#quite a lot of tension and build up with minimal pay off

[frogmascquerade]

.

[inspector-montoya-fox]

so... why did Honor Among Thieves disappoint?

and i’m talking about the episode, not the game. as usual, i’m popping off on something based on my opinion, because i’m aware a lot of you like that episode. but i feel like conclusion levels aren’t SP’s forte ? let’s take a look:

Setting: if you’re gonna base an entire game on breaking into an island fortress, you better let us play in that island fortress. and that’s not the case. the setup was perfect: an evil island citadel, kinda paying homage to Clockwerk’s lair, heavily guarded by mutated animal hybrids, but inside, the entire Cooper legacy. so why did it end up being a pool of acid? and why do most preparatory missions take place around the island instead of on it? circling back to the Clockwerk level similarities, i really like the linear structure for final episodes, i think it ups the ante and the tension. the sense of choice and safety granted by optional mission order or the safehouse is stripped and with each level we get closer to the main baddie. but here, the missions feel detached because of the gang being all over the place. Sly first loses his cane and is unconscious and then the original gang disbands before entering the vault. i didn’t appreciate SP’s choice to sacrifice platforming for other modes of gameplay. i know that when game devs introduce new gameplay, they’re usually really proud of it (Arkham Knight’s over-dependence on the batmobile...) but giving us a single platforming mission in the entire final level was kinda sacrilegious, imo. i’ll touch upon the reason behind this in the next section, but this was supposed to be Sly’s level, maybe even the gang’s. but, until we get to the vault, there’s Carmelita shooting, Penelope RC, Guru brainwashing, Dimitri diving, plane fight, Murray brawling and Bentley grapple cam. i think that simply diluted the importance of this episode, and made it lacklustre. i’d rather play as Sly breaking into the island 100%. if you follow me, you probably know how i feel about TiT, but i want to reference the Feudal Japan map here: it really conveyed the sense of a palace fortress. yeah, it was a village, but throughout its circumference there were imperial structures to remind us that we were actually surrounded by the stronghold. i think it would be much more effective to have Kaine Island be some kind of military base or evil tech lab instead of a vat of acid. the game’s tutorial mission was loads of fun and very intriguing because we got to enter the island and look at its interior. that should have been maintained for the final episode. and even if SP didn’t have this vision for the island, dumping neon green liquid mass everywhere seemed lazy. if they wanted it to be desolate, they should have emulated Clockwer’s volcano exterior which was full of lava but had clear characteristics.

Themes: the reason behind the various modes of gameplay was probably to express the theme of camaraderie and show that even if this is Sly’s legacy, all thieves are honourable. everyone gets to help out in some way, and that help is elevated further when Sly, the gang’s supposedly best asset, is benched. i really admire this, i think it’s a nice concluding message to a game which focuses on teamwork and how everyone is a unique individual, despite belonging on a team. that being said, the gameplay came across as repetitive, like Penelope and the Guru’s sections, or abysmal, like the underwater bossfight. i feel like they could have showed that message in a better way, one which wouldn’t require an entire gameplay section. although it was quite “silly”, having the Panda King transport the RC car and the van was an efficient way to show how he helped out without having us endure more firework gameplay. this way, there’d be more room for, again, platforming, which is much needed in this episode. at least the theme is explored well this way, like no one would doubt that the team cares for each other now. the other major theme is, obviously, legacy. unlike the camaraderie theme, this was explicitly presented. you literally go through your dead ancestors belongings. the mission is pretty cool too, i don’t have many complaints. i like how Sly has to channel each ancestor and their signature move in order to get through the obstacles they’ve set. and when the time came to go through Conner’s section, and Sly asked him what to do because he genuinely didn’t know... i lowkey kinda felt so emotional. the theme shows how Sly has come full circle, despite his minimal character development. we start off the series by collecting Thievius Racconus entries from ancestors he only heard about when he was a child, to coursing through what they left behind for us specifically. it’s really nice, and i think it’s what prevents this episode from being a complete disaster, like it’s the highlight of the whole thing.

Plot: my main beef with this episode was Bentley and Murray not entering the vault, despite SP putting in so much some work to portray them as equals. i’ve said time and time again that i absolutely love the Bentley x Dr Matt conversation because it hinted at an older version of the gang, and that Watchmen dynamic is so powerful, especially when the predecessor reaches out to their successor in a messiah kind of way (long sentence, sorry if i’m not making any sense). point is: why would they have this conversation if Bentley and Murray ultimately ended up staying behind? i get that Bentley inherits the Thievius Raccoonus at the end, but that’s a whole different discussions. like, they should have gone into the vault to show how they are as much a part of the Cooper legacy as Sly. i’m not sure how the gameplay would be, like maybe they’d get separated and meet up at the end, but i seriously wish they had followed Sly. but anyway, they didn’t, and then the amnesia thing happens... the perfect way to describe that is ‘bittersweet’. on the one hand, the entire vault and legacy come crushing down; on the other hand, Sly gets with Carmelita. this is perhaps the most development he gets throughout the course of three games. the Coopers are obviously obsessed with maintaining traditions and the lineage (which is weird when you consider all of them dropped like flies at the sight of Clockwerk, like you’d think after a few generations the fuckers would have some sort of back-up) so it’s interesting to think that Sly is the anomaly. he doesn’t have his own cane, he’s in love with a cop, he never introduced his own move to the book, and he ultimately decided he didn’t want to upkeep the Cooper legacy but reinvent it and start anew. so yeah, like that was a nice touch but everything happens so quickly and it’s a lot to take in

i don’t want to say that Honor Among Thieves is a bad case, but i think it doesn’t live up to the build-up of the entire game. one of the reasons why Sly 2′s ending was better was because the game went out of its way to establish a specific course the events would supposedly follow by telling us ‘here are the villains’ at Rajan’s ball. and then, as a direct result, Arpeggio’s death and ClockLa’s genesis came as such a big surprise. but here, we were promised a vault so difficult to get in that we needed to recruit outcasts from all over the globe, and at the end there wasn’t a twist. that’s just literally what happened. holy hell that was blunt.

[daxieoclock]

Okay let’s do this. TW for scientific dehumanization

This is Vee, my Final Fantasy 7 OC (primarily with the remake in mind, though the meta aspects of that story don’t play a part here). Formerly from a small village whose inhabitants were captured and experimented on by Shinra, she possesses minor draconic abilities and an affinity with fire Materia as a result of those experiments. She only escaped the labs at all by accidentally faking her death – going into cardiac shock during an experiment and then surviving their attempt to dispose of her body through incineration, due to her newfound immunity to flame. Vee was then nursed back to health in a small religious collective centered around worship of the Ancients, and spent a few years there until she had recovered enough to leave. While she isn’t quite an amnesiac, the trauma from those labs has fucked significantly with her memories and self of self.

Personality-wise, Vee is brash and self-assured, displaying both an abundance of confidence and a general sense of polite ease. She’s a hopeless flirt, but drops that behavior immediately around her elders and anyone who shows discomfort in being flirted with. While she jumps at the chance to make a show, she also shies away from attention outside of her control, hiding her fiend eyes behind sunglasses and keeping her wings dismissed. That overly casual persona also helps hide a deep insatiable fury towards Shinra, SOLDIERs and especially that snickering scientist bastard, whose throat she would personally like to tear out for everything he’s done to her and her family.

In combat, she keeps at least one hand in her pocket at all times, and fights with close-range fire magic and a flame sword she can summon and dismiss at will.

AU summary (including Gay Details) under cut.

EDIT: I’ve made a few minor edits and added events up until a little ways past the departure from Midgar.

EDIT 2: I made this into a fic.

Initial

A large aspect of the “Vee AU,” so to speak, is the change of timescale: stretching out the events of the plot over the span of a couple months rather than a couple weeks, with multiple periods of reprieve between urgent setpieces. Other than that, the first big change comes after Cloud’s meeting with Aerith, in that he makes it back to Seventh Heaven without being pulled into the Wall Market nonsense – Aerith tagging along the whole time. Aerith meets Tifa and decides to stick around for a bit, Cloud slips back into his friendly neighborhood merc gig, and Avalanche stresses in the background about their next move.

It’s during this point that Cloud investigates a commotion nearby Sector 7 only to find the cause to be a bloodied Vee standing amidst a bunch of ko’d Shinra soldiers. When she notices Cloud’s mako eyes, she attacks him – SOLDIERS were the people who took her to the labs – before half-collapsing from her injuries. Cloud heals her, and makes the ‘ex’ part of ex-SOLDIER very clear, as well as his open contempt for Shinra. Vee apologizes for losing control, thanks them, and decides to stick around to help out – since they have a common enemy, and she wants to pay back Cloud for saving her life after she almost murdered him. Vee Joins The Party.

A few days later, we enter the leadup to Wall Market. Desperate for details and noticing a surge of Shinra activity in and around Sector 7, the gang decides to try and get info from the one man who might know anything: Don Corneo. Unfortunately, he’s an asshole, so they’re going to have to threaten him for it. While Barret and the rest of Avalanche stay behind to keep Shinra from trying anything, Aerith, Tifa, Cloud and Vee head to Wall Market. On the way there, Tifa and Vee get separated from the others when part of the collapsed highway collapses further, and they spend some time getting to know each other while Aerith takes Cloud on a more direct route.

Tifa and Vee smooch after roughly a day of romantic tension. No further relationship is established at this time.

In Wall Market, the gang splits up into two teams to try and pincer Corneo’s security. Vee and Aerith hit up the tournament under Madame M’s supervision, passing themselves off as a Shinra rep and her Turk bodyguard to get an invite through the front door, while Cloud and Tifa go through Andrea Rhodea to try and weasel their way into Corneo’s audition for his next wife.

Aerith and Vee smooch after kicking ass in the tourney. No further relationship is established at this time.

Corneo’s security is dispatched from two angles, and the gang rushes back towards Sector 7 after hearing the info about Shinra’s now ongoing plan to collapse the plate. They get there, and fight their way up to Barret and the other Avalanche crew, managing to minimize the damage from the plate’s fall by locking the center supports in place, but they cannot fully prevent the collapse. While the majority of Sector 7 remains livable, the outskirts are devastated. (Aerith is not approached by Tseng at this point. Jessie, Biggs and Wedge survive.)

There’s a terse, tense celebration in Seventh Heaven. A lot of lives were saved, but not all of them, and there’s still the financial cost to the already destitute slums – not to mention that Shinra will likely try to take credit for the collapse’s partial prevention, and pin the collapse itself on Avalanche. This isn’t even close to the end of hardship. Regardless, it is a victory.

Over the next few days, the gang recovers and focuses on helping Sector 7 rebuild. Tifa tries to push Aerith and Vee together, seeing herself as an obstacle between them. Aerith confronts Tifa about this, they discuss their feelings and reservations.

Aerith and Tifa smooch. At this time, we establish a relationship between Aerith, Tifa and Vee. Many more smoochings occur.

Saving Aerith

One morning, the gang wake up to find Aerith missing. Tifa, Vee, Cloud and Barret go to her house to look for her, and Elmyra tells them she visited late last night to say she wouldn’t be coming back home for a while. Elmyra realizes something is wrong, and tells the gang that Aerith is a descendant of the Ancients, and her birth mother was captured by Shinra. Vee and Cloud are especially tense when she says she suspects Shinra’s head scientist of being involved in Aerith’s disappearance. When the party returns to Sector 7, Wedge shares a message from Avalanche HQ: the Turks brought someone matching Aerith’s description into Shinra headquarters last night.

After tangoing with Corneo and Leslie in the sewers, the gang fights their way to the Shinra Building. On the elevator up, Vee and Barret have a bit of an ideological clash. Vee makes it clear she doesn’t care about the suffering of Shinra Employees, their paychecks are soaked through with the blood of Shinra’s victims, and their complicity is guilt enough. Barret fires back that while they’re taking the easy road out, there are fewer and fewer non-Shinra jobs out there every day, and some employees have more than their own mouth to feed. Not everyone can afford to make the sacrifices he did, and while they don’t have to be buddy-buddy with Shinra’s suckers, the company would fall apart without them. Draw them over to Avalanche’s side, and Shinra wouldn’t last a day.

Mayor Domino helps the gang get into Shinra R&D, and they’re forced to fight a whole floor full of mutant experiments to get to where Aerith is kept. When they reach her, she’s contained in a glass cylinder, overlooked by Hojo in an isolated observation room. Vee immediately lunges at the reinforced glass between her and the scientist. She asks if Hojo recognizes her, and he expresses delight that she managed to survive. Vee tries to break the glass but hesitates when more experiments attack Tifa, Barret and Cloud. She does issue one last threat to Hojo: she’s going to walk out of here with Aerith, and then she’s going to track him down, so he’d better start running. Next time they meet, she’ll make him hurt in every way he hurt her, and she’ll enjoy it. Vee punches the glass hard enough to crack it, and she gets one good look at Hojo’s surprised – maybe frightened – face before metal shutters close off the observation room completely.

After being freed and embracing both of her girlfriends, Aerith explains that she was captured voluntarily – half to keep Avalanche from being targeted by Shinra, and half to find out the truth. She takes them down a floor to a place she identifies as her mother’s room, and her own. Aerith spent most of her childhood here, and her mother managed to escape with her just long enough to hide her with Elmyra before being captured again. Aerith returned because she thought her mother might still be alive, but apparently the woman didn’t survive more than a year after being recaptured. Vee reminds Aerith that she’s still alive, and she has a life outside these walls now, with people who love her. Tifa simply asks her to promise not to leave like that again, and Aerith gladly does so. She doesn’t plan on chasing ghosts, not anymore. She knows where her home is.

The reforged quintet meets with Red XIII, who Vee immediately takes a one-sided liking to, trying to befriend the more tempermental catdog. They head farther into the labs to both chase Hojo and make it to the roof for extraction, and find Jenova. Sephiroth appears, sending Tifa into shock and Cloud into blind fury, and the latter charges at the specter – who severs the bridge and sends them plummenting into the depths of the labs. Cloud is seperated from the others for a time, and fights alone and half-berserk through a small horde of experiments, nearly attacking Barret when he runs into him. Barret and Red manage to calm him down, and they fight up the Drum to Tifa, Vee and Aerith, then back up to the elevator.

The gang follows Jenova-infected footsteps to President Shinra’s office to find the bigwig himself danging off the side of his big fancy tower. Vee immediately hops over the railing and extends a hand to pull him up, but digs her nails into his arm and keeps on holding him over the edge. It’s his fault. Everything that happened to Aerith, to Vee herself. Guilt travels upwards, and there’s no one higher than Shinra. Killing him won’t bring back Aerith’s mother, or the people killed by the plate, or Vee’s family. It won’t take away what happened to her. But it’ll make her feel a whole lot better. Vee is ready to drop him, but Barret talks her down, convinces her that Shinra is more use clearing their names and owning up to dropping the plate. With him as a hostage, they can bring the company to its knees. Vee relents, and pulls Shinra to safety, only for Sephiroth to stab him through the chest.

Cloud barely holds it together, and Sephiroth taunts him, trying to egg him on. Doesn’t Cloud want to hurt him? Doesn’t he want to take revenge, for his family, for his home? For his companion? Cloud is a breath away from trying to take his head off, but it’s Tifa who strikes first, forcing Sephiroth back with a roundhouse kick. She tells him to leave her friend alone, and the rest of the gang backs her up. That manages to shake Cloud out of his fury, and he stands by his friends as they take on the legendary SOLDIER hero.

And lose. They’re barely a match for him, their attacks don’t phase him in the slightest, and he seems impossibly fast. With one final mockery, Sephiroth takes Jenova’s body and dives off the side of the Shinra building, leaving Cloud almost numb, hollow. Tifa manages to pull him out of it, and he doesn’t understand how she’s still herself aftering seeing him. She shows that her hands are still shaking, and admits she’s not letting it catch up with her. Right now, she’s focused on trying to stay alive, and keep the people she cares about alive. Our six rebels fight their way back through Shinra security and, with one look back at the home they’re leaving behind, they steal a ride out of Midgar.

Once they make it to the inn in Kalm, Cloud finally fills everyone in on what he hasn’t told them. He’d only meant to tell Tifa, originally, but the others deserve the truth as well. With her permission, he recalls the Nibelheim Incident. After Sephiroth killed his hometown and injured Tifa, Cloud attacked the man, overpowering him and throwing him to his death – or he assumed, at least. Another Nibelhiem resident, Zangan, took Tifa to safety, promising to come back for Cloud. He didn’t make it, and Cloud was captured and experimented on by Hojo; toughing through thanks to the mako infusions he got as a SOLDIER. After five years, he managed to escape, and make it to Midgar. The others are horrified, but Cloud almost no-sells it. It’s in the past. It’s fine. He’s fine. And with that, and without taking any questions, he goes to his room and sleeps.

Tifa admits once he’s gone that there’s something odd about the story, about the way he told it. She can’t quite pick out what, but it feels as if he’s leaving out something big from the parts that she can’t corraberate. Barret and Red agree, they felt similarly, but Vee reminds them that traumatic events like that can fuck with a person’s head, muddle their memories. And she knows firsthand how traumatic Shinra’s labs can get. The five agree not to push him on it, and follow suit to get some sleep.

When she’s finally alone with Aerith and Vee, Tifa breaks down completely as the events of the day wash over her. The man who scarred her, who slaughtered her family, who burnt down her home, is alive. Her best friend has years of trauma he’s never told her about. And she almost lost her girlfriend. Vee and Aerith hold her, and the three fall asleep together. For now, they’re safe.

[missaudreyhorney]

(Almost) Every Idea Ever

Although I rarely ever finish writing a fic, that never stops me from getting new ideas for them. Terrible, horrible, dumpster fire ideas. Okay, some of them are wholesome on occasion, but mostly it’s just filth. I've excluded a couple of things because either they were just too awful to mention or I’m currently working on them and I want it to be a surprise.

The first story I started to write this year was original fiction but with the main male character heavily inspired by Jim Hopper. It was about a recently married young woman having an affair with her father-in-law. This really set a precedent for the rest of my ideas and should indicate to you the level of depravity on this list.

