce asks when he will quit the force, Dick wants to stay as a cop, but when he saves Amy Rohrbach, she recognizes that Dick is Nightwing and fires him.) (2003)

Nightwing vol 2 # 86. (Dick, forced to rest after being injured, solves crimes on America's Most Wanted and drives Barbara up the wall.) (2003)

The Outsiders vol 3 # 1 (Roy talks Dick, who dissolved the Titans after Donna's death, into leading a new team, promising they will not be a family.) (2003)

Nightwing vol 2 # 87-100. (Definitely one of the darkest periods points in Dick's life pre-Flashpoint. Tarantula breaks up him and Barbara. Blockbuster destroys his circus, his home and kills people just for talking to Dick. Tarantula kills Blockbuster and Nightwing is too exhausted to prevent it, and afterwards, he has a panic attack and she rapes him (# 93). Not necessarily something I would recommend to read, but fans discuss it a lot.) (2003-2004)

The Outsiders vol 3 # 11 (Roy is angsting about going back to the hero business after narrowly surviving being shot to death, sparring and heart-to-heart with Dick follows.) (2004)

Under the Hood. Batman # 635-641, 645-650, Annual # 25. (2004-2006)

Supergirl (2005) # 3 (Supergirl has a huuuge crush on Nightwing... ) (2005)

Silent partner. The Outsiders vol 3 # 21-23. (Dick goes ballistic when he realizes Batman has been funding the Outsiders, Roy admits Batman has been feeding him information. Only it wasn't Batman – it was Deathstroke in disguise.) (2005)

DC Special: The Return of Donna Troy  # 1-4. (2005)

Nightwing vol 2 # 107–117. (Dick leaves Nightwing, starts working for the mob and trains Deathstroke's daughter. I think the author has some kind of resolution to the crisis Dick had gone through the last years in mind, but Infinite Crisis got in the way. Blüdhaven is destroyed in a nuclear explosion.) (2005-2006)

Infinite Crisis. (DC had planned to let Dick die, he is central to the story even if he's not very visible.) (2005-2006)

Targets. Nightwing vol 2 # 125-128. (Dick hunts for a day job in New York and gets buried alive, which leads to some retrospection on his behalf. There's also fights with a guy with a weaponized armour.) (2007)

The Brave and the Bold # 15. Nightwing and Hawkman. (Deadman, inside Hawkman, says that Dick Grayson is the one guy that every crimefighter trusts.) (2007)

Outsiders: Five of a Kind – Nightwing/Boomerang. (It ends with Batman telling Dick: "Go back to the good fight, Dick. Leave the bad fight to us.") (2007)

Freefall. Nightwing vol 2 # 140–146. (Dick starts freefalling as a new hobby; Bruce is not pleased. And he gets a new daytime job, as a museum curator. Oh, and there's Talia al Ghul, too.) (2008)

Robin # 175. (Some fun panels with flashbacks with Dick and Tim.) (2008)

Superman/Batman # 55. (Batman has got Superman’s powers while Superman loses his. When Batman starts to get out of control, Nightwing tries to stop him.)  (2009)

The Great Leap. Nightwing vol 2 # 147–151. (Two-Face wants Nightwing to save a life.) (2008-2009)

Titans (2008) # 10. (Dick leaves the Titans because he needs to go back to Gotham and "take care of my other family." (2009)

Nightwing vol 2 # 152-153. (That time when Ra's al Ghul called Dick detective. And Dick packed up and left New York to move back to Gotham.) (2009)

Batman # 682. (Just for the line about how Dick made colour come into their monochrome lives ;-) ) (2009)

Detective Comics # 85, Batman # 684 (Dick mourning Bruce) (2009)

The Secret Six # 9. (Some of the members of the Secret Six feel they should be the new Batman.) (2009)

Battle for the Cowl # 1-3. (2009)

If you don't mind reading comics that are not in the main comic universe, there are also a lot of fun reading in comic books that are tie-ins to Batman The Animated Series, and in Batman '66 which builds on the tv show from 1966. There is also Dark Victory from 1999–2000 – and tiny Dick is adorable in Batman/Scarecrow: Year One from 2005. Dick has about two panels in Darwyn Cooke’s DC: The New Frontier from 2004, but I think it’s kind of worth reading just for those. 

[theindiegamereview]

Meet the creative team: “Spellstone”

Are you a collectible card game (CCG) fan? If so, read on, because this week we spoke to the makers of Spellstone, a free-to-play (F2P) casual story-based fantasy card game that features vibrant, colourful, hand-drawn art on hundreds of beautiful cards that you can acquire and use in battle, both against the computer and other players!

TIGR: PABLO and DUSTIN are artists who have worked on Spellstone's art, helping create some of the iconic characters Spellstone fans know and love. We asked them how they came to work on the game, as well as what intrigued them about this project.

DUSTIN: I was working as a contract artist when I was asked to create some sample cards for a potential CCG, which is something I'd always wanted to do. The samples I submitted eventually led to me getting a contract to create the initial art for Spellstone. After about four months, I was offered a full-time position. I had such a great experience working with the team that I jumped at the opportunity!

PABLO: Prior to starting work on Spellstone, I remember doing an art piece to test my skills. I greatly enjoyed that because I particularly liked this game's art style - which is actually similar to my own! There were still slight differences though, so I've had to adapt a little. Blending my own personal style into an existing one was challenging. But something that intrigued me about Spellstone was the variety of factions in the game. Each and every one opens up a big array of possibilities when it comes to creating a character. I felt my options were unlimited and I loved it!

TIGR: Spellstone features many different cards and characters. We wanted to know who conceptualises all this, and how much creative licence artists get when crafting a character. FERNANDO, currently the main artist for the game, gave us more insight.

FERNANDO:  That Spellstone has such an immense variety of characters means it's a complete and delightful dish for artists. It's hugely gratifying to find such visual diversity with which to play with. You're completely free to create, as long as you respect the game's universe and visual language.

As for the process, the concept of what a card must look like and how it must be functional in terms of gameplay comes from the guys in the game design department. Very creative people... sorcerers maybe? I don't know. Haha!

From a brief but concise description they give me, I can get a sense of what kind of character and action they want to see in a card. Once I have all the information I need to start sketching, my favourite hour finally begins: creative hour!

If the card description involves an existing type of character, like a goblin, part of the fun has to do with the way you depict that character, situation, action and specific emotion. There's also some freedom to create from scratch if needed - that's exciting and challenging! Sometimes the ideas come from a mix of characters, and that's when the laboratory inside my mind starts working: I press a button and something cool, spooky or funny comes out - whatever the game requires. Other times, new concepts require that I look for approximate references of what's needed, so that serves as the starting point. No matter what, it's always a very enjoyable process. Sometimes we have to make corrections, that's true. But as with everything in life, this is necessary for things to work properly. You may have to redraw stuff, but finally the card is done - it works, it delivers and it entertains!

  TIGR: In Spellstone, cards can be upgraded from a single to a dual to a quad, and we really like that this sometimes tells a "mini story" of of sorts through the artwork. Some are funny (we just love Honeycomb Lobber!), some cute (Bomb Spirit is soooo adorable when he’s angry!), some uplifting (Aurora Shaver ranks among our favourites), and some, um, a bit disturbing, to be honest (Cleaverstorm Hunter, anyone?!)! And some are just sad - we can't help but feel sorry for the poor li'l forest furries that presumably got devoured by Alphamech Stalker! We asked the team how they came up with ideas for all these tiny narratives, and MELINDA, one of the game designers, told us more.

MELINDA: When I was younger, there were a few creatures in video games that terrified me. One of those I remembered most was Medusa, an air jellyfish from Ecco: The Tides of Time. While traversing through a water pathway in the sky, Medusa would try to pick up Ecco the dolphin and fling him off the path. Tetraspout's concept came from that, and you can even see poor little dolphins getting swept up in its attack!

  TIGR: We asked the team if there were any cards they particularly liked creating, or found challenging to conceptualise. IVÁN, a colorist who worked briefly on the game, chipped in, as did TONY and RHADA, two of Spellstone's game designers.

DUSTIN: I loved working on the goblin cards! You could get silly with them. Frogs were a lot of fun too - the variety of colours made them interesting. For me, the water cards were challenging but I grew to love working on them.

PABLO: My favourite characters are Goblins! You can play around with them, making them look funny even when the card is telling a dark story, like a massacre. All of the cards were challenging to create!

IVÁN: I enjoyed working on Hedron The Critical Threat, Zyd The Unhinged, and some awesome Insect cards that have yet to be released (as of the time of this interview). I mostly liked them because of their cool concepts and Fernando's awesome sketches. Hedron in particular was a technical painting challenge, as it has textures, transparencies and glow!

TONY: As something of an artist myself (/sarcasm), the card I am most proud of has to be Dinged Waptor. Or really any of the cards I did for the April Fool's event, which is about the only time the art team lets me anywhere near card art. :) For April Fool's, I decided it would be funny to try my hand at drawing some cards I felt players would enjoy. So the first year I drew some original characters that consisted of a few stick figures, a chicken, and a bomb. The response was good, so the following year I continued the tradition, eventually going through and tracing some famous cards like Winged Raptor. My one rule while making these cards was that I could not erase what I did!

RHADA: We used to sell boxes that contained two new premium cards instead of one. We thought of making both cards in the box thematically linked. At the same time, while brainstorming concepts for dragons, I thought we could try to make cards that formed a bigger picture on the battlefield when placed consecutively, side by side. The initial idea was a serpent whose artwork overflowed into a second card, and after some iteration, we stumbled upon the idea of a dragon dance. The result was very cool!

TIGR: With the Spellstone story campaign recently concluded, we asked what was next in store for Spellstone fans. Would there be anymore new characters and amazing art to look forward to?

TONY: Absolutely! While the main story has come to a close, we still look forward to adding new characters, cards, and art to the game that lets our artists have fun and shows off the world of Spellstone.

TIGR: And finally, the most important question of all: would real-life Spellstone merchandise ever be made available for fans of the game? We really want a plushie of the adorable Bomb Spirit (complete with detachable bombs, perhaps?), as well as his angry counterpart, Firebomb Spirit! Also for Quetee Que and Adorabilis, please! And would there ever be any actual physical Spellstone cards produced for collectors?

TONY: I would personally love to see real-life merchandise, but we currently do not have the means to take on such an endeavour. Maybe one day we can strike a partnership with a team that can make this happen!

We thank the Spellstone team for their time and all the wonderful art assets that accompany this interview! Check out the game here on Kongregate, on Steam, or on mobile - three different ways you can enjoy this fun, cheeky and adorable CCG!

P.S. We just had to include our favourite card: Darkwater Adonis - don’t be fooled by his charms!

[fyrapartnersearch]

|| 𝕮𝖔𝖒𝖊 𝖑𝖎𝖙𝖙𝖑𝖊 𝖗𝖔𝖑𝖊𝖕𝖑𝖆𝖞𝖊𝖗𝖘 ||

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𝐼'𝓁𝓁 𝓉𝒶𝓀𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝑒 𝒶𝓌𝒶𝓎…

𝒾𝓃𝓉𝑜 𝒶 𝓁𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝑜𝒻 𝑒𝓃𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓉𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉…


haha ^^


To all the curious ladies and gents out here, you may call me Imp.

Short, sweet and straight to the point. ;)


I am a lady in her twenties, with a strong penchant for roleplaying, writing, and drawing. The Holy Trinity if you will. I am a huge nerd and aesthetic lover boy - plain and simple. One of my main passions being video-games, illustrations, comics, live-action films, series and anime/cartoon shows, elements that shaped me during my years of growing up.



It’s been a while since I’ve posted my first ever ad on any website, and I was very much positively surprised by the amazing people that have reached out to me.

And since I am a greedy little mf, I wanted to fish for more partners. I’ve been roleplaying for a few years now and gradually gathered a good amount of experience throughout the years, but it’s always fun to meet and learn something new.




Name: Imp



Age: 27 years



Experience: 11 years



Preferences: 1:1 Roleplaying



Partner: Should be at least [18+], but I rather much prefer my counterpart to be 21 years or older 



EMAIL: impish.and.angelic@gmail.com

I am a very creative sort of individual with hundreds of ideas constantly occupying my little impish head. And I am very spontaneous too, so I can always adjust to a new setting, depending on how good and compelling the concept is.

Inspirations come from various sources and origins, be it a fandom (an already existing universe) or an original storyline. Please read through these paragraphs carefully before you decide to contact me! It’s important to avoid any misunderstanding later! And I would less likely respond to a message with the title ‘Hey, wanna rp?’, since I hadn’t had any good experiences with these said messages.  Thank you. 


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Communication: It’s certainly chill. You can talk to me about whatever occupies your mind since I am very open and always happy to listen to others. I also tend to be chatty, sharing a meme or a joke every now and to loosen up the mood. If you consider choosing me as your roleplaying partner, be sure to maintain a certain consistency. I have nothing against going on a longer break or even a hiatus, but the whole `ghosting stick´ is something I have no patience for. So if you’re unsure of upholding a stable, long term partnership, feel free to skim past this ad. 

 Plotting: Also very important to note! I am fairly quick when it comes to building new characters, concepts, premises, storylines, backstories, etc… This means there is certain flexibility available which allows me to adjust. Even though it is a hobby, I am still extremely passionate about good storytelling and interesting character arcs. I hope to meet someone who is just as enthusiastic and willing to put in the same amount of effort as I am. If it’s only me who’s pulling all the weight, I will lose interest fast, just to get it out there. Aside from that, I love going a little crazy with the possibilities and push things to their absolute limits. Of course within the boundaries of the given setting.

