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terreisa · 5 years ago

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The Perfect Gift

Emma Swan has gotten away with trading out her pick for Secret Santa for three years. When she’s finally forced to keep the first name she pulls from the Santa hat it happens to be Killian Jones, the one person in the office that irritates her to no end. She makes it her mission to find him a perfect gift and ends up discovering there’s more to the office Casanova than she’d ever suspected.

AO3

~*~CS~*~

“You’ve gotta be shitting me. Let me pick again!”

Emma Swan groaned as her friend and co-worker Mary Margaret twisted at the waist so the Santa hat in her hands was well out of her reach.

“No. I’ve let you, and only you by the way, re-pick for the past three years,” Mary Margaret said pointedly, raising her brow at her. “It’s not fair to the others who actually follow the rules of Secret Santa.”

“Rules you came up with,” Emma grumbled, scowling down at the name on the slip of paper in her hands.

“It can’t be that bad-” Mary Margaret sighed, “Zelena was transferred and Walsh was fired so there’s really no one truly terrible participating this year.”

“I think I’d prefer them over the one I did get. Forget the fact that I can’t stand him, I don’t know what the hell to get him!”

“Who-” Mary Margaret began before her eyes widened and a pleased smile unfurled on her face, “You know exactly what he wants and it won’t even cost you twenty-five dollars.”

“Mary Margaret!” Emma hissed, embarrassed and shocked that her normally prim and proper friend went straight for an innuendo. “Gross.”

“Oh, come on, it’s no secret that Killian has had a crush on you from the moment he stepped foot in this office.”

Emma rolled her eyes at the familiar and franky ridiculous refrain. Killian Jones was a well known film critic from England that had been hired two years before in an effort by the higher ups to expand their newspaper’s readership. When he had walked in on his first day, with artfully tousled inky black hair, ocean blue eyes glittering with excitement, and tailored clothes that showed off a trim and toned physique, nearly every single woman in the office had attempted to help him set up his desk. Emma, on the other hand, had appreciated the new eye candy and then returned her attention to the article she had been working on at the time.

She figured that it was her indifference that had Killian asking her later that day if she’d wanted to get coffee with him. Of course, after watching him flirt and banter with all the helpful women in the office all morning she’d given him a withering look and a resounding no. She’d been burned badly before by interoffice dating and she wasn’t looking for a repeat performance, let alone dealing with a no shame lothario. He had merely given her a puzzled smile and wished her a good day before retreating to his desk. What followed was a year of watching him pull the same tricks with every available woman in the building while still brushing him off every few weeks. As glad as she was that she hadn’t fallen for any of his pretenses there was an annoying stab of something in her gut whenever he walked someone new out the door with his hand low on their back.

Things had only taken a turn for the worse when Emma had been promoted to a full time writing position in the entertainment section. While she’d been vying for a byline in that section for years she almost turned it down knowing she’d have to work almost daily near the man that had become the bane of her existence. There had been an intervention from Mary Margaret, her husband David, and her roommate Belle to convince her to take the position. Even her own boss Tink, editor of the home and garden section, had had to sit her down and talk sense into her. She’d emerged from her office an hour later, cheeks burning with the praise Tink had heaped on her and ears ringing with the passionate arguments she’d made in her favor. By the end of the week she’d moved her things to a desk across the office, one that was unfortunately situated next to Killian’s.

From the moment she’d unpacked her admittedly meager personal belongings Killian had seemed to take it upon himself to get on her last nerve. He was constantly leaning over to ask her inane questions about her day or bore her with random bits of trivia he collected like a magpie with shiny things. Though, she had to admit, it broke up the monotony of trying to think of a new way to write a review for a show that had jumped the shark three seasons before. She also couldn’t find it in her to really complain about the perfectly made cup of coffee that was always annoyingly waiting for her when she was running late, which happened to be almost every day. What really got on her nerves, however, was that his movie reviews were insightful, hilarious, respectful even when he hated the movie, and aligned with her own opinions so perfectly that she’d wondered more than once if he could read her mind.

Of course, everyone in the office saw all of that as tantamount to Killian having feelings for her. Worst of all they saw her laughing at something he said, or drinking the coffee he made, hell even talking civilly with him as her returning those non-existent feelings. When it was really that she just found it easier to go along with his ridiculousness than to wear herself out actively loathing him. She truly couldn’t stand him but no one else seemed to believe her.

“It’s not a crush,” she refuted though there was no heat behind it because she knew Mary Margaret wouldn’t believe her.

“Sure, uh-huh,” Mary Margaret singsonged with a grin. She walked backwards away from her, still grinning, “Twenty-five dollars and we’re doing the exchange at the holiday party. Good luck!”

Emma stuck her tongue out at Mary Margaret as she pivoted on her heel and made her way to the advice column's and editorial’s small cluster of desks. She sighed, slightly glad she’d been cornered in the breakroom instead of at her desk where Killian would have definitely overheard something she didn’t need him to. Then again she wouldn’t have had to once again brush of Mary Margaret’s ridiculous ideas of crushes and might have even stood a chance at getting to repick a name. With a groan of frustration she grabbed her now lukewarm mug of coffee and a random loose granola bar and headed back to her own desk, already mulling over and rejecting ideas for what to get Killian.

Twenty minutes and a thorough search of Killian’s almost too neat desk later and she was still at a loss. She was fiddling with a paperclip to open the locked bottom drawer but knew she had already pushed her luck, time wise. Killian and Robin, the editor of the sports section, always went out for lunch on Wednesdays and were always back in the office by ten till one. Glancing at her watch she saw she had less than five minutes to jimmy the lock, dig through the drawer’s contents, get everything back in order, and be sitting innocently back at her desk. Gritting her teeth in frustration she stood, tossing the half straightened paperclip onto her desk as she looked over the personal effects on his desk once more.

There were a couple framed photos: one was of him and another dark haired, blue eyed man, brother she figured from the resemblance; another was of a woman in soft focus with dark auburn hair that was curled to eighties perfection, his mother probably though Emma could only guess why he chose that photo to put up; the third and final frame wasn’t a photo but his review for the movie The Village, clipped from a newspaper and yellowed with age. Aside from the frames there were only a few knick knacks: a small replica ship’s compass, a Rubick’s cube she’d seen him fiddle with when he was on the phone or stuck on wording for an article, and a potted plant she didn’t know the name of that he had somehow kept alive in their nearly windowless office. The only thing that seemed to give her any real insight was a thick, well worn paperback. She didn’t recognize the author’s name but the title rang a bell and having no other leads she resigned herself to jotting both down on a Post-It as a starting point.

“Interested in the works of Edwin Stephens?”

Emma jumped at the sound of Killian’s voice next to her. She breathed a sigh of relief that she’d sat at her own desk to write the name down before realizing she had to come up with a reason for doing it.

“Uh, looking for present ideas-” she winced at her own stupidity, rushing on hoping he wouldn’t catch on to her, “For David. Mary Margaret’s husband? He’s a big reader. Of everything. Hard to get him something he hasn’t read yet, you know? Thought I’d check if he had any of this Stephens guy’s books the next time I go over for dinner.”

Killian chuckled, settling into his chair, “He might, Stephens isn’t particularly popular but now that his work is finally getting the quality adaptations it deserves more people are starting to read his books.”

“So he’s your favorite author then?” She teased, delighting in the tips of his ears going pink.

“Since I was twelve and a neighbor let me borrow Absolute Bearing. I was a bit young to be reading it but I loved it. Didn’t actually give it back to the neighbor, now that I think about it,” he hummed thoughtfully before shrugging and picking up the book on his desk. “If Mary Margaret’s husband doesn’t have Siege Perilous then it’s the one to get. It’s considered to be one of Stephens’ best, and not only by me I’ll have you know. It’s also going to be a limited series on HBO next fall.”

“Really? ‘Cause it kinda looks like you don’t like it at all,” she deadpanned, eyeing the well bent spine and slight discoloration of the pages.

He rolled his eyes at her, “Ha, bloody, ha, Swan. I’ll have you know this is the third copy I’ve had to buy since I keep rereading it until it falls apart in my hands.”

Surprised by his utter sincerity she burst into laughter. He grinned widely at her, absently thumbing at the pages of the book. As her chuckles subsided she realized that she’d never actually initiated a conversation with Killian, let alone one where she joked around with him. Suddenly feeling awkward she dropped her gaze to the note she’d written herself and tried to ignore the way she saw his shoulders slump out of the corner of her eye.

“Siege Perilous,” she muttered, carefully adding the title to her note just so she’d have something to do. She peeled off the Post-It and stuck it to her monitor, “Got it.”

“He should enjoy it-” she looked at him, confused for a moment until he clarified, “David. Don’t let the nautical themes put you off.”

“Right, thanks.”

She gave him a fleeting smile before turning back to her desk and made a show of throwing herself into her work. Nevermind that she’d already finished her assignment for the week. Cursing to herself she opened a new document and began typing nonsense until the feeling of him watching her subsided. She was highly annoyed when at the end of the day that all she’d accomplished was a page full of ridiculous phrases and the tiniest sliver of insight into the man she had to buy a gift for.

A week later she was no closer to narrowing down from over a dozen options. She knew she was way overthinking it and that if she asked Mary Margaret or Robin she’d have a gift purchased by the end of the day. Yet, somehow, she felt like that was cheating. It had become a challenge almost, the urge to crack the code to get her sworn enemy the perfect gift. Though, since their conversation about Edwin Stephens she’d let her guard down and had a few more surprising talks with Killian about the things they liked to do on their downtime. Which is how Emma found herself arguing with him over the best place to get pizza.

“Are you kidding? Their crust is garbage! The only good thing about that place is the sauce.”

“The sauce makes the pie, love,” he said vehemently. “Just because you prefer a paper thin crust doesn’t mean that every other option should automatically be disqualified in your book.”

She rolled her eyes, “Fine, I’ll give you that, I guess, but they don’t even deliver. Not even Postmates! How are they still in business when they’re missing out on all those potential customers?”

“Ah, so the truth emerges!” Killian said smugly as he leaned forward and narrowed his eyes at her, “You probably don’t venture to eat anywhere that doesn’t have the option of showing up at your front door. Think of all the delicacies you’re missing out on, Swan!”

“I eat at places that don’t deliver. There’s a great Dominican place that’s a whole twenty minutes away from my apartment and I go there at least three times a month,” she shot back before realizing she’d revealed a part of her life she hadn’t meant to. She scrambled to keep him from thinking too deeply over it, “Besides you can’t say that Angelo’s is the best when you haven’t even tried Pizza on Fourth.”

“With such an uninspired name how can their fare be any good?” He scoffed. Then he hesitated, looking at her consideringly, “How about we put it to a test?”

“Meaning?” She asked warily.

“Do you have plans for lunch or vehement standards about eating the same thing twice in a day?” He asked, matching her wariness.

She blinked at him, “You want to see whose pizza place is better?”

“It’s the only way to know for sure,” he answered seriously, though she could see the corner of his mouth twitching into a smile.

“For scientific purposes or bragging rights?”

“Bragging rights, of course,” he said with a wink.

Ignoring the small flutter in her stomach she pretended to mull it over, “Will there be a medal? A trophy perhaps?”

“How about a free lunch?”

“Deal!”

He chuckled, “Since Angelo’s is closer shall we get Pizza on Fourth delivered for lunch, then we can walk over to Angelo’s after work?”

“Sounds good to me,” she said happily, already opening the app to order. “Should we go with the classic pepperoni at both to keep it fair?”

“I like the way you think, love, and add on a round of garlic knots to really spice up the competition. Just let me know when you need my card.”

“Uh-huh,” she murmured, busy tapping away at the ordering options.

Later that night, with a lot of hedging and dragging her feet she admitted that Angelo’s was the better pizza. What she couldn’t seem to admit, even to herself, was that she’d had fun hanging out with Killian outside of work. She also toyed with and then dismissed the idea of getting him a giftcard to Pizza on Fourth just for the petty satisfaction.

Four days before Christmas and two before the company party Emma found herself wearily scrolling through article after article on Buzzfeed for any kind of inspiration for a gift. She felt as though she’d had a hundred ideas but none of them felt right. It didn’t help that every time her and Killian hung out that a dozen new options for a gift presented themselves.

“I don’t think he’d want a Tub Shroom, no matter how many people have given it five stars on Amazon.”

Emma groaned at the sound of Mary Margaret’s voice, dropping her forehead to her desk. She felt a gentle commiserating pat on her shoulder and rolled her head to look up at her.

“He’s impossible to shop for,” she whined. “Is it too late to switch with someone?”

“He is not and yes it is,” Mary Margaret tsked. “Unlike you everyone else doesn’t wait until the last minute to buy something.”

“It’s not the last minute. I still have two days,” she grumbled, pushing herself up only to slump down in her chair.

Mary Margaret frowned, “Which is not enough time for Amazon to send something. You’re making this harder than it has to be, especially if you hate the guy.”

“I don’t hate him,” she mumbled, barely above a whisper.

“What?”

“I said-” she sighed and prepared herself for a torrent of ‘I told you so’s’ and squeals, “I don’t hate him. He’s actually a good guy.”

Mary Margaret smiled widely but surprised Emma by remaining calm, “Then it should be even easier to find something. Right?”

“That’s just it!” She huffed, throwing her hands up in frustration. “There’s too many options now that I’ve actually gotten to know him. I should just buy him the best bottle of rum twenty-five bucks can buy and be done with it.”

“Then why don’t you do that?” Mary Margaret asked puzzled, though her smile was still too wide for Emma’s liking.

“It’s so…” she cast about for the right word and nearly let out a frustrated growl when none came to her. “Generic, boring, thoughtless? I don’t know but I can do better.”

Mary Margaret laughed, “It’s not a competition. He’ll appreciate whatever you get him. Probably even more so now that you’re friends.”

Emma opened her mouth to refute the claim but found that she couldn’t. Since their impromptu pizza competition they’d gone to several more restaurants under the guise of deciding who had the better taste. Even more than that they’d also gone out for after work drinks a few times, talking about nothing and everything, and once she’d gone with him to a critics screening of a movie she’d been looking forward to seeing for months. That he’d been just as excited to see it and they’d spent hours dissecting it afterward at a twenty-four hour diner down the street from the theater only drove home the fact that he was, for lack of a better term, her friend. She tried to push down the sudden feeling of disappointment she felt at that.

“Ooo, Siege Perilous? Isn’t that the set you get to visit next month?”

Mary Margaret’s voice dragged her back to the discussion at hand. She nodded absently, “Yeah, they start filming after the holidays and it’s the only time they’re allowing reporters on set.”

“Lucky, David wouldn’t let me read anything else until I gave it a chance. I was annoyed at first but it’s really good. You should read it too, get ready for that set visit.”

“I should,” she said slowly, staring thoughtfully at the Post-It she hadn’t thought about since she’d stuck it to her monitor. An idea started to form in her mind and with it a realization. She looked up at Mary Margaret, “It’s totally a crush isn’t it?”

Mary Margaret’s smile somehow grew wider, “For him? Or for you?”

Emma surprised them both by smiling herself, “Is it okay if I skip out on our lunch? I’ll make it up to you.”

“Totally fine,” Mary Margaret said, waving her off. “I think I’ll go out to eat with Tink, she owes me.”

She barely paid attention as Mary Margaret left, already distracted by figuring out what she needed to do and how little time she had to do it.

Two days later, when Emma arrived at the restaurant that was hosting their company party it was already in full swing. She snuck Killian’s present onto the table that held the other gifts before weaving through her coworkers to get to the bar. When she got there she was pleased to see Killian already there, chatting with the bartender.

