#start establishing a support network in the event things take a turn for the worst

[drreadnought]

the best thing you can do for yourself right now if you are scared is to find comfort in community. reach out to friends and family, surround yourself with supportive people, you aren't alone

[cecilspeaks]

172 - Return of the Obelisk

“Nothing lasts forever” is a phrase with two meanings, and they’re both true. Welcome to Night Vale.

All of Night Vale is aglow. There is music in the air. You know what that means, listeners: the Obelisk has returned. It’s been nearly 8 years since the Obelisk last appeared, but it’s right back where it always shows up, in Mission Grove Park over on the east side, right next to the Wailing Pit. But a little bit south of the Memorial Debris Heap. The Obelisk returns every 5 to 10 years, sometimes as long as 50, and it brings with it joy, anticipation, and a deep fear. A terror so deep in the gut that it feels like you’ve eaten too much ice cream, but in all reality, your body is simply bracing itself for death. The Obelisk has always behaved benevolently, but so hast he sun, and we don’t trust that thing fully either, so I dunno. Past performance is not an indicator of future results. Unlike the sun, the Obelisk radiates a soft blue light, but like the sun, the Obelisk makes a lot of noise. In particular, music. The obelisk sounds like a Bach concerto played like a French horn and a theramine from inside a refrigerator. Everyone in town is gathering at Mission Grove Park to see the Obelisk in person, to pay homage to this rare visit, and to confront their fears head on. Hopefully everything works out fine, because there are some cool events I want to get to this weekend, and it would be terrible to have to cancel them over a rogue obelisk.

Let’s take a look at the community calendar, shall we? This Friday night is opening night of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Tony-winning musical “Sunset Boulevard” at the Night Vale Community Theatre. I’m very excited to finally see this show, it’s supposed to be a really lavish production, too. And it’s based on one my all time favorite Billy Wilder films about an aging silent movie star who finds an amulet that lets her travel in time, but whenever she moves through time, she enters someone else’s body and can’t leave until she saves her life. This staging of “Sunset Boulevard” is directed and produced by… oh my god, Susan Willman?? Really? Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrhooonestly, this has been a pretty long week and Iiii might need to just rest at home on Friday. I mean I’m not trying to be rude here, but Susan Willman is the worst! Did you know she once judged the chili cook-off, and I came in third? Third! Behind Joel Eisenberg, which is fine, Joel’s an OK cook, but also behind who else? Susan Willman! You can’t be a judge and win first place. I’m also pretty sure Susan used a prepackaged spice mix in that chili. [laughs oddly] I don’t have that verified through a secondary source, but I can confirm, it was oversalted, again. I’m not saying, I’m just saying. Anyway, go see “Sunset Boulevard” on Friday if you want to watch uninspired actors and muddled blocking.

Saturday afternoon is the PTA bake sale fundraiser to send our Academic Decathlon team to a tournament in our state’s capital. The PTA secretary… [sighs] Susan WiIlman, says this money will go toward hotel and bus travel for our brilliant and talented Ac-Dec squad. “Academic Decathlon is about intelligence and perseverance,” says Willman in this overwrought press release. “Ac-Dec is about freedom and fastidiousness. It is a celebration of hard work, and we want Night Vale to show the rest of the state that blah blah blah blah blah,” God she just runs on! I mean yes, Ac-Dec is very cool and I wish our kids well. But chill with the grandstanding! Anyway, go buy a cake to support those amazing students, even though I’m sure Susan will still manage to mess up a box mix.

Sunday is Youth Reprogramming Day at the Night Vale Museum of Forbidden Technologies. Does your child love learning about new gadgets and advancements in technology? Well, come on down to the Museum of Forbidden Technologies on Sunday for a day-long reprogramming event. Docents and curators will engage those curious kids through hands-on unlearning. They’ll take their patented mindwipe beam and point it right at each child’s forehead until all interest in forbidden technology has been removed. Kids love the mindwipe beam, because it smells like grapes, and they don’t feel any pain for weeks after. Youth Reprogramming Day is a family friendly day of discovering that you know too much, and knowledge is treason.