 Pairing & Romance: Okay, right off the bat, I am a hopeless romantic through and through. I enjoy good and strong chemistry between characters just as much as the next, and this will be no exception. I prefer the good ol’ MxF pairing because I have more experience with this. But I also like playing a FxF dynamic or MxM. Everyone is welcome! When it comes to pairing itself, I want to make sure our creations are compatible, for I hate forcing characters into a romantic relationship for the sake of progression. A natural flow is what I am aiming for. ;)

 Mature? Yes, very much so:  Adult and taboo topics are absolute. There’s no way around it because, in my stories, it is a running theme. The adult world is not easy to handle, but it’s definitely interesting to explore. That includes violence, cursing, shocking content, and all that dark stuff. My limits are few, safe for a couple of minor pet peeves that I have, I am pretty much open to some experimentation. When it comes to action-heavy scenes (be it an intimate situation between two characters or something on a cataclysmic scale), I won’t fade to black since I am not a huge fan of censoring. However, I will not force or push my partner into something they are not comfortable with. If you want to know the extent to how far I am willing to go, what sort of content or how detailed my writing will be, you can ask me directly. As for smut or lemons, whatever you call it, it will never be the focus of any of my roleplays, but I enjoy a good erotic scene with a lot of tension (if they are good). 

 Boundaries: Not a big fan of things like pedophilia, necrophilia, scat, bestiality, or those dreaded ‘futas’.

Inspirations and interests: There’s a pretty broad spectrum of what I deem interesting and inspirational. From fallen angels and demon/monster hunters, mages, criminal masterminds, cybernetically enhanced characters to futuristic dystopian settings, ancient kingdoms who have fallen against the test of time. All of it causes my heart to skip a beat. For original content, I’ll just give a brief list of bullet points of the general themes that fall in line with my current interests. 

Writing: My texts are lengthy, detailed, and elaborate. Third-person is usually my preferred way of playing my character unless there’s a special case where an exception can be made. Word count usually fluctuates, though I have a standard form of 400-500+ words per response. It also highly depends on the given situation. I don’t want to set anything in stone… just to give you a basic idea of what you’re in for. I also expect my partner to have an at least adequate, if not decent grasp on basic grammar and punctuation. 

 Doubling: Yes, absolutely! If you are prone to doubling, chances are I might accept you as my partner straight away! Although I have nothing against the simple form of roleplaying, doubling is something I’ve done since my first time joining. 

 Characters: Very character-driven with the main focus being on interaction. I take my time writing characters and love nothing more than well-structured sheets that illustrate the vision of their creator. (But!) There’s no need to write 10-20 pages worth of character information, but I wouldn’t want to limit you either. As for the depiction of the given character, I won’t be as presumptuous as to tell you what sort of medium you can and cannot use. Face claims such as photos of real models, illustrations, 3D models, drawings or descriptions are all okay. As long as it gets its point across, I am happy.

 Aversions: A few minor things that irritate me, or let’s say, aren’t really my style are one-liners, low effort responses and out of character behaviors in canon characters. We all have different takes on characters, which is totally fine by me since I basically do the same. Though if the character acts and behaves unlike their personality dictates, it will break the immersion. I hope to stay true to my own words when saying this. If it happens on my side, just let me know! Another pet peeve of mine is that one plot that has been done time and time again…. and I’ve grown quite jaded towards it, which is ‘supernaturals trying to fit into human society’ thing… I mean, I’m not opposed to borrowing from this idea, but for me, it grew old pretty fast. Speaking from experience.

 Passione: My wish is to find a partner whom I can have a good time with and develop some chemistry. After all it is a fun hobby. We both should have fun with what we’re writing. Brainstorming among other things is one of my favorite things to do. To see how things unfold and how the characters react to the given situation is the highlight of any story.

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FANDOM:



I love roleplaying fandoms just as much as I have a blast with building something original universes. Worldbuilding is my preferred cup of tea… but if we opt for something more fandom inspired, I highly welcome in on expanding on the given universe and add some original lore too!

Hellsing: Haven’t done that one before and I am curious as to how things play out, especially in such a dark and mystifying universe like Hellsing. There’s a lot of subject matter that we can delve into, plus I am a big fan of powerful vampire characters!

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: I would love you for this. No, seriously, I would. This fandom has sucked me into a downward spiral and there’s no possible chance of escaping this inescapable void. The absolute insanity of this franchise had me hooked from the second I laid eyes on it and I would be forever ecstatic if you’d message me on behalf of roleplaying Jojo. I have plenty of ideas for this one, just you wait.

Full Metal Alchemist: One of my favorite mangas and animes ever made. Recently I’ve begun rewatching FMA Brotherhood and felt a small hint of nostalgia swelling inside my blackened heart. I’d be open to play it, though it is not one of my top cravings at the moment.

Justice League / Young Justice / Justice League Dark: Huge DC fan, though I much prefer the animations and comics over the live-action cinematic. Let’s just say, I like the expansive and dynamic set of possibilities and deep, well-written cast. For instance Hellblazer Constantine or Raven.  

Bayonetta: Need I say more? Let’s dance boys!

APH Hetalia: That includes the 2P version ;)

The Boys: Well.. the 2nd season came out. And I am simply stoked.



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ORIGINAL: 



Supernatural: From angels to demons, from gods to monsters, I’ve seen it all and I absolutely love it. There can be any sort of creature or being involved, ranging from vampires to sirens to elves, you have it. However, I’ve never done something quite relating to angelic beings and their offspring before. I’ve read up on Nephilim and angels and found it rather fascinating, and it’s a different approach from the usual vampire vs werewolf cliche. 


Crime and intrigue: I never stray too far from the supernatural path, but hell, there’s nothing better than some good old gritty mafia inspired stories with a complex cast of characters and a solid storyline.

Sci-fi and urban fantasy: So this could be basically anything from genetically engineered superhuman (superheroes / - villains) with a dark take on the human psyche, dismantling the idea of heroism and villainy. Or a world where mankind began their interstellar journey to colonize neighboring planets, galaxies before transcending their own humanity by merging themselves with deadly technology. I have a few plans for this…

Historical and mysterious setting: So one of my favorite eras is the Victorian time period, 30s - 40s - 80s, Renaissance or Ancient times during the rise of the Egyptian / Roman / Sumerian Empire. During these times, a dark discovery was made by man, learning that they were not alone in this world. In fact, they weren’t even the supreme race that destined themselves to dominate the world, for another race of humanoids have lied dormant deep beneath the earth, slumbering through the millennia only to be re-awakened by a cataclysmic event. These ancient humanoids are gods among men, superior in every way imaginable, and they have made it their mission to reclaim their right to rule. But their nature is not what most people think it is…

The idea: I have an idea for a plot, in which I can give you if you ask for it. It is however merely a suggestion for what we could write - not a mandatory thing. If you don’t like the idea, we can always figure stuff out and keep on home-brewing till we find something we both can enjoy. There’s no need to immediately end things if the first thing doesn’t really fire you up.



°°°·.°·..·°¯°·._.· ☥ ·._.·°¯°·.·° .·°°° °°°·.°·..·°¯°·._.· ☥ ·._.·°¯°·.·° .·°°°
 

If you’re still here and haven’t fallen asleep reading through my loooong paragraphs, then I would like to thank you for bearing with me this far. I am looking forward to your messages. 

Have a wonderful day!

[illegalastrology111]

KARMASTARS:  FEBRUARY 16TH - 22ND

ARIES

MONEY: As Mercury retrograde begins on the 16th - March 9th, pay attention to detail and avoid important decision making initiated because of clouded judgement.    This is a transit to lay low and re-evaluate everything for the next three weeks.  Success depends on it.

SEX: Try to be as honest as you can with your partner, even though you think/feel this could have adverse affects.  In the end you’ll be glad you did.

POWER: During the next three weeks slow down and don’t be in such a rush to get things done, because with Mercury retrograde mistakes will be made.  This is a time to reassess your accomplishments so far.

TAURUS

MONEY: This Mercury retrograde could be an excellent time to create new ideas for making money, if you can put time aside to “tune into” upcoming trends that are on the horizon and lay-out a plan of action once Mercury  as novel forward.   Doin’t second-guess yourself, if you feel  your ideas are too bizarre.  Chances are you’ll be way ahead of your peers.

SEX: Have more optimism when it comes to love.  If you’re willing and able to meet your partner/lover half-way they’ll respond accordingly and the relationship will become stronger.

POWER: Use the energy of your opposite sign Scorpio to transform ideas into something big, that the public will grasp with open arms.    Your sign is that of money, material possessions and personal resources, so have the the self-worth (also Taurus), to expand your mind to see the “bigger picture”.

GEMINI

MONEY: With Mercury retrograde in Pisces February 16th - March 9th, you’ll probably have to deal with certain individuals in authority/power and.or connected to goals and ambitions..  These will be individuals from the past who have let you down, not followed through with promises or commitments.   Be careful how you interact with them, it would be wise not to pursue any type of business/financial transactions or negotiations with them at all.  This will spare you further disappointment or delay  in plans.

SEX: As long as you and your partner can agree to some kind of commitment that makes you both happy, everything in love will run smoothly.

POWER: During Mercury retrograde it would be best to trust your own counsel rather than that of others.  The possibility of miscommunication is very high, but need not occur.

CANCER

MONEY: Instead of initiating new creative ventures, expanding horizons, learning something new, first give deep thought as to whether the timing is right.  The answer is no, because Mercury is retrograde for three weeks and with it comes a lot of problems, delays and mistakes.  For now, it would be wiser to contemplate your next move, plan for the future with great discernment and attention to detail.  

SEX: Keep your feet on the ground and avoid getting too carried away with love, to the point you lose touch with the reality of what is going on between you and your partner.

POWER: Mercury retrograde in Pisces will also lead you to question what you believe to be true, either because of experiences that occur or something said during the cycle. Either way, your beliefs about life will be challenged and at the end of this retrograde cycle , you may find that the things you thought were real and true were not.

LEO

MONEY: Past karma will resurface during Mercury retrograde that will probably be uncomfortable to deal with.   Best course of action is to deal with situations slowly, being mindful in he area of joint financial partnerships, how you’re being perceived.  Don’t think for one moment you’ll get away with things  that need to be confronted,  because always, sooner or later the Universe will remind you.

SEX: Don’t allow wearing rose-colored glasses blind you to deep rooted issues that need resolution between you and your partner.

POWER: This Mercury retrograde could be an emotional cycle for you, especially when dealing with women.  Therefore,  take a deep breath and don’t let fear take control.

VIRGO

MONEY: Anything of a visual nature for public consumption should be looked at very carefully during Mercury retrograde.  This is the time to create, redo and reassess what you have done so far, or make a concerted effort to complete projects by the time the retrograde is over.     This is important if you want to make money from new ventures.    Time is of the essence and you don’t have much left to put things in place, before retrograde season begins April through November.

SEX: A week to restate commitment and solidify the foundation of love with your significant other.   You’ve come a long way in this area of life and  know that it’s worth it to keep up the good work.

POWER: You have the capacity with careful wise planning to achieve a lot by using creative talents.  However, belief is the key.  Knowing that you have something special to offer that is of worth and value.

LIBRA

MONEY: This week’s Mercury retrograde will take affect in the area of work.  Situations that you’ve been through before, dealing with people who aren’t necessarily upfront with information or mislead will be the scenario you have to deal with, yet again.  Read between the lines of everything presented to you and if something is not understood, go to the source directly.  Pay attention to detail and avoid signing papers until the retrograde is over.

SEX: In the area of love be true to what it is you know will make you happy in love and don’t settle for less without compromise that is mutually agreeable.

POWER: If you keep things practical and straightforward and if necessary write things down for clarity, a lot of confusion can be avoided over the next three weeks.

SCORPIO

MONEY: It’ll be hard to keep up with commitments in career and goals because of Mercury retrograde in Pisces for three weeks.  While this is occurring, plan for the future and put ideas and work to be done in some type of organized structure.  At the same time avoid getting too caught up with extracurricular activities that waste time.   Even though this is a retrograde cycle, it means something needs to be redone or looked at again for mistakes.

SEX: Love will go well if you keep your feet f firmly on the ground and avoid being too engrossed with the fantasy of love and what is going on between you and your partner, especially the physical aspects. Don’t take them for granted and remain sensitive to their needs.

POWER: You may feel as if you can accomplish anything, the sky is the limit.  This is true, but any achievement will happen with a clear focused plan of action, otherwise you’re likely to come “crashing down” to earth when reality hits.

SAGITTARIUS

MONEY: Your foundation of life is definitely in need of an overhaul, but you must take one step at a time in order to get things done correctly.   Once you’re able to decide what exactly it is you want to change then everything will start to move forward in the right direction.  This i s what you must do during Mercury retrograde.  Anything of a visual nature, once transformed and simplified will bring you tremendous success.

SEX: You r partner may not be all that they appear to be on the surface and whether you know that or not it’s time to deal with the reality of this fact and see them for who and what they are.  If you continue to give them qualities they don’t have, you only have Self to blame for your unhappiness.

POWER It’s quite possible that during the Mercury retrograde cycle certain relationships that have a future dissolve or aspects of the relationship that need to go are revised/brought to the surface.  Either way, there’s next few weeks will be a time of “cleansing” in many ways.

CAPRICORN

MONEY: It’s possible during this retrograde cycle that individuals involved in projects, plans and ideas may omit certain pieces of information that you need to know about and should therefore read any  documents, rules etc. very carefully before  you agree to move forward into new horizons.   In addition, this isn’t the best cycle to actually begin something new, it will be fraught with problems, difficulties and delays of all kinds.   It would be wise to wait until the retrograde is over before starting new beginnings   If you don’t understand something, ask.

SEX: Make sure all communication with your partner is clearly understood,  There is a danger of miscommunication during the retrograde transit.

POWER: Pay attention to dreams and meditations (a by-product of Mercury retrograde in Pisces), because there will be many insights provided that will help you deal with present situations in your life.

AQUARIUS

MONEY: Money, material possessions and self-worth will all be highlighted during the Mercury retrograde cycle, February 16th - March 9th.   You will be dealing with situations form the past, some connected to visual projects and work that somehow went awry/brought sorrow and elf-undoing.   Tread with care and don’t allow certain individuals to mislead you into believing other than what you know to be true.  Trust your instincts.   This way you’ll steer clear of any further negativity directed towards you.

SEX: Friends and lovers are a good combination if you can actually create a relationship on this basis.   It can be done and if you avoid becoming detached from your partner,  (an Aquarius  habit), consciously or unconsciously, love will bloom.