“Gonna buy me a drink, Jones?” she asked as she sidled up next to him and grinned.

“It’s an open bar, Swan, so I’d be delighted to,” he said with a grin of his own. Then his eyes widened and she watched his adam’s apple bob as he swallowed, “You look-”

“I know,” she said demurely, pleased that her blush pink dress had made the impression she was going for. She turned to the bartender and ordered a glass of wine, conscious of his gaze lingering on her. When she was handed her glass she turned back to see him still staring at her, “I know I probably already asked this but you’re not flying home for Christmas?”

“Uh, no-” he blinked, shaking his head slightly. It seemed to clear his thoughts and he gave her a shrug, “Never had a place there to truly call home if I’m honest. I tend to fly wherever my brother Liam is stationed at the time but seeing as he’s doing the whole first holiday with his girlfriend and her parents I figured I’d stick it out here this year. It’ll just be me and a yet undecided Netflix marathon to celebrate. What about you, off to visit your own family tomorrow?”

“Oh, I, uh,” she stuttered, caught off guard by the suspicion that his past seemed to mirror hers. She took a sip of wine to fortify herself, “I don’t have a, uh, family. I usually sleep in and then watch Die Hard before going to Mary Margaret’s house for the day. Nothing too exciting.”

She took another sip of wine to cover what was sure to be an awkward moment between them. Killian was watching her with a look she couldn’t understand, not saying a word. Finally after a few seconds that felt like lifetimes she glared back.

“What?”

“Sorry, love,” he said sheepishly, a blush blooming in his cheeks. “It’s just… sometimes you’re quite the open book but then you’ll do or say something that surprises me. I never would have guessed- well, I knew there was something but I didn’t want to pry and it didn’t occur to me-”

“Killian-” she interrupted, grabbing his arm to stop his rambling. “It’s okay, you can say ‘orphan’. It’s not like you’re breaking a story I don’t already know.”

He let out a tense laugh, nervously scratching behind his ear, “Perhaps I didn’t want to say it because I loathe the moniker myself. Schoolyard taunts will do that to a lad.”

Her breath caught in her throat. She had gone through most of her life not having much in common with people because of how she had grown up without parents or even a stable home. It was almost ironic that she had been so determined to dislike Killian when he had more in common with her than she ever could have expected. A hiccuping laugh escaped her as she realized just how much she had grown to like him over the weeks since she’d drawn his name from Mary Margaret’s Santa hat.

“I propose a toast,” she said with a wide grin, lifting her glass, “To a couple of orphans not letting a little thing like that get us down.”

Killian gave her a soft smile, raising his glass to hers and tapping them together lightly, “To a couple of orphans.”

They drank, though neither of them took their eyes off of each other. Emma felt the warmth from the wine spreading down to her toes, though she could have also blamed the look in Killian’s eyes with having something to do with it. Just as she was about to comment on it and possibly ruining whatever it was that was growing between them the music that had been playing in the background cut out and Mary Margaret was calling for their attention.

“Merry Christmas everybody!” She chirped merrily. David was at her side with two wrapped presents in his hands, “It’s time to hand out the Secret Santa gifts so when you hear your name come on up!”

Emma felt a thrill of anticipation zip across her stomach. She turned towards Killian with what she hoped was a calm demeanor only to find that he was still looking at her with a gentle smile, not even paying attention to the names Mary Margaret was calling out.

“Not looking forward to your gift?” She prodded, worried that he’d already figured out that she was his Secret Santa.

“Oh, I’ve never signed up,” he said, giving a fleeting glance towards Mary Margaret before looking back at her. “The past couple years I was flying to England and missing this lovely party. By the time I had my plans settled for this year it was far too late to sign up.”

“Emma Swan.”

Emma stared at him uncomprehendingly. She knew she had pulled his name, for one it wasn’t like anyone else in their office had the name Killian even though Jones was pretty common and for another she’d stared at the slip of paper for at least an hour when she’d gotten home the night she’d drawn it, willing it to be any name other than his. The only logical explanation was that he’d signed up and forgotten.

“Emma Swan?”

Killian’s gaze darted away and then back to her, “Er, Swan?”

“You forgot,” she blurted out. “You signed up and forgot. Right?”

“No,” he said slowly. “You know how tenacious Mary Margaret is about making sure everyone remembers their gift. I’ve never done it and still know what a terror she can be.”

With a dawning horror she realized exactly how much of a terror Mary Margaret could be.

“Has anyone seen Emma?”

Killian tilted his head towards the front of the room, “I believe you’ve been summoned for your own gift, love.”

“Yep,” she ground out, narrowing her gaze at Mary Margaret who was scanning the crowd for her. With extreme care she set down her wine glass, afraid she would shatter it in her anger, “Just going to go get my gift now.”

Wasting no time she stormed to the front of the room, pushing past everyone and ignoring their grumbles in her wake. Mary Margaret beamed when she caught sight of her but it quickly turned sheepish as Emma got closer. By the time Emma made it to her she was already whispering a rushed explanation.

“-sorry but you would barely give him the time of day and he’s really a great guy. I figured if you had to get him a gift you’d get to know him and see that he’s not actually terrible. And it worked! You’re friends now.”

Emma felt her anger leave her in a rush at Mary Margaret’s sincerity and the ridiculous lengths she’d gone to. It helped that she was right, even though Emma would never admit it to her.

“What if I had just bought him a Starbucks gift card and been done with it?” She asked with feigned annoyance, wanting to know just how invested Mary Margaret was in her scheme.

Mary Magaret scoffed, “I knew you wouldn’t do that. You complained about him too much to get him something that boring. I knew you’d use your gift as a way to prove something.”

She gaped at her, surprised by the confidence she’d had in her plan. Then a thought occurred to her, “You wouldn’t let me repick because every name in that hat was his wasn’t it?”

“Yep,” Mary Margaret grinned. “And don’t worry about someone else getting left out. I kept your name out of the main draw to keep things even.”

“Then how do I have a present?” She asked, bewildered.

“Santa works in mysterious ways,” Mary Margaret said cryptically, still grinning like a fool. She plucked a green bag, its handles tied together with a length of red ribbon, from the table, “Here you go.”

Emma took it in one hand and held out the other, “Can I at least give Killian his gift myself? I don’t want him making a big deal about how he didn’t sign up and embarrassing us both.”

“Can’t-” Mary Margaret frowned dramatically, though her eyes were alight with mischief, “I sent David to give it to him when I first called your name.”

Sure enough, when Emma looked back at Killian he was trying to keep David from handing him the present Emma had brought. Giving Mary Margaret a withering look she hightailed it back to the bar before anyone else’s attention was grabbed by the escalating argument between the two men. She arrived as David pushed the wrapped box into Killian’s hands.

“Just take the present, man. It’s got your name on it so it has to be yours.”

“And I’m telling you there’s a mistake, mate,” Killian bit out, refusing to hold onto the box. “I didn’t participate in Secret Santa.”

“I got it David,” she broke in, grabbing the gift and stepping between them. “Tell Mary Margaret she still owes me answers.”

David looked at her apologetically, “I really tried to talk her out of it.”

“And yet you’re still her accomplice,” she pointed out. David gave her the same sheepish grin his wife had and she shook her head at him, “You’re both getting coal for Christmas.”

“Bah humbug,” David said cheerfully before giving her a hug and disappearing in the crowd.

“So that charming gentleman is Mary Margaret’s husband?” Killian intoned bemused behind her.

“The one and only,” she said, thinking about how she could cheerfully strangle the couple with tinsel for all their scheming. She placed both his and her presents on the bar and faced him, “They’ve been together since their freshman year of college and are really bad influences on each other. I sometimes have to remind myself that David’s a cop when he gets caught up in one of Mary Margaret’s grand plans.”

Killian’s eyes went wide, “Oh? And what was her grand plan tonight?”

“Well, it looks like you getting a present would be part of it,” she hedged, not ready for him to hear Mary Margaret’s true motivation.

“So it would seem,” he said thoughtfully, tracing the gift tag on his present with his finger. Then he frowned and pushed her gift towards her, “You should do the honors first, love, since you were actually expecting a gift.”

“Yeah?” She asked, relieved that she could put off an explanation for a few more minutes and highly curious what Mary Margaret’s Santa comment meant.

Killian nodded and said softly, “Go ahead, Swan.”

The tag attached to the ribbon gave her no clues since it was a square of paper with her name printed on it and aside from the ribbon holding the bag closed there were no other adornments. The ribbon was tied in a simple bow and with a gentle tug it came undone. When she pulled out her gift she couldn’t help but laugh at the copy of Siege Perilous in her hand.

“Mary Margaret was in a tither in the breakroom last week,” Killian murmured, keeping his gaze on the book when she looked up at him, “She was going on about how the person who had picked your name had quit unexpectedly and that she needed to find someone to replace them. I volunteered, of course.”

“Of course?” She breathed.

He gave her a lopsided smile, “It’s no secret that I quite fancy you when you’re not yelling at me.”

She felt the warmth of a blush in her cheeks and dropped her gaze to the book, running her hand over the cover, “Why get me this, though?”

“You were so skittish when we first talked about it and when you kept the note on your monitor I realized you never intended it as a gift for David. I overheard you telling Mary Margaret that you would be visiting the set of the new show but felt guilty about never having read the book. It seemed to me that getting you the book was rather fitting on all accounts.”

Looking back up at him she felt a swooping in her stomach as her eyes met his. He was still smiling at her but she could sense his nervousness at her reaction to his gift and his confession in the way he shifted his weight from foot to foot and scratched behind his ear. It was his nervousness that gave her the courage she needed to lay her own feelings on the line.

“It’s your turn to open your present,” she stated, nudging the wrapped box with her new book.

He looked askance at it, “It has to be a mistake and I don’t want to open a gift intended for someone else.”

“It’s part of Mary Margaret’s plan, remember? So you should open it,” she encouraged.

“Fine,” Killian sighed, picking up the wrapped box, “But I’d feel better about it if I knew what her plan was. Though you seem to have it all figured out.”

Emma kept quiet wanting to explain everything once he’d opened his gift. He waited for a moment, watching her, before shaking his head and focusing on picking at the tape holding the wrapping paper together. She bit her tongue at his fastidiousness, glad that she hadn’t used more than a few pieces of tape for the whole thing. Finally he pulled the paper off, without a single tear, and opened the box only to go absolutely still as he stared down at the present inside. Glancing up at her with a perplexed look he reached into the box and pulled out the hardback copy of Siege Perilous she’d luckily found at the small bookstore near their office.

“I know the one you have now probably has a few read throughs left before it completely falls apart but I figured you’d want a pristine copy for next month.”

“You bought me-” his gaze darted from hers to the book and back, his confusion easy to see, “Why would you- no, wait, what’s happening next month?”

“Mary Margaret thought that I wasn’t giving you a fair chance, which I wasn’t,” she started, ignoring his last question for the moment, knowing that she had to explain the whys first. “It was mostly me judging you off of my first impression of you and what I’d seen when you first got hired and not by actually taking the time to know you.”

“What was your impression of me, Swan? It must have been not very favorable for you to not have warmed up to me until recently.”

"I, uh,-" she felt herself flush and she only grew warmer in her embarrassment when he noticed and leaned closer. Rolling her eyes she huffed, "To be fair you flirt with everyone and there were a lot of women you left the office with when you first got hired."

"Were you… were you jealous, Swan?" He asked incredulously.

“No, not jealous.” she contested hotly. “I thought you were making the rounds and I’d been cheated on by my last boyfriend with our former editor. I didn’t need to be a notch in someone else’s belt and I really didn’t want to be the focus of office drama again.”

Killian’s demeanor fell but she saw no pity in his gaze, “Oh, Swan, I didn’t know.”

“It is what it is,” she said with a shrug, “The gossip had finally stopped by the time you were hired and I wasn’t going to bring it all back up again with someone I thought was the same type of guy. Though I know now I was completely wrong about that.”

“You truly didn't know, Emma?” He asked so softly she could barely hear him over the music that had started back up.

“Know what?”

He grabbed her hand, running his thumb over her knuckles as he held her gaze, soft and sincere, “You saw me chatting and going places with those women because I didn’t know a soul when I first moved here. I never led them on or asked for anything more than camaraderie while I got settled because it’s only ever been you.

"I first saw you by chance, you walked by in the background in my last Skype interview and I was smitten. Of course when I was hired and you rebuffed me while others were clamoring for my attention I was intrigued. Then we became desk neighbors and I got to know you, one small piece at a time, and I fell. For you. And then with these past few weeks of going for meals and drinks, talking for hours with you I began to think, even hope, that perhaps you might be beginning to feel the same.”

As much as she’d had an idea that he liked her, as well as been told numerous times by multiple people, hearing him say it out loud was like hearing it for the first time. In a way it was because there was a small part of her that couldn’t believe it wasn’t another conjecture of the office rumor mill. She felt her cheeks begin to ache and realized she had been grinning at him like a fool but had yet to address how she actually felt about him.

“I was really annoyed when I picked your name-” Killian winced and tried to take his hand from hers but she held fast, “and Mary Margaret wouldn’t let me switch and now I know it’s because she rigged it so it was only your name in the hat. So I was stuck with having to get you a present and practically knowing nothing about you. When we talked about Stephens I realized that it was the first time we’d had a whole conversation. Then we just kept talking and you were nothing like I’d believed you were and I liked spending time with you. Really liked spending time with you.

“The thing was I kept telling myself that I was only hanging out with you because I needed to figure out what gift to get you and it was impossible. I wanted to get you a perfect gift, something that was thoughtful and that you’d really appreciate. When I complained to Mary Margaret about it I realized why I wanted my gift to be perfect.”

“And why was that, love?” He asked hopefully.

“Because I fell,” she said simply. “For You.”

Killian beamed at her before swooping down to capture her lips in a surprisingly gentle kiss. She sighed into him, reveling in the warmth of him encompassing her as his arms wrapped around her. All too soon for her liking he pulled back, resting his forehead on hers with his eyes closed.

“One more thing,” she whispered, playing with the soft hair at the back of his head.

His eyes opened and he leaned back, looking at her quizzically, “What’s that, love?”

She grinned at the pet name she’d practically ignored before, “How good of a photographer are you?”

“Fair enough to keep things in focus. Why?”

“Because the other part of your gift is that you’re going to pretend to be one of our photographers so you can come to the Siege Perilous set visit with me. Edwin Stephens will be there too and I thought you’d like to get an autogra-”

Emma squealed as Killian picked her up and twirled her around. When he finally set her down she paid no mind to the stares that they’d surely attracted and pulled him into a kiss far more passionate than the one he’d given her.

Much later, after they’d allowed Mary Margaret a moment of smug elation and left the party to a couple of whistles courtesy of Tink and Robin they were laying in her bed, sweatpant clad legs entwined. Killian was running his fingers through her hair as she laid curled against his chest, listening to the rumble of his voice as he read Siege Perilous to her. With a contented sigh she figured that maybe Mary Margaret didn't quite deserve that lump of coal she'd threatened her with.

#captain swan #cs ff #captain swan ff #cs christmas #ouat ff #captain swan christmas ff #cs christmas ff #my writing #a little present for you lovely readers

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olderthannetfic · 5 years ago

Photo

Let’s take a break from specific fandoms to talk about:

Platform Wars

In 2020, we’re all asking what’s next after Tumblr. This is nothing new. “Is thing X killing thing Y?” is a question fandom has been asking since long before Escapade. But these panels offer comfort and insight into our current fear of change.

