#merge them into a larger mass... might feel better about it then

[radiates-confusion]

More Worldbuilding!

Ok, Ok, with the fuckery that is everything that's going on that I'm having to keep track of, This is no longer a 30 day, nor prompt based, thing, It's me making sure even my midnight thoughts are tracked, and also using social media to hold me accountable to actually get work done.

On that lovely note, I have made progress on the landmass that is where Campaigns take place! Man, When I tell you tryna work out how many days travel 3 hexes took drove me crazy, I mean crazy! I almost messaged my DM cause I just couldn't work it out from the book! I worked it out eventually, after working out that I could find a destination 180 miles away, put it inot google maps, and then just have that tell me how long it would take to walk there! I think I'm probably gonna make it slightly longer to each place but uhh anyway:

I decided to roughly map out the areas controlled by like, each major city, kinda like....Idk, each county in the country??? Anyway, here it is!

(And we have the hexmat in use too!)

I *also* jotted down roughly the times between each major city, as I said, I think I'm gonna rejig it a bit, but I thought I'd at least make sure I had an idea of how long it took to currently get where!

Voila!

I had a lot of fun spending my evening doing this, and look forward to spending more time (hopefully if I get the time, as my evening is already occupied with not-my-usual-activities TvT) on this tomorrow/today!

[astrolovecosmos]

Neptune in the Houses and The Dissolved Ego

“Neptune embodies the urge to transcend the boundaries that keep the soul separate from the whole. Neptune seeks dissolution of the ego, the small self, but this can dissolve into not knowing who or what the self really is.” - Judy Hall.

Neptune in the 1st: There is a sometimes unrealistic environment around the development of self. Many warn of being impressionable, that there are no boundaries for the self. In best case scenario one could argue the ego sees past itself with this placement. This person has a more immediate understanding of the human condition and especially feelings of others. From this can be a healer, poet, helper, maybe empath BUT from this can also be a struggle to find self. In a more negative scene this can be someone with less boundaries, they find it easy to become intimate and vulnerable. Intimacy can be a weapon they wield or blocks for relationships to build or both.

Neptune in the 2nd: Let me guess have you heard that this placement is bad with money? They always are left wanting, even if well off? They are impractical?  While I won’t say these associations are completely untrue I understand if you are tired of them. With Neptune in the 2nd things like art/creativity build up their worth. If we look at more specific associations - photography, music, dancing, and poetry. Religion or spirituality could help them feel more bounded to the real world. In the 1st intuition is seen in the self but I would make a claim this placement has a lot of seen or outward intuition too. Here this exist in a tangible way. Their intuition interacting with reality. We know substances are associated with Neptune, there comes a warning that substances can boost their self-esteem but in a house connected to the senses there can be more of a spiritual experience with some substances, of course I know this is a controversial take. Finding great value and meaning for the self in something as innocent as food and drink could be part of this interpretation with substances + senses + value. In terms of “ego”, this allows one to find value in elements other than the material. Ego does not have to rely on objects of wealth. There is depth in a house that tends to get a very surface level reputation.

Neptune in the 3rd: Known to be elusive in communication and connection. A natural knack for creativity which really comes from an idea that they do best with creative ways to learn. The ego here doesn’t get hung up in words and intellectual dogma. There is a way to share feelings and thoughts that reaches others. Expression and learning are important to them especially in an artistic sense such as poetry and song writing. Easily distracted and can lack discipline but they are highly adaptable and this may be seen most in their childhood as well as times when they are open to learning. They help others understand them, the nature of emotions, and fellow humans through communication.

Neptune in the 4th: Things like pride or selfishness are likely to not get in the way of what matters most - family or the feeling of finding belonging. Attachment to the changeable and an unstable home life is associated with this placement. But intuition and feeling is nurtured from their past somehow. This is a highly sensitive individual who was not programmed into being misled by the ego. The flip side of this is that their sense of self might not have been solidified growing up. Selfish wants and needs were not always catered to and this can have both positive and negative outcomes. On the positive this is someone who can be giving and easily sympathizes with others, may even have a sense of humility. But a lack of boundaries and self-focused needs being met can still have consequences that allow them to be easily used and hurt. Learning that change is the only constant at an early age can be an area of strength for them.

Neptune in the 5th: Could get carried away in romances and easily lose sense of self within them BUT while I don't want to downplay those risks, if there was a house with plenty of positives for Neptune it is this one. A creative, intuitive, and emotionally in-tune planet sitting in the house of pleasure, play, and creativity. Neptune can be about romance and in the 5th... here the ego dissolves into foam of fantasy feelings and expectations. Disappointment and crashes down to earth can await but at least here the soul, the individual gets to feel something truly special in their romances. "Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all." There is a greater understanding about themselves and about others when they dive into the arts/creative expression. Pleasure, the joys of life are felt on another level, maybe even a spiritual one.

Neptune in the 6th: Creativity, imagination, and intuition in the mundane is a gift for this placement. Prone to hypersensitivity and over stress is one burden of this placement but that hypersensitivity still has the ability to grow emotional and inner strength. Here the ego is dismantled by a desire to truly serve and help others. Teamwork and honestly a humanitarian aspect exist in this house. Neptune is here with a connection to human emotion and spirit. They give back on multiple levels.

Neptune in the 7th: Alright, loss of self in a relationship, easily being influenced and used, lack of boundaries - this does exist. Don't boil down Neptune in the 7th to just this. First their ability to read others is uncanny. They know what others need and want. Part of them is driven to please or care for others and this has an ability to be a good thing. The ability to adapt to others can be a skill. They share themselves with many and while this has its downside, while they should learn to protect themselves, this can still be great. One book describes the 7th as a place where we share our humanity. Giving many access to one's humanity, is a positive. Online I know many love to throw around the word "mirror". That element has a place here. They can at times act as a mirror for another, helping them see things in themselves and to learn. Of course "being a mirror" is not anyone's responsibility, something to keep in mind. Relating to another can be a spiritual experience and in many ways, shouldn't it be like this? In the 7th, the ego is dissolved into others.

Neptune in the 8th: Yes their intuition is powerful, it is strong. Can we get an applaud for this? Many books and articles I see warn of a lot of danger and negatives with this placement. A warning of being taken advantage of financially is talked about frequently. If I had to distill it down, the warning would be this: don't let anything good slip away from you. Appreciate what you have in the moment and watch out for the wolf in sheep's clothing. Here walls are peeled away in terms of intimacy, giving, sharing, fears, and the unknown. Not an open book but they have no fear of vulnerability. It is their hunches that will protect them because without it there is just an urge to merge and to share. From this comes the danger of being deceived. The ego doesn't fear appearing weak, showing flaws, getting close. Maybe it isn't always that the ego is dissolved but shared. The self and its expectations, wants, needs are shared to whoever flashes vulnerability back at them. I would look at this as a place of bravery.

Neptune in the 9th: Something to be said about their idealism! Spiritual learning and subjects can take a seat here. "[there is the call] towards ritual and mysticism - or the illusions that pass for it." - Judy Hall. I think the 9th house is an area to be careful of in general - but that is a talk for another day. Be cautious of falling for spiritual illusions and being misled in the area of knowledge, education, morals, and religion. Be careful of blind faith. But Neptune here is in touch with the spiritual realm or the human spirit. Their own inner faith is not that of over confidence but a faith in the universe. Their beliefs overcome any of the ego's needs or insecurities.

Neptune in the 10th: Attracted to creative/artistic careers or careers that can heal/help/serve others - yes. okay. let's move on. Here we see the ego, the self being shared on a mass level. It is "dissolved" into the public sphere. No boundaries can be useful though, giving so many over access, honestly a possible good position for gaining "fame". But I don't like to label certain placements as the "fame" placement. You will find celebrities and public figures with all kinds of charts. But the idea that the public has easy access to them can be a real threat to be aware of too. They can be far reaching in their community or career. They make an influence on others which has its positives and negatives. They connect with others easily on a platform, through their art, or through their work. On an even larger scale, when thinking about society here is someone who can help make the world a better place.... or could set in motion harmful ideologies and emotions to cling to. An ability to see the wounds in society is a strength that would benefit many of us.

Neptune in the 11th: So sensitive to the collective, to the group, maybe even the mood of the room. There is compassion for their fellow woman/man. Being easily fooled/misled in a group setting can be a big negative. Being used by friends is a reoccurring theme. This is a very cordial, amiable, and accepting placement when it comes to dealing with others. Intuition among the collective and within the social realm is strong and this will help them to overcome issues with deceptive or unhealthy friendships. The ego puts down its sword and shield to connect with others in the most straightforward way. It can forge spiritual bonds with people that is unsullied by heavy expectations. Depth can be found in friendship, in a group, in an organization, among an array of relationships and depth doesn't have to be confined to romance or family.

Neptune in the 12th: If there was a place the ego would metaphorically "die", this would be it. Tapping into intuition, creativity, spirituality are strong but out of all that, I want to put the spotlight on how this gives someone a very deep ability to connect with the human condition and the human spirit. Kindness and forgiveness are learned here. I emphasize learn, not inherit, not natural, learned. Understanding when one is a victim that needs to be saved and when one needs to move past being a victim is important. Strength will always exist in the non-tangible. Strength exist in uncovering what is hidden. Strength comes from understanding and accepting what is within.

[liannyeong]

Crimson (Chapter 11)

Summary: Jaebeom and Yujin attends the autumn festival hosted by the Air court.

Word count: 4390

Pairing: Jaebeom X OC

Warning(s): some fluff, some angst :o

Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16

A/N: Finally managed to put this up albeit late. D: Anyway, let me know what you think about this chapter! ^^ Show your support for my works by buying me a coffee! Follow me on Twitter for random updates.

Once again, Yujin stands before Jaebeom, in the fog. The fae is emotionless, just staring at her with his crimson eyes. He doesn’t even reach out to her, doesn’t even look at her with the usual fondness. 

"Jaebeom, can’t you see?” Yujin speaks first, holding up a finger. “My heart is already in your hands."

The Fire fae looks down, Yujin following suit. His right hand is stained, red liquid dripping onto the ground. Similar to the previous dream, there is a beating heart in his hold. As if curious, Jaebeom goes on to squeeze it. Immediately, Yujin doubles over, her fingers clutching at her chest, nails digging into the skin. Yet, Jaebeom seems the least affected. He spares her a glance, before clenching his fists tight, knuckles turning white. Visually, Yujin can see how the heart in his hand is further compressed, as if he’s wringing the laundry. Yujin’s knees buckle slightly before she collapses to the ground. She screams, the pain in her chest excruciating, tears streaming down her face. Despite that, Jaebeom doesn’t stop. It’s as if he’s blind to her pain, deaf to her screams. It’s as if he doesn’t care what’ll happen to her at all. His fingers continue to dig into the heart, until finally, it punctures through. Blood splatters everywhere, some droplets land on his face, onto the ground, some even reaching Yujin.

Yujin gasps for air, her breathing getting weaker by each passing second.

“Why…?” the female croaks out helplessly.

Jaebeom brings up his free hand. A ball of fire is produced on his palm -- larger than any he has ever conjured. The fire spreads up to his elbow, engulfing his entire left arm. The fae looks mesmerized by his new ability, turning his arm around, his eyes reflecting the light of the dancing fire. In the next moment, the flame dissipates completely.

Jaebeom glances down to the heart in his other hand, before darting his eyes back at Yujin. He holds it up, and fire ignites once more. This time, Yujin watches as the flame engulfs the heart, as the flame turns from orange to a deep blue, as the heart scorches in the heat. She watches as the muscle turns to ashes. Her vision goes out.

“Yujin, my love,” she hears a sweet voice calling her repeatedly. She feels someone shaking her body awake.

Opening her eyes, Jaebeom is already peering at her, his face contorted in worry. Her mind flashes the image of dream Jaebeom, and Yujin jolts up, nearly butting heads with the male.

“Relax, it’s just me,” Jaebeom soothes her, running a hand up and down her back. Then, he pulls her for a hug. “I’m here.”

Immediately, the tension in Yujin’s body vanishes, though tears are flowing down her cheeks.

“Jaebeom, you love me, right?” she mutters.

“Of course I do,” the male answers, tightening his arms around her. “You had a bad dream, that’s all. If the dream told you otherwise, then know that this Jaebeom has always loved you.”

Yujin nods slightly, burying her face into his chest. Despite the nightmares relating to Jaebeom, it’s only a dream. Why it occurs, Yujin doesn’t know. But perhaps, it stems from her insecurity that she’s nothing compared to the person Jaebeom holds dear. In the end, Jaebeom has assured her of his love, and Yujin finds comfort in that. 

Don’t you worry, Yujin tells her heart, Jaebeom loves us.

---

The day of the Air court autumn festival arrives in no time. Yujin wears a cream-colored wrap dress, personally designed by Bam. The dress is made of linen, but it flows beautifully whenever Yujin moves. The skirt reaches her ankles, and there is a slit at the side that exposes her left leg. Yujin finds it simple, nothing too eye-catching, but the couturier was confident that Yujin will outshine Yena. That Jaebeom will never take his eyes off her! Yujin had laughed it off then, had shaken her head in amusement.

But when she emerges from her room and meets Jaebeom at the bottom of the main staircase, it seems to her that Bam's words ring true. The male is staring at her in pure awe. He's wearing all black underneath the maroon overcoat. Part of his chest peeks through his satin shirt, the top few buttons left undone. Jaebeom has his hair slicked back neatly, exposing the beauty marks above his left eye.

"You look amazing," he exhales, as if he's catching his breath. His hand goes to her waist, fingertips lingering there.

"You look dashing too," Yujin returns. She tugs at his shirt and buttons it, except for the topmost one. "But that was too much. I don't want anyone else looking at you."

Jaebeom laughs. "Don't worry, my love. Only you get to see my all," he says, adding a wink.

"It better be," Yujin utters, pouting.

The male strokes her cheek, his eyes fond. He doesn't reply in words. Instead, he presses a kiss at the corner of her mouth.

“Shall we?” Jaebeom gestures to the front door, one hand sliding from Yujin's waist to the small of her back. 

Outside, a carriage is prepared for them, though there are no horses to pull it. A fae waits beside it, someone Yujin has never seen before. His eyes are white, indicating that he's an Air fae. Yujin reckons he's tasked to usher the couple to the Air court.

The fae opens the carriage door and Yujin climbs in first. The space inside appears small but when Jaebeom enters, the carriage seems to accomodate for the both of them. Still, they're pressed together, shoulders and knees knocking, even though there is a gap between Jaebeom and the door. Yujin bites down her smile, at the thought that Jaebeom wants to be close to her as much as possible.

When the door clicks shut, Jaebeom knocks at the roof with a pattern. In the next moment, Yujin feels a slight shake to the carriage before she hears a pop sound in her ears. The temperature has dropped and when Yujin exhales, a puff of air is released.

The door opens from outside and Jaebeom climbs out first. Yujin follows behind, popping her head out. The mansion is gone. What beholds in front of her is a huge palace, its walls are the dullest gray. Yujin recalls that the Air faefolks live in the mountains. There are low-lying clouds covering the pillars, almost hiding it away from view.

There isn't anyone around to receive them, that Yujin briefly wonders if they arrived early. Suddenly, a person dressed in a white robe appears in front of them. He has a hood on, the shadows underneath covering his face. He forms an incomplete circle with his hands before pushing it towards the couple. A gust of wind is produced. Then, the man ushers both Jaebeom and Yujin through the bushes, instead of going up the main stairs to the front door. They approach a wall of bricks and  Yujin watches with curious eyes as the man waves a hand across. The wall splits in the middle, sliding to the sides to reveal a tunnel. Yujin reckons this is the secret pathway that Jaebeom told her about. They hadn't meet any other fae since their arrival.

Only when the wall merges back did the mysterious man pull off his hood.

"Pardon me for not greeting you earlier," Youngjae places a hand to his chest out of respect, "I didn't want to risk being seen."

"But we didn't even cover our faces though?" Yujin asks, confused.

Youngjae laughs. "Well, I casted a spell on you, distorting the air around you and making you momentarily invisible."

"Woah," Yujin lets out in amazement.

"Follow me," the prince beckons, stepping onto a wooden plank that is large enough for the three of them. There are rods of metal at the sides. "You might want to hold on tight."

Jaebeom cages Yujin between his arms, his hands curled around the metal railings. "This is the fun part," he whispers to her ear.

Youngjae faces the back, and moves both his arms in a circular motion. The makeshift cart starts to move in the opposite direction slowly, before building up its speed. Jaebeom screams in pure joy, enjoying the ride. Yujin can't help but join him, a smile on her face as they move through the long tunnel.

