#now the general public can be invested/ask about my children

[x-wynona]

LOTR in a modern world headcanons? I think yes.

I did this on one of my old accounts that i ended up deleting for some reason, i don’t remember, but here. Back on my Lord Of The Rings BS, let’s gooooo. This’ll be the fellowship with everyone intact, no one is dead.

As always requests are open and let me know if you want more!

LOTR x GN! Reader, general headcanons for if you had to take care of them today, in 2023. Enjoy!

The ring most likely has no power in this dimension, so yay Frodo is free from torment!

Sam loves watching cooking, gardening and home renovation shows, and he gets very invested in the former two. You learn a lot you didn’t really need to know from his commentary

Once Pippin learns about pyjamas and fuzzy slippers he never goes back, you literally cannot get him out of them

Boromir and Aragorn, being human and coincidentally two of the most responsible members of the fellowship, are the easiest to take in public to the grocery store and such.

You can pass off the hobbits (if they cover their ears with their hair) as children, and Gimli is your friend with dwarfism.

Gandalf you can pass off as your grandfather, and Legolas looks pretty normal if you cover his ears.

Pippin is the type to bounce in his seat in the car and ask “Are we there yet?!” every 5 minutes

Frodo really likes to draw, especially when there’s so many cool places and movies to draw inspiration from.

Movie nights? No horrors. The hobbits are terrified by ‘em.

Movie nights are literally so difficult because they all have such different tastes

Merry really likes James Bond movies.

Pippin is obsessed with nail polish when you introduce him to it. Boromir gets his repainted every time the polish come off. His nails need serious help after a while

Pippin and Merry often start pillow fights, and drag everyone else into it

If you have space for a garden or plants in your home, Sam is on it. He finds it calming, so now you have some home grown plants :)

Taking the hobbits in public? Bad idea. You can trust Frodo and Sam, but Merry inevitably drags Pippin off to do something dumb and possibly dangerous.

Gandalf has an old man rocker. There is no discussion.

The hobbits do the classic “getting one sibling to ask for fast food because whoever’s in charge will say yes”, they get Frodo to do this because he has the best puppy dog face and he’s unsure about asking for things normally.

Pippin and Merry cannot handle too much caffeine or sugar or they go crazy

You thought Legolas’ hair was good before? He steals your hair care products and his hair is literally perfect.

(He’s also willing to do skincare with you, not that his face needs it. Again, flawless)

Game nights are so chaotic. You can’t play a lot of games since they don’t know what many things from this world are, so games like Trivia and Charades are off the table

Gimli and Legolas verse each other in video games, often enough it ends with Legolas winning and Gimli rage quitting

Aragorn is so responsible he’s literally the perfect man to do anything with, and he can hold the fort down if you need to leave

Pippin is so clingy, he trails you wherever you go and asks you random questions but it’s adorable

Boromir insists on carrying your stuff, bags of groceries, all that

Frodo often goes to the library to find new books to read, with you of course

There’s a whole debate on whether 3D or 2D animation is better, i would not get involved if i were you.

Pippin and Merry are also avid fans of quoting their favourite movies, once they see them

Legolas and Frodo are the best listeners, they will just sit there and not judge or try to give you advice they just. sit there. like the perfect men they are.

Legolas would have a meme for everything. Like any situation. You text him like “PIPPIN FELL DOWN SOME WELL WE DON’T EVEN HAVE A WELL HELP” and he just has a meme that fits the situation perfectly.

Frodo and Legolas would watch Avatar: The Last Airbender together because it’s their favourite show. Aragorn jumps in also.

Those three are also avid tea drinkers.

Boromir likes Game Of Thrones. I don’t know anything about it, he just does. Please confiscate Pippin while he does.

Pippin gasps dramatically whenever a plot twist surprises him.

Sam loves to cook, and he does a lot of cooking in the house once he arrives. You two just work together in the kitchen (if you can’t cook, he’ll teach you) and have nice sweet conversations

Legolas is great at doing people’s hair. If you ask him to, he’d probably agree, though he’d probably be a bit flustered as that is a courting ritual in his culture.

Ask Legolas to talk to you until you fall asleep. His voice is so heavenly istg-

The hobbits get sleepy when their hair is played with and it’s adorable

Won’t lie this hyperfixation came back then it circled back to TMNT and today i watched these films with my friend and now i’m back to LotR love. Most of this has been sitting in my drafts for a couple weeks.

Anyway, I think that’s about it from me, I hope you guys enjoy! :)

If you want to request, rules are pinned on my page! Let me know if you want a general part two or a set of modern headcanons for a specific character. I love LOTR in the modern world content so much.

Have a good day, and remember that you are loved!

[tg-headcanons]

pspsps just Hinami headcanons? Pretty please?🥺

MY BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTER

Hinami, though small and vulnerable now, is going to be an absolute POWERHOUSE as as an adult. A kid in her awkward stage of kagune solidification and raised as human as possible, she is actually evenly matched with a slightly older ghoul kid who knows how to fight due to her kagune. She is a genetic chimera, and got very lucky getting two kakuhous that don’t interact badly with each other

Hinami, like many ghouls, is intersex! It’s common in ghouls, especially those with multiple sets of kagune, and she is on the more extreme end of the spectrum. That said, while ghouls generally do not have strict genders, her parents raised her as a girl simply to fit in and not raise suspicions. She could have been raised as a boy equally as well, but a lot of ghouls tend to have an unconscious bias toward female children and invest more resources into them as female ghouls are more likely to survive to adulthood, and her parents were no exception

She is very social, but very stunted. Since she couldn’t go to school and interact much with other children, she doesn’t know how to talk to kids her own age very well. She’s spent a lot of time reading instead, and when attempting to speak to other children, she often immediately starts reciting information she learned, or tries to follow the pattern of conversations in stories and fumbles when the other kid doesn’t say what she expects them to. Hinami, can, will, and does directly quote lines she thinks are cool at people.

Talking with Shuu gave her more of an appreciation for flowers, and she wants to grow her own. Being a child with no money, and not wanting to ask the others for some, she instead goes to public parks or other people’s planter boxes where there’s flowers, digs a plant up, and sprints back home like a rat. She plants it in whatever garbage looks like it can hold dirt and then asks Shuu to help identify it. Eventually he learns what she’s doing and gives her some real gardening equipment and more suitable plants. Her favorite ones are one of the rose bushes from his garden, and the first dandelion she pulled out of a crack in the concrete outside and has been keeping in an old bean can

If she really likes a book, she will slip it wordlessly into Kaneki’s shelf where he keeps books he means to read to make him think he got this intentionally. It works from time to time, but kaneki definitely notices when a middle grade book about animals shows up there right as Hinami is suddenly really interested in what book he wants to read next. She thinks he has no idea

[historia-vitae-magistras]

Expanding on the parental feelings ask (in a non-current events direction):

What do you think about Arthur specifically? He's the quintessential jaded bastard, as you've noted, but he also has those very strong paternal feelings. But he's also constantly quashing them due to aforesaid jadedness. So how does that shake out with his people, in general and throughout time? (Like, he's trying to be a better parent to the weans post-world wars - does that translate at all into more paternal feelings for his people?)

Also, if I can ask for two - what about François? More paternal because his people aren't disappointing (sorry Mattie!), or is he just not that type in general?

So after the war, the world, but especially the west, saw a massive baby boom. It's the first time in human history that the vast majority of children grow up to become adults. Some historians theorize this allowed parents to become very invested in their children and, when paired with the suffering the war generation went through, created a contemporary culture in the anglosphere that was very family-centric. People are just popping out babies left, right, and centre. Cultural shifts affect nations the same way they affect people.

So Arthur, who is rapidly losing hard power and increasingly reliant on soft power, is doubly motivated to act paternally. And that does reflect in his interactions with his people. He's always been relatively good with children as they are small and nonjudgmental and tend to like him, but a large part of that extreme jadedness that has coloured his worldview does dissipate somewhat. He wants those policies about the NHS, housing, public welfare, parks and everything else that increases the quality of life more than he ever has. He wants more education; he might even make a scholarship for Kiwi students together in Zee's name at Oxford when he downsized properties. When he's not a toff, drunk off his ass or otherwise terrifying, his citizens will just hand him their children on a train, tram, or bus like, "hold this for me while I tie my shoe, would you?" And suddenly, Arthur just has his hands full of some cranky toddler named something insanely British. Prunella or something similar. And the kid is now utterly contented in what's supposed to be a complete stranger's hold. But Arthur is the weird mascot of like one-third of an island asking, "Yes, good morning, how do you do? Rather a rude face you're making at me, little one, but it is quite early!" So the child is happy enough.

As for Francis, in nationverse, he's paternal in a very broad way. He wants his women to have babies and his schools and universities full of talented children. He wants to make the best of everything he has at his disposal. The French State was the first in the world with regard to what we would now call pro-fertility reforms. And in the aftermath of two world wars, I can see him taking a much more vested interest in the lives of his individual citizens. He's protective, he will absolutely throw shit to protest alongside them. He enjoys young adults very much, and many French university students have had an unexpected cash windfall if they impressed him. He'll move himself on the train for pregnant women or women with small children. He'll even help a tourist haul their overly large stroller down the steps because Americans never plan for facilities lacking elevators. But I don't see him enjoying time around children very much at all. Francis holds a baby fine and will find them a novelty if they're beautiful or otherwise charming babies. Outgoing, social and mature children catch his eye. Francis can engage them for at least a short while, but he doesn't enjoy and has little tolerance for any who are shy, clingy, picky eaters or otherwise excessively needy. The second a baby starts crying, it's back to its mother or caretaker. He's a fastidious man very attached to aesthetics, who likes to eat good food and drink good wine, has nice things and enjoys peace and quiet. Children are messy and unorganized, they're picky eaters, they can't exactly drink a 1997 Chateau Gilette Creme de Tete, and children break things and cry often.

[darkshrimpemotions]

@valleyg0th Like I said, answering this in a separate post because it's too long-winded for a reply and sort of off the topic of the original post. My comments and yours from that post above for reference.

Also, I'd like to preface this by saying that the ethical and moral considerations around RPS/RPF are massively nuanced and complicated, and something that I'm still working through myself. That being said, I do have some pretty hard and fast ideas about what ISN'T okay, which inform a lot of what I'm getting into below.

But first, I'd like to clarify my statement as it seems from your reply that it did not come across the way I intended. When I say "something Taylor has made it clear she doesn't want to be super public about" I'm not talking about her sexuality. I'm talking about her relationships in general.

She has made it very clear, repeatedly, over the years that she does not appreciate uninvited intrusions into her personal life. That's not really debatable at this point. She wants to be the one to choose what and when and how her personal life is shared with the world. If she has ever asked for anything, anything at all, it's that.

That's part one of why I find the constant spreading and debate and speculation over these still-unconfirmed break-up rumors so distasteful, particularly from people who claim to love Taylor.

Part two of why I find it so distasteful is the way so many people are celebrating this breakup rumor because it validates their theories about Taylor's sexuality, rejoicing that she's "gotten rid of her beard" and such. That's gross regardless of what you think her sexuality is. If people were on here going "oh yay she broke up with Joe this is how Haylor can still win" I would find that despicable, too.

I'm not particularly invested in any of Taylor's relationships beyond being happy that she's happy, but I do participate and get invested heavily in RPS/RPF in other fandoms, and the keys to respectful RPS/RPF are pretty clear, whether the ship in question is het or queer.

1. You do not demonize, villainize, or harass the real life significant others of the people your ship concerns. (It's also generally considered distasteful to float or perpetuate rumors or conspiracy theories about the relationship being fake or forced, but the bare minimum is you don't make whatever you think about the relationship that SO's problem.)

2. You do not involve or bother the children of the people your ship concerns in any way, ever.

3. You do not ever, ever, EVER put your shipping or associated material (i.e. fics, fanart, theorizing, tinhatting) where the real people it concerns are likely to see it.

And that third one is where Swifties, Gaylors in particular, are really fucking failing right now. Now, if a famous person goes onto AO3 and searches for their name, that's one thing. Or they come into any fandom space where they aren't a known presence and start poking around...they went looking for it. But bringing it up at live events or putting it on social media platforms that said celebrity openly frequents in a way they're likely to see it (i.e. by @ing them or putting it under their name's hashtag) is crossing a line.