They’re also fucking hilarious.

So, without further ado, here are some past Escapade panels on the subject of Change Is Scary:

1997 - Effects of the Internet on Fandom & Slash (On the upside: more fans, more conventions, more excitement and a 24-hour party. On the downside: are the connections more shallow? Are the changes made to "fandom as we knew it" change what we enjoy? Do print fans have something to fear? Or is this simple another wave?)

2000 - Less is More: Gluttony & the Decline of Quality in Fanfic

2004 - Amusing Ourselves to Death (Fannish Discourse in the the Age of the Internet By sheer quantity, has the quality of our conversation declined to predominantly static?)

2004 - LiveJournal, Boon or Bane? (Has the advent of LiveJournal brought about the demise of mailing lists? Has it splintered the venue for discussion to the point where it's impossible to have meaningful conversation? Is the LJ phenomenon just one big egotrip? Come join us to discuss these and other questions.)

2007 - Is F’locked the New Black (Is the flocked post the future of fan communication? Are we returning to the dark ages of closed lists, zines under the table, and "have to know someone"? More and more LJ posts are locked, communities are closed, and groups are invitation only. Is there a way to protect our RL selves (and our fannish selves), yet share our fannish commentary and fic? How does this all look to a newbie? Where is our new comfort zone? And how do we keep track of all of this?)

2008 - The Organization for Transformative Works (The Best Thing Since Ever, or the End Of Days? The OTW is an incorporated nonprofit organization established by fans to serve the interests of fans in multiple ways, including by providing open-source archive software (and an archive), legal assistance, and various efforts to preserve the history of fanworks and fan culture.)

2011 - Delicious - Rumors of Death Greatly Exaggerated? (Delicious, fandom's favorite bookmarking site may be getting shut down (or at least sold out) by The Man. What to do?)

2016 - Fandom Is Fic: from BNF to TL;DR. (From paper through Usenet to Livejournal, text was king. On Tumblr, long text is an imposition—isn’t it? Has fic been dethroned from its place at the top of the heap and fic-writing BNFs along with it? Discuss the dirty little social dynamics of the shifting patterns of fannish value and how we define 'fandom' itself. And what of zines and zine eds?)

2017 - The Kids Are Not the Problem (In recent years, media fandom has grown enormously. It has also scattered, spreading out to new platforms and meeting spaces. You often hear talk about "the kids" vs. "the olds," Tumblr vs. LiveJournal, or the problem of recruiting and retaining new fans. In this panel, let’s try flipping that script. If kids are not the problem, how can we change and grow? What awesome things are other fans doing/trying that people at Escapade should know about? Most importantly, what strategies can we use to leave our fannish bubbles and more fully experience fandom in 2017?)

2019 - The fall of tumblr (Fans have always looked for a good place to build communities on line. Recent events with Tumblr and other platforms like Facebook are restricting our gathering places and even blocking and purging our self-made content. How are people dealing with this? Fandom will survive, but where? Come discuss the problems and options out there.)

And below the cut, a whole bunch more panels on platforms and change:

1991 - Quality Control in Zine Publication/Economics of Fandom (Who is making money in fandom? Should they be? How accountable are fans? Editors? Artists? Have you ever written an LOC?)

1993 - Supply and Demand in Fandom (Can we have too much of a good thing? How many cons or zine is too many? Are we glutting the market?)

1994 - Changing Nature of Fannish Communication (E-mail, and virtual zines, computer video editing and morphing -- all the new toys at our disposal...)

1996 - Internet—Will it eat your brain? Or take you to the poorhouse? (Nearly everyone has or can get access to a computer and thereby the Internet and the World Wide Web. What's out there for fans? What should you look for? What might you want to watch out for? How can you protect your pocketbook at the same time?)

1997 - Net Fiction & Print Fiction (Is the very existence of net fic changing the characteristics or reducing the quantity of print fic? Are there really stylistic and/or content differences? What makes some shows predominantly produce netfic, while others happily generate both? How do the barriers of access to each affect the fan community?)

1997 - History of Fan Socialization (Was fandom really different in the "old days"? Was there a feeling of community that we're missing now? Or is that just nostalgia clouding our memories? In today's net-connected fandom, what is (or should be) different? And what elements of the past should we try and retain?)

1998 - Professionals: Is the Circuit Dead? (Or has it just moved on-line? Is Pros fandom split on the subject of the internet? Many old circuit writers don't want anything to do with the new on-line library. They have objected to having their stories retyped an sent out, even on private e-mail. Has the paper circuit given way to the on-line library?)

1998 - Netfic Formatting A: How to Print It Prettily (An instructional panel, covering the basics of formatting, macros, and other time-saving tips to get the results you want.)

1998 - Privacy and Community: Pseudonyms, Screen Names and Face-to-Face Meetings (As more and more fandom is found online, how are we adapting to the anonymity that comes with it?)

1998 - Netfic Formatting B: From Word to Web, Making Shapely Net Slash (This panel is for everyone who wants to venture into the world of online slash, but gets nervous when faced with the myriad technical difficulties. Relax, it's easier than you think. We look at stylistic conventions, how to make your work newsgroup and e-mail friendly, and the dreaded subject header alphabet soup. We'll also cover some basic info on how to make a www archive site user friendly.)

1998 - Crossing the Line (An instructional panel on how to get what you want (more stories) in a world that may be unfamiliar to you (the web for print fans, and the insular world of zines for net fans).)

1999 - Does Print Fandom Have a Future? (In the age of instant, free net fic, is print fandom a dinosaur on its way to extinction, or a promise of reasonable quality in a sea of mediocrity? What are the key differences between zines and netfic, and what are the advantages and disadvantages of each? Can the two coexist happily? )

2000 - Promoting Critique on Mailing Lists (How to promote critical discussion and attention to the mechanics of writing on email lists?)

2000 - Changing Power Dynamics in Fandom (With the decline of zine editors and growth of the Net, what's changed, and how does it affect us and our fanfic?)

2001 - Website Workshop 2 by the lady of shalott (Setting up and maintaining a fanfic archive, and in particular how to set up the Automated Archive software used by 852 Prospect and the Due South archives.) [NB: Yes, she went through a bunch of name versions before ‘astolat’.]

2002 - How to run a Fiction Archive (and Maintain Your Sanity)

2002 - Nobody Here But Us Sockpuppets (How multiple personality disorder takes on a whole new meaning in the world of mailing lists.)

2003 - Getting slash onto your PalmPilot for computer free reading

2003 - Recs Databases! Creation and Commiseration (Do you run a recs database and want to commiserate? Do you currently have a recs page and want to become database-driven? Want to talk about the relative merits of using PHP, MySQL, or Access to organize smut?)

2003 - How to Set Up and Maintain Fanfiction Archives (If you're thinking of running an archive, or already do and need some help, this is the panel for you. We'll cover everything from choosing a method of archiving, handling fandom growth, dealing with troublemakers, and just how much time, webspace and money are we talking, anyway? Come pick the archivists' brains.)

2003 - Has Escapade Run Its Course (Scuttlebut says: It's not like it used to be. My old friends don't come any more. My new friends can't get in. It's too big. It's too small. Oxnard, for god's sake? I'm getting sick and tired of the same shit year after year. Is Escapade old and tired? Does it need to be retired?)

2004 - HTML and Website Introduction (if you don't have a website and want to create one. where doyoustart'This will cover creating basic HTML pages and common webhosting options, as well as things to think about as you set iin vour first website.)

2005 - Where Have All The Good Conversations Gone? Rise & Fall of the Escapade Panel (Are people still interested in talking about the characters, plots, and themes of their shows? Has in-depth analysis of our fandoms been abandoned in favor of meta and fannish introspection? The forums for analytical discussion are disappearing as self-censorship and over-moderation increase. Can we change this? Do we want to?)

2005 - The Fannish Wiki (So we have the directorium, the directory of All Things Fannish. We visit it and it's just so cool, and we look for our fandom to see what it says... and it's not there! How to add it? What sort of info belongs there? How does a wiki work?)

2005 - I Was So Much Older Then, I'm Younger Than That Now (We've all heard about or lived through the tumultuous era when fandom moved online. But how has slash fandom, particularly slash fandom, changed since then? Are the changes the result of online fandom, or simply of a change in culture?)

2005 - Fanfic Archives (Setting up and administering fanfic archives: concepts, considerations, techniques.)

2006 - Putting your fic on the web (Basic skills for putting your fic on the web, including building your own very basic website, using LJ as a fic-site building tool, various options for labeling adult content, and using the standard upload interfaces for popular self-submit story archive software.)

2006 - Nifty Technology and the Future of Fandom (Fandom is quick to adapt to change and continues to bring fen together and to create fannish product. Fans have thrived regardless of how they communicate; via the post office, mailing lists, message boards, and Livejournal; they've pushed the frontiers of video and audio technology; and have managed to survive changes in copyright, pornography, and other laws. What are the upcoming trends and shiny new technologies on the horizon and how will fen use them to enhance fandom?)

2006 - Intermediate Webmastering (Designing your website for usability, options for restricting access to your website, making your stories easily accessed by mobile devices, and things to consider so fans can easily locale your site.)

2007 - Free Webtools and How to Take Fandom Advantage (Lots of free tools are available on the web to help the needy fan! Tools to edit pictures, make icons, write stories, share recommendations, share stories, and be fannish are becoming more available and more user friendly. Come chat about tools like del.icio.us, google docs, pxn8 audacity, itunes, the gimp, bittorrent, imeem, youtube and lll other things that you come and tell us about!)

2008 - E-book Readers (Sony PRS-505 or Amazon Kindle what's all the fuss about? Introduction to E-Ink and other mobile devices. What are the pros and cons of various devices? Where do you find e- books and fan fiction, and most importantly how do you get fan fiction formatted so you can read it on your ebook reader?)

2008 - If You Build It, Will They Come? (Roundtable on meta fannish infrastructure building strategies. bethbethbeth can talk about some of the specific challenges OTW is facing in its brave new fan territory, while oulangi can talk about why metafandom has flourished while very similar projects have failed, while we'll both discuss some of the challenges of the established meta/fannish structure of new communities, new fans, new technologies—and most of all, how do you keep the meta-fan conversation moving forward?)

2008 - Livejournal: Should Fans Take Their Business Elsewhere? (A discussion of the pros and cons of fannish communication on the various blogging entities.)

2008 - How to Find and Use Free Stuff on the Web (All kinds of free webapps are available for fic, art, icons, communication, and all sort of other fannish stuff. Come share favorite sites—we can bookmark everything we talk about on del.icio.us in real time!)

2009 - The Organization for Transformative Works (Off the ground and starting to soar! Come here about the latest developments in the OTW's projects and discuss where you'd like to see it go next.)

2010 - Is Somebody Taking Notes On This?: A Discussion of the Role of Fannish History (In honor of Escapade's 20th anniversary, let's talk about recording fannish history. What are the challenges? Is it worth doing? Can it be done in a fair way? What are we afraid of happening if we try? Is Fanlore the right vehicle for the project?)

2010 - The OTW in Its Third Year led by Elke Tanzer and Shoshanna (Okay, sure, the Organization for Transformative Works bought its own goddamn servers and hosted an archive (that hosted Yuletide) and published a journal (with a special issue on Supernatural) and saved a bunch of Geocities sites and testified at the DMCA hearings (supporting the FFF's proposed exemptions for vidders and other remix artists) and made a bunch of lolcats—but what have they done for us lately? [5] What do you want them to do?)

2010 - We Are All Naked (On The Internet Now) led by treewishes (Social networking platforms like Facebook and Twitter are conspiring with Google and your ISP to out your slash pseudonym to your RL friends, and to tell all your slash buddies your real name. Is there any way to stop the wave of facial recognition software or your oh-so-helpful friends who type your birthday into the cloud? Or is all this an inevitable consequence of evolving technology? Come on in and let's talk conspiracy theories!)

2011 - Fanlore: Are BNFs Writing Our History?, led by Sandy H (Fanlore has an official policy of 'plural points of view', but is that really happening? Have you ever looked up a kerfluffle you were involved in, and seen how your side of the battle was portrayed.' And on the other side, are we afraid of conflict, to the point that Fanlore is bland and safe?)

2011 - OTW/AO3 Wish List Conversation, led by Sandy H (Do you feel like you don't know how to get your A03 or OTW wishlist through the bureaucracy? A03 is getting better all the time, but there's a ways to go. Let's brainstorm and turn a list over at the end of the panel.)

2011 - The Reccing Crew (Recommending a fanwork is deeply woven into our culture. Are there new social mores at work when we make public recs? How has the move from letters to mailing lists to Livejournal and Delicious affected reccing? Delicious was conceived as a bookmarking site, but often operates as a recs and comments site. If it goes away, what would replace it?)

2012 - Tumblr, Twitter, and Pinboard, Oh My (and GetGlue, too!) (In the past year, the ongoing fannish diaspora has picked up speed, as more fannish activity has moved away from LiveJournal and Dreamwidth, and onto sites like Tumblr and Twitter. And then there was the Delicious implosion. Now there's GetGlue, a social network specifically for entertainment. Let's talk about navigating these sites—their strengths and weaknesses, and how to use them.)

2012 - The Kids These Days (Ever wanted to tell someone to get offa your lawn? Strangle the next person who said that? Revive a dead fandom? Joined a fandom you were 20 years "too old" (or young!) for? Did you go from Usenet to mailing lists? From zines to livejournal? Are you eyeing Tumblr and Twitter with alarm? Let's talk about weathering changes in fandom with grace—or at least a little humor.)

2013 - Privacy, Secrecy, and the Fourth Wall (The fourth wall between fans and The Powers That Be is shrinking day by day. Are the technologies we're using changing fannish etiquette {from invite-only mailing lists, to friends-locked journals, to all public all the time tumblr)? Should we run for the hills or embrace the change? Discuss!)

2013 - The What With the Where Now?! (Every time you turn around fandom is playing on a new site that has new functionality, new ways of interacting and new lingo. Join us in surveying places like tumblr, twitter and getglue.)

2014 - Tumblr: Missing Missing E (So you've just gotten the hang of Livejournal when all of a sudden fandom has jumped shipped to this new "microblogging" platform called Tumblr. What is "microblogging" anyway, and where do you even start? Join us in this tutorial/discussion on creating an account, deciphering the culture, finding fandom, and making Tumblr work for you.)

2014 - Out Of Step With the World (You have no current fandom. You can't even get Tumblr to load. What do you do when you're feeling disconnected and alienated, but you don't want to leave fandom for good? If this sounds like you, come join us to figure out some strategies for rekindling the love, making new friends, and finding your place.)

2014 - Real Fannish Community (Has AO3 ended the era of real fannish community or has it ushered in a new era of increased connectedness? Is Tumblr better or worse than the old days (and were the old days livejournal? yahoo groups? APA snail mail zine groups?)? I'm hoping for equal parts 'get off my lawn' and 'the future's so bright I gotta wear shades' debate here.)

2015 - Tumblr 102: Into Darkness. You’re here, now what? Here we talk about etiquette and xkit and making the most of your fannish tumblr experience.

2017 - Home on the Web (LJ's Russian overlords have removed HTTPS support and are moving the server activity to Russia; some say a shutdown of US services is on the horizon. Yahoo fails to make money with Tumblr. Dreamwidth is slow, and doesn't have media hosting. Email lists are a hassle. Imzy, a startup, places branding aesthetics over design usability. Where's the next place for fandom, or should we reclaim one or more of the platforms from the past?)