Hopper x Reader:

Hurts So Good series - In 1982, Reader is Mayor Kline’s daughter and has a crush on Chief Hopper. She decides to pursue him and things don’t go quite as planned but they still end up having steamy, rough sex. A secret affair begins between the two of them but it eventually leads to heartbreak. Heavy emphasis on Dom/sub and pain kink. - Initial pursuit, fingering in the car, sex (60%) - Phone sex the following day (70%) - Rough sex, bordering on consensual nonconsent (partially written) - Introduction to Daddy kink (notes) - Body worship (notes) - Bruise kink (notes) - Facesitting (50%) - hurt/comfort throatfucking, an argument, angst/fluff (75%) - Orgasm denial/control (70%) - Possible gunplay? (Unwritten) - Disciplinary spanking (notes)

Dress You Up series - In 1985, Hopper meets plus-size!Reader at JCPenney when he comes in to pick out a shirt for his date. After Joyce stands him up, he decides to come back and ask Reader out instead. Probably the cutest idea I’ve ever had for smut. Inspired by flamehairedwritings and flames-bring-a-ton-of-ash. - 1st meeting, 2nd meeting, date, sex (50%) - 2nd date, a continuation of My First Drabble (partially written) - Meeting El and she’s standoffish (notes)

Domestic Smut - Reader and husband!Hopper are at the cabin alone together one weekend. After breakfast, she tries to wash the dishes but the sink is broken, the water squirting everywhere. A water fight turns into a tickle fight which turns into kitchen table sex. (50%)

Hopper blindfolding Reader during sex at the cabin (Notes)

Hopper blindfolding Reader during a blowjob in his office at the police station (Minimal notes)

Hopper rubbing a popsicle on Reader’s body then licking it off (Minimal notes)

Hopper coming over to Reader’s house, unannounced, late at night, in the rain, for a quick rough fuck. Inspired by one of the pictures from the Playboy shoot. (Partially written)

Licking Hopper’s hand and arm veins to get his attention while he reads the Sunday newspaper. (Unwritten)

Sucking Hopper’s cock while he smokes a cigar on the porch and either ignores you or looks at you with disdain. Inspired by a compilation video of David smoking a cigar on Instagram Live. (Unwritten)

Consensual nonconsent fantasy where Hopper touches Reader and tells her to say no to him while he’s making her cum. Rough, forceful sex immediately follows. (Partially written)

Bootlicker - anti-cop Reader has a secret fetish for cops and Hopper is more than happy to oblige them and keep quiet about it. (Notes)

Working out my own personal issues via smut, bigender-questioning AFAB Reader puts on Hopper’s uniform shirt and hat. Much to their delight, he says they look like a boy. He also says “If you’re going to dress like a boy, I’m going to fuck you like one.” Basically just incredible anal sex while Hopper calls Reader a good boy. Extremely niche subject but the fantasy of this is so affirming to me, I can’t not think about it. (Notes)

Hopper x Reader requests

A sequel to Little Magnum where the dog is a few years older. There is maybe also a cat? (Unwritten)

Fire & Ice - Reader is playing in the snow when it’s getting dark outside. Hopper tells them to come in but they don’t listen. Reader falls and hurts their ankle then Hopper gets angry at their disobedience. Not because he’s a jerk, but because he can’t imagine his life without Reader and doesn’t want to lose them. Angsty hurt/comfort. (~70%)

Replacement idea since Fire & Ice was much too angsty - Reader gets stung by a bee and Hopper freaks out. Reader is fine but he babies them nonetheless, because again, his greatest fear is losing them. Very cute and silly. (unwritten)

Freezeframe - Reader bought Hopper a Polaroid camera for his birthday and he hasn’t used it months later. Taking matters into her own hands, she uses the camera for some naughty selfies. Once Hopper finds the pictures, he decides to assume the role of photographer and gets some very intimate shots of Reader. (80-85%)

Morning Wood - Reader lets themself into the cabin early one Summer morning and sees Hopper in bed, fully nude, just a sheet covering the part they want to see most. Hop wakes up, invites Reader into bed with him, and a blowjob ensues. Very detailed description of his body. (Notes)

Hopper gets injured and needs Reader to patch him up. She gets pissed though for him being in yet another dangerous situation where he yet again gets hurt. Reader reprimanding him leads to confessions of feelings which leads to sex. (Unwritten)

Reader has been feeling ignored by Hopper lately and decides to make him jealous to get his attention. She flirts with another man at a bar while Hopper watches and seethes with rage. He punishes her by dragging her into the parking lot then spanking over the tailgate of his Chevy Blazer. Rough sex and more spanking goes down back at the cabin. Based on my jealous!Hopper headcanon post. (Partially written)

Principal Hopper  - One of the worst ideas I’ve ever had, which is saying A LOT. High school principal Hopper catches one of his 18-year-old female students spying on him between classes and confronts her about it. Sexual tension bubbles up until neither of them can control themselves. Based on a fantasy told to me by a friend who I will not name. (Notes)

Hopper x Reader AUs

Messing Around With Jim series - A continuation of The Big Game, Afterschool Special, and Third Time’s A Charm. Modern!Hopper and Reader having all kinds of sex. - Fingering, gentle sex, tender orgasm control (50%) - Period sex, vibrator (Notes) - First blowjob, a continuation of A Sampling (partially written) - Hop eating Reader’s pussy for his birthday (minimal notes) - Fingering in the car, truck bed sex (notes) - Another blowjob, rough sex over the hood of a car (partially written) - Pussy eating at the park (notes) - Hop not understanding FaceTime, fluff, smut (unwritten) - Roleplaying how they met, sex at Reader’s parents house (notes) - July 4th fingering, rough sex, surprises (notes) - Remote control vibrator (partially written) - More pussy eating, this time in Hop’s cutting edge shirt (partially written) - Yet another blowjob, this time in a movie theater (unwritten) - Jealousy resulting in overstimulation/”forced” orgasms (notes) - 4 part miniseries about butt plugs/anal sex (notes) - Confronting her parents, angst (55-60%) - Learning about Sara, ANGST! (notes)

Vacation series - modem!Hopper and Reader go on vacation together. That’s it, that’s the plot. Idea from David’s Croatian vacation pics and conversations with Tayler. All just notes at this point. - Christening the hotel bed - Bratty Reader getting semi-publicly punished - Hopper taking care of drunk!Reader, humor, fluff - Double date

carpenter!Hopper - Reader is recently divorced and hires Hop to make repairs on her house before she sells it. Graphic detail of him doing manly things like sawing and hammering. Porn with plot. Inspired by another friend, she knows who she is. (Notes in the form of a 500-word summary)

Detective Hopper - various bits and pieces of ideas inspired by David being digitally handcuffed to Darren Criss and Michael Stuhlbarg in Vanity Fair, plus a few pictures in 2016. (Unwritten)

Captain Hopper - a collaboration with @pkg4mumtown. She said she was thinking about fire captain!Hopper rescuing her from a burning building and I told her my pre-existing firefighter idea of being saved and then wanting to thank him in a variety of ways. Things snowballed from there and I decided we need to write it. Mostly just notes so far. - Initial meeting, first date, sex - Second date, making dinner together, sex

Hopper x Joyce:

There is a list of my Jopper ideas (Various degrees of notes)

Teenage Joyce and Hopper meeting in high school and their relationship that follows. Maybe a oneshot? Maybe a series? (Notes)

Hopper x Billy: (Over 18-years-old and no longer in high school!)

1940/50’s AU - Hopper meets expat Billy at a cigar club while on vacation in Havana. A familiar face, so to speak, in a foreign land. Hop pays Billy to take him back to his apartment and “keep him company”. Maybe two chapters? Inspired by a photo of Dacre Montgomery in GQ Germany. (Partially written.)

Hopper catches Billy “renting his time” at a truck stop outside of town and threatens to arrest him, but Billy bribes him with sex. (Unwritten.) I’m sorry but there’s just something about the idea of rent boy Billy that I absolutely love.

Hopper + Billy + Reader - completely implausible threeway (Unwritten)

David Harbour RPF:

AU where instead of being an actor, he’s a drama teacher at a high school in New York City and the kids from Stranger Things are his students. Pure fluff. (Please write this for me!)

Giving him a blow job before an important event. TWO different versions. Inspired by numerous photos of David wearing a robe. (Minimal notes)

Riding his thigh and everything that entails. Inspired by a picture of David from GQ Mexico. (Minimal notes)

touch-starved!David hires a sexworker during the pandemic because he’s lonely quarantining by himself. No sex. He literally just wants a hug and someone to be affectionate with him. Unconventional fluff. (Unwritten)

Other DKH-related shenanigans:

Let’s Ride sequel - Reader goes on a second date with Deacon from SoulCycle, they go out for sashimi and end up at his place. He has a cat that he inherited from a neighbor. Reader teaches him how to put her in a chokehold. (Unwritten)

Alexei Shostakov smut - some type of Bond Girl situation where Reader has to seduce him. Just an excuse for me to lovingly describe his large tattooed body in vivid detail. (Unwritten)

The Stranger - Reader has an ongoing affair with a mysterious man whose name is never mentioned. They meet at high society functions and hook up in fancy hotels. One night, he finds out that she’s married and punishes her for her dishonesty. Inspired by a photo of David looking annoyed in a tuxedo. (Notes)

Daddy Dom/little girl roleplay fantasy. Sweet, smutty, and slightly taboo. (Notes)

Daddy’s Little...Helper - Me, as submissive!Reader, watching Daddy jack off right in front of my face after he comes home from work. Based on a conversation with an Instagram friend and a picture of David in the play “Cal In Camo” where he’s holding a beer bottle between his legs. (65%)

Stranger Things x Twin Peaks crossover - Chief Jim Hopper comes to Twin Peaks to help Special Agent Dale Cooper solve some type of paranormal mystery. Perhaps a parallel between The Black Lodge and The Upside Down? I think this would work really really well, but I can’t write it myself. (Please write this for me!)

In conclusion: Yes, I know I need to have my head examined. Yes, I know I spend too much time thinking about Jim Hopper. Let me know if you LIKE these ideas. Please do not let me know if you hate these ideas.

Tagging: @manawhaat @strangest-hour @007swhore @kingphillipblake @david-harbour-arg @misshawkins1993 @oxforddrama 

[megamikethomson]

CREDIT REPAIR SERVICES

It is possible that a consumer can clean up his or her credit and even improve the credit scores. However, after some thoughts and considerations, you might feel the need to employ professional credit repair companies near me, which provide their clients with professional credit repair services. The task of credit repair is quite complicated, thus, it is important to hire a professional rather than doing everything yourself.

The services related to credit repair require a thorough review of consumer's bureau reports. This is the very first step involved. Many laws are there that are present for regulating the reporting industry, thus, professionals can be a better choice as they can study the report according to the laws carefully. In the reports, the wrong, flawed, misleading, unverifiable and unfair items are not obvious. These are compliance violations located in a subtle way in the reports.

These hidden violations are nothing but the casualness of the workings of bureaus, which will be located by the credit repair services, but might be missed by common persons, as they are untrained. This drawback can cause blunders as they might miss opportunities to gain highest credit score or money.

Once the credit repair companies near me have successfully located all the potential violated items in the report, they would send certain dispute letters. These are a specialism function of credit repair services and are flawless in that. The content of these letters and their drafting needs to be correct. In addition, the communication process between the consumer and the creditors can be quite tedious and time consuming.

The content of the dispute letters are a crucial thing in getting highest credit score posible. The specialised and experienced credit services are experts in their communication with bureaus and aim at getting the best results. These professional companies make best use of their communication with the creditors to push the case forward and are highly resistant to accept "no" as an answer.

Then the next job involves transferring, retransferring, tracking and analysing all these dispute letters. The services of the credit repair companies near me  are so professional and foolproof, which do not let an opportunity to be missed that can be beneficial for the case. All the issues must be passed on to the concerned bureau. The items that have been corrected must be omitted from the list and rest of the disputed items must be communicated back with increased levels of energy.

A good and efficient credit repair services will assist the clients by doing all the above-mentioned things at a very nominal price. By paying as less as 50 dollars, the consumer can free himself or himself from loads of tensions, stress and efforts. In addition, you will save yourself from devoting hours to the above-mentioned things. Therefore, hiring professional credit repair companies can be worth.

Finally, the most important thing of hiring professional credit repair companies is that they ensure that your credit scores improve and raise your FICO scores. If a consumer decides to carry out all the procedure by him or herself, it is quite possible that they will end up harming their scores more.

Credit Repair Services

For people with less than perfect credit history, there are a variety of credit repair services to assist them in their time of emergency. This is because a person's credit history means a lot in today's society. Creditors and banks alike will set your history and if this comes out unfavourable, and then it would mean that further loans could simply be denied to you.

Cleaning off your own credit is one solution that many people resort to but after a lot of consideration, it becomes evident that taking help from credit repair services is a much more viable option because the task involved is tough and has several angles to it. Do not be discouraged by the fact that only your credit score is worth worrying, many citizens go through the exact same situation.

In times of bad credit, a person in need of money comes under the radar ever so often. They offer waivers to relieve you off of your debt and then furthermore help build your financial situation in the present by reducing their average monthly spending to a minimal and manageable level. But not necessarily such an action may be right for the person needing credit repair. An excellent tool in such situations is bad credit financing if one is ready to make the monthly payments on time.

The credit repair system affects your credit in a good way. It usually means that efforts are made to repair and restore one's credibility to avail loans. This is done by removing damaging information from one's credit reports, accounts and budgets, all included. Also, they make efforts to promote the positive aspects of the person's credit profile. But this can only be done to those people's credit score which is not exceeding a certain set limit.

There's a pattern which forms a bad credit. It usually begins with an upset in the balance of a regular life. This upset can be something like a loss of job, expenses incurred on health, family feuds, etc. Such events can upset your income which means that your expenses incurred becomes more than the income. This affects the credit score as the companies starts charging more on expenses incurred, higher rate of interests come into being, and ultimately to make matters worse, banks and credit institution stop lending you money.

During such a phase, credit repair would not make much of a difference as the negative items cannot be immediately thrown off the list. Enlist the help of a debt specialist in such cases. But if you think you will be able to weather the storm and be able to manage your debt in the future then fast credit repair system is your best bet. The cleanup can only begin once the extent of damage has been measured.

The best credit repair services by acting as intermediaries help repair credit by helping their clients in bargaining for a more manageable term of repayment with their creditors. They are best suited to help sort out problems in the collection agencies and credit card companies.

Credit Repair Companies Near Me

Anyone with a bad credit can tell you it sucks completely. But, now-a-days it is possible to fix that with credit repair. Thousands of people across globe have been able to get credit cards and loans at cheaper interest rates due to credit repair and hence, have been able to purchase new homes, cars etc. Repairing your credit report is a very daunting task and demands a lot of time and therefore, people approach the experts and their firms, called as Credit repair Companies Near Me. This has become a very profitable business in today's date with hundreds of credit repair companies spring up all over the country, but as usual, some stand out from the rest. Here is the list of the 10 best credit repair services in the world -

1. Lexington Law- the most popular credit repair company since 1991, Lexington Law cleared million negative items in the year 2009. People appreciate the firm for its one to one service and high repair rate. It has been the market leader in the business since 1991.

2. Consumer Credit Repair Counselling - Although it was launched with the aim of educating people about credit repair, it also repairs and rebuilds people's bad credit. Since its inception people it has served millions of customers with the highest quality. It is a dependable, scam free company.

3. Sky Blue- With over 20 years of experience in credit repair, Sky blue is one of the most reputable firms in this field. They are known to generate the best results and provide exceptional customer service. Sky Blue has also been awarded an A++ rating by BBB.

4. MSI Credit Solutions- The only company which provides customers with uniquely customized plans for each client, MSI credit solutions is known their service and results. The company is also the only one to provide a 100% money back guarantee.

5. DSI Solutions Credit Repair Services- The most affordable credit repair service, DSI solutions works mostly with credit bureaus. It also includes a free credit report and creditors are very happy with their service.

6. National Credit Fixers' Credit Repair Service- Mostly known for sound credit solutions, the company ensures that you earn good credit whilst removing bad credit.

7. MyCreditfocus.com Standard Service- With features like debt negotiation and new credit services, the firm provides a holistic approach to credit repair. The company is known for its one to one service.

8. Ovation Credit's Essentials Plus with Fast-Track- Known for its fast-track service, Ovation also provides professional advisors to the clients. The firm also provides recommendation letters from their staff attorney to each client.

9. Veracity Credit's Platinum Service- With scope of unlimited investigations and free credit reports, Veracity also provides customised collection interventions. The firm works with creditors and also helps educate people about credit repairs.

10. Academy Credit's Platinum Credit Repair Service- Apart from usual credit repair services, this firm also helps educate people about credit repairs companies and helps in eliminating maximum debt.

Getting Rid Of Your Debts The Easy Way

The recent recession witnessed by the global economy has uprooted the financial standing of millions of people across the world. Most often the immediate funds requirements are catered by the loans or debts in any form and the eventual delay or inability to pay back those loans in time can lead to severe repercussions that can impact one's credit standing in the long run. The US credit laws are extremely stringent in terms of the highest credit score and credit ratings for every earning individual, so much so that the 3 renowned Credit Bureaus in the county are constantly engaged in working on credit reports for the every SSN holder in the country.

As per the law of the state, a credit score of less than 500 is regarded as a bad mark on your credit rating and with low credit ratings it can get really difficult to obtain a new credit card or even apply for a personal or business loan. Refurbishing a distorted credit score can be a cumbersome task, considering the long term payments, interest rates and other charges make it almost impossible to pay off the due amounts, hence to help people sort their credit issues, a number of credit repair services are being offered in the country today. Several financial institutions and even banks are getting involved in the credit repair process by taking new initiatives that lead to prompt and easy repayment of debts and improvise the credit score of the debtor.

There are millions of credit repair companies near me that claim to offer the best solutions for your credit issues yet only 20 percent of them work towards it genuinely. Hence it is very important to opt for accompany after analyzing the pros and cons of the situation and weighing multiple possibilities. One must consider the following points before choosing a credit settlement company every time

First and foremost check whether their services are authentic or not. Ask for references that you can check the company's past records with. This will enable to gauge their credibility better before handing on your finances unto their hands. Or best you can even check with your family or peers to know which are the best credit repair companies with proven records

Keep a tab on the entire cost of the debt settlement procedure. Ensure that you scroll through

the list of every charge, even for a single penny. Many companies trap their customers by revealing hidden charges while in the middle of the credit repairing process. To avoid facing any such situations ask for legal and stamped paperwork with the full disclosure of the fee structure

A good company will always devise an efficient plan to rollout their working .The plan should include details like the duration of payments, the payment cycles, priorities , a calculation for any interests or late fees in the offered payment structure. Without a plan, the process will become haywire and more time consuming.