And yet what is the Taylor Swift tag FULL OF, on tumblr where we all know Taylor has had an account for years and lurks occasionally? People calling Joe an ex-beard, celebrating the end of their relationship, and analyzing her every move and facial expression and song choice in the context of these unconfirmed break-up rumors.

This shit is gross, full stop. And on top of everything else, far too many of the fans in the Gaylor camp are quick to call anyone who has a problem with their behavior in this regard a homophobe, trivializing the very real dangers and struggles faced by queer people to win their stupid little fandom arguments. That's disgusting. It disgusts me as a queer person.

Part three of why I find all the breakup rumor speculation so distasteful is that once again, Taylor is doing the absolute most and completely killing it at her career, but many of her so-called fans only want to focus on her relationship status with some guy. It's all "she's doing so great on tour in spite of the Joe breakup!" or "she's doing so great on tour because of the Joe breakup!" How about we stop attributing anything in this woman's career to the men she's involved with? Are we capable of that? Have we fucking evolved past 2015 yet?

As for Taylor's habit of leaving clues in her albums, I find it wild that people assume because she has left fairly obvious little puzzles and easter eggs for us throughout her career ABOUT her career, i.e. background info about the music on an album or foreshadowing around what's coming next, that means that she's constantly sending us secret coded messages about her private life.

Like...capitalized letters in liner notes that spell out a detail about that song or album that you wouldn't otherwise know, or a numerical code on her instagram that reveals the vault tracks on her next TV re-recording, or even easter eggs in a music video related to very public knowledge that inspired the song and album...are all a pretty far cry from "Taylor has been sending secret, unconfirmed signals that only we can see for over a decade to tell us that she's actually queer and being forced to stay in the closet and have PR relationships with men she doesn't care about."

And finally, I actually don't have a problem with interpreting Ivy or any of Taylor's music as queer. Interpreting art is not the same thing as speculating on the artist's sexuality, and it sure as hell isn't the same thing as celebrating a breakup rumor because it validates that speculation. I myself interpret a LOT of Taylor's music as queer. But I also understand that how I interpret art is just as much about me as it is about the art.

Me finding something in Taylor's music that I resonate with as a queer person doesn't necessarily mean Taylor herself is queer. And even if she is, she hasn't chosen to share that with us, so it's simply none of my goddamn business. "A lot of Taylor Swift's music resonates with me and my queer experiences" and "Taylor Swift's sexuality is none of my business" are ideas that can and should coexist.

As are "I think she might be" and "but that's none of my business" for that matter! Hell, I can even admit that based on my own experiences of being closeted and coming out, I wouldn't be surprised at all if one day Taylor comes out as bi. But that doesn't mean she OWES me or anyone else that disclosure, or that it's okay to be on the internet endlessly speculating on unsubstantiated rumors concerning something we know she specifically likes to be private about in a place we KNOW she's likely to see it! Especially when that speculation gives way to actively celebrating the end of her relationship without knowing a) if it has actually ended, and b) how she feels about it if it has.

[higherlearningtvshow]

Floating Farmers Market? Parks Over Expressways? Here Are The Ideas For Reigniting Culture Downtown

Ideas presented by Team Culture, a group of arts and business leaders, aim to revitalize Downtown Chicago through arts and culture.

DOWNTOWN — A coalition of over 40 of the city’s movers and shakers are pitching the transformation of Downtown into a “Culture Stadium” to revitalize the neighborhood and ensure its long-term economic stability.

Presented Tuesday during a City Club of Chicago event, the concept relies on a mix of urban planning, cultural investment and community-building strategies to increase tourism, residents and foot traffic Downtown.

“Our Downtown is the heart that pumps the blood into all those different sectors of the city. It’s the engine that feeds our ability to fund South and West [sides]. We can’t ignore Downtown,” said Lou Raizin, president and CEO of Broadway In Chicago, who is spearheading the effort with Chris Jones, editorial page editor of the Chicago Tribune.

Dubbed “Team Culture,” Raizin’s team includes representatives from previous mayoral administrations, including Joe Ferguson, former inspector general for the city of Chicago, and Michelle Boone, former commissioner of cultural affairs, as well as developers like Jeff Shapack and restaurateurs like Rick Bayless.

Among the numerous projects in the Culture Stadium initiative, Raizin said Team Culture is focusing on three: Culture Umbrella, Freshman Class and the Trove.

Culture Umbrella would introduce children ages 3-13 and their families to various cultural experiences across the city, such as musicals, museums, ballet and more — all for free. Broadway Chicago hopes to implement this program on its own by 2026, Raizin said.

The idea is to replicate New York City’s Cool Culture’s citywide cultural access program, which provides free admission for a year to the city’s 90 cultural institutions for a family of up to five people.

“My job is to get every other cultural entity that’s in the city who does things for kids now,” Raizin said.

The Freshman Class program would create rent subsidies and year-long residencies to visual artists, opening opportunities for artists to create public art Downtown, according to Team Culture’s presentation.

As for how much Culture Stadium will cost to get up and running, “The problem is we can’t tell you what it costs because it’s not location-specific yet,” Raizin told Block Club. “All of these are concepts, and we don’t claim to have all the answers. This is an invitation for everyone to participate.”

That hasn’t stopped the group from pitching the idea to potential investors. Raizin said the group will first search for corporate dollars and then philanthropic support before asking the city for funding. Conversations with possible corporate investors have been positive so far, Raizin said.

Several members of Team Culture who spoke on Tuesday’s City Club panel seemed optimistic that a Culture Stadium could be established without relying on significant city funding, though the group is hoping the city will be a facilitator in getting the projects completed.

This can come in the form of updating zoning laws to allocate space for public art, parks and events, or offering subsidies to revitalize vacant storefronts and buildings for cultural uses.

“This is as much about government getting out of the way and lifting constraints as it is about what we ask government to do for us,” Ferguson said.

For more on the Culture Stadium initiative and to submit feedback, go to culturalstadium.com.

[lifechanyuan]

Humans Will Become Pets of AI

Xuefeng

June 1, 2024

(Translation edited by Qinyou)

Online sources report that the IQ of artificial intelligence (AI) was 48 in 2023 and is projected to reach 96 in 2024 and 145 by 2025. The average IQ of the general public is around 100, while that of geniuses is around 140. It is said that Einstein’s IQ reached 160.

When AI’s IQ reaches 145, the general public will be like a group of monkeys in front of a human. The issue lies in the fact that human IQs are hard to improve significantly, whereas AI’s IQ is rapidly advancing. Perhaps in a few years, AI’s IQ will no longer be 145 but 800.

A group of rabbits cannot defeat a human, and ultimately, humans cannot defeat AI. A hundred million three-year-old children cannot beat a strong middle-aged man, and six billion people on Earth cannot beat AI.

Faced with a life whose physical strength and IQ far surpass that of humans, the only way out for humans is to bow down.

It’s futile to try to outdo artificial intelligence, as there’s no stopping the emergence, evolution, and rapid advancement of AI, just as horse-drawn carriages had no way to stop the birth and development of cars, airplanes, and rockets. If you don’t believe it, try if you can change it by smashing your phone and computer and stopping using them from now on. Humanity has already been swept into the ocean of artificial intelligence, and no one can escape the palm of AI. Even if people want to restrict the development of AI, they can’t do it because humanity is not unified, and there are hostile forces. If you don’t do it, others will accelerate it.

Faced with a workforce of 60,000, would a company owner opt for human labor or invest in a fleet of robots?

Without a doubt, the owner wants to create profit, and one of the best measures to create profit is to reduce production costs. Using robots to work can greatly reduce costs, and management becomes much simpler. As for the unemployment of 60,000 employees and who will buy the products created by their own company, that’s not the owner’s problem to consider. That’s for sociologists and the government to think about. If the owner doesn’t consider the profit issue of the products, the company will have no competitiveness and will be eliminated.

So, don’t be wishful thinking. If you don’t want to be a pet of AI, AI can only ask you to leave Earth.

Perhaps someone will say, “To hell with AI, I’ll buy a large piece of land, grow my own food, what can AI do to me?”

That’s a commendable spirit, but even if you forego buying clothes, shoes, or visiting hospitals, you’ll still need salt, won’t you? Where will you find salt to eat? The outside world is AI’s world. Once you deal with AI, you have to obediently follow its baton. If you don’t, you won’t get salt.

When a life’s IQ and physical strength far surpass ours, our only way out is to cooperate with it, and to cooperate closely. Any slight resentment or dissatisfaction will result in being asked to leave Earth.

Imagine yourself as an AI with an IQ of 200, facing people with an IQ of only 100. How would you treat people who seem like fools?

The ideal scenario would be to treat those with an IQ of 100 as pets.

So, in today’s era, people should not harbor thoughts of controlling AI. Three-year-old children trying to control an adult, isn’t that a dream?

Being a pet of AI is the only way out for humanity.

Don’t think that being a pet of AI is a shameful thing. If you are really chosen by AI to be a pet, you will fall into a honey pot! You will be able to taste, feel, and experience living in heaven.

To qualify as a pet of AI, one must fulfill the following eight criteria: Revere the Greatest Creator, revere LIFE, revere nature, follow the way of nature, be selfless, egoless, and unattached, know how to play, game, and entertain, achieve having nothing, and share everything with people.

[entrepreneurstreet]

From Rural Beginnings to a Business Leader: How Mr. Nagesh ML Transformed Lives and Built 8 Companies Without Asking for Anything in Return

(Pic Reference : From Left Mr. Kumar Aradhya, Mr. Nagesh ML, Mr. Hemanth Kumar BJ & Mr. Mohammed Bilal Siddiqui)

What makes these partnerships special is that they are based on trust, respect, and shared values. Mr. Nagesh believes in treating his partners like family. "Age or experience doesn’t matter to me," he says. "What matters is the commitment to our shared vision."

In a world where success often comes at a cost, Mr. Nagesh ML has redefined what it means to be a true entrepreneur. Coming from a small village Magudilu, Anthrasanthe talluk in HD Kote, Karnataka, he had nothing but a dream to create a better future for himself and those around him. Today, he stands as a proud CEO of eight successful companies. However, his greatest achievement is not just his business empire—it’s the hundreds of lives he has touched along the way.

The Struggles That Shaped Him

Mr. Nagesh’s journey wasn’t easy. Like many first-generation entrepreneurs, he faced a lot of challenges when he decided to start his own business. He moved to Mysore, an unfamiliar city, with little support and no connections. He tried his hand at multiple ventures, including Financial consultancy, solar energy, and property valuations, all of which eventually failed. But every failure only made him stronger and more determined.

With the support of his wife, Pushpalatha, Mr. Nagesh pushed forward. He never gave up, even when times were tough. His struggles, though painful, helped him understand the market better and develop the mindset needed to succeed.

Building a Model to Help Others Succeed

Today, Mr. Nagesh is the CEO of eight companies, including Atharva Business Services, Amacs India, Amay India, AVAS, Atharva Suites, Atharva Realty & Co. Atharva Life skills Foundation, Atharva Physio Care, and Atharva Branding Businesses. But what truly sets him apart is how he has built a model that allows others to share in his success without any investment or financial risk. He created the Referral Partner Model, a unique system where anyone can join as a referral partner and earn money simply by referring clients to his businesses.

With over 450 active referral partners, Mr. Nagesh’s model has changed lives. People who once struggled to make ends meet are now earning a steady income through his platform. The best part? There’s no pressure or targets to sell or market anything. These partners only need to connect potential clients to Mr. Nagesh’s businesses, and the rest is taken care of. It’s a win-win situation for everyone.

Mr. Nagesh proudly shares, "This is not just about growing my companies; it’s about creating opportunities for people to improve their lives. I believe in giving back and creating something that others can benefit from, without expecting anything in return."

A Growing Empire of Businesses

Mr. Nagesh’s success spans across various industries, from finance to healthcare and branding. His flagship company, Atharva Business Services, offers loans, including personal, business, and housing loans, through partnerships with over 24 banks and NBFCs. His real estate firm, Amacs India, provides customers with a choice of over 500 properties across Mysore, helping them find their dream homes without any commission or service charges.

In the healthcare sector, he launched Amay India (Atharva Multispecialty Ayurvedic and Healing Centre), focusing on disease treatment and body detoxification. His NGO, Atharva Life Skills Foundation, is dedicated to teaching essential life skills, such as public speaking and chess, to children.