2018 - How to Tumblr (Like it or not (often, mostly not), tumblr is where fandom is most active right now. How do you find anything? How do you have conversations? How do you archive the bits you like best? The good news: the answers are not, "you don't; you don't; you don't." Bad news: Those aren't actually good questions for being fannish on tumblr.)

2019 - Social Network of Our Own (SNO3?) (Between FOSTA/SESTA, Article 13, Facebook's new "don't mention that sex exists" policy, and the Tumblrpocalypse, is it time for our own fannish social site? Or are Dreamwidth and Pillowfort enough?)

#escapade 2020 #fandom history #fandom meta #escapade con

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focsle · 5 years ago

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I’ve recently popped past a follower milestone so here comes my periodic ‘time to force-feed people my original projects’ post EYYY! In addition to working full time in the museum world, I burn the candle at both ends and try to make things during the rest of my waking hours. I don’t know how to relax and watch tv. It’s impossible. I’m writing a gothic-fantasy novel about an Evil Sentient House, a faithless medium, a morally questionable doctor, and a sardonic dying old man called Lacrimore. It’s going through an editor right now, and I’m aiming for a spring 2020 release. You can learn more about it @lacrimore

On the other end of the spectrum, I’m also working on an absurd 32 pg monster comic about an occultist telemarketer and a giant bug, called Pyramid. I’m looking at a late 2020 release for that one, but I publicly post a panel from each page as I finish them.

And lastly...longest-term story, bane of my existence, Going to Weather. Which started out as a historical drama webcomic but has also been with me for 7 years and I’ve learned how to write better over that time...so I’m trashing the whole thing for something a bit spookier, but still set on the stage of the New England whaling industry with the same characters. Same place, same people, same dreadful personalities, different story, probably with ghosts. The blog is @goingtoweather with the latest post explaining my decisions of moving away from what exists now.

Read what pages of the old story are available while you can, if you want to I suppose, because I’m scrapping most of them, knife through my heart, ugh. Work for the new script of this will begin again in 2020 (once Lacrimore’s out of the way), and eventually, it will again exist as a free webcomic.

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classhattery · 7 years ago

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Personal Space - Interstellar Sarcasm (Prologue)

--------------- This is a little something I’ve been cooking up over the past year or so. I would’ve posted this teaser/prologue earlier but I only recently got comfortable enough with the main story arc to warrant posting it here. I hope you all enjoy, and if anyone wants to follow it, I’ll be posting occasional updates under the #PersonalSpaceStory and #ClasshatCompositions tags. Extra special shout-out to my editor and reviewer, @risualto for helping this pile of words resemble a plot. <3 Happy Reading! ---------------

Prologue

“Thrusters?” “Online.” “Vectoring ports?” “Online.” “Weapons?” “Secured and stowed.” …I always enjoyed pre-flight checklists. Even if it involved meticulously re-reviewing the same list of things I had gone over personally the night before, it felt satisfying to know my ship was working well. The list also gave me a second or two of silent repose in an otherwise hectic morning. “Navigation and guidance?” “Online.” “Cortex Reactor?” “Optimal to within 3 percent.” I ran my hand along the sleek edges of the leading wing of my ship, feeling the light vibrations that the dual fusion reactor steadily put out. Even in the dim light of the hangar, the Federation Class 5A Interceptor’s jet black polished angles shimmered like the facets of a gem – brilliant, yet exact. Even after a year in the Tactical Fleet, spaceflight was still amazing to me, no matter how commonplace it had become in my life.

”Life support?”

“Functioning.”

“Databases and communications?”

“Online.”

…Cosmic awe or not, I had today’s agenda in my hand, and daydreaming was better-suited for times where I wasn’t at the controls of a multi-million-dollar spacecraft. “Launch Clearance Code is 4578-D.” “Open hatch 1 for boarding and prepare all systems for immediate departure.” “I’m afraid I can’t do that, Dave,” the ship’s loudspeaker blared.

When scientists finally perfected computerized artificial intelligence, they realized that each one they created had a unique personality. In the same way that all humans are different, so were all the AI’s that they created. Now, when Cadets graduate from academy, they choose their ship, and along with it, the embedded nav console’s artificial personality. When I chose my ship based off the personality trait “impressionable” listed on the registry for a new 5A, AEPRIS was there, waiting there for me on (in?) deck. AEPRIS’ full textbook name is “Artificial Evolving Personality, Relations, and Intelligence System” however, unlike others, she preferred to go by “PRI”. If she wasn’t integrated into the dashboard of my ship, you wouldn’t be able to tell that she was a computer. Have you ever watched one of those adventure movies where the protagonist chooses a companion or animal out of many just like it? There’s normally some sappy bonding and cheesy music to accompany it, and it leaves you feeling like your sense of reality was just sugar coated and deep fried by a guy named Roy Disney. That was craft selection day for me, except you replace protagonist with pilot, and companion, bonding, and music with four weeks of teaching a computer how avoid sarcastic retorts in intense situations. The thing about “impressionable” AI’s, though, is that they learn fast. It took no longer than three days of exposure to…me…before PRI was about as bad as I was when it came to inherent sarcasm. You’d think that two innately sassy individuals with an affinity for space would get along just swimmingly, and you’d be right. Regardless, PRI and I had our moments. ----- While PRI’s reference was a good dose of humor for an otherwise dreary morning, I was on a schedule. “We do have a mission today, you know. You can pretend to kill me later, HAL.” I shouted, rapping loudly on the hatch.

Over my coms link I came a reply. “What do you mean pretend?” she chuckled. “I’m just looking out for you, for all we know there could be deadly space out there, and you could die from it.”

“PRI, we’re at war and I still think I’m in greater danger of dying from old age out here if you don’t open the door!” After what sounded like a stifled electronic laugh, the hatch swished downwards, and the interior lights flickered on.

“Welcome back, Captain Killjoy,” she snickered.

“Always a pleasure, Lieutenant Lithium.”

I climbed up and inside. If the outside of my ship looked sleek, the interior made you feel like a true starship captain. Arrays of holographic blue displays and arrays of buttons flickered to life and the HUD on my headset synchronized with the PRI’s onboard computer. The 5A was an Interceptor class Starfighter, meaning it was about the size of a small single-story home, yet weighed over 15,000 tons due to the reinforced hull, shielding, and increased weapon capacity. Regardless (literally) of mass, space didn’t seem to care about weight, so the 5A was still nimble on its feet and absolutely gorgeous throughout. I sank into the command chair and plugged in my data logger.

“Ready PRI?” I inquired to my co-pilot.

“As I’ll ever be, Captain.”

I contacted the orbital platform’s traffic control tower.

“5A Interceptor NVA-7S, registry M. Davidson, cleared for launch tunnel egress. Fly safe, Captain.”

As soon as the massive titanium gate started to lumber sideways, the hangar lights cut out and the artificial gravity shut off. As the air escaped the room, all the sounds of the hangar faded. All I heard was myself, my ship, and the silence of space.

“Vectoring to align with tunnel.”

The 5A nosed up until the glimmer of the stars in space came into view through the cockpit glass and reflected off the mirrored facets of my ship. I unlocked the throttle and the status lights on the displays surrounding me turned green in reply. I looked over the familiarity of my hangar one last time and edged the throttle smoothly forward. The warp bubble formed as the 5A slipped quietly into the darkness towards Saturn.

Chapter 1: Ringleader The flight to Saturn only took about 80 minutes, and that’s going sub-warp at light speed. About 45 minutes into my flight, the radio crackled to life, and I was greeted by today’s impromptu alarm clock.

“DAVIDSON!” roared a vaguely familiar steel-cut voice.

“Yes Sir!” I snapped to attention, even though I was millions of kilometers away and half asleep.

“Glad to see you’re awake, Matt!” the admiral chuckled.

I recognized the voice as Admiral Baker. He was a close friend of my father back when the Antero-Solaris war began. He was the one who introduced me to the Federation’s Tactical Fleet when I was young, before my father shipped off.

“It’s been a while, Admiral.”

“I’ll be dammed, it really has,” he replied, nearly putting emotion into his words. “You finished reading all of your father’s old science journals yet?”

An image flashed through my mind of the six boxes of Popular Science magazines and NASA Tech Briefs (print materials from the 20th and 21st centuries) that got passed down as an heirloom through my family. “Not even close,” I replied, feigning despondence. “So, what brings you onto my screen today? You don’t normally give assignments to the Tac Fleet.”

“I saw you coming out this way and just had to drop in. I even have a special assignment for you.”

“Special assignment?”

“And a good one at that! I saw you were en-route to Neptune via Saturn, and though I’d spice up your day job for once.” The Admiral then held up a portfolio, which materialized into my hands instantaneously. “Our long-range satellites picked up some anomalies in the rings of Saturn, and we can’t rule out the possibility of ACF activity this close to earth, so we need a scouting party to check it out.”

“ACF? In our solar system?” I suddenly felt less amazed about the folio that had just appeared in my lap.

The Andromedan Confederation, or ACF, was the first militarized foreign entity that mankind encountered and had long been the bane of our existence. The Antero-Solaris war stemmed from this first encounter, but never really went anywhere, as the Andromedans had technology that rivaled ours. In the decades since then, the conflict devolved into more of a cold war, with neither side really fighting with the other unless somebody got too close for comfort.

“I know the space commies really aren’t your cup of tea,” he remarked, “but the location takes you through the rings of Saturn, which I know you’ll love. Besides, our analytics team thinks that it’s probably malfunctioning sensor equipment. We just need a physical verification to confirm our guesses.”

He had me there. With the strict scheduling of my flights I never really got to explore places I wanted to go that often. “Sounds quite fascinating,” I answered, trying to hide my enthusiasm. “I’ll take up your offer.”

“Good man!” shouted Baker. “Oh, and before I go, how’s PRI?”

“Oh, the little virus is holding up just fine.”

“VIRUS?!?” boomed a faux-irritated voice from within the ship. Immediately, I lost control of the stick and the fighter started banking erratically, jarring me in my seat.

“I-M-M-M JU-US-US-T KID-D-D-ING!” I tried to sputter out while being tossed about like a bad salad.

PRI’s voice returned to normal almost immediately, and with it so did the ship. “I know!” she said gleefully.

“And what about our dear friend Matt, eh PRI?” Baker inquired.

"My space prisoner is holding up just fine,” chirped PRI.

“Glad to see you two are getting along well,” Baker said, stifling a laugh. “Regardless, duty calls. Dismissed, Captain.”

“That’s Captain Killjoy to you.” PRI interjected, as the comm-link clicked off. ----- Radio silence greeted me for the rest of my flight. Even PRI remained quiet for most of the trip, only speaking up when I asked for status reports.

“What’re our sensors picking up?”

“According to sensors, our biggest enemy in the solar system is currently ice and rocks.”

Ice and rocks. I hoped Saturn was as pretty as it was in the books, because it was still a dreadfully uneventful flight thus far. For the next 10 minutes, I fixated on the pastel orange speck slowly growing bigger in front of me.

“Approaching Saturn. Dropping out of light factor.”

As we decelerated, I banked slowly, wrapping around the planet in a wide loop. The scanner worked below 0.15c, so I completed my orbit and drifted to a halt at the extent of one of Saturn’s dust rings.

“PRI, what do you see?” I asked.

“Ones and Zeroes, mostly,” she teased.

“I mean through the sensor array,” I spoke, trying to conceal the fact that I wanted to laugh.

“The orbital sensor array seems to be working. I’m picking up some dust. Rocks. Moderately bigger rocks. Some ice, maybe? Oh, and there’s also this big planet thing here, if you’re looking for one. Can’t miss it.”

“PRI…”

“There are no signs of malfunctioning technology or intelligent life anywhere nearby. On an unrelated note, here’s the ship self-scan you totally asked for.”

“That scan defines you just as much as it does me, you over-engineered calculator.”

“And where would you be without your calculator?” she taunted playfully.

“Probably mauled to death by all the deadly ice and rocks around us,” I laughed.

PRI’s mic channel opened to respond with a quip, but was suddenly cut short by an incoming emergency hailing frequency request on my screen. I hit accept and a very harried looking Admiral Baker appeared on the console.

“Admiral! You look terrible, what happened to-”

“Davidson!” he interrupted, in an abrupt and alarming tone.

I recognized that tone of voice. In my seven years of training I heard that voice only one other time: When the Andromedans attacked my father’s regiment.

“Sir, what’s wrong?” I replied nervously.

“Matthew, you need to get out of there right away,” he warned. His frequency was weak, and barely audible through the static. “You…kzzzt…planet…bzzzz…array…krzsst…ACF…”

“I’m departing asap, sir. My reactor needs to safely recharge” I replied.

The static cleared for a moment.

“Davidson listen to me, drop the protocol and get the fuck out of there now!”

The admiral opened his mouth to speak again, but the signal was drowned out by an incoming message transmitted across nearly every open frequency. Immediately, alarms rang out from my ship. I clearly recognized the metallic lisp of an ACF translated transmission.

“UNIDENTIFIED SOLARIS CRAFT” the radio hissed. “YOU ARE TRESSPASSING IN THE LOCAL AIRSPACE OF A CONFEDERATION VESSEL. VACATE THE PREMISIS AT ONCE, WE WILL NOT WARN YOU AGAIN.”

A distortion appeared in the middle of the dust ring in front of me, rising higher. Slowly, a Confederation Capital ship materialized out hiding beneath the thick dust, blotting out the distant sun.

“PRI, redirect all power to thrusters and shields, now. Get us out of here.” The Capital ship was over a hundred times my size, and locked on to my Interceptor. I was out of time.

“IDENTIFY YOURSELF OR BE DESTROYED.” blared my headset.

“Sir I can’t hail them; the dust cloud is scrambling the message.”

“Then we’re leaving posthaste. Light Factor, now!”

“Our vectoring ports are clogged with dust, we cannot aim!” PRI shrieked frantically.

“TIYE DLRW UA AWLKWS!” seethed the Andromedans in their native tongue.

I felt the distortion created by their gravity well cannons charging up. I had a matter of seconds before I became a permanent part of history. I was out of options.

In every cockpit, in every ship, regardless of size, there exists an orange button that no pilot ever hopes he has to press: Manual Warp Override. In a frantic dash I spun around and hit the button. The glowing switch clicked down and locked.

“OVERRIDE PROTOCOL ACTIVATED” repeated PRI, robotically.

5A lurched forward as the first gravitational round exploded behind me. As the interceptor accelerated to warp 10 in a fraction of a second, I was stretched between the expanding gravity well behind me and the compression of space-time before me. The sudden change in G forces slammed me into the back of the cabin. As the stars bent backwards around 5A, the warp bubble formed, and I blacked out. The gentle hum of the Cortex Reactor was the last thing I heard as darkness enveloped me.

Chapter 2: A Rude Awakening I awoke to the sound of nothingness, floating in a black void. My ship, PRI, and all of space was nowhere to be found. “Hello?!” I shouted frantically, but nothing came out. The deafening silence was as black as the void that surrounded me. As I contemplated the meaning of death, a light appeared before me, and grew brighter. As white light blinded my vision I came to my senses, and could hear again.

“Be safe, dear,” a solemn yet familiar voice cooed.

As my eyes adjusted, I recognized the blurry outlines my mother and father, standing at the threshold of our front door at the base on Mars. My father was accompanied by two men in uniform, holding papers. It had been ages since I saw my father’s face, and I tried to call out to him.

“Dad will be back soon, Matthew, don’t worry,” my mother assured me, still choked up.