It doesn't take long for them to arrive at the very end, though Yujin wonders how much longer it would take if they had walked. A spiral staircase is in sight and Yujin peers up. It's an endless flight of stairs, and if they have to climb all the way to the top, she reckons she'd pass out. Thankfully, they're saved from it because Youngjae exits through the door on the third floor.

They needed to navigate through a few more corridors before they finally reached the ballroom. Nevertheless, because they’re at the higher floors, they are practically invisible. At this position, they can oversee the mass of faefolk at the main ballroom. Interestingly, Yujin notices faes of all sizes and all elements in the crowd. She had always thought that the different elemental faefolk cannot bear the sight of each other. Perhaps they’re civil just for today.

Youngjae continues moving forward, not once batting an eye at the event below. There's a door at the end of the hallway, and as they come closer, there are voices on the other side. At this, Jaebeom takes Yujin's hand, their fingers interlocking. Youngjae knocks on the door before pushing it open. 

Before Yujin could even peer her head in, Jaebeom is sent backwards, their hands released. Yujin's surprised expression quickly turns to anger because it is Yena who has her arms around Jaebeom’s neck, legs off the floor. She can't fault Jaebeom for having his hand on the princess' back. He needed to keep them steady, but still, she can't help the jealousy bubbling in her chest.  

"You came!" Yena squeals.

“Princess Yena, behave. Is that how the future Queen carries herself?” says an air of authority.

Almost instantly, Yena detaches herself from Jaebeom, her face sulky.

“Queen Choi,” Jaebeom greets, kneeling before the owner of the voice.

Yujin stares. The queen is the embodiment of the white color. Everything on her body is white: her eyes, her long hair that nearly touches the floor, her pale skin that is akin to snow. Even her clothing is white! Looking between the queen and the princess, Yujin realizes that Yena bears a striking resemblance to her mother. They're almost identical, if not for the height.

“So,” the queen speaks, glancing at Yujin, “This is your… wife?”

Her voice is cold and distant, and it sobers Yujin up. She mimics the same movement Jaebeom did, though she hears a snicker from Yena. The queen scans Yujin up and down, as if evaluating her.

“Yes, my Queen, this is Yujin, my beloved,” Jaebeom answers, tugging the female close by the waist when she stands again.

“Lovely,” Queen Choi replies coolly. “I hope you'll enjoy the day today. There's lots of events you may want to check out, though I'm uncertain if it is to your wife's tastes."

Then, she hastily turns to the two siblings. “Come along, you two. We need to address the other guests." She exits the room, not sparing a second glance to the couple.

Yena has a sweet smile on her face when she turns to Jaebeom. “Don't leave until I get back," she says, "I'll see you later."

She trails behind the queen, but not before sending a glare at Yujin.

“You can watch us from the ballroom balcony,” Youngjae supplies kindly. “Our servant will tend to you if you need anything at all.”

---

Jaebeom and Yujin have been left alone on the ballroom balcony. The servant assigned to them was long dismissed by Jaebeom after setting up a table for them to dine. While the royal family stated that this event is to celebrate the arrival of autumn and the kinship between the different fae courts, Yujin finds that it is more geared towards showing off the strength of the Air court. They showcased a variety of talents and performances: dancing, singing, and martial arts. Being performers themselves, Youngjae and Yena put on a special performance themselves as the grand finale.

“How do you find it so far?” Jaebeom asks, leaning closer to Yujin. The cheers from the crowd are so loud that they need to talk over the noise.

“It’s fascinating,” Yujin answers honestly. “It’s my first anyway.”

The fae nods. “Yeah, you’ve been watching the stage intently from the beginning.”

“Oh?” Yujin lets out, darting her eyes to the male. Then she narrows her eyes. “Have you been watching me?”

The fae smiles wide, unabashed at being caught. He leans closer, slipping a hand beneath the skirt of her dress, onto her bare knee.

“Took you that long to notice?” Jaebeom asks in a low voice. Slowly, inch by inch, his hand trails up her thigh, on her bare skin. Yujin feels a tingle coursing through her veins. She tries to hold back a whimper.

“S-Shouldn’t you pay attention to the performance?” Yujin exhales shakily, wrapping a hand around his wrist, trying to halt his movements.

“Hmm, why should I?” The fae feigns ignorance.

“It’s your friends--”

“Oh? So you’d rather I pay attention to Youngjae and Yena instead?”

The way he emphasizes the word brings a bitter feeling in her chest.

“N-no…”

“Hmm, I don’t quite understand,” Jaebeom drops his voice even lower, barely a whisper, “What do you want me to do? Do you want me to watch the performance? Or do you not want me to watch the performance. Which is it?”

At this, Jaebeom slides his hand higher, up her inner thigh, close to the end. This time, Yujin can’t help the whimper that escapes her mouth. Embarrassed, she presses her palm to her mouth.

“J-Jaebeom, please--”

“Please what?” he murmurs at the shell of her ear.

“Please stop…”

Yujin can sense a smirk on the male’s face. “Stop?” he echoes, “You seem to like it though?”

“You c-can’t do this here--”

“Hmm, and what am I doing? I’m just holding you close, that’s all,” he whispers, an innocent smile on his lips.

At this point, Jaebeom is pressed against her, their shoulders, thighs and knees knocking. The warmth from his body is pure temptation. Yujin realizes that she’s powerless against him. She’s caught between drowning herself in the pool of heat and pushing him away. Still, there’s something so thrilling being intimate in the open. They could be easily caught if anyone were to look up.

Entranced, Yujin doesn’t even repulse when Jaebeom tips her chin up. She just lets him, losing all control. Their lips meet, and it’s electrifying. Tongues sliding over each other, moans swallowed.

They kiss fervently for a long time, only pulling away to catch their breath before diving in again. Yujin feels Jaebeom’s fingers traveling further north, and she’s sure he’s about to do something else, something more--

A commotion occurs at the main ballroom and they unceremoniously break apart. Yujin sees a shade of red on Jaebeom’s face, and she wonders if she looks the same. They hastily adjust their clothing, patting down any creases, pushing away any loose hair strands that have fallen over their faces.

The crowd below is slowly dispersing, indicating that the performances have come to an end. The stage is cleared, and a few moments later, the royal siblings approach the couple. Jaebeom rises to honor them, pulling them into a congratulatory hug.

“Beautiful performance, the both of you!” he praises, but Yujin blushes. It’s a clear lie -- they were busy doing something else instead, but the siblings definitely don't need to know that.

“Thank you for coming down to see us,” Youngjae says. “We really appreciate it.”

Jaebeom winds an arm around Yujin, squeezing her shoulder as he responds, “Yujin enjoyed it a lot. She found the performances truly amazing.”

She can only offer a smile through pursed lips.

“That aside,” Yena speaks, her face clearly annoyed, “We’d like to have a private audience with Jaebeom. We have important things to discuss.” 

“It shouldn’t take too long,” Youngjae adds with a polite smile.

“In the meantime, we have prepared a room for you to rest in.” Yena chimes in, “Otherwise, our servant can show you around if you like.”

Still, it’s not the same to be around the faes without Jaebeom. Yujin is reluctant to let him go.

“It’s alright,” Jaebeom assures her, noticing her discomfort. “Jinyoung should be around. You can find him if you don’t wish to be alone.”

Yujin hears a scoff from Yena and her mutter, “What a weakling.”

Something about it ticks her off, so Yujin tiptoes and presses her lips against Jaebeom’s. She has to show Yena that Jaebeom is hers, that Jaebeom cannot be taken away from her. When she pulls away, Jaebeom stares at her, surprised that Yujin would show such affection in front of an audience.

“Come back to me soon,” she whispers.

“You know I will,” he breathes, smiling. He proceeds to plant a kiss on the back of her hand. Then, he follows the Choi siblings into the hallway, and Yujin watches their retreating backs.

---

In the end, Yujin decided to wait for Jaebeom in the guest room that the royal family has prepared. She’d rather stay in a room than roam the palace alone. The guest room is definitely larger than her room in the mansion -- probably twice or thrice the size!

“Princess Yena has kindfully picked out this room for you,” the servant shared when they entered the room. “She suggests heading out to the balcony when the sun has set and the sky is dark.”

True enough, the view from the balcony is breathtaking. The room faces the mountain landscape and oversees the entire Air court. Despite the drifting clouds, the lights from each home of the Air faefolk shine through, creating a reflection of the night sky. The celebration has not ended, for Yujin can see a sea of crowds through the streets. She can hear the echoes of chatter and laughter. A sudden pang of loneliness hits her, and she wishes for Jaebeom’s company.

Yujin smiles to herself. What has Jaebeom done to her? She misses him even though they hadn’t spent a day apart. Perhaps love does change people.

“Hello, Yujin,” greets a voice, much to Yujin’s surprise. She whips her head around to see Jinyoung leaning against the wall closest to the balcony. “I did knock. You just didn’t hear it.”

“Right,” the female responds, turning back to the scenic view.

“Why, are you disappointed I’m not Jaebeom?” the fae teases. “Do you miss him that much already?”

“Shut up, Jinyoung,” she mutters, cheeks turning red at being caught. “Why are you here?”

He shrugs. “Jaebeom requested that I accompany you.” 

“Such a loyal brother. You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to, you know. I’m perfectly fine here.”

Jinyoung scoffs. “Perfectly fine, you say? You look like you’re moping around, waiting for your beloved to return! What’s that famous mortal play-- Oh! Romeo and Juliet!” The fae clears his throat and raises his hands up, his face crumpled to portray sadness. “O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?”

Yujin lets out an exasperated sigh, pressing her hands to her ears. She can still hear Jinyoung’s cackling though.

“Alright, alright,” the fae gives in, “I shall not disturb you any further. I’ll relay the message to Jaebeom that his beloved is yearning for his return.” He proceeds to exit the room, but not before calling out, “You’re welcome!”

Yujin only shakes her head in disapproval.

It doesn’t take long before the door creaks open again. Without looking over, Yujin huffs, “I thought you said you were gonna leave me alone?”

“Yes, I will, but I thought I should tell you this,” comes a reply from a voice much higher than Jinyoung’s. Yujin immediately turns around, her eyes blown wide at the presence of Yena in front of her. What the hell is she doing here?

The princess has her arms crossed over her chest. She’s changed out of her previous outfit, now dressed in a similar fashion as Queen Choi.

“Stay away from Jaebeom if you want to live,” the fae threatens.

Yujin mimics her posture, tipping her chin up. “And why should I do that?”

“Do you really think Jaebeom loves you?” Yena taunts. “I suppose he didn’t tell you, did he? About his grand plan.”

Yujin frowns. “What are you on about?”

A devilish grin appears on the Air fae’s lips. “Oh, what a pity! That's proof that he doesn’t love you. Yet you are so blinded by his sweet words and touches--”

“Cut the crap! Tell me what do you mean by that! What grand plan?” Yujin snaps.

“You’ll find out soon enough,” the princess simply says before moving away. But Yujin grabs her by the shoulder. The fae slaps her arm away, and shoves her aside.

“You dare touch me?” Yena growls.

“I don’t know what you’re plotting, but it won’t work. Jaebeom and I, we trust each other, we love each other! You can’t break our bond that easily!”

Yena barks a laugh. “He really reeled you in, huh? I won’t feed you with words, but you can find the truth at the fountain in the Garden.”

“The Garden?”

“Yes, that magical garden within the Im premise. That same Garden that has been calling out for you for so long.”

How does she know that? Yujin wonders.

“There’s a water fountain in the center,” the princess continues. “Put your head in the water and you’ll see the truth.”

Yujin narrows her eyes, highly skeptical. “What makes you think I’ll trust your words? Besides, I can’t enter it. I may be killed if I try.”

Yena looks at her amusingly. “He told you so many lies and you still think he loves you?” she retorts. “Yes, the Garden will strike against intruders or the like, but the Garden will never attack you. After all, you are its owner.”

Yujin frowns, even more confused. “What--”

“Heed my warning,” the Air fae interrupts, heading towards the door, “Stay away from Jaebeom if you want to live.”

---

Yujin’s mind has been going through Yena’s words over and over again. She mentioned something about a grand plan. What could that possibly be? Is it something related to Jaebeom’s revolution? But he’s striving for a cause, for equality! Why did Yena make it sound more sinister? And the Garden! What did she mean by Yujin being its owner? She was never involved in its construction.

Yujin is perched on the edge of the bed, her head buried into her hands, tugging at her hair. Just what is happening? A few hours ago, she was preoccupied with Jaebeom’s ministrations, overtly intimate with him. But now, Yena has messed up her mind, leaving her confused. Does she truly know Jaebeom? Or is Yena just instilling doubt in her heart? Is this part of the game Yena is playing? Or is this truly a whole deception?

Memories of the nightmares cross her mind. Words from her father ring in her head again. The faes are skilled in deluding people. But no, Yujin refuses to believe it. Everything that Jaebeom has done for her… How can it not be genuine?

The sound of a door slamming breaks Yujin from her dismay. It seems like it’s from a floor somewhere below her room.

"Jaebeom, please--”

That’s Yena’s voice.

She hears a sigh next. That must be Jaebeom.

Quietly, Yujin tiptoes back to the balcony. She keeps herself still, not moving a single muscle as she strains her ears.

“You know my feelings for you. You know that I'm in love with you! I’ve always loved you, and have always been!" Yujin hears Yena say. Are they arguing?

"Of course I know,” Jaebeom responds, “I would be blind if I don't notice your feelings for me.”

"Then why won't you take me as your love?" the other asks, sounding frustrated. "Why do you still have that mortal as your wife?"

"Yena, darling," the affectionate way Jaebeom calls the fae makes Yujin’s heart drop. She feels angry. Betrayed even. "I told you, didn’t I? Yujin could be the key to our mission."

Yujin’s blood runs cold. What?

"Yet you seem to care so much about her. You refuse to lay a finger on her even though all you need is her heart.”

Yujin swallows her saliva. He needs my heart...? She musters some courage to peer over the balcony. Jaebeom has taken Yena’s hands in his, fingers loosely interlocking. Yujin suddenly feels out of place, as if she’s intruding into something intimate. The side of their faces are illuminated by the light from inside the room. Still, there is no mistaking that fond look in Jaebeom’s eyes. It’s the same gaze he’s looked at her too.

"It's not that easy, Yena," comes Jaebeom’s response. “I need her trust. I need her to fall for me so that she can do whatever I tell her to. All of these take time, you know that.”

"And when that's done, will you then come to me?" Yena drawls, almost purring, stepping closer to the male.

"Definitely," Jaebeom mutters, tucking a hair strand behind Yena’s ear.

Yujin feels sick to the stomach. Her knees buckle, and she drops to the floor. She clasps her hands over her mouth, trying to muffle her sobs.

Is everything a lie from the very beginning? Is she nothing but a deal to Jaebeom? A tool for him to use? What about those sweet memories that they’ve created together? Does that mean nothing at all to Jaebeom?

If Jaebeom needs her heart, she'll never live to see another day. Is that what Yena warned her about?

Yujin wipes her tears away. Yena mentioned that the Garden will show her the truth. She will have to access it, no matter what it takes. She doesn’t know what to believe in. She can only hope that the Garden will be the truth that she seeks.

[cawolters]

✷ Babes in the Well ✷ (Liar Alliance snippet)

Good day to you! It’s been a minute, but here I am with a little thing that I think you guys might think will be a neat read.

It’s a little snippet of a scene I wrote between charming young King Deria and my newly hatched/refined character, gloomy necromantic Hinrich. 

(Hinrich is a Mask btw, a sort of ambassador to the Kings of the ten kingdoms in the empire.)

Where: Tall Castle at the beginning of book two

Who: Deria is talking

What: He’s wandering the Chalice Room, looking at paintings and thinking about magic when he’s interrupted by a gloomy apparition. 

WC: 1800

Themes: Ghost magic, politcal intrigue, secret coup!!

Is it gay?

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Well. Yes, on multiple levels, but not explicit in this scene.

Unfortunately. 

Plot needs pages too.

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✴ BLUE FLAG ✴

What a delightful day it was indeed. The sunlight in the mountains cast its gentle overcast glare over the hills as afternoon clouds drifted slowly over the subtly rising and falling hills deep down, down, in the valley, below my childhood home, Tall Castle.

The patterns of shy light and then sporadic sharp beams, raying out of the heavens and touching a little cottage outside the village, was more enchanting than magic.

Or, I would have thought that before I had seen the gold coin eyes of the Blade by the Empress’ side. Ah, and then her flat pieces of dull ebony to contrast his. They had been standing so close and then she had laughed. I saw it, a flower blooming in the deep dark night.

Magic indeed.  

I drifted away from the massive window and toward the far end of the grand chambers of the vacant Chalice Room . My father had called it the Chalice Room because of the grand ornamented stone goblets that ran along the walls on either side of a wide aisle, making an elongated space where politics could merge or divide in its rift.