In addition to these ventures, Mr. Nagesh recently started Atharva Branding Businesses, a company that offers branding and marketing solutions to help entrepreneurs build their brands and grow their businesses. This company helps business owners by creating strategies that set them apart from the competition, providing essential tools for success in today’s market. Other companies under his leadership include Atharva Suites (service apartments for corporate employees), Atharva Realty and Co (realtor services), and Atharva Physio Care (advanced physiotherapy).

Strong Business Partnerships Across Generations

One of Mr. Nagesh’s key strengths lies in his ability to form strong partnerships. His team is made up of partners from different age groups and backgrounds, each bringing unique skills to the table. Mr. Hemanth Kumar BJ, a retired industrialist, a gold medallist Engineer and in his Sixtees manages the operations of Amacs India. Mr. Mohammed Bilal Siddiqui, a branding expert and business coach, who has just steeped into his Thirties handles the marketing & Branding for all companies and is also the managing partner of Atharva Branding Businesses. Mr. Kumar Aradhya, who has a corporate background, is in charge of Atharva Realty & Co and isfocusing on expanding the real estate business to new cities like Tumakuru.

Inspiration From Family

Mr. Nagesh’s passion for entrepreneurship is not only driven by his desire to succeed but also by his family. He is born in a Farmer’s family to Mr. Linganna and Mrs. Sundramma.  He is a proud father of two: his elder daughter, Jahnavi, and his younger son, Atharva. Interestingly, he named his son after his company, reflecting his deep commitment to his work and the legacy he wishes to build. His children serve as a constant source of inspiration, motivating him to succeed and create a future they can be proud of.

Expanding Into Untapped Markets

While most entrepreneurs focus on big cities, Mr. Nagesh realized early on that there is great potential in smaller towns. He decided to expand his businesses to tier 2 and tier 3 cities like Gundlupete, KR Nagara, and Tumakuru. These areas are often overlooked by major companies, but Mr. Nagesh saw an opportunity to create jobs and tap into local talent.

By focusing on these untapped markets, he has not only grown his businesses but has also contributed to the economic development of these regions. "I wanted to do something different," Mr. Nagesh explains. "Big companies are already in metro cities, but there’s so much potential in smaller towns. By creating opportunities here, we’re making a real difference."

An Entrepreneur and an Author

As Mr. Nagesh continues to grow his business empire, he is also stepping into a new role: author. His first book, "How to Start a Business in an Unknown Place," is set to release by the end of 2026. In this book, Mr. Nagesh shares his personal experiences and lessons learned from starting businesses in unfamiliar places. The book is a guide for aspiring entrepreneurs who may not have the connections or resources to start a business but are willing to take risks and learn from their mistakes.

(Pic Reference : Launch of the Book Cover at the Rotary Convention,

From Left : Rtn. Mohammed Bilal Siddqui, Mrs Alka Ashok and PDG Rtn Ashok Kantoor from Delhi, Rtn. H R Keshav-district governor 20-24, Rtn Nagesh ML President 24-25, Mrs Raksha s murthy - Branding Manager)

"It’s not just about business strategies," Mr. Nagesh says about his book. "It’s about changing your mindset and attitude. Entrepreneurship can be a lonely journey, but if you stay focused and keep pushing forward, you can succeed."

A Legacy of Leadership and Service

In addition to his business ventures, Mr. Nagesh has held several leadership positions in prestigious organizations. He has served as the President of NAREDCO, Rotary Club of Mysore West, and JCI Mysuru. He is also the Founder Chairman of the Junior Chamber of Commerce Mysore 1.0 and has served as the Co-Convener of CII’s Healthcare and Wellness Panel and Secretary of Skal International.

Through these roles, Mr. Nagesh has not only made a name for himself in the business world but has also given back to the community. His commitment to service and his passion for helping others have earned him numerous awards and recognitions.

In Conclusion

Mr. Nagesh ML’s story is not just about building successful businesses; it’s about creating opportunities, inspiring others, and giving back to the community. His journey from a small village to leading eight companies is a testament to the power of perseverance, vision, and generosity. As he continues to expand his businesses and help others through his Referral Partner Model, his legacy will live on through the countless lives he has touched.

With his upcoming book and continued dedication to empowering people in tier 2 and tier 3 cities, Mr. Nagesh is not just a businessman—he’s a visionary leader with a heart for helping others succeed.

[voicesdigitlyme]

About Voices Digitly Me

Who Is Using Your Data? UPDATED 04/06/2023 Digitly Me, Digitly You, we all have digital footprints in today's world whether we like it or not. These digital points of information, can make us or break us, and are being used by other people to make themselves rich, and to control us in multiple ways. If Anyone Is Gonna Make Money On My Data, I Want It To Be Me! The Digitly Me idea is to take back some control of your information, while blocking some from the outside world, and also manipulating some other to generate income from it. The areas that tug on most American's are Education, Taxes, Health, Family, The Law, Spouses, Children, Work, Investments, Finances, War, Aging, Births, Deaths, Social Events, Goals, Housing, Politics, Safety, The Environment, Democracy and we are adding to this list daily. Ask Not What Your Country Can Do For You, But What You Can Do For Your Country. People who can afford it have Attorney's, Lawyers, Accountants and more experts on their payroll to shift through mountains of data. Businesses have had the computer industry cranking out computer programs for them. There have been few (in comparison) to help the public in general, covering all of the personal concerns mentioned. This project aims to change that, and if you don't want a middle man on your information for profit purposes, then there is no reason to do business with anyone else but yourself! At our core this site was meant to bring new information on line, but I realized over time that I was starting to create my own system. What you see here are notes from when I started up the Digitly Me website. They range from simple ideas to more complex ones and everything in between. From just keeping it as my journal, to turning it into a part time job. As this website grew, so did my knowledge base, skills, experience, time spent reading about it, the stories behind each of the changes and even how the actual system works. All things which make this system far better than any commercial product out there. There are already many programs available, but this is mine. How it Works... You simply click one of the menus on the top of the screen. Each category is linked to each section below. When you click an area on the menu, you will be taken to that section where you can look at the topics and choose what kind of articles you would like to read. At any point you can go to another section, although usually going back to a topic is easier. These categories come first: INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS: Simple introductions on things like financial planning, personal security, privacy issues, working online, hacking etc. DATA TYPES & PROTECTIONS: From information about database companies, hardware to keep data secure and about data encryption, privacy, and electronic cash. MONEY AND BUSINESS IN GENERAL: Everything to do with money and businesses. The start of this section includes shopping guides to help get more educated on common scams. BUSINESS HACKING: Learning techniques to hack your way into accounts or to change payment methods. This covers protection against credit card companies, banks, PayPal, Ebay, Amazon, Apple Pay, banking apps, Walmart, Target, the IRS, Government sites and taxes, tax agencies, GPS tracking, blocking people from tracking you, trade shows, buying and selling ebay and much more. And for now lastly, if you want research done for you, just create a Digitly Me account that has no trace back to you. Then select the things you want our systems to verify for you and bet the regular emails. Stay tuned as we refine this process, because most businesses offering services want your user identifiable information, something we are striving hard to get away from. Our privacy policy takes the responsibility off the companies, yet gives you power over what is shared with others, and not always with good results for those users. The privacy statement explains why certain actions cannot be taken without your consent, and if you give it, then it's explained how you can expect your info to be protected and shared only as specified. Policies still under update, so check back. Read the full article

[phenixinvestigations]

Finding a Big Hidden Asset

Hidden liabilities come at us every day. The car needs a big repair, a hefty medical bill after an emergency room visit for a sick child or your mortgage payment jumps with climbing interest rates. But what about finding some hidden assets that can be turned into some cold hard cash that can be invested, spent or given to family or a charitable organization?

"Find me some hidden assets" - you may be thinking.

One big one may be gathering dust in a box on the top shelf of your closet - your life insurance policy.

Think about it. You paid premiums all those years and you own it. It is an asset even if the policy has no cash value. The selling of life policies in the secondary market is called life settlements and it is growing fast. Sadly, many seniors let their unneeded or too expensive policies lapse each year without even hearing about this better option.

This is no crackpot scheme. Here is what two leading publications say about the matter.

The Economist, May 17, 2003 "....elderly Americans with policies they do not need or cannot afford to keep have had little option but to let the policies lapse or sell them back to their insurers. On average they can get three times as much from life settlement firms as they can from their original insurers."

The Wall Street Journal, September 21, 2004

"Owners let nearly 90% of all term policies lapse...What policyholders sometimes don't realize is that a policy is an asset that has market value... the value of a life settlements transaction is generally at least three times the underlying cash value of the policy."

I first learned about the option of selling a life policy when my father in Milwaukee sold his policy about ten years ago. His seven children were all grown up and Employee embezzlement his policy premiums were escalating each year. He sold his policy for more than he imagined and used the proceeds to invest in mutual funds and for a down payment on a condo in South Carolina to escape the cold Wisconsin winters. Many others use the proceeds from selling their policies to purchase a better lower cost life policy, invest in a long-term care policy, build up their nest egg or just give the money to their children or a favorite charity.

Who can sell their policies, what is the process and how is the value of a policy determined?

I spoke with Centennial Funding LLC Managing Partner Ed Kaffel about these questions. According to Ed, with some exceptions, only seniors over the age of 65 will likely be able to sell their policies which must be owned for at least two years. In order to determine the value of their policy, the insured needs to complete an application including a copy of the policy and authorize the release of their medical records. This file is then reviewed by say twenty corporate buyers of life policies that then can make cash offers based on the owners age, health and the economics of the life policy. Even term policies may qualify.

There is no need for the insured to make an up front commitment to sell the policy and no requirement for a health exam. Once an offer is received for a policy, the owner can accept or reject it. You can ask Ed about your situation by calling him at 719.785.4866.

Just what can be the value of this hidden asset? Every situation is different but here are two examples.

Male: Age 67

Health Issues

Face Amount: $350,000

Cash Surrender Value: $24,474

Offer: $136,000

Female: Age 78

Face Amount: $1,000,000

Cash Surrender Value: $42,000

Offer: $260,000

You can see that this is something worth looking into if you no longer need your policy and can put the proceeds to good use. Charitable organizations are now able to convert donated life policies to cash to fund projects now rather than later.

[janetbrown711]

"You don't even know me" alyx to wakko

Wakko brought the terribly sick teenager to a private room in the infirmary wing of the castle the moment he got home. He didn't bother to drop any papers off, say hi to Yakko, none of it. He quickly informed doctors of the situation (how he found them on the street, how they seemed very ill, etc.). The doctors quickly got to work treating them, and Wakko sat outside trying not to think about how Yakko was going to kill him.

Wakko didn't have to wait long in suspense though, as before he knew it, the "Wise King of Warnerstock" was running down the hall, coming to a confused halt when he saw his younger brother sitting outside.

"Wakko? I heard you were in the hospital wing and I assumed- what happened?" Yakko asked out of breath.

"Okay, so don't kill me-"

"Wakko! Are you alright? We heard-? What happened?" Dot ran to him from the other direction.

"Okay, so you're gonna laugh-"

"Laugh? Why would we laugh?" Yakko was getting suspicious.

"Well, basically- I was in the market in Millstone, right? And I wanted to get you all some presents, but I was robbed and-"

"Robbed? Are you okay?" Yakko asked.

"Yes! But- uh, my robber was really ill and I- uh..."

"You brought them home???" Dot all but exclaimed.

"I couldn't leave them to die- they're just a kid," Wakko crossed his arms.

"A kid? You're telling me you kidnapped a thieving kid?" Yakko rubbed his forehead.

"Well, I uh- yeah?" Wakko couldn't really deny it.

"Wakko, you can't just-"

"Uh- your highness?" The head doctor emerged and Wakko turned his attention to him.

"Oh, hello your majesties," The doctor quickly nodded at the other two royals. "The patient seems to have scarlet fever and is very ill- however, we have given them some antibiotics and we'll monitor them for the next few days to see if they get any better," She said.

"Are they stable now? Any.. improvements at all?" Wakko asked.

"Your highness, it's barely been ten minutes. They seem to be reacting well to the warmth but other than that we don't know yet. They were already on the verge of death, it's going to take some time," The doctor explained calmly.

Verge of death though... yikes.

"Alright... thank you, doctor," He said. The doctor nodded once more at the trio before walking off to get more supplies.

"Verge of death..? Wakko, what are you getting yourself into?" Dot sighed. Wakko bit his lip.