I tried to scream, but all I could do was cry. I was not in control here. My actions were on autopilot and I watched onwards like I was living through a replay of the past. Suddenly it hit me. The papers, the teary goodbyes –this was the day he shipped out to fight the ACF, and the last time I saw his face. The cruelty of the situation tore at me and I wanted to break out and run to him. Younger me had feelings to deal with too, and instead ran to the couch, crying and burying us both in it. As I felt the emotional dam crack within me, I felt the reassuring hand of my mother hugging me as the world faded to black again.

-----

I slowly awoke, and knew this time I was alive, as everything started hurting immediately. As I slowly got up, PRI, who was silent up until now, must’ve noticed my movement and shouted to me.

“Matt! Oh, thank god you’re alive!” she exclaimed, as if I just rose from the dead.

Something was oddly comforting about the sincerity coming from my electronic partner, but that warm feeling didn’t last for long.

“We can share details in a minute, disable the override, we’re still at warp!”

I immediately looked out the window and realized that my ship was still at warp 10, as space distorted around the cockpit glass. The hum of the reactor was no longer quiet, and was now an alarming roar that shook the back of the cabin. I crawled to the orange button and twisted to unlock it. Instantaneously, the ship slowed to a halt as the stars stretched back into shape. As I caught my breath, PRI spoke again.

“2 days.”

“…What did you say?”

“2 days. You were out for two days,” she explained, somberly.

As the reality of what those two days meant sunk in, my heart dropped. At light speed, I would only be 48 light-hours away from earth. At warp 10, which was about 1.6 billion times that, I could be lightyears away from the edge of our solar system. I needed more information.

“What did you do after I blacked out?” I asked, perplexed. I decided against sharing my story from my vision with PRI, she had enough to process without my compromised emotional state messing with things.

“After you collapsed, I sat and waited. That button is a manual override, meaning I was powerless to do anything to stop it. I just sat there and waited, recording data the whole time.”

I felt a twinge of guilt, realizing that I left my co-pilot stranded helpless for such a long time.

“At least I’m alive now, right?” I half-joked, trying to lighten the grim atmosphere.

“Just don’t die again, okay?” she said, worriedly. “Please, Matt. I don’t want to be stranded out here alone.”

“I promise I won’t,” I assured her.

…It took me a second to process the emotions coming from PRI. Engineers really nailed the self-aware aspect of AEPRIS, and it showed. It used to be cliché, for someone to grow attached to a machine, but among pilots it was a real thing. You spent more time with your AI then you did with your own family, so sentiment was something we all dealt with, so the sudden grimness that came over me shook me so.

“What data were you able to record?” I asked, trying to steer the conversation positively.

“It took about 8 hours at warp 10 to leave the range of the fleet’s beacons, so I have our exit vector from the local cluster. Past that, I only know the time frame that we were at warp for, which was 53 hours, 27 minutes, and 32 seconds. That’s onboard computer time, not observational time.”

It took me a minute to do the displacement calculation, but PRI beat me to it.

“It’s roughly 567 Trillion kilometers from Earth. Or about 5 light years,” she tabulated.

Normally 5 light years is cosmic pocket change in terms of faster-than-light travel, but I gulped at the thought of what running the core for 48 hours did to the ship. Prolonged usage of the Cortex Reactor can shatter the crystalline structure of the power cores, and two days is way over the operational limit.

“How does our core look?” I wondered.

“Output is severely limited. When we pulled out of warp, the immediate cooling stress fractured it. Warp functionality is offline, and we’re limited to impulse and emergency power.”

“Shit,” I thought. Either we had to find a replacement crystal, or I’d die of starvation long before then.

“Okay PRI, can we still do a scan of the surrounding area?”

“Our relay dish is still working, I can try.”

As PRI ticked away I tried to do an inventory of what we had left in terms of supplies. I had the Federation standard issue survival pack, and water. At least I wouldn’t die thirsty. The cockpit toolbox contained a set of basic implements: a hammer, adjustable wrench, and fusion welder; nothing of special interest.

As I finished my inventory, a critical alarm lit the ship’s interior.

“Oxygen Levels Critical,” reported PRI.

“…Oxygen. I need that,” I bitterly thought. “Where’s the leak, PRI?”

”I can’t find it. You’ll be dropping below critical O2 percentage in 30 seconds.”

Federation code always ensures that there’s an emergency respirator on the bridge of every ship in the fleet. Mine was in an emergency cabinet underneath the console. I reached for it, only to be met with resistance from the door.

“PRI, the cabinet’s locked.”

“The manual says to ‘Break Glass to Open’ so I’d do that if I were you.”

“PRI the door is made of metal.”

“No, I think you literally have to say ’Break Glass’ to open it.”

“Wait, what?” I stammered.

“Just say it before you suffocate!”

“Break Glass!” I commanded the ship. Instantaneously, the metal cover of the panel disintegrated off the door and fell into a pile of fine dust on the floor. I knew that Command was trying to automate everything, but this was a bit of a stretch, even by my standards. I could picture the Aerospace Engineer who designed the door out there laughing his ass off at his own handiwork. I hastily affixed the respirator to the front of my helmet. Even with that, I had about 30 minutes of emergency oxygen to work with, and that was a generous estimation considering my current heartrate. “What’s our course of action? Did your scan find anything?” I asked.

PRI struck me with an unusually worried response. “There’s a registered Class M planet with enough oxygen content for your respirator to sort it out. However, it’s about a million kilometers from here.”

That was good enough for me. However, the distance meant that I had to jump to at least a fraction of light to arrive before I ran out of oxygen. It wasn’t optimal, but I was running out of lucky breaks to use.

“Set a course for it, speed factor 0.20c.”

“I hope we hold up, Matt,” PRI wavered as she inched the throttle forward.

The ship lurched into motion again, and accelerated to speed in an instant.

Seconds later, I arrived at the outer cusp of the atmosphere.

“Okay, full stop.”

Before I had a second to evaluate the situation, a crack appeared and ran across the length of the cockpit glass. My emergency supply of lucky breaks apparently just ran out.

“Hold on to something, now!” PRI shouted.

I clamped down on the chair right as the windscreen shattered, sucking shards of glass out of the cockpit – along with all my oxygen. The bag of emergency tools whizzed by me and I caught it by the strap before it was swallowed by the void of space.

“Impulse engines failing! System reserve power depleted! Core offline!” The ship started to fall, and I felt the “space elevator dropping” feeling in my gut.

“We’re getting trapped by the planet’s gravity, and we’re falling without impulse,” PRI emphasized.

The 5A was by no means an atmospheric vehicle. Reentry wasn’t something pilots normally had to do, and I was unsure if the ship would stay together. Without a windshield, I wouldn’t be able to monitor my own progress downward and the cockpit would be exposed to the effects of reentry.

“Trajectory unstable. We’re entering the upper atmosphere.”

The tip of the ship began to heat up, and I felt the air begin to push on my suit. I pulled up, aligned the belly of the craft perpendicular to the direction of travel, and dove into the back of the cabin, shutting the door. Hopefully PRI would be able to take us down gently. I could begin to hear sounds of the atmosphere interacting with my ship as we rocketed through the lower layers of the sky.

#personalspacestory #classhatcompositions #I had so much fun writing this #I hope y'all like it #there will be more to come #long post #writing post #space stuff

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survivesalem · 4 years ago

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Episode 3 - “This music video is kinda hot to be quite honest.” - Raffy

I think this may be the end of me. The worst possible thing has happened. We are tribe swapping....I'm the only member of my tribe over here.....its a 5-1-1......oof Can I get an F in chat? Here's to good luck and hope that there is fracture within the 5.

I am kind of glad to be swapped because it means that I am no longer stuck with a losing tribe. But, it seems no one knows how to edit which just sucks because that will surely mean we will lose the challenge. On the plus side, I have Mac and Jay with me. Our alliance will be stronger than ever! However, Mac let slip earlier that he knows a lot more people than he lets on which means I will allow him to choose the target if we go to tribal council as I don't need to accidentally target someone he's friends with. I feel that I can make stronger connections on my current tribe way more easily than with my old tribe.

Ben and Evelyn went. Inacts. Bye. Now it’s swap. I’m down the street when I see the “Announcement” pop up and I’m like AHH SHIT. I look at the tribes.....I wouldn’t say I’m in danger but the division is literally 3-3-1. Jessie as the swing vote. I need to work my ass off or flip to get myself safe. Oof I’m worried. Butttttt MUSIC VIDEO CHALLENGE TIMEEEEE. I was away when people discussed the songs, and it’s literally some random song I’ve never heard of. I’d love to bitch and complain but also not, so I’ll just sell this fucking performance xoxo

So we get tribe swapped and I’m the only og tituba still on the tribe . Gonna list my thoughts on my new tribe members Raft - seems okay we played a game in the past we’re he got out early . Picked the music video song seems to be a take charge personality . Jay : haven’t spoken much don’t vibe yet . Seems very silent Jessie: wow Jessie, it’s finally your challenge please snap or you’ll probably be yeeted off the tribe Lukas: haven’t spoken . Don’t think he’s gonna reach out first so it’s gonna have to be me . Keegan/Harley: played atomic didn’t work together we said we are gonna work together this time so hopefully it happens Mac/ Oak tree man: THIS IS THE MAN I SENT PICTURES OF TREES TO IN ATOMIC. He passes my vibe check . Brien: I’ve actually met him and he seems genuinely hyped that we get to play together . Don’t think he’s voting me off soon Rn my biggest concerns on the tribe are Jay and Lukas due to lack of communication. I’m sure they already have connections most people tend to . Anyways yeah I’m just hoping we win this music video challenge because honestly I love our tribes ideas. Spooky spooky witchy witchy

Despite being hesitant about editing, I think I am actually doing a pretty good job at this! This is probably going to be the best music video I've ever put together. Brien was talking to me earlier about how he thinks this tribe isn't going to be based on tribal lines. That the game would be more dynamic if we play without it. But, here's the thing, I don't believe that. I think we need to get rid of an original Good member since one of those people will come back if we go to tribal. Plus he wanted to get info out of me already on my old tribe like.... we're not that close bro. At least not yet.

My dumbass not submitting any confessionals before episode 3. Gotta love that INV1 rating! So, lots has happened. Gizmo and Cameron are sneaky sneaks who have been playing all sides and just being chaotic little shits. Our tribe had multiple alliances by like day 2, even before the first challenge results. Slow down there! We ended up coming in second in a challenge but since 2/3 tribes we’re going To tribal we still had to go. Eve was voted out 4-1-1 against Cameron and ME! How dare they?? I think it was Eve who voted me but whatever. And then we swapped into two tribes! And this is basically Nova Scotia 2.0. We’ve got me and Mac and Jessie! We’ll see if that goes anywhere if we lose a challenge. (This rounds is music videos 🤮) So anyways Brien, Lukas and I are sticking together for a bit based on OG tribes, and I’ll see if I can’t get Jessie or Jay (who I just voted out of Atomic oop) to work with us. But that leaves Mac and Raffy in the outs? Who I both enjoy a lot. So, we’ll see what happens. I don’t see myself being a target right away but you never know.

Well, I did not like this challenge at all. I'm a pretty shy person so this was really out of my comfort zone. Unfortunately I wasn't able to film a whole lot due to having to travel this weekend, but! I still at least got something in to show I tried. I may have figured a way to get myself into majority which I really need. I just hope we can get it all sorted out today.

This music video is kinda hot to be quite honest. I think we're going to win, unless they have some editing god on the other side. I would be so disappointed in myself if we lost cause I'm just an amateur. However, I believe that people have appreciated my efforts as editor, so I will most likely survive this round. I just need to protect Jay and Mac. I hope they have started being social with everyone. On this tribe, I want to work with Jessie because she's in the middle of the tribe line split. I have not told Jay or Mac this because I want to keep my cards as close to my chest as possible in the pre-merge. I do not even know if I even want to work with anyone in the long term. In any case, I am hoping to target either Lukas or Brien. I have talked to Lukas the least which is problematic, and Brien is always on game mode seemingly. He's been talking strategy despite not even going to tribal. That's a potential threat. However, I am going to let other people take the lead for this vote. I just want to focus on socially and strategically positioning myself with people that like me.

so uhhh....we’re doing my least favorite challenge. Music videos are the bane of my existence. I always end up editing and I refuse to do it now. Paolo is supposed to be our editor, but he has gone AWOL. I mean...I could offer to edit, but like.....why not let Paolo lose the challenge for us and then vote him out? Seems like an easy option to me. 🤷🏼‍♂️

The swap Tituba tribe are safe. HOT. Now. I’m super happy since this is the first time this season I’m immune. I can’t talk game with Liam and I hate this. But omg I need Alex safe. I also need Liam safe. Hopefully someone flops and they can leave. If my tribe lost, I’m pretty sure I would’ve had the numbers to send Keegan home. I make Brien seem like he’s in control of the vote while working with Jay and Raffy for a 4-3 vote or a 5-2 vote. That difference would be if Jessie was on my side or not.

we lost. i’m excited to start the game and go to tribal. idk what i plan to do yet, but I have ideas about who I want to work with.

Sad days. It's my first tribal of the season in the post tribe swap, and I'm not really sure where I've ended up on the tribe. I haven't spoken a word to Alex, and I voted Zach out in a prior game, so I don't know if he'll hold that against me. I like Austin, Gizmo, and Dylan, but we've never had a chance to talk game or work together yet. I'm also nervous that people will target me since I did such a bad job at editing compared to the other team, but who knows. It's gonna be a free for all on my end.

The other tribe, Osbourne, is going to tribal. In our tribe, it’s a 3-3-1 split. On the other tribe, it’s a 5-1-1 split. The 1 person also has the 5 from the other tribe, making all six. That’s worrying. If one of those 5 don’t go home then we may have to throw a challenge or two and make sure the 1 leaves. The only issue, that 1 is Jessie, and I really like them as a person. My new tribe has 3 OG Good; Keegan, Lukas, Brien, as well as 3 Osbourne; myself, Jay and Raffy. Brien is the outlier with Lukas and Keegan being close. Brien fed me useful info of Gizmo being new and close to Lukas and Keegan. On my personal hitlist; is Lukas, Keegan and Austin. I don’t trust those 3 out of the people left in the cast, even despite me and Austin never interacting yet. Austin is sweet but their style gameplay is a lil cutthroat. Pretty much what I’m saying is whoever goes from the opposing tribe is who I target in this tribe when we go to tribal. Either Jessie, or the Keegan/Lukas duo. Anyways, stream Sour Candy by Lady Gaga ft BLACKPINK.

Keegan definitely voted for Cameron bc he was scared of an idol I’m fairly certain of it but I understand why he did so I’m not mad at him and I think I trust him on this new tribe more then Lukas. But I fear they are a duo and I wanna talk to Jessie and tell her my fears so she knows she can trust me and maybe me her and Keegan can be a group. I wanna work with Jessie bc I know her pregame and met her irl but the only problem is her original tribe has not lost a member and if we don’t vote her out here then the other tribe might stick together and get Alex and Gizmo out before turning on eachother then we could have all of them at a merge which would not be ideal. So I gotta weigh if keeping Jessie as an ally is worth that happening. I had a good convo with Mac Idk where will stand on this new tribe but I wanna work with him bc I think he will always be perceived as more threatening then me. He even bought up the idea of a tengagers alliance with everyone in the game that has a tengaged which is me him Liam Alex and Cameron we will see if all of us are still around come merge time but I’m excited to maybe make that reality once we merge. We both kinda agreed Austin is shady. Keegan Mac and Jessie all just played atomic together which worries me that they will want to stick together on this tribe but I definitely want to work with Mac and I need to make sure he knows it. Atm the person I’m least closest to on my tribe is Jay so if we lose I’d want to try to make a move on him possibly. I wanna work with raffy but he sketches me out in our pms and isn’t willing to give me any info. I fear Keegan and Lukas are too close and I’m a 3rd wheel for them I wanna see if I can enlist macs help to take one of them out maybe Lukas because he talks to me less then Keegan does

I can't believe that I won a music video challenge with my editing skills. I am so proud of that video! I am going to take the time that we are immune to bond more with my tribe. I think I have gotten the best vibes from Keegan and Jessie. Brien is middling. Lukas and I don't really connect that well. I think I am still good with Jay and Mac, so there's no worry on that front. Now that I edited my tribe to victory, they will all probably like me and want to work with me a lot more. There's the benefit of volunteering as editor hehe.