Today’s appearance by the Obelisk is the 19th in recorded history. Little is known about what the Obelisk is, who controls it, or what it wants. Most scientists and historians agree that it was created by subterranean gods millennia ago, and they think its purpose is a type of census for life at ground level. The Obelisk is about 25 feet tall, it is oily and soft like a fresh brick of parmesan cheese, and when it appears, everyone in town carves their name into one of its four sides. We do not know why or when this practice began, it’s simply how it’s always been done. And to question tradition is to admit weakness. When the Obelisk eventually disappears, perhaps today, perhaps several days from now, it will take our names with it. And when it returns, those names will be gone and we will begin the tradition anew. No one knows what happens to those names. Are they simply erased, or are they read and recorded? Is this data mining for some ancient technology startup, or does the Obelisk truly belong to the gods? We only know what happens to one of the names carved on the Obelisk, and for that person, we feel both envy and pity. For while the Obelisk has always behaved benevolently, past performance et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

Let’s have a look now at traffic. Route 800 is shut down until 4 PM today, as it has turned into a river. No cars are on Route 800, it’s just water. Rough and choppy, spiking white rapid caps atop nearly black rushing death. Highway officials are investigating the sudden appearance of this river, perfectly overlaying our main thoroughfare in and out of town. Beneath the quickly moving rush of the river, a single fish, probably a bass of some sort. Highway officials are uncertain because they don’t think about fish. Why would they? Highway officials are annoyed that you think so little of their awareness of fish species. They can tell a salmon from a marlin from a mackerel. “See what you made us do?” one highway official said. “We could have been repairing route 800, but you started picking on us for not knowing if that’s a bass or a mackerel or a whatnot. In fact,” the official continued, “we just looked it up on Wikipedia and it’s a bass. And fun fact,” they added, “did you know that bass can grow up to 25 pounds, have four rows of human teeth, and speak Spanish at a first grade level?” The river is now branching out down sides of streets and into neighborhoods. Pavement everywhere is a network of fresh water capillaries through town. Expect delays of up to 10 or 20 minutes, as you try to get to Mission Grove Park. This has been traffic.

The whole town feels like a carnival now with the flashing lights of the Obelisk and it’s crescendo of lively music filling the cool twilight air. We dance, we sing, we revel in togetherness and share our  fears of what will happen next. What will the question be? And more importantly, what will be its answer? When every name has been placed upon the Obelisk, then the blue glow of the towering monolith will die away. The entire structure will turn black. All except one name. One name will remain lit on the Obelisk, and that person shall be sent forth to ask their question. They may ask any question they choose and the Obelisk will tell them and only them the answer. No one else will hear this communication. If the receiver wishes to share what they now know, they are allowed to do so.

Many years back, this ritual was more organized. Early Night Vale townships planned a democratic approach to this opportunity: a committee of the Obelisk was formed to decide on the single most important question to ask. This approach came about in response to the super blunder of 1932, when a 6-year-old boy named Bartholomew Thomason was chosen to deliver the question. He  asked the Obelisk if he was, quote, “gonna have corn for dinner”. The obelisk apparently said no, because little Bart started crying and the Obelisk quickly disappeared, not to return for almost 10 years. By that time, the committee of the Obelisk was established and they chose the question: “how do you cure cancer?” Ah, this is a good and noble question. But the citizen chosen by the Obelisk was a farmer named Barry McKenney, who tried his best to take careful notes, but a lot of the detailed medical jargon was just too complex for him. The committee tried this question again 6 years later, but the Obelisk refused to respond to any question it had already answered. So Sidney Laynord of Old Time Night Vale, not having a backup question from the committee, asked if his wife Jessica was cheating on him with Gerald Framingham, and the Obelisk said no, but it only said that because Gerald’s actual last name was Framington, so Sidney just messed up.

Over the decades, the committee of the Obelisk asked: “Is God real”? And the Obelisk said yes, but nothing more. After that, they tried to ask questions that would elicit more detailed response. Um, one year they asked: “who planned the assassination of JFK?” and were disappointed to learn that it was a CIA - Fidel Castro – Frank Sinatra triumvirate that conspired to murder our 35th president. This was the most boring answer, but at least it verified what everyone already knew.