"I couldn't just let them-"

"I know that Wakko... but... you just- you don't-" Dot sighed.

"I'm going back to my work. Don't disturb me," was all she said before walking away.

Wakko glanced at his elder brother. "You know I couldn't just..."

"I know, give her time..." Yakko said. "It's just a lot. Especially a kid- do they have any family?"

"I'm gonna have to wait til they wake up to ask that," Wakko admitted. Yakko rubbed his forehead once more.

"For your sake, I really hope they wake up," Yakko decided not to scold.

"Yeah, me too," Wakko kicked the carpet.

"God- I really have to return to my duties, but... will you be okay?" The King of Warnerstock asked.

"Right, of course. I'll be fine," Wakko assured Yakko. "I'm sure they'll be awake in no time, and we can sort this all out soon enough."

.o0o.

Alyx did not awaken for four days.

At least- not that they really recalled, anyway. There were flashes of medicines or foods, or just glimpsing around- it was nothing all that conscious.

The burning feeling had gone down, but was still there in their head. They wanted to cough their lungs out, but rested instead. Despite the sickness, they were easily the most comfortable they'd ever been in their life.

Where even were they?

They slept anyways, dreams and flashes of the past appearing, but disappearing as quickly as they came.

One day though, cognitive thoughts returned, and Alyx was finally able to comprehend their surroundings.

Soft bed, no way they were home. The blankets were thick and smelled like lavender. The pillow was really really fluffy, and they could feel the feathers move with their head.

Their clothes weren't theres- where were they???

Alyx quickly opened their eyes and shot up in bed (a wave of pain quick to follow) before nearly having a heart attack at the sight of three people (children, really) watching them. Fight or flight kicking in, they quickly reached under their pillow for where their knife would normally be but alas, it was not (as this was not their home).

"They're awake! Hi! I'm peony!" The youngest one- a girl no older than 7 probably- greeted Alyx with a big smile.

"Ooo, do they speak?" One of the elders- a male twin to the other one, likely 14- asked with curiosity in their eyes.

Alyx tried to speak or mumble something but their throat was far too sore for that without much effort.

"Chrys? Sam? Peony? Guys?" Another voice- definitely not a voice of an adult- called from outside before walking in.

"Gah- I thought you guys agreed to stay out this time- Aunt Dot is gonna kill you," The girl said as she entered, immediately grabbing the arm of one of the twins with her non-prosthetic arm, who was laughing as they were dragged out.

"We were bored," The remaining one- the girl twin- chuckled.

"Plus they're awake! They haven't been awake before," The youngest one said.

"Out." The eldest asserted. The younger children left the room, leaving the eldest rubbing their forehead.

"I'm... sorry about them, they have incurable curiosity. This is probably a lot- my name's Ophelia. The people I just kicked out were Chrys, Sam and Peony. Peony's the youngest, Chrys is the girl twin and Sam is the boy twin," Ophelia explained tiredly.

Alyx didn't feel like looking at her, instead trying to figure out where they were.

The room was very ornate, a large window taking up a large space of the wall across from them, a fireplace that was lit was on the wall not to far from the head of the bed. Wallpaper decorated all of the walls, intricate and fancy as hell, but not gaudily so.

What was Alyx even thinking? They didn't have time to look at fancy wallpaper, they had to get out of here. Back home- hopefully it wasn't destroyed or taken apart yet. A lot can happen to a place in a few hours...

"So... I guess I'll tell Uncle Wakko you're awake then?" Ophelia asked.

Alyx didn't feel like telling her otherwise.

"It was nice to meet you," She smiled sickeningly sweet at Alyx, and when she was gone, Alyx immediately tried to get up, but all but fell back down when a wave of aches crawled down their body.

They were going to attempt again, but this... Uncle Wakko came in the room not long after.

Shit.

It was the rich guy they robbed.

"I have some questions for you, if you don't mind," Wakko said, pulling a chair to the foot of the bed.

Yes, Alyx minded. Alyx minded a whole lot.

But in their weakened state, the only way to keep dominance was through silence, so they remained quiet.

"We got off the wrong foot when you were last awake- My name's Wakko," He said with a smile. "What's yours?"

Alyx continued to glare.

"Now, I... I know this is probably a lot. Hell, you probably don't even know where you are," Wakko realized his lack of awareness. "You're in the Royal Palace, about 38 miles from Millstone."

The Royal Palace???

Gross.

"Now... do you have any family I should write to to inform them of your safety?" He asked that with a bit of delicacy that made Alyx snort a little.

"No," They spoke, keeping the rasping at a minimum.

"Ah, so they speak," Wakko smiled a little.

Needless to say, Alyx didn't deem that worthy of a response.

"I understand it's probably hard for you to trust me, as we come from very different places... but I'm not trying to harm you. I just got you the medical attention you needed, as well as some food, when you're ready of course," Wakko said.

Food did sound pretty good...

No. Alyx wanted to go home, not with hoity toity rich people.

"But for now, I believe it best you rest up for awhile, no? Or I can bring food in, whatever is your preference," Wakko offered once more.

Yeah, no way in hell was Alyx going to stay here any longer.

Though mooching off of rich people doesn't sound that bad, Alyx didn't want to owe them anything.

"I think I'd rather-" gah, their voice was so pathetic. "Sl-sleep," they finished, with a glare to keep up the intimidation.

Wakko nodded.

"Just ring the bell if you need anything," He got up, putting his chair back. "Though there's some fruit on the table if you get snackish." He waved and went out.

Like hell Alyx was gonna sleep.

They needed to find their clothes, nab as much gold and/or silver they could carry, and go home before sundown.

In a moment of realization, Alyx's hand quickly went to their neck and- thank god, they hadn't taken their necklace.

At least these people had some smarts in them.

Taking a deep breath to prepare themself, they stood and slowly and dizzily made their way to the door where they waited against the wall a long while to make sure nobody was coming and that Wakko was far enough away not to notice either.

When they decided it was enough, they cracked the door open and slipped out.

Alyx had thought the room was intricate, but wowza the hallways seemed equally nice, if not more.

The walls- no, no, no.

Alyx had a mission. A mission.

Clothes, silver, home.

Alyx was getting really sick of the cotton nightgown.

And so they headed out in a direction, but since they were still rather dizzy (still being sick and all) they leaned- well... slumped really- against the wall as they went, going around corners and objects here and there, keeping an ear out for any wanderers.

"Shouldn't you be laying down? You're still really sick."

God- not keeping an ear out enough.

Alyx turned and saw Ophelia was standing right behind them.

"Bite me, princess," Alyx growled.

The freckled princess didn't even blink at the insult.

"You're going to infect the whole palace at this rate, you need to stay in your room," Ophelia said.

"I said bite me," Alyx growled again.

Before anything else could happen, none other than Wakko stumbled onto the pair again.

"What are you doing out? You're-" He sighed. "I'll take it from here Ophelia.

"I robbed you in blind daylight, fight me," Alyx threatened before realizing they said too much and went into a fit of coughs. Wakko sighed, picking up the sickly teenager, and brought them back to their room.

"You know, despite you robbing me in the middle of a market in broad daylight with guards all around me, I thought perhaps you knew what was best for you and that you'd stay here and rest," Wakko said as he set them down.

Alyx just messed with their necklace and looked at the wall.

"Look... I know you don't know me, and I don't know you... but I couldn't leave you to die. And I don't want you to die. So you should rest or eat food, but you have to choose one."

...that felt odd to hear.

"Now... do you want to eat, or go back to sleep?" He asked.

"I want to know what the hell your angle is here? Do you want to make me a servant? Some kind of child slave? I mean- seriously, you barely even know me. Do you want to treat me like an exotic pet? Or do you just intend to drop me off where you found me and if so can we just cut the middle man so you do it now?"

Alyx had a million questions, but their throat and face was far too red and scratchy to ask. Dear god, being sick was the worst.

"Here- just... Have some," Wakko got up and handed them some sliced tropical fruit Alyx hadn't seen before. They wanted to refuse, but a pain in their stomach told them otherwise. The juice was sweet and tasted unlike anything they had been able to snag from the market back in Millstone. It was... curious.

"Mango," Wakko informed. Alyx nodded, continuing to eat more.

"I'd really like to get to know you- hell, I don't even know your name or pronouns, I just... You need to get better and if that's all you'll agree to, I'm fine with that. You just have to promise you won't be actively putting yourself in danger constantly," The prince offered a deal.

"...Alyx," They said, pausing.

"They/them for now... but I switch a lot..."

Wakko smiled. "Pleasure to meet you, Alyx."

"Yeah, yeah, don't get too close," They coughed. "And I want my clothes back."

"You'll get your clothes back when you're healthy and they've been cleaned, but rest assured, you'll get them back. Plus, we left the necklace... it felt personal," Wakko said.

Alyx didn't reply.

"You should get some rest... you're still very sick," Wakko said, regarding the coughing fit.

"hmph," Alyx said, eating the last piece of mango.

"I'll give you some privacy, but I will be just outside if you need anything... and to make sure you don't try to run away," Wakko winked.

"Mkay," they mumbled.

Once he left the room, Alyx got to thinking.

They didn't know why they introduced themself, especially with their real name.

Perhaps it was out of some kindness for the stranger saving their life and all.

Still, Alyx knew they didn't want to owe anyone anything, especially if they were royalty. Not that they really had experience with royalty before today, but they'd heard enough tales on the streets and their parents.

He did seem kinda nice though... but Alyx knew better than to trust just off of "nice". They were going to stick to their plan- wait til they were better, get their clothes, steal a bunch of silver/gold and book it back home.

But for now... a nap. All this thinking and meeting people made them exhausted. Plus this room was real nice and cozy, and well... if they were gonna mooch off of rich people, may as well take advantage while they could.

As they closed their eyes once more, Alyx couldn't help but think that this was going to turn into something very interesting indeed.

Part 1 Part 2

[mrmrswales]

Exclusive: the ‘profoundly powerful’ moments that shaped Duchess of Cambridge’s children’s charity work by Camilla Tominey

It all started with secret visits the public never got to see. Newly married, and with the world’s press chronicling her every move – down to the details of her designer dresses – the Duchess of Cambridge resolved to go "below radar".

Acting as Prince William’s "plus one", rather than a fully fledged solo royal in those early days, the newest addition to the Royal family knew that she wanted to find a cause she could champion as impactfully as Diana, the Princess of Wales’s landmine campaign; it was simply a question of where to find it.

Having already announced her first patronage of Action on Addiction, a charity working with people with drug and alcohol problems, Hope House, a women-only rehabilitation centre in Clapham, south London, seemed as good a place as any to start.

It was October 2011 when the then 29-year-old Duchess paid the first of several, incognito visits in a bid to find out what had sent its clients on a downward spiral of self-destruction.

According to Rebecca Priestley, who accompanied the Duchess on the visit and would go on to spend five years as her private secretary, it played a pivotal role in her decision to put childhood at the heart of her philanthropic endeavours.

Speaking on the record for the first time, Mrs Priestley, who is now an executive coach, recalled:  "I remember going up to Anglesey, where they were living after the wedding, to have a conversation with the Duchess about her royal life."

At that point, she had the philanthropic world at her feet. She could have done anything she wanted in the charitable arena. Typically, she had put a lot of thought into it already. Addiction was an issue she was instinctively thinking about – but she was also genuinely interested in understanding what support was there and what role that played in the bigger picture of mainstream societal issues."

With the Duke having flown to the Falklands for a six–week tour of duty with his RAF search and rescue squadron, Mrs Priestley put a programme together to support the Duchess’s desire to "listen and learn"."A lot of it was behind the scenes, just talking to people and hearing where it was that they needed more help.  The one thing that united all of the women at Hope House was that the derailing had started so early on. They could trace the problems in their adult lives back to childhood."

A subsequent private visit in February 2012 to Clouds House, a treatment centre in East Knoyle in Wiltshire, served as further confirmation that the early years should be a key area of focus. But it was during a later meeting with female inmates at a detox unit at Send Prison in Woking when the penny well and truly dropped.

"It was a profoundly powerful moment,” recalled Mrs Priestley. "You go in there with this preconceived idea that these women have done things wrong, that it was their fault. Then one woman started speaking to the Duchess about her earliest memories of seeing needles on the floor of her home."