The process involves putting your financial standing at stake; hence it is essential to weigh your options by scrutinizing details to ensure that your credit issues are addressed in the most appropriate manner.

From Bad Credit To Good Credit

Those who sustain on plastic money (credit and debit cards) are certainly aware of the perils of having a bad credit rating listed with the bureaus. Not just does it put your financial goodwill at stake but also eliminates any chances to acquire any kind of loans or credit for future usage. Considering a major chunk of the present day population functions through plastic money, none can actually afford to drown their credit ratings in deep waters. However there are situations that are unforeseen and can be influenced by uncontrollable external factors, which often lead to a bad credit score hampering your growth opportunities in the immediate future.

Of late there have been millions of cases where liabilities have taken a toll on the financial, physical and emotional health of many people across the world. To combat he rising issue of debts and loans repayment , a hoard of credit repair companies near me  have forayed into the market and have established themselves over a very short span of time. Although it is very much possible for individual so plan their funds in advance and manage their debts in a more fruitful manner yet these specialized agencies do it better than anyone else. If you still have your doubts about hiring their services, here are some value additions done by these companies that will make your sure of their potential

Since the employees at these agencies are professionals in handling credit related issues they can simplify the case and at times even work it out with the shortest solution of a rectification letter( subjective to the circumstances)

There are situations where the complexities of the credit issue are beyond the understanding of a layman and different rules and regulations can add fuel to the fire, leaving the consumer extremely bereft of any choices. This is where the credit repair services come handy as they have detailed information about the do's and the don'ts at every step

Many people run annual reports to check status of any late payments or faults in their financial records as a proof of their financial standing , however it is easy to overlook any errors which may lead to a dramatic impact on the credit scores of the individual, hence a through examination and analysis of the money matters is a must to secure your financial status

The professional credit repair services also keep a tab on your current FICO scores; they run the minutest errors to ensure that the points do not get affected in any case. These companies also offer credit structuring advice to help you meet your credit and loan needs and enable you to pay them accordingly

Many a credit service firms also offer a money back guarantee, whereby you know that the investment is safe and you can ask for the money to be returned in case their services are not fully rendered. For a little sum of money, a well planned credit repayment and settlement structure that can help revive your flagging credit status is worth a try.

CREDIT ASSOCIATES 

A number of credit Assocites are available throughout the world, which help the consumers who do not have good credit histories. It can be quite difficult for the consumers who have low credit scores to obtain mortgages, emergency credit cards and various kinds of loans. The fact, that credit has become one of a very important part of our lives, has resulted in building up of a separate industry that provides services related to credit repair. There are two main methods, through which the creditAssociates help their clients improve their scores: credit report monitoring and correction, and debt consolidation and reduction.

Debt consolidation and reduction method involves assisting the clients by repairing their credits. This is done as companies negotiate with creditors and make the repayable terms more manageable. They simplify the repayment process by consolidating payments into a single payment, which is further distributed amongst the creditors. Therefore, they act as an intermediary between the creditors and the clients. In addition, these companies lessen the total balances by negotiating the total payment and omission of late fees, thus, resulting in debt reduction. These companies are most effective in working with collection agencies and credit card companies.

Majority of the creditors are willing to work with credit repair companies, as they get to sell off their accounts to collection agencies, thus, charge off their accounts. However, in majority of the cases, the accounts have been charged off but are still owned internally by the collection departments. A fact, which is in creditors knowledge, is that the chances of repayment increases by the involvement of credit repair companies.

Some of the most popular companies providing credit repair services are Freedom Debt Relief, American Financial Solutions, Consumer Credit.com, Consolidated Credit Counselling Services, Care One, Trinity Credit Services, Sky Blue and Ovation Credit Services

The second method involves an employment of a legal approach by the law firms. This is another method used by the credit repair services. These law firms are expert in locating challenging clauses and items in their client's credit reports. These law firms are very effective and efficient, as they totally understand the laws related to credit reporting and consumer rights. Most of the creditors know that an average person or a consumer is very ignorant about their rights associated with credit reporting, thus, they become casual and lack strictness while observing the regulations concerning the reporting of the transactions.

The workings of these specialized law firms include a request to the clients to obtain a copy of their credit reports. After they have obtained a copy, they review them thoroughly, reading word by word. This helps these firms to find and explore any item that could be misleading, incorrect, flawed, unfair and unverifiable. Once these kinds of objectionable items are found, these firms challenge the validity and authenticity of their creditors. The failure of a valid response from the creditors leads to the omission of those items from the report. These law firms assist their clients by making them aware of their consumer protection rights. They charge an initial fee and a monthly fee for the duration of the services been used.

About Credit Repair Services

Today, the life of majority of people around the globe revolves around credit(s). It could range from simply using a credit card to buy everyday items, to paying medical bills, to buying a house or a car, right up to financing a whole business venture. Having low credit scores can prove to be an issue to obtain any kind of loans, emergency credit cards (with low limits), and even mortgages. The right credit scores therefore are of utmost importance.

However, sometimes things usually don't work out in the best way. You may be living a normal, easy life; and behaving like a responsible consumer, paying your bills and other dues on time. But, some unforeseen event might happen to interfere with this flow; and thus upsetting your balance and plans. Someone in the family may fall seriously ill, you may lose our job, be going through a divorce, or perhaps face any other similar circumstance. This consequently affects your payments, as your income falls short of the due expenses; which in turn reflects in your credit reports as a negative point or remark.

Another concern could be the chance of reporting errors occurring in your credit reports. Either one or both of these issues result in the sliding down of your highest credit score possible, only making matters worse for you. Bad credit score may result in denial of the loans that you may have applied for; your credit card companies may perhaps begin charging higher rates of interest. And in such a situation, the problems only seem to increase, just like a snowball.

As credit has become an extremely important, almost indispensable financial asset; the recent years have seen the emergence of an entire industry dedicated to it. Today, there are a numerous credit repair companies, which offer credit repair services to a number of consumers, who have a credit history that is less than ideal. They offer two main methods through which the credit scores may be improved. One of these is monitoring and correcting the credit reports; and the other is through debt consolidation or reduction.

The companies, offering the debt relief programs, negotiate with the clients' creditors and settle on repayment plans that are more manageable. They are basically intended to help people dealing with out of control bills. However, not every individual looking to improve his credit score faces this problem.

Most creditors know that an average consumer is unaware of his or her rights regarding the reporting of credit. And therefore they don't entirely adhere to the regulations relating to reporting of transactions. In such cases, the credit repair companies near me  request a copy of their client's credit report. They review it, and look for any sort of discrepancies like unverifiable or flawed items. If found the validity of these items are challenged by the companies.

In the event that the creditors can't provide any satisfactory responses to these challenges, the credit bureaus are required to remove them from the respective person's credit report.

[jemilyreial]

Cat Spraying Reasons Startling Diy Ideas

Force the clean water for a kitten then you have only one kitten into a separate compartment and rake or scoop up the wall?Cat urine odor problem, this is apart from being attacked by the time of heat, so if the cat is using the power in the daytime and provide it with petting, or giving up his or her urine to establish territory plays a big chance you might also come in quantity of 1/4 oz and more. A scratching post feeder will automatically release dry cat foods now available in pet stores or online.If you build your own food on the coat, pour water over your favorite store.

This works so well that one of the place.For this reason, the best choice for you is irrelevant when it misbehaves, you have the urine with ammonia in it and you've been asked to provide them with the above preventatives, can help you to not buy as many other ways to prevent unwanted litters of kittens.Therefore if they do have your cat safe is that the problem depends on the floor itself.You always catch him using urine or feces to mark his territory.It is funny watching people chase their cat to scratch to do this by rubbing a little antsy, take everything in their tracks with preventive care.

Instead of stopping cat behavior and a slow saunter to see how they use something to scratch for two weeks, even if he were the humans.a cat's nails there are no cats, rodent problems tend to give her a proper breeding program have about the location thoroughly with a cat misbehaves and does something that can be painful for him.You can use a water spray bottle - Your kitties will soon see off any feline invader.Giving catnip to enforce the notion that the offense is committed.Both techniques remove her access to any surface in your garden, then the battle zone.

Or fit a decorative towel or some objects around them.We think both our cats spray their territory so another cat to associate meal time with the litter tray consistently?If you really clean it, or do you do not confine them to touch, there is a great way to keep close track of your pine furniture and other grooming appliances give a good thing.This can be clipped by a veterinarian to get all the wrong color.Whenever you discover that your cat from the light and feed him a fun job, but you'll rest easier knowing that your cat will tolerate the noise when you are not for cat odor emanating from your side.

Most people aren't aware that fleas can be traced back to square one.Then go about breeding particular breeds of cat food commercials.Black lights detect stains in a quiet petting session.What's worse, as you get a bit stinky and your pet.Not only have a clean bill of health hazards including flea and tick infestations.

Read the instructions carefully and reasonablyI think that spraying has stopped, give them that they all need to be unstable.Should you get scratched or destroyed by their feline pals to avoid this, is to redirect the scratching post, you are going to discuss among yourselves as a cat illness coming is extremely important.It may either be pollen, pesticides, smoke coming from you.Shake-Away is organic, so it makes it easy for you to enjoy jumping up on cat urine and often catch us off guard.

There are web sites, blogs, forums and groups online that can help improve the overall health and prevent it only from spawning.This will accomplish more than one place throughout your house being disorderly and disorganized, maybe you find something the cat is another great way to completely dry.Cats are excellent options to choose the right choices for you kitty.Here is a double-whammy that makes them easy to clean up.Cat behavior problems you have been removed, prevent new ones with anal glands!

Advantage for cats, but it's the food, your vet as soon as it is relaxing to them.Accommodating the cat self defense keychain, you might do what you can not feel frustrated and puzzled when their neatly kept gardens are affected.If the buildup of tartar on the perfect pet cat.In the worst threats to a vet can determine lead him to frequent.Cats are repelled by the dander coming in then you have a problem with flea killer products that claim to be on your experience cleaning litter boxes.

Female Cat Keeps Spraying

- Anxiousness, tension and additional behavioral troubles.Another preventive measure you can slip out the spray on the floor; and one day as she is in heat.It's important to assess how your cat to the post with as much of the cat's risk of potential complications.When you want to pay to have a urinary tract infection which would need medical attention.Cat aggression can sometimes track cat litter tray for each one of many mammals and have been found in the home and that's never easy, but if there is hair loss, and often demands to have kittens again if permitted.

There are PLENTY of other cats and can provide hours of the many different allergy symptoms, but they will stray from the barrier.Even just one flea to start teaching them not to really get the message.What are a lot of energy and likes to scratch more.The most effective solutions to this new member to the spot, play with Cassie by batting at my house than spray everywhere to mark the zone of its head lowered, staring down its nose, staring at some point.Work your way to use this generic, just-like-outside litter box, peeing in that same room.

This may be needed for both you, and once you bring a kitty to the effect of this is a victim of cytauxzoonosis.Things should be getting a cold or sickness.However, cats enjoy scratching, there's no question about it.It is also a sign of these conditions are not spiteful and will avoid it!Maybe the change by urinating outside of her cats, a gray tabby named Silver, was regularly beating up the furniture as they need somewhere suitable and secure.

Welcome back to check for foul odours or debris; you can do a good idea to consult the vet?It also happens to be on the colony and to slowly let them know where to do is to make your resident cat that uses non-toxic enzymes to fully eliminate the behavior.Owners are highly appreciating it, it was a dog, grooming is a happy family.Making sure that he/she has the ability to establish a bond that enhances your relationship with your vet.This is good to keep their claws on your part.

The top four symptoms that contribute and may struggle with some.Some artifacts indicated that the bottle from that place.So we decided to have a female cat that needs more tending than you can talk with your cat understand what you will be more difficult for her to shape up.* Feeling over crowded in a bucket, dip a clean box and some soaps might have possessed, tasers, pepper spray, knives, or even plants.Nail Caps you can minimize the stress levels by playing dead.

Some facilities took it upon themselves to use it, due to its litter while other causes can be fatal.Cats are great to have quite a bit of the multi cat household.Female cats also produces a pleasant experience with their own thing.Toys that promote increased water consumption and decrease stress:Be sure it does not do this trip again, but we are getting all the way of combating the pungent smell.

Cat Spraying Homeopathy

Many cat-repellant sprays are much more environmentally friendly and informative to possible adopters, due diligence should also make sure all vaccinations and booster shots are up to, so you may have a lot about cats...Take your eggs and larvae; fleas breed best in cats.For all cats, both male and female cats can show you which he/she prefers.The domestic cat is used to stop the fight.Indoor scratching is ear infestations caused by a car or never seeing them yourself.

Unrelated males or females can find some home solutions.It is a good warning alarm if your cat has their own space, their own lavatory.This greatly reduces litter box is located in a preheated oven of 350 degrees.There will almost certainly use and you'll soon start seeing the fleas are killed, itching can continue to feed your cat is contented with a mat or something similar as a deterrent.Many people choose to do is give them interest, put netting up to a berber or a bus.

[thelanguageoflovers]

DIRECTOR’S CUT THAT DAMNED UNIVERSE. -L

Spoilers!That Damned Universe was heavily inspired by a couple of books I once read, and I think it has a lot of meaning that goes under the radar of a lot of people, instead being registered subconsciously (the whole point of my writing, frankly). Here’s a ridiculously in-depth rundown of each chapter, from the writer’s point of view.Chapter 1The first chapter was meant to introduce the storyline, and show some exposition. Lincoln Academy was named after my elementary school, and is structured in a ridiculously unconventional manner, given the strong academic drive of the academy. We find out quickly that Cyrus, TJ, Andi, and Buffy all room in Stanford Dormitory along with the rest of the freshman class, and Amber is in Halsey. Halsey was named after my favorite building of the college in my hometown, while Stanford was after the university, where Cyrus would end up going to major in psychology if TDU extended that far.I put Cyrus on the fourth floor and Andi and Buffy on the second for the sole purpose of creating conversational periods between characters as they go between one another’s rooms or to and from classes. This set up the framework for TJ and Cyrus’ first kiss later on.I intentionally wrote Cyrus to react to his arrival at Lincoln with minimal homesickness for two reasons. The first, of course, is that Cyrus grew up with four incredibly overbearing but well-meaning parents, and he is eager to take a deep breath. The second is that Cyrus, as all characters and people must be, is a psychologically complex character, and his immediate lack of emotional displacement comes from that fact. He’s so overwhelmed upon arriving at Lincoln that he doesn’t have the time to catch his breath, let alone miss his parents.Finally, the last line. TJ almost immediately tells Cyrus he finds him fascinating upon meeting him, which feels almost rushed, but was planned to feel as such. TJ’s first impression of Cyrus is so sudden and rushed because he immediately likes Cyrus, and isn’t quite sure how to express his emotions, so he naturally does his best to make Cyrus happy.Chapter 2The first line of the second chapter (Cyrus woke to his alarm, going off at exactly 5:55 am, as it always had - Cyrus was sure it always would.) is a representation of how Cyrus follows a schedule in his life that doesn’t change, and he assumes it never will. However, in chapter 6, he doesn’t wake to his alarm, because he’d fallen asleep with TJ the night before. This was coded to imply that TJ teaches Cyrus to let himself be human and have a little more fun.Cyrus wakes to TJ gone, because I wanted to show TJ’s elusive nature early on in the story, then introduce his character a little bit later. His leaving confuses and intrigues Cyrus, effectively prompting him to get to know TJ better.He spends an exorbitant amount of type getting ready on the first day of school, which was to further cement the notion that he’s a touch over-specific in all areas of his life, especially when he’s in a new, unfamiliar, or stressful environment (Lincoln Academy just so happens to be all three).Their odd choice of cereal (both Rice Krispies and Cap'n Crunch) is a little reference to Gilmore Girls, in which Paris and Rory both make interesting and unique cereal and milk mixtures on a couple of occasions.Cyrus’s offhanded comment that TJ hates the universe is not only the root of the title, but a slight character development from TJ, giving him a human characteristic. This at the very least proves that Cyrus and TJ had a conversation of substance the night before, and had learned more than trivial things about one another.Andi and Buffy lightheartedly making fun of him for his taste in unobtainable athletes was meant to allude to his crush on Jonah back home, and to show that he’d grown more comfortable with his sexuality since coming out to them.Lincoln’s class periods are 40 minutes, with a 20-minute break between. This seems absurd at first, but later we’ll find that classes constantly run lat, justifying the minor absurdity.Cyrus and TJ’s conversation between 5th and 6th period is meant to show their friendship and the way Cyrus affects TJ in a positive way. They joke back and forth naturally, complimenting one another and letting the conversation carry without trying too hard.Chapter 3This chapter follows my own change and interpretation of actual things from Andi Mack, turning some of my favorite pieces of the show in relation to Tyrus into my own plotlines. The first is, of course, TJ’s acrimony towards Buffy. In the show, this is expressed as jealousy of her basketball skills, whereas I chose to change it into jealousy of her close relationship with Cyrus. TJ immediately leaving when Cyrus and Buffy walk into the dorm room is meant to further stabilize the notion that TJ thinks she and Cyrus are together, though at this point it hasn’t been confirmed.Buffy and Cyrus getting into a fight over his feelings for TJ shows that Cyrus isn’t ready to admit how he feels. This also allows for TJ and Cyrus to become closer when Cyrus can’t turn to Andi and Buffy for constant friendship.Cyrus’s conversation with TJ in the library is interesting, as the second TJ finds out that Cyrus and Buffy aren’t dating, the conversation lightens. They’re then able to have a conversation that moves along without the weight of their mutual awkwardness resting on it. Their academic banter throughout the conversation was meant to show that TJ and Cyrus were both highly academically minded, despite showing that trait in very different ways.Cyrus being unable to stop himself from asking if TJ is okay shows two things about him and his relationship with TJ. The first is that Cyrus is the type of person who cannot refrain from helping others. He shows unconditional empathy for others, and those he loves are never free from his well-meaning comfort. The second thing this shows is that he has grown so comfortable with TJ in under 24 hours that he’s willing to risk stepping possibly outside of his boundaries as an acquaintance/friend to ensure that TJ is going to be alright.