POWER”: Doors from the past you thought were closed could reopen during this retrograde.  However, it’s up to you to decide whether or not you want certain individuals back in your life.   The question is how negative are they and what were the reasons that caused you to walk away from them?  You know the answer to these questions.

PISCES

MONEY: When it comes to getting things off the ground you may find, during Mercury retrograde, that individuals don’t follow through with right action, not living up to your expectations.   Also, the fact that this happened before and those responsible come back into your life.   Don’t be so quick to let this happen, or agree to anything they’re offering, because  you’ll end up with a minus instead of a plus.    Carefully assess the situation and then decide what you want to do or not do.

SEX: This isn’t a good time for making commitments or promises in love.   Least of all starting a new love-relationship.    Promises made will be later broken and more than likely bring a great deal of upset and sorrow.  Keep things practical and easy-going for now, at least until this cycle is over.

POWER: Beware of being too idealistic and having expectations of people and situations that just can’t be met, unfortunately.  This is because Mercury is retrograde in your sign and you must be clearly focused and exercise great discernment more so than usual in  order to avoid disappointments.    If people let you down, chalk it up to experience and “lessons” from the Universe.

[gmodfree-blog]

Gmod Free

Take the soft option of Gmod Download and have fun right now

yepi100games.org

Enjoy the game Garry's Mod free; it's free, it's one of our Garry's mod games we've selected. There are obviously some elements missing from the game like it overlooks excellent graphics and high-quality sound effects but it fully incorporates creating weapons, generating scripts, editing features, language learning, forming entities, drawing maps, and building game modes.

If you like online games where you can move around a virtual world and can shoot all the users who are connected to the server, and also you think you are the best of all... In this game, you can prove you're a real gamer Shooter because in this game several players around the world are connected in various ways to play games such as dueling team, catch the flag or creative mode where you can create your levels, and you can play against all users who are connected. Play and repeat!.

Gmod or Garry’s Mod is a ‘free roam’ game where you can carry out a variety of adventurous tasks unreservedly throughout a virtual world. Yepi100games.org offer free games to play for the entire genre. The game is immeasurably attention-grabbing in a way that if you once sit down to have fun, you don’t feel able to get up until you bring it to any decisive conclusion. It was Studio that made this game public, and its author was Garry. Thus Gmod is the acronym for Garry’s mod universally branded as Gmod Free. 

Game Features

We cannot merely discuss all the features of the game, given its nature, but a few important ones can be highlighted for those who are willing to buy or play the game.

Virtual World

Freedom To Create

Multiplayer functionality

Various Game Modes

User-Friendly

It is a modified form of source engine and as a player; you can engender your objects with the aid of sophisticated tools. Gmod is not less than an ultimate fun as long as you are on about it as the mod unrestrictedly allows manipulating loads of items by providing you with all the features of the source games already downloaded on your PC. 

It is inundated with the options and tasks to keep you amused and engaged in every stage of the virtual world as you have the prospect to check over engine valve, racing and stirring up a battle and more. If you are keen on sandbox games to the extent of lunacy, this game unerringly fills the bill.

Some rudimentary features of Garry’s Mod

Gmod

If you sit down to list the features of this charismatic game, they won’t show the signs of ending. However, a few of them are given below:

The conception of the virtual world

Freedom to create anything you desire

Multiplayer options

The choice to share with others

Plenty of modes to play

The opportunity to utilize objects and maps created by other players

Simple to understand and use Full of suspense whether you’ll win or lose

Sandbox

Allows a high level of autonomy when and how to build objects using the provided Gun tool. The sandbox of Gmod is equivalent to ‘Open World’ or ‘Free Roam’ games ever best for challenging players.

Physics Game

Making the effect more real to the player, Gmod Free is a game as an acid test for the player’s creative abilities, especially when more physical objects created in the virtual world come across each other’s way.

Ultimate Freedom

Though Gmod is classified as a separate full game, still there aren’t any predefined objectives so; the player can get enjoyment from the freedom of manipulating various props or ragdolls. Some examples are dumpsters, shipping containers, and other furniture items.

Source Engine

The player can choose and put props and ragdolls into the sandbox from any Source Engine already installed. Community created collections can also be used such as Civil Protection model packs for ragdolls and PHX3 for props.

Physics Gun

As far as picking up props and ragdolls, this action can be performed by the Physics gun offered to the player. Not only can one pick them up but also rotate and freeze in place. Accordingly, it is one of the essential tools of Gmod to let the fun begin.

Tool Gun

The Tool Gun is another convenient and multi-purpose tool of this marvelous game. Multiple tasks such as the creation of interactive buttons, constraining props together, making controllable wheels, etc can be performed by this fantastic tool. The Tool Gun also enables the player to pose the digits and facial expression of a ragdoll.

Multiplayer option

Gmod Multiplayer option invites the players to enjoy the game with more than one person by offering them preprogrammed challenges in a partnership or rivalry.

Single-player option

Whenever the player doesn’t feel able to share Gmod with other people and would like to play it as a single-player game, the single-player option is there through the course of the gaming session. Once this option is activated, the game can only be enjoyed by one person.

Popular Mods

Gmod is fairly awash with fun, action, adventure, and creation all in one; however, Prop Hunt, Trouble in Terrorist Town, DarkRP, Jailbreak, and Deathrun are a few most popular mods worth enjoying. Every mod lets the users a taste of a fully-fledged action-packed game with the added admixture of creation and construction.

Garry’s Mod, popularly known as Gmod, is a Gmod Free to roam sandbox physics simulation game developed and created by Garry Newman and published by Studios. Gmod takes you inside a virtual world which has such a captivating effect that makes you glued to the screen for hours. Play and Download Unlimited Games only at Yepi100games.org. As it is a reconstructed, type of a source engine, where you can generate and alter characters and objects based on your preferences using the sophisticated tools, you can create endless scenarios.

Gmod Free

The mod provides you with unlimited possibilities to have fun by importing items from your favorite source games on your PC and altering them for your amusement. You will not feel bored with the various options and tasks; they keep you entertained throughout every stage of the game. You can race with others or battle them, and create or join scenarios that suit you. In other words, if you are an avid admirer of sandbox style games, Gmod Free will satiate your desires.

Click This Site for getting more information related to Gmod Free.

[aroworlds]

Aro-Spec Artist Profile: Luthyx

Our next aro-spec creator is @luthyx​, who also goes by Petrichlorine and MUSE-42. They’re better known on this blog for sharing snippets from an in-progress work called Sanction the Skies, celebrating all things a-spec and dragon!

Luthyx is a transmasculine, agender aro-ace creative with mental illnesses, specialising in speculative fiction and digital art, the latter both original and fancontent (primarily for How to Train Your Dragon). You can find their gorgeous art on their DeviantArt account and their writing at @sanctiontheskies​, currently featuring artwork, maps and a wealth of worldbuilding and characterisation teasers. Lastly, if you enjoy Flight Rising, you can check out their dragons under the name Luthyx!

With us Luthyx talks their confidence in their aromanticism, the need to live an authentic life on their terms, the way their characters and worlds become part of them, and writing spec fic as an aro. Their determination to craft and make as they need sparkles in every word and dragon scale, so please let’s give them all our love, encouragement, gratitude, kudos and follows for taking the time to explore what it is to be aromantic and creative.

Can you share with us your story in being aro-spec?

My tale is a fairly straightforward one. By the time I was of the age that most people started experiencing their first crushes, I’d moved to a different state and begun taking an online school, free of the peer pressure that lies ever-present in most traditional classrooms.

Even then, as I began to develop my skills and passion for writing, I’d already begun to see the influence of the omnipresent Romantic Subplot. It was everywhere: books, film, music, poems. I couldn’t so much as flip on the radio without hearing a disillusioned, autotuned cry for help healing a broken heart. I hated it. I still do.

It quickly became apparent to me that I wasn’t like the others. Every once and a while, my mom would drag me to her church, where I’d be forced to endure the company of undisciplined tween boys and catty, Twilight-obsessed girls. It was the girls especially that caught my attention: the sheer passion and fervency with which they discussed who they found hot, what Hogwarts house they were in, and their critiques and praise of The Hunger Games. I found it absurd to objectify people, fantasy or real, like that.

I think this was probably about the time I began to realize that I was agender, too, but that’s a story for another day. Thankfully, I’d already become a headstrong, independent teenager, and I was proud to say that I was different, that my interests were in something that, in my head, was much more important and much more intense than those of others my age.

I can’t recall the first time I heard the term aromantic or the first day that I applied it to myself. I think, deep down, I always knew, and I’ve always been astoundingly proud of it. To me, romance isn’t the be-all-and-end-all of things, but just another life experience I haven’t had, like owning fourteen chihuahuas or going on a warm summer vacation to the Middle East. Not everybody wants to experience those things, and society is completely fine with it - I see no reason as to why they should feel differently about romantic relationships, but I suppose they do. Dealing with the fallout of that bias is their problem.

I am me, and the me I know will not be held down by stereotypes, will not conform to any sort of life script I am handed, will not feel sorrow or remorse for a single experience lost. I’m here for a good time, and my idea of a good time involves doing what I love. Romance is not on that list.

Can you share with us the story behind your creativity?

My creative streak started young. For as long as I’ve known it, I’ve been drawing characters and writing stories. Mind you, the first stories were about Littlest Pet Shop figures and were written with the help of my parents, but it was a start nonetheless. Art, in its many different forms, has always been my form of self-expression. I often wandered off into my imaginary world when I got bored, and when I went to sleep every night, I’d often spend hours just imagining characters doing as they do before drifting off to sleep. I still do that every night - like clockwork.

I think it was when I was in my early teens - thirteen or fourteen, maybe - that I decided I wanted to be a writer. I recall turning to my mother one night and saying, “I wish I could write a book,” still believing that I was too young to attempt such a thing yet. “Nobody says you can’t do it right now!” were the words she gave back to me, and then off I started.

The project I started then is one that’s still ongoing now - a series of books I call Sanction the Skies, featuring dragons, wars, and a good hunk of divine intervention. I’ve worked and reworked it ever since that fateful day, improving the lore, changing the characters, watching my perspective of them evolve and change alongside me. They are a part of me, through and through.

It hasn’t been the easiest journey, but I’m still chipping away at it, ever-determined. It’s been doubly hard to follow my dream because of all of the messages about how impossible it is to be a writer in this day and age, and that you can’t do it without a well-paying side job. My stubborn self says, “To hell with you!” and works on it anyway. I want to write, to draw, to forge, to craft, and the world be damned if it tries to stand in my way.

Are there any particular ways your aro-spec experience is expressed in your art?

The only way it’s expressed is in my writing, where almost all of my characters are explicitly aro. The Romantic Subplot is a tiresome, often badly-done trope, and I’d like to steer away from it altogether. I want to show that a friendship is not worth less than a romance, and that a good story can still be told without the boy getting the girl - or the girl getting the girl for the sake of progressiveness.

What challenges do you face as an aro-spec artist?

Honestly? Not much, at least not yet. I think I may face a bit of pushback in the future because my novel features no romance, but overall, I’ll probably be fine in that regard.

How do you connect to the aro-spec and a-spec communities as an aro-spec person?

I rarely connect with them at all, honestly. Most of the discussion I see is either people screaming about amatonormativity or people asking, “Am I asexual/aromantic if…?” Alternatively, there’s people discussing their experience being partially a-spec or aro-spec, none of which I can relate to. All I want is a place to revel in my identity, to be able to talk about anything BUT romance, to form strong friendships.

Sometimes it hurts me to think that the friends I have now will soon find romantic partners, and I’ll be left behind in the dust as a third wheel. I hope my friends won’t do that, that perhaps I can still make myself heard - but who knows? I’ve had no luck with finding any other aro-spec people in my region at all, unfortunately, so the internet is all I’ve got in that regard. I’ll just have to wait and see what the future holds!

How do you connect to your creative community as an aro-spec person?

I find I connect somewhat decently. I write fantasy and sci-fi, which generally seem to be more acceptable genres to have a lack of romance, especially when a pair of dragons are the main characters. It is alienating from many fandoms, though, because they often focus so much on the romantic partnerships and shipping. Almost every blocked tag in my dash concerns ships, kissing, hugging, romance, children, and anything related to those.

Can you share with us something about your current project?

Ohoho, this is a fun one! Well, right now, I’m working on re-writing Chapter One for the trillionth time after giving the town it takes place in a complete and utter overhaul. I’m also working on making a short comic that takes place in the universe of the book but is unrelated to the main plot, though it features characters and locations that may be explored in future books. I want to do the comic in the hopes of gaining some traction and interest in the books, since I’m rather horrible at advertising at the moment.

Have you any forthcoming works we should look forward to?

Again, the comic! It’s about a con artist who incurs the wrath of the demigodess of misfortune after a con resulted in the death of a sick hatchling. There’s also some stuff with an ancient, precursor species of dragons and one of their final remaining sanctuaries.

[greekstreetart-talks]

Bilos

Born and raised in Patras where from a very young age art in public space drew his attention. He gets into style writing while his need for abstraction leads him to new forms and shapes that can be seen as playful, friendly and particularly distinct. This month we’ll be talking to Bilos, now permanently based in Norwich, England.  

Where are you from? Which is the first piece of street art that caught your attention and when did your relationship with street art begin? I was born and bread in Patras. When I was 11-12 years old I started to show much interest in every kind of street art of my city. The first pieces of art were definitely, those of CASH, EPIK, TEK, TOURNESOL, MONDOK, TAS. After a while, some friends explained to me what graffiti is all about and so i started to take pictures (the analog way back then) of every single piece I saw. It was like a graffiti «safari», where me and my friend Ernesto were trying to discover in every corner of the town. 
Lately, we see a lot of street artists from Patras in the spotlight. Is this just random or is there an artist/ workshop promoting those people?  The truth is that I don’t have the full picture regarding what’s happening currently in Patras. The size of the city and it’s graffiti history are certainty essential for this phenomenon, as well as the fact that many university students move to Patras for their studies. Also, the city provides many beautiful spots. Regarding workshops, as far as I know, Inkognito Lab does a great job promoting artists and organizing artistic projects.