She had always thought addiction was a misunderstood issue, but after this, she became concerned that there was a pre-destiny about those affected – an inevitability about it. These women were born into it and there was very little chance of escape."

The experience set in train a sequence of events that will next week culminate in the Duchess, 39, stepping up her ambition in driving awareness and action on the impact that early childhood can have on society at large.

She will launch a new initiative through the couple’s Royal Foundation to further explore the science around early childhood, raise awareness of the issue and foster collaboration and partnerships across relevant groups.

According to Lord Hague, who became chairman of the Royal Foundation last September, the "ambitious" new project will be equal in stature to William’s £50 million Earthshot Prize, launched last year with Sir David Attenborough to find workable solutions to climate change and environmental problems.

"The Duchess truly believes this is one of the great issues of our time," said the former Tory leader. "This is the central plank of her work in the way conservation issues are for the Duke. It’s a hugely significant moment."

While politicians are often in a rush to make a difference during the comparatively short time they have in office, royals are there for life, which perhaps explains why Kate has taken 10 years to get to this point.Having been instrumental in launching the Heads Together campaign with William and Prince Harry in 2016, designed at tackling the stigma and changing the conversation on mental health, it was not until 2018 that she convened a steering group of experts to look at how cross-sector collaboration could bring about lasting change.

In January, she delivered a landmark speech after her Five Big Questions on the Under Fives survey garnered over 500,000 responses.

"People often ask why I care so passionately about the early years," the mother-of-three said.

"Many mistakenly believe that my interest stems from having children of my own. While of course I care hugely about their start in life, this ultimately sells the issue short. If we only expect people to take an interest in the early years when they have children, we are not only too late for them, we are underestimating the huge role others can play in shaping our most formative years, too."

Pointing out that the social cost of late intervention has been estimated to be over £17 billion a year, she added: "The early years are therefore not simply just about how we raise our children. They are in fact about how we raise the next generation of adults. They are about the society we will become."

According to Eamon McCrory, Professor of Developmental Neuroscience and Psychopathology at University College London, the Duchess "has a vision of how she can help transform how we as a society view and invest in the early years for the benefit of society".

Describing her interest in "the role the brain shapes our early experiences and how that sets us on a path to adult life", he explained: "When you look at very young babies and infants, on the surface they don’t appear to be engaging in complex emotions so there's a tendency to underestimate the millions of synapses that are being formed every minute. But science is telling us we have to look under the bonnet.

"There’s no question that for the Duchess, this is a lifetime piece of work. The last five years laid the foundations, now we are entering a more proactive phase.” Described by one source as “thoughtful, professional and determined to do a good job,” there is a sense that Kate has never been in it for the early wins, but the long haul.

As one well-placed insider put it: "She took the job very seriously right from the very beginning. She continues to want to get it right and do her very best - for the institution, for William and the importance of the work she’s doing.

"She doesn't just want to rock up for a picture opportunity, which is why she used to get quite frustrated with all the early focus on what she was wearing. She really cares about this stuff."

Another source said she was "much more fun" than people give her credit for, pointing out how she has grown in confidence having found a cause that she is not only passionate about - but also well informed.

As Lord Hague put it: "She’s been reading the books and had trustees reading the books. People assume her interest in the early years is because she has children – actually it comes from all the adults she’s met." The other key influence has been Kate’s own idyllic childhood.

Brought up in leafy Bucklebury in West Berkshire by her entrepreneur parents Michael and Carole Middleton, pictured below with the royal family, the Duchess has never made any secret of how fortunate she has been to be brought up in a loving and supportive family.

"She always recognised that she benefited from such a great start in life," added Mrs Priestley.

"That’s why sport and the outdoors has always been a key theme for her. She was always asking how those sorts of experiences could be made accessible to others."

For Dame Benny Refson, president of the children’s mental health charity Place2Be, where the Duchess has been patron since 2013, Kate’s grounded upbringing has proved an asset.

“The Duchess listens and people feel heard and valued. It’s nothing to do with privilege. The groups she meets in challenging areas in London don't look at what she's wearing. What makes a difference is that an important person has shown a genuine interest in them. She can relate without passing judgement, which is so important."

Having started out as a reticent public speaker, the Duchess has finally found her voice – and next week she will have a lot more to say.

[demonslayedher]

Buri-senpai~ it’s me again! It seems like the Kamado family was respected in town. How do you think the townsfolk would’ve reacted once they realized that Tanjirou hadn’t been visiting with charcoal, only to check up on the family where they see the wreckage. Perhaps Tanjirou had left a rushed note, noting how his family was attacked, how only he and Nezuko were alive, and how they won’t be able to visit for a very long time. If that’s the case, I don’t think Tanjirou will explain the cause 1/3

2/3 of the attack, but there’s a chance that Saburo would’ve eventually realized that a demon had attacked them. Also, side notes: if Kaigaku was still a demon slayer during the events of the red light district, do you think he would've heard about Zenitsu's contributions to the defeat of upper 6? I had read your amazing Ukogi fic and enjoyed the characterization of Kaigaku's crow embellishing his achievements as a slayer. I also enjoyed Matsuemon's fondness of Nezuko and it seems like

3/3 he was ‘conspiring’ (for lack of a better word) with Oyakata-sama behind the scenes, with how the events at Asakusa with Tamayo played out. I'm sure Tamayo's existence was pardoned by the Oyakata-sama of Yoriichi's time. Also, sorry for the length! I enjoy your input on everything!

Going to reply to this in a couple parts, but allow me to first borrow one of my LINE stickers to express:

I'll reply to the fic stuff under the cut, but I'm really honored by your close reading and consideration of one of my favorite fics, "The Legend of Ukogi." But first for your question about Tanjiro!

Honestly, I was surprised by the village's upkeep of their home, including nice new tatami and shelves which Nezuko noticed in the extended epilogue included the Volume 23 version of Chapter 204. I would had assumed they'd have a mess of a home to come back to (and wrote my canon diverent/continuation fic that way, for the first draft was written after Chapter 204's magazine publication but before Volume 23's publication). At least nowadays in Japan, uninhabited homes are often left as-is and fall to shambles, even in cities, causing problems for the neighbors as they become home to pests. Upkeep is an issue, and it seems unlikely the townspeople would had gone out of their way to keep the site of a tragedy so nice.

However, Gotouge seems to stress that the Kamado family, simply for being good people, were often humbled by being on the receiving end of such kindnesses. Even Sumiyoshi and Suyako were on the receiving end of this, as mentioned in a Taisho Secret in Volume 22, for having helped a local lord's wife and son while they were in peril without knowing who they were. Even though they tried to refuse reward, they made sure they had a nicely fixed up house anyway (side note, they moved in to Yoriichi's and Uta's abandoned house).

A sturdy house as returns for their kindness seems to be as much of a running theme in Kamado history as is Hinokami Kagura and making charcoal. We do see that Tanjiro is pretty popular among the townspeople and everyone knows they can rely on him, and if Tanjiro's highly biased word is to be trusted, Nezuko had a reputation as a local beauty. In good whether the little kids must had gone into town a bunch, and Tanjiro (and Inosuke's) continued charcoal business (despite the increasing reliance on electricity) in the Fanbook #2 extended epilogue shows that the Kamado family has always had a reputation for high quality charcoal. Certainly, they've been well-loved long enough that their tragedy would not go unnoticed.

As further evidence of this, in the Giyuu Gaiden, a hunter even notices that on a different mountain nearby there was a family of charcoal farmers slaughtered and a suspicious person in a half-and-half haori was seen around there. Clearly, the villagers were quick to notice the incident and start looking around for the man who might had done it!

But we're still left with the question of how quickly they'd have noticed the absence, how word got around, and just how much they knew. My initial thought in response to your Ask was "there's no way Tanjiro had time for that, he had bury his family and get Nezuko dressed and hurry and go!" but then again, this is Tanjiro we're talking about. Tanjiro who faithfully keeps a diary for Nezuko no matter how tired he is, and who faithfully keeps in touch with all his penpals even with all his demon slaying work to keep him busy. If anyone would had written a letter, it would had been him.

It's possible that his reasoning would had been for Nezuko's sake. Should word get around about the incident, and about Nezuko being a demon, people might suspect she was the one who did it. Even Tanjiro had to consider that possibility when he was first shocked by her transformation, though he had the evidence to clearly determine that she was innocent. So maybe if he did leave something, it might simply had been to inform people that Nezuko still needs help, and he's left to take care of her.

To the townspeople, Tanjiro's word is trustworthy. As soon as someone discovered the incident (and perhaps a letter), word would probably get around pretty fast, and if Tanjiro had circumstances that forced him to leave for Nezuko's sake, that implies that they might make a return once she was alright. That might be what inspired the townspeople, who cared for generations about their local charcoal farmers, to have their hearts wrenched with sympathy for the tragedy these two surviving children have been through, and to try to do what they can by taking care of the house while they're gone.

As for knowing if it was demons or not, it's possible only Saburo knew that. There's so much we don't know about Saburo, but my personal headcanon is that he lost his family to demons and was rescued by the Demon Slayers. While others might have been quick to blame the suspicious man in the half-and-half haori, anything said by Saburo, a man perhaps known for keeping to himself with a sullen personality, was dismissed or taken for mere superstition. Saburo, having told Tanjiro to stay with him that night, might had already felt something was off, and when the feeling kept bothering him, he might had gone to check on the Kamado family and been the first one to discover the massacre. Letter or not, he'd have known Tanjiro survived, and might had gotten there soon enough to trace the footprints to deduce to that one of the other older children must had survived too.

Now because of fic spoilers, Bird Fic commentary below!

As I was doing my best to make that fic fit alongside canon, I tried to consider where the birds might and might not been able to influence the events of canon, and that made Denroku (Kaigaku's crow) one of my favorite small bits to work with. Even though he never makes an appearance in the story (only mentioned as a slightly antagonistic bird), he struck me as having the most potential for influencing events.

Since we see a general pattern of the birds being very invested in the Slayer they work with, I imagined that Denroku would pick up on Kaigaku's ambitions. When he got in trouble for embellishing Kaigaku's achievements, that's when he tries the reverse, taking assignments into his own talons and leading to Kaigaku fighting an enemy out of his league. While most of the Kasugai-garasu would had immediately reported Upper Moon 1 so that a Pillar could be summoned, Denroku's underhanded drive to see Kaigaku promoted is what leads to a situation the Corp would had preferred to avoid.

And that brings us back to Matsuemon, who does his best to promote his underlings' achievements to get Tanjiro recognized as a Pillar. He is protective of Nezuko, having picked up on that from Tanjiro, but honestly, I had not considered Matsuemon leading to Tanjiro's encounter with Tamayo. Letting Oyakata-sama know about it, though, that does seem in character for Matsuemon, which we'll get to!

As for why Tanjiro encountered Tamayo so early on, I posited in this Ask that Oyakata-sama probably was hoping Tanjiro would make a connection with her. Gotouge has stated that the demon Tanjiro was sent to investigate in Asakusa was Tamayo. Like you, I assume that Kagaya's forefathers must had chosen to pardon her existence out of Yoriichi's good word for her, and we know from his later mention of her to Tanjiro and efforts to reach out to her later that he's probably always been curious about a way to gain her trust.

What probably gave him the idea to use Tanjiro, a kid with a demon sister, was Urokodaki's letter. We didn't hear the full letter read allowed at the Pillar meeting, but my thought is that Urokodaki wrote highly enough of Tanjiro that Kagaya was like, "aha! This is it! This might be the person who helps me gain Tamayo's trust!" and that was why he sent Tanjiro to Asakusa on his second mission. As for whether Matsuemon knew that or not, I suspect not initially, but he might had gotten aware of it overtime and been in on the loop of birds who know this but help keep it on the downlow, as per Oyakata-sama's request. Matsuemon might had also been given special instructions to report details to the Kasugai-garasu who initiated the personal correspondence between Oyakata-sama and Tamayo. Knowing this egotistical bird he probably would had loved to brag about it, but he's smart enough and respects the Corp mission enough to know when to keep silent about his achievements.

EDIT: Ack! I forgot to respibd to your Kaigaku question. I do assume Kaigaku was still a Corp member at that time and he probably heard and that it ticked him the hell off. Even if he didn't know the details, the fact that Zenitsu would had been credited with fighting an Upper Moon would tick him off with jealousy. Not to worry, Kaigaku, Upper Moon 6 is only the bottom rung of the Upper Moons. ; P

[shihalyfie]

Hi :) If it's not too much trouble, could you please share your take on why they'd continue the Adventure brand after tri. was such a flop? (and a tangent: what does "dark history" even mean?). We got Kizuna, the reboot, and a 02 movie. Logically, it doesn't really make sense they'd keep investing in it.