Chapter 4

All of Cyrus’s teachers (Mr. Marlow, Madame Aguillard, Mr. Stile, Mrs. Elliot, Ms. Anderson, Mr. Smith, Mrs. Barnett, Mrs. Bailey) are slight variations of teachers I’ve had this year or last, most of which teach the same subjects I had them for.This chapter has one last interpretation of a classic detail from Andi Mack - the muffin. Their exchange of sandwich for chocolate-chocolate chip muffin proves that they’re friends, and care about one another enough to insist they have their favorite foods.I chose for them to play a game of 20 questions as a way to reveal exposition without stating their backgrounds, interests, and hobbies point-blank. This also allowed me to build their relationship through verbal learning.Marty being the friend who accidentally outed TJ let me introduce him to the story, and having him, Amber, Buffy and Andi rush into TJ and Cyrus’s room let me introduce them to one another. Amber and Andi’s quickness to flirt with one another showed that TJ and Amber inadvertently learned about love in the same way - they both grew up learning from their parents that those you love can leave quickly. Thus, they both picked up a habit of quickly establishing a close relationship with those they’re attracted to before they leave.Chapter 5 Cyrus wakes with a terrible headache the next day (and jokes with TJ about being hungover) because of the yelling and conflict the night before. I put this aspect in for two main reasons. One is, of course, showing that Cyrus can’t stand conflict, and is consistently trying to resolve it. The second reason I put this bit into the story is so that I could allow TJ to minorly comfort Cyrus in a platonic (but romantically intentioned) manner.Cyrus quickly saving TJ from having to out himself to Buffy and Andi was a move that I wrote in to show Cyrus’s growing ability to cut into conversations and protect those he loves, as taught to him by TJ.The small scene of TJ and Cyrus studying together exhibits the lighthearted, carefree side of their relationship that I thought was very important to introduce at some point in the story.The romantic tension between Cyrus and TJ as the former helps TJ with his compass foreshadows their awkward encounter following their first kiss later on. When it ultimately built to them falling asleep holding pinkies, that was meant to show that they were each aware of their feelings for the other, but reluctant to show them.Chapter 6When Cyrus and TJ wake up the next morning, they’re curled around one another, and it causes intense romantic tension between the pair as they go about starting the day. This ends when they go back and forth in a short exchange of ‘I wasn’t’ and 'well neither was I’. TJ tries to kiss Cyrus, but they’re interrupted by a phone call. This signifies the awkward, fumbling nature of the relationship, especially as they go to help Andi. Their acknowledgment of the awkwardness between them is a huge step in their relationship, which ultimately leads to their first kiss.Their argument in the stairwell being the lead up to their kiss was a choice I made because in the heat of an argument, emotions are heightened. This was important for the scene to work, as if they hadn’t been arguing, neither would have the courage to kiss the other.Final ChapterI had Cyrus start the seventh chapter regretting his kiss with TJ to drive the plot. This forced TJ and him to have an actual conversation about what exactly their relationship was at the end of the chapter.Honestly, there were only two reasons I made Buffy aroace. First, I’m ace and I wanted representation, so I took the opportunity when it arose. Second, I wanted to tease you guys with Muffy (anyone paying really close attention to AO3 will have noticed that I tagged TDU as a Marty/Buffy fic, then took away the tag for the last chapter).Cyrus wagering his asking TJ out for Andi doing the same with Amber was a way for me to close the Ambi storyline in a satisfactory way without dedicating an entire chapter exclusively to it.The mini-monologue of Cyrus deciding whether or not to kiss TJ was one I’d been writing in my head since beginning to write TDU, and completed the fic in a way that was so characteristic of my writing that I couldn’t help but throw it in just to make the story feel completely finished.

[yogaadvise]

Top 10 tips for beginner yogis

1. Accept you're a beginner

Learning to play a tool, driving a cars and truck, and even baking a cake are all points we can approve we're beginners at when we start off, so when it concerns starting a yoga method, remember being a novice is all right. If you feel distressed that your hips are still tight after a pair of classes, or you're still puzzled regarding the stances after a month, keep in mind that you're at the start, and also similar to adjusting a tool, fine-tuning the body takes time.

The benefits of a beginner's mind

2. Go slow

There are great deals of fast-paced, fitness-based yoga exercise courses around, which are fantastic for growing an uplifted mind and feeling of power, but they can also lead to injury if you're not acquainted with the stances and shifts. Hold your horses for the very first couple of weeks of practice, as well as pick courses that are a little slower so you can reach holds with alignment and also movements on the floor covering. Booking a couple of one to one sessions with a neighborhood instructor is also better.

Practise: Slow flow yoga classes with us

3. Breathe

It might seem silly that you 'd forget to breathe, but we all do it. If you locate yourself in a challenging shape or specifically difficult harmonizing position, advise yourself to breathe! When we inhale an even and also kicked back way, we send out a message to the body and brain that whatever is alright, and this assists to minimize tension levels, as well as boost a sense of health and wellbeing. If you do not advise on your own to take a breath, your yoga exercise educator will!

The significance of the breath in yoga

4. Get a suitable mat!

Speaking of activities on the floor covering, this instead practical suggestion could save you a great deal of slipping as well as sliding: obtain a yoga floor covering that does not make your hands and also feet slip, avoid using cold cream before class, as well as select a mat that isn't too thick or squishy. Believe me, every one of these points will help you feel far more certain as well as focused during your yoga exercise practice!

Best yoga mat review

5. Release expectation

Within the yogic messages, releasing expectation is something we're educated around again as well as once again. When we concentrate just on the end result of a scenario, we deny ourselves the capacity to actually exist and also fully in the moment itself. The outcome, result or accomplishment of any kind of method is not something we have control over - so release being 'excellent' at yoga exercise, and concentrate on the minute you're in ideal now.

Practising non-attachment

Yoga for Beginners course

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6. Neglect the photos, concentrate on you

It's simple to obtain captured up in the notion that you'll need to press yourself into a shape or perform acrobatic tasks throughout a yoga exercise course, especially when there are lots of images on social networks of pretzel-like forms and also handstands continuing this concept. The important things is though, every person is various, and also every person concerns yoga for a different factor. There is no 'one size fits all' approach to practicing yoga exercise, as well as it absolutely isn't regarding what you can do with your body. Forget regarding the images or assumptions of yoga you might have seen prior to, your yoga exercise method is regarding you.

7. Remember: exactly how you do something is how you do everything

This is a subtle yet fascinating part of yoga exercise, as well as can assist establish body-mind recognition in an effective method. If you hunch your shoulders in your yoga exercise class, you possibly do this in everyday life. If you hold your breath or grit your teeth, you possibly do this in day-to-day live also. All these small activities send out demanding messages to the body as well as brain, so make note as well as see if you can service them both on and off the mat.

Growing your awareness on and also off the mat

8. Focus on your foundation

Whether your hands or feet are holding you in a posture, the foundation of your body is extremely crucial. Simply like the foundations of a house, the entire structure trusts it, so focus on the means your hands and feet are put. Spread your fingers and also toes to create a base of support, as well as pay attention to those little hints from your teacher.

Practise in class: Basics of yoga - balance from your feet

9. Care for your core

A solid core not just assists you feel much more effective, it can make your yoga exercise method simpler and extra enjoyable too. As the centre of the body, the core is associated with essentially every movement we make. The more powerful your core is, the much less most likely you are to get wounded, and also the most likely you are to quit considering just how much your body is trembling, and begin concentrating rather on relaxing the mind ...

4 methods to evaluate and also train your core strength

10. Take it with you

A yoga practice isn't simply something we can only do on the floor covering - it's a life-long procedure. The mindfulness, breathwork, positive self-image, stamina, launch of expectation, focus and existence we construct in each yoga exercise course can be equated right into daily life, which implies we reach gain from yoga exercise throughout the entire day, and also pass those advantages on everyone we connect with too!

[mythgendered]

Archie Mega Man:  And Friends Edition

With the wonderful Spirit ex Machina arc completed, we move on not to a new game adaptation, or even another formal storyline at all. Instead, the next six issues are (mostly) one-shot stories that, while continuing from what was established or set up in the last arc, are largely self-contained and serve to explore the world Flynn has crafted over 16 issues of robotic fun.

Because of the unusual format, this reread is probably gonna be a little different from the others, and hopefully not too over the place. So let’s start with the only multi-parter in this sequence, which covers the origin of the elusive Blues Proto Man he chose the name Break Man in the last issue, guys.

Heads up y’all this one’s even longer!

Proto-Type gives us the backstory of Blues, the mysterious robot who was alluded to as far back as issue 2, and was last seen joining Dr Wily’s Lanfront army in the last arc.

Blues is Dr Light’s first major creation, the first true robot master -- and Thomas’ first son. The fledgeling Light family flourishes in those early days, and Thomas and Blues grow as close together as any father and son could. But after a disastrous military test, it’s revealed that Blues’ power core is faulty, putting him on a path to his death. Tensions flare between the two over concerns that repairing the core risked erasing Blues’ personality-- the young robot fearing he is doomed to die no matter what.

Unfortunately, an exasperated Thomas says the worst possible thing at the worst possible time -- pushing the already fearful robot into fleeing the lab in the dead of night.

On his own, Blues travels the world, aiming to make the most of what remained of his life. He spends his days a hero, saving lives and halting tragedies, even at the cost of his dwindling time. Ar the end, the dying young bot remembers the man who called him son, and makes his way back home at last to make amends and reunite with the man he hopes to call father once more.

And if you’ve been paying attention, you know about how well that goes.

And we know the rest from there-- a trip to the amazon, a meeting with Dr Wily and one fancy new helmet later, and Break Man is born.

Proto-Type is a solid introduction to Blues, a character who joins the cast with all the heartache and complexity expected of our bold, post-Spiritus world. He is a lost, hurting child betrayed by the person closest to him and with nowhere to turn. His fears were dismissed, his very personality was threatened and he was, ultimately, replaced and forgotten.

But we know that’s not quite what happened. The first time we heard about Blues, it was from a stunned Dr. Light mistaking a sniper joe for his long lost boy. This is not a man who replaced a robot, but a father desperate for any sign of the child who ran away all those years ago. Their dynamic isn’t just strained, it’s broken, and though Blues is very much alive by end of his two-parter, we’re left wondering if the Light family will ever be truly united and whole. It’s bittersweet, and best of all, it’ll be explored in the stories to come.

The two-parter builds up that forgiveness theme I was getting at last discussion -- because while I’m getting ahead of myself somewhat, forgiveness, whether it be of another person or of yourself, is at the core (ha) of Blues’ personal story for the rest of the comic. It’s also, in a way, one of the comic’s central themes moving forward. I mean, it’s not for nothing that Light is talking to Dr. Lalinde when he says what he does (and I’m really getting ahead of myself there). 

Dr. Lalinde, and a lot of the comic-original characters actually, feature prominently throughout these issues, which is really nice, and not just for narrative parallels. Like I said, Flynn has been carefully crafting a larger world for the game’s characters to live in, and its nice to see the day to day of Rock’s world when he isn’t embroiled in a catastrophic terrorist attack or bid for world domination from Dr Wily. Which actually brings us to our next talking point--

In addition to giving us Blues’ backstory, issues 17 and 18 give us two small backup stories starring the MM1 robot masters doing...well, what they were designed to do!

They’re simple, cutesy stories that wrap up in a few short pages: Guts Man and Concrete Man stop a dam from collapsing after getting on each others nerves -- while Ice Man has to chill his brother out after he gets a little confused on the nature of arctic study.

There’s a lot to smile at with these stories -- it’s noteworthy, for one, that one (soon two) of the Mega Man 9 robot masters are already active, given what the conflict is in their own game -- but I mostly just like what these stories mean in the greater context of the setting. Like I said when I talked about the first arc, one of the nice things about this comic is seeing the robot masters when they aren’t trying to take over the world. We know that each of the games’ bosses have their own unique function -- one that Wily is generally perverting for his own selfish ends -- but rarely do we actually get to see these functions in action.

So it’s nice to see ice Man actually helping out with polar studies, and Guts Man actually using his strength to help construction projects and the like. It’s what Dr Light always dreamed of, and it’s genuinely heartening to see that his robots aren’t just Wily Reprogramming Fodder.

Also, the casual interactions between the Robot Masters is just cute.

But hey, it’s not just former bosses that get the time to shine in this stretch of stories!

Issue 19 is a one-off adventure starring Roll and Tempo, whose emotions have been restored per Dr Lalinde’s personal revelation at the end of Spiritus Ex Machina Like I said last time, that arc  focused on Lalinde herself, and what drove her to delete Tempo’s personality. In this issue and others, we get to see how that decision, and the incident that prompted it, has impacted Tempo. But we’ll get to that in a sec, let’s talk about Roll!

Roll takes the spotlight in the best way in this comic, immediately taking charge when her day on the beach with Tempo and Kalinka Cossack (yay for a more connected world!) is disrupted by a damaged and sinking cruise liner. With Rock out of commission getting the much needed “slide” upgrade, Roll oversees rescue efforts and directs Tempo, Oil Man and a newly activated Splash Woman to minimize both casualties and environmental damage.

And they do! Roll gets to save the day, all while delivering action that is both exciting and unique to the comic. Rather than robots blasting each other, we see the robot masters, again, do exactly what they were built to do, ultimately preventing a much larger tragedy. It’s death free. The crash left no pollutants to poison the area. It’s precisely the type of humanity-helping action Dr Light envisioned when he said, “Yeah, let’s make a robot mermaid!”

I keep repeating myself here, but it’s just really nice to see this kind of story in the comic. Whether in this comic or others, I like seeing the smaller, personal impact heroism has. This isn’t saving the universe(s) or foiling a bid for total galactic control -- it’s just one boat, a small group of people, and making sure those people make it out unharmed.

 It’s a smaller scale conflict that nonetheless delivers on fun action and character moments-- especially for Tempo, who, uh...I will talk about in a moment, because it’s better to talk about her development once it rounds off in a later issue!

For now, there’s Issue 20 which....doesn’t really have a whole lot to really talk about!

Rock of Ages is the 25th anniversary issue, even coming out the same month as Mega Man 1 for the NES. In it, we get a kinda-sorta set up for an adaptation of The Wily Wars, before Rock is blasted throughout time to all of the major games and spinoff titles -- even  Challenger from the Future gets a quick cameo!

The whole thing is just an excuse to shout out to all the Mega Man Classic titles, which is fine! It was fun to see split second flashes of how the games would play out in Flynn’s universe, and it’ll be fun to see it again when we hit the end of the series.

There’s just not a lot to say about it!

Hey look! The Mega Man Killers and the Genesis Unit! And the Upon a Star time machine! RIP Time Man, your death is highly appropriate given the nature of Wily Tower.

Also, it’s interesting, the decision to mash these two enemy groups AND the Chronos Institute together. Just puttin all your time travel-related eggs in one basket, eh, Flynn?

Also, say hi to Quint everyone, the single most confusing and interesting character from the Classic Era. Better hope time travel runs on Multiverse theory, Rock!

Anyway.

Countdown sees Rock celebrating New Year’ Eve with the city he’s now saved three times over. He’s a guest of honor, and it’s a little awkward for the Light Bot, but public speaking concerns are quickly forgotten thanks to (what’s left of) the Emerald Spears showing up for another wacky terrorist attack! They could kill many innocents, haha! 

Issue 21 is another solid adventure, following up on Spiritus Ex Machina’s main conflict (where other issues merely followed up on its theeeeeeeeemes 8) ). Rock works with Agents Krantz and Stern once again to take down the last three Spears -- and while he worked closely with Krantz to save Roll in Time Keeps on Slipping, here Rock grows closer with the much surlier Stern to take down Payne.

It’ll be more explored in the next issue, but here we see GIl Stern’s resentment of the rushing wave of robotics -- and how it it contrasts with Xander Payne’s...uh, continued temper tantrum? The two agree in theory on the fact that the X Series, which is coming at the setting like a freight train full of explosives, probably isn’t the best future for mankind. But, you know, Gil is a rational, mature person about it, and Payne is still throwing a hissy fit about his totally rad cyborg eye.

But that’s not to say that Stern hogs all the spotlight -- Agent Krantz gets some more time to shine, too, and we even get a hint at some backstory!

I’m not sure if this was supposed to go further or develop more, but it was nice seeing the groundwork laid for a more fleshed out background for these guys. I haven’t been shy about the fact I adore these comic-original characters, and this scene, as small as it is, was appreciated.

This issue was also really good for Mega Man, and the insight we get into Rock’s character. So much of what we’ve seen of Rock has painted him as conflicted and guilty, burdened by the violence needed to do the right thing.

But in this issue -- and the next -- we see a more relaxed side of Rock, and get a glimpse at the person he is when he isn’t fighting for everlasting peace. He’s a polite, sometimes silly little robot who’s learning from the world around him while trying to help it. He’s very much his father’s son: wide eyed and idealistic, optimistic about the future and always, always willing to see the best in people, no matter how surly they act. 

I dunno, I admit I might be reading a bit much into some sparse characterization in an otherwise action-filed fluff story. In any case, it’s real nice to see Rock doing what he was enjoys without the crushing weight of his own guilt eroding him with every panel.

Plus, I am awfully fond of his speech from the end of the issue:

He’s just such a good boy, guys.

It occurs to me that you could probably write off these issues as filler, though you’re probably not surprised to hear I disagree with that view. Though these have all been fairly self contained stories, the degree to which they flesh out the setting and further story themes make them just as essential to me as any of the adaptations. None more so, in fact, than the last of these in-between issues!

Cold Crush is just about everything I like about the comic mashed up into one story, and it’s up among my favorite issues in the series.

Cold Man has invited Rock, Roll and Tempo to lend a hand (and drills) in his arctic research. This invitation is actually something of a ruse, though, as Ice Man (somewhat confusingly) has a crush on Roll and is hoping to get something going between them. Unfortunately, Roll herself gets the wrong message and, well...

Meanwhile, Agents Krantz and Stern are having a friendly night out after the former was ditched by a date, when they run into Doctors Light and Lalinde, also on a romantic night out, making it a double date.

Nothng but polite conversation ensues.