How did you decide to leave Greece and move abroad? Which were your first impressions by the local street art scene and did you notice any differences on how this kind of art is perceived there?  I moved to England, Noriwich with my wife in 2014, in order to obtain Masters Degree. Since then, we live and work here permanently. Norwich is a small town with almost no street bombing. There are just 3 legal spots and tags/ throw ups by local people. Now, if we’re talking about street art in general, then yes, tolerance is far more greater. 

In London city centre, for example, street art pieces are just a few and very hard to find, but at the same time, there are a lot of HoF that get painted almost daily. Every city provides a space/ gallery where both accomplished and rising artists get to exhibit their art. 

Basically, your work is about a different approach to the classical style writing. You remove forms and elements in order to reach a friendlier, round, let’s say, result which is really unique. How did you get there? Was it a conscious decision? Thank you for your comment, it’s really a conscious decision and it’s the result of a long period of experimentation and research. Charmed by the wild style, as almost everyone else, I started to draw complex pieces full of colors. Over time, I started to remove some elements, like second outline, shadows and other stuff, even that very outline of the pieces. By observing the “toy” pieces, I figured out what I was searching for, and that was something more loose, less “tight”. I stopped caring if the straight lines weren’t perfect or if some elements weren’t parallel. That gave me freedom and flexibility regarding the font’s design and the management of every given surface. Regarding the forms, I always imagine my fonts and my pieces as «creatures» that I give them life and I put them in their «natural habitat», meaning the spots where they get to spend the rest of their lives after their birth. Can you tell us about your way of work? Do you always start on a piece of paper or are there more impulsive times where the suface / wall caught your attention and you improvised? I don’t, anymore, make drafts of pieces that I intend to work on, the next day. I just put ideas, single fonts, font combinations and other forms on a piece of paper and have them there until I use them on a piece I am working. I usually, don’t get inspired solely by the wall’s morphology but also by the colors I have available, the world I want to write and how i feel that certain moment. Some times, I use objects that can be found in my environment, resulting in 3D compositions. So, I would say that almost all the time, I move and improvise within these lines.

How difficult is it for a street artist to stand out in Europe? Competition, of course, is multiple, I imagine like the opportunities... I believe everything depends on the artists themselves, their point of view and their objectives. I believe that it’s very easy for any «street artist», wherever they are, to move forward, using the power of the Internet. This is somehow controversial, though, if we think about the time that one has to spend so he/she can retain an online presence when he/she acts in the real word, in the streets, by definition. It’s a fact, that nowadays, our lives have an enormous digital aspect.   When everybody own the same tools, it’s crucial how each one is using them to reach their goal.

As an artist who have now traveled to different places, which is, in your opinion, the best country / city for a street artist to live and why? Every country has its own pros and cons and there are still many countries/ cities that I haven’t visited yet so I can’t have a clear opinion. I believe that most important is that each artist knows which way of life suits them, so they can decide the ideal place. This could be anywhere in the planet.

In Greece, for the last few years, street art is blooming and like all things due to our temperament, street art has also become a big issue. Phrases like "Athens is the new Berlin", "Athens, the metropolis of graffiti" dominate ... Is there any real interest in your opinion from the rest of Europe? Sure! There is interest for the Greek scene. We shouldn’t forget that among all the ugly stuff that happen in Greece, our country has many nice things too, it has a lot of talent, history, perfect weather  for unlimited time of painting, countless spots and a great spirit for creativity. I wouldn’t like to comment on the ugly stuff...

Any partnerships you have enjoyed so far and any that you’d like to see in the near future? Also, are you preparing something that we’ll see soon?All of these years, I had the honor and the pleasure to work with many artist from Greece and abroad. For many years I travelled with friends (Depon, Pomis, Leet, Gugli και τους Osks) throughout Greece and abroad. We participated in festivals and exhibitions but mainly we did our painting just for our own shake and recreation. There are many more artists I would love to meet or work with, but travelling and exploring with friends, comes first. Regarding professional partnerships, the one that stands out, is the one with the architect, Dr. Myrto Kiourti, in the awarded projectfor "Discover Your Way" in Patras  as well as my partnership with the Athenian artist "Think” for our participation in "No Respect" exhibition held in the Onassis Coultoural Center. Lately, I teamed up with FMS crew from Manchester, a crew by the very talented Krek and Mers. Now, about recent projects, a while ago I designed a capsule clothing collection for a street wear brand in Mexico, which is about to come out. Next, I am working on some murals and some silk print editions. 

In ten years from now? That’s a long story, but God willing, i hope i ‘ll be healthy and still working as a full time artist. 

Follow Bilos Website \ Instagram \ Fb Page \ Shop

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Γεννήθηκε και μεγάλωσε στην Πάτρα όπου από πολύ μικρή ηλικία η τέχνη στον δημόσιο χώρο του τράβηξε την προσοχή. Ασχολείται με το style writing και η ανάγκη του για αφαίρεση τον οδηγεί σε νέες φόρμες και σχήματα παιχνιδιάρικα, φιλικά και ιδιαίτερα ξεχωριστά. Αυτόν τον μήνα συνομιλούμε με τον Bilos, πλέον μόνιμα εγκατεστημένο στο Νόριτς της Αγγλίας Από που κατάγεσαι, ποιο είναι το πρώτο κομμάτι στο δρόμο που θυμάσαι ότι τράβηξε την προσοχή σου και πώς ξεκινάει η σχέση σου με την τέχνη στο δημόσιο χώρο; Κατάγομαι από την Πάτρα όπου και γεννήθηκα. Σε ηλικία 11-12 ετών, άρχισα να δείχνω ιδιαίτερο ενδιαφέρον για κάθε είδους κομμάτι στους δρόμους της πόλης. Σίγουρα, τα πρώτα κομμάτια ήταν των CASH, EPIK, TEK, TOURNESOL, MONDOK, TAS. Αφού έμαθα περισσότερα από φίλους για το τι είναι το γκράφιτι, ξεκίνησα να τραβάω (σε φιλμ τότε) φωτογραφίες από οποίο κομμάτι έβλεπα. Ήταν σαν ένα σαφάρι γκράφιτι όπου αργότερα με τον φίλο μου Ερνέστο προσπαθούσαμε να ανακαλύψουμε κομμάτια σε κάθε γωνιά της πόλης. 

Τελευταία, ξεχωρίζουν όλο και περισσότεροι street artists από την Πάτρα. Είναι απλή συγκυρία ή υπάρχει κάποιος καλλιτέχνης - εργαστήριο πίσω από αυτό; Η αλήθεια είναι πως δεν έχω ακριβή εικόνα για τη σκηνή στην Πάτρα, αυτή τη στιγμή. Πάντως, σίγουρα παίζει ρόλο το μέγεθος της πόλης και η όποια ιστορία του γκράφιτι εκεί, το ότι πολλοί φοιτητές μετακομίζουν στην Πάτρα λόγω σπουδών καθώς και το ότι η πόλη προσφέρει πολλά και ωραία σποτς. Όσο για «εργαστήριο» απ’ όσο ξέρω το Inkognito Lab κάνει μια πολύ καλή προσπ��θεια στο να αναδεικνύει καλλιτέχνες και να διοργανώνει εικαστικές παρεμβάσεις κλπ.

Πώς αποφάσισες να αφήσεις την Ελλάδα και να εγκατασταθείς μόνιμα στο εξωτερικό; Ποιες ήταν οι πρώτες σου εντυπώσεις από την street art σκηνή εκεί και ποιες ίσως οι διάφορες στην αντιμετώπιση αυτού του είδους τέχνης; Στο εξωτερικό και συγκεκριμένα στο Νόριτς της Αγγλίας ήρθαμε με τη σύζυγό μου το 2014 για μεταπτυχιακές σπουδές, όπου πλέον μένουμε μόνιμα και εργαζόμαστε. Το Νόριτς είναι μια μικρή πόλη και με σχεδόν καθόλου street bombing, υπάρχουν απλά 3 νόμιμα σποτς και τάγκς / throw ups από ντόπιους. Τώρα, αν μιλάμε για street art με την ευρύτερη έννοια, τότε ναι, η ανοχή είναι σαφώς μεγαλύτερη. Για παράδειγμα στο κέντρο του Λονδίνου τα street κομμάτια είναι απειροελάχιστα και δυσεύρετα, όμως υπάρχουν αρκετά HoF που βάφονται σχεδόν καθημερινά. Κάθε πόλη πάντως έχει και κάποιο χώρο/ γκαλερί όπου δίνεται η ευκαιρία σε καταξιωμένους αλλά και ανερχόμενους καλλιτέχνες να εκθέσουν τα έργα τους.

Στην ουσία, η δουλειά σου είναι μια συνέχεια, μια διαφορετική αντιμετώπιση του κλασικού style writing. Αφαιρείς στοιχεία και φόρμες για να φτάσεις σ’ ένα πιο φιλικό, στρογγυλό αποτέλεσμα και πολύ ξεχωριστό. Πως προέκυψε αυτό; Ήταν συνειδητή επιλογή;
 Σ’ ευχαριστώ για το σχόλιο, είναι πράγματι συνειδητή η επιλογή και αποτέλεσμα πειραματισμού και έρευνας πολλών ετών. Ξεκίνησα, όπως μάλλον οι περισσότεροι, γοητευμένος από το wild style, να προσπαθώ να σχεδιάσω πολύπλοκα κομμάτια με αρκετά χρώματα. Με την πάροδο των χρόνων άρχισα να αφαιρώ στοιχεία, όπως το second outline, τις «σκιές» και τα πολλά εφέ, ακόμα και το ίδιο το outline. Παρατηρώντας τα πιο “toy” κομμάτια κατάλαβα πως αυτό που έψαχνα ήταν κάτι πιο ελεύθερο, λιγότερο «σφιγμένο». Δε με ένοιαζε πλέον το αν οι ευθείες θα είναι τέλειες ή κάποια στοιχεία παράλληλα κλπ. Αυτό μου έδωσε ελευθερία και ευελιξία στον σχεδιασμό των γραμμάτων αλλά και τη διαχείριση της εκάστοτε διαθέσιμης επιφάνειας. Όσο για τις φόρμες, πάντα φαντάζομαι τα γράμματά μου και τα κομμάτια μου ως «πλάσματα» που τους δίνω ζωή και τα τοποθετώ στο «σπίτι» τους, στο κάθε σποτ που καλούνται να ζήσουν από τη στιγμή της δημιουργίας τους και έπειτα.

Μίλησέ μας για τα στάδια εργασίας σου. Ξεκινάς πάντα από το χαρτί ή υπάρχουν και πιο αυθόρμητα κομμάτια, όπου απλά σου τράβηξε την προσοχή ο τοίχος και αυτοσχεδίασες; Πλέον δεν κάνω το προσχέδιο κάποιου κομματιού ώστε να πω «Α αυτό το κομμάτι θα κάνω αύριο» παρά βάζω στο χαρτί ιδέες, μεμονωμένα γράμματα, συνδυασμούς γραμμάτων και φόρμες που αργότερα ίσως χρησιμοποιήσω σε κάποιο κομμάτι. Δεν εμπνέομαι τόσο από τη μορφολογία του ίδιου του τοίχου όσο από το τι χρώματα έχω στη διάθεση μου, τη λέξη που θα γράψω, το πώς νιώθω εκείνη τη στιγμή. Κάποιες φορές, χρησιμοποιώ αντικείμενα που βρίσκονται στον περιβάλλοντα χώρο, εντάσσοντας τα στο έργο, με το αποτέλεσμα να είναι μια σύνθεση σε τρείς διαστάσεις. Μέσα σε αυτές τις γραμμές κινούμαι και αυτοσχεδιάζω σχεδόν πάντα.

Πόσο δύσκολο είναι να ξεχωρίσει ένας street artist στην Ευρώπη; Ο ανταγωνισμός, φυσικά, είναι πολλαπλάσιος, φαντάζομαι όμως ότι και οι ευκαιρίες είναι πολλαπλάσιες...
 Όλα πιστεύω εξαρτώνται από τον ίδιο τον καλλιτέχνη, την οπτική του γωνία και τους στόχους του. Με τη δύναμη του Ίντερνετ θεωρώ πως είναι πολύ εύκολο να ξεχωρίσει ένας «street artist» όπου και αν βρίσκεται. Αυτό βέβαια είναι λίγο αντιφατικό αν αναλογιστούμε τον χρόνο που πρέπει κάνεις να δαπανά ώστε να διατηρεί μια ιντερνετική παρουσία ενώ εξορισμού δρα στον αληθινό κόσμο και τον δρόμο. Καλώς ή κακώς πλέον, η ζωή μας έχει και μια πολύ έντονη ψηφιακή διάσταση. Σαφώς, όταν όλοι έχουν τα ίδια εργαλεία στα χέρια τους, παίζει ρόλο κι το πως τα χρησιμοποιούν ώστε να πετύχουν το στόχο τους.

Ως καλλιτέχνης που τώρα πια έχεις ταξιδέψει σε διαφορετικά μέρη, ποια, κατά τη γνώμη σου, είναι η καλύτερα χώρα/πόλη για να ζει ένας street artist και γιατί; Σίγουρα κάθε χώρα έχει τα συν και τα πλην της και είναι πολλές οι χώρες/πόλεις που ακόμα δεν έχω επισκεφθεί ώστε να έχω πλήρη εικόνα. Πιστεύω πως κυριότερη είναι η σημασία του να ξέρει ο κάθε καλλιτέχνης για τον εαυτό του ποιος τρόπος ζωής τον εκφράζει, ώστε να αποφασίσει ο ίδιος την πόλη/χώρα. Μπορεί να είναι οπουδήποτε στον πλανήτη.