By the 1990’s, though, the committee of the Obelisk had kind of fallen out of fashion after years of corporate funding and corruption. See, this controversy exploded in 1997, when the question put forth by the committee, which at the time was headed by the CEO of Pepsico, was: “what’s the best tasting carbonated soft drink on the market today?” The Obelisk’s answer, to the chairman’s great disappointment, was Surge. Today, whoever is called on by the Obelisk is given free reign to ask whatever they choose. However many news outlets regularly publish lists of recommended question, but there is always the risk that someone will ask something frivolous like “what’s Jason Mraz up to these days?” or “where is the body of my missing fahter?” Please, God please, just don’t call on Susan Willman. She will blow it.

And now a word from our sponsors. Are you tired of wrinkled shirts? Do your clothes get static cling? [increasingly angry tone] How many times do you show up to work with your shirt all rumpled and not smelling like seafoam mist? You’re not going to get a promotion looking like that, and while no one deserves anything, you certainly should appear to earn that promotion. You need crisp, clean, non-ionised clothing that smells like seafoam mist. Don’t you wanna smell like seafoam mist?! Try Tide pods. With our special formula of citrus extract, kelp and milk fat, Tide pods can be the all natural solution to all of your laundry problems. You deserve Tide pods, because you deserve that promotion over Michaela, who’s only like 22 years old. What has she ever done to deserve a promotion? What’s Michaela’s deal even? Tide pods. Remember when we seemed like a big problem?

Oooooooo listeners, the Obelisk has gone dark. The music has ceased. The whole town encircles the tower waiting for its declaration for who shall ask the question. In the quiet night, under few start peeking thru the purple sky, we can hear only the sounds of crickets. The Obelisk, so black as to appear cut out from reality, suddenly shines a small blue line. It is a name, it is on the south face and is it… Oh no! No no no, listeners, I don’t know if I can stop this but I will try. Uuuh, let’s go now to the weather.

[“Pros and Cons” by Sugar & the Mint https://www.sugarandthemint.com/]

Welllll it’s too late. She’s asked her question. I’m not sure how I could have stopped this disaster, even if I made it over there before she could ask it. OK, as you know by now, the Obelisk lit up with Susan Willman’s name, and she grinned smugly and did that fake like “who me? What, oh my god!” gesture and then walked on up to the Obelisk. The crowd was calling out questions to her like  game show audience trying to help a contestant, no single phrase discernible above the others, and Susan just looked around, her big goofy eyes scanning the people around her, as if she would actually lower herself to listen to their questions. [scoffs] She thinks she’s so high and mighty with her PT officer status and her hit Broadway musical. No no no, Susan’s above us all, just as important as she can be. She waved her arms like wings for quiet, and the audience obeyed, she’s so self-important, so attention seeking. And then she asked her question. The one question we as a town get only every decade or so, and Susan said: “Hey, so what’s your name?” What’s your name?!! God! What a waste! Did she forget we only get one question? The crowd began to boo, or at least I did. I started booing and I am part of the crowd.

The obelisk began to speak only into Susan’s mind and Susan listened closely. She giggled at first, like a little girl hearing a silly joke from a grandfather, and then her tear-filled laughs turned into tear-filled breaths, which eventually became tear-filled sobs. After about three minutes, the Obalisk vanished, and Susan stood alone on the small hill between the Wailing Pit and the Memorial Debris Heap, and she told us what she heard. Or [scoffs] she told us some of what she heard.

Susan said, in an unusually booming authoritative voice: “Whosoever speaks aloud the name of the Obelisk shall become the Obelisk. Whosoever becomes the Obelisk shall live forever. Whosoever lives forever shall know all things. Whosoever knows all things shall be damned. And whosoever hears the name of the Obelisk spoken aloud shall perish.” The crowd parted for Susan as she left the park. They mumbled their disappointment in both the question and its answer. Some spoke with pity, some with disdain, while some thought it was all pretty cool and now. “Much better than last time, when Dave asked who would win the 2013 NBA championships,” said one person. “Dave won a lot of money on that answer, though,” responded another. “He has a yacht now over at the Harbor and Waterfront Recreation Area.”