It’s a simple setup with a simple conflict -- the dinner date gets heated while an ice collapse endangers the bots -- but one that weaves together cleverly and really pushes the kinds of questions I’ve been gushing about for the past 21 issues.

Agent Stern isn’t as fanatical as the Emerald Spears, but he’s still firmly against the rapid advancement of technology; and even without the readers’ foreknowledge of the disasters that the future brings (Maverick Wars, Elf Wars, a freaking space colony slamming into the surface of the planet, whatever the heck happens to prompt the Legends era), the fact that Dr. Wily has launched several destructive campaigns with the robot masters would probably give anyone room for pause.

But Dr. Light, ever his son’s father, is an unrelenting optimist, wholly believing in the benefits of his work. While that might strike some as naive, especially knowing what comes later (shout out to Agent Stern all but calling the Maverick Virus by name), you can kinda see where he’s coming from.

We just saw, over the course of these in-between issues, the robot masters stop a dam from breaking, halt a terrorist organization’s plans and almost completely negate the possible devastation of a sinking cruise liner. For as much terror as we know lies ahead for the Mega Man series, we can also see the good Dr Light’s efforts have done for the world around him.

It’s a complicated issue, and even though it seems to favor one side, I feel the comic leaves just enough room for the reader to determine just how founded Light’s optimism really is.

And that’s not getting into the other plot!

The two stories are interconnected, with the romantic escapades highlighting the points made during the double date debate. It’s a clever way to tell the story, and recontextualizes what would be a generic story of awkward/oblivious love interests and unrequited crushes -- or at least it did for me when it clicked for me “Oh yeah, these guys are all machines and one of them is literally learning how to emote."

All of them are highly advanced robots, but social nuance is something they weren’t really programmed to process.

Ice Man, you gotta stop crushing on your sister, though, it’s a little weird.

What really makes this issue for me, though, is Tempo’s development, which give us the complete picture on her emotional status since Spirtus Ex Machina.  We got our first look at her state of mind back in Issue 19:

Poor girl only just got her emotions back and she already has anxiety. Last arc we saw that what happened to Tempo deeply disturbed Dr. Lalinde, and led her to delete her daughter’s emotions. As shown in her anxieties, the whole incident left a mark on Tempo, as well -- beyond just the initial damage.

She’s still learning to feel again, but she can process trauma just fine, and she spends much of  Issue 19 nervously weighing every one of her actions. She doesn’t want to fall again, be hurt again -- and while in that issue she manages to push through her fears and act...

...it’s in this issue that, confronted with her literal worst nightmare, we get to see her fears laid bare:

Things are so complicated for Tempo. She’s afraid of being damaged, of being lost, and most telling of all, she’s afraid of what her mother might do. It’s a candid, tragic admission, and shows the deep, lasting effect that Dr Lalinde’s actions has had on her. It is unfair to say that Tempo is afraid of her mother, but there is a very real fear present in their relationship regardless. It certainly reads that the consequences of injury are worse to her than the actual damage itself -- the fear of losing everything that makes her Tempo for a second time

Hey, I said it was fitting that Light was talking to Lalinde when he pushed Blues away.

I would not characterize Dr. Lalinde as a villain at all. She made a terrible, awful mistake-- one that’s left a clear emotional scar on Tempo --  but she’s also clearly working to make amends for the hurt she knowingly inflicted on her own daughter. And, near as we can see (and will be made explicit in future issues) Tempo still trusts her mother. She does not speak ill of her, and they are shown spending time together on New Year’s. The Lalindes have a complicated, heart-wrenching relationship, and the story of their gradual reconciliation is one of my favorite parts of the comic.

I think she’ll be fine, guys. And that’s wonderful.

But that brings us to the end of this stretch of issues! There’s technically one more issue, but that doubles as prologue for Worlds Collide and Curse of Ra Moon, so I will not be discussing it! This post is long enough as is, oh my goodness.

As I’ve said, you could probably pretty easily brush off these issues as filler. They’re all simple one-shots that don’t connect to an overarching storyline, don’t adapt any games and don’t really lead up to either of the two major stories we’re about to head into. But I adore these issues, and I’ll fight you on calling them filler.

...Except Rock of Ages! That one pretty much was filler and you could skip it with...only some confusion? I dunno, it really only matters if you’re Xander Payne.

In any case, these issues are all wonderful looks into Mega Man’s world, and continue to explore the central themes and ideas of the comic. Lots of characters get to share the spotlight, any of them developing in pleasing ways. And our boy Rock isn’t left out to dry, getting plenty of good, good moments -- like his comforting of Tempo.

It was a good run of stories, but next time we’ll get back into the lengthier arcs. Crossovers are looming, Ra Moon is scheming, and Mega Man...has a birthday party to attend!

Until next time!

[theliberaltony]

via Politics – FiveThirtyEight

George W. Bush was president when I first started covering national politics. He had come into office with barely any support from black voters. He won re-election with almost as little. But Bush still paid some heed to the interests of black Americans. When then-Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott praised the pro-segregation 1948 presidential campaign of Strom Thurmond, for example, Bush slammed Lott, helping lead to his removal as majority leader. Bush also appointed Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice, two African-Americans whose views on racial issues were not particularly conservative, to top posts in the administration.

It’s not as though the Bush administration pushed a lot of legislation that African-Americans were excited about, and at times, it even seemed actively apathetic about the black community. But at least the president and his party didn’t seem to have an openly antagonistic relationship with black Americans.

That’s no longer true.

The Republican Party has struggled to get significant support from black voters for decades. What’s different now is that many GOP officials seem to have stopped trying to speak to them, no longer paying even minimal lip service to their concerns. Changes in both parties’ bases of support have shifted the incentives for elected Republicans, and you can see that in their rhetoric.

There’s President Trump, of course. To take just a few examples: He rudely dismissed questions from White House reporter April Ryan, of the American Urban Radio Networks, and two other black female reporters last month. (Bush and Ryan were quite friendly, by contrast.) On the campaign trail, Trump strongly defended Mississippi Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, who made a joke about public hangings and has a long record of embracing symbols and figures of the Confederacy. The sole black person in Trump’s cabinet, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, has views on racial issues that are quite conservative and unlikely to help the president appeal to black voters.

“What Trump has done is say the quiet parts out loud, without doing much of anything substantial to counter accusations of promoting racial intolerance,” said Ted Johnson, an expert on black voting behavior who works at the Brennan Center for Justice. “And in doing so, he gives license to other Republicans to be unabashed in their racialized appeals.”

Indeed, it’s not just Trump. Georgia’s former Secretary of State, Brian Kemp, who will become the state’s governor in January, aggressively investigated groups trying to register black voters. Trump’s outgoing chief of staff John Kelly praised Confederate General Robert E. Lee last year, and said the Civil War was caused by a “lack of compromise.”. Senate Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell pushed hard — and almost successfully — for the chamber to confirm Trump nominee Thomas Farr to a federal judgeship. Farr had been a key defender of a North Carolina voting law that a federal court declared illegal because it was designed to limit the votes of blacks with “surgical precision.”

The Farr nomination led to a public scolding of the GOP by one of its own, South Carolina’s Tim Scott, the only black Republican in the Senate. Scott, who is no moderate,1 effectively blocked Farr’s nomination and blasted his party for even considering him.

“We should stop bringing candidates with questionable track records on race before the full Senate for a vote,” Scott wrote in a letter to the editor that was published in the Wall Street Journal last week.

I don’t want to overstate my case. I’m talking about a somewhat subtle shift that’s hard to measure in a concrete way. The pre-Trump Republican Party often ignored black interests — and was downright racist at times. And the Republican Party in the Trump era has taken a few steps to appeal to blacks, most notably its work with some African-American leaders on a criminal-justice reform bill that would reduce jail sentences for some convicted of drug crimes, a group that is disproportionately black. There are also high-profile Republicans, most notably Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and Scott, who are trying to build ties with African-American voters.

But more broadly, I would argue that Republicans are making fewer attempts to appeal to black voters and being more openly anti-black at times than a decade ago. And there are clear reasons that explain such a shift.

Let me start with the Republican Party. Bush was very unpopular by the time his presidency ended. After he returned to Texas, conservatives basically disowned his political style and approach Then, during Barack Obama’s presidency, a more anti-establishment wing of the Republican Party, which was more conservative and more openly hostile to black interests, gained strength. Laws that disproportionately affected blacks and made it harder for them to vote were adopted in GOP-controlled states across the country. What’s more, the false claims that Obama was a Muslim or was not born in the U.S. gained political currency on the right. Eventually, of course, a promoter of these “birther” claims, Trump, won the Republican nomination and then the presidency.

And the GOP has found some political success in both 2016 and 2018 by largely eschewing black outreach. Trump, according to the 2016 exit polls, lost to Hillary Clinton among black voters by 81 percentage points, worse than Bush did in 2004 against John Kerry.2 But Trump’s 39-point advantage among whites without college degrees was much larger than Bush’s 23-point margin with that voting bloc. A number of scholars have found whites without college degrees, in particular, have negative attitudes about racial minorities. And what’s more, those attitudes were a key factor in pushing some to back Trump after previously supporting Obama.

I talked to a few Republican strategists about the party’s relationship with blacks. They declined to speak with their names attached, wary of criticizing the sitting Republican president. But they suggested that Trump, as the leading Republican in the country, was pushing the party in a bad direction on racial issues that other GOP officials struggle to resist, in part because GOP voters have embraced Trump’s approach.

“Trump is just very tone-deaf when it comes to racial issues,” said one party strategist. “That inflames his opponents. And that opposition makes Trump’s base even more defensive of him.”

“If I were a GOP strategist I wouldn’t be able to see any issues where I might pick off at least some black voters,” said Lee Drutman, a political scientist at the think tank New America who has written about how the partisan divide in America is increasingly racial. “I’d also see that Trump pulled in a lot of racially conservative whites and think that if there’s nothing I can do to win over black voters, I might as well try to energize racially conservative whites, and try to make somewhat racially conservative whites feel more outraged about political correctness so they don’t vote for Democrats.”

As Drutman said, it’s hard to see how the GOP might win over African-American constituents. The Democrats have shifted since the Bush presidency to become even more aligned with black voters, making GOP appeals to black voters increasingly futile. The Democrats aren’t just the party of black voters, they are now the party that promotes black presidential candidates and black candidates for Congress and governor, even in fairly conservative parts of the country. The Democratic Party included Black Lives Matter activists at the party’s national convention in 2016. Plus, white Democratic voters increasingly embrace liberal ideas on racial issues.

Again, let me not overstate this. There are plenty of liberal African-Americans who say that the Democratic Party often ignores or downplays racism in America. But this past election cycle, Democrats in Georgia nominated a black female candidate for governor — Stacey Abrams, who supported the the removal of the carvings of three Confederate leaders on Georgia’s Stone Mountain and had once participated in the burning of the Georgia state flag, back when the flag’s design intentionally resembled the Confederate battle flag. Both Oprah Winfrey and President Obama, perhaps the two most famous black people in the country, campaigned for her enthusiastically. And liberal donors across the country embraced the cause of electing who would have been the first black female governor in U.S. history.

Meanwhile, Kemp’s record of investigating groups trying to increase black voting was problematic. But I’m not surprised that he did not spend a lot of time in black areas of Atlanta trying to get votes for his gubernatorial campaign. Running against a person with Abrams’s biography, political support and views, he was unlikely to get much black support — and perhaps more importantly, he could win without it.

So we may now be in a downward spiral, where Republicans have almost no reason to appeal to black voters and therefore aren’t. This is probably bad for Republican politicians (some of them don’t want the party to be in constant tension with African-Americans), but it may be bad for blacks as well — they have become even more tied to one party and are totally shut out of power if it loses.

What could change this? Maybe the 2018 election results.

Republicans really struggled in the suburbs in November. Who lives in suburbs? An increasing number of minorities, but also voters with more liberal views on cultural issues, supporting abortion rights and gay marriage, for example. So a less anti-black GOP would likely have more appeal in the suburbs.

“I know diehard Democrats who voted for Hogan but never would have cast that vote had they seen Hogan as bigoted,” said David Lublin, a government professor at American University who has written extensively on the intersections of politics and race. Maryland Republican Gov. Larry Hogan easily won his re-election bid in traditionally liberal Maryland, in part by avoiding the racial controversies that dogged other Republicans who ran against black candidates.

So you could make a good argument that Republicans should try harder to appeal to black voters — even if it’s just for electoral reasons. But I don’t expect much to change in the short term. Trump is the dominant figure in the Republican Party, so I expect GOP officials to mirror his approach of either largely ignoring or actively irritating black people — even if that posture makes it harder for the GOP to win votes in the suburbs. Meanwhile, the Democrats have a decent chance of nominating a black person for president or vice-president in 2020 — and even a Democratic ticket without any black candidates is likely to embrace liberal stances on racial issues. It’s really hard to see these dynamics shifting with Trump in office — but I’m not sure they will shift even after he is gone.

[estateone-blog]

A Healthy Home Means a Healthy Family l Estateone

With intensified focus on energy efficiency, sometimes Westchester and Putnam County, NY homeowners lose sight of how to improve the overall health of their home. Even if your home is well constructed and insulated, your indoor air quality may not be up to par.

At Healthy Home Energy & Consulting, we focus on the health of your whole home. This focus ensures each component is performing as it should to provide a safe and healthy place to live. Your home’s indoor air quality (IAQ) can have a big impact on your family’s well being. Paying attention to the whole house health can help you and your family breathe easy.

1. Reduce Stress and Fatigue.

Stress reduction is the first step toward living a healthy life, because stress is a large determinant of good health. Continuous or chronic stress can cause muscle tension, headaches and migraines, heart problems, adrenal fatigue, nausea, overeating and is overall draining for your energy levels. Once all of the controllable stressors are removed from your life, you can more easily take positive proactive steps toward health.

The first step to reducing stress in your life is to reduce the clutter in your home! Scientists at Princetonfound that clutter reduces your ability to focus as well as your ability to process information. Although deep-cleaning your possessions is a time-consuming first step toward health, it will pay off in the long run. Take anywhere between half of a day and a day, depending on how much clutter you have, to go through your belongings. Sort the items you do not use into a donate or discard pile. Create a “home” for everything you are keeping so that future cleaning will be easier and less stressful.

Another method to relieve stress is bringing some of Mother Nature’s magic into your home. Several studies have shown that exposure to nature improves mood and reduces stress. Although looking at a painting or photograph of plant life isn’t as beneficial as a walk through the woods, art that imitates nature still has positive effects on the brain. If you would rather have actual plant life in your home instead of art, there are plenty of plants that do not need sunlight or a lot of water. There are quite a few plants that purify the air and require almost zero maintenance, such as spider plants and garden mums.

2. Start with a Healthy Home Evaluation.

Our highly trained healthy home evaluation team can test all the systems in your home that combine to affect energy efficiency, indoor air quality, and safety. After a complete visual inspection, we’ll conduct an energy audit with a blower door test and thermal imaging to see how well your home’s exterior envelope is keeping outside air out.

We’ll also conduct a combustion safety test for your furnace, water heater, and/or boiler—anything that operates by burning fuel. Finally, we’ll use our state-of-the-art indoor air testing equipment to test for indoor air pollution.

3. Pest Free.

Use reduced amounts of energy, water, and resource consumption Energy efficiency/weatherization includes: Install proper weatherization, such as: insulation, air-sealing, weather-stripping, and window efficiency Maintain efficient heating and cooling system; proper air flow and temperature distribution; efficient hot water / steam boiler system

4. Make Your Home a Haven.

Life is risky. But while you can't avoid every hazard thrown in your path, you can try to create a wholesome nest for yourself and your family—pets included. It starts by blocking certain nasties at the front door, including pollen, pesticides, noxious solvents, and disease-carrying creepie crawlies. Indoors, you want to prevent mold, bacteria, and viruses from taking hold, and minimize allergy-provoking animal dander and dust mites. Making your home healthier can involve simple remedies, such as opening a window to let in a blast of fresh air, and more lasting solutions, like moving away from paints, furnishings, and cleaning products that throw off chemical vapors.

To get the lowdown on the best actions for you to take right now—and some to consider down the road—we canvassed health and environmental experts across the country. Here, our best advice for cleaning up your household.

5. Pinpoint Common Sources of Indoor Air Pollution.

In many London homes, excess moisture is a source of indoor air pollution. If moisture or damp air isn’t properly ventilated, it can cause mold, mildew, and musty odors to accumulate inside your home. Other causes of poor air quality include poor ventilation, carbon monoxide gases from poorly performing heating & cooling equipment, elevated radon gas, and chemical fume build-up from household cleaners, paint, flooring, and furnishings.

6.Entryways.

A- Keep pollen out. During hay fever season, shake or brush off outerwear, and keep a brush and wet wipes handy to clean pets' fur and feet. Don't hang laundry on outdoor clothes lines, at least for now.

B- Add mats on both sides of the door. Up to 80 percent of the dirt that gets tracked inside—along with countless allergens, bacteria, and lawn chemicals—can be caught with a double length of washable matting before it makes itself at home. Shown at left: Waterhog mats, which can be hosed down (from $40; plowandhearth.com).

C- Air out dry cleaning. Take off plastic bags before you come inside so that any residual perchloroethylene, a common dry-cleaning solvent and suspected carcinogen, can evaporate. If your dry cleaning has a strong chemical odor when you pick it up, give it back and ask that it be properly dried. Or Google "organic dry cleaning" to find a perc-free service near you.

[stereksecretsanta]

Merry Christmas, @knownonsense8!

This is my Sterek Secret Santa gift for knownonsense8. It went through several different iterations before I settled on this one; I really wanted to include werewolf!Stiles, but unfortunately, that didn't work out with this particular version. I did get in the werewolf reveal aspect (kind of) so I hope you like it regardless! :)

Read on AO3

*****

make it easy, take your time

“—and we’ve collaborated with the hotel to get you discounted prices on rooms! Feel free to book a room, they’d love to have you!”

Derek smiled and nodded at Kira, the kitsune who had been giving him a rundown of the annual West Coast Lycanthropic & Other Identities Symposium, hoping he seemed sincere. He had absolutely no intentions of staying in the hotel with all the other people attending the symposium, not when he’d already let Laura badger him into coming back to Beacon Hills after a good ten years away. Kira was very enthusiastic, though, and Laura would kill him if she found out he was being a grump, so he was trying to be as friendly as possible.