Στην Ελλάδα τα τελευταία χρόνια, η street art ανθεί και όπως όλα τα πράγματα, λόγω ταπεραμέντου, έτσι και η street art έχει γίνει μεγάλο θέμα. Φράσεις όπως «η Αθήνα είναι το νέο Βερολίνο», «Αθήνα, η μητρόπολη του graffiti” κυριαρχούν... Υπάρχει πραγματικό ενδιαφέρον κατά τη γνώμη σου από την υπόλοιπη Ευρώπη;
 Βέβαια υπάρχει ενδιαφέρον για τη σκηνή της Ελλάδας. Μην ξεχνάμε ότι μέσα σε όλα τα άσχημα, η Ελλάδα μάς έχει και πολλά καλά, πολύ ταλέντο, ιστορία, ιδανικό καιρό για πολλές μέρες βάψιμο το χρόνο, άπειρα σποτς και πολλή όρεξη για δημιουργία. Στα γνωστά άσχημα επίτρεψε μου να μην αναλωθώ.

Συνεργασίες που έχεις απολαύσει μέχρι στιγμής και συνεργασίες που θα ήθελες να προκύψουν στο άμεσο μέλλον; Επίσης, ετοιμάζεις κάτι που θα δούμε σύντομα; Όλα αυτά τα χρόνια είχα την τιμή και τη χαρά να συνεργαστώ με πολλούς καλλιτέχνες από την Ελλάδα και το εξωτερικό. Για αρκετά χρόνια ταξιδέψαμε με φίλους (Depon, Pomis, Leet, Gugli και τους Osks) στην Ελλάδα και το εξωτερικό. Πήραμε μέρος σε φεστιβάλ και εκθέσεις αλλά κυρίως βάφαμε απλά για τη δική μας ευχαρίστηση. Υπάρχουν πολλοί ακόμα καλλιτέχνες που θα ήθελα να γνωρίσω ή και να συνεργαστώ μαζί τους, αλλά  πάνω απ’ όλα ξεχωρίζουν τα ταξίδια με φίλους και οι εξερευνήσεις.

Όσο για επαγγελματικές συνεργασίες, ξεχωρίζω αυτή με την αρχιτέκτονα Δρ. Μυρτώ Κιούρτη στο βραβευμένο project για το "Discover Your Way" στην Πάτρα όπως και τη συνεργασία με τον Αθηναίο Think για τη συμμετοχή μας στη έκθεση "No Respect" στη Στέγη Γραμμάτων και Τεχνών. Επίσης, πρόσφατα έγινα μέλος του Αγγλικού crew FMS από Μάντσεστερ των πολύ ταλαντούχων Krek και Mers. Όσο για πρόσφατες δουλειές, πριν λίγο καιρό σχεδίασα μια capsule collection ρούχων για ένα street wear brand από το Μεξικό που θα κυκλοφορήσει σύντομα ενώ παράλληλα ετοιμάζω κάποιες τοιχογραφίες και εκδόσεις μεταξοτυπιών. Σε 10 χρόνια από τώρα; Μεγάλη κουβέντα, αλλά πρώτα ο Θεός, ελπίζω να είμαι καλά και πλήρως απασχολούμενος ως καλλιτέχνης.

[lilac-milk-moon]

How to Avoid Financial Failure to Launch

Note from Mr. SR: Recently, one of the top media complaints about people in their 20s and 30s is that they’re not moving out on their own. A USA Today article shares that “for the first time in 130 years, young adults ages 18 to 34 are more likely to be living at home with their parents than with a romantic partner.”

I don’t have kids yet, but I’m excited to share this post written by my friend Brian from Debt Discipline.

Whether you are the parent of a young adult or you yourself are are trying to launch, this article will share some practical tips — for both your finances and your relationship with your parents.

Have you heard the phrase “failure to launch” before? I’m sure you have, there was a $100 million-grossing movie, starring Matthew McConaughey and Sarah Jessica Parker of the same name. If you are a parent, you might be thinking about how it relates to your kids.

No parent wants their child to experience the failure to launch and end up living in their basement until they’re thirty-five. Failure to Launch is a common way to describe a young adult who is struggling with the transition to adulthood. It’s often defined as an inability to leave home and support oneself.

One of the common reasons a young adult fails to launch is because of money. Lack of it or not knowing how to manage it. Many parents want to soften their child’s entry into the real world, but at what cost? Do they work more, delay retirement, skimp on savings?

Parents want the best for their kids, but not by sacrificing their own futures. The phenomenon of failure to launch is so rampant that several treatment programs have been developed to help address it. I’m not sure if a costly program is needed unless you are genuinely dealing with a medical condition.

Let’s breakdown some of the ways you can prevent the failure to launch syndrome from occurring.

Techniques to overcome failure to launch

Finding passion

It mind sound a bit cliche, but young adults need passion in their lives. In fact, we all need a bit of it. Passion combats failure to launch by letting us be participants rather than observers. Passion comes in all shapes and sizes and doesn’t necessarily need to be your job. You may find passion in helping others, cooking, music, art, a particular career field, sports, chocolate, video games, movies, etc. The list is almost endless.

The key is to harness that passion and let it help drive and motivate you. As parents, we can be supportive of a child’s passion. We need to reinforce the idea that life is not about “likes” on a social media platform, but about real, meaningful connections to people and activities.

If all else fails in discovering your passion, you might want to try the opposite, by listing all the things you hate doing. By systemically eliminating these things from your life, you will be left with only the things you enjoy doing. This is an excellent exercise for someone struggling to find their passion.

Financial literacy

Let’s face it. We use money in all of our lives. But only 1/3 of states require their students to graduate having taken a personal finance class. Formal education is just one way we increase our knowledge. A lot is learned from family and friends too.

Failure to launch into what has recently been coined “emerging adulthood” has a lot to do with money. Children learn by example, so it essential to be a good one and involve them in money discussions. Money shouldn’t be a taboo topic. If you’re bad with money, how do you think your children are going to handle it?

Sure there are exceptions, but most will fail too. Financial literacy needs to start with you. There are plenty of books, blogs, and podcast to help you increase your financial IQ if you need help. In turn, you can better prepare your kids. Involve them in age-appropriate topics. If you ever want a captive audience, talk to them about smartphones. They are always interested in getting the latest and greatest model.

Teach them about costs

You can explain the cost of a new device, your choices for paying for it (in full or payment plan), the reoccurring charges each month, and how many hours someone would have to work to covers these costs you’ve just successfully navigated a money conversation with your child.

Taking a money discussion further, does your child know how much you make? What your rent or mortgage costs? Discussing these real-life examples helps them better understand money and what things cost and how to pay for them.

As a teenager, with a part-time job and driving a car are two great opportunities for preparing them for their financial futures, and avoiding failure to launch. Review their paycheck and taxes. Give them the challenge to save, spend, and give a portion of their income. A car is another teachable money moment. The overall cost to own, maintain, insurance, and gas it to keep it running.

These examples are all thing adults handle regularly, but as pre-adults, we probably don’t care about them at all. That was one of the benefits of being a kid, no adult responsibilities. But if these details are always hidden and never discussed, how would we ever be able to handle them when presented?

Avoiding debt

Debt is a four letter word for a reason. Starting your financial life with debt is an apparent reason why emerging adults fail to launch into financial adulthood. Debt causes stress. Debt causes fear. It causes fights. Being in debt limits your options.

Would any of us want to have these restrictions in our lives? Now consider your young adult trying to balance these with a new job and social life it could be overwhelming. It’s essential to stay within your means while supporting your young adult. You do not want wat to sacrifice your financial future or lifestyle by taking on debt for someone else, even your children.

One of the biggest drivers of debt for young adults is student loans. As of 2018, 69% of college students took out student loans, and they graduated with an average debt of $29,800. Ouch! That’s a significant number looming over anyone head.

A college degree doesn’t have to be a debt death sentence. A degree can be obtained with little or no debt if you get creative.

A Side Note: Some of you reading this may already be deep into debt. There are resources available to help. You must be careful of debt consolidation services and the like. You need to know what you’re getting into; and that it will benefit you, not the company allegedly trying to help.

College without debt

Here are five ways to get through school without student loans (or minimal debt):

1. Make the most out of high school

High school offers several ways to get a head start on your college degree. Advanced Placement (AP) are college-level classes you can take in high school and earn future college credit for completing. Most colleges will accept these classes and credits if you score a three or above on AP final exam. This is an excellent way to earn college credit in high school at the cost of an AP exam.

High Schools often offer college-level classes through a partnership with a community college or a local University. These classes allow high school students to earn college credits at a reduced rate. CLEP (the College-Level Examination Program) is another way for students to earn college credits inexpensively. CLEP offers 33 exams that cover intro-level college course material. With a passing score on one CLEP exam, you could earn three or more college credits.

2. Understand the ROI of your degree

What’s the income and job opportunity in your field when you graduate. Don’t borrow $160K for a degree that has the income earning power of $40k per year. You don’t have to kill your dream, and can still follow your passion but find colleges that are cheap to attend.

3. Stay local

Community college is an affordable option and a springboard to larger universities. Attending a community college for the first two years of college life save a ton of money. Many community colleges act as feeder schools for four-year universities.

4. Work

You are going to need to work during college to avoid debt later. A part-time job during the semester help keep sending money in your pocket. A full-time summer job allows you to save for expenses like books and materials. Check with your employer to see if they offer student loan assistance too, many do.

5. Become a resident assistant (RA)

Becoming an RA has its benefits when living on campus. Many colleges offer free room and board if you become an RA. Your responsibilities as an RA will vary, but often an RA helps enforce the rules and policies of residence life, housing and dining services, and the university. Taking on these responsibilities can save you thousands of dollars a semester.

Now student loan debt is only one form of debt someone may encounter. Car loans and credit cards are typical debts too. The idea is the same with those debts. You want to minimize and avoid altogether if possible. Just follow the general rule of living within your means and using cash.

Tough love

If all of your parenting and coaching fails to help your young adult launch, more drastic measures may be needed to push them toward independence. Tough love is often the category this type of parenting falls into. Tough love’s end game is ultimately the person’s welfare. If a child is unable to launch, you may need to enforce stricter boundaries. If they fail to take responsibility for their actions, a clear consequence must occur.

It’s painful to watch someone you care for fail and have to face the consequences, but sometimes it the jolt of reality they need. Enforcing a curfew, deadlines, schedule, etc. may be the structure they need to be successful. You do not want to continue to enable someone who is facing a failure to launch.

Pitching in

Although we want our children to move out, live on their own, and be successful, there could be some benefit for their extended stay at home. Set clear expectations, like pitching in with house chores, including cleaning and cooking. This work helps build some skills they will need on their own.

Consider charging them rent. It’s another one of those items they will need to handle on their own someday. It’s money that you can choose to save for them, so they have a cushion when they finally launch. It could be about spending some extra quality time with your child. Having them living at home gives you the undivided opportunity of their time. Once they are out of the house, they may not always be available. This time might help you develop a deeper relationship.

Have an exit strategy

In any of these steps of overcoming a failure to launch, you need to have clear communication with your child. They need to understand how long or how much support you are will to give. Setting these clear expectations helps them plan for their exit. It doesn’t mean that once they move on that emotional or moral support will stop. You might stay on as their financial accountability partner to help guide them with their money. You may offer resources like books or articles they could read to increase their knowledge on a particular topic.

The key is to have them understand that even though your monetary support has ended, you are always available for a talk or questions. This might be the safety net they need to launch successfully. As parents, we should fulfill our parental responsibility. We need to teach our kids to function independently and raise a person who contributes to society. It doesn’t mean we need to support them financially forever.

Final Word

We all want to live a balanced life. As a parent, we often experience peaks and valleys in our own life. Many factors can contribute to what can feel like a roller coaster ride: things like our work, health, loss, and stress are just a few. As our children grow and experience these things for themselves, we need to help guide them, and let our own experiences act as an example. They will experience speed bumps along the way, and it’s our job to help smooth them out, but eventually, they need to navigate on their own.

This post was written by Brian from Debt Discipline. It originally appeared on The Money Mix and is re-published here with permission.

The post How to Avoid Financial Failure to Launch appeared first on Semi-Retire Plan.

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[fyrapartnersearch]

/// 𝕿𝖍𝖎𝖗𝖉 𝖙𝖎𝖒𝖊'𝖘 𝖆 𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖗𝖒 ///

Hello dear roleplayers.

For those who are curious, you may call me Imp.

I’ve been hit with a stroke of fate recently which pretty much drained me of my creativity. But I am slowly recovering… and I am looking for some distraction.


I am a lady in her twenties, with a strong penchant for roleplaying, writing, and drawing. The Holy Trinity if you will. I am a huge nerd and aesthetic lover boy - plain and simple. One of my main passions being video-games, illustrations, comics, live-action films, series and anime/cartoon shows, elements that shaped me during my years of growing up.


It’s been a while since I’ve posted my first ever ad on any website, and I was very much positively surprised by the amazing people that have reached out to me. I’ve been roleplaying for a few years now and gradually gathered a good amount of experience throughout the years, but it’s always fun to meet and learn something new.

I have a few original ideas that I’m very interested in trying out. The concept will be posted down below.




Name: Imp



Age: 27 years



Experience: 11 years



Preferences: 1:1 Roleplaying



Partner: Should be at least [18+], but I rather much prefer my counterpart to be 21 years or older

Timezone: Important to note! I am from Poland, so my timezone might differ from yours. 



EMAIL: impish.and.angelic@gmail.com

I am a very creative sort of individual with hundreds of ideas constantly running through my impish mind. And I am very spontaneous too, so I can always adjust to a new setting, depending on how good and compelling the concept is.

Inspirations come from various sources and origins, be it a fandom (an already existing universe) or an original storyline. 
 Please read through these paragraphs carefully before you decide to contact me! It’s important to avoid any misunderstanding later! And I would less likely respond to a message with the title ‘Hey, wanna rp?’, since I hadn’t had any good experiences with these said messages.  Thank you. 




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Communication: It’s certainly chill. You can talk to me about whatever occupies your mind since I am very open and always happy to listen to others. I also tend to be chatty, sharing a meme or a joke every now and to loosen up the mood. If you consider choosing me as your roleplaying partner, be sure to maintain a certain consistency. I have nothing against going on a longer break or even a hiatus, but the whole `ghosting stick´ is something I have no patience for. So if you’re unsure of upholding a stable, long term partnership, feel free to skim past this ad. 