But most everyone whispered their fear for Susan’s power itself. I mean, Susan received a gif today, a cursed cursed gifts. You know what? I think I might go see that “Sunset Boulevard” after all and I love it. I don’t get to tell Susan very often what a visionary theatrical director she is, but I, I, [chuckles] I might even put some stacks down on her cakes Saturday too. Really support that academic Decathlon team. And the spirit of American ingenuity and perseverance, and all that.

Good question, Susan. I’d like to never learn the answer, but good question nonetheless. You’re one of, if not the, best person I know. Thumbs up.

Stay tuned next for our newest game show, “Nothing will ever be the same”.

Good night, Night Vale, Good night.

Today’s proverb: Bite your tongue. Fun, right?

[ridiculousn3sswrites]

Secrets

*James Madison x Reader

*Request: ‘Anonymous asked: Hi! Can I request a James Madison x reader with the fluff prompt 15 and angst prompt 30? The reader is Hamilton's ex but after he published a news article about the affair she broke up with him and doesn't talk about him anymore but when James finally finds out he breaks up with her. Angst to fluff please. Tysm’ [Fluff prompt 15: I just wanted to let you know that I think you’re beautiful; Angst prompt 30: So that’s it? It’s over?]

*Warnings: Drinking, cheating, arguments, angst. Let me know if I missed anything

My Ko-Fi if you want to support my writing

**********

You thought you met your soulmate in your junior year of college. You were joining more clubs, needing networking opportunities if you wanted to get a job after college, and decided to check out one of your school’s publishing clubs. It was a small meeting for the school’s Political Science Review, looking to replace some of their old members and find potential replacements for graduating members. When you walked into the club room, you weren’t surprised to find it looked exactly as you thought it would. There was a long conference table in the middle of the room, with one person sitting on his laptop at the head of it. The second you walked in, you were intercepted by a guy in a green hoodie. “Hey, I haven’t seen you around before. You new?” He asked, the amount of energy he had surprising considering how tired he looked.

“Uh, yeah. I saw the Facebook event so I thought I’d check it out,” you explained, holding your hand out for him to shake. “I’m (y/n), third-year political science major.”

“Alexander, fourth-year PoliSci major and editor-in-chief,” he said with a smile, shaking your hand. He lingered just long enough for you to notice it before he let your hand go. “I hope you stick around, I’d love to talk to you some more. But you know how it is, I gotta go talk to some others.”

“Yeah, I guess I’ll talk to you later,” you said, surprised at his bluntness. He gave you another small smile before walking up to the guy on his laptop. You stayed for the presentation, the small talk afterwards, and then grabbing some food with Alexander afterwards. The rest, as they say, is history.

You were with Alexander for five years. You found a nice job as a campaign consultant, Alexander went through law school and eventually ended up at Washington’s firm. Everything was going fine in your relationship - you’d moved in together and were beginning to talk about marriage - and then you got hit by what might as well have been a bullet. Your assistant dropped the newspaper on your desk like she did every morning, this time with a pitying look on her face. You were confused, but the headline made things very clear. You instructed your assistant to close the door behind her and not let anyone into your office until further notice.

Alexander, in all his impulsive, stupid, manic glory, wrote a piece about how he was cheating on you with his secretary. She threatened to go to the press because he was trying to get rid of her, and if that got out, he’d never be able to work again. He was the new up-and-comer in Washington’s firm, a scandal like this would ruin him. He never mentioned you by name, and the two of you hadn’t been completely in the public eye, so your name wasn’t tarnished by his decisions. You cleared out your schedule and went to grab all your things from the apartment to move them to an Airbnb that day.

You sat on the couch, waiting for Alexander to get back from the office. The apartment around you now looked foreign, and you couldn’t wait to get out of there. This was just something you needed to do in person, and then you could leave. When Alexander finally got back, you could tell he knew he messed up big time. He had a bouquet of (favorite flowers) in one hand and a huge bag from your favorite takeout place in the other. 

“We have to talk,” you said as he struggled to open the door. You made no move to help him, feeling like he deserved whatever struggles he was having.