So right now I would definitely consider Mac my number one ally and I wanna keep that lowkey so no one sees us as a duo he suggested throwing the next 2 challenges to get a mix of Jessie, Keegan and Lukas out which is interesting and throwing challenges rarely works but I love going to tribal so Im not gonna say no to it. Plus if it helps gizmo stay in the game on the other tribe longer that’s good. I really like him and want to see him make the merge and then maybe we can work together at the merge Mac really seems to think merge will be at 12 and I’m not too sold on that we could have a swap or not merge at 12 So the way this tribe is it’s me and mad together and he is playing Raffy and jay and I’m playing Lukas and Keegan and idk where Jessie figures into all this but I feel bad that she may have to go simply for numbers sake if one of her original tribe doesn’t go at this tribal. I’m trying my best to be social with everyone and I think I’m a good spot to not go if we go to 2 or even 3 tribals in this tribe that’s another reason I’m not opposed to throwing the challenges. I don’t see a reason jay would trust Keegan after he voted him out in atomic so we may be able to get a 5 person majority against Keegan and Lukas who I made sure Mac knew they were right. Or if we have to we can maybe get a unanimous vote against Jessie. Mac and I made all these grand plans to make the end game and have specific numbers come merge but things never work out the way you plan them so I need to have a plans b through z at the ready and I don’t wanna put all my eggs in the Mac train atm even though I think I convinced him to trust me and he can until I feel I can’t beat him or he is more loyal to someone else *cough cough* Liam they are both hosts together on tengaged I played their game so they are close but mac is certainly trying to downplay it I need Keegan and Lukas to trust me until it’s too late for them. Will I have some remorse going for my original tribe ehh not really in games if I see I better route or a better opportunity I’m gonna take it. I think I’m the real swing vote when we have to go to tribal especially if Keegan really thinks he can get Jessie on our side. So that puts me in an interesting spot a spot where I could be loyal to my OG tribe or I could make a move a change the direction of my game for the better. It’s weird bc I’ll have enemies after I make my choice but I need to make sure the allies I make won’t turn on me after I side with them. Idk the choice I’m gonna make yet I need to weigh out the pros and cons and decide accordingly but one thing is for sure I’ll be in charge at the next vote

Well, we lost the music video challenge. Can't say I'm surprised, we took forever to get it together. There isn't as much activity on this tribe as far as I can see at least. I really want to survive this tribal. I think I've gotten myself into a good position. I'm in a 4 person alliance which is majority, but who knows if they're being honest. I'm currently trying to get in with the three other tribe members. If i can position myself as the swing vote I think that would be good for me at least for this vote.

Flirting with Brien is fun. Maybe that'll bring us closer and he'll be my goat hehe. But who can never be sure

Jay brought up in the alliance chat what we are going to do if we have to go to tribal in the future. He's just trying to get out there who would be receptive of working with us (me, Mac, and him). Jay says that he's talked the most with Brien and Lukas. That is strange because I barely talk to Lukas. I probably should get on that. I said I talked the most with Brien and Jessie. I really want to sell them on Jessie so that we can make her work with us which will help us gain a majority on this tribe without stepping on tribal lines. Mac has yet to wake up, so I'm waiting to see what he thinks. It sounds like our alliance might want to work with Brien eventually, but we shall see. I am very hesitant to even mention working with anyone because I do not want to step on toes so early on. Maybe I should try to keep my mouth shut on game talk and work on being social for the time being.

Mac is spilling the hot tea today. He wants to throw the next immunity challenge to take out either Keegan or Lukas. I am in love with this idea as it puts the target on Mac instead of myself since he was the one who said it. I will just let people fight my battles for me until merge to avoid the big target. Apparently, Keegan is a past winner and Lukas is popular in the community. So, if we take them out now, then we can set ourselves up in a power position late down the line. I can see why Mac made POTS. He is definitely a strategic threat and has a very analytical mind. When I backstab him, I need to do it swiftly and effectively. I hoping that Jay follows through with the plan. I believe that we will target Keegan as he has not been the most active in the chats at all. This could make him the easy vote out. I want to include Jessie in on the plan in order to establish a strong connection with her. This is so when we do merge that she won't fall back to her old tribe and will fall back to us.

So uh........,,.,,.,.,..,shit hit the fan. Apparently Austin is targeting Dylan and I do yeehaw. I think Dylan and I are going to try and pull votes for austin.

When that chat was created between Alex, Austin, Gizmo & Myself I knew I had to expose it! AND THAT'S WHAT YA BOI DID! Austin is a rat and I've had shady vibes from him since the beginning and this just confirmed it. I told Dylan, Paolo & Zach what Austin said and some certain people were not that happy. I think it's either Austin or Paolo going but I'm still not 100% but if I managed to get numbers for Austin I'm so SHOOK

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bestdjkit · 4 years ago

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EDM.com Quarantine Diaries: Kaleena Zanders

"I am so thankful that dance music has opened a door for me to be heard all over the world, and now I want to take everyone on my personal journey."

"Quarantine Diaries" is an editorial series in which EDM.com invites members of the music community to contribute guest posts about how they're coping with the pandemic. The goal of the series is to provide a platform for these individuals to share their own experiences and perspectives and ultimately inspire anyone experiencing pitfalls contrived by the impact of COVID-19. The thoughts and viewpoints expressed are those of the author, Kaleena Zanders.

Oh boy, I feel like I've been around the sun and back during this quarantine, witnessing some of the most unique and transformative times.

I am really not one to dwell on bad or negative issues, but I've felt extremely sensitive during quarantine, especially at the start of it all. I've been bewildered by the spread of COVID-19, and I’ve been paying close attention to the widespread awakening surrounding the dormant racism and discrimination in our society.

I've had to take a lot of personal inventory on my feelings and actions. I'm making strides in tending to things I've ignored, all across the board. I've been writing, reading, Marie Condo-ing my house, making music, and preparing my solo EP, which comes out this fall. Because we've had so much time to be indoors, I've been able to reflect on the truth of what I want, and decided to put together an EP of songs produced by some of my best friends. I've made so much music as a collaborator and vocal accompaniment, but not nearly enough of my own sound is out there. I've always had the desire to heal people with my voice and through music. I pray it connects, touches people spiritually, and makes an impact on their hearts. I am so thankful that dance music has opened a door for me to be heard all over the world, and now I want to take everyone on my personal journey.

I've also been getting up earlier, around 6:30 to 7AM. I am finally dialing in my diet. I'll admit at the start of the quarantine, I got a little depressed (okay, a lot) and I was like, "F'k it, let's eat In-n-Out everyday!" I've reeled it in now and I'm back on my hiking game, which I am taking full advantage of while the parks remain open.

I’ve been spending a lot of time talking on the phone, or what most call the bane of their existence, Zoom. Personally, I happen to love Zoom! It has helped me create deeper bonds with my friends. I think sometimes we take our friendships for granted, and don't realize how important it is to have an amazing friend group until we can't see each other. Being in quarantine has truly taught me how valuable my pals are.

Also, it has been lovely to get some play time in with my kitties. I was traveling so much before, and missed the joy of playing and cuddling with them. All in all though, things have picked back up for me in a different way, and I’m currently busier than ever! My days are filled with Zoom music sessions, getting assets ready for my EP, and I've been doing heaps of livestreams, which have been challenging yet also extremely rewarding.

Also, I’m over here expanding my creative skills, and excited about learning how to be a videographer, editor, and Photoshop wiz. To be honest, I feel like it is all preparation for dialing in live shows when they come back, and popping in the future. It's going to take all hands on deck, and no ego, to navigate this new industry normal, and I am ready!

FOLLOW KALEENA ZANDERS:

Facebook: facebook.com/KaleenaZandersMusic/ Twitter: twitter.com/kaleenazanders Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaleenaz Spotify: spoti.fi/32nXuvc

from Best DJ Kit https://edm.com/opinion/quarantine-diaries-kaleena-zanders

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thelmasirby32 · 4 years ago

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Inbound marketing for brand awareness: Four up-to-date ways to do it

30-second summary:

You probably can’t afford a super bowl ad, yet you want to make a name for your brand in an industry dominated by big guns.

How do you crack the code using the right method and what’s the most effective for you? Inbound marketing or outbound marketing?

Ali Faagba discusses the challenges of inbound marketing and the how-to solve them

The first rule in the 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing is to be the first. But what do you do when you are not?

You probably can’t afford a super bowl ad, yet you want to make a name for your brand in an industry dominated by big guns.

Inbound marketing or outbound marketing: Which one will work for you best? How?

This piece discusses the challenges and the how-to of solving them.

Proprietary eponym! You may never have heard of it, but it is the bane of new brands trying to create brand awareness or make headways into industries dominated by big guns.

Imagine someone in the soft drink industry. The competition is with Coca-Cola, yet, most consumers will ask for a coke when hanging out in a cafe.

In industries where specific brand names have become synonymous with their original product, new brands can easily be suffocated out of the game.

Big names use their longevity, time-tested popularity, and a fat purse to create a monopoly and call the market shot — and having earned proprietary eponyms, they push low-budget upcoming competitors into the abyss.

You are not paranoid. They are really out to get you.

But this is an internet marketing world, and you are willing to try against all the odds, knowing fully well that creating a proprietary eponym of your own is, in all likelihood, impossible. Yet, you want your brand to gain traction and make a dent, in spite of the dominant brands.

Where do you start? Do you pay social media companies to disrupt the attention of an innocent user who is already loyal to one brand or, do you try creating content that brings your prospects to you through an organic search?

Say you already make an offer that surpasses your big competitors – beating them to solve a problem your prospects would like solved or building into your product a new experience you know they will want to have, let’s look into what you should do.

Inbound marketing or outbound marketing: Which one is better in creating brand awareness?

First, let’s deal with this question with some data. Numbers don’t lie, they say.

According to PPC Protect, the average person sees between 6000-7000 ads a day. From TV ads to outdoor signage to social media ads, ads are paralyzing us.

Similar research from Small Biz Genius shows that the average person is targeted with over 1,700 ads per day but only gets to see half of them.

Statista forecasted that revenue loss due to ad-blockers would increase to 12.2 billion US dollars.

We can go on, but even the first two stats suffice.

So, what kind of response do you expect to get from an ad-addled brain that’s already loyal to a specific brand when a gazillion of you are vying for his attention?

When it comes to creating awareness for your business, let the need to solve a problem spur research in your prospect, get your inbound marketing arsenal ready to be the magnet of those prospects, and make your brand message lure them into a relationship.

That way, you won’t be spending your top dollars on indifferent audiences. How much further do you need to know to be sure inbound marketing can do a better job of brand awareness for you than outbound marketing?

What are the top inbound marketing strategies you can use to build brand awareness?

1. Start with a scalable guest post strategy

I’m not trying to put the cart before the horse here. And if it appears that way, hear me out first.

For every serious entrepreneur, there is a fountain of energy that never runs dry in doing things. Still, this fountain runs low whenever something depends on the third party.

Don’t be surprised I mentioned guest post as the first thing you should pay attention to; after all, for guest post campaigns to truly succeed, you need a landing page people can refer to or a blog post that is rewarded with backlinks from your guest post efforts.

The problem, though, is that despite doing your due diligence in keyword research, putting content on your blog site, and optimizing them for search engines, one problem you will encounter is that no one may ever get to see them.

Even if you have a large follower base on social media, organic reach on social platforms is in a steady decline. You can’t blame the social media companies for this, they are entrepreneurs too, and their profit depends on the money you take away from them when your post reaches too far.

Hence, my choice of guest post strategy as a starting point in using inbound marketing to build brand awareness and visibility.

But don’t take my word for it. Ample examples exist to prove the effectiveness of guest posting in gaining brand visibility.

Suppose you have been in the content marketing space for a while. In that case, you might have heard of Aaron Orendorf, a philosophy teacher, who used guest posting to catapult himself into prominence in the marketing world.

Through guest posting, he rose from an obscure online writer to become the editor-in-chief at Shopify Plus and became one of the most sought after content marketers in the world.

What you can do

When you guest post to share a stand-out message and authenticity, you establish yourself as an industry leader and make people want to look more into what you do.

Take Neil Patel and the growth of Ubersuggest. While this is not a quintessential example of brand awareness through guest posting, it is a classical example of product growth tied with the popularity of the product owner.

If guest posting can bring one popularity, then it can create brand awareness.

But the pain area remains, whether your guest post gets published or not, it is solely in the discretion of the publisher/editor of your target publications which is why you should think deep and long about three things:

What publication do you want to get featured in?

Do they align with your brand identity?

What do they want from you?

What do you want to achieve with your guest post campaign (thought leadership, backlinks, referral traffic, and other such parameters)?

Will you need help to achieve that?

Or, can you pay them for a brand mention, and is this best for you?

2. Content that solves a problem: Complete, lucid, and actionable

Let’s not forget: for all its buzz, content marketing works because of a single streak: it gives. It gives for free. It gives it all. Unsparingly.

Big companies use content — in terms of blog posts, whitepapers, Infographics, ebooks, etc. — in a well-knitted series of strategies to attract prospects who are looking to solve a problem, and then hook them into a sales funnel.

When it comes to content marketing, trust is the key. And how do you gain trust?

It is by giving; by posting a problem-solving kind of content that leaves your visitor saying, “That’s what I’m looking for”, then promising them more in exchange for their email address.

This works like magic every time. Let’s run a little exercise on Google.

Now I’m searching on Google to look for how to create a logo.

Some random SEO optimized website showed up, and I clicked on it, leading me here:

And after inserting the name of my brand and clicking on the Get Started button, I found myself here:

Once I have chosen an option, I was led to another page where I can now save my new logo:

As I attempted to save my logo, below is what I got:

That’s it. Attracting leads with inbound marketing is not so complicated.

While the name of this logo design company is Free Logo Design, you may notice that I wasn’t searching for a specific company in my Google search.

I was only looking for a generic term that helps me to solve my most immediate problem, which is to create a logo.

By searching, I found someone who has provided a solution for it, and now they are asking me for my contact should I want more.

Perhaps I do, maybe I don’t just have the money yet. Maybe soon. Or perhaps I just haven’t decided to pay. Or maybe I don’t know they have a feature that I’m looking for.

Now they have an opportunity to show me all they’ve got since they now have my contact, and I am now familiar with their brand.

Don’t forget you don’t have to give a freemium to get a lead; a problem-solving content will suffice in most cases, so long as your prospect is out to solve a problem. And I bet it’s the one that wants to solve a problem you are looking for.

3. Webinar and other education platforms

In the peak period of the “shelter in place” in response to COVID-19, On24, a webinar hosting platform, saw an eight percent jump in the number of marketing-centric webinars hosted on its platform.