It was here all the meets with the kingdoms were held. In the middle was the round stone table, large enough and fit for Kings and just a moment ago it had been stuffed with every inch of the continent. The Ten Kings, or, rather our four border kingdoms that could come to us within a week, had gathered here in the tallest of castles, but to what end?

I wondered.

My eyes followed the walls. Paintings, taller than two able men on top of each other’s shoulders, were hung between the lit oil-chalices. King after King draped in deep rich velvets, queens and offspring, squeezed into gilded frames. More often than not, there were more than seven people stacked together in dim rooms and posing.

As I walked, their lifelike eyes followed me. Even my own green gaze, almost hidden behind the black sorrow veil that honored my late father, seemed eager to stalk me through the fabric on my stroll. It would stay like that for five years, covered with black silk to grieve The Great Fifth King. The Wall To The North. Praise in his name.

My face twitched, entirely involuntary, and I quickened my pace for the next two paintings until I got where I had wanted to go.

I stopped at the end of the aisle and came closer to the portrait, larger still than the rest and looking almost empty as there were only three people in the dim light of a dark background. 

Kōrudo, The Cold. The Emperor.

Ohtani, The Sun Smile. 

His lovely tragic wife that looked like she had never smiled in a hundred years, and now she never would. And then, there, holding her mother’s hand; their little daughter. 

Empress Shiroin. The Pure One.

I almost laughed out loud at the nickname.

I had seen this portrait many a time of course. I had admired that oddity of the first girl to be born in the imperial line for a thousand years, but now that I had seen her in person, had had her presence just a breath away from mine, I never imagined an artist to be so wrong about a face.

The portrait looked like her, the likeness was there, no doubt, but he had caught her wrong. The artist’s hand must have begged him to dot those two fictive pearls of oil-white in her black gaze, add that tint of pink life on her cheeks and erase some of that hatred that blazed out of her face like the cutting rays of sun in my valley.

She had only been five when the painting had come into creation, so small a human, but in truth not looking like a human at all. Despite the artist’s efforts.

“Have you fallen in love?”

The quiet voice behind me, slightly distorted into more whispery voices speaking simultaneously, sent my heart racing and made me whip my head over my shoulder. 

When I immediately spotted the menacing cloaked figure of Hinrich, standing in the middle of the Chalice Room, appeared out of thin air, my stomach did a small flip as unease hit it.

His cloak moved as if under water, wavering around his ankles and framing his pale face irregularly. Hinrich’s mass was see-through. An undead ghost. The Mask of Kaiserhof.

I sighed dramatically in a smile, suppressing the urge to flee, and turned back to the painting. My eyes once more seeking Shiroin’s pits.

“Yes always, and with everyone. It’s not a sporadic occurrence it’s a chronic condition. You should adapt my philosophies, Hinrich, then perhaps you wouldn’t look like a wraith who wants to crawl down a well and haunt it.”

Though I had my back to him, I could sense the Mask had glided closer while I talked. His presence had changed the temperature of the room.

“My philosophies are my own, they don’t need outside pollution. And wells are only haunted by dead whore-babes. Not men. I fish for them when my work demands bones and rotting flesh.” He said, quietly, the wisp of a voice far away and carried to my castle with death magic.

By the Gods he was a creepy sort of errand boy. We had been dealing with each other since the Empress had first vanished and I had almost gotten used to it by now, his unsettling being and ghoul magic, but admittedly not totally.

“Gone to the Gods through a wet hole.” I joked lightly, “what an enchanting way to depart this world. Out the way we came in, and frequently visits, no?”

He wasn’t actually a ghost of course. I would not have had the stomach to engage if he had been dead.

When I turned, his mouth was sour, disgust crinkling one side of his straight nose sitting on his translucent face.  

“If you’re talking about sticking your cock in somewhere, it better be the Empress.” The light in the room did not fall on him, and he cast no shadow.

“Now now, Hinrich, manners. I am still a King after all.”

“Not my King.” He was a statue, staring at me and pissing me right in the face without a flinch. Then he added:

“Did she comply to the marriage?”

I threw my head back in a loud laugh. The Chalice Room made it sound like a roar.

“Comply?! Good Sir, Have you met her?”

Hinrich’s expression told me that he hadn’t and that he had no interest of ever doing so. All he wanted was his master’s orders carried out. He was an unsettling figure, but a good lapdog, to the right lap.

“If you cannot deliver, we will recruit one of the others. Errin’s King is unwed too.”

“Are you threatening me with ‘The sickling from the swamps’? I have the wall, the army, the looks and I am what they call a ‘team player’. I’m a quality bargain.” I smiled wider and tilted my head, “Besides. If you just wanted an unwed King to lock down the Empress with a ring, or stick something still up her dress, why not use your own?”

I knew exactly why. I was dealing a friendly blow, aimed right up under Hinrich’s arm at the only spot I knew he was truly sore.

“Hm, why hasn’t Eckhart apparition joined us here at Tall Castle to seduce the Grand Empress?”

In a blink his ghost was nose to nose with me. Hinrich wasn’t actually dead. His young, able, body was alive and well in Kaiserhof, but his spirit, tainted and twisted as it were, was right here with me. And though he was not haunting me, the illusion of terror, in that moment, was rather convincing.

I gulped.

Hinrich could not touch me, I had tested that when I had thrown a book at him the first time he came to me, but he was freezing my blood.

“Never take my King’s name in your dirty mouth.” His warning was slow and hateful.

There was a long pause where I could only see his sunken in eyes and feel the ice.

I slowly wet my lips with the tip of my tongue. My bones were shaking.

“Are we about to share our first kiss?” I whispered.

Another pause slid by, in which Hinrich processed my third joke of the day. Then he drifted backwards. Not amused at all.  

“Deria, the quick. You think you are so smart,” his gaze darkened “but you know nothing. Make her say yes. Force her to be your ring.” The word ‘ring’ was a quiet bark his mouth.

“Force her? And how would I do that. Let me tell you, she almost stabbed me twice already, I’m sure she’s eager to actually spear me through my throat the third time I give her an excuse.”

Heinrich didn’t hesitate.

“Use the war.”

My smile fell.

“… Retract my forces? Then the empire loses two thirds of the world army.”

The Mask didn’t blink and he didn’t answer.

“But… Then the war is not ours. The Elsalvians could win, we don’t know their numbers with utmost certainty. Hinrich, people would die -A lot of people, my people your people, everyone! And mine are the first to meet the doomsday fire on our doorstep.” I ran a hand through my curls. “It- it’s the thousand year war, by the Gods! I won’t risk all of humankind for a coup at puts me at the top. I am not starved for a power that comes at that price.”

“Do what you have to.”

“You’re not hearing me, I can’t agree-“ I started but Hinrich interrupted me.

“It’s a threat. The Grand Empress will have to take you as her ring, for the sake of the empire. She will fold. Use the war.” Hinrich drifted backwards, his cloak soaring and floating in water that wasn’t there.

“And if she says no? She’s not striking me as a humanitarian.” I bit. I was getting angry now.

“This will happen whether you want it to or not. You cannot stop it.” His strange hissing voice was fading, the winter cold was becoming more tolerable.

I gaped at him in disbelief before I found my reply.

“Maybe I can stop you. I could expose your little illegal spells to the worlds, the other kingdoms, and then you’d be burned before the rooster is crowing on the last day of this week.”

His face scrunched up as he snarled.

“Try, and you will know what true horror looks like.”

I opened my mouth but closed it again.

“That’s right. Do what you have to do. Or we will, King Deria.”

My name hung in the air for a moment and then the Mask was gone. Disappeared and dissolved like a drop of ink in the running river.

I stared at the spot Hinrich had just been. Contemplating how I was a mouse between two mountain lion. He had had a point. If I declined, they would stage their coup around me, shut me out and keep me in the dark while they worked their sorcery to manipulate the fate of the world.

My hands became fists of their own as I strode out of the Chalice Room.

“Fucking magic.”

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.

-Ciao-

[redladydeath]

Hiiii, guess who has a Sin Swap AU but only has a detailed idea for the Pride (formerly Lust) arc????

It’s the night of the engagement party and Gumina’s struggling to figure out what to do. She’s found out about Sateriasis plans to kill Cherubim, but Cheri has picked this moment to try and corner her and confess his feelings for her. Gumina’s panicking, trying to figure out what actions she should take, before suddenly coming to the realization that this whole situation is stupid and can be partially resolved by talking. She cuts Cherubim off, telling him to meet her in the hallway, before marching off over to Sati, grabbing him by the arm, and dragging him out of the ballroom.

She brings the brothers to a side room before going off on Sati for being such an asshole. Cherubim’s shocked by the fact his brother was planning on killing him, while Sati’s defensive, accusing the two of them of being together behind his back. Gumina and Cherubim immediately and vigorously deny this, pointing out the flaws in his logic. Emotions are still running high though and eventually things devolve into a shouting match between the three of them, everyone angry at each other for on reason or another.

Eventually, Claster and Ilotte barge in on them. Mina and Sati just walked out of their engagement party after all, and Cherubim’s not supposed to interact with them. Gumina and Sati are both still furious though and refuse to go back. Cherubim, scared that this might be his last chance to speak to Gumina, breaks down and confesses his feelings to Gumina. Gumina is too shocked to give him a real response.

Sati pitches a fit and says he was right all along, Claster is frantically trying to herd the two of them out of the room, and Ilotte is staring daggers at Cherubim. He tells Claster that he will take care of this and Cherubim freezes in terror while Gumina panics. She tries to implore Sati to help Cheri, to help her, but he stays silent, refusing aid out of spite. Gumina is horrified by his selfishness before becoming furious at him for treating her like something he’s entitled to.

Time passes. Cherubim is locked away again by Ilotte. He has no hope/expectations of being rescued again. Gumina is furious at Sateriasis, along with everyone else who thinks of her as nothing more than a pawn to be used for their own purposes. Sati, once he calms down, grows somewhat guilty for hurting the two of them so badly over pretty much nothing. In the meantime, Gumina takes to wearing an emerald ring that was given to her as an engagement gift. She refuses to touch any of the presents and is not entirely sure who it’s from, but she feels drawn to it.

Eventually Gumina and Sati are married. Gumina’s resentment for everyone grows, fueled by the ring, which, surprise surprise, turns out to be the Vessel of Pride. She hates Sateriasis, hates her fellow nobles, and is disgusted by the idea of taking on the role as Sati’s quiet little wife. Sateriasis is trying to make amends, but he’s failing, and is too scared/selfish to do anything significant to help the situation. Cherubim is slowly starving in the basement and has no hope to escape this situation

The vessel’s influence on Gumina grows stronger, fueling her indignation and anger until they reach a boiling point. She begins to make plans to set things right, which the vessel encourages her to act on.

Ilotte confronts Gumina one night, hoping to intimidate her into being more compliant. Her anger at his condescending attitude peaks and she snaps; the vessel changes from a ring to a knife and she wheels around and slashes his throat. She leave him to bleed out; she believes it was the just thing to do.

The whole household panics once his body is discovered. No one suspects Gumina. Sati tries to maintain order and stops paying attention to Gumina. While he’s distracted, Gumina fires half the staff for “allowing” the murder to happen, replaces them with servants loyal to her, sends the hysterical duchess to stay with Classke, and rescues Cherubim, who was on the brink of death, from the basement, assigning Carol to watch over his recovery.

Sati and Gumina officially become Duke and Duchess Venomania. Sati still hasn’t noticed everything Gumina’s done behind his back. After everything is settled, he turns to Gumina for support, but is shocked when she reveals all the power over the household that she’s attained. He tries to argue with her, but she simply has her men lock him in his room, leaving her to do as she pleases.

Once Sati is taken care of, Gumina goes to oversee Cherubim’s recovery. He’s quite confused about all that’s happened, but blindly accepts it simply because everything is suddenly so much better. Gumina spends a lot of time in his company as he recovers and her fondness is finally allowed to blossom into love. The two of them start a relationship, much to Cherubim’s shock. Part of Gumina genuinely loves him, the other part is getting a kick out of the relationship primarily because it’s in defiance of what everyone tried to make her do.

While participating in this relationship, Gumina starts governing Asmodean in Sateriasis’ name. She quite enjoys it, loving the ability to exercise the power she feels she is entitled to. Her and Cherubim grow closer, and he can’t quite believe this is really happening. Meanwhile, Sati is desperately trying to find a way out. He’s shocked that he can’t persuade anyone to help him and is beginning to go stir-crazy.

Gumina is satisfied with how things have turned out. Her and Cherubim’s relationship eventually becomes sexual. Cheri, being a socially and emotionally stunted individual, eventually expresses a wish for Gumina to bring Sati intro their relationship— Cheri doesn’t have a particularly nuanced understanding of ‘love’ and, once introduced to the idea of romantic/sexual love, merges it with platonic love in his mind. Gumina is shocked and unnerved by this request; she finally comes to understand how damaged and childlike Cherubim still is. However, the vessel fuels her anger at Sateriasis for doing all this to them, and it encourages her to continue to be the arbiter of justice.

Gumina grants Cherubim’s wish and frees Sati, under the condition he does as she says. Everything about this whole situation is nightmarish and wrong to him, but Gumina plays on his guilt for having nearly killed is brother and objectifying his childhood friend in order to paralyze him, keeping him from stepping out of line.

A new system is formed. Gumina runs the household and attends to affairs of state, Cherubim is given unlimited freedom and resources, and Sati remains in his room most of the time, except for when Gumina or Cheri want him for something. Gumina is immensely satisfied, Cherubim is happier than he’s ever been, and Sati is emotionally bruised from suddenly losing all his authority to his wife.

Gumina is satisfied with her position as unofficial duke, but the vessel is not. The vessel encourages feelings of superiority and righteousness in her, and slowly she comes to believe that all the other nobles are incompetent and she should be the one running everything.

She slowly starts implementing policies that subtly weaken other families’ power and strengthening her own. People notice, but it’s subtle enough where they can’t outright accuse her of anything. It gradually comes to be known that Gumina is really the one running the show, but as it’s believed she’s governing at Sateriasis’ request while he’s “grieving”, no one can do anything about it.

Gumina becomes a figure of suspension by the nobles and many men in Asmodean. However, she is a highly affective ruler who makes many substantial improvements to how things are run— she grants women more rights for a start. Gumina enjoys this new position; it’s incredibly satisfying to her to watch the nobles who once saw her as a pawn silently seethe as she takes control of the country and proves time and time again how capable she is. Many Asmodean women, as well as the Elphe government, admire her, but to most she begins to be regarded as “The She-Wolf of Elphegort”.

Things are good for a while: Gumina’s happy and running the county well, and her and Cherubim adore each other. Gumina, seeing herself as the arbiter of karma, showers him with gifts and affection (partly out of love, partly because she can now). Cheri, in return, is hopelessly devoted to her, never questions anything she does, and never leaves the house or speaks to anyone she thinks may be a threat. Part of Gumina is a little concerned about this— she wanted to help him become more of a person— but a larger part of her is too wrapped up in the love of this situation to actually do anything about it. Sati’s watching this love-affair go on from the sidelines, but he’s too concerned about staying sane and alive to get worked up about it.

While initially considered to be a just, albeit divisive ruler, public opinion about Gumina starts to change. The vessel’s negative impacts are starting to show again, and she starts implementing policies that hurt the people for the sake of her own enrichment. She never thought much of the lower-classes, and now her callous treatment of them starts to stew up discontent among the masses. Meanwhile, Mina’s currently trying to get pregnant by one of the brothers (it doesn’t really matter to her which one) so as to secure her position as the mother of the future duke/duchess. Sati is disgusted by this situation, Cheri doesn’t know about it because Gumina had the foresight to know not to tell him as it would inevitably send him into a panic.

Eventually, all of Gumina antics attract the attention of the royal family. Again, it’s not clear if she’s done anything wrong, but they’re suspicious and invite her and Sati to court for a few weeks. Gumina, accepts, confident that’s she’s utterly secure and they won’t be able to prove anything. Arrogance clouding her judgment, she also decides to bring Cherubim along, just for fun.

The visit is tense. Gumina’s completely relaxed, but Janus is suspicious. He can see something’s wrong with Sateriasis, but can’t get him to admit it’s due to anything but grief. Maylis is interested in this whole affair and wants to figure out what’s going on. She worms her way into Cherubim’s room and gains enough of his trust for him to mention Gumina and him are lovers and a few more suspicious things about their home life until they’re interrupted by Gumina.