 Plotting: Also very important to note! I am fairly quick when it comes to building new characters, concepts, premises, storylines, backstories, etc… This means there is certain flexibility available which allows me to adjust. Even though it is a hobby, I am still extremely passionate about good storytelling and interesting character arcs. I hope to meet someone who is just as enthusiastic and willing to put in the same amount of effort as I am. If it’s only me who’s pulling all the weight, I will lose interest fast, just to get it out there and I will have to end the correspondence. Had that recently and wasn’t a fan of it. Aside from that, I love going a little crazy with the possibilities and push things to their absolute limits. Of course within the boundaries of the given setting.


 Pairing & Romance: Okay, right off the bat, I am a hopeless romantic through and through. I enjoy good and strong chemistry between characters just as much as the next, and this will be no exception. I prefer the good ol’ MxF pairing because I have more experience with this. But I also like playing a FxF dynamic or MxM. Everyone is welcome! When it comes to pairing itself, I want to make sure our creations are compatible, for I hate forcing characters into a romantic relationship for the sake of progression. A natural flow is what I am aiming for. ;)


 Mature? Yes, very much so:  Adult and taboo topics are absolute. There’s no way around it because, if my world, it is a running theme. The adult world is not easy to handle, but it’s definitely interesting to explore. That includes violence, cursing, shocking content, and all that dark stuff. My limits are few, safe for a couple of minor pet peeves that I have, I am pretty much open to some experimentation. When it comes to action-heavy scenes (be it an intimate situation between two characters or something on a cataclysmic scale), I won’t fade to black since I am not a huge fan of censoring. However, I will not force or push my partner into something they are not comfortable with. If you want to know the extent to how far I am willing to go, what sort of content or how detailed my writing will be, you can ask me directly. As for smut or lemons, whatever you call it, it will never be the focus of any of my roleplays, but I enjoy a good erotic scene with a lot of tension (if they are good). 


Boundaries: Not a big fan of things like pedophilia, necrophilia, scat, bestiality, or those dreaded ‘futas’. 

Inspirations and interests: There’s a pretty broad spectrum of what I deem interesting and inspirational. From fallen angels and demon/monster hunters, mages, criminal masterminds, cybernetically enhanced characters to futuristic dystopian settings, ancient kingdoms who have fallen against the test of time. All of it causes my heart to skip a beat. For original content, I’ll just give a brief list of bullet points of the general themes that fall in line with my current interests. 


 Writing: My texts are lengthy, detailed, and elaborate. Third-person is usually my preferred way of playing my character unless there’s a special case where an exception can be made. Word count usually fluctuates, though I have a standard form of 400-500+ words per response. It also highly depends on the given situation. I don’t want to set anything in stone… just to give you a basic idea of what you’re in for. I also expect my partner to have an at least adequate, if not decent grasp on basic grammar and punctuation. 


 Doubling: Yes, absolutely! If you are prone to doubling, chances are I might accept you as my partner straight away! Although I have nothing against the simple form of roleplaying, doubling is something I’ve done since my first time joining. 


 Characters: Very character-driven with the main focus being on interaction. I take my time writing characters and love nothing more than well-structured sheets that illustrate the vision of their creator. (But!) There’s no need to write 10-20 pages worth of character information, but I wouldn’t want to limit you either. As for the depiction of the given character, I won’t be as presumptuous as to tell you what sort of medium you can and cannot use. Face claims such as photos of real models, illustrations, 3D models, drawings or descriptions are all okay. As long as it gets its point across, I am happy.


 Aversions: A few minor things that irritate me, or let’s say, aren’t really my style are one-liners, low effort responses and out of character behaviors in canon characters. We all have different takes on characters, which is totally fine by me since I basically do the same. Though if the character acts and behaves unlike their personality dictates, it will break the immersion. I hope to stay true to my own words when saying this. If it happens on my side, just let me know! Another pet peeve of mine is that one plot that has been done time and time again…. and I’ve grown quite jaded towards it, which is ‘supernaturals trying to fit into human society’ thing… I mean, I’m not opposed to borrowing from this idea, but for me, it grew old pretty fast. Speaking from experience.


 Il Passione: My wish is to find a partner whom I can have a good time with and develop some chemistry. After all it is a fun hobby. We both should have fun with what we’re writing. Brainstorming among other things is one of my favorite things to do. To see how things unfold and how the characters react to the given situation is the highlight of any story. °°°·.°·..·°¯°·._.· ☥ ·._.·°¯°·.·° .·°°° °°°·.°·..·°¯°·._.· ☥ ·._.·°¯°·.·° .·°°° 




FANDOM: 

I love roleplaying fandoms just as much as I have a blast with building something original universes. Worldbuilding is my preferred cup of tea… but if we opt for something more fandom inspired, I highly welcome in on expanding on the given universe and add some original lore too! The one marked with a * will be the ones I am craving the most.

Hellsing*: Haven’t done that one before and I am curious as to how things play out, especially in such a dark and mystifying universe like Hellsing. There’s a lot of subject matter that we can delve into, plus I am a big fan of powerful vampire characters!

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure*: I would love you for this. No, seriously, I would. This fandom has sucked me into a downward spiral and there’s no possible chance of escaping this inescapable void. The absolute insanity of this franchise had me hooked from the second I laid eyes on it and I would be forever ecstatic if you’d message me on behalf of roleplaying Jojo. I have plenty of ideas for this one, just you wait.

Full Metal Alchemist: One of my favorite mangas and animes ever made. Recently I’ve begun rewatching FMA Brotherhood and felt a small hint of nostalgia swelling inside my blackened heart. I’d be open to play it, though it is not one of my top cravings at the moment.

Justice League / Young Justice / Justice League Dark*: Huge DC fan, though I much prefer the animations and comics over the live-action cinematic. Let’s just say, I like the expansive and dynamic set of possibilities and deep, well-written cast. For instance Hellblazer Constantine or Raven.  

Bayonetta: Need I say more? Let’s dance boys!

APH Hetalia: That includes the 2P version ;)

The Boys: Well.. the 2nd season came out. And I am simply stoked.




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 My ideas for a plot are versatile in which I can give you if you ask for it (Usually the ones that aren’t listed here). It is however merely a suggestion for what we could write - not a mandatory thing. If you don’t like the idea, we can always figure stuff out and keep on home-brewing till we find something we both can enjoy. There’s no need to immediately end things if the first thing doesn’t really fire you up. The one marked with a * will be the ones I am craving the most.

I will cross the oceans of time just to find you*: So this is something that began to fascinate me more and more as time went on. Our characters existing in our current modern timeline are on the verge of a discovery that could shape the very foundation of history. After they accidentally stumble upon an artefact / edifice unrelated to any culture they’ve seen before, their presence unwittingly activates a mechanism that transports them not only to a different place, but an entirely different timeline. Upon awakening, they find themselves in a mysterious setting filled with archaic cultures, wildlife and mythological figures they believed only to be possible in fairytales. It is now up to them to navigate themselves in a time where uncertainty and superstition was rampant. Where their knowledge from the future could either prove themselves as an advantage or a fatal flaw. Every decision and word will count, forcing you to rethink and carefully plan out your actions. They also come to learn that some of these ancient myths were in fact true, and that monsters as well as godly beings did once exist. Following that trail, they will be faced with the truth as to how and why they were able to travel through time and space. But more importantly, it is where they will find their soulmates, and it isn’t where or when they think they’d be.

Supernatural*: From angels to demons, from gods to monsters, I’ve seen it all and I absolutely love it. There can be any sort of creature or being involved, ranging from vampires to sirens to elves, you have it. However, I’ve never done something quite relating to angelic beings and their offspring before. I’ve read up on Nephilim and angels and found it rather fascinating, and it’s a different approach from the usual vampire vs werewolf cliche. 


Crime and intrigue: I never stray too far from the supernatural path, but hell, there’s nothing better than some good old gritty mafia inspired stories with a complex cast of characters and a solid storyline.

Sci-fi and urban fantasy: So this could be basically anything from genetically engineered superhuman (superheroes / - villains) with a dark take on the human psyche, dismantling the idea of heroism and villainy. Or a world where mankind began their interstellar journey to colonize neighboring planets, galaxies before transcending their own humanity by merging themselves with deadly technology. I have a few plans for this…

Historical and mysterious setting*: So one of my favorite eras is the Victorian time period, 30s - 40s - 80s, Renaissance or Ancient times during the rise of the Egyptian / Roman / Sumerian Empire. During these times, a dark discovery was made by man, learning that they were not alone in this world. In fact, they weren’t even the supreme race that destined themselves to dominate the world, for another race of humanoids have lied dormant deep beneath the earth, slumbering through the millennia only to be re-awakened by a cataclysmic event. These ancient humanoids are gods among men, superior in every way imaginable, and they have made it their mission to reclaim their right to rule. But their nature is not what most people think it is…





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If you’re still here and haven’t fallen asleep reading through my loooong paragraphs, then I would like to thank you for bearing with me this far. I am looking forward to your messages. 




 Have a bright day!

[meraenthusiast]

8 Ways Young Adults Can Avoid “Failure to Launch”

How to Avoid “Failure to Launch” into Financial Adulthood

[Editor’s Note: Today’s article is a guest post from Brian over at Debt Discipline]

Have you heard the phrase “Failure to Launch” before? There was a $100 million-grossing movie, starring Matthew McConaughey and Sarah Jessica Parker of the same name. If you’re a parent, you might be thinking about how it relates to your kids.

No parent wants their child to experience the failure to launch and end up living in their basement until they’re thirty-five. (Dave Ramsey calls these “boomerang kids“)

Failure to Launch is a common way to describe a young adult who is struggling with the transition to adulthood. It’s often defined as an inability to leave home and support oneself.

One of the common reasons a young adult fails to launch is because of money. Lack of it or not knowing how to manage it. Many parents want to soften their child’s entry into the real world, but at what cost? Do they work more, delay retirement, skimp on savings?

Parents want the best for their kids, but not by sacrificing their own futures. The phenomenon of failure to launch is so rampant that several treatment programs have been developed to help address it. I’m not sure if a costly program is needed unless you are genuinely dealing with a medical condition.

Let’s breakdown some of the ways you can prevent the failure to launch syndrome from occurring.

Techniques to Overcome Failure to Launch

1) Finding Passion

It mind sound a bit cliche, but young adults need passion in their lives. In fact, we all need a bit of it. Passion combats failure to launch by letting us be participants rather than observers.

Passion comes in all shapes and sizes and doesn’t necessarily need to be your job. You may find passion in helping others, cooking, music, art, a particular career field, sports, chocolate, video games, movies, etc. The list is almost endless. (This is how people find their side hustles.)

The key is to harness that passion and let it help drive and motivate you. As parents, we can be supportive of a child’s passion. We need to reinforce the idea that life is not about “likes” on a social media platform, but about real, meaningful connections to people and activities.

If all else fails in discovering your passion, you might want to try the opposite, by listing all the things you hate doing. By systemically eliminating these things from your life, you will be left with only the things you enjoy doing. This is an excellent exercise for someone struggling to find their passion.

2) Financial Literacy

Let’s face it. We use money in all of our lives. But only 1/3 of states in the U.S. require their students to graduate having taken a personal finance class. Formal education is just one way we increase our knowledge. A lot is learned from family and friends too.

Failure to launch into what has recently been coined “emerging adulthood” has a lot to do with money. Children learn by example, so it essential to be a good one and involve them in money discussions. Money shouldn’t be a taboo topic. If you’re bad with money, how do you think your children are going to handle it?

Sure there are exceptions, but most will fail too. Financial literacy needs to start with you. There are plenty of books, blogs, and podcasts to help you increase your financial IQ. In turn, you can better prepare your kids. Involve them in age-appropriate topics. If you ever want a captive audience, talk to them about smartphones. They’re always interested in getting the latest and greatest model.

3) Teach Them About Costs

You can explain the cost of a new device, your choices for paying for it (in full or payment plan), the reoccurring charges each month, and how many hours someone would have to work to covers these costs you’ve just successfully navigated a money conversation with your child.

Taking a money discussion further, does your child know how much you make? What your rent or mortgage costs? Discussing these real-life examples helps them better understand money and what things cost and how to pay for them.

As a teenager, a part-time job and driving a car are two great opportunities for preparing them for their financial futures, and avoiding failure to launch. Review their paycheck and taxes.

Give them the challenge to save, spend, and give a portion of their income. A car is another teachable money moment.

Discussions could be centered around:

overall cost to own

maintenance

insurance

gas

These examples are all thing adults handle regularly, but as pre-adults, we probably don’t care about them at all. That was one of the benefits of being a kid; no adult responsibilities.

But if these details are always hidden and never discussed, how would we ever be able to handle them when presented?

4) Avoiding Debt

Debt is a four letter word for a reason. Starting your financial life with debt is an apparent reason why emerging adults fail to launch into financial adulthood. Debt causes stress. Debt causes fear. It causes fights. Being in debt limits your options.

Would any of us want to have these restrictions in our lives? Now consider your young adult trying to balance these with a new job and social life. It could be overwhelming. It’s essential to stay within your means while supporting your young adult.

You don’t want wait to sacrifice your financial future or lifestyle by taking on debt for someone else, even your children.

One of the biggest drivers of debt for young adults is student loans. As of 2018, 69% of college students took out student loans, and they graduated with an average debt of $29,800. Ouch! That’s a significant number looming over anyone’s head.

A college degree doesn’t have to be a debt death sentence. A degree can be obtained with little or no debt if you get creative.

A Side Note: Some of you reading this may already be deep into debt. There are resources available to help. You must be careful of debt consolidation services. You need to know what you’re getting into; and that it will benefit you, not the company allegedly trying to help.

5) College without debt

Here are five ways to get through school without student loans (or minimal debt):

a. Make the most out of High School

High school offers several ways to get a headstart on your college degree. Advanced Placement (AP) are college-level classes you can take in high school and earn future college credit for completing. Most colleges will accept these classes and credits if you score a three or above on AP final exam.

This is an excellent way to earn college credit in high school at the cost of an AP exam. High schools often offer college-level classes through a partnership with a community college or a local University. These classes allow high school students to earn college credits at a reduced rate.