But even more impressive is how educational webinars have exploded in comparison, On24 reports. It also reported that training and continuing education jumped by 11% and 22%, respectively.

At the same time, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) are rising year on year. It is not just the stay at home order of the pandemic that brought about the upward trend in e-learning. The comfort and flexibility of learning online have always been of attraction to long-life learners.

Hence, smart corporate institutions and businesses use online course platforms to provide learning opportunities for willing learners and also turn them to leads.

In 2020 alone, Neil Patel has launched no less than two online courses. If you had attended any of them, you would understand that they are a pure lead generation strategy tailor-made to boost visibility and adoption of his Ubersuggest.

Today, as the marketing options are getting narrower based on the disproportionate number of ads run online, learning webinars and online classes are where people go out of their own volition.

For marketers, this means an opportunity to sell to a group of prospects who aren’t just passive readers or random social media users but active listeners who are willing to end the day having learned and encountered something new.

If you are willing to use inbound marketing as your key awareness-building option, launching webinars and free online courses should be among your first-in-lines.

Podcasting should not be left out

In all marketing kinds, attention matters a lot. In the past, passive awareness never sold things. Today, passive awareness never sells anything.

And eBay knows this better than anyone else. Imagine the popularity of eBay. Still, the company launched a podcast show dubbed “Open for Business.” Albeit frank about its aim to build more brand awareness, 85% of the show’s time teaches, for free, how to build a business to success.

“From the hiring, to pricing, to financing and customer service, Open for Business is a must for anyone looking to succeed in business,” an introduction on its podcast landing page reads.

HubSpot says in 2018, 18% of marketers were looking to add podcasting to their strategy. If you checked now, the number must have gone above that.

Conclusion

If you have been looking to Google for an answer about what’s best for building brand awareness, and you have interest in inbound marketing, or it is your budget that confines you, you may have found, as I have found, that most articles are generic and state the obvious.

Most annoyingly, they state no reasons as to why their strategy works. They walk you through most of the inbound marketing strategies but take no cognizance of what stage you are and whether you have the capacity to implement them.

Imagine an article that wants you to gain awareness but tells you to use email marketing, not even minding whether you have an email list in the first place or not.

If you are just starting out, this article is, by no means, exhaustive, but consider it a nudge in the right direction and a playbook to help you set about building your brand recognition the right way.

Ali Faagba is a copywriter, content marketer, and a tech freelance writer. He’s been featured in Entrepreneur, Thrive Global and others. He can be found on Twitter @contentmints.

The post Inbound marketing for brand awareness: Four up-to-date ways to do it appeared first on Search Engine Watch.

from Digital Marketing News https://www.searchenginewatch.com/2020/09/11/inbound-marketing-for-brand-awareness-four-up-to-date-ways-to-do-it/

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goldeagleprice · 5 years ago

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New Hobby Podcast Available

By Clifford Mishler

Illustrated on the cover page of the Utah Numismatic Society’s monthly “The Mint Master” newsletter for March 2020 is an interesting and fascinating scrip issue of the Iosepa Agricultural and Stock Company. The note dates from Aug. 1, 1901, being just one of two examples believed to exist, and was issued in a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints desert colony in Utah’s Skull Valley, populated by settlers of Hawaiian descent, located in Tooele County about 75 miles southwest of Salt Lake City. “Iosepa” is Joseph in Hawaiian, the colony being named for the Mormon prophet Joseph Smith, and for Joseph F. Smith, who conducted a mission to the Hawaiian Islands in 1854. The value is 50-cents, or Hapalua Kala – 50-cents in Hawaiian – with the back of the note displaying the Hawaiian monarch’s arms shield. The first 46 Polynesian settlers arrived in the colony on Aug. 28, 1889; by 1901 the population was about 80; the population peaked at 228 in 1915; the community lasted until 1917, when the residents returned to Hawaii and the properties were sold to a livestock company. Only a cemetery remains today. Info: [email protected]

The face and back of a scrip issue of the Iosepa Agricultural and Stock Company.

NEW MEXICO: The Albuquerque Coin Club’s monthly “Pocket Change” newsletter for January 2020 details their “Club Bucks” program. Members earn $10 in Club Bucks for winning the monthly door prize, $1 for correctly answering quiz questions, $5 for bringing in a new, dues paying member, and $5 for working a two-hour shift at one of their semi-annual shows. Members can use the bucks to buy 50/50 tickets, pay winning auction bids at club meetings, buy club medals, tokens or shirts, admittance to the annual picnic, pay for year-end holiday dinner events, admission to club shows, and pay for certain trips and/or special events. Dealers at club shows “should accept them” on any purchases. They cannot be used in payment of annual dues … “need real money for that.” Info: [email protected]

OHIO: The history tied to China’s 1914 “Fatman dollar” is explored in detail in the April 2020 issue of the Cincinnati Numismatic Association’s monthly newsletter – “The Cincinnati Numismatist” – in an article by Michael Rice. The coin takes its name from the bulbous Yuan Shikai portrait engraved for its obverse. Born in Henan Province of China in 1859, Yuan was a prominent military and political figure that bridged the time span from the late 19th century Qing Dynasty, the revolution and the early 20th century birth of the republic (1882-1916). Having installed himself as the first emperor of the Hongxian Dynasty on Dec. 23, 1915, rescinded by an edict he issued on Mar. 21, 1916, ending the monarchy and declaring himself just “president,” his fight for status ended with his death on June 6, 1916. Info: [email protected]

WISCONSIN: The Waukesha Coin Club snuck in under the wire with their 51st annual coin show, according to a report appearing in their April 2020 newsletter. The show was held on Sunday, March 15, the day before the coronavirus/Covid-19 “Social Distancing Guidelines” were announced by President Trump. While the reported attendance was 230 for the roughly 40-table, 30-dealer show layout, down significantly from its usual numbers near the 400 level, “dealers reported those that came wanted to spend … one dealer dropped out at the last minute, but (we) gained one that walked in.” It was also announced that the club’s April 1 meeting had been cancelled, with that on May 6 still scheduled. Info: [email protected]

REGIONAL: A “Friends of the Exhibits” program for the annual CSNS convention was announced by the Central States Numismatic Society in the Winter 2019/20 issue The Centinel, their quarterly magazine. This program is “intended to give everyone who has personally benefitted from, enjoyed and appreciated” the exhibits area among the “small, passionate cadre of our membership” dedicated to educating others, the opportunity to “help perpetuate and strengthen this aspect of our educational initiatives.” Annual and lifetime donors at “member, patron and sustainer” levels from $50 to $1,000 are encouraged to join. Info: [email protected]

An interesting collector-focused test program was announced in the quarter 2020 issue of “The Nor’wester,” published by the Pacific Northwest Numismatic Association. Enthusiasts of Washington state centennial medals, which were being offered to interested registrants at their recent shows while available supplies lasted without charge on a first come, first served basis, looking to fill holes in their collections are invited to satisfy their remaining needs by working through a test PNNA “clearing agent” program. Interested members are invited to share their needs and trade stock with the agent – [email protected] – who will search for matches and connect the interested parties; there are 50 medals in the centennial series, 38 issued by counties, plus 12 special issues. That’s a concept that other organizations might find reason to test as well. Info: [email protected]

NATIONAL: The American Numismatic Association’s numismatic educator, Rod Gillis, announced in the March 2020 issue of The Numismatist that a feature – “Past Tense” – that he introduced in the July 2011 issue is ending its 117-installment run over the past 10 years. Editor Barbara Gregory announced at the launch that the feature would take readers “on a trip down memory lane (recalling) what was happening in the world when America’s favorite coins were introduced.” The first coin and year featured was the 1921 Peace dollar. Tidbits of history from the year were tied to the subject coins. In his closing presentation, Gillis observed in part; “Before I wrote my first column, I already knew what the topic of my last would be … The 1943 steel cent … the bane of my existence … I can’t count the number of phone calls I have fielded about its value.” Info: [email protected]

The American Numismatic Society has announced the launch of a new monthly educational program – The Planchet – that is available as a podcast. Recorded for non-specialists and professionals alike, the programs will present conversations by numismatists and other scholars exploring the stories and histories of currency and medals. The first program in the series is presented by Jesse Kraft, ANS Curator of the Americas, explores mathematical formulas, exchange charts, and prolonged usage of British monetary terminologies in America, from the earliest days of the British-American colonies, up through the 1850s. Info: [email protected].

The post New Hobby Podcast Available appeared first on Numismatic News.

#Precious Metals

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entergamingxp · 5 years ago

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Cyberpunk 2077 got delayed, so I made it in Fallout 4 instead • Eurogamer.net

By early January, I’d noticed something strange was happening to me. Grimes, La Roux and synthwave groups like Magic Sword had entered my music playlists. I’d finally watched Blade Runner for the first time, and was scrolling through galleries of the late Syd Mead’s brilliant cityscapes. I’d even bought Neuromancer and added it to my pile of books I will definitely get around to reading.

It was all in anticipation of one game originally due to arrive in April: CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077. Yet as we all know, that release date is no longer happening, and Cyberpunk 2077 has been shunted back to September. So what was I to do with all that leftover cyberpunk energy?

I could have continued my media binge, but that’s hard to maintain for eight months – and I was eager for some gameplay. As my editor later mentioned, I could have just bought Deus Ex. Yet something far more radical had already entered my mind.

What if I recreated Cyberpunk 2077… with mods in Fallout 4?

If you’re looking to mod Cyberpunk into any game, Fallout 4 is a good pick: many of its assets already have a run-down techy feel, albeit perpetually stuck in the ’50s rather than the ’80s. Unsurprisingly there’s already a number of Cyberpunk 2077-themed mods available – but I wanted to see just how far I could push Fallout 4 to resemble the experience shown in the Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay demo videos, which meant looking at mechanics and even small details like the HUD.

I resolved to keep modding until I broke either the game, the computer, or myself. Two weeks later, I’ve managed to produce something resembling a cyberpunk experience within Fallout 4 – although the process was somewhat messy.

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Things very nearly failed at the first hurdle. Dystopian, neon-drenched cities have formed the backbone of nearly every cyberpunk narrative (perhaps too often) and I simply wouldn’t be able to start my project without one. Unfortunately this was also the most protracted part of the process. Most Fallout 4 location mods require a large set of additional mods to work, and my first pick – a massive Blade Runner tribute overhaul for Hangman’s Alley – had a required mod list so vast (with many now removed) that I couldn’t get it working. Instead, I went for something a little smaller called Blade Runner Avenue. Look, there were no Cyberpunk 2077 cities, so just ignore the Tyrel sign.

It was still a headache, requiring about 22 plugins, a script extender and the Transfer Settlements mod to import it – and even then the mod’s in-game blueprint threw up several more mods required to provide assets. Yet eventually I found myself standing in a bog as a city assembled itself before my very eyes. It’s not a massive space, but the mod does a great job of recreating a grim corporate feel with towering skyscrapers and shopfronts, along with a claustrophobic market space and a detective-style apartment. To make it all moodier, I used Darker Nights to plunge mini Night City into permanent gloom.

Alas, the struggle wasn’t yet over: various plants and debris were clipping through from the marshland below, and this was really throwing off the vibe. I went around weed-picking most through console commands and a mod called Scrap Everything – but the trees became the bane of my existence, defying my every attempt to uproot them. According to the internet, many of Fallout 4’s trees are essentially baked into the game world (via precombines) and are thus incredibly difficult to remove. Dead trees: welcome to cyberpunk.

I can’t list all the plugin mods as there were so many, but if you’re thinking of recreating this, you can find them by following the links for all the mods named in this article.

City complete, it was time for character customisation. Aside from an unfortunate incident where my character lost her eyes, this was pretty smooth sailing. I wanted the player-character to resemble female V, and I tried my best with the Fallout 4 character creator to produce something that didn’t look like an irradiated potato. With the help of mods I recreated the golden glowing eyes shown in the first Cyberpunk 2077 demo, along with surface wiring and an edgier hairdo. Then it was a matter of slapping on as much black eyeliner as I wore in my early teens.

The most Cyberpunk 2077 thing in this entire mod collection, of course, is the fabulous CROSS_77 Samurai jacket, which comes with gloves, an outfit and a demonic holographic headpiece (which I removed to prevent it hiding the face I made). Coupled with a holographic pipboy complete with cyber sounds, the look was good to go. Or almost, as I still had to find some weapons to make V armed and dangerous.

V2.0.

Based on the weapons shown in Cyberpunk 2077’s 2018 gameplay demo, an easy pick was the Gun GS Cyberpunk pistol, which is similar to the Militech weapon V uses and can be modded to have automatic fire and a glow sight. I wanted to give her a full arsenal, so I installed a Vector and modded it with a suppressor, along with a Cryolance weapon that resembled the shotgun. I’m not sure energy weapons are particularly cyberpunk, but it looks convincing when given three barrels.

It’s all very well looking the part, but I wanted to see what V could actually do. This is where I had to get really creative. One of the abilities shown in the demos is that V can scan enemies with her eyes to outline them, so I found a mod that highlights enemies at the touch of a button. Self-Guided Sniper Bullets let me install targeting computers on some guns, which aside from being ridiculously overpowered, also resembled the smart gun from the 2018 demo – even if the bullets didn’t have the same satisfying curved trajectory. I did attempt to make the bullets a little flashier with a tracer mod.

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Cyberpunk wouldn’t be cyberpunk without the ability to hack things, and thankfully Fallout 4 already has something close to that with the Robotics Expert perk. In the vanilla game, you have to sneak up on a robot to hack it – but jlauzon’s Robotics Expert Overhaul lets you do this remotely mid-combat, and also hack turrets.

By far the most satisfying ability I added, however, was Bullet Time – which allowed me to produce those awesome slow-motion moments akin to Cyberpunk 2077’s Kereznikov ability (usable after taking a reflex booster drug). Fallout 4 does have something similar in the form of Jet, but that drug slows down everything and can’t be toggled on and off. In light of this I felt Bullet Time – which drains AP but can be used in shorter bursts – was a better fit. Conveniently, the ability also allowed me to change direction mid-air, and concentrate my fire on enemies’ legs – two features also shown in the 2018 demo.

Wheeeee!

Yet I particularly wanted a post-human element where abilities were tied to body implants, and two mods fit the bill well: CROSS Pre-War Cybernetics and Cybernetic Implantation Laboratory. The former has more of a focus on building exoskeletons, but allowed me to craft something similar to the strengthened arms in the 2019 demo (I opted to add electrocution for the video because, well, it looked cool).

The implants mod, meanwhile, is more typically cyberpunk as the technology is integrated into the player’s body. It also allows you to construct your own implants lab, which introduces some elements of realism by making you conduct research and wait in-between operations. More importantly, it’s got a fantastic implant called the Subcutaneous Micro-Relay, effectively a short-distance teleport. This was pretty much the closest I could get to V’s enhanced movement which allows her to jump forwards in a flash. Although, being honest, I did abuse this new-found power as a method to get down from the flat. There were no stairs.

After an unsuccessful scout for mantis blades and a Johnny Silverhand companion, I moved on to the finer details. I recreated the slanted HUD with a Cyberpunk 2077 UI preset mod, changing the colour to pink-red and adding a bunch of widgets. Sure, it isn’t strictly like Cyberpunk 2077’s HUD – but a cluttered interface is definitely in the cyberpunk spirit. Next up was floating damage, which I tweaked to somewhat resemble the combat text in Cyberpunk 2077, even if it lingers a little long in the air. To put the cherry on top, I also installed a custom radio mod and popped in some intense synthwave music to play while I was fighting.