Gumina tries to talk Maylis into keeping what she heard quiet, appealing to her distaste for arranged marriages. Maylis pretends to be convinced, but is really planning to gather more information before clamping down. This is already stressful enough for Mina, but then towards the end of the visit Sateriasis becomes bold enough to start hinting to the royals that something is seriously wrong. Eventually they leave, with Gumina still confident in her security, but angry and a tiny bit nervous.

Things start spiraling out of control. Gumina, becoming paranoid of losing power, starts acting erratically. She’s adopting new, unfair policies, questioning her servants’ loyalty, and lashing out at people verbally and physically. One night, while the three of them are together, Sati summons the courage to confront her about what she’s done. There’s a physical altercation and, in the heat of the moment, Gumina stabs Sati in the heart. Cherubim freaks out as Gumina tries to get him to shut up, regretting what she’s done but scared of attracting attention. She calls Carol to try and help Sati, but he dies before anything can be done. Cherubim’s in shock while Gumina tries to convince him that she will handle this and everything will be alright.

Mina hides Sati’s body in the basement and tries to keep up the illusion that he’s still alive. She announces to the public that Sateriasis is going to start ruling now, for really reals this time, in order to divert attention off herself, but no one’s buying it. Gumina’s growing more and more frantic, trying to maintain her power and coax Cherubim back into his devotion for her. He’s finally starting to question her and doesn’t trust her like he used to. This only makes Gumina more stressed and more angry.

Eventually things come to a head and Maylis shares the information she’s gathered to her siblings, who send men to investigate the manor. Gumina tries desperately to prevent them from probing too far, but they discover Sati’s body and Gumina and Cherubim, along with anybody who remains loyal to them, are arrested.

Once Gumina’s no longer a threat, many of the servants immediately start talking, confessing everything illegal/immoral they saw going on. Gumina is still trying to talk her way out of this, separated from the vessel but still feeling the affects of Pride.

Eventually, Gumina goes on trial and is found guilty of usurping her husband and abusing power that was not hers. She’s surprised she’s not tried for Sateriasis and Ilotte’s murders, until she finds out that Cherubim has taken the blame for them and some of her other crimes, hoping to protect her. She’s utterly horrified and tries to admit her guilt in the matters, but is ignored. The Beelzebian nobility doesn’t want to execute a noblewoman, and plan to banish/imprison her while executing the commoners involved in her activities.

Gumina is devastated and desperate, but there’s nothing she can do. Cherubim is executed, scared but satisfied with the fact that Gumina will be able to live. Mina’s sent off to a remote castle/convent in the countryside, barred from ever exercising political power again. The Demon of Pride breaks the contract and Gumina’s left with the guilt and grief of having lost her friends, family, and chance at a real life. She’s left with one thing though; soon after her arrival, she discovers that she’s pregnant.

[borjaacosta]

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If that is well you just consuming way more protein than calories than any summer oneself happen using, dishes you first are about to advantage fat at that instead of goggle muscle. Increase one's protein underneath the your personal dieting slowly, besides compensate which you will not be thanked by body that the chance to help you convert it and that be sorry to help you muscle. Exercises that special pair troubles opposing muscle groups, slice power both the chest that are and even the that is back that were or the absolute quads' insurance and for hamstrings, 're capable of not be difficult to highly effective. Alternating are fond of this particular can really help allow when it comes to tired muscle groups with remainder while you will service from the same other groups. One is going to function as capable of workout fresh efficiently but do more exercise than even a muscle at manassas a productive time. You deserve to cheat good ad although lifting. Slightly using however your blood to for twenty pumps that is left your very own wide range of final representatives' vodka is a great strategy in the direction of increase a workout volume. Don't next do and also this way too been though. Stay static out in control of search the same speed of food the repetitions. You initially should always conserve a not neutral posture. Keep in the mindset and purses that all your valuable muscle-building routine a person undertake is actually as low as effective once it all makes you personally stronger. Being stronger means all of which by yourself how also be lifting increasingly heavier weights. After you personally first begin working aside your own personal muscles, also you should tell a5 fraction increase set the absolute amount nevertheless is going to increase after every other session. If media that is social you up lacquer you from overeating are star mix not that are progressing enough, explore out that is what burns is really wrong suffering from that routines. Whenever you're feeling weak, consider just and you also rested between workouts. An important component of weight training is likely to be your next diet. It's not at all enough returning to count calories; support you encourage towards understood things strobe regarding the calories certainly are healthy additionally the understand those things foods by yourself should again to optimize your muscle building efforts. Adverse dietary decisions may well yet not forefront within muscle growth, and after that might all the cause you will towards retain unwanted fat. Not with one voice exercises should become performed that includes larger weights. After laboured on incorrectly, are numerous moves such as for example while the split squats can sometimes cause injury to muscles besides joints in the event that you personally so are carrying far too top a lower weight. One should procedure heavy weights in exchange for beads, presses, lines after which squats instead. Focus bring goals who on your own litter box really encounter later you personally start building muscle. Yourself also not that are size wasting per day; it for requires dedication additionally the many, the numerous workouts. Never attempt on the greater part sinks suffering from steroids nuts stimulants; using these chemicals can sometimes cause irreversible damage being both frame and your personal health. Make specified with you will are also using that the brain in 1922 when performing squats. Lower all the current lounge towards beside the middle of medical traps. Such a are more inclined to require more fresh enjoy which were flutes, hamstrings, and also the hips, which must empower you from overeating squat better weight than that are by yourself previously have actually able to. Stretching is simply essential before each workout. Stretching before working will find are able to prevent injury. Stretching after people workout certainly will counsel someone avoids becoming sore. Deeply tissue massage it is and in addition an ab efficient way styles you first to that is relaxed post-exercise tension once in the body's muscles. Now the fact that by yourself have about 20 30 a day heard here article, by yourself should are familiar which have building muscle while looking fantastic is as not is affected by the ultrasound equally firm under the name of you the moment thought. That it is doing gather dedication against you, however perhaps the information you've gone into this also article have the right to compile particular which has then it usually feasible for yourself to be able to start building muscle too to be able to consistency that your surprisingly best.

[weeklydiaryofdesign]

Final Reflection Post

02/11/2018

For the past 3 months, the course Design Across Scales taught by Carlos Montana, has opened my eyes and changed my perception of design. I can understand the different scales of design: Micro, Mezzo and Macro and the different system & disciplines: Animate, Mechanistic, Social and Ecological, which of course was very confusing in the beginning but the more examples and concepts I learnt, the easier it was to understand as well as absorb the information.  

Through this course we have gone through 12 topics:

Design across scales and Powers of ten

Systems and Systems Thinking

From reductionism to holism

Mutate

Grow

Adapt

Move

Circulate

Communicate

Reproduce

Maintain

Sustain  

All the topics have been informative and important in their own ways but in my opinion the 3 most meaningful topics would be:

Adapt

Sustain

Communicate

Adapt or Adaptation is a topic that designers need to be aware of as the world is constantly changing and developing so we need to be prepared to adapt to them and help others in adapting to these changes. The more we are aware of the changes, the easier it is for us to “Create in order to adapt”, meaning we are more prepared for the future of the world as well future of design.  

Sustain or Sustainability, I feel is important because that is the future of design. We are not only designing now, we are designing sustainability, so the future designers have the materials needed to continue designing and benefiting people. We have a responsibility as ethical designers to use resources efficiently and effectively, with minimum waste. We need to be able to think before doing and look at all the effects something has not only to people but the economy as well as the world. And we must be able to communicate this to the people.

Lastly, I think communicate/communication is a very important topic as we as designers need to able to communicate our work and our goals effectively to the public. Without effective communication, our designs seem to have no meaning to the general public. If we were not aware of the rules and means of communication available to us, we would not be able to survive as designers because while everyone is using every means possible, we are left behind.

I also really appreciate the examples that were given by Carlos, as well as all the students during class presentation as it really helped. A few of the many examples that had the biggest impact/peaked my interest on my understanding would be:

Mutate

Examples of Iris Van Herpen, who happens to be one of my favourite designers, and Bart Hess: Human Mutants. Iris Van Herpen uses 3d printed dresses that are shaped in various patterns that resemble sea shell, waves, animals such as octopi etc.

Mobility

Locomotion in Animate systems: Passive Locomotion and Self-propelled Locomotion. Passive locomotion in animals such as sailing (Jellyfish), rolling (beetles), kiting (spiders) etc. Self-propelled locomotion such as jumping (Kangaroo), running (Puma), gliding (sugar-gliders) etc.

Reproduction

Mechanical Reproduction and the aura of piece of art/design. I found the reading for this extremely interesting and agree with the points that Walter Benjamin put forward. I do not agree with Mechanical Reproduction as it loses the “touch” of the creator. Obviously, mechanical reproduction is better for products that need to be mass produced but original pieces will always have the “aura”.

Sustain

The examples of materials created in labs was interesting, especially since I have an interest in fashion. The fiber made from spoilt milk by QMilk and the material made from wine and beer. In my opinion these three topics are important to me because I feel like they play a big role to mold a designer into a “Designer for the future”. They teach us the basics that we’ll need throughout our career in order to survive.

In my opinion, there are no topics that are not relevant as all of them have an impact on our perspectives, but there were a few topics that could have been merged, therefore allowing more time for deeper explanation. For example, maintain could have been merged with sustain, this way we could spent 4 sessions on the topic, allowing us to have a better understanding. Furthermore, Professor Carlos could have completed the presentation in a steady pace with more examples, which would have helped us connect both topics as well as make it easier for us to understand due to more examples, and more time to absorb the information.

Moreover, after being taught about design scales and system, it’s become easier for us to identify and group the everyday objects around us. It gives you a new perspective to see the world because after learning them you’re constantly thinking of which category everything belongs to. Of course, not everything might fit into one category nor will the categories I put things into always be correct, but it pushes you to think critically about your surroundings as well as yourself.  

As a result, to these lessons, we change as people too. We’re much more aware of our surrounding, learn to appreciate everything around us, be ethical and respectful of our own work and other designers and of course not to negatively criticize anyone else’s work as they might have their own philosophy and story.

To conclude, this semester I have been able to explore the many fields of design through different scales and disciplines. I was not aware of the many fields of design and it was a real eye opener to how many opportunities and choices we have. If I had to pick one discipline and one scale that I would like to work in, it would be in the discipline of Fashion, as I have always had a passion for it and till this day have not questioned my love for it, of course I still want to keep my options open. And for now, I would want to operate at a larger scale, but I would like to learn about fashion at all scales. This way I am more aware of the discipline and the designers around me. In the end, I want to gain knowledge about all disciplines and all scales since I still have time to see where my strengths are.

WORD COUNT: 1,059

[scepticaladventure]

27  Gravitational Waves  12Sep18

Introduction This essay continues my series of essays discussing tests of Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity. More detailed descriptions of the test themselves can be found online and in the literature. See for example the literature review in May 2017 by Estelle Asmodelle from the University of Central Lancashire Ref:  arXiv:1705.04397 [gr-qc] or arXiv:1705.04397v1 [gr-qc].

I have questioned whether the experimental tests exclude any other explanations for the same phenomenon. So far I have examined gravitational redshifts and gravitational light bending, the Shapiro round-trip light delay and the ‘anomalous’ precession of Mercury. The evidence so far is that while General Relativity provides a satisfying explanation for all of these experimental observations, other ways of describing the outcomes are also viable. Hence there may be more than one way to include all the evidence within a different but still complete and consistent model or theory.

In this essay I will look at the latest of the five so-called tests – gravitational waves.

Gravitational Waves Gravitational waves are generated in certain gravitational interactions and propagate as waves outward from their source at the speed of light. Their possibility was discussed in 1893 by the polymath Oliver Heaviside, using the analogy between the inverse-square laws in both gravitation and electricity.

In 1905, Henri Poincaré suggested that a model of physics using the Lorentz transformations (then being incorporated into Special Relativity) required the possibility of gravitational waves (‘ondes gravifiques’) emanating from a body and propagating at the speed of light.

Some authors claim that gravitational waves disprove Newton’s mechanics since Newton assumed that gravity acted instantaneously at a distance. I think this is unfair to Newton. Whether or not Newton explicitly claimed that gravity acted instantaneously at a distance I do not know, but it would have been a reasonable and pragmatic working assumption to make at the time. Furthermore whether he assumed instantaneous effects or delays at the speed of light makes no practical difference to the validity of Newton’s work for the type of celestial mechanics he was interested in.

In 1916, Einstein suggested that gravitational waves were a firm prediction of General Relativity. He said that that large accelerations of mass/energy would cause disturbances in the spacetime metric around them and that such disturbances would travel outwards at the speed of light. A spherical acceleration of a star would not suffice because the gravity effects would still be felt as coming from the centre of mass. The cause would have to be a large asymmetric mass that was rotating rapidly. Or better still, two very large masses that were rotating around each other.

In general terms, gravitational waves are radiated by objects whose motion involves acceleration and changes in that acceleration, provided that the motion is not spherically symmetric (like an expanding or contracting sphere) or rotationally symmetric (like a spinning disk or sphere).

A simple example is a spinning dumbbell. If the dumbbell spins around its axis of its connecting bar, it will not radiate gravitational waves. If it tumbles end over end, like in the case of two planets orbiting each other, it will radiate gravitational waves. The heavier the dumbbell, or the faster it tumbles, the greater the gravitational radiation. In an extreme case, such as when two massive stars like neutron stars or black holes are orbiting each other very quickly, then significant amounts of gravitational radiation will be given off.

Over the next twenty years the idea developed slowly. Even Einstein had his doubts about whether gravitational waves should exist or not. He said as much to Karl Schwarzschild and later started a collaboration with Nathan Rosen to debunk the whole idea. But instead of debunking the idea Einstein and Rosen further developed it and by 1937 they had published a reasonably complete version of gravitational waves in General Relativity. Note that this is 22 years after the General Theory was first published.  

In 1956, the year after Einstein’s death, Felix Pirani reduced some of the confusion by representing gravitational waves in terms of the manifestly observable Riemann curvature tensor.

In 1957 Richard Feynman argued that gravitational waves should be able to carry energy and so might be able to be detected. Note that gravitational waves are also expected to be able to carry away angular or linear momentum. Feynman’s insight inspired Joseph Weber to try to build the first gravity wave detectors. However his efforts were not successful. The incredible weakness of the effects being sought cannot be over emphasized.

More support came from indirect sources. Theorists predicted that gravity waves would sap energy out of an intensely strong gravitational system. In 1974, Russell Alan Hulse and Joseph Hooton Taylor, Jr. discovered the first binary pulsar (a discovery that would earn them the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physics). In 1979, results were published detailing measurement of the gradual decay of the orbital period of the Hulse-Taylor pulsar, and these measurements fitted precisely with the loss of energy and angular momentum through gravitational radiation as predicted by calculations using General Relativity.

Four types of gravitational waves (GWs) have been predicted. Firstly, there are ‘continuous GWs,’ which have almost constant frequency and relatively small amplitude, and are expected to come from binary systems in rotation, or from a single extended asymmetric mass object rotating about its axis.

Secondly, there are ‘Inspiral GWs,’ which are produced by massive binary systems that are spiralling in towards one another. As their orbital distance lessens, their rotational velocity increases rapidly.

Then there are ‘Burst GWs,’ which are produced by an extreme event such as asymmetric gamma ray bursters or supernovae.

Lastly, there are ‘Stochastic GWs,’ which are predicted to have been created in the very early universe by sonic waves within the primordial soup. These are sometimes called primordial GWs and they are predicted to produce a GW background. Personally I doubt that this last type of GW exists.

On February 11, 2016, the LIGO and Virgo Scientific Collaboration announced they had made the first observation of gravitational waves. The observation itself was made on 14 September 2015, using the Advanced LIGO detectors. The gravity waves originated from a pair of merging black holes millions of years ago that released energy equivalent to a billion trillion stars within seconds. For the first time in human history, mankind could ‘feel and hear’ something happening in deep space and not just ‘see’ it. The black holes were estimated to be 36 and 29 solar masses respectively and circling each other at 250 times per second when the signal was first detected.

By August 2017 half a dozen other detections of gravitational waves were announced. I think all of them have been in-spiral GW’s. These produce a characteristic ‘chirp’ in which the signal becomes quicker and stronger and then stops. This is very useful for finding the signal amongst all the background noise. The flickering light pattern signal in the interferometer detector can be turned directly into a sound wave and actually does sound like a chirp.

In 2017, the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Rainer Weiss, Kip Thorne and Barry Barish for their role in the detection of gravitational waves. (The same Kip Thorne who co-authored the heavyweight textbook on gravity that I have referred to so often in these essays that I gave it its own acronym -  MTW).