CLEP (the College-Level Examination Program) is another way for students to earn college credits inexpensively. It offers 33 exams that cover intro-level college course material. With a passing score on one CLEP exam, you could earn three or more college credits.

b. Understand the ROI of your degree

What’s the income and job opportunity in your field when you graduate. Don’t borrow $160K for a degree that has the income earning power of $40k per year. You don’t have to kill your dream, and can still follow your passion but find colleges that are cheap to attend.

c. Stay local

Community College is an affordable option and a springboard to larger Universities. Attending a community college for the first two years of college life can save a ton of money. Many community colleges act as feeder schools for four-year universities.

d. Work

You’re going to need to work during college to avoid debt later. Trust me, it won’t kill you! A part-time job during the semester helps to keep spending money in your pocket. A full-time summer job allows you to save for expenses like books and materials. Check with your employer to see if they offer student loan assistance too.

e. Become a Resident Assistant (RA)

Becoming an RA has its benefits when living on campus. Many colleges offer free room and board if you become an RA.  Your responsibilities as an RA will vary, but often an RA helps enforce the rules and policies of residence life, housing and dining services, and the University. Taking on these responsibilities can save you thousands of dollars a semester.

Student loan debt is only one form of debt someone may encounter. Car loans and credit cards are also common debts associated with college students. The idea is the same with those debts. You want to minimize and avoid altogether if possible. Just follow the general rule of living within your means and using cash.

6) Tough Love

If all of your parenting and coaching fails to help your young adult launch, more drastic measures may be needed to push them toward independence. Tough love is often the category this type of parenting falls into. Tough love’s end game is ultimately the person’s welfare. If a child is unable to launch, you may need to enforce stricter boundaries. If they fail to take responsibility for their actions, a clear consequence must occur.

It’s painful to watch someone you care for fail and have to face the consequences, but sometimes it’s the jolt of reality they need. Enforcing a curfew, deadlines, schedule, etc. may be the structure they need to be successful. You do not want to continue to enable someone who is facing a failure to launch.

7) Pitching In

Although we want our children to move out, live on their own, and be successful, there could be some benefit for their extended stay at home. Set clear expectations, like pitching in with house chores, including cleaning and cooking. This work helps build some skills they will need on their own.

Consider charging them rent. It’s another one of those items they will need to handle on their own someday. It’s money that you can choose to save for them, so they have a cushion when they finally launch.

It could also be about spending some extra quality time with your child. Having them living at home gives you the undivided opportunity of their time. Once they are out of the house, they may not always be available. This time might help you develop a deeper relationship.

8) Have an Exit Strategy

In any of these steps of overcoming a failure to launch, you need to have clear communication with your child. They need to understand how long or how much support you are willing to give.

Setting these clear expectations helps them plan for their exit. It doesn’t mean that once they move on that emotional or moral support will stop. You might stay on as their financial accountability partner to help guide them with their money. You may offer resources like books or articles they could read to increase their knowledge on a particular topic.

The key is to have them understand that even though your monetary support has ended, you are always available to talk or questions. This might be the safety net they need to launch successfully. As parents, we should fulfill our parental responsibility. We need to teach our kids to function independently and raise a person who contributes to society.  It doesn’t mean we need to support them financially forever.

Final Word

We all want to live a balanced life. As a parent, we often experience peaks and valleys in our own life. Many factors can contribute to what can feel like a roller coaster ride; things like our work, health, and stress are just a few.

As our children grow and experience these things for themselves, we need to help guide them, and let our own experiences act as an example. They will experience speed bumps along the way, and it’s our job to help smooth them out, but eventually, they need to navigate on their own.

The post was expertly crafted for and originally appeared on The Money Mix and was written by Brian from Debt Discipline.

The post 8 Ways Young Adults Can Avoid “Failure to Launch” appeared first on Debt Free Dr..

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Check out New Post published on Ọmọ Oòduà

New Post has been published on http://ooduarere.com/news-from-nigeria/world-news/war-on-iran-calling-americas-bluff/

War on Iran & Calling America’s Bluff

by Pepe Escobar (cross-posted with the Consortium News) by special agreement with the author

Vast swathes of the West seem not to realize that if the Strait of Hormuz is shut down a global depression will follow, writes Pepe Escobar.

The Trump administration once again has graphically demonstrated that in the young, turbulent 21st century, “international law” and “national sovereignty” already belong to the Realm of the Walking Dead.

As if a deluge of sanctions against a great deal of the planet was not enough, the latest “offer you can’t refuse” conveyed by a gangster posing as diplomat, Consul Minimus Mike Pompeo, now essentially orders the whole planet to submit to the one and only arbiter of world trade: Washington.

First the Trump administration unilaterally smashed a multinational, UN-endorsed agreement, the JCPOA, or Iran nuclear deal. Now the waivers that magnanimously allowed eight nations to import oil from Iran without incurring imperial wrath in the form of sanctions will expire on May 2 and won’t be renewed.

President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Iran deal upheld his highest obligation: to protect the safety and security of the American people. Why Iran sanctions are necessary: https://t.co/YQtmSA9hZX pic.twitter.com/n5r8mhZTl5

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 6, 2018

The eight nations are a mix of Eurasian powers: China, India, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey, Italy and Greece.

Apart from the trademark toxic cocktail of hubris, illegality, arrogance/ignorance and geopolitical/geo–economic infantilism inbuilt in this foreign policy decision, the notion that Washington can decide who’s allowed to be an energy provider to emerging superpower China does not even qualify as laughable. Much more alarming is the fact that imposing a total embargo of Iranian oil exports is no less than an act of war.

Ultimate Neocon Wet Dream 

Those subscribing to the ultimate U.S, neocon and Zionist wet dream – regime change in Iran – may rejoice at this declaration of war. But as Professor Mohammad Marandi of the University of Tehran has elegantly argued, “If the Trump regime miscalculates, the house can easily come crashing down on its head.”

Reflecting the fact Tehran seems to have no illusions regarding the utter folly ahead, the Iranian leadership — if provoked to a point of no return, Marandi additionally told me — can get as far as “destroying everything on the other side of the Persian Gulf and chasing the U.S. out of Iraq and Afghanistan. When the U.S. escalates, Iran escalates. Now it depends on the U.S. how far things go.”

This red alert from a sensible academic perfectly dovetails with what’s happening with the structure of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) — recently branded a “terrorist organization” by the United States. In perfect symmetry, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council also branded the U.S. Central Command — CENTCOM — and “all the forces connected to it” as a terrorist group.

The new IRGC commander-in-chief is Brigadier General Hossein Salami, 58. Since 2009 he was the deputy of previous commander Mohamamd al-Jafari, a soft spoken but tough as nails gentleman I met in Tehran two years ago. Salami, as well as Jafari, is a veteran of the Iran-Iraq war; that is, he has actual combat experience. And Tehran sources assure me that he can be even tougher than Jafari.

In tandem, IRGC Navy Commander Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri has evoked the unthinkable in terms of what might develop out of the U.S. total embargo on Iran oil exports; Tehran could block the Strait of Hormuz.

Western Oblivion 

Vast swathes of the ruling classes across the West seem to be oblivious to the reality that if Hormuz is shut down, the result will be an absolutely cataclysmic global economic depression.

Warren Buffett, among other investors, has routinely qualified the 2.5 quadrillion derivatives market as a weapon of financial mass destruction. As it stands, these derivatives are used — illegally — to drain no less than a trillion U.S. dollars a year out of the market in manipulated profits.

Considering historical precedents, Washington may eventually be able to set up a Persian Gulf of Tonkin false flag. But what next?

If Tehran were totally cornered by Washington, with no way out, the de facto nuclear option of shutting down the Strait of Hormuz would instantly cut off 25 percent of the global oil supply. Oil prices could rise to over $500 a barrel, to even $1000 a barrel. The 2.5 quadrillion of derivatives would start a chain reaction of destruction.

Unlike the shortage of credit during the 2008 financial crisis, the shortage of oil could not be made up by fiat instruments. Simply because the oil is not there. Not even Russia would be able to re-stabilize the market.

It’s an open secret in private conversations at the Harvard Club – or at Pentagon war-games for that matter – that in case of a war on Iran, the U.S. Navy would not be able to keep the Strait of Hormuz open.

Russian SS-NX-26 Yakhont missiles — with a top speed of Mach 2.9 — are lining up the Iranian northern shore of the Strait of Hormuz. There’s no way U.S. aircraft carriers can defend a  barrage of Yakhont missiles.

Then there are the SS-N-22 Sunburn supersonic anti-ship missiles — already exported to China and India — flying ultra-low at 1,500 miles an hour with dodging capacity, and extremely mobile; they can be fired from a flatbed truck, and were designed to defeat the U.S. Aegis radar defense system.

What Will China Do?

The full–frontal attack on Iran reveals how the Trump administration bets on breaking Eurasia integration via what would be its weakeast node; the three key nodes are China, Russia and Iran. These three actors interconnect the whole spectrum; Belt and Road Initiative; the Eurasia Economic Union; the Shanghai Cooperation Organization; the International North-South Transportation Corridor; the expansion of BRICS Plus.

So there’s no question the Russia-China strategic partnership will be watching Iran’s back. It’s no accident that the trio is among the top existential “threats” to the U.S., according to the Pentagon. Beijing knows how the U.S. Navy is able to cut it off from its energy sources. And that’s why Beijing is strategically increasing imports of oil and natural gas from Russia; engineering the “escape from Malacca” also must take into account a hypothetical U.S. takeover of the Strait of Hormuz.

Night view of coast of Oman, including Strait of Hormuz. (Intl Space Station photo via Wikimedia)

A plausible scenario involves Moscow acting to defuse the extremely volatile U.S.-Iran confrontation, with the Kremlin and the Ministry of Defense trying to persuade President Donald Trump and the Pentagon from any direct attack against the IRGC. The inevitable counterpart is the rise of covert ops, the possible staging of false flags and all manner of shady Hybrid War techniques deployed not only against the IRGC, directly and indirectly, but against Iranian interests everywhere. For all practical purposes, the U.S. and Iran are at war.

Within the framework of the larger Eurasia break-up scenario, the Trump administration does profit from Wahhabi and Zionist psychopathic hatred of Shi’ites. The “maximum pressure” on Iran counts on Jared of Arabia Kushner’s close WhatsApp pal Mohammad bin Salman (MbS) in Riyadh and MbS’s mentor in Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Zayed, to replace the shortfall of Iranian oil in the market. Bu that’s nonsense — as quite a few wily Persian Gulf traders are adamant Riyadh won’t “absorb Iran’s market share” because the extra oil is not there.

Much of what lies ahead in the oil embargo saga depends on the reaction of assorted vassals and semi-vassals. Japan won’t have the guts to go against Washington. Turkey will put up a fight. Italy, via Salvini, will lobby for a waiver. India is very complicated; New Delhi is investing in Iran’s Chabahar port as the key hub of its own Silk Road, and closely cooperates with Tehran within the INSTC framework. Would a shameful betrayal be in the cards?

China, it goes without saying, will simply ignore Washington.

Iran will find ways to get the oil flowing because the demand won’t simply vanish with a magic wave of an American hand. It’s time for creative solutions. Why not, for instance, refuel ships in international waters, accepting gold, all sorts of cash, debit cards, bank transfers in rubles, yuan, rupees and rials — and everything bookable on a website?

Now that’s a way Iran can use its tanker fleet to make a killing. Some of the tankers could be parked in — you got it — the Strait of Hormuz, with an eye on the price at Jebel Ali in the UAE to make sure this is the real deal. Add to it a duty free for the ships crews. What’s not to like? Ship owners will save fortunes on fuel bills, and crews will get all sorts of stuff at 90 percent discount in the duty free.

And let’s see whether the EU has grown a spine —  and really turbo-charge their Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) alternative payment network conceived after the Trump administration ditched the JCPOA. Because more than breaking up Eurasia integration and implementing neocon regime change, this is about the ultimate anathema; Iran is being mercilessly punished because it has bypassed the U.S. dollar on energy trade.