“(Y/n), I thought you weren’t getting back until-” For the first time in all the years you knew him, you were able to get Alexander to stop talking with a wave of your hand.

“I cleared my schedule after my assistant dropped the morning paper on my desk. I figured I could take a day to fix things in my own life before I try to tell politicians what they should do in theirs,” you said, keeping your voice steady. You already did your crying as you packed up your things. He didn’t deserve to see you cry. You stood from your spot on the couch, turning to look at Alexander. The door was still open, but Alexander was finally in the apartment. “Anyways, I figured I could show you the slightest bit of decency that you refused to show me. I’m leaving you. I’ve already packed up my things and informed the landlord I won’t be renewing the lease with you. I hope you figure out how to be a decent person, but I’m not going to stick around for the ride anymore.”

“What? We’re not even going to talk about this?” Alexander asked, dropping both the bouquet and the bag of takeout on the side table next to the door.

“No, we aren’t. You chose not only to disrespect me in the highest form, but also deem our relationship as nothing. I’m not going to allow you to treat me like that. Please don’t contact my office or anything else trying to talk to me, I’m not interested in it. Goodbye Alexander,” you told him. He just stood there, mouth agape as he tried to process what was going on. You brushed past him, continuing down the hall even when you heard Alexander calling after you. You wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of looking back, knowing if he had the chance to talk to you, he’d try everything to get you to stay. You wouldn’t give him the chance.

**********

A couple years passed before you finally felt you completely moved on. You’d done the whole soul searching, finding yourself thing, became one of the more well known campaign consultants in the state, really just taking the time to focus on yourself and your career. Adjusting to things after Alexander was difficult, and you found yourself alone—when you were friends with Alexander, you found most of your friends were his friends—but you managed.

One of your clients called you into his main campaign office, wanting you to meet the new head of his legal team. Normally it was the job of campaign managers and staffers to deal with issues like this, but your client wanted your approval for some reason. “(Y/n), thank you so much for coming in on such short notice. We didn’t know Mr. Madison was coming in today until last night.”

“Of course,” you said with a wave of your hand. It’s on your dollar anyways, you left unsaid. Your client walked you into a meeting room, where a bulky man in a nice suit was waiting. You were a little taken aback by how attractive he was, but you needed to push that down for the sake of professionalism.

“Mr. Madison! This is my campaign consultant I was telling you about, (y/n) (l/n),” your client introduced you. The man stepped forward, offering his hand to you. When you shook it, you were impressed by the strength behind his grip.

“James Madison,” he introduced himself. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you too. Would you happen to be the Madison of Jefferson and Madison Law Offices?” You asked. It was a fairly new firm, but both partners were well established in the legal scene, so you’d heard a lot of things about them.

“So you’ve heard of us,” James said with a small smile. “I look forward to working with you.”

**********

Before you knew it, you and James had fallen into a comfortable routine, oftentimes toeing the line of what was appropriate for colleagues. Since both of your main offices were a few blocks away from each other in New York, you found yourselves grabbing lunch and having other outings fairly often. When the two of you were at the campaign office at the same time, you made sure to never leave the realm of professionalism, but outside the office was nearly fair game. Eventually the campaign ended and you were no longer needed (for about a year until the client would start his reelection run), and since you were no longer colleagues, you and James decided to take that step farther.

You dated quietly for a few months—the lunch dates and outings continuing in addition to nights spent at the other’s apartment—before you began meeting each other’s friends. First you met James’s best friend, Thomas, and since that meeting went well, James planned a night at a bar with Thomas and the firm’s junior partner. You walked into the bar on James’s arm, already scanning the place for Thomas. When you saw who Thomas was sitting with, you almost pulled James to a stop.

“James!” Thomas called out the second he saw you both. You walked over, that little politician smile you’d perfected over the years playing on your lips. You could see the recognition cross Aaron’s face before he schooled his features to a polite smile. Once you were in arms’ reach, Thomas pulled you into a hug. “(Y/n), great to see you.”

“Thomas, it’s been a while. How’s the office been?” You asked.