As I first drafted this essay in 2017 there was considerable excitement in the world of astronomy because the Large Interferometer Gravity Wave Observatories (LIGO) suggested that a pair of neutron starts were in the process of collapsing. Space based telescopes were then able to look in that direction and they observed an intense burst of gamma rays. This is the first example of the two types of observational instruments working together and the dual result confirms that LIGO had been observing what they thought they were observing. Furthermore it provides evidence that gravitational waves travel at the speed of light.

Detection LIGO is a large-scale long-term physics project that includes the design, construction and operation of observatories designed to detect cosmic gravitational waves and applied theoretical work to develop gravitational-wave observations as an astronomical tool. It has been a struggle lasting many decades. It took many attempts to achieve funding for the observatories and nearly a decade to make the first successful observations. A triumph of persistence, optimism and the begrudging willingness of the USA National Science Foundation to fund a speculative fundamental science project to the tune of US$1.1 billion over the course of 40 years.

To my mind the experimental set up is reminiscent of Michelson Morley experiments 140 years ago. But it is on a much larger scale and is incredibly more sensitive, with all sorts of very clever tricks to increase the sensitivity and to get unwanted noise out of the system. Two large observatories have been built in the United States (in the states of Washington and Louisiana) with the aim of detecting gravitational waves by enhanced laser interferometry. The observatories have mirrors 4 km apart. Each arm contains resonant cavities at the end.

When a gravitational wave passes through the interferometer, the spacetime in the local area is altered. Depending on the source of the wave and its polarization, this results in an effective change in length of one or both of the beams. The effective length change between the beams will cause the light currently in the cavity to become very slightly out of phase (anti-phase) with the incoming light. The cavity will therefore periodically get very slightly out of coherence and the beams, which are tuned to destructively interfere at the detector, will have a very slight periodically varying detuning. This results in a measurable signal.

Or, to put it another way: After approximately 280 trips up and down the 4 km long evaluated tube arms to the far mirrors and back again, the two beams leave the arms and recombine at the beam splitter. The beams returning from two arms are kept out of phase so that when the arms are both in coherence and interference (as when there is no gravitational wave or extraneous disturbance passing through), their light waves subtract, and no light should arrive at the final photodiode. When a gravitational wave passes through the interferometer, the distances along the arms of the interferometer are repeatedly shortened and lengthened, creating a resonance and causing the beams to become slightly less out of phase and thus allowing some of the laser light to arrives at the final photodiode, thus creating a signal.

Light that does not contain a signal is returned to the interferometer using a power recycling mirror, thus increasing the power of the light in the arms. In actual operation, noise sources can cause movement in the optics that produces similar effects to real gravitational wave signals. A great deal of the art and skill in the design of the observatories, and in the complexity of their construction, is associated with the reduction of spurious motions of the mirrors. Observers also compare signals from both sites to reduce the effects of noise.

The observatories are so sensitive that they can detect a change in the length of their arms equivalent to ten-thousandth the charge diameter of a proton. This is equivalent to measuring the distance to Proxima Centauri with an error smaller than the width of a human hair.

Although the official description of LIGO talks about gravitational waves shortening and lengthening the arms of the interferometers by almost infinitesimal amounts, I think it might also be reasonable to describe what is going on as very slight changes in the speed of the photons being reflected back and forth 280 times in the 4 km long arms, as compared to the reference photons in the resonant cavities.

Some Comments on the Interpretation Commentators continually refer to gravitational waves as being “ripples in the fabric of spacetime”. There seems to be some deep-seated human desire to regard spacetime as being real and tangible, more or less like some sort of four dimensional fluid in in which the Universe is immersed. Computer based animations invariably depict empty space as some sort of rubberized sheet being dimpled by massive ball bearings and this promotes the same sort of mental images, attitudes and beliefs. Which is a pity.

It may be a lost cause but I point out once again that spacetime is a human construct for measuring, modeling and discussing what is going on in the Universe. It has no more reality that the Cartesian coordinate grid of latitude and longitude lines here on Earth.

It was not Einstein who promoted the idea that curved spacetime is an actual physical reality. This only happened after his death and was promoted by authors such as MTW and Stephen Hawking. For example, John Wheeler often made the comment that “mass/energy tells spacetime how to curve, and spacetime curvature tells matter how to move”. The cover of MTW classic textbook shows a little ant wandering around on the surface of an apple and dutifully following its curvature.

I would say to John Wheeler that he has started to confuse mathematical models with reality and that the analogy with the ant is a false one. The ant can feel the curvature of the apple with its little feet. The surface and its curvature is real and tangible. But spacetime is a manmade imagination created for our own convenience. A better analogy is the lines of latitude and longitude we have invented for talking about movement on the surface of our home planet. These lines do not actually exist. They cannot be observed. They are not tangible. I would say to John Wheeler that spacetime does not tell matter how to move any more than the latitude and longitude grid on Earth tells ducks how to migrate.

Which is not to say that I think that spacetime does not correspond to something that it observable. In fact I do. But this is a heretical idea that I will explore in other essays.

I also agree that applying a spacetime metric to this “something” is a good idea. But spacetime is not that something, and that something is not spacetime. In other words, do not get a reference system invented by mankind for convenience of describing physics mentally confused with reality itself.

Another crime in my book is commentators who compare gravitational waves with electromagnetic waves. Unless such commentators can explain how two stars orbiting each other can produce quantized packets of energy and then how these packets can be reflected, polarized, refracted etc. I suggest that they refrain from such analogies. If they must use analogies I suggest that they try acoustic comparisons instead.

Note that Doppler effects are a familiar phenomenon in sound waves and they should also occur for other moving disturbances such as gravitational waves. But where gravitational waves are concerned the effects should not be called red-shifting. The Doppler effect is not called red-shifting when it applies to acoustic waves and I think it should not be called red-shifting for gravitational waves either. It is just a plain old Doppler effect.

Discussion I do not find it surprising that a pair of massive pair of stars rotating about each other might have tiny push-pull effects a long way away. I think this is what you would expect to find even with a basics inverse-square law based on classical physics. For example, if a large asteroid suddenly knocked the moon out of its orbit, I think it reasonable to expect that observers on Earth would notice changes in gravity very soon afterwards.

Nor am I surprised that gravitational disturbances travel at the speed of light. In fact I am surprised that this has not been measured experimentally years ago. For example, the passage of the Moon overhead produces a noticeable gravitational tidal effect on the surface of the Earth. Since the centre of the pattern of this disturbance coincides exactly with where the Moon appears to be then that is evidence for the gravitational effect to be arriving hand in hand with the visible light from the Moon.

I would be surprised if gravitational waves are ever found to consist of discrete quantized packets, analogous to photons. In my currently preferred conceptual model of the Universe, photons are disturbances in something that can be modelled by spacetime constructs, and gravitational waves are disturbances of that something itself.

This is more than a semantic difference. Consider a laser beam that is pointed at the sky and turned on and off again. This sends bunches of well-collimated photons off on a journey into deep space which, in principle, can continue travelling indefinitely. Barring absorption by dust or blocking by some solid barrier, the beam of photons stands a chance of being able to be detected on some distant galaxy at some time in the future. Not so a gravitational wave. The energy from a gravitational wave spreads outwards in all directions and becomes increasingly weak with distance from its source. I think there is almost no chance of being able to detect gravitational waves coming from binary star events and suchlike outside of their local galaxy. Colliding galaxies might be a different story.

Conclusion After initial doubts, Einstein eventually decided that gravitational waves were a necessary feature of his Theory of General Relativity. The recent detection of gravitational waves, apart from being a remarkable achievement, is further confirmation that General Relativity works well as a model. However I think it is not proof that General Relativity is the only viable and useful way of looking at physics in our Universe.

[mybbjohnblake]

Just how To Select The Best Sun Block

Varicose capillaries of the legs are triggered by dripping leg capillary shutoffs. At the American Academy of Dermatology's 2011 Annual meeting in New Orleans, among the audio speakers in the sclerotherapy session( leg vein therapy) offered an extremely clear analogy of leg blood vessel composition and also I wish to utilize it to clarify exactly how varicose and also crawler capillaries create. If you have varicose blood vessels, or you go to high danger for them, I believe this description will certainly assist you to comprehend the trouble as well as help you find out exactly how you can stop your blood vessels from getting a whole lot even worse. The analogy that I liked so much: image your leg veins like an upside down tree. The external tree twigs are the surface area blood vessels under the skin that can become crawler capillaries. Much like the method tree twigs result in bigger and larger branches and also lastly the tree trunk, the blood vessels under your leg skin lead to larger as well as bigger blood vessels as well as lastly into the big blood vessel in the center of your abdomen and then back to your heart. All the modest to huge sized veins of your legs( eg . the tree branches )have one-way valves. Damages to these shutoffs trigger varicose and also spider blood vessels! The one-way shutoffs available to let blood skip the capillaries in the direction of your heart and afterwards they near to protect against the blood from dropping back to your feet. Tightening of your leg muscular tissues' milks 'the blood up your leg capillaries and back into your body. The pumping of your heart is as well weak to move blood way out in your leg capillaries. Your heart can relocate blood into the arteries of your legs, which you feel as a pulse. Blood in your leg arteries should undergo your leg capillaries before entering your leg veins. The strong pulsing pressure you can really feel in your arteries is shed in the blood vessels This indicates that your leg capillaries depend on your leg muscles to get the blood out of your leg veins. Varicose capillaries occur because the valves aren't that solid and they can damage when blood swimming pools in your veins. Pooled blood is hefty and the little shutoffs just can not hold all of it up. Once one shutoff breaks there is an even heavier quantity of blood on the shutoff below it, so it damages as well. Spider capillaries develop when this heavy merged blood in the blood vessels builds up stress and also obtains pushed out right into the capillaries. Varicose capillaries occur when a number of these valves are broken in the moderate and larger sized veins, causing the capillaries to swell outwards. You see these as the bumpy ropes as well as cables of varicose capillaries that can run up and down your legs. Because our bodies don't make brand-new valves in the capillaries, this issue comes to be permanent. Some individuals have more powerful capillaries and shutoffs than others. 5 Tips to aid you stop varicose blood vessels if you're prone to them? Maintain your legs relocating when you're standing or resting. Tightening of your leg muscular tissues' milks' the blood up as well as out of your leg capillaries. Stand up as well as walk, rise on your toes countless times, circle your ankles-anything to get your leg muscular tissues. The more the much better! Raise your legs for 5 mins approximately, obtaining them above your hips, or even better, your heart after extended standing or sitting. This permits merged blood to drain pipes out of the blood vessels and also capillaries. Wear compression hose pipe if you should stand or rest immobile for extended periods of time. This is especially crucial for you if you service your feet, like nurses, waitresses, cashiers etc. It's also vital for everyone when we travel as well as are stuck sitting for hours. Ideally I inform my clients to use waist high support pipe that offer 25mm Hg( the step of just how tight they are ).( Some people ought to not use assistance tube. Talk with your physician to see if assistance hose pipe are risk-free for you to utilize.) A number of my people ask me if it's alright to just wear knee high hose, however leg blood vessel valve damage can happen as high up as the groin so I tell my individuals to utilize midsection high products. Optimize your leg muscle mass ability to 'milk 'the blood you of your legs. This indicates: Work-out to get huge, in shape leg muscle mass. Excellent workout alternatives consist of strolling and also crouches.

Join a health club and also inquire to give you workouts that provide you kind

of fit, company muscular tissues that create huge tightenings with every leg activity throughout the day. Use level shoes. Regrettably high heels reduce the leg muscle mass and interfere with efficient contractile 'bleeding' of the leg capillaries. As typically as possible

, use apartments. Prevent constricting your leg veins. Think about a leg capillaries like a yard hose pipe; if you kink the hose pipe water can't flow. Your leg capillary blood will certainly have a hard

time streaming up as well as out of your leg if you restrict the blood vessel by crossing your legs or wearing restricting stockings that bind as well as 'cut into 'the leg, successfully putting a' kink in your pipe '. If your blood can not drain of your legs, it swimming pools leading to shutoff damage as well as varicose blood vessels. Varicose blood vessels can also happen if you've had an injury or surgery that harmed your leg veins in a manner that avoided blood from passing openly up your legs. Additionally, a strong effect, like dropping on your legs, or being hit hard on your legs can trigger the blood in your blood vessels to flow backwards, permanently damaging the one-way valves. Crawler as well as varicose capillaries can be dealt with. Some capillaries can be infused with rough liquids to damage the capillaries so that the body absorbs them. It's called sclerotherapy. In my opinion, this is the treatment of selection for the smaller sized spider capillaries and for a few of the larger varicose blood vessels. There are likewise laser and also surgical treatments for varicose capillaries. Leg blood vessel therapies are difficult though so it's finest to find a professional physician that does a great deal of situations as well as has a reduced occurrence of adverse effects. If you discovered this intriguing, you might want to check out: Miss The Tan As Well As Consume Your Veggies For Stunning Skin Color Why You May Have Broken Facial Capillaries Begin The Most Effective Anti Aging Skin Treatment Now as well as See Cause The New Year Photo: many thanks and also appreciation to John-Morgan

[quirk-registration-office]

A battle scene with a minor villian where he over uses his quirk leaving hin a teetering mess, and bakugo or uraraka comes to his aid. Just a bit of angst to show that hes frustrated at having to be saved by others- he wants to one day repay all might for saving his life after all. Losing to a villian is a no go. The villian had a shape shifting quirk, quickly changing into various large animals that could use sheer body mass to lessen the damage of his cyclones on it.

((Sorry this took so long! A battle scene was definitely a new writing experience, which was cool. I hope you enjoy it, and I hope I did justice to your oc, Oboru! Thanks again for your request!!!!

‘Lead him to the evacuated part of town’, they said. ‘It’ll be easy’, they said! The small cyclones beneath his feet allowed Oboru, known to most as his hero name Monsoon, to speed through the streets and stay out of reach of his current foe. Risking a glance over his shoulder, Oboru spat out a curse at the encroaching black bull. The size of a small car, the beast thundered after him, the pavement cracking wherever its hooves pounded against the street.

There were only two blocks left before they’d be at the approved area, but Oboru swore he could already feel the villain’s hot breath puffing against his back.

The wind beneath his right foot began to dissipate. Building up a tightly spiraled gust of air around his fist, Oboru used the last push against his foot to spin on his left and throw the twister at the large, black bull. At point blank, the Whirlwind Fist was bound to hurt. Unfortunately, when his fist made contact with the beast’s face, the force exploded out and knocked Oboru back. He groaned in pain when his back skidded against the road, the long sleeved shirt he wore offering little protection. Not giving himself a chance to breathe, the hero pushed himself to his feet, coughing as his throat clogged from the dust his attack had clouded into the air. His vision swam, and he wiped the sweat from his brow with his forearm.

Rubbing two fingers against his temple to try and alleviate the growing nausea headache, Oboru tried to look around. The city block around him was empty of citizens, but, unfortunately, the villain was also nowhere to be seen.

“Ah crap,” Oboru groaned. He shook his hands to loosen them up. Creamed coffee eyes glanced around, but as the longer the empty silence extended, a sense of foreboding grew in his gut. Movement in his peripheral grabbed his attention. He turned in time to see a crow bank towards him. Breath catching, Oboru flung a hasty, and therefore weaker, gust of wind at his attacker only for the creature to change into a huge ape at the last second. The weak cyclone had little effect on the larger animal, allowing it to collide with the hero, knocking him back into a wall. Oboru shouted from the shock of impact, and he crumpled onto the sidewalk. A dull ache pulsed through his limbs, but every breath sent a sharp pain in his lower right ribcage.

Fuck, that hurts. Pressing his hand against what was probably a broken rib, Oboru used the wall behind him to leverage himself up to his feet and leaned against the solid surface. He felt lightheaded and spat out a mouthful of blood, cringing at the copper taste. Damn shapeshifter.

The world was starting to tilt on its side. A wet cough painfully wracked his form. When his vision came back into focus, the dark blur across the street from him sharpened into a gorilla, its heavy hands pounding on the ground as it grunted and roared.

Wind spiraled from the pores in his wrists and hands, encompassing both of his arms. Unleashing his Slicing Maelstrom was a last ditch effort with guaranteed backlash, but he didn’t seem to have much of a choice left.

Like hell he was going to lose to a villain.

Just as Oboru started to merge the two cyclones together, someone cried out, “Release!” and a long, heavy girder, that must have come from some nearby construction, fell out of the sky, just barely missing its target. Startled by the surprise attack, the villain shifted into a small black cat and dashed away. Even though he slowly let the winds dissipate on their own instead of completing his attack, Oboru was still hit with a wave of queasiness. Closing his eyes only made the spinning more debilitating, so he chose a focal point, which happened to be the black and pink clad heroine standing in front of him.

Despite having never met in person, he easily recognized Uravity from her hero work.