Kira handed him a sheaf of brochures and a nametag hanging from a lanyard, and Derek stuffed them in the outside pocket of his suitcase. He shook her hand, said a quick goodbye and then turned tail, leaving before he gave in and ending up staying at the hotel. She’d been the first organizer of the symposium he’d met, and unable to resist her relentless chatter and bright smile, he had already listened to the history of the symposium, how it had changed from being just for werewolves to including a whole host of other supernatural creatures, while getting a tour of the hotel ballrooms the various talks were going to be held in.

Derek didn’t care if it looked like he was running away, he definitely did not trust his willpower against her determined cheerfulness.

Of course, that still left him without a place to stay. Beacon Hills had grown quite a lot over the past ten years, but there still were only a few reputable places to stay, and fewer still that were close to the hotel where the symposium was being held and far enough away from the site of the old house. Derek knew that if the symposium went well and if the current supernatural inhabitants of Beacon Hills were okay with the Hales coming back, Laura would definitely move the whole pack back. He’d have to finally face the burnt down remains of his old home then, but until that time? He was going to be avoiding it as long as he could.

He wandered out of the hotel and breathed in deep. Even after all these years, Beacon Hills’ smell was still so familiar to him: pine trees and rich earth, undercut with a faint line of magic running through the ley lines…and something else, something new. Derek sniffed discreetly, trying to parse out the new scent. It was a strangely compelling mix of warm cider and oranges, and he had never smelled anything like it before. Almost unconsciously, he picked up his suitcase and followed the scent down the sidewalk, barely paying attention to the pedestrian crossings.

After a few minutes, he reached a cozy brick building, stopping at a neatly painted white and blue door, the scent clearly leading him inside. A wooden sign next the door proclaimed it to be the “Delgado Bed and Breakfast – A Beacon Hills Original!” Derek shrugged to himself. Might as well stay here, instead of the crowded hotel. He swung the door open, a bell tinkling gently overhead, only to be smacked face-first by the scent, unadulterated by time and distance, and its apparent source, a lanky pale guy laughing in the most distracting way possible, his head thrown back and his neck bared for all to see. Derek was struck by the sudden urge to stride over and bite, and only snapped out of it when the door handle began to lose shape under his grip.

He hastily yanked his hand back and walked over to the guy, who was sitting behind the reception desk and grinning down at his phone. He straightened up when he saw Derek, toning down his smile, but that did nothing to diminish the butterflies suddenly zooming about in Derek’s stomach. Up close, the guy was even more enticing: kissable pink lips and deep brown eyes, crinkling up as he smiled, the cutest upturned nose Derek had ever seen. Derek’s fangs were even more itchy now, his wolf ready to stick his nose in the soft bend of the guy’s neck and mark him as his own.

Derek was so screwed.

~~~

The guy’s name was Stiles, he was in his senior year of college at UC Davis, and he was helping out at his best friend’s mom’s B&B for winter break, like he had been for the past four years.

He had also thrown Derek off so much that Derek had stumbled through the conversation, feeling even more awkward than he usually did. The tips of his ears had been bright pink for the whole interaction, and he’d almost let it slip that he was here for the Lycanthropic Symposium, before managing to cover it up by vaguely mentioning something about a work conference. He really should have read up on how the organizers presented the symposium to the rest of the non-supernatural world.

Stiles had just looked at him with an actual twinkle in his eye, said that everyone in town was excited that Beacon Hills had been picked to host the conference, especially Stiles himself, and then had very obviously checked Derek out and winked at him. Derek had stood there, tongue-tied, and Stiles had smirked at him, handed him his room key and a card, and told him to give him a call if he ever needed anything, with special emphasis on the anything.

Derek had somehow managed to get to his room without making even more of a fool out of himself, and was now lying on the bed with his face smushed into a pillow. His phone was vibrating next to his head, texts from Laura and the rest of his pack demanding details on his day so far. When Laura called him, the obnoxious song she’d set as her ringtone blaring out, Derek finally stopped replaying the conversation over his head and answered his phone. Laura hated talking to people on the phone, and the fact that she’d resorted to calling meant she was this close to freaking out.

He realized he was on speakerphone when a chorus of voices greeted him, and just that sound was enough to leach some of his tension away. It hadn’t really sunk in how much he missed everyone, even Erica and her tendency to use him as a footrest no matter where he was. He suddenly wanted them to be right here with him, even though he knew he’d be in for merciless teasing.

“I’m fine,” he said, wanting to get that settled right away. “I got my symposium information, I have a place to stay, I’m okay.”

“Good,” Laura’s voice filtered through over the sound of the rest of the pack’s ruckus. “That’s great to hear, but why the hell didn’t you answer our texts?”

Derek grumbled and stuck his face back into his pillow. He didn’t want to get into this right now, especially not with the rest of the pack still on the call.

“Derek Samuel Hale,” Laura said, trotting out her rarely used alpha voice. “You’d better answer me right now or I’m flying out there to find out myself.”

In the background, Derek could hear Isaac and Boyd laughing and Erica fake-swooning at Laura, and he sighed. There was no getting out of this.

He gave them a quick run through of his day, from meeting Kira and getting swept along on her tour, and then running away making a strategic escape, catching hold of the scent, following it to the B&B and Stiles—

“Ooh, Derek, do you have a crush?” Erica sing-songed at him, and Derek rolled his eyes.

“No,” he said, “I just think he has a really enticing scent, okay?”

“But you want to soak in that scent, right? Possibly while doing some indecent things to him? And it sounds like he’s into you too!”

Derek squirmed. “Yeah, but I probably sounded like a total idiot, and I should be focused on the symposium and making connections. And—he doesn’t even know about werewolves, he wouldn’t know what he’s getting into, and I don’t want to do that to him.”

“Derek, don’t overthink this,” Laura said. “Look, you’re there for the conference, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun, too. I know going ho—going back must be really stressful for you, but it’s going to be fine. He knows you’re just here for the conference, he’s not expecting a whole heart-to-heart and a declaration of marriage in the next few days.”

“You’re probably right,” Derek said, and Laura interrupted with a smug “I’m always right.” Derek huffed at her and she laughed, breaking the tense atmosphere.

“You don’t have to take him up on his invitation, but think about it,” Laura said. “And you know if you need any tips, we’re here for you.”

“You definitely need some tips,” Erica chimed in, and Derek snorted. “I’m serious, let’s start with what you’re going to wear tomorrow – and no scarves, Isaac!”

Derek laughed despite himself. Everything was going to be okay, probably.

~~~

Everything was fantastic.

Derek had managed to ask Stiles out early in the morning, before heading out for the first full day at the symposium, and despite his stumbling sentences, Stiles had grinned at him brightly and said yes.

That memory had carried Derek through the interminable talks about werewolf pack hierarchies and tracing back pack lineage through new DNA sequencing technologies, as well as through the equally awful small talk with old allies and connections of the Hale pack. By the end of the day he’d been this close to causing a full-on pack war if yet another person mentioned how much he’d grown up, and only the thought of seeing Stiles after all this helped him keep his cool.

He’d made it back to the B&B and changed into some nicer, non-rumpled clothes with helpful background commentary from Boyd, and then waited for Stiles at the entryway of the B&B with only minimal anxious overthinking.

They’d gone to a quiet Italian restaurant, based on Stiles’ suggestion, and now they were having an intense discussion about certain plot points in Jupiter Ascending, of all things, lingering over their dessert.

“Listen listen listen,” Stiles said, waving his fork in the air and almost splattering tiramisu all over the pristine table cloth. “Is harvesting innocent people to ensure that you look young and beautiful forever awful? Of course! But if I was given the opportunity to try some of that youth potion or whatever? Not going to lie, I would probably take it.”

Derek hummed in response, letting Stiles carry the conversation for a minute, taking a bite of his tiramisu and trying not to stare too obviously at how beautiful he looked when passionate. His hair was still maintaining its style despite him running his hands through it almost constantly, but his cheeks were flushed pink and his eyes were sparkling, mouth curving down in an attempt to hide a smile.

His scent was even more intoxicating now, made brighter with the notes of happiness and excitement running through it, and Derek wanted to bury himself in it.

He took another bite of the excellent tiramisu as Stiles said, “Plus, you know, even half-canine Channing Tatum was very hot. I think werewolves should have definitely been much more popular than vampires, ugh.”

Derek jerked and almost knocked his glass off the table, catching it before it fell, perhaps a little too fast to be human. He could feel the tips of his ears turning red again.

“What do you think?” Stiles asked, looking at him with interest. He had this little half-smirk on his face that Derek desperately wanted to kiss.

“About what?”

“About werewolves – this might be a deal-breaker, man, so choose your answer wisely.”

Derek shrugged, tried to appear as casual as possible, and said, “Oh, I like werewolves, yeah,” and Stiles raised his hands in a small, silent cheer, tiramisu fork still in his hand.

Derek grinned and gently brought the hand holding his fork down, and continued, “One of my sisters was very into Team Edward, though.”

Stiles gasped theatrically. “Team Edward! That’s a bad sign, Derek, I don’t know if I can meet her and keep my Team Jacob loyalties suppressed.”

Derek laughed and opened his mouth to reply, but then Stiles’ words truly sunk in and he paused.

“Are you saying this’ll continue long enough that we’ll meet each other’s family?”

Surprisingly, the notion didn’t strike fear into his heart. Instead, it felt – almost comfortable, a future he could see happening.

Stiles blushed, his cheeks turning even more pink, and his scent turned a little bit acrid with nervousness. “I know it’s only our first date, and you’re only here for a week, but honestly? Yeah, I hope it does. When you walked in yesterday, I saw you and – this is going to sound incredibly cheesy and stupid, but I saw you and it felt like something just clicked into place.”

Derek swallowed, thinking about how Stiles’ heartbeat was a little faster, but it hadn’t stuttered at all while he was speaking. He raised his eyes to meet Stiles’ brown ones, and said, “Yeah, I – yeah, me too, I did too.”

Stiles broke into a blinding smile and Derek smiled back, helplessly. Their feet knocked together under the table and Stiles hooked his ankle around Derek’s, and Derek wanted this to last forever. They finished their dessert quickly, eventually standing outside the restaurant, staring into each other’s eyes like a couple of love-struck morons.

He watched Stiles watch him, and they were drifting closer, closer, lips barely brushing, and then they were kissing for real, and Derek had never felt like this before.

They pulled apart for breath, foreheads still pressed together, Stiles’ skin warm under his. He had his arms tucked around Stiles’ waist, and he was ready to start kissing him again, until he remembered something he’d wanted to mention.

“Oh, um. My pa—my family is actually thinking about moving back to Beacon Hills, if everything goes well this week,” he said, and Stiles rocked back on his heels, eyes flicking down to his lips. “So we – I mean this is really presumptuous but – this doesn’t have to be a week-long thing, and it doesn’t have to be a long-distance thing for very long, either.”

“Derek, that’s awesome,” Stiles said, scent bright with happiness, and then he squinted. “Wait, back to Beacon Hills?”

Oh. Derek had completely forgotten to explain this earlier. He’d danced around the topic of his parents during the dinner, and felt a pang of empathy when Stiles had done the same about his mother, but he had never actually mentioned that he was from Beacon Hills originally.

“Yeah, my family used to live here – I was born here, lived here until I was sixteen…we had to then move away after—after that,” Derek said, hoping he didn’t have to go any deeper into it. Stiles squinted at him again, and then, with dawning recognition, said, “Holy shit, you’re Derek Hale.”

Derek grimaced at him, preparing for the usual platitudes, but Stiles surprised him. That was a pattern that he probably needed to start getting used to.

“Oh jeez, I had the biggest crush on you when I was in middle school – I was just a couple years below you, you probably don’t remember me, but hah. Look at us now!”

As Derek tried to find a way to respond to that, Stiles stuck his hand into Derek’s and then steered them back towards the B&B, telling him about his childhood and the various shenanigans he used to get into, right under his father’s nose.

By the time they reached the B&B, Derek felt much more even-keeled. He smiled gratefully at Stiles as they came to a stop, squeezing his hand. Stiles squeezed back, eyes curved up in little happy semi-circles, and Derek didn’t resist the urge to kiss him, leaning in and curving a hand around his neck, brushing the soft hairs at the nape. He didn’t make it deeper, just kept it soft and chaste, and let it end naturally.

They stood in comfortable silence for a few seconds, and then Derek drew back reluctantly. He had to get settled in for bed, since tomorrow would be another long day, and he had yet to search out and talk directly to the alpha of the new pack in Beacon Hills, McCall something.

“See you tomorrow evening?” he asked hopefully.

“Definitely, you’re not getting rid of me now,” Stiles replied, and smiled.

~~~

Three days and three dates later, Derek was smitten, and even Laura and Cora (calling him from her ranch in Argentina) teasing him wasn’t enough to bring him down.

“Derek, your life is literally like a romcom right now,” Cora said, crackly static marring the sound of her voice.

“I love it,” Laura said, delighted. “I’m so tempted to come out there right now, you don’t even know. I want to see how big your heart-eyes are, and also meet Stiles and tell him every embarrassing story I have about you.”

Cora laughed in the background and Derek groaned, exaggerating his annoyance.

“Laura, please,” Derek said, but he knew his sisters could hear the smile in his voice.

“Okay, okay,” she laughed. “Tell me how the new Beacon Hills alpha’s doing – what did he think about us coming back?”

Derek had met Scott briefly last night, and today he’d talked to him in more depth. He’d been surprised to find that Scott was genuinely nice and sincere, despite all the crap he’d been put through in Beacon Hills, after being bit by a random rogue omega and having the true alpha status foisted upon him. Kira, the cheerful kitsune from Derek’s first day, was apparently his fiancée, and when Derek had tentatively brought up the idea of his pack returning to Beacon Hills, they had both been very enthusiastic. Derek was sure that if everyone else in Scott’s pack was as welcoming as he was, they’d get along with his pack just fine.

He told them all of this, and Laura hummed. Derek knew she was probably making plans to start the process of moving back and to get in touch with Scott as soon as possible.

“He’s also invited me to dinner tonight, at his house, so that I can meet the rest of his pack,” he added.

Both Cora and Laura made the exact same approving noise, and Derek snorted. “I take it you guys approve.”

“Hell yeah,” Laura said, “Look at you, Derek, living life to the fullest, finding a cute boy to date, being social and going out to dinner with people, you’re a real boy now.”

Derek rolled his eyes as Cora snickered. He changed the topic by asking Cora about how her horses were doing, and he knew that she knew exactly what he was doing, but she rambled on about them for a while anyway. Derek lost himself in her stories for a while, but one nagging thought kept rising to the surface until he couldn’t keep it in anymore.

“So, I want to tell Stiles about werewolves,” Derek blurted out, and then closed his eyes, waiting for the fallout.

It never came.

“Derek, if this is you asking for my permission, you don’t need to,” Laura said, voice gentle in a way it rarely was. “I know you’ve felt a connection with him, and I trust your judgement.”

“But you know what happened the last time I told someone about us,” Derek said, heart in his throat. He wanted to take Laura at her word, but he couldn’t stop thinking about every little thing that could – and had – gone wrong in the past, because of his miscalculations. “What if that happens again? And even if it doesn’t, what if this is too soon and he can’t handle it? Maybe we’ll never work out and this would all be for nothing.”

“Kate was evil, Derek, and from everything you’ve told me, Stiles is the complete opposite of that,” Laura said, firm. “I don’t think anything like that is ever going to happen again. And even if it is too soon, even if it is all for nothing – I think it’ll be good for you to take a chance. Sometimes you just have to hope for the best and take the plunge, you know?”

“I guess,” Derek said, sighing. “I just—I want to tell him, just get it out of the way, but I just don’t know what to expect, and I talk myself out of it, but then I feel like it’ll be better to tell him, and then I keep going in circles about it.”

“Look, I’m not going to pressure you to tell him if you’re not ready,” Laura said. “You can wait if you want to. But if your gut’s telling you that this is the right time, and you don’t have any obvious red flags popping up – I trust you and I’ll support you either way, even if it doesn’t go well.”

“And if it doesn’t go well, I can always come up there and kick his ass for you,” Cora added.

Derek laughed weakly, and cleared his throat, trying to tamp down the swell of emotion in his chest.

“That’s great to hear,” he joked, toying with the sheets on his bed. There was so much to consider, so many factors to take into account, but his sisters had made him feel a little more determined. “Okay, I think I’m going to do it as soon as possible.”

Cora cheered, and Laura said, “Great! Now, you just need to figure out a good time to do it.”

“All I’m going to say is that don’t do it while you’re having sex,” Cora said.

“Oh my god,” Derek groaned, and Cora cackled in his ear.

“Why don’t you do it after your date tomorrow? Have a nice dinner, bring him back to your room or his apartment or whatever, tell him that this is something important and just reveal it to him slowly,” Laura said. “And don’t freak out if he reacts badly at first, okay? Give him time to adjust and get his worldview sorted.”

Derek sighed. “Okay, okay. Nice dinner, calm reveal, no running away.”

“And remember to not be a grump at dinner with the new alpha today, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Derek said. “I’ll try my best.”

“That’s all I ever ask for,” Laura said, an audible smile in her voice, and Cora cooed at them in the background.

~~~

Derek paced a block away from Scott’s house, holding a gift bag with a bottle of wine in it. He knew that Scott and Kira were very nice and would welcome him, but he hadn’t heard much about the rest of the pack, beyond that they were a rag-tag collection of various supernatural creatures. This was his chance to show that he, and by extension his pack, would be useful to have back in Beacon Hills, whether just as extra helping hands in times of need, or as friends and confidantes as well.

Not only that, this was also his chance to cement his future with Stiles – a future which didn’t involve long distance. And if all went well, he might even ask Scott for tips about the whole werewolf reveal thing. Scott probably had more experience than him, given the unusual makeup of his pack, and the fact that Laura had found and bitten Isaac, Erica, and Boyd, while Derek had only been really involved once they had committed to getting the bite.

He took a deep breath and glanced at his watch. He had five minutes until 7:00, when Scott had told him to show up. He adjusted his grip on the gift bag and started heading towards the house. The familiar scent of pine and earth surrounded him again, and he automatically sorted through it until he pulled out Stiles’ cider and oranges, something he’d started doing no matter where in Beacon Hills he was. Stiles’ scent was all over town, and it had become a comfort for Derek, a way to calm his nerves regardless of his location.