“You know how it is, other attorneys are actually the worst,” Thomas said, rolling his eyes. “And don’t even get me started on my new case-”

“(Y/n), this is Aaron Burr, our junior partner,” James jumped into the conversation, directing your attention to the man just quietly sitting there.

“We’ve actually met before,” Aaron said, reaching his hand out to shake yours anyways. He didn’t look any different from the first time you saw him, maybe a bit more calculating than he was back then. He was still the same guy who sat at the head of the conference table with his laptop all those years ago.

“Aaron, it’s been a while, hasn’t it,” you replied.

“How do you know each other?” James asked.

“We worked on the Political Science Review together in college. Aaron was my managing editor my first year,” you explained. “We lost contact after he went to Princeton for law school. I didn’t even know you were back in the city.”

“Well, I knew I had to come back for the opportunities,” Aaron said with a bright smile.

“We’ll leave you two to catch up a bit. C’mon, James, let’s go get drinks.” Thomas got up, motioning for you to take his seat, before dragging James to the bar. 

“So you and Alexander aren’t together anymore,” Aaron commented as soon as they were far enough away.

“Of course we aren’t. You probably saw that mess of a leading story he published, I wasn’t going to stick around after that,” you said, shaking your head.

“You do understand Alexander is one of the firm’s biggest nuisances, right?”

“Of course I do. It’s hard hearing James talking about how Hamilton makes things difficult when the firm faces him,” you said. “James doesn’t know, and that part of my life is behind me. Listen, I’m asking you this as a friend, please don’t tell James. I’ll tell him when I’m ready.”

“I’ll keep your secret,” Aaron agreed too readily. You knew how he was, and this would probably come at a cost, but you were willing to deal with that when the time came. For now, you wanted to be with James, even if it meant hiding your past.

**********

You and James had been together going on two years now. You never actually got around to telling James since he never asked, and you didn’t really see the point in bringing it up now. The two of you were set to attend some fundraising gala for the mayor’s reelection campaign—one of the only campaigns in the city you weren’t working on. It would be nice to just be able to attend an event, even though you knew there would still be networking.

Things were going as they always did at these sort of events; classical music softly played, the slight hum of different conversations filled the room, and you, James, and Thomas talking amongst yourselves at one of the tables. James’s arm was around your waist as him and Thomas talked about their newest case, even if tonight was supposed to be a night off. You scanned the room, recognizing different people you worked with over the years. Your mind was already wandering, so you excused yourself to go grab a drink.

You were at the bar, sipping at your drink as you tried to decide your next move. You could either go mingle with the different people in the room, your previous clients in particular, or you could go back to James and Thomas and listen to the legal speak that you didn’t completely understand. “(Y/n)? Is that really you?”

You immediately tensed, not answering. This was the exact situation you’d been avoiding for years, and of course it happened when you were at an event with James. If you’d been on your own it wouldn’t matter, but you didn’t want James to see. You took another sip of your drink, motioning for the bartender to get you another one. As he put the drink down in front of you, a hand was placed on your shoulder from behind. “Come on, (y/n), don’t be like this.”

“Be like what, Alexander? I have no interest in speaking to you,” you said, refusing to look at him.

“Can we please just talk?” Alexander asked. You finally turned to look at him. He looked so much like he did the last time you saw him, just more tired. 

“About what? There’s nothing to say, and even if there was, this definitely wouldn’t be the place,” you told him. “You wouldn’t want to have another scandal, now would you?”

Alexander huffed, looking around the room before his gaze landed back on you. “Look, I’m sorry, okay? I know it doesn’t make what I did any better, and I should never have hurt you like that. You didn’t deserve any of that, and I wish we could have moved past it together.”

Before you could answer, an arm wrapped around your waist. You jumped before settling into the familiar hold, knowing that, for now, your boyfriend had your back. “She didn’t deserve what, Hamilton?” James asked—actually, demanded.

From the look in his eyes, you knew what Alexander was going to do. That little glint told you he was going to make things worse for everyone, just so he could feel like he won. Alexander only focused on you, ignoring James’s question. “You’re kidding me. You’re with Madison now?”