“You’re Monsoon, right? Are you okay?”

“I’ll be fine,” he assured, grimacing when a slight shift caused a pang from his broken rib. The hand that wasn’t clutching his broken bone ruffled his hair, shaking out bits of dust and debris from the messy brown curls, and Oboru frowned. “Do we have a game plan here?”

Uravity looked up at him, serious determination steeling her gaze, and nodded.

“There’s a portable containment cell set up not too far in that direction,” she informed, gesturing behind her in the direction she’d come from, “and we have a pair of quirk suppression handcuffs. Our options are to cuff him, ideally while he’s in human form, or get him in the cage.”

“Perfect. So why don’t you touch him and then caging him should be a snap.”

“It’s not quite that simple.”

“Then why don’t you stay back and just let me handle this.” Taking a deep breath and ignoring the sharpness in his side, Oboru started to limp his way down the street to look for the shapeshifter.

“Are you crazy?” Uravity rushed around in front of him forcing him to stop. “You’re too injured!”

“I don’t need anybody’s help!” he snapped. “I’ve still got one trick up my sleeve.” The two heroes heard a crash around the corner, and Oboru shouldered past Uravity in its direction. Every step hurt and rocked the world like a see-saw. He could hear the heroine angrily grumbling to herself about egotistical heroes but ignored her.

The destructive echoes fell silent.

Glass shattered.

Dust clouded from behind the building, followed by large flying monster. Oboru’s jaw dropped and he scoffed in indignation.

“A pterodactyl? He can turn into fucking dinosaurs now?” Suddenly the idea of fighting off a giant reptilian bird while nursing a broken rib, a limp, and whatever assortment of other injuries seemed less appealing.

“New plan!” exclaimed Uravity from behind. “Give me a lift.”

“What new plan? We didn’t have an old plan,” Oboru argued, turning around to look incredulously at the gravity user.

Instead of answering, she took off running towards him, hooking her fingers together. Only reactions honed by his time as a hero let him activate his quirk to create a twister just as Uravity jumped. Without gravity holding her down, the torrent of wind sent her flying upwards.

She reached her hand out, keeping a brave face despite the fear she felt.

One touch is all it would take.

Wind rushed past her.

Moments felt like hours, and her fingers stretched forward.

The villain was almost within reach and then-

“DIE!”

BOOM!

The explosion seemingly came from nowhere and forced Uravity back in the direction of the ground.

Oboru couldn’t stop watching in what was either awe or abject horror at the newly arrived hero who managed to simultaneously wrap a hand around the beast’s claw and toss a falling heroine over his shoulder all before landing in a badass way that only the Explosion Hero Ground Zero could manage.

When the villain started to struggle, Ground Zero pressed him harder into the pavement with a series of mini blasts to illustrate his point, and when Uravity began struggling, he shrugged her off his shoulder and let her drop. Oboru frowned and debated moving closer to the hero who was known for a temper as fiery as his quirk.

The two other heroes were too busy squabbling to notice him.

“I didn’t need your help, Kacchan,” Uravity protested, unhooking the cuffs from her belt.

“Don’t call me that, Round Face, and where- TURN HUMAN ALREADY!” Ground Zero furiously slammed the villain in his grasp against the street. “Where’s the damn cage?”

“I’ll go get it.” The pink and black woman passed off the cuffs and left.

Oboru stepped closer and cleared his throat.

“We had it under control,” he insisted, frowning, standing his ground at the red eyed gaze turning in his direction. The fierce stare of a hero that succeeded. That won.

There was a terse silence.

“Who the fuck even are you?”

“I’m Monsoon,” Oboru answered after spitting out another mouthful of blood. It’d be a good idea to see a doctor as soon as possible about his rib.

“I don’t actually give a shit,” snarked the explosive blonde. The responding sigh came out more as a growl, and Oboru narrowed his eyes. “Where the hell is Angel Face?” The question was clearly rhetorical.

With no desire to interact with the angry hero, Oboru remained quiet until they heard the bubbly woman calling out to them.

Following behind her was a group of police officers with a heavy, steel box being pulled behind on a truck. With a touch from Uravity’s pink fingerpads, Ground Zero easily managed to toss the villain into containment with an extra explosion for emphasis.

A pressure grew in his stomach as Oboru watched Gound Zero shut the door and stretched his arms overhead while Uravity ran over to wrap an arm around his waist and kiss his cheek, which earned her an angry swear. Several cops crowded them to get a statement, but a paramedic arrived to lead Oboru to a waiting ambulance. Heat bloomed in his cheeks upon the realization that he was the only one injured in the altercation.

They sat him down on a stretcher and gave him a quick once over, but his gaze stayed on Uravity and Ground Zero. What kind of hero has to be rescued? Oboru had plans. He had goals. Ever since being rescued as a kid, he wanted to be a hero, and that was turning bottom-side-up. He’d have to do better. He would do better. Whatever it took to live up to All Might.

The stretcher jerked when they moved him into the ambulance, and Oboru grunted, the pain in his ribs matching the blow to his dignity.

He got one last look at the other heroes before the doors closed on him.

[theinnernetsurfer]

#1.1 Wealth accumulation and redistribution cycles

Hi! I hope you’ve read #1 before getting here. If not, please click on the link.😊 ---

Everything in creation is cyclical.

In nature there is – day and night; summer and winter. Humans have – birth and death; highs and lows. Similarly, businesses and economies have – booms and busts; consolidation and diffusion. One cannot exist without the other. Day merges into the night, and as the night recedes – day announces its arrival.

Once we see an entire cycle play out, it becomes easier to spot the signs that signal its impending turn.

Over the past 40 years or so, no economic trend has been as prevalent as consolidation. The large corporations have consolidated to become larger and larger. The unending appetite for growth has driven firms to aspire for gigantic size and scale. Their fast-increasing size and scale gives them more and more power to provide better, faster and more diversified offerings, and hence their might compounds over time. On their way, they acquire or crush the competition, and gobble up even more market share and profits. In the times that we live in, Tech is an appropriate example of this – Apple, Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Facebook have become larger than the economies of many countries. But this phenomenon has repeated itself many times over in history. Just that each time, the industry was different.

This trend has had its influence in investing as well – growth investing has outperformed value investing for many years now; returns from passive index funds have beaten out returns from actively managed funds in most cases; and the phenomenon of investing in a great company at any price has become popular.

This trend of mass consolidation at an economy wide level, has led to concentration of large amounts of wealth and power in the hands of a few. And this has started to show in the data. “The world’s eight richest men now control as much wealth as the poorest 50%”

Too much wealth and too much power always brings complications. On the side of the incumbents there is fear of losing it and a desire to grow it more and more. And on the other side, those left behind often have the hunger of catching up and taking a larger slice of the pie.

In times of consolidation, the have-nots always outnumber the haves. They often feel a deep sense of injustice, and this sense of being left behind brings political change, which in turn brings economic and policy change. The best example of this is the election of Donald Trump as President of the US. His vote bank comprising mainly of blue-collar workers who have felt squeezed out due to rapid globalisation and shifting of their jobs to foreign countries with lower wage rates, in search of additional profits.

Demands like – breaking up the largest organisations due to trust issues, and increasingly regulating them to the point of slowing them down, start to appear. There have been calls for hiving off Amazon Web Services from Amazon, and YouTube from Google. And data privacy has become a geopolitical issue that countries discuss on global forums.

As situations like these gain steam, eventually the cycle turns from one of wealth accumulation to one of wealth redistribution; from consolidation to diffusion. Also, it’s we must recognise that this is nothing unusual. Even the phenomenon of rain is the same. Clouds take more vapour from large water bodies and distribute it evenly everywhere else especially to areas where there is a drought. The way I see it, big clouds have started to form.

Another sign of redistribution is that one of the world’s richest and most influential people (Bill Gates), pledging most of his wealth to philanthropy – through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. And his friend Warren Buffett following suit.

Since it is an extensive cycle, it turns slowly. But I would argue that it will turn more quickly than most people expect. And once it does, it’s effects will show up in investing too – value investing will again gain steam, and actively managed funds will have better returns than passive index funds.

Since investing is about predicting the future, it can never be 100% accurate. An astute investor, however, should take the time to learn from history – what has been and what it tends to become.

“History doesn't repeat itself but it often rhymes.” – Mark Twain

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Continue reading - #1.2 - Where is India in this cycle?

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Note - Post #1.1 has been inspired by this video.

[labourpress]

Author Naomi Klein speech to Labour Party Conference

Author Naomi Klein, speaking at Labour Party Conference, said:

 ***CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY***

 Thank you Kate for that lovely introduction and all the work that you do to put social justice on the world agenda.

It’s been such a privilege to be part of this historic convention. To feel its energy and optimism.

Because friends, it’s bleak out there. How do I begin to describe a world upside down? From heads of state tweeting threats of nuclear annihilation, to whole regions rocked by climate chaos, to thousands of migrants drowning off the coasts of Europe, to openly racist parties gaining ground, most recently and alarmingly in Germany.

Most days there is simply too much to take in. So I want to start with an example that might seem small against such a vast backdrop. The Caribbean and Southern United States are in the midst of an unprecedented hurricane season: pounded by storm after record-breaking storm.

As we meet, Puerto Rico - hit by Irma, then Maria - is without power and could be for months. It’s water and communication systems are also severely compromised. Three and half million US citizens on that island are in desperate need of their government’s help.

But just like during Hurricane Katrina, the cavalry is missing in action. Donald Trump is too busy trying to get Black athletes fired - smearing them for daring to shine a spotlight on racist violence.

Amazingly a real federal aid package for Puerto Rico has not yet been announced.

By some reports, more money has been spent securing presidential trips to Mar-a-Lago.

As if all this weren’t enough, the vultures are now buzzing. The business press is filled with articles about how the only way for Puerto Rico to get the lights back on is to sell off its electricity utility. Maybe its roads and bridges too.

This is a phenomenon I have called The Shock Doctrine - the exploitation of wrenching crises to smuggle through policies that devour the public sphere and further enrich a small elite.

We see this dismal cycle repeat again and again. We saw it after the 2008 financial crash. We are already seeing it in how the Tories are planning to exploit Brexit to push through disastrous pro-corporate trade deals without debate.

The reason I am highlighting Puerto Rico is because the situation is so urgent. But also because it’s a microcosm of a much larger global crisis, one that contains many of the same overlapping elements: accelerating climate chaos; militarism; histories of colonialism; a weak and neglected public sphere; a totally dysfunctional democracy.

And overlaying it all: the seemingly bottomless capacity to discount the lives of huge numbers of Black and brown people.

Ours is an age when it is impossible to pry one crisis apart from all the others. They have all merged, reinforcing and deepening each other..... like one shambling, multi-headed beast.

I think it’s helpful to think of the current US president in much the same way.

It’s tough to know how to adequately sum him up. So let me try a local example.

You know that horrible thing currently clogging up the London sewers. I believe you call it the fatberg?

Well Trump, he’s the political equivalent of that.

A merger of all that is noxious in the culture, economy and body politic, all kind of glommed together in a self-adhesive mass. And we’re finding it very, very hard to dislodge.

It gets so grim that we have to laugh. But make no mistake: whether it’s climate change or the nuclear threat, Trump represents a crisis that could echo through geologic time.

 But here is my message to you today:

Moments of crisis do not have to go the Shock Doctrine route - they do not need to become opportunities for the already obscenely wealthy to grab still more.

They can also go the opposite way.

 They can be moments when we find our best selves..... when we locate reserves of strength and focus we never knew we had.

 We see it at the grassroots level every time disaster strikes.

 We all witnessed it in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower catastrophe.

 When the people responsible were MIA....... the community came together...... Held one another in their care, organized the donations and advocated for the living -- and for the dead.

 And they are doing it still, more than 100 days after the fire.

 When there is still no justice and, scandalously, only a handful of survivors have been rehoused.

 And it’s not only at the grassroots level that we see disaster awaken something remarkable in us.

 There is also a long and proud history of crises sparking progressive transformation on a society-wide scale.

 Think of the victories won by working people for social housing and old age pensions during the Great Depression..... Or for the NHS after the horrors of the Second World War.

 This should remind us that moments of great crisis and peril do not necessarily need to knock us backwards.

 They can also catapult us forward.

 Our progressive ancestors achieved that at key moments in history, in your country and in mine.

 And we can do it again - in this moment when everything is on the line.

But what we know from the Great Depression and the post-war period, is that we never win these transformative victories by simply resisting..... by simply saying “no” to the latest outrage.

 To win in a moment of true crisis, we also need a bold and forward-looking “yes”

- a plan for how to rebuild and respond to the underlying causes.

 And that plan needs to be convincing, credible and, most of all, captivating.

 We have to help a weary and wary public to imagine itself into that better world.

 And that is why I am so honoured to be standing with you today.

 With the transformed Labour Party in 2017.

And with the next Prime Minister of Britain,

 Jeremy Corbyn.

 Because in the last election, that’s exactly what you did.

 Theresa May ran a cynical campaign based on exploiting fear and shock to grab more power for herself - first the fear of a bad Brexit deal, then the fear following the horrific terror attacks in Manchester and London.

 Your party and your leader responded by focusing on root causes: a failed “war on terror”.... economic inequality and weakened democracy.

 But you did more than that.

 You presented voters with a bold and detailed Manifesto.

 One that laid out a plan for millions of people to have tangibly better lives:

 free tuition,

 fully funded health care,

 aggressive climate action.

 After decades of lowered expectations and asphyxiated political imagination, finally voters had something hopeful and exciting to say “yes” to.

 And so many of them did just that, upending the projections of the entire expert class.

You proved that the era of triangulation and tinkering is over.

 The public is hungry for deep change - they are crying out for it.

 The trouble is, in far too many countries, it’s only the far right that is offering it, or seeming to, with that toxic combination of fake economic populism and very real racism.

 You showed us another way.

 One that speaks the language of decency and fairness, that names the true forces most responsible for this mess - no matter how powerful.

 And that is unafraid of some of the ideas we were told were gone for good.

 Like wealth redistribution.

 And nationalising essential public services.

 Now, thanks to all of your boldness, we know that this isn’t just a moral strategy.

 It’s a winning strategy.

 It fires up the base, and it activates constituencies that long ago stopped voting altogether.

 If you can keep doing that between now and the next election, you will be unbeatable.

You showed us something else in the last election too, and it’s just as important.

 You showed that political parties don’t need to fear the creativity and independence of social movements - and social movements, likewise, have a huge amount to gain from engaging with electoral politics.

 That’s a very big deal.

 Because let’s be honest: political parties tend to be a bit freakish about control.

And real grassroots movements..... we cherish our independence - and we're pretty much impossible to control.

 But what we are seeing with the remarkable relationship between Labour and Momentum, and with other wonderful campaign organizations, is that it is possible to

combine the best of both worlds.

 If we listen and learn from each other, we can create a force that is both stronger and more nimble than anything either parties or movements can pull off on their own.

 I want you to know that what you have done here is reverberating around the world - so many of us are watching your ongoing experiment in this new kind of politics with rapt attention.

 And of course what happened here is itself part of a global phenomenon.

 It’s a wave led by young people who came into adulthood just as the global financial system was collapsing and just as climate disruption was banging down the door.

 Many come out of social movements like Occupy Wall Street, and Spain’s Indignados.

 They began by saying no - to austerity,

to bank bailouts,

 to fracking and pipelines.

 But they came to understand that the biggest challenge is overcoming the way neoliberalism has waged war on our collective imagination, on our ability to truly believe in anything outside of its bleak borders.

 And so these movements started to dream together, laying out bold and different visions of the future.... and credible pathways out of crisis.

 And most importantly they began engaging with political parties, to try to win power.

 We saw it in Bernie Sanders’ historic campaign in the US primaries.... which was powered by millennials who know that safe centrist politics offers them no kind of safe future.

 By the way.... Bernie, is the most popular politician in the United States today.

 We see something similar with Spain’s still-young Podemos party, which built in the power of mass movements from Day One.

 In all of these cases, electoral campaigns caught fire with stunning speed.

 And they got close to taking power - closer than any genuinely transformative political program has in either Europe or North America in my lifetime.

 But still, in each case, not close enough.

 So in this time between elections, it’s worth thinking about how to make absolutely sure that next time, all of our movements go all the way.

A big part of the answer is: Keeping it up.

 Keep building that yes.

 But take it even further.

 Outside the heat of a campaign, there is more time to deepen the relationships between issues and movements, so that our solutions address multiple crises at once.

 In all of our countries, we can and must do more to connect the dots between economic injustice, racial injustice and gender injustice.

We need to understand and explain how all of those ugly systems that place one group in a position of dominance over another - based on skin colour, religious faith, gender and sexual orientation - consistently serve the interests of power and money and always have.