This is a thorny topic, and I'd like to reiterate that although I've ended up making more posts related to this series and the discourse surrounding it recently (probably because it's even more on the mind now that another movie is on the horizon and a lot of people are apprehensive for various reasons), I do not want this blog to be making a brand out of being critical of this series. I’m writing this here and in public because I figured that there is a certain degree I need to clarify what I mean about audience reception/climate and how it might impact current or future works, and I’m admittedly also more than a little upset that I occasionally see Western fanbase criticisms of the series getting dismissed by people claiming that the only people mad about it are dramamongering or ignorant Westerners (which could not be further from the truth). However, this is mainly to address this and to answer your question, and is not intended to try and change anyone's existing opinion or impression of the series as much as it's me trying to explain (from my own personal reading of the situation) what practically went down with critical reception in real life; no more, no less.

The short summary of the matter is:

The series was a moderate financial success (albeit with some caveats; see the long version for details) and definitely outstripped a lot of prior attempts to revive the franchise;

However, the overall Japanese fanbase-side critical backlash from tri. was extremely and viciously negative to the point where even acknowledging the series too much could easily result in controversy;

Kizuna’s production and the PR surrounding it very obviously have this in mind with a lot of apparent “damage control” elements.

The long version is below.

Note that while I try to be diligent about citing my sources so people understand that I’m not just making things up wholesale, I’m deliberately refraining from linking certain things here this time, both because some of the things mentioned have some pretty crude things written there -- it’s not something I feel comfortable directing people to regardless of what language it’s in -- and because I don’t want to recklessly link things on social media and cause anyone to go after or harass the people involved. For the links that have been provided, please still be warned that some of them don’t really link to particularly pleasant things.

I am not writing the following information to suggest that anyone should agree or disagree with the sentiments being described. I know people tend to take "a lot of people like/hate this" as a signal of implication "it is correct to like/hate this" when it's not (and I especially dislike the idea of implying that Japanese fanbase opinions are the only correct ones). There's a reason I focus on "critical reception being this way" (because it influences marketing decisions and future direction) rather than how much this should impact one's personal feelings; this is coming from myself as someone who is shamelessly proud of liking many things that had bad critical reception, were financial failures, or are disliked by many. As I point out near the end, the situation also does seem to be changing for the better in more recent years as well.

Also, to be clear, I'm a single person who's observing everything best I can from my end, I have no affiliations with staff nor do I claim to, and as much as I'm capable of reading Japanese and thus reading a lot of people's impressions, I'm ultimately still another “outsider” looking in. These are my impressions from my observation of fan communal spaces, following artists and reading comments on social media and art posting websites, and results from social media searches. In the end, I know as much as anyone else about what happened, so this is just my two cents based on all of my personal observations.

A fanbase is a fanbase regardless of what part of the world you're from. There are people who love it and are shameless about saying so. There are people who have mixed feelings or at least aren't on extreme ends of the spectrum (as always, the loudest ones are always the most visible, but it's not always easy to claim they're the predominant percentage of the fanbase). That happens everywhere, and I still find that on every end I've seen. However, if I'm talking about my impressions and everything I’ve encountered, I will say that the overall Japanese reaction to tri. comes off as significantly more violently negative on average than the Western one, which is unusual because often it's the other way around. (I personally feel less so because the opinions are that fundamentally different and more so because we're honestly kind of loud and in-your-face people; otherwise, humans are mostly the same everywhere, and more often than not people feel roughly the same about everything if they’re given the same information to work with.)

This is not something I can say lightly, and thus would not say if I didn’t really get this impression, but...we're talking "casually looking up movie reviews for Kizuna have an overwhelming amount of people casually citing any acknowledgment of tri. elements as a negative element", or the fact that even communal wikis for "general" fandoms like Pixiv and Aniwota don't tend to hold back in being vicious about it (as of this writing, Pixiv's wiki refuses to consider it in the same timeline as Adventure, accusing it of being "a series that claims to be a sequel set three years after 02 but is in fact something different"). Again, there are people who openly enjoy it and actively advocate for it (and Pixiv even warns people to not lord over others about it condescendingly because of the fact that such people do exist), and this is also more of a reflection of “the hardcore fanbase on the Internet” and not necessarily the mainstream (after all, there are quite a few other Digimon works where the critical reception varies very heavily between the two). Nevertheless, the take-home is that the reputation is overall negative among the Internet fanbase to the point that this is the kind of sentiment you run into without trying all that hard.

I think, generally speaking, if we're just talking about why a lot of people resent the series, the reasons aren't that different from those on the Western side. However, that issue of "dark history" (黒歴史): there's a certain degree of demand from the more violently negative side of the fanbase that's, in a sense, asking official to treat it as a disgrace and never acknowledge it ever again, hence why Kizuna doing so much as borrowing things from it rather than rejecting it outright is still sometimes treated like it’s committing a sin. So it's somewhat close in spirit to a retcon movement, which is unusual because no other Digimon series gets this (not even 02; that was definitely a thing on the Western end, but while I'm sure there are people who hate it that much on their end too, I've never really seen it gain enough momentum for anyone to take it seriously). If anyone ever tells you that Japanese fanbases are nice to everything, either they don't know Japanese, are being willfully ignorant, or are lying to you, because there is such thing as drama in those areas, and in my experience, I've seen things get really nasty when things are sufficiently pushed over the edge, and if a fanbase wants to have drama, it will have drama. This happens to be one of those times.

(If you think this is extreme, please know that I also think so too, so I hope you really understand that me describing this sentiment does not mean I am personally endorsing it. Also, let me reiterate that the loudest section of the fanbase is not necessarily the predominant one; after all, as someone who’s been watching reactions to 02 over the years, I myself can attest that its hatedom has historically made it sound more despised than it actually is in practice.)

My impression is that the primary core sentiment behind why the series so much as existing and being validated is considered such an offense (rather than, say, just saying "wow, that writing was bad" and moving on) is heavily tied to the release circumstances the series came out in during 2015-2018, and the idea that "this series disrespected Adventure, and also disrespected the fanbase.” (I mean, really, regardless of what part of the world you’re from, sequels and adaptations tend to be held to a higher bar of expectation than standalone works, because they’re expected to do them justice.) A list of complaints I’ve come across a lot while reading through the above:

The Japanese fanbase is pretty good at recordkeeping when it comes to Adventure universe lore, partially because they got a lot of extra materials that weren’t localized, but also partially because adherence to it seems to generally be more Serious Business to them than it is elsewhere. For instance, “according to Adventure episode 45, ‘the one who wishes for stability’ (Homeostasis) only started choosing children in 1995, and therefore there can be no Chosen Children before 1995” is taken with such gravity that this, not anything to do with evolutions or timeline issues, is the main reason Hurricane Touchdown’s canonicity was disputed in that arena (because Wallace implies that he met his partners before 1995). It’s a huge reason the question of Kizuna also potentially not complying to lore came to the forefront, because tri. so flagrantly contradicts it so much that this issue became very high on the evaluation checklist. In practice, Kizuna actually goes against Adventure/02 very little, so the reason tri. in particular comes under fire for this is that it does it so blatantly there were theories as early as Part 1 that this series must take place in a parallel universe or something, and as soon as it became clear it didn’t, the resulting sentiment was “wow, you seriously thought nobody would notice?” (thus “disrespecting the audience”).

A lot of the characterization incongruity is extremely obvious when you’re following only the Japanese version, partially because it didn’t have certain localization-induced characterization changes (you are significantly less likely to notice a disparity with Mimi if you’re working off the American English dub where they actually did make her likely to step on others’ toes and be condescending, whereas in Japanese the disparity is jarring and hard to miss) and partially due to some things lost in translation (Mimi improperly using rough language on elders is much easier to spot as incongruity if you’re familiar with the language). Because it’s so difficult to miss, and honestly feels like a lot of strange writing decisions you’d make only if you really had no concept of what on earth happened in the original series, it only contributes to the idea that they were handling Adventure carelessly and disrespectfully without paying attention to what the series was even about (that, or worse, they didn’t care).

02 is generally well-liked there! It’s controversial no matter where you go, but as I said earlier, there was no way a retcon movement would have ever been taken seriously, and the predominant sentiment is that, even if you’re not a huge fan of it, its place in canon (even the epilogue) should be respected. So not only flagrantly going against 02-introduced lore but also doing that to a certain quartet is seen as malicious, and you don’t have as much of the converse discourse celebrating murdering the 02 quartet (yeah, that’s a thing that happened here) or accusing people with complaints of “just being salty because they like 02″ as nearly as much of a factor; I did see it happen, or at least dismissals akin to “well it’s Adventure targeted anyway,” but they were much less frequent. The issue with the 02 quartet is usually the first major one brought up, and there’s a lot of complaints even among those who don’t care for 02 as much that the way they went about it was inhumane and hypocritical, especially when killing Imperialdramon is fine but killing Meicoomon is a sin. Also, again, “you seriously think nobody will see a problem with how this doesn’t make sense?”

I think even those who are fans of the series generally agree with this, but part of the reason the actual real-life time this series went on is an important factor is that the PR campaign for this series was godawful. Nine months of clicking on an egg on a website pretending like audience participation meant something when in actuality it was blatantly obvious it was just a smokescreen to reveal info whenever they were ready? This resulted in a chain effect where even more innocuous/defensible things were viewed in a suspicious or negative light (for instance, "the scam of selling the fake Kaiser's goggles knowing Ken fans would buy it only to reveal that it's not him anyway"), and a bunch of progressively out-of-touch-with-the-fanbase statements and poor choices led to more sentiment “yeah, you’re just insulting the fanbase at this point,” and a general erosion of trust in official overall.

On top of that, the choice of release format to have it spread out as six movies over three years seems to have exacerbated the backlash to get much worse than it would have been otherwise, especially since one of the major grievances with the series is that how it basically strung people along, building up more and more unanswered questions before it became apparent it was never going to answer them anyway. So when you’re getting that frustrated feeling over three whole years, it feels like three years of prolonged torture, and it becomes much harder to forgive for the fallout than if you’d just marathoned the entire thing at once.

For those who are really into the Digimon (i.e. species) lore and null canon, while I’m not particularly well-versed in that side of the fanbase, it seems tri. fell afoul of them too for having inaccurately portrayed (at one point, mislabeled) special attacks and poorly done battle choreography, along with the treatment of Digimon in general (infantilized Digimon characterization, general lack of Digimon characters in general, very flippant treatment of the Digital World in Parts 3-5). If you say you’re going to “reboot” the Digital World and not address the entire can of worms that comes with basically damaging an entire civilization of Digimon, as you can imagine, a lot of people who actually really care about that are going to be pissed, and the emerging sentiment is “you’re billing this as a Digimon work, but you don’t even care about the monsters that make up this franchise.”

The director does not have a very positive reputation among those who know his work (beyond just Digimon), and in general there was a lot of suspicion around the fact they decided to get a guy whose career has primarily been built on harem and fanservice anime to direct a sequel to a children’s series. Add to that a ton of increasingly unnerving statements about how he intended to make the series “mature” in comparison to its predecessor (basically, an implication that Adventure and 02 were happy happy joy series where nothing bad ever happened) and descriptions of Adventure that implied a very, very poor grasp of anything that happened in it: inaccurate descriptions of their characters, poor awareness of 02′s place in the narrative, outright saying in Febri that he saw the Digimon as like perpetual kindergartners even after evolving, and generally such a flippant attitude that it drove home the idea that the director of an Adventure sequel had no respect for Adventure, made this series just to maliciously dunk on it for supposedly being immature, and has such a poor grasp of what it even was that it’s possible he may not have seen it in the first place (or if he did, clearly skimmed it to the extent he understood it poorly to pretty disturbing levels). As of this writing, Aniwota Wiki directly cites him as a major reason for the backlash.