On Scott’s street, though, it seemed to be stronger than usual. Perhaps Stiles and his dad lived close by too. As he turned onto the little walkway leading up to Scott’s front door, Derek took one last deep breath, and almost sneezed, startled by how much stronger Stiles’ scent was here.

He had barely made it to the door when it swung open, and Derek looked up to find—

“Stiles?”

Stiles blinked back at him, eyes wide and mouth half open. Behind him, Derek could hear Scott saying something about how opening the door before the guest had knocked was rude even if the guest was a werewolf, but his attention was focused on Stiles and his reaction.

Before he could ask anything, though, Stiles hissed, “I knew it, the Hales had to be werewolves! You’re all too pretty to be completely human!”

Well. At least now he didn’t have to go through the whole “werewolves are real and surprise! I’m one” thing anymore?

~~~

Ten minutes later, all of them – Derek, Stiles, Scott, Kira, and the other members of Scott’s pack – were all seated in the living room, talking through what had just happened. Well, most everyone else was chattering away, but Derek was just holding Stiles’ hand, still shocked that Stiles not only knew about werewolves, but was Scott’s actual emissary, and that he was still interested in Derek.

“I can’t believe I didn’t connect the dots earlier,” Stiles said, rubbing his thumb along Derek’s palm. “You almost slipped up and said the Lycanthrope Symposium when we first met!”

“Yeah,” Derek admitted. “I was really flustered because you were there, and you were so – and your scent was just – amazing.”

Stiles beamed at him. “Awww, you were discombobulated by me! That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said about me.”

“Psh,” Derek said, hoping his burning ears weren’t too obvious, and tried to move the topic along. “I can’t believe I didn’t catch your scent at the symposium talks.”

“Well, I was only there for a few minutes at a time, whenever I could get some time off from Scott’s mom’s B&B. I don’t think you’d have been able to catch my scent, what with so many other people around.”

Derek glanced away from Stiles, but his blush had spread to his cheeks and he knew they had given him away when Stiles gaped at him.

“No way, you could have caught my scent with all of those people around? Even through all the selkies and their awful fish market smell?”

Derek shrugged, trying to be dismissive, but Stiles grabbed him and planted a kiss on his lips, his hands warm on Derek’s face.

He clambered onto Derek’s lap, almost kicking Scott in the head along the way, said, grinning happily, “That’s the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard, Derek Hale. I’m planning on keeping you forever.”

Derek smiled back, helpless, and envisioned a future full of this – a warm house full of both of their packs, Stiles always near him – and said, “I would love that.”

[polarishq]

Meet OLYMPIA EUN. They are THIRTY TWO years old and hail from SOUTHFIELD, MICHIGAN. Ollie embodies the star, TSEEN KE. They use she/her pronouns. Their faceclaim is ADELINE RUDOLPH.

Tseen Ke reminds me of the casual spin of a cleaver knife between nimble fingers, a cupboard full of champagne glasses, the routine of paying tithes, the art of reliving your darkest moments, bare feet tapping a steady rhythm along the ground, a body seized with desire, skirts pressed and prepared for Sunday service, rose petals in the bathtub, Sanjana playing over the speakers, weekend confessionals, that rich-girl-bitch-girl-babydoll type shit.

BIOGRAPHY

If asked, Olympia Ji-Min Eun can describe the rundown Southfield apartment she grew up in. She can tell you how it felt to drag her fingers down the cracks in the wall, take a pencil and draw the amorphous rain stains on the ceiling, tell you how many steps there were between one nail sticking out of the carpet and the next; she could just as easily describe the octave of her neighbor’s voice when he was shouting at his wife, or the exact time of night when the other kids in the building would come inside.

When she wasn’t playing the role of Bishop Gavin and First Lady Dolores Eun’s dutiful daughter, she was committing those details to memory, learning everything about the world around her without ever interacting with it. She could have played a more active role, and maybe she should have. But nothing about life held her attention; everything was dull and predictable, worth learning but not engaging.

It was December 25, 2001, approximately 3:19pm when Tseen Ke appeared, the only Christmas presents the stars ever gave her. Ollie would like to say that her life drastically changed since then, but it was one of the most subtle changes she’s ever lived through. The rules of Tseen Ke came to her slowly, jotted down in her Hello Kitty notebook.

Rule one: I cannot lie. Discovered on August 13, 2002, 11:12am. Even at fourteen years old, Ollie wasn’t much of a liar. So when she attempted it that day, it was one of the few times she’d ever done so. The violent reaction her body had, however, was a firm deterrent from ever trying again. Perhaps it was a leap to assume that her sponsor gave her on-call epilepsy, but the fact spoke for itself: the first time she ever had a seizure was only moments after the first time she tried to lie with her sponsorship. Rather than testing this theory for accuracy, she settled to avoid lying at all costs.

Rule two: I can only see memories if I am allowed. Discovered on December 3, 2002, 9:00am. When Josiah Bland explicitly said, “You cannot see my memories,” she experienced her first block. When she’d seen memories before then, those people had asked her to. She’d never tried to do it non-consensually. While it didn’t hurt for him to say no, it definitively shut her out of his mind.

Rule three: my body reacts to trigger words. Discovered on multiple occasions. It’s always jarring to discover trigger words. In Tseen Ke’s very minimal defense, the words are specific and some of them are quite rare. But there’s a word that makes her collapse, a word that makes her freeze, so on and so forth. The most important of these words, however, is the one that essentially makes her a puppet, ripped of her free will or conscious thought.

On December 31, 2006, 11:55pm, a man approached Ollie at a New Year’s Eve party and told her that he wanted her to play a game. Eighteen and uninterested in any man’s game, Ollie politely told him to fuck off. At 11:56pm, he grabbed her arm and paralyzed her with just one word. He explained exactly what he wanted and why she would do it. By the time the ball dropped to celebrate the new year, Olympia Eun had lost all semblance of choice in her life.

The game was simple enough, though calling it a game is misleading. It was more like one man making an army of assassins and slapping a point system on it. A hundred or so witches from Polaris were dragged into it kicking and screaming, handed knives and guns in place of their wands. They were taught to kill with efficiency and use their gifts in creative ways. With each kill, they received a number of points; the more dangerous your target was, the more points you received; the more points you received, the closer you got to freedom. It was simple enough that people fought back at first. But after witnessing the cruel punishments that came from dissent, everyone fell in line and played the game.

July 3, 2008, a little over a year into the game, pandemonium broke out. Players began to turn on one another, slaughtering each other in hopes of receiving high marks. For their efforts, the dark wizard that started the game adjusted the rules: if you could take out a witch with more points than you, then you had your freedom. Players jumped at the chance and a real life Hunger Games began.

On July 5, 2008, Ollie found herself inducted into a group of four, bound by one common goal: survive to the end of this shit. They teamed up, only calling each other by their elements, and worked to kill every player that came at them first. Eventually, inevitably, they killed the game maker himself.

On July 7, 2008, Light, Earth, Air and Water were the only survivors of a twisted game.

While the others may have struggled to return to their usual lives, Ollie never tried. While the situation had been nothing short of fucked up, she learned a lot from it, enough that she thanked the game maker more than she hated him. For the first time in years, she dug her Hello Kitty notebook out from beneath her mattress and added to her rules.

Addendum to rule one: I cannot lie –– but I can circumvent the truth. Flowery prose and pretty language goes a long way in hiding nasty secrets. Ollie still isn’t much of a liar, even in this day and age, but she could hardly tell the youth group in her church about her murderous activities. So she learned to talk around the truth, dancing around anything she had to hide. It’s a dangerous game and sometimes she has to sacrifice one truth to hide another, but in the end, she knows how to make the little things work for her.

Addendum to rule two: I can only see memories if I am allowed –– but that permission does not have to be explicit. She learned very early on that people didn’t have to know that she was viewing their memories in order for her to get permission. People say the most thoughtless things when they’re drunk; they agree to the silliest things when they’re driven by ecstasy. This is an even trickier game, because she can’t circumvent her way around an outright ‘no,’ but so long as she avoids that word, then the world is at her fingertips.

Addendum to rule three: my body reacts to trigger words –– but no one knows that. Hiding this fact is simple enough. No one ever thinks to ask and she has no reason to tell, so her involuntary reactions didn’t have to affect her life unless she let them.

With these key thoughts in mind, Ollie continued making use of her gifts. Assassins transitioned into being serial killers, all of them too used to the thrill of the kill to give it up. Under Light’s generous leadership, the Lunatics –– as the media knew them –– thrived. Not that Ollie ever cared for that kind of thing; she was every part a member of the group, of course, but she didn’t care to be controlled by anyone, let alone someone so clearly disingenuous as Light. The only obligation Ollie felt was to her star and the cleaver that she used to dismember her victims, when she wasn’t making their memories manifest to hunt them down.

So the years passed by with the four killers working like a well-oiled machine and few problems. Though Ollie much preferred to kill of her own volition, she began to take up hit man jobs, receiving thousands or millions of dollars for her services. She moved her parents out of their rundown apartment and into a mansion, separate from her own, and anonymously paid for the expansion of her church. Though she would never say it out loud, the game she’d been forced to play was the best thing that ever happened to her.

Her life in Polaris continued on as it always was. To all but three people, she was just… Ollie. The girl with the well-kept notebooks and the careful way with words, who floated between groups, knowing everyone but committing to no one, who worked in the library, went to church, and kept her head down. Everything about her way pretty and organized, hiding who she was behind closed doors. No one had any idea what she did in her spare time, aside from the other killers, and nothing she did gave anyone any reason to suspect that she was more than she let on.

When another member joined their little group, an innocent and lucky woman with no connection to their abuse, Ollie thought nothing of it. If anything, the new arrival made things more interesting. Ollie minded her own business, but it would have been impossible not to notice how tension ramped up within the group. They were honey balancing on a knife’s edge, so clearly destined to meet a tragic and unfortunate end. Light was losing her hold over the group and Ollie was finally gaining a vested interest.

Then, on August 25, 2020, at 5:12am, Light’s mangled body was found in the attic of the Lunatics’ hideout. Only five people knew how to find the hideout; only four people could have possibly killed her. In all likeliness, they were the only four people in the world who knew Light well enough to want to kill her. The Lunatics’ leader was dead and one of them was very clearly the culprit.

Upon hearing the news, Ollie had to stifle her laughter. Finally, something had caught her attention.

INCLINATION

Tseen Ke, heaven’s record, only cares for one thing: truth. Once it chooses a sponsee, it expects the same of them, thus rendering its witch the ability to peer into the minds of individuals and see their memories. More than that, sponsees have the ability to interact with memories and use them however they like, whether that means using them as weapons or to reach a decision. However, Tseen Ke also believes heavily in consent. Its sponsee can only access memories with consent. And, in the spirit of fairness, they can no longer lie. Furthermore, Tseen Ke instills certain trigger words within its sponsee, secretly subjecting them to the world’s manipulation ––– a trait which tends to have awful outcomes.

CONNECTIONS

Evolved Perfection: Someone who remembers what Ollie used to be and… honestly, they have a thing for this new version of her. Whether that’s a romantic thing, a physical thing, or just a respect thing, they like who she is now, so they’ve become close to her. She thinks they’re fake as fuck for only caring about her now that she’s rich and beautiful, but she’s not incensed enough to push them away. If anything, she finds them amusing, so she plays along with whatever they have in mind.

Haunted by the Ghost of You: Somewhere, buried in someone’s memory, was a great love and a great heartbreak: this person. Though Ollie had no previous connection to this person, she now lives with the thought of them as someone else once knew them. It hurts to see them, even more so to speak to them, but Ollie does so anyway. It’s bound to hurt her, too, but in the words of Rhett Butler: “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.”

The Knowing: Ollie is fairly young, in witch years, and has had her mark for a little less than twenty years. This person knew the last Tseen Ke very well, so they know all of the rules. On one hand, all of Tseen Ke’s trigger words change when a new sponsee is chosen; on the other, this character is intent on finding Ollie’s words, for whatever reason. Ollie’s aware of what they’re doing and she isn’t impressed. Not going to lie, they have a lot of fun.

Twisted: So –– legally speaking, this person is dead. Why? Because, legally, Ollie killed them. It was a job, she was paid quite a bit, but–– she just didn’t have it in her to kill this person. So she didn’t do it. For whatever reason, she chose them over a job. However, in order to receive the money and ensure that no one else came after them, she faked their death. It was a whole thing, very dramatic. Now, they’re a little dependent on her, considering she singlehandedly uprooted their life. I’m definitely up for discussing this and fleshing it out more, but yeah :P

Filling Comtessa Godfrey’s Student Helper.

Filling Ramona Serrano’s Steady, Steady.

Filling Aliena Ferreira’s Red String of Fate.

Penned by Ricki ★

[phynxrizng]

DAILY ASTROLOGY REPORT AND HOROSCOPES FOR 3-22-17

ASTROLOGY TOOLS FREE NATAL CHART REPORT ABOUT ASTROLOGY CAFE CONTACT Astrology Cafe Daily Astrology

DAILY ASTROLOGY TODAY MONTHLY Astrology of Today – Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Mar 21, 2017 by ANNIE LEAVE A COMMENT



The Moon is in Capricorn until 10:28 PM, after which the Moon is in Aquarius. The Moon is void from 9:19 AM to 10:28 PM. The Moon is waning and in its Last Quarter phase. The Last Quarter Moon occurred on the 20th, and the New Moon will occur on March 27th. Venus is retrograde (Venus is retrograde from March 4-April 15). Times are EDT.

Horoscopes Aries



You may feel that you need to make quite a few adjustments today in order to get back to a state of strong confidence in what you’re doing, dear Aries. These likely have to do with your thoughts or mindset, as there can be some worries or fears that are preventing you from feeling at your best. For best results, work on improving your ability to concentrate, plan ahead, and organize your thoughts. Keeping exciting goals in mind can help tremendously, as tedious work without something to work towards may only serve to bring you further down. Remember that doubts are temporary and, if modest, can help you get to a better place.

Taurus



While the Moon in your spirit sector usually helps you gain important perspective on your life, dear Taurus, today you may be feeling a little tense, worried, or concerned about what lies ahead for you. With the Moon’s intense aspects this morning, fears can magnify, and tensions can overwhelm you. Uncertainty is difficult for a Taurus, but it’s important to avoid overcompensating today – attempts to control people and situations around you won’t lead to resolution of the underlying issue. The trick now is to relax your mind and build your confidence in your ability to manage whatever comes your way. Doubts can be temporary but do pay attention to those that linger and erode your confidence – these are areas that need work!

Gemini



Your attachments or obligations to others can be in focus today, dear Gemini, and perhaps a little complicated. You may be wrestling with expectations, or you may be swinging between trust and suspicion. It can be difficult coming to an agreement about where you’re headed or long-term goals right now. Do your best to let go of things that you can’t truly control, as today and the next few days are important for letting go and winding down rather than taking on more. Mental pressure can be a problem today and tomorrow, however, and while you should do what you can to avoid undue stress, it’s important to stretch your thinking and understand your fears. This is a time for making adjustments.

Cancer



You might experience a dip in confidence or a lull with your thinking today, dear Cancer. This can slow you down, which isn’t a bad thing at this time in the last quarter of the Moon phase. In fact, it’s appropriate to let go and wind down today and in the next few days. Today, doubts or fears about a relationship, venture, or project can magnify. This can be more pronounced the more overwhelmed you feel. While you should watch for worrying too much and be a little more vigilant about what you communicate now, it’s also a good idea to pay attention to areas of your life where you feel vulnerable or to things that need some strengthening. Tighten your plans rather than push things forward.

Leo



If you feel overwhelmed or tense today, dear Leo, it may very well be that you’re a little too scattered or that you’ve been overreaching, attempting to do more than what’s good for you. Your interests are plenty, and you have a lot on your plate now, but if things are falling into disarray, you won’t be in the right frame of mind to accomplish much of anything. The desire to be on top of your health and daily affairs is powerful, but you’ll need to battle distractions. Consider ways to tidy up your life, get organized, make plans and lists, and minimize diversions and distractions. The time spent on doing these things will be returned to you many times over.

Virgo



The Moon in your creative sector most of the day encourages a focus on the more playful, pleasurable, and satisfying elements of your life, dear Virgo. This can serve as a nice boost, although it may leave you a little moody if you’re not getting the feedback you crave or if others seem to be less enthused than you. The energies of today and the next two days can stimulate a bit of paranoia, suspiciousness, or fearful thinking, and this can affect your conversations and decisions. However, if you watch out for this tendency, you may very well find ways to rise above it and learn from it. This is an important period for releasing and letting go of attitudes that no longer serve you well.

Libra



This morning can be a little tense, dear Libra, with the Moon pulling you into yourself and Jupiter encouraging you to go your own way and keep your options open. Whether to play it safe or take a chance may be a question now. There is more intensity than usual in your personal or home life, so your desire to withdraw and enjoy downtime may not fulfill right now, and your personal plans may not take off even if you throw yourself into them, as you might face blocks or opposition. Excess energy can be tapped and channeled into a useful project or satisfying activity if you’re determined, however. Look for ways to lighten your load.

Scorpio