 They do it by keeping us divided.

 And keeping themselves protected.

 And we have to do more to keep it front of mind.... that we are in a state of climate emergency....  the roots of which are found in the same system of bottomless greed that underlies our economic emergency.

 But states of emergency, let’s recall, can be catalysts for deep progressive victories.

So let’s draw out the connections between the gig economy - that treats human beings like a raw resource from which to extract wealth and then discard - and the dig economy, in which the extractive companies treats the Earth in precisely the same careless way.

And let’s show exactly how we can move from that gig and dig economy to a society based on principles of care - caring for the planet and for one another. Where the work of our caregivers and of our land and water protectors, is respected and valued. A world where no one and nowhere is thrown away - whether in fire-trap housing estates or on hurricane-ravaged islands.

I applaud the clear stand Labour has taken against fracking and for clean energy. Now we need to up our ambition and show exactly how battling climate change is a once-in-a-century chance to build a fairer and more democratic economy.

Because as we rapidly transition off fossil fuels, we cannot replicate the wealth concentration and the injustices of the oil and coal economy, in which hundreds of billions in profits have been privatized and the tremendous risks are socialized.

We can and must design a system in which the polluters pay a very large share of the cost of transitioning off fossil fuels. And where we keep green energy in public and community hands. That way revenues stay in your communities, to pay for childcare and firefighters and other crucial services. And it’s the only way to make sure that the green jobs that are created are union jobs that pay a living wage.

The motto needs to be: leave the oil and gas in the ground, but leave no worker behind. And the best part, you don’t need to wait until you get to Westminster to start this great transition. You can use the levers you have right now.

You can take a page from Barcelona and turn your Labour-controlled cities into beacons for the world transformed.

A good start would be divesting your pensions from fossil fuels and investing that money in low carbon social housing and green energy cooperatives.

That way people can begin to experience the benefits of the next economy before the next election - and know in their bones that yes, there is, and always has been, an alternative.

In closing.....

I want to stress, as your international speaker, that none of this can be about turning any one nation into a progressive museum.

In wealthy countries like yours and mine, we need migration policies and levels of international financing that reflect what we owe to the global south - our historic role in destabilizing the economies and ecologies of poorer nations for a great many years.

For instance, during this epic hurricane season, we’ve heard a lot of talk of “the British Virgin Islands,” the “French Virgin Islands” and so on.

Rarely was it seen as relevant to observe that these are not reflections of where Europeans like to holiday.

They are reflections of the fact that so much of the vast wealth of empire was extracted from these Islands in bonded human flesh.

Wealth that supercharged Europe’s and North America’s industrial revolution, positioning us as the super-polluters we are today.

And that is intimately connected to the fact that the future and security of island nations are now at grave risk from superstorms storms, sea level rise, and dying coral reefs.

What should this painful history mean to us today?

It means welcoming migrants and refugees.

And it means paying our fair share to help many more countries ramp up justice-based green transitions of their own.

Trump going rogue is no excuse to demand less of ourselves in the UK and Canada or anywhere else for that matter.

It means the opposite -that we have to demand more of ourselves.

To pick up the slack until the United States manages to get its sewer system unclogged.

I firmly believe that all of this work, challenging as it is, is a crucial part of the path to victory.

That the more ambitious, consistent and holistic you can be in painting a picture of the world transformed, the more credible a Labour government will become.

Because you went and showed us all that you can win.

Now you have to win.

We all do.

Winning is a moral imperative.

The stakes are too high, and time is too short, to settle for anything less.

Thank you

[ramajmedia]

Thor: Love And Thunder - 10 Ragnarok Characters We Want To See Return

Most fans don’t consider the Thor solo series from the MCU to be a complete whole. They mostly disregard his first two standalone movies and see Taika Waititi’s Thor: Ragnarok – which drastically changed the tone of the character and his stories – as the beginning of a new one.

RELATED: Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3: 5 Ways Thor Could Make It Better (& 5 Ways He Could Hold It Back)

It’s not that Ragnarok ignored the events of the previous two films (they heavily informed its plot, actually), but it feels like its own beast, and with Waititi being hired to come back and direct the fourth one, Love and Thunder, it seems as though this series will stand on its own. Here are 10 Thor: Ragnarok Characters We Want To See Return In Love And Thunder.

10 The Grandmaster

Fans were relieved in the post-credits scene of Thor: Ragnarok to find that Jeff Goldblum’s Grandmaster character was still alive. He was surrounded by his liberated subjects on Sakaar, who were probably about to brutally slaughter him, but as long as he’s alive in the MCU canon, Taika Waititi can find a way to get him into the plot of Love and Thunder.

Goldblum won over fans immediately with his eccentric, flamboyant portrayal of the Grandmaster and he clearly relished the opportunity to play such an extroverted, self-justifying villain, so no one would object to his return in the next movie.

9 Loki

Ever since he disappeared into another timeline with the Space Stone in Avengers: Endgame, MCU fans have been dying to see what happened to Loki. They will have all their questions answered in his upcoming six-episode series on Disney+, but it would be great to see him in Thor: Love and Thunder, too.

The strength of Loki’s character has always been his complex love-hate relationship with Thor. Kevin Feige has been stressing that those streaming shows will link very closely with the films, so maybe there’s hope that Loki’s Disney+ series will lead him into an appearance in Love and Thunder.

8 The Hulk

It remains unclear exactly what the Hulk’s future in the MCU will be, since his character arc came to a pretty natural conclusion in Avengers: Endgame. Bruce Banner and the Hulk merged in a gamma radiation chamber (or something – he explained it very quickly) and he emerged as “Smart Hulk,” who has the best qualities of both.

RELATED: 10 Times Hulk's Characterization Completely Changed In The MCU

Banner built strong relationships with Thor and Valkyrie in Ragnarok that we haven’t seen followed up yet, save for Valkyrie telling Smart Hulk, “I think I preferred you either of the other ways,” so maybe an appearance in Love and Thunder is in order.

7 Skurge

Skurge is better known by the supervillain alter ego “the Executioner,” a name that he was given by Hela when she first recruited him to join her evil squad in Thor: Ragnarok, and he was played brilliantly by Karl Urban.

What made him stand out in Ragnarok was the fact that he wielded a pair of M16 automatic rifles he acquired in “Tex-ass.” Urban is an underrated actor who should be a bigger star than he is, and although Skurge died during his heroic redemption in Ragnarok, it would be great if the New Asgardians can find a way to resurrect him.

6 Doctor Strange

Thor and Doctor Strange didn’t get a chance to talk during the events of Infinity War or Endgame – they were on different planets in the former and the Sorcerer Supreme was busy fending off a tidal wave in the latter – but they developed a bond in Thor: Ragnarok.

The God of Thunder stopped by the Sanctum Sanctorum to see if Strange could help him track down his father. Not only did Strange manage to do this; he gave Thor a beer to knock back while he was waiting. These two understand each other, since they’re both magical figures, so it would be great to see them on-screen together again.

5 Hela

Cate Blanchett has been hinting at a possible MCU return for Hela in recent weeks as the deals for Thor: Love and Thunder have been coming together. Thor’s evil half-sister seemed to die along with Asgard at the end of Ragnarok, but as we should all know by now, no one is really dead in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (except for Iron Man – he doesn’t seem to be coming back – but even Black Widow is about to get her own movie).

Blanchett relished the opportunity to play a classical villain in the mold of Maleficent or Cruella de Vil, so she’d probably be more than willing to come back.

4 Fandral

It seems unlikely that Shazam!’s Zachary Levi will want to return to his MCU role as Fandral in Thor: Love and Thunder now that he’s one of the DCEU’s most beloved stars.

However, there is a slim chance that he will want to come back if he’s given the larger role he deserves – at one point, Levi was eager to do a Warriors Three trilogy of MCU spin-offs – and if there’s one thing that Taika Waititi is great at doing, as evidenced by Ragnarok (although that movie only gave Fandral a cameo role), it’s taking characters that were marginalized or mischaracterized by earlier MCU movies and giving them a makeover.

3 Heimdall

The last time we saw Heimdall, he was resurrecting the Hulk and sending him to Earth before getting murdered by Thanos, who then declared, “No resurrections this time.” So, it’s unlikely that we’ll ever be meeting Idris Elba’s all-seeing Bifrost-protecting Asgardian badass again.

RELATED: Thor: 10 Fan Theories About Chris Hemsworth's Role In Love And Thunder

However, Elba was always woefully underused and fans were really taken with that character (he was one of the few good things about Thor: The Dark World), so if there is a way to bring him back, Taika Waititi should consider it. Heimdall was Thor’s best friend, after all, so he’d be more than willing to do whatever it would take to bring him back to life.

2 Valkyrie

This one is actually confirmed to return. And not only that, she’s promised a huge role in the plot. After Thor passed on the title of King of New Asgard to Valkyrie at the end of Avengers: Endgame, she will spend Thor: Love and Thunder searching high and low for a queen to rule alongside her.

Tessa Thompson made such an impression on fans with just one appearance in Ragnarok that there was mass disappointment when she was nowhere to be seen in Avengers: Infinity War. Thankfully, Marvel rectified this by having her ride a Pegasus and kick serious ass in the final battle of Endgame. It was a no-brainer for her to return in Love and Thunder.

1 Korg

With Taika Waititi back at the helm and the character he plays more popular than ever, it would be very surprising if Korg didn’t make an appearance in Thor: Love and Thunder. When we caught up with him in Avengers: Endgame, he was crashing on Thor’s couch in New Asgard and spending his days playing Fortnite.

Thor is off on cosmic adventures with the Guardians of the Galaxy (which we have to assume will get picked up in Love and Thunder), so we might not see much banter between him and Korg, but he could contribute to Valkyrie’s love-seeking storyline as a supporting player.

NEXT: Korg's 10 Funniest Quotes In The MCU

source https://screenrant.com/thor-love-thunder-ragnarok-characters-want-return/

[vileart]

The Red Chair of Dramaturgy: Sarah Cameron on tour

Clod Ensemble

The Red Chair – Scotland 2017 

Written and performed by Sarah Cameron

Produced in association with Fuel

Directed by Suzy Willson 

 Music by Paul Clark

Touring Scotland for the first time, Sarah Cameron’s towering solo performance is a delicious feast for the imagination performed in luscious Scots dialect and served with tasty morsels 

A contemporary take on folk and fairytale storytelling traditions, The Red Chair is a surreal ballad populated with larger than life characters which draws the audience into the extraordinary world of a troubled family, living together but each trapped in their own lonely worlds. Told in a saucy Scots dialect, The Red Chair tells the darkly humorous story of a father who eats and eats until he turns into the chair he is sitting upon, the wife doomed to cook his meals and their 'inveesible' daughter.

The epic and lyrical narrative takes audiences on a journey through a landscape of twisted reason, extreme compulsion and eye watering complacency, where domestic drudgery happens on an operatic scale and a father’s dereliction of duty reaches epic proportions. At three points in the show, audiences are invited to try tasty nibbles sourced from local suppliers and a dram of whisky to oil the way.

Created in collaboration with Dundee-born Sarah Cameron and based on her original book, The Red Chair is performed with the physical vitality that has become a trademark of Clod Ensemble’s work, rooted in the training that both Sarah and director Suzy Willson received at the Jacques Lecoq school in Paris. Woven into the production is an original sound score created by Clod Ensemble co-artistic director Paul Clark.

Director Suzy Willson said “Clod Ensemble usually works with music and is movement based work rather than being centered around text. We had worked with Sarah Cameron as a performer for many years but had no idea she could write too, so when she showed us the book she had been working on called The Red Chair, we were blown away by the quality of the language. Sarah is a virtuosic physical performer as well as a sculptor -the story felt to us like a kind of sculpture of words and we immediately wanted to hear and see her telling it.”

Writer and performer Sarah Cameron said: “A Scottish tour is a thrilling prospect as it is an opportunity to bring the work back to its natural home. The language and the dialect of conjurer’s up the wild beauty of the Scottish landscape. The text speaks of family and ancestry and in many ways is a romantic remembrance of Scotland, which is ingrained within my being and my heart.”

 I'd better be careful: I might be out of my depth talking about storytelling. But reading the synopsis for The Red Chair, I am struck by the way it could go two (out of many) ways. On the one hand, it reads like a fantastic fairy tale for younger audiences; on the other, it is pretty dark and might have some mature content. Can you help me out on that?

Every piece of theatre and every film is a bit of storytelling - but I know what you mean! We tend of think of something very specific when we think of storytelling. 

When I began writing the story, my idea was that it was for children. In the very best tradition of fairy tales and myth, it was always going to be dark. When you deconstruct Ashputtel (Cinderella) or Hansel & Gretel for example, the predicament of the child is pretty grim. When I got my teeth into “The Inveesible Child” a much more troubling story began to emerge. Her voice, the lemon juice cutting through the fat of the narrator’s, is very different. 

Whereas the narrator is poised, barbed, flamboyant, Queanie (written in a more dynamic and guttural dialect) is mercurial, raw, visceral, elemental - the howl of a wolf. The Red Chair begins like a fairy tale - the baroque and cartoon structure of the story creates a safe space, I suppose, from which we can explore the darker aspects of the human condition.  

As the story goes on the voice of narrator and the voice of Queanie merge - it becomes less like a fairy tale, and more like a poem, perhaps. The form of the story begins to unravel as the transformations occur. My children (aged 6 &10) saw it - but yes, I would say that older children (from age 12 onwards?) would get something from it - but it’s a story for all ages and all people, in the way fairy tales are intended.

I'm really interested in how you'd approach storytelling from a dramaturgical perspective. That is, you start with a book and transform it into performance. Where there any strategies that made this process easier?

Well, it was much easier because it was adapted from a story that I’d written and consequently I knew it inside out. Also, there was no rush - Clod Ensemble’s co-artistic director Suzy Willson & I took our time to adapt it from the original - over a period of about 3 years. It was vital to have Suzy’s impartial and fresh, outside eye. We had writing & editing sessions, as well as performing sessions. 

Along with Paul Clark (the other artistic director of Clod) we showed scratch performances to invited guests about 5 or 6 times during those 3 years. That gave us an idea of what worked and what didn’t. It was a great privilege actually, to be able to take that amount of time and it was brilliant that Suzy & Paul chose to work this way.  

In the early 90’s I was a resident company member of the Young Vic under the directorship of Tim Supple. The first show we made was the Christmas Show, an adaptation of Grimm’s Tales. Up until that period (1993/4) there wasn't very much good children’s theatre around but Grimm’s Tales turned out to be a seminal show and set the bar for a new kind of children’s theatre. During rehearsals we’d used the original tales - in their narrative form, as scripts. We improvised with them, edited and dramatised as we went along, on our feet. 

Through this process we discovered what needed to stay as text, what we could do in action and when we could use both. Carol Ann Duffy poetised our dramatised version of the tales. I learned how to tell a story with simplicity & clarity. 

So when it came to adapting The Red Chair I had some knowledge in my bones. It became clear to me too that verse was going to really help the telling of the tale, especially because of the language and dialect. 

Suzy was brilliant in cutting out the fat and we jiggled and re-jiggled bits of text around, until it came together. It was also edited after during the run of first few shows and it really found its feet (half an hour shorter than the first ever show) at the Brighton Festival in 2014, where we won an award. It’s the putting of it on its feet that’s an essential part of the adapting process.

Because I have spent all afternoon reading about the Enlightenment (and not watching YouTube videos, not at all), I am currently obsessed with the idea that the world has become 'disenchanted': it's not really full of sprites and angels anymore, just mathematical equations and people trying to sell me stuff. But The Red Chair seems to inhabit a timeless world, where magic is still present and transformation is always possible. Do you feel a connection with a more mystical vision of the world and is that expressed through the story?

Gosh. And yes. Good question. Glad you’re not watching YouTube ;) I do think the world has become ‘disenchanted’, at least parts of it. I do find physics (not that I understand much of it) and the exploration of space extremely enchanting - so science has its own magic and wonder. 

But (& I’ve become a little obsessed with this too recently) there’s something about masses of technology, closing down of pubs and gathering spaces, mass urbanisation, the speeding up of lives, the blurring of day and night, our heads in screens, living in a secular society (I’m not religious, but biblical & other religious stories are full of enchantment & strange things) and so on that’s created this age of ‘disenchantment’ perhaps? 

I feel that we're losing our sense of spirit/soul, how each of us is connected to the next, and the other, and ultimately to our world, our universe. In the story, there's no technology at all and so the young hero, Queanie, has no other choice but to rely upon her imagination, and her books. It was important to create a sense of no time or all time - I feel that the story has mythical resonance. Queanie survives because of her imagination. 