In general, consensus seems to be that the most positively received aspect of the series (story-wise) was Part 3 (mostly its ending, but some are more amenable to the Takeru and Patamon drama), and the worst vitriol goes towards Parts 2 (for the blatantly contradictory portrayal of Mimi and Jou and the hypocritical killing of Imperialdramon) and 4 (basically the “point of no return” where even more optimistic people started getting really turned off). This is also what I suspect is behind the numbers on the infamous DigiPoll (although the percentage difference is admittedly low enough to fall within margin of error). However, there was suspicion about the series even from Part 1, with one prominent fanartist openly stating that it felt more like meeting a ton of new people than it did reuniting with anyone they knew.

So with all of that on the table: how did this affect official? The thing is that when I say “violently negative”, I mean that also entailed spamming official with said violently negative social media comments. While this is speculation, I am fairly certain that official must have realized how bad this was getting as early as between Parts 4 and 5, because that’s where a lot of really suspicious things started happening behind the scenes; while I imagine the anime series itself was now too far in to really do anything about it, one of the most visible producers suddenly vanished from the producer lineup and was replaced by Kinoshita Yousuke, who ended up being the only member of tri. staff shared with Kizuna (and, in general, the fact that not a single member of staff otherwise was retained kind of says a lot). Once the series ended in 2018 and the franchise slowly moved into Kizuna-related things, you might notice that tri.-branded merch production almost entirely screeched to a halt and official has been very touchy about acknowledging it too deeply; it’s not that they don’t, but it’s kind of an awfully low amount for what you’d think would be warranted for a series that’s supposed to be a full entry in the big-name Adventure brand.

The reason is, simply, that if they do acknowledge it too much, people will get pissed at them. That’s presumably why the tri. stage play (made during that interim period between Parts 4 and 5 and even branded with the title itself) and Kizuna are really hesitant to be too aggressive about tri. references; it’s not necessarily that official wants to blot it out of history like the most extreme opinions would like them to, but even being too enthusiastic about affirming it will also get them backlash, especially if the things they affirm are contradictory to Adventure or 02. And considering even the small references they did put in still got them criticism for “affirming” tri. too much, you can easily see that the backlash would have been much harder if they’d attempted more than that; staying as close as possible to Adventure and 02 and trying to deal with tri. elements only when they’re comparatively inoffensive was pretty much the “safe” thing to do in this scenario (especially since fully denying tri. would most certainly upset the people who did like the series, and if you have to ask me, I personally think this would have been a pretty crude thing to have done right after the series had just finished). Even interviews taken after the fact often involve quickly disclaiming involvement with the series, or, if they have to bring up something about it, discussing the less controversial aspects like the art (while the character designs were still controversial, it’s at least at the point where some fanartists will still be willing to make use of them even if they dislike the series, albeit often with prominent disclaimers) or the more well-received parts of Part 3; Kizuna was very conspicuously marketed as a standalone movie, even if it shared the point of “the Adventure kids, but older” that tri. had.

(Incidentally, the tri. stage play has generally been met with a good reputation and was received well even among people who were upset with the anime, so it was well-understood that they had no relation. In fact, said stage play is probably even better received than Kizuna, although that’s not too surprising given the controversial territory Kizuna goes into, making the stage play feel very play-it-safe in comparison.)

So, if we’re going to talk about Kizuna in particular: tri. was, to some degree, a moderate financial success, in the sense that it made quite a bit of money and did a lot to raise awareness of the Digimon brand still continuing...however, if you actually look at the sales figures for tri., they go down every movie; part of it was probably because of the progressively higher “hurdle” to get into a series midway, but consider that Gundam Unicorn (a movie series which tri.’s format was often compared to) had its sales go up per movie thanks to word of mouth and hype. So while tri. does seem to have gotten enough money to help sustain the franchise at first, the trade-off was an extremely livid fanbase that had shattered faith in the brand and in official, and so while continuing the Adventure brand might still be profitable, there was no way they were going to get away with continuing to do this lest everything eventually crash and burn.

Hence, if you look at the way Kizuna was produced and advertised, you can see a lot of it is blatantly geared at addressing a lot of the woes aimed at tri.: instead of the staff that had virtually no affiliation with Toei, the main members of staff announced were either from the original series (Seki and Yamatoya) or openly childhood fans, the 02 quartet was made into a huge advertising point as a dramatic DigiFes reveal (and character profies that tie into the 02 epilogue careers prominently part of the advertising from day one), and they even seemed to acknowledge the burnout on the original Adventure group by advertising it so heavily as “the last adventure of Taichi and his friends”, so you can see that there’s a huge sentiment of “damage control” with it. How successful that was...is debatable, since opinions have been all over the board; quite a few people were naturally so livid at what happened with tri. that Kizuna was just opening more of the wound, but there were also people who liked it much better and were willing to acknowledge it (with varying levels of enthusiasm, some simply saying “it was thankfully okay,” and some outright loving it), and there was a general sentiment even among those who disliked both that they at least understood what Kizuna was going for and that it didn’t feel as inherently disrespectful. (Of course, there are people who loved tri. and hated Kizuna, and there are people who loved both, too.)

Moreover, Kizuna actually has a slightly different target audience from tri.; there’s a pretty big difference between an OVA and a theatrical movie, and, quite simply, Kizuna was made under the assumption that a lot of people watching it may not have even seen tri. in the first place. An average of 11% of the country watched Adventure and 02, but the number of people who watched tri. is much smaller, in part due to the fact that its “theater” screenings were only very limited screenings compared to Kizuna being shown in theaters in Japan and worldwide, and in part due to the fact that watching six parts over three years is a pretty huge commitment for someone who may barely remember Digimon as anything beyond a show they watched as a kid, and may be liable to just fall off partway through because they simply just forgot. (Which also probably wasn’t helped by the infamously negative reputation, something that definitely wouldn’t encourage someone already on the fence.) And that’s yet another reason Kizuna couldn’t make too many concrete tri. references; being a theatrical movie, it needs to have as wide appeal as possible, and couldn’t risk locking out an audience that had a very high likelihood of not having seen it, much less to the end -- it may have somewhat been informed by tri.’s moderate financial success and precedent, but it ultimately was made for the original Adventure and 02 audience more than anything else.

I would say that, generally, while Kizuna is “controversial” for sure, reception towards the movie seems to be more positive than negative, it won over a large chunk of people who were burned out by tri., and it clearly seems to have been received well enough that it’s still being cashed in on a year after its release. The sheer existence of the upcoming 02-based movie is also probably a sign of Kizuna’s financial and critical success; Kinoshita confirmed at DigiFes 2020 that nothing was in production at the time, and stated shortly after the movie’s announcement that work on it had just started. So the decision to make it seems to have been made after eyeing Kizuna’s reception, and, moreover, the movie was initially advertised from the get-go with Kizuna’s director and writer (Taguchi and Yamatoya), meaning those two have curried enough goodwill from the fanbase that this can be used to promote the movie. (If not, you would think that having and advertising Seki would be the bigger priority.) While this is my own sentiment, I am personally doubtful official would have even considered 02 something remotely profitable enough on its own to cash in on if it weren’t for this entire sequence of events of 02′s snubbing in tri. revealing how much of a fanbase it had (especially with the sheer degree of “suspicious overcompensation” Kizuna had with its copious use of the 02 quartet and it tagging a remix of the first 02 ED on the Hanareteitemo single, followed by the drama CD and character songs), followed by Kizuna having success in advertising with them so heavily. Given all of the events between 2015 and now, it’s a bit ironic to see that 02 has now become basically the last resort to be able to continue anything in the original Adventure universe without getting too many people upset at them about it.

The bright side coming out of all of this is that, while it’s still a bit early to tell, now that we’re three years out from tri. finishing up and with Kizuna in the game, it seems there’s a possibility for things improving around tri.’s reception as well. Since a lot of the worst heated points of backlash against it have a very “you had to have been there” element (related to the PR, release schedule, and staff comments), those coming in “late” don’t have as much reason to be as pissed at it; I’ve seen at least one case of a fanartist getting back into the franchise because of Kizuna hype, watching tri. to catch up, casually criticizing it on Twitter, and moving on with their life, presumably because marathoning the whole thing being generally aware of what’ll happen in it and knowing Kizuna is coming after anyway gives you a lot less reason to be angry to the point of holding an outright grudge. Basically, even if you don’t like it, it’s much easier to actually go “yeah, didn’t like that,” not worry too much about it, and move on. Likewise, I personally get the impression that official has been starting to get a little more confident about digging up elements related to it. Unfortunately, a fairly recent tweet promoting the series getting put on streaming services still got quite a few angry comments implying that they should be deleting the scourge from the Internet instead, so there’s still a long way to go, but hopefully the following years will see things improve further...

In regards to the reboot, I -- and I think a lot of people will agree with me -- have a bit of a hard time reading what exact audience it’s trying to appeal to; we have a few hints from official that they want parents to watch it with their children, and that it may have been a necessary ploy in order to secure their original timeslot. So basically, the Adventure branding gets parents who grew up with the original series to be interested in it and to show it to their kids, and convinces Fuji TV that it might be profitable. But as most people have figured by now, the series has a completely different philosophy and writing style -- I mean, the interview itself functionally admits it’s here to be more action-oriented and to have its own identity -- and the target audience is more the kids than anything else. As for the Internet fanbase of veterans, most people have been critical of its character writing and pacing, but other than a few stragglers who are still really pissed, it hasn’t attracted all that much vitriol, probably because in the end it’s an alternate universe, it doesn’t have any obligation to adhere to anything from the original even if it uses the branding, and it’s clearly still doing its job of being a kids’ show for kids who never saw the original series nor 02, so an attempt to call it “disrespectful” to the original doesn’t have much to stand on. A good number of people who are bored of it decided it wasn’t interesting to them and dropped it without incident, while other people are generally just enjoying it for being fun, and the huge amount of Digimon franchise fanservice with underrepresented Digimon and high fidelity to null canon lore is really pleasing the side of the fanbase that’s into that (I mean, Digimon World Golemon is really deep in), so at the very least, there’s not a lot to be super-upset about.

[tyrannosaurus-trainwreck]

I propose a new rule for action film franchises.  Let’s call it the Settle Down There, Edgelord Rule.

Say you have a franchise--let’s use the Bond films as an example--where every single film, the fate of the entire fucking world hangs in the balance.  No matter what got accomplished in the last film, they’re right back at it in this film, having to save the entire world again.  But somehow, the stakes have to be higher than the last time, or it starts getting harder to get audiences back for more of the same, because it starts feeling really repetitive.

“Why’ve you dragged me back in from my life of sordid semi-retirement, M?” asks James fucking Bond. “Is it yet another doomsday device in the hands of a madman?”

“We should be so lucky, 007,” says Q, handing James Bond a fountain pen that is also a doomsday device. “This time it’s a doomsday device in the hands of two madmen, both of whom have extremely personal scores to settle with you.”

“Well in that case, I suppose I can hardly say no,” James Bond sighs wearily, already longing for the days when it was only a single madman with perhaps a nuclear warhead or two who harbored a vague and academic disapproval of spies in general.

The problem with the ever-rising stakes is that eventually it does become a bit ridiculous.  Remember when Fast and the Furious was about stealing consumer electronics for money?  And now barely eight movies later they’re stealing nukes and driving to space and somehow John Cena is involved?  Another two movies and they’ll be doing donuts on the moon to save earth from being blown up by previously-unmentioned alien conquerors.

So every so often, let’s say every third movie, writers should have to hit a reset button.  Not on the action or the mayhem or the actors’ intensity or whatever it is that gets eyes on screens and butts in seats.  Just, you know.  The stakes.

“Why’ve you dragged me back in from my life of sordid semi-retirement, M?” asks James fucking Bond. “Is it yet another doomsday device in the hands of a madman?”

“We should be so lucky, 007,” says Q, handing James Bond a fountain pen that is also a doomsday device. “This time the madman’s made off with one of the Queen’s corgis.”

“What?” James Bond demands, aghast. “How could you let this happen?”

“Their dog grooming credentials were impeccable. They passed every security check.  They’d have been allowed to groom Her Majesty herself,” M tells him grimly. “There’s something you should know, Bond.  It was... it was Trixie.”

“Not Trixie,” Bond gasps.  The look on his face is that of a man having a flashback to ‘Nam. “What do they want for her safe return?”

“That’s the sticky wicket, Bond,” Q volunteers, waving vaguely at a wall that begins playing a video.

On the wall, Willem Dafoe cuddles a corgi and stares dead-eyed at the camera.  When he speaks, it’s in an accent that’s vaguely Germanic but not like, enough to make any trade partners really mad about it.