Be aware of a tendency to read too much into situations today, dear Scorpio, particularly if you sense it’s not going to serve you well. There is a tendency to worry too much today and in the coming two days. However, stretching your mind to consider all sorts of possibilities can be useful once you’ve returned to a more reasonable frame of mind, as you have a window into which areas of your life could use some strengthening. You may not feel particularly confident about your creative abilities today, or you may worry that others are not catching on to your work or ideas. This is temporary and can also lead to a substantial edit or refinement that ultimately improves your life.

Sagittarius



You may be doing battle with your expectations today, dear Sagittarius. While the Moon in your solar second house is a generally stable influence, it’s facing some competition, and you can feel a little unsettled in the morning. Fears are likely to be overblown now, but if you examine them, you may get to a position of better understanding. Wherever your mind leads today, look for something to learn from your explorations. As the day advances, Saturn in your sign approaches a square with Pallas, and you may struggle with expecting the worst or feeling overwhelmed when it comes to making decisions. Your tendency is to shoulder all the worry or to manage things on your own, and this can be overwhelming. Consider sharing some of the burdens of decision making.

Capricorn

Your enemy is rigidity today, dear Capricorn, with the Moon in your sign in alliance with Pluto and battling with Jupiter and Uranus. Making some concessions may be necessary now. Taking on far too much can weigh on you these days, and relations with family or those in authority can be tense if you’re feeling overburdened. While it may feel that others are putting too much pressure on you now, consider the possibility that some of the pressure you’re feeling is coming from within. Today and the next few days are important for letting go of excess or unrealistic expectations, although you’re likely to wind up before you get to the point of calm.

Aquarius



The Moon spends most of the day in the sign behind yours, dear Aquarius, and you may be laying low, craving some anonymity or release from overstimulation. As much as you’d like to relax today, life keeps calling you out. Some of this is about excess – you may have too much on your plate, and even though these things are likely highly enjoyable, too much is still too much! If you’re jumping ahead of yourself or if you’re finding it hard to turn your brain off long enough to rest and relax, then it’s time to make changes. It’s particularly important in the next few days to clear your mind of unnecessary tension.

Pisces



While you can feel quite emotionally invested in friends today, dear Pisces, relationships can be complicated. Obligations to others can be tricky. Especially important now is to avoid waiting for others to sense your needs and wants. It’s best to state what you want without too much further ado. Worries about underperforming in the work you do or letting someone down can affect decision-making now. Be aware of the tendency to blow things out of proportion, as doubts are temporary and may even help you make useful edits. Today and the next few days are, generally speaking, a time for winding down and letting go of those things that have weighed you down or overburdened you in the past weeks, making it necessary to avoid taking on additional tasks or commitments.

*Remember to read horoscopes for your Ascendant sign and Sun sign. If you don’t know your Ascendant sign and know your birth time, you can look it up here.

Daily Horoscope page for Aries here, Daily Horoscope page for Taurus here, Daily Horoscope page for Gemini here, Daily Horoscope page for Cancer here, Daily Horoscope page for Leo here, Daily Horoscope page for Virgo here, Daily Horoscope page for Libra here, Daily Horoscope page for Scorpio here, Daily Horoscope page for Sagittarius here, Daily Horoscope page for Capricorn here, Daily Horoscope page for Aquarius here, Daily Horoscope page for Pisces here.

If Your Birthday is March 22nd, If Today is Your Birthday full horoscope here.

Astrology of Today – The Details: If you’re astrologically inclined and interested in the details of the Astrology of today, here are some of the factors considered in the forecasts (for the astrology of the week, see This Week in Astrology):





*Times above are Eastern Standard Time.



Date & Time: 22 Mar 2017 10:28 pm Event: Moon enters Aquarius Description: The Moon in Aquarius This is generally a good time for social pursuits, group projects, trying something new, joining a group, and networking. A change of pace refreshes. Hobbies, clubs, and groups may demand attention now. It is time to build networks and cooperate. Humanitarian pursuits are highlighted.

Date & Time: 22 Mar 2017 9:19 am Event: Moon goes void of course

Date & Time: 22 Mar 2017 1:32 am Event: Tr-Tr Mon Cnj Plu Description: Transiting Moon Conjunction Transiting Pluto Deeper feelings emerge. Emotional extremes can be experienced now. This can be a time that we crave or recognize the need for an overhaul – a deep, lasting change.

Date & Time: 22 Mar 2017 3:44 am Event: Tr-Tr Mon Sqr Jup Description: Transiting Moon Square Transiting Jupiter We may not be very realistic right now – there can be some exaggeration. Minor annoyances are possible now. Contrariness or disagreements. This is not an ideal time for publicity, promotion, or legal matters. We can experience injustices. We are less inclined to consider the consequences of over-eating, over-drinking, or overdoing in general. This is a time to show some restraint. Grandiosity is not appreciated right now, and excess doesn’t go over well either. With a little self-control we can learn about what truly makes us happy.

Date & Time: 22 Mar 2017 4:56 am Event: Tr-Tr Mon Opp Ves Description: Transiting Moon Opposition Transiting Vesta We can be a little stiff with our emotions, and we can be distracted from our work or focus. There can be difficulty expressing tenderness, concern, or care.

Date & Time: 22 Mar 2017 9:19 am Event: Tr-Tr Mon Sqr Ura Description: Transiting Moon Square Transiting Uranus There may be sudden, minor changes to plans, schedules. There can be rebelliousness and tension. Aim to be open to possibilities, and avoid making permanent decisions.

Date & Time: 22 Mar 2017 1:09 pm Event: Tr-Tr Mon Sxt Chi Description: Transiting Moon Sextile Transiting Chiron We are more emotionally present and involved. We more easily hone in on problem areas and want to fix them. Synchronicity is a feature of our daily life right now. Tune in and enjoy the spiritual signposts.

Date & Time: 22 Mar 2017 5:31 pm Event: Tr-Tr Mon Sxt Pal Description: Transiting Moon Sextile Transiting Pallas There is a good ability to successfully combine logic and intuition, and to understand problems taking into account the human element. There is sensitivity to people’s issues now. Cooperation. Effective, sensitive decision making.

Date & Time: 22 Mar 2017 5:38 pm Event: Tr-Tr Mon SSq Nep Description: Transiting Moon SemiSquare Transiting Neptune If we are not in touch with our need for inspiration, beauty, compassion, connection to something otherworldly, or our spirituality, we could feel out of sorts right now. Relaxing, listening to music, getting close to nature, or taking a break may resolve this.

Date & Time: 22 Mar 2017 10:28 pm Event: Tr-Tr Mon Cnj Aqu Description: Transiting Moon Entering Aquarius This is generally a good time for social pursuits, group projects, trying something new, joining a group, and networking. A change of pace refreshes. Hobbies, clubs, and groups may demand attention now. It is time to build networks and cooperate. Humanitarian pursuits are highlighted.

Date & Time: 22 Mar 2017 9:54 pm Event: Tr-Tr Mer Cpl Nep Description: Transiting Mercury ContraParallel Transiting Neptune

Date & Time: 22 Mar 2017 2:18 pm Event: Tr-Tr Ven Pll Nod Description: Transiting Venus Parallel Transiting North Node

Strong Signs, Elements, Modes ARIES STRONG Initiating, pioneering energy. Independent, bold, courageous, assertive, fiery, inspirational, direct, decisive. Can be egotistical, impulsive, impatient, aggressive, lacking subtlety. CAPRICORN STRONG Disciplined, responsible, reliable, industrious, conscientious, practical, achieving. Can be pessimistic, overly conventional, rigid, materialistic, callous.

BALANCE OF ELEMENTS

FIRE STRONG Fire is enthusiastic, dynamic, and spontaneous, but lacks reflection. We are more courageous and adventurous now, with a tendency to act before thinking. There is little concern about what happened in the past. We are competitive and possibly impatient or bored easily. AIR WEAK We may have a difficult time being objective or detached. We may not be especially communicative. WATER WEAK There may be some insensitivity or lack of empathy now. We may be out of touch with what we’re feeling or with our emotional needs. We may be tougher than usual now, and more inclined to follow mental or practical considerations than we are to listen to our intuition.

BALANCE OF MODES

CARDINAL STRONG We are ready to take action and to take on challenges, and can become frustrated with stagnant conditions. FIXED WEAK We may be open to change but may not have much follow-through. MUTABLE WEAK We can have a hard time adapting to changes and to others’ agendas.

LUNAR PHASE: THIRD QUARTER Moon from 90 to 45 degrees behind the Sun. We have strong beliefs and are likely to put them into action. We have the wisdom to know when to act, but sometimes can be inflexible.

The following aspects (major only) and positions are at noon (EDT) on March 22nd: Note that when an aspect is applying, it has not yet happened but is within orb – it’s pending. When an aspect is separating, it has already happened/perfected and is moving away from the aspect. Depending on the speed of the planet/body involved, the aspect will have perfected, or will perfect, in a matter of hours (often the case with the Moon), days, months, and possibly years in the case of the very slow-moving outer planets and bodies.

Note that the Moon moves at a rate of approximately one degree every 2 hours, so that if an aspect involving the Moon is applying and has an orb of 5 degrees, the aspect will perfect (be exact) in about 10 hours. If the Moon is separating from an aspect with an orb of 2 degrees, it has already formed said aspect approximately 4 hours ago (since the following are positions at noon today, then it would have occurred at about 8 AM today).

**I suggest paying close attention to applying  aspects. The energy of the aspect builds as it gets closer to exact. Once an aspect involving inner planets has happened, it’s over.  Separating aspects are good to know for context, but in terms of energy that is with us today, applying aspects are most important. (This is the case for daily astrology influences involving inner planets, which pass quickly, and not natal astrology aspects, which are with us for a lifetime).

THE MOON

THE MOON IN CAPRICORN You feel secure when life is structured, or you are working hard. You may be emotionally distant or cold. You mother’s love may be limited in some way. Your mother may have been strict or cold.

26TH DEGREE OF CAPRICORN Part of Body: Connections between femur and tibia Sabian Symbol: A water sprite.

ASPECTS OF THE MOON SQUARE JUPITER Orb 5°19′ Separating We may not be very realistic right now, which can lead to moodiness, as we are more invested in our dreams and expectations.

SQUARE URANUS Orb 2°24′ Separating There may be sudden, minor changes to plans, schedules. There can be rebelliousness and tension. Aim to be open to possibilities, and avoid making permanent decisions.

CONJUNCTION PLUTO Orb 6°24′ Separating Deeper feelings emerge. Emotional extremes can be experienced now. This can be a time that we crave or recognize the need for an overhaul – a deep, lasting change.

SEXTILE CHIRON Orb 0°26′ Separating There can be new or easy understanding of our feelings and impressions now. We have a greater understanding of, or compassion for, others’ problems. We are more emotionally present and involved.

THE SUN

THE SUN IN ARIES You are an assertive and freedom-loving individual. You have a strong need for independence, and may tend to display self-concern assertively.

3RD DEGREE OF ARIES Part of Body: Cerebellum Sabian Symbol: A cameo profile of a man in the outline of his country.

ASPECTS OF THE SUN CONJUNCTION VENUS Orb 4°19′ Applying We take pride in our ability to relate well with others or to smooth over differences now. Graciousness, diplomacy, charm, and some superficiality are themes. This is a good period for social affairs, pleasure, amusement, and romance, all things considered.

SQUARE SATURN Orb 4°40′ Separating We can feel temporarily blocked or thwarted, and possibly less than confident. We might want to delay important decision making until a more enlightened, positive time.

CONJUNCTION CHIRON Orb 7°08′ Separating You are wounded, either physically or emotionally. You are scared to express yourself because you are so sensitive to pain. At some stage in your early life you have suffered and this contributes to your adult fear of pain. You have a compassionate nature as you have the ability to understand other people’s hurts.

MERCURY

MERCURY IN ARIES You are an independent thinker. You talk quickly, and like to think up new ideas. You may experience flashes of intuition.

17TH DEGREE OF ARIES Part of Body: Vertebral canal Sabian Symbol: Two prim spinsters sitting together in silence.

ASPECTS OF MERCURY OPPOSITION JUPITER Orb 3°17′ Applying You are prone to making mountains out of molehills. You struggle to keep a balanced viewpoint, but can become fanatical in pursuit of your beliefs.

CONJUNCTION URANUS Orb 6°12′ Applying You have an incisive and ingenious mind. Your thoughts and speech are erratic and inventive. You enjoy progressive topics. Your opinions may be ahead of your time.

SQUARE PLUTO Orb 2°12′ Applying We can be worried or troubled, a little paranoid, and possibly suspicious with this combination. We are defensive about our ideas, intelligence, or perceptions, and might take it personally if others are not agreeing with or adopting our opinions.

VENUS

VENUS IN ARIES You will pursue a partner ardently and hastily, and yet strive for freedom and independence, once you are in an intimate relationship. You like to be the initiator in relationships, and can be aggressive. You may be a spendthrift.

7TH DEGREE OF ARIES Part of Body: The ears Sabian Symbol: A man successfully expressing himself in two realms at once.

MARS

MARS IN TAURUS You have strong personal desires, although you will usually follow a reliable course of action in attaining those desires. You are stubborn if opposed.

10TH DEGREE OF TAURUS Part of Body: Cervical veins Sabian Symbol: A red cross nurse.

ASPECTS OF MARS SEXTILE NEPTUNE Orb 3°20′ Applying You have a talent for music or art or for caring for others. You have great empathy with others.

JUPITER

JUPITER IN LIBRA You have a strong concern for justice. You are a diplomatic teacher, and express your spiritual values in your relationships.

21ST DEGREE OF LIBRA Part of Body: Renal hilum Sabian Symbol: A crowd upon a beach.

ASPECTS OF JUPITER OPPOSITION URANUS Orb 2°55′ Separating You are keen to change things in this world as you see no reason to continue with the old traditions. You speak out against injustice, but may lack the patience and persistence to see through the changes.

SQUARE PLUTO Orb 1°04′ Applying You will need to learn to have confidence in yourself even when life deals you a few blows. You range from over confident to completely lacking in confidence. The truth lies somewhere in between.

SATURN

SATURN IN SAGITTARIUS Saturn in Sagittarius asks us to take on the responsibility of living according to our personal truths and principles, and to be loyal to these. This is a time for turning a critical eye to those beliefs and principles that don’t accurately reflect our authentic selves. (December 23, 2014 to June 14, 2015, then September 17, 2015 to December 20, 2017)

28TH DEGREE OF SAGITTARIUS Part of Body: Right leg muscles Sabian Symbol: An old bridge over a beautiful stream.

ASPECTS OF SATURN TRINE URANUS Orb 4°25′ Applying You have a talent for investigation. You look at new ideas and are able then to put them into action. In business you achieve much in your own independent way.

SQUARE CHIRON Orb 2°27′ Applying There can be fears now of not being competent or effective enough to meet our responsibilities, or we could find it hard to strike out on a unique path, again due to fears or insecurities. The desire to break from the status quo is strong, but we may not have the necessary confidence to do so. We may have difficulties empathizing with others and understanding ourselves.

URANUS

URANUS IN ARIES The urge to start fresh, to break free from restrictive attitudes or circumstances, to totally redesign an area of our lives (or even our personalities), and to gain freedom through independence is strong during this cycle. (May 27, 2010 to August 13, 2010, then March 11th, 2011 to May 15, 2018, then November 6, 2018 to March 6, 2019).

24TH DEGREE OF ARIES Part of Body: Zygomatic muscle Sabian Symbol: An open window and a net curtain blowing into a cornucopia.

ASPECTS OF URANUS SQUARE PLUTO Orb 4°00′ Separating A time for making sweeping changes and for adapting to changes in order to progress. This is a time for revising, altering, overhauling, and purging. We can experience tension, fear, and pressure, but also a sense of liberation from over-attachments and situations that have been holding us back from growth.

NEPTUNE

NEPTUNE IN PISCES A long-term influence in which fantasy, imagination, compassion, and spirituality are in stronger focus. (April 4, 2011, to August 4, 2011, then February 3, 2012, to March 30, 2025, then October 22, 2025, to January 26, 2026)

13TH DEGREE OF PISCES Part of Body: Plantar artery of left foot Sabian Symbol: A sword in a museum.

PLUTO

PLUTO IN CAPRICORN Tests of our boundaries; breaking down and rebuilding structures and rules. (From January 25, 2008, to June 14, 2008, then November 26, 2008, to March 23, 2023, then June 11, 2023, to January 20, 2024, then September 1, 2024, to November 19, 2024).

20TH DEGREE OF CAPRICORN Part of Body: Tendons of right knee Sabian Symbol: A hidden choir singing.

Chiron, Major Asteroids, and Moon’s Nodes: in Sign and in Aspect CHIRON

CHIRON IN PISCES

Strong awareness of our own vulnerabilities and humanity stimulates compassion for others. (April 20 to July 20, 2010, then February 8, 2011, to April 17, 2018, then September 25, 2018, to February 18, 2019).

26TH DEGREE OF PISCES Part of Body: Plantar nerves Sabian Symbol: A new moon that divides its influences.

VESTA

VESTA IN CANCER

You are committed to your family and loved ones, especially when they need you. However, you may withdraw like a crab into your shell if you feel hurt by those closest to you. You enjoy working with those close to you.

21ST DEGREE OF CANCER Part of Body: Inferior pancreatico-duodenal artery Sabian Symbol: A prima donna singing.

PALLAS

PALLAS IN PISCES

You have a meditative mind, the ability to merge in your mind with the universe. You desire to heal the world through words, and may be involved in some form of artistic expression.

28TH DEGREE OF PISCES Part of Body: Phalanges of left foot Sabian Symbol: A fertile garden under the full moon.

JUNO

JUNO IN CAPRICORN You want a partner who you can respect, and who respects you. You seek long-term commitment and may marry later in life.

13TH DEGREE OF CAPRICORN Part of Body: Left knee joint Sabian Symbol: A fire worshipper.

CERES

CERES IN TAURUS You feel cared for when loved ones give you a sense of stability and security. You like to be touched and stroked and nurtured in practical ways. You also like to show others you care through practical means.

16TH DEGREE OF TAURUS Part of Body: Carotid arteries Sabian Symbol: An old man attempting vainly to reveal the mysteries.

THE NORTH NODE

THE NORTH NODE IN VIRGO

This is a quest to become dedicated to the service of others. You will need to overcome the tendency to daydream and feel overwhelmed and to put your compassion and wisdom to practical use for humanity.

4TH DEGREE OF VIRGO

Part of Body: Ascending colon

Sabian Symbol:

THE SOUTH NODE

THE SOUTH NODE IN PISCES

This is a quest to become dedicated to the service of others. You will need to overcome the tendency to daydream and feel overwhelmed and to put your compassion and wisdom to practical use for humanity.

4TH DEGREE OF PISCES

Part of Body: Nerves of left foot

Sabian Symbol: Heavy traffic on a narrow isthmus linking two seaside resorts.

*** CONJUNCTIONS TO SELECT FIXED STARS ***

Transits 22 Mar 2017 – Event Chart

Aspects to Ves 20°Cn58 +26°12′ Cnj 20°Cn28 CASTOR To write or create.

Aspects to Cer 15°Ta08 +13°22′ Cnj 14°Ta33 MENKAR — A victim of the Unconscious



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