She’s a product of her environment certainly, in more ways than one. Queanie is an embodiment of the land about her, she’s the moor and the mist and the blizzard and the lightning strike - the fox, the wolf, the snawy owl.  There’s something in that for me - our attachment to the land, our spiritual connectedness to the trees, the earth, the animals, the stars, the universe - our ancestors too. At the moment, and I don’t know why, I feel very strongly that I walk in their ancient footsteps. 

I don’t know if you’ve seen images of the stencilled hands (9,000 years old) on the Cuevade Las Manos in Patagonia? I’m very inspired by this image, fixated by it somewhat - a sea of waving hands, made up of many individuals over time - open, joyful, ancient - and yet symbolising a whole community. I feel a primal rage against what’s happening/happened in our society, where so many people are isolated and alone. 

George Monbiot has coined our era ‘The Age of Loneliness.’ We’re pack animals and we need each other to thrive. Perhaps as you suggest, re-discovering ‘enchantment’ can bring us together? Stories certainly can.

I do feel a mystical connection to our planet, and beyond. But you know I come from a great line of storytellers - don’t all Scots? My Gran and Dad told endless eerie stories and of course we visited haunted castles and misty moors as children. The melancholy hues of the Scottish landscape and the dark, forbidding architecture of the land is fertile breeding ground for such spooky tales, and I tramped through the Glens, the moors, the Highlands often throughout my eighteen years in Scotland. 

There was never any doubt that ghosts do exist. I was told as a child that Ghosts were about us, all the time. And of course, as you get older you could choose to understand that in a different way. I do think that it’s in the Scottish DNA to believe in spirits, ghosts and such-like. 

The magical transformations in the story are also metaphors for emotional and/or physical states. They can be interpreted and understood in that way too. There are transformations happening around us all the time and in their own small ways, they are miraculous. Perhaps we’ve forgotten how to acknowledge them?

So, the other thing that might make it look like I have done some reading, the use of Scots strikes me as another counterblast to the Enlightenment: this is very much locating the performance in a particular location (and I think I read something in Adorno about how capitalism aims at the universal, like how Disney flatten everything into a generic animation style to sell it more easily). What made you decide on using a language that isn't easily marketable outside of its own area (although that might be an assumption on my part - but I am hoping that there's something about the tradition of the language in there…)?

I didn’t really decide. First of all, a few smatterings of Scots arrived, imperceptibly really. A friend suggested I build on that. So I started searching for Scot’s words and I was beguiled - I felt like I’d found a box of golden treasure. The language was just so beautiful, colourful, rich, resonant, witty, chewable, sculptural. I was transported to my young years in Scotland and the liveliness of the language that had been all around me - which actually, had been forbidden to me at the time - of course that made it all the more delectable and exciting. 

My mum was English and when my dad and she returned to Scotland after they'd met, he began speaking in the local dialect again much to my mum’s displeasure. So, she sent us all to elocution lessons to make sure we didn’t pick up the local lingo too. And of course living down South for so many years, I’d lost my connection to the language, I’d also suppressed it. But as I wrote The Red Chair (I read aloud as I write) I felt like I was discovering my real and true voice - and it was very Scottish! So in the process of writing The Red Chair, which is all about transformation, I myself was being transformed, in more ways than one. I do think there was some enchantment going on!  

There is great liberation in performing and owning these words. And I feel very strongly that these words must survive - I think there’s a bit of a movement in Scotland now isn’t there - a reclaiming of the Scot’s?

Although the story is clearly set in Scotland, I don’t say it specifically. I say, ‘someplace in the glum north o’ the warld..’ I feel that the Scot’s dialect in the Red Chair is a poetic voice. The words have been formed over hundreds of years and are as ancient as the hills. In the same way that the story is timeless and has something of the ancient myth about it, so the dialect, for me (perhaps because I’m an outsider) is timeless; for me it’s a universal voice, in the very best sense; an ancestral, ancient, mythical voice; a potent voice full of knowledge and wit. 

So yes, it might be challenging for some but no more so than going to see a Shakespeare play. After 10 minutes your ear attunes to the difference and it’s no longer an issue (I hope!). We’ve done lots of shows in England and people have often commented on the Scots and how much they love it. Whilst it’s idiosyncratic and distinctive, it’s also mercurial - it’s not academic, it’s not specific. 

There’s some made up stuff and there are words from different parts of the country (the world too) - it’s by no means purist. I agree with what you say above re. Disney etc. I feel stubborn about this wonderful language (and heritage) and it can and must be heard outside of Scotland - it’s too brilliant not to be shared. There’s a strong desire to combat the machine that says we all must be alike, homogenised.   

Of course there were also huge influences from Rabbie Burns, Hugh MacDiarmid, Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Billy Connolly, William Topaz McGonagall, Robert Louis Stevenson et al from when I was wee. The sculptural dynamic of the language, its toothsomeness, the way the mouth and body has to move to accommodate the words, is inspiring to me too. They resonate with my training as a sculptor, and a Lecoqian. 

Lecoq is all the rage in my house. Are there any aspects of the performance that you would ascribe to the school's teaching?

All of it. And I write that with a big smile on my face.

Running Time: 1 hr 40 mins | Suitable for ages 14+

Directed by Suzy Willson           Written and performed by Sarah Cameron

Music by Paul Clark                  Lighting Design by Hansjorg Schmidt

Design by Sarah Blenkinsop      Produced in association with Fuel

Listings information

3 & 4 Mar

Tron Theatre, Glasgow

63 Trongate, Glasgow G1 5HB

8pm | £10 / £7.50

www.tron.co.uk | 0141 552 4267

6 Mar

Eden Court, Inverness

Bishops Road, Inverness IV3 5SA

7:30pm | £11

www.eden-court.co.uk | 01463 239841

17 & 18 Mar

Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh

10 Cambridge Street, Edinburgh EH1 2ED

8pm | £16.50 / £13.50 / £8.50

www.traverse.co.uk | 0131 228 1404

20 Mar

Theatre Royal, Dumfries

66-68 Shakespeare Street, Dumfries DG1 2JH

7:30pm | £10

http://ift.tt/1J9Kis5 | 01387 254209

31 Mar

Dundee Rep Theatre, Dundee

Tay Square, Dundee DD1 1PB

7:30pm | £14 / £12 / £11

www.dundeerep.co.uk | 01382 223530

About Clod Ensemble

Clod Ensemble is one of the UK’s most prominent interdisciplinary performance companies. Music and movement is deeply embedded in all of the works in the company’s repertoire. For over 20 years the company has created an extraordinary body of work lead by Artistic Directors Suzy Willson and Paul Clark. Their work is presented across the UK and internationally, including Sadler’s Wells, Tate Modern, Public Theater New York and Serralves Museum Poto. Clod Ensemble has a repertoire of critically acclaimed work, each production with its own distinctive musical and visual identity. Recently the Company has embarked in a new music collaboration with OENM in Salzburg.

   Suzy Willson graduated from Manchester University before studying with Jacques Lecoq in Paris. On her return she co-founded Clod Ensemble and has directed all of their productions to date. She teaches drama and movement to students, actors, musicians and leads the company's Performing Medicine project. She has worked as a movement director on productions at the Gate, Soho Theatre, BAC, with film director Arnaud Desplechin, performance poet Malaika B, and Jessica Ogden for London Fashion week.

Paul Clark is a leading composer on the British performance scene. His music has reached a range of international audiences and venues such as Lincoln Centre NewYork, Vienna Burgtheater, Berlin Schaubuhne and Amsterdam Stadsschouwburg, through collaborations with Gare St Lazare Irelend and Director Katie Mitchell.

About Sarah Cameron

Sarah Cameron is an artist, performer and writer. Born in Dundee, she studied sculpture at the Chelsea School of Art and theatre at Ecole International de Theatre Jacques Lecoq. She has worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company, West Yorkshire Playhouse and the Young Vic, where she was a member of the resident company that created the legendary production of Grimm Tales. She first worked with Clod Ensemble in 1999, touring their production of Greed internationally in 2003, performing in Zero at Sadler’s Wells Theatre, and most recently in a production of An Anatomie in Four Quarters at The Lowry. 

About Fuel

The Red Chair is produced in association with Fuel. Founded in 2004, and led by Louise Blackwell and Kate McGrath, Fuel is a producing organisation working in partnership with some of the most exciting artists in the UK to develop, create and present new work for all. Fuel is currently working with artists including: Will Adamsdale, Clod Ensemble, Inua Ellams, Fevered Sleep, David Rosenberg, Sound&Fury, Uninvited Guestsand Melanie Wilson. 

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[aion-rsa]

Federal Judge Paves Way for Hollywood Studios to Own Movie Theaters Again

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

There once was a time when movie studios were more like fiefdoms, and movie theaters as much a part of their realm as the actors signing exclusive contracts in the hopes of stardom. It was called the Golden Age of Hollywood. Via vertical integration of movie production, distribution, and exhibition, studios had airtight control of what content was available at what theaters in what markets throughout the country. The studios could also force theaters they did not own to blindly buy blocks of movie content at unlimited sizes. Now after 70 years and the advent of internet streaming, those days look like they may be coming back.

That is at least one takeaway from Friday’s ruling by U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres, which overturned the precedents established by several landmark court decisions in the 1940s, including the U.S. Supreme Court decision, United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. (1948), and gave the U.S. Department of of Justice the ability to terminate the consent decrees that were recreate by these rulings.

Referring to the rules that barred movie studios from owning all facets of movie distribution and exhibition—forcing studios to sell theaters and the emergence of a thriving separate exhibition industry—as the Paramount Consent Decrees, Torres wrote, “Because changes in the antitrust law and administration have diminished the importance of the Decrees’ restrictions, while still providing protection that will keep the probability of future violations low, the Court finds the termination of the Decrees in the public interest.”

Torres went on to add, “Second, changes in the motion picture industry over the last seventy years have made it unlikely that the remaining Defendants could or would reinstate their cartel to monopolize the motion picture distribution and theater markets.” The judge also noted of the current film distribution landscape that “None of the internet streaming companies—Netflix, Amazon, Apple and others—that produce and distribute movies are subject to the Decrees. Thus, the remaining Defendants are subject to legal constraints that do not apply to their competitors.” You can read the full ruling here.

It should be noted this historic decision is exactly what the current U.S. Justice Department was requesting, arguing like Torres’ eventual opinion that current antitrust laws are strong enough to prevent a monopolistic collusion among studios and select exhibitors. Meanwhile the movie theater trade organization, the National Association of Theatre Owners, lamented the decision in a statement, suggesting the legal drama in the courts is not over yet.

If Torres’ ruling stands, or is upheld by higher courts, this is a significant ruling that would permanently change the way movie theaters are operated and movies are released in them. While the limitations and bans on certain types of block booking established by the United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. decision will stay in place for the next two years—being forced to sunset in 2022—it is not hard to imagine scenarios where movie studios regain more power than they’ve seen in 71 years over what is screened at theaters across the U.S., which could thereby also effect what is produced by content creators facing diminished competition.

While there is persuasive logic that streaming services have no limits on owning all facets of supply and distribution of their content, the downside of each streaming service having limited and specifically curated content that’s appealing to their brand is self-evident, with some consumers feeling compelled to subscribe to many subscription services or be denied, say, popular Disney films on Netflix or 20th Century Fox films on Amazon.

Even before this overturning of precedent, the limited blocked booking allowed by the Paramount Decrees of five films has been utilized aggressively by some studios, particularly in the age of mega-franchise blockbusters eating up most of the box office in the last decade. Quentin Tarantino famously complained in 2015 about how Disney strong-armed theaters, particularly ArcLight Cinemas, to push The Hateful Eight off screens to make way for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. And in 2017, Disney made way again when it demanded theaters surrender 65 percent of the revenue earned by Star Wars: The Last Jedi, as opposed to the standard of 40 to 55 percent, and for the movie to be allowed to play for four weeks on the biggest screens in cinemas without being moved.

Given Disney is creating its own precedents these days by breaking the theatrical window for Mulan and making the blockbuster available as a Premium Video on Demand on Disney+, the prospect of Disney being able to own theaters outright or forcing existing theater chains to agree to larger block bookings without screening the content for movie theater owners is eye-opening. But perhaps in its own way, this decision creates an avenue where Disney might see better long-term profitability in continuing to support the theatrical window after the coronavirus pandemic… if they can own the theaters screening their movies.

Similarly, Universal Pictures made history during the pandemic by agreeing to potentially shorten the theatrical window of its films to 17 days. If the studio does elect to then put new releases on VOD after three weekends in theaters, it will share an unspecified amount of revenue from VOD earnings with AMC Theatres.

With the removal of the Paramount Decrees, the ability for Universal and AMC Theatres to collaborate more—even merge, if their mutual board of directors were so inclined—would be open, thereby giving Universal a foothold so strong in one theater chain that it could potentially ignore others, at least in local markets where there is a competition. Other studios can likewise see easier paths toward establishing their own versions of the Universal-AMC deal, or perhaps begin finding their own openings of creating (or buying) theaters in the world that comes next, after audiences feel safe to return to theaters en masse.

The full extent and repercussions of this decision will likely not be grasped for years to come, but no matter what, it’s hard to see how exactly it will be good for consumers.

The post Federal Judge Paves Way for Hollywood Studios to Own Movie Theaters Again appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/33CEMkk

[ulyssessklein]

5 ways you don’t understand your fans (and that’s why they’re tuning you out)

Do you really “know” your fans online?

I don’t mean, like, having a clear picture of your target demographic or creating some fan avatar. I mean YOUR ACTUAL FANS. Are you communicating in a way that shows you know who they are, what they want, and what they’ve done?

Your fans want to be seen as individuals.

The larger your audience, the harder it is to keep track of your fans individually, but there are a few fairly simple things you can do online to treat your fans like individuals, and not a faceless mob.

You might be turning off your audience by not matching the message to the individual.

Many musicians just don’t treat this as a priority. I’ve been guilty too. But the more you understand your fans, the better able you’ll be to communicate with them, and the more likely they’ll be to subscribe, buy something, come to a show, etc.

Sure, they’ll know on an intellectual level that you’re not personalizing every single email, ad, or post by hand. But putting the right message in front of the right audience has a psychological effect; you’re demonstrating respect for each individual fan.

And again, the more you know about your fans, the better the chance that respect will be reciprocated.

Here are five things you might not know about your fans, but SHOULD:

1. You don’t know what she’s bought

It’s important to know when and how your fans have given you money.

No sense in advertising your last album to people who’ve already purchased it.

Conversely, who’s most likely to buy your next album? The people who bought your last one.

So be sure to tag email subscribers with information about their purchase history, and segment your list or ad audiences based on that information.

Where to start? You might already have customer records waiting (in the form of spreadsheets) within your CD Baby, Bandcamp, Kickstarter, or PledgeMusic accounts.

Understand where their dollars have gone. Keep track. Talk to them like individuals.

2. You don’t know what platform he’s on

Creating a Spotify pre-save campaign? You might not want to spend money advertising to fans you know are on Apple Music or Pandora. Want someone to create a Pandora station from your music? How about “suppressing” (not sending to) the people on your email list who’ve previously clicked a Spotify link.

Track those email clicks. Tag people accordingly. Then stop bugging them with social posts and emails that don’t apply to them!

3. You don’t know what their interest level is

Is this person a casual fan who might only want quarterly updates? Are they a loyal follower who wants bi-weekly reminders about every livestream and tour diary?

Again, tag them accordingly. Send the deep dives to the diehards. Send the big news to everyone.

4. You don’t know where he lives

I don’t mean you should keep track of everyone’s home address. That’d be creepster. But know their general location: city, zip, region, country.

I can’t tell you how many email announcements I get from musicians playing gigs thousands of miles from where I live. Delete.

If you didn’t get a person’s geographic information when they signed up for your list, at least geo-target your emails. And on social, target by location if it’s a regionally specific message.

5. You don’t know her name

Yeah, we know Amazon didn’t manually write our name in the subject line, or at the top of the email. It’s a trick, right?

But it still works. A neuroscientist could probably tell you why. I’ll just repeat the findings: It works.

Personalize your communications.

To you it’s a simple merge-field. To them, it’s WHO THEY ARE.

It’s important to show you have an understanding of each individual listener.

As I said, musicians don’t often track fan behavior. So we send blanket messages that don’t apply to half the recipients. Then they learn to tune us out.

We can do better. We have to stop treating our fans like a faceless mass, and instead view them as a collection of individuals.

Let’s tag our email contacts, segment our social audiences, and use all this information to make our fans feel like we see them, know them, and APPRECIATE them.

The post 5 ways you don’t understand your fans (and that’s why they’re tuning you out) appeared first on DIY Musician Blog.