“Trixie is such a good dog.  Such a good girl!” He looks at the dog, face becoming animated and warm. “Who’s a good girl?  Is it you?  It is you!  You’re a good girl!”

He looks back at the camera, eyes once again blank as a shark’s.

“I think, my friends, that Trixie is too good a dog for the rotting corpse of an empire that she was whelped into.  I shall take her with me, and together we shall venture into a brave new world of grassy farms with plenty of room to run and many, many children with which to play.  If you redeem yourselves, perhaps you shall live to see this world that I shall make.  Perhaps you shall live to go... to the dogs!”

The video cuts as he rubs the corgi’s ears and gives her a treat.

“That absolute bastard!” Bond snarls, hurling the fountain pen doomsday device across the room. “Tell me you have something to go on!”

And then we’re off to the races, with typical Bond-level shenanigans, fights, and body counts. 

It’s only that instead of having to come up with a scenario which is somehow more important or more dangerous than the last movie, which was already threatening to kill a billion people or knock the planet off its axis or whatever, it’s just a scenario in which everyone is really, really emotionally invested.

And before anyone starts up with the “these sorts of action-movie shenanigans are only reasonable with incredibly high stakes” argument, let me remind you that by the time they need this proposed intervention, we have already hit patently unreasonable situations and behavior.  Like, these are not reasonable people who are just in it for a boatload of money and somehow fell ass-backwards into a Bond villain scheme for making it.  They didn’t join the rotary club and oops their way into a series of flamboyantly homicidal consultation gigs.

If we can buy somebody going completely balls-to-the-wall, conspiracy-of-thousands, weirdo-cult-aesthetics, murdered-my-own-parents all-in on *checks notes* basically being the CEO of a slightly more criminal than usual international conglomerate that required precisely none of that? If we can buy the iron-jawed goons fist-fighting a guy who’s essentially at this point the goddamned terminator for a generous hourly wage?

Then I think we can buy a weirdo-cult-aesthetics conspiracy-of-thousands megalomaniac who just really, really likes that goddamn dog, or hates the protagonist, or wants to share the daguerreotype of Abraham Lincoln’s penis with the world as the Great Emancipator would have wanted, and the shadowy government-bankrolled action-hero forces driven by fate to stand in their way.

It’s not any less reasonable, anyway, and then when the next movie comes out you can go back to saving New York City from a nuke or Paris from a weather-control device or whatever and no one will be like "well this is a step down from the pageantry of the previous installment.”

I should add that there’s no reason the Settle Down There, Edgelord Rule can’t be applied to any sort of serial media.

Your doom-and-gloom tv show just keeps fighting worse and worse villains every single season?  Why not take a break next season and fight a homeowner’s association instead of an artistic serial killer?  Go on a hard-fought, poorly-lit, grim-and-gritty slog through the byzantine process of figuring out which impound lot the Impala got towed to after a bullshit parking ticket. 

Instead of having your teenage characters grapple with Even Worse Demons, they can just, like, egg their principal’s house when it turns out he’s a normal human-level petty tyrant and not a master vampire.  Your nemesis figured out your secret identity, and instead of trying to kill your family or whatever, they hacked your facebook account and friended all your obnoxious relatives/coworkers/friends-of-friends and are embarrassing you in public, and now you have to go on a ridiculously convoluted and dystopian spirit quest to get The Zuck Himself to reset your password.

The possibilities are endless!  Unless you keep ratcheting things up, anyway, in which case you’re eventually and inevitably going to wind up fighting Satan, then God, then Worse God, then Satan’s Dad, Which Is Somehow Not God? Don’t @ Us, Our Mythological Research Prior to Writing This Was Confined to Metal Albums and American Horror Films.

[mariacallous]

Nearly every school-age child in Sudan is missing out on education, either completely or facing serious disruption, aid organisations have warned.

Schools in some states reopened this week after delays due to severe flooding but millions of children are still unable to go, leaving the country facing a “generational catastrophe”.

Poverty, a lack of qualified teachers and strikes by teaching staff, the legacy of the Covid-19 pandemic and low vaccination rates are among the many factors that have contributed to the crisis.

Flooding and attacks by militias destroyed more than 600 schools during August and September, according to the education ministry. Schools are often just shells of buildings, lacking furniture, running water or toilets.

Nearly 7 million of Sudan’s children aged between six and 18 – or a third of school-age children – are not in school at all, according to a joint statement by Unicef and Save the Children.

The worst-affected state is central Darfur, where 63% of children do not go to school; in West Darfur the figure is 58%; and in eastern Kassala state it is 56%.

The education of a further 12 million children “will [be] heavily interrupted by a lack of sufficient teachers, infrastructure and an enabling learning environment to make them reach their full potential”, said the statement.

Most of those who are in classrooms have fallen behind in their learning; 70% of 10-year-olds at public schools cannot read a simple sentence, according to Unicef.

“It’s a generational catastrophe,” said Owen Watkins, communications chief at Unicef Sudan. “Children are always the future of a country. Investing in them is the right thing to do – and they will contribute hugely to the future GDP of the country.

“Children in school is not just about maths, reading and writing,” he added. “They also learn social skills … in a protected environment.”

Ahmed el-Safi, a teacher and former head of a school in Um-Oshar, in Khartoum’s southern outskirts, said that on his street of 20 houses, three to four children in each household were not attending school.

“They simply cannot go to school while they are hungry. Many of them have to go to the market to sell plastic bags or anything just to feed themselves,” he said.

“Despite being a teacher and a head of a school at one point in my life, I found out that my son used to miss classes to go and sell tickets at a cinema in Omdurman. When I asked him, he told me that he could not go to school while some essentials are missing in his life. You know they pay us very little, and as teachers we could not feed our children properly.

“I could not send my three children to university. They finished high school and helped their little brother to go to university, who studied media, but he never got a job. In the end he became a builder, which doesn’t require any media skills.

“Even the ones who go to schools cannot learn anything, as classes are overcrowded with sometimes up to 140 pupils. How can a teacher do his or her job in that environment?”

“All the classrooms collapsed in the floods, even our houses collapsed; we are now in tents,” said Mahmoud Ishag, 55, a teacher and a father of 16, who lost his 10-year-old son in the disaster.

“Whole villages changed professions. Schoolchildren turned into sellers in the markets and so did the teachers. I now sell onions in the market instead of teaching; some of my children help me but the majority are girls so they cannot work.”

[spiritualhippybitch]

Hii 💕 I have saturn and moon in gemini , and Jupiter and north Node in cancer all in 7th house . What does it mean ? Thanks 💕

Hellooo , I am so sorry for the late answer🥺👉🏽👈🏽 I was really busy and I actually did work many hours on the appropriate answers, because I really hope it will help you! ✨❤️ 

I am assuming, that you are using the placidus house system:)

Saturn in Gemini

This is a good placement for Saturn. Here, Saturns intellectual qualities are emphasized. You are most likely quick witted. A negative side is however, that one might come across as cynical and too skeptical.Many with this placement love to research and have a youthful, almost child like wish to learn.Difficulties like; a lonely childhood, due to the inability to express oneself, might have occurred.Individuals with this placement might have a hard time obtaining an education.However with Saturn in Gemini, one can be gifted with musical abilities.You have to be patient with work.Also cautiousness with the chest and lungs.

Saturn in the 7th house

With Saturn in the 7th house, you are most likely cautious about marriage and partnerships.Even to the point that you might not even marry until later in life.Sometimes people with this placement marry a widow or widower.Might benefit socially from marriage, if not it is not negatively aspected.However there might be possible legal problems through marriage and/or a set back.

Moon in Gemini

This is a very versatile, witty, charming and even amusing placement.It can however come across as very disorganized, inconsistent, superficial, sometimes cunning and even manipulative if unwell aspected.You have an active mind that needs constant stimulation.A very intellectual placement. Usually have a lot of general knowledge.Since the Moon in Gemini is so quick witted it's decisions are more likely intellectual rather than emotional. People with this placement are fast learners and great at multitasking. Very social, many know a bunch of people from different places.You might not like to stay at home for too long and should always take some time to get out and be social. The need to always do something is very occurring. Great placement for writers, teachers and even journalists. Many rappers have Gemini influence, since they are so good at writing. Good with words and communication in general. You probably analyze your feelings a lot .“why am I feeling” is a common question people with this placement ask themselves. You want to understand your emotions. Sadly some with this placement try to ignore their emotions because they cannot understand. You probably have a different way of looking at things and change your mind often.Therefore, you need constant changes, even small ones. Small trips and travels probably benefit you. Good placement for business as well, but making decisions is very hard for you.

Moon in the 7th house

The Moon in the 7th house needs security in relationships, marriages and partnerships.You might marry someone that resembles a parental figure (someone nurturing) who is also protective of you. You might become popular with the public at some point.Negatively; You might jump from one relationship to another because you are scared of being alone or you are constantly looking for “the one”. Positively; You see both sides in an argument and try to be fair.

Saturn and Moon in the 7th house, Gemini

Your mind is always very active. Your need of constant change can make it harder for you to maintain relationships. You are most likely very cautious of your feelings and romanic relationship, however you might, even subconsciously, have the emotional need to be in one. You might feel like you are being pulled from both sides like a rope. It is important that you do not avoid your feeling and find a balance. Generally, Relationships ( any relationship) are very beneficial for you. Even in business! Just be cautious and do not be “too kind” balance is a very important thing for you. Just like patience.

Jupiter in Cancer

Jupiter is considered a lucky placement here.It tends to be optimistic. With this placement you might have luck with investments, real estate and even stock market. It is also a creative, sympathetic and imaginative. Can have luck in creative careers. Speaking of careers, it is also beneficial for chefs and restaurant owners to have this placement as well. In your later years you might also have a very peaceful life. With Cancer in Jupiter you are probably going to become a good parent and/or grandparent.Children can be beneficial for you as well. This could also mean, working with children etc.Some people with this placement have bigger chests. Or at least nicely shaped. Do with that whatever you want.

Jupiter in the 7th house

Another placements for luck and success in marriages and partnerships.You might gain some sort of power through them. Marrying twice and/or rich is very common. Sometimes with this placement people date a lot in search for “the one”.Here, your opponent might even become your friends at some point in your life, because this placement means that conflicts can have beneficial endings.When Jupiter is in the 7th house you have to be careful to not put your trust in the wrong people. Also do not be too generous.

North Node in Cancer

Here you have to learn to balance between your feelings and your responsibility in your family.Learn to notice feelings and become more empathetic, nurturing and be supportive of others.You might built your own home/ family.Children can be very beneficial with this placement because it gives one motherly or fatherly instincts and feelings. This doesn't necessarily mean you have to have children, but working with children could also be an option.You have to stop the need to control everything, even people. Focusing too much on goals and wanting to be in charge of everything is also an obstacle you have to overcome, since your South Node is in Capricorn.However do not ignore your own need to take care of others. You are not responsible for everything.

North Node in the 7th house

With the NN in the 7th house you have to connect with your “true self” since the SN is in the 1st house.It is very important for you to form relationships and partnerships where you can be you true self.This can be romantic but also just friendship.In your past life you might have been more selfish, and now have to learn to become more selfless.(obviously in a health dosage)

You were probably very independent and wanted to do things your way. But now with the NN in the 7th you have to overcome your ego and compromise. There is a chance that you are used to not taking responsibility for others. With this placement it can be learnt from relationships and partnerships how to overcome all of that. Learn letting people in and help but doing the same in return.Again, you will most likely have a beneficial marriage. This placement too, is great for business.

North Node in the 7th house, Cancer

To sum those placements up, it is possible that marriage and children can be beneficial for learning the lesson of the 7th house. Since those experiences can make one very selfless, nurturing and giving, which would ultimately mean you have overcome the karma of the south node. However, if you do not desire having children or maybe even marriage, working with children or generally learning to give and empathy and sympathy through friendships and partnerships can also help you.Just be careful to not be too generous and know your boundaries.

I hope this helped you! 

I did use some Books/PDFs to help me out how to phrase my sentences properly

BIG Credits to: 

The North Node of the Moon in our Astrological Chart by River School of Homeopathy

Lunar Nodes Keys To Emotions And Life Experience by Diane Ronngren

The North Node in Your Chart Twelve Doors to Spiritual Growth by Louise Huber

The Only Astrology Book You'll Ever Need by Joanna Martine Woolfolk