[makemoneyonlineprofit-blog]

How This Award-Winning Indie Studio Sells Merch with an In-Game Gift Shop

https://120profit.com/?p=2246&utm_source=SocialAutoPoster&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=Tumblr Games are more than just a pastime or even pieces of interactive art. They’re entire worlds that are built for us to visit, that are able to pull us back from time to time, that still cross our minds even as we go about our lives. It’s these worlds that Snowman—a development studio based in Toronto— believes in building, and it's become the basis for many of the decisions they’ve made as both a business and as the developer of the award-winning indie game, Alto’s Adventure. That philosophy is also the reason they’re among the first in their industry to incorporate a merch store directly into their game with Shopify’s Unity Buy SDK—a decision that resulted in them making 60% of their annual revenue from product sales in 30 days. But first, you’ll need to understand a little bit about how Snowman and Alto’s Adventure came about. Alto’s Adventure: The Making of an Award-Winning Game Snowman might be a small development studio based in Toronto, Canada, but it consists of a distributed team of over 35 people around the world. It all started when co-founders, and childhood best friends, Ryan Cash and Jordan Rosenberg set out to build apps to take advantage of all the attention that was on the then-new Apple App Store. After a few attempts at building productivity apps—including Checkmark and Shifts—Snowman found its way into gaming with their first minimalist game, Circles. None of their early projects, however, were what they would call a success. It wasn’t until Ryan fell sick and spent days on end playing Ski Safari that he was reminded of his fond memories of both snowboarding down the slopes in real life and playing Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater as a kid. It didn't just inspire his vision for a new game, but a feeling that it had to capture. And so they partnered with Harry Nesbitt, a talented illustrator and developer based in England, and gave him full creative control over designing the game and the world that is now Alto’s Adventure. After 18 months, Alto’s Adventure was finally released in the iOS App Store on February 19th, 2015 and became an almost-instant success. The game itself is an endless runner, taking reference from classics like Journey or Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, where players are tasked with collecting coins and doing insane tricks. Where Alto really differentiates itself is in its design, fluidity, and sound, all of which come together to create a meditative experience unlike any other. The beautiful landscapes allow the player to escape into Alto’s world, where "everything else sort of just disappears" when "in rhythm with the mountain." The game received high-praise from reviewers over it’s unique art style and aesthetics. It went on to win multiple awards including the App Store Best of 2015, Product Hunt’s Game of The Year, and a Pocket Gamer Gold Award. There’s even a successor that’s soon to come in the form of Alto’s Odyssey. But underneath it all, there’s the beating heart of a business. And on that front, Snowman has made some careful and well-researched decisions. Alto’s Business: Monetizing a Mobile Game Monetizing a digital product like a game can be a tricky endeavor, especially when you consider the backlash from consumers for add-on downloadable content that you need to pay for and freemium games like Farmville that let you spend real money to speed up the slow-paced grind of gameplay. But those who do it right are seeing the results—giants like Supercell (maker of Clash of Clans), for example, have pulled in over $2.3B in revenue with digital purchases in their games. Snowman, however, opted to take a different approach. They decided to segment their monetization strategy based on device, and for good reason. On iOS, Alto’s Adventure costs $4.99 USD to purchase and that's the only purchase you're compelled to make. For Android, though, it’s free to download and you can purchase power-ups with real world money and occasionally have the option to revive Alto when you crash by watching an ad. This is due to the smaller potential player base on Android where sales of the game alone wouldn’t be enough to sustain it. According to Eli Cymet, the studio's Lead Producer, “On Android, Alto’s Adventure has just gotten over 20 million downloads recently, which has really allowed us to speak to a larger number of players through the game. And so the monetization is different where some of the digital goods can be purchased [with real money]. For example, for $4 you can purchase an item called the Coin Doubling Scarf.” None of these purchases or actions are necessary to enjoy or succeed with the game—Eli emphasizes that the goal was always to monetize in an ethical way that didn’t detract from having a quality experience sliding down the slopes in Alto’s world. This commitment to the player’s experience and creating a world that’s easy to get lost in hasn’t just shaped their digital monetization, but also their strategy with merch. Merch as a Bridge Between the Game World and the Real World Casual and hardcore gamers alike know the power of a strong IP—whether it’s Super Mario or Pokemon—when it comes to merch. This still holds true with mobile gaming, as evidenced by Rovio, maker of Angry Birds, which generated more than 40% of its $200 million revenue through licensing official Angry Birds merchandise. So given the love Snowman had received for Alto’s Adventure, the studio decided to use merch to bring Alto’s world to life. In September 2016, Snowman launched The Snowman Store, featuring an Alto Collection of game-related products. But they didn’t simply slap game references onto a t-shirt and put a price tag on it. With the game itself, Snowman wanted to create a wintery world that their players could escape to. Snowman saw their merchandise as an opportunity to bring that world to life. They designed their products to feel as if they could come directly from Alto's sleepy alpine village. Merch isn’t the main game that Snowman wanted to play with Alto’s Adventure, according to Eli. Instead, it’s an extension of the world-building that they’ve already invested so much time and talent into. Snowman wanted to ensure high quality craftsmanship for their merchandise. Alto’s Lost Llamas, for example, were handcrafted in Germany by Zimt Beadwork, using a process called Needle Felting. This enabled Snowman to form soft wool around handmade wire frames with thousands of tiny pokes. Alto’s Toque, similarly, is handmade in partnership with Threads of Peru to ensure a high quality wool product where no two are exactly the same. So much care was put into ensuring a connection between the digital game and their physical merch that Harry Nesbit, the creative mind that designed Alto’s world, also helped design the products themselves. For Snowman and Alto’s Adventure players, the merchandise bridges the gap between the online world and the offline world. It provides players a way to connect with their favorite game while they're sitting at their desk, or out on a cold wintery day. But there was still a gap between the store and the game. Until, that is, the opportunity arrived to actually build an in-game merch store where players could buy items from Alto's world without having to leave it. Launching One of the First In-Game Gift Shops This experience with Shopify and the Unity Buy SDK has shown us that there's demand out there [for merch] that far outweighs what you could ever expect. Eli Cymet, Lead Producer at Snowman In April 2017, Shopify showcased a beta version of the Alto’s Adventure in-game Custom Storefront, using the Unity Buy SDK at the Shopify Unite Conference. On July 20th of the same year, Snowman officially launched an update to Alto’s Adventure, including a fully implemented Custom Storefront that made merch discoverable and purchasable inside the game. The reception from fans was overwhelming. This new Gift Shop allowed Snowman to not only unlock an additional sales channel for their merch, but also create a more immersive game experience by connecting their players with hand-crafted Alto’s goods that felt like they were lifted from the game world.  Over the first 30 days after launching the in-game store, Snowman made over 60% of their previous year's revenue from merchandise and saw 75% of net new sales come through the in-game storefront. These are surprising results when you consider that Alto’s Adventure is a 2-year-old game, selling for around $5. It’s crucial to us that anything in the game feels like an authentic part of that universe. Shopify’s Unity Buy SDK helped us bring the Alto Gift Shop to life exactly as we imagined it. Eli Cymet, Lead Producer at Snowman Gaming: A New Frontier for Commerce If the history of commerce has taught us anything, it’s that the closer the point of purchase is to the point of engagement, the more likely people are to buy. And games engage our attention like nothing else, some for even hundreds of hours on end. That’s why merchandise is no longer an afterthought in the gaming industry. In addition to Alto’s Adventure, other studios in the industry are following suit, including Campo Santo’s Firewatch, which lets you order prints of photos you take in-game, and Bungie’s recent $777,000 Destiny t-shirt that can be purchased for $24.99 when you’ve satisfied certain conditions in the actual game. As Alto’s Adventure shows, players accustomed to spending anywhere between $1 to $5 on in-game digital purchases are open to paying more than $50 dollars on a a quality product inspired by the game world, like a hand-knitted llama. Physical products let players bring a small piece of their favorite gaming worlds back with them into the real world, acting as a bridge, a badge of honor, and a reminder of fond hours of playtime. Special thanks to Corey Pollock, who worked on the Shopify Unity Buy SDK, for contributing his research and insight. Are you a game developer interested in selling in-game merch? Get the Shopify Unity Buy SDK !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n; n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0; t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script','//connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js'); fbq('init', '1904241839800487'); fbq('track', "PageView"); 120profit.com - https://120profit.com/?p=2246&utm_source=SocialAutoPoster&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=Tumblr

[tortuga-aak]

Snapchat has created a brand new ad category

Netflix

3D World Lenses, like the dancing hotdog, have further cemented Snapchat’s position as the leader in augmented reality, as far as marketers are concerned.

Not only do they take digital branded experiences to another level, but they also provide marketers with an opportunity to bring their icons and mascots to life.

Lenses can prove to be a good investment, costing less and adding more value than other premium ad units, say ad buyers.

They are popular among users too, with an average user spending over three minutes playing with lenses.

If you happened to open Snapchat last Friday, you would have likely stumbled upon a Netflix lens that was designed to make you feel like you were inside the famous living room from its hit series “Stranger Things.”

With a few taps of your mobile screen, you could interact with several items in the digital version of the "Stranger Things" room – like bookshelves that shake and mysteriously boarded up windows – all via an augmented reality experience constructed by the team at Snap.

The Netflix lens is a prime example of Snapchat's 3D World Lenses, the latest iteration of the company’s popular sponsored lenses that let people feature animated branded objects into their snaps. It's perhaps Snapchat's most sophisticated lens to date.

And more notably, it further cemented Snapchat’s position as the leader in augmented reality, ahead of competitors like Facebook and Google, at least as far as marketers are concerned.

“In any marketing plan, there’s a host of levers or triggers you can pull,” said Jeremy Sigel, global SVP of partnerships and emerging media at agency Essence. “Augmented reality today should be a part of that marketing mix, and no one does it better than Snapchat.

Augmented reality today should be a part of that marketing mix, and no one does it better than Snapchat.

It is absolutely the leader in creating really engaging augmented reality experiences through its lenses.”

If Snapchat could cement its reputation as the pace-setting pioneer for a new form of augmented reality advertising, it may have found a much-needed competitive differentiator as it struggles to prove its mettle as a newly public company.

‘A home to brand icons’

Snapchat has been at the forefront of augmented reality long before 3D World Lenses were introduced, ever since it unveiled its first rainbow-barfing lens back in September 2015 that pushed the technology into the mainstream.

Hundreds of brands have dabbled in and tasted success with sponsored lenses since then. Take for instance Taco Bell, which had its 2016 Cinco De Mayo taco lens viewed 224 million times, with the average Snapchat user playing with it for around 24 seconds

Taco BellAnother such brand is King Games, the UK-based game maker behind games such as Candy Crush among others, which has run three lenses on the platform over the past few years. Its latest lens is an augmented reality-focused 3D World Lens centered around Halloween this week that features Stella, the main character in its game Bubble Witch 3 Saga.

According to Richard Hocking, VP of Performance Marketing at King, the company continues to invest in the platform because users spend time more time with the brand in an interactive way on Snapchat than they would anywhere else.

“We are always looking to innovate in the way we engage with consumers, and AR lenses and filters provide a fun and interactive way to bring our game and characters to life in the real world,” he told Business Insider. “Snapchat seem to be leading the AR innovation since their product is centered around the camera, and they have scale to continually test, iterate and improve quickly.”

Not only do augmented reality-based lenses take branded experiences to the next level, but they also allow brands to remain authentic, said Jacob Taylor, founder and CEO of experiential marketing firm CivitasNow.

“What’s interesting about 3D World Lenses is that they give a home to brand icons and mascots,” he said. “Take the Bud Light man. There’s never been another platform where that icon could naturally thrive before without disrupting the experience.”

Value for Money

Brands go where there audiences are. And increasingly, brands are realizing that their audiences are not only on Snapchat, but are also demonstrating a clear appetite for and engaging with augmented reality on the platform.

Snapchat’s dancing hot dog filter, for example, quickly became an internet sensation this summer. It was viewed 1.5 billion times, leading CEO Evan Spiegel to call it the "world’s first augmented reality superstar."

Further, more than one in three Snapchat users play with lenses every day, with an average user spending over three minutes doing so, Snapchat said in its second quarter earnings this year. It is no surprise then, that brands want in.

Universal PicturesTake Universal Pictures, which has bought everything from Snap ads to World Lenses for its various movie releases over the years, and has consistently seen promising results. According to Doug Neil, EVP of digital marketing at Universal Pictures, the brand’s engagement metrics are often “two times the usual benchmarks."

This is not surprising, said Jill Sherman, head of social media at DigitasLBi. This is because lenses are also contextual, and advertisers can buy lenses that target specific audience segments, based on age, gender and the platform’s own audience segments the kind of Snapchat content they consume.

“Younger audiences don’t seem to mind being central to the ad — and that’s basically all a branded lens is,” said Sherman.

Snapchat has faced lots of criticism with regards to the kind of measurement data it provides advertisers. Thus, over the past year it has partnered with several analytics firms to gauge the performance of its various ad products, including sponsored lenses. 

The company says it now has lots of data showing that lens are more memorable that the average ad and actually can change people's opinions of brands, even driving buying decisions. Campaigns with lenses drive a 19.7 point lift in ad awareness, a 6.4 point lift in brand awareness, and a 3.4 point lift in action intent on average, said Imran Khan, chief strategy officer, speaking at Advertising Week last month.

For example, Lenses for movie campaigns delivered a return on ad spending that was 5.3 times larger than other typical online and offline ads in that category, according to the marketing technology firm Neustar.

A media agency executive, who wished to remain anonymous, confirmed that on average, the agency's clients Snapchat Lens ads drove people to take some sort of action at twice the rate of other Snapchat campaigns. 

The path ahead

Snapchat, with its unique set of tools and push for innovation, has essentiallly managed to create a brand new ad category.

"They’ve also done a great job of delivering pioneering ad products such as lenses and geofilters, that have been custom built on the back of their audience’s nuanced behaviors,” said Tom Buontempo, president at Attention.

They’ve also done a great job of delivering pioneering ad products such as lenses and geofilters, that have been custom built on the back of their audience’s nuanced behaviors.

And yet, the path ahead isn’t without its challenges.

For one, Facebook has been rapidly adding Snapchat-like features into its suites of apps, most blatantly Instagram. In just over a year, Instagram Stories has managed to mimic some of  Snapchat’s best features including face filters. Sponsored ones could very well be on the horizon soon.

And sponsored lenses don’t necessarily come cheap. In fact, until recently, they came with quite a hefty price tag, costing advertisers anywhere between $300,000 and $750,000 for a single day. Taco Bell, for context, spent between $500,000 and $750,000 on its lens by most estimates.

But lenses — even hi-tech 3D ones powered by AR — are getting cheaper, according to Snapchat. These days, premium content placements with targeting can often cost more than lenses, according to a company spokesperson.

In fact, for around $300,000, Snapchat’s internal team offers to both create and distribute a face as well as a 3D World Lens. There is no markup for adding 3D objects to a lens.

Plus, Snapchat is also bundling in a number of other services to encourage advertisers to invest in lenses. The company promises to develop all lens creative in-house in six weeks. It's even faster if a company has already built its own Snapchat lens.

And of course, when done well, Lens ads can prove a bargain compared to other media. Taco Bell’s lens, for example, was viewed 224 million times in a single day — which is double the views of a Super Bowl ad for one-tenth the price for context, as Business Insider had reported earlier.

“Brand advertisers are still very much focused on TV and that’s not going to change anytime soon,” said Essence’s Sigel. “But in some cases, lenses are likely to have a bigger impact for a brand than a 2D TV ad.”

Ultimately, Facebook isn't the only competitor that Snapchat must be on the lookout for when it comes to augmented reality. Google and Apple are both closing in as well, with the latter's iOS 11 update enabling the iPhone camera to integrate graphics into the real world. The ubiquity of both Apple and Android devices also means that they can probably scale the technology at a much faster clip than even Snapchat.

"Building the capability within the phone is going to make consumers a lot more willing to engage with the technology," said Sargi Mann, EVP of digital strategy at Havas Media.

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