Maybe not an exact replica, but close enough.

Finally, I was ready to start work on a combat demo to display all these features. If only I knew what was to come.

Getting Fallout 4’s NPCs to behave is an absolute nightmare. After initially using re-textured synths as enemies – which fell apart easily or turned invisible if I used a Courser – I settled on the Rust Devils faction, a mixture of robots and humans. To demonstrate the hacking ability, I needed to place a turret, but it took an age to prevent it from immediately mowing down the other enemies (a problem eventually solved with console commands). The turret also mysteriously caused some enemies to run away – something you can still see in the combat demo if you keep a close eye on the first robot. Hacking the turret to override it, meanwhile, was too powerful to show in the demo as it simply flattened everyone.

The combat demo also had a performative element, and I had to get to grips with the new mechanics, time myself with the music, and make the whole thing look relatively natural. I also cannot tell you how many times I broke my legs when teleporting downstairs.

To make matters more complicated, by this point I’d installed so many mods that some of them had finally started breaking. I was able to hold the creaking build together by reshuffling the load order and reinstalling some mods, and somehow, I ended up with a finished combat demo. But that was only half the battle, as I also wanted to create a peaceful city population – and they weren’t exactly compliant.

Please stop watching telly.

It turns out that simply spawning in settlers doesn’t exactly work, and after installing Better Settlers, I found myself with a modern but completely stationary population. Not good, not bustling. I discovered I had to invite each individual to the settlement to get them to move – and only through giving settlers specific animations and freezing them at their workstations was I able to create an even halfway-convincing city. This did not stop them doing stupid things such as walking into walls, falling under the settlement, or mysteriously teleporting upstairs to sleep in the apartment bed. Despite my best efforts to disable the AI with console commands, they’d often still bonk me on the head when I pickpocketed their ugly leather armour. And, though I’d artificially increased the number of settlers to reach a population of 47, there came a point where this started to make the game unstable.

Frankly, it was a minor miracle that all the mods worked together, with only a few crashes and one alarming incident where I couldn’t stop the camera spinning after an INI file edit. By the time I was finished, I’d tried out over 100 mods – many of which didn’t make the final cut due to technical issues. I’d also spent hours problem-solving my way around Fallout 4’s strange rules. Here’s an example: rather than simply giving myself the Robotics Expert perk, I had to instead add perk points then manually select it in the perks menu so it would actually work.

While it may have somewhat looked the part (and the new mechanics were immensely satisfying), there were limits to what I could do. Apart from the cursed AI, I was also missing a narrative, interactivity and Cyberpunk’s RPG elements – thus making the whole thing flashy but rather shallow. I’d like to think the actual Cyberpunk 2077 will go beyond fetishising retrofuturism into exploring deeper themes – although that’s a criticism frequently levelled at cyberpunk works.

In many ways, I think the process of creating the project was possibly more cyberpunk than the end result. As worded by Dani Cavallaro, cyberpunk integrates “hyperefficient structures of high technology with the anarchy of street subcultures”. While the modding community isn’t exactly a street gang, I think it can absolutely be defined as a subculture – one that exists largely online, publicly distributes and collaborates on work, and retools high-tech commercial products to suit its own needs (often beyond the original creator’s intentions). So mod creators are pretty cyberpunk in my book – as was my own quest to transform Fallout into Cyberpunk and push it to the absolute limit. My struggle to control Fallout 4’s rebellious AI and prevent them performing human actions also felt ominously appropriate. Maybe, having placed them in such a dystopian and hopeless world, I was the bad guy?

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/02/cyberpunk-2077-got-delayed-so-i-made-it-in-fallout-4-instead-%e2%80%a2-eurogamer-net/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=cyberpunk-2077-got-delayed-so-i-made-it-in-fallout-4-instead-%25e2%2580%25a2-eurogamer-net

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thecosydragon · 5 years ago

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My latest blog post from the cosy dragon: Interview with Anne Montgomery

An Interview with Anne Montgomery, author of A Light in the Desert

Anne Butler Montgomery has worked as a television sportscaster, newspaper and magazine writer, teacher, amateur baseball umpire, and high school football referee. Her first TV job came at WRBL-TV in Columbus, Georgia, and led to positions at WROC-TV in Rochester, New York, KTSP-TV in Phoenix, Arizona, and ESPN in Bristol, Connecticut, where she anchored the Emmy and ACE award-winning SportsCenter. She finished her on-camera broadcasting career with a two-year stint as the studio host for the NBA’s Phoenix Suns. Montgomery was a freelance and/or staff reporter for six publications, writing sports, features, movie reviews, and archaeological pieces. Her novels include The Scent of Rain and A Light in the Desert. Nothing But Echoes will be released in 2020. Montgomery teaches communications at South Mountain High School in Phoenix, is a foster mom to three sons, and is an Arizona Interscholastic Association football referee and crew chief. When she can, she indulges in her passions: rock collecting, football officiating, scuba diving, and playing her guitar.

Is there one book that is your own personal favorite?

Asking an author to pick a favorite book is like asking a mother to choose her favorite child. While they might secretly prefer one, I don’t think they’d say so. That said, I don’t think I have a favorite, or even a favorite character, for that matter.

Everyone has a ‘first novel’, even if many of them are a rough draft relegated to the bottom and back of your desk drawer (or your external hard drive!). Have you been able to reshape yours, or have you abandoned it for good?

My first book is called The Integrity of the Game. It’s a thriller based on Major League Baseball and gambling. I spent a good chunk of my life as a sports reporter in both television and print and I umpired amateur baseball for about 25 years. I have taken the manuscript out of that bottom drawer occasionally over the years. I don’t know if I’ll ever try to publish it again. When I look at the copy, I realize I am a much better writer now. So, perhaps that’s the purpose of those first, and maybe second and third books. We get better as we go.

Over the years, what would you say has improved significantly in your writing?

I never had any training in creative writing. I learned to write by being a reporter. The editors I’ve worked with since I started publishing my books have been excellent teachers who helped me with dialogue and pacing. I couldn’t be more grateful.

Some authors are able to pump out a novel a year and still be filled with inspiration. Is this the case for you, or do you like to let an idea percolate for a couple of years in order to get a beautiful novel?

I’m pretty adept at getting novels done once I pick a topic that inspires me. The idea might roll around in my head for a while, but I can do the research and get a first draft done in about four or five months. The caveat here is that I have a day job. I’m a high school teacher, at least for one more year, so I do little novel writing during the school year. Books tend to occupy my summer vacation mostly.

I have heard of writers that could only write in one place – then that cafe closed down and they could no longer write! Where do you find yourself writing most often, and on what medium (pen/paper or digital)?

I have an office in my Phoenix home. As I am easily distracted, I need quiet and order. Also, I have horrible handwriting, so I am all in in regard to writing on a computer.

Before going on to hire an editor, most authors use beta-readers. How do you recruit your beta-readers, and choose an editor? Are you lucky enough to have loving family members who can read and comment on your novel?

The problem with beta readers is that they are often people who love us and who are uncomfortable critiquing our work. By nature, they think whatever we write is great. However, I am fortunate that I have a few friends who understand they won’t hurt my feelings with their comments and suggestions. I cherish them. I am also lucky that I have an agent who pulls no punches. She goes through my manuscripts and I rarely refuse her suggestions. Once she and I are in agreement, she sends it to publishers and I am assigned an editor who dives in with me. Before we go to print, I hand the manuscript to anyone who offers to take a look, in order to catch errors. I figure the more the merrier. Authors need new eyeballs on their writing. And we need to have thick skins.

I walk past bookshops and am drawn in by the smell of the books – ebooks simply don’t have the same attraction for me. Does this happen to you, and do you have a favorite bookshop? Or perhaps you are an e-reader fan… where do you source most of your material from?

I swore I would not read e-books and then I got a Kindle as a gift. The idea that when I finish reading a book I can just push a button and another one magically appears is hard to resist. Also, e-books make it easier to get my work out into the marketplace. I am happy when people read my book in whatever delivery system they prefer.

I used to find myself buying books in only one genre (fantasy) before I started writing this blog. What is your favorite genre, and have your tastes changed over time?

I didn’t read much as a young person. I am a low-level dyslexic and struggled with reading. When I did sort things out, I started reading historical fiction, much of it based on the World War II era. I then expanded to other times and locales. I read a wide range of historical fiction today. I also like thrillers and mysteries.

Social media is a big thing, much to my disgust! I never have enough time myself to do what I feel is a good job. What do you do?

Social Media! I could say it is the bane of every author’s existence, mostly because it takes up so much time. But there are no other options. This is how we sell books, until some new system appears. I am required, per my contract with my publisher, to have a website and blog. While it was difficult getting started, it is so much a part of my life now, that it has become easier. I did have to decide which platforms I could handle, and I suggest that authors who are new to Social Media start slowly. You don’t have to jump on every platform at once. Also, blogging needs to be done regularly, which means coming up with interesting articles that will pull people to your site. As a former reporter, I do pretty well with this part, but it does take planning ahead. It’s kind of like the care and feeding of a pet.

Tell us some quirky facts about yourself.

I have a lot of interests. One is that I’m a rock and mineral collector, a hobby I’ve had my whole life. There are pictures of me toddling around in diapers putting rocks in cups. I have about 400 specimens in my living room. Also, I’ve been an amateur sports official since 1978. I’ve called football, baseball, ice hockey, soccer, and basketball games over the years. Today, I remain a high school football referee and crew chief with the Arizona Interscholastic Association. I love scuba diving, especially with sharks, which are beautiful creatures in the wild, and I have recently rekindled my love of musical theater. I also play the guitar.

What are the stories behind your books?

I write realistic fiction, which means the stories relate to real-life situations. As a former journalist and news junkie, I take stories about issues and events that happen around us. My books cover a wide range of topics. I’ve written about mental illness, child abuse, polygamy, archeological looting and black-market sales of antiquities, a serial rapist, cults, and the deadly, cold-case sabotage of passenger train.

from http://bit.ly/2WRwL8M

#book bookreviews authorinterviews lovereading bookworm

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cutshawsnidowoa · 6 years ago

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6 Common Litter Box Issues — and How to Fix Them

The post 6 Common Litter Box Issues — and How to Fix Them by Rita Reimers appeared first on Catster. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren't considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Catster.com.

Litter boxes can quickly become the bane of a cat parent’s existence when kitty decides to misuse them — or not use them at all. These are some of the most common litter box issues I have come across, both in my practice and with my own cats.

1. Avoidance

Litter box avoidance is the most common issue cat owners experience, and it’s the No. 1 reason people surrender their cats to shelters. There are many simple reasons why cats duck the box, and most of them have easy solutions (see below).

2. Guarding or litter box bullying

Alpha cats will often demonstrate their dominance by preventing another cat from either entering or exiting the litter box. Our cat BooBoo is our alpha boy, and more than once I have seen him trap our cat Hope as she’s using the box. Litter box bullying can quickly lead to litter box avoidance, so provide boxes in different areas of your home and make sure each area has an easy escape path for bullied cats.

3. Playing

Most common with kittens, I have seen littermates follow each other into the box and turn potty time into playtime. Sometimes this continues into adulthood, often between siblings. But some adult cats play in the litter, too. One of my client’s cats takes her favorite stuffed animal with her everywhere she goes, including into the litter box. My own Abby will often climb into a freshly cleaned and filled litter box and roll around with glee in the unspoiled litter. I don’t pretend to understand that one!

4. Standing on the rim

My cat Sunny has this habit of standing on the rim of the litter box on his hind legs while leaning against the adjacent wall with his upper body when he uses the litter box. It’s the oddest way I have ever seen a cat use the box. Sometimes it’s successful. Other times he makes a huge mess, either because he misses the box and goes on the floor or because he loses his balance and tips the box over, dumping its entire contents. I’m often left with a mess to clean up, but I can’t help but laugh every time I see Sunny getting himself “into position.”

5. Refusal to bury

Cats are known for being ultraclean and for burying their leavings, but there are times when a cat decides not to bury. Sometimes this happens when a cat doesn’t like the texture and feel of a certain type of litter on his paws; declawed cats will often experience this. Sometimes a cat won’t bury as another way to mark his territory and let everyone know he’s been there. When my BooBoo does this, my Tinkerbelle goes right in there and covers it up for him!

6. Digging and over-burying

Some cats are so intent on burying that they excavate the box for a long time before they are satisfied. My Tinkerbelle buries everything under a pile of litter so high that it actually looks like a pyramid. It takes her a good five minutes to accomplish this. I once took care of a cat named Wilbur who used to pee on the floor, then he would get into the litter box and scoop all the litter out onto the floor to bury what he did. (He actually needed a larger litter box, and the problem was solved!)

If your beloved kitty is exhibiting odd behaviors in the litter box and medical causes have been ruled out, consult with a cat behaviorist to help find a solution to the bad box behavior. Or, depending on your cat’s particular misbehavior, you might want to just sit back and enjoy the show!

Litter Box Avoidance Checklist

Is your kitty avoiding the litter box? Most of the litter box avoidance issues are easily solved. Photography © ysbrandcosijn | Getty Images.

If your new kitten or cat is avoiding the litter box, go through this checklist to solve the problem!

Medical issues. When your cat isn’t using the litter box, the first thing to do is take him to the veterinarian. Medical issues, like urinary tract disorders, are a common reason for a cat to stop using his box.

Litter box size. Ideally, your cat’s box should be large enough for him to comfortably turn around inside, without his body hanging over the side. You’ll need a smaller litter box for kittens and then bigger when they outgrow it. You’ll also need one with smaller sides for kittens and senior cats so they can get easily in and out of it.

Litter box or litter type. Just like us, cats have their own bathroom preferences. Some like a covered litter box and others prefer one that’s not. There are many types of litter boxes out there, so get a variety of them and find out which one your cat prefers. The same goes for litter. Cats with sensitive paws are quite particular about the type of litter they use. With all the choices, get several that work for you and your cat, and offer them in different litter boxes to see which one your cat prefers.

Box placement. Place the box in a low-traffic area of your home but not somewhere difficult for your cat to reach. If you have a kitten or senior cat, put a box on every level of your home, so he can get to a box quickly and easily.

Stress. Household changes can quickly cause stress in your cat, and peeing outside of the litter box is commonly the first sign. Adding new people or pets to the household is a common cat stressor.

Not enough boxes — or not clean enough. If there aren’t enough boxes in a multi-cat household, or if they are not scooped often enough, your cats will find another, cleaner place to go. And I guarantee it won’t be someplace you’ll like. Scoop your litter boxes often, at least twice a day, and offer the same number of boxes as you have cats and one extra.

Tell us: What litter box issues have you experienced? What solutions worked for you?

This article was originally published in 2017.

About the author

Rita Reimers’ Cat Behavior Coaching has helped many cat owners better understand their feline friends. Visit RitaReimers.com to read her cat behavior blog or book a cat behavior coaching session. Rita is also CEO/owner of JustForCatsPetSitting.com. Connect with her on Facebook and on Twitter at @TheCatAnalyst.

Editor’s note: This article appeared in Kittens, a special issue from Catster magazine. Look for Kittens on a newsstand near you!

Read more about cat litter box issues on Catster.com:

5 Tips for Controlling Cat Litter Tracking and Scattering

Litter Training Cats: What You Need to Know

7 Ways to Get Your Cat to Like Using the Litter Box

from Catster https://www.catster.com/lifestyle/6-common-litter-box-no-nos via IFTTT

#Catster

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fightfarm39-blog · 6 years ago

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