“I don’t see why it’s your concern. We’ve been together for about two years now,” you answered, leaning into James’s hold. You tried to keep your voice from wavering, but your facade could only last for so long. Things were going to fall apart faster than they already were if you let Alexander keep talking. You looked up at James, seeing the tension in his jaw. Sure, he was a passionate man, but it took a lot to make James Madison actually angry. “James, honey, we should get back to Thomas and mingle a little.”

“I can’t believe you’re friends with that pompous bastard,” Alexander scoffed as he rolled his eyes. “I should be going anyways. I need to prepare for our meeting tomorrow, Madison.”

“Right,” James said, a slight edge to his voice. You lightly tugged on James’s arm, trying to direct him back to Thomas, who was watching the encounter closely. He let you lead him, his focus obviously on the half-conversation. The entire night was thrown off, James staying quiet as you and Thomas talked about different things. You went through the room on your own, worry in the back of your mind as you talked to different people. After the two of you were done with your networking, you left. James was still quiet as you went back to his apartment, only telling you he loved you before the two of you went to sleep.

When you next saw James, he was angry. You were sitting on the couch in your apartment, watching random videos on your laptop, when James practically burst through your door. You closed your laptop, eyeing him carefully. “What the hell happened between you and Alexander?” he demanded, not even bothering to put down his work bag.

“Why? What happened?” You asked. Something happened in that meeting, and whatever it was, it wasn’t good.

“When he left the meeting he told me to say hello to you, that the Schuylers miss having you around,” James said. Though the request might seem innocent to anyone else, Alexander undoubtedly said it just to get under James’s skin. “What happened between you two?”

“Okay, right, I knew I would have to tell you eventually,” you said, tapping your fingers on your laptop as you tried to calm yourself. This is ridiculous. Just tell him. “Alexander and I dated for quite a while at the end of college and a little bit after. I don’t know if you know this, but he wrote an entire article about how he was cheating on his girlfriend with his secretary. That girlfriend was me. I left when I found out and haven’t had any contact with him since.”

“How long.”

“What?”

“How long were you dating for.” James wasn’t asking at this point.

“We dated for five years. James, that part of my life is-”

“Why wouldn’t you tell me? You’ve listened to me complain about Hamilton for years and didn’t think to mention that you even knew him? What, did you not trust me enough to tell me?” James continued, just ranting at this point. You knew you wouldn’t be able to get through to him, not when he was this riled up. “Why are we even together if you don’t trust me?”

That made you completely stop. You moved your laptop out of your lap and turned to face James. “I don’t speak about Alexander anymore. To anyone. It wasn’t a trust issue, it was simply that I don’t wish to revisit a part of my life that deeply hurt me.”

“You should have told me. I don’t care that you dated Hamilton—well I care a little—but I care that you lied to me. You lied for years. I don’t think I can be with you anymore,” James said, shifting his work bag on his shoulder.

“So that’s it? It’s over?” You demanded, watching as he turned to leave. He paused, fiddling with something in his hands. He put the spare key you had given him on the hook by your door.

“Yeah, it’s over.” James left, not even looking back at you as he closed the door. You wanted to go after him, but you didn’t know if it would be a good idea. By the time you actually processed what was going on, you knew it was too late to go after him. He was most likely already long gone.

**********

A week passed before reality really started to set in. You thought James just needed some time to cool off, and then the two of you would actually be able to talk about this. When that week passed and he made absolutely no attempts to contact you, you realized he actually meant it when he said it was over.

You walked into the cafe, seeing Aaron almost immediately. After you found out Aaron worked with James, the two of you hung out enough to actually become friends. When Aaron saw you, he waved you over with a smile. “Hey,” you said, sitting across from him. “How’s work been?”

“It’s been busy. We’ve had a ton of cases, and it doesn’t help that the opposition is pretty strong too,” Aaron said. “Do you want me to go get you something? I know it’s your lunch break.”

“Wait, isn’t it your lunch break too?”

“I had a meeting at Washington’s office that didn’t necessarily have a set ending time,” Aaron said. “So, what did you want to talk about?”

“What, I can’t just have lunch with a friend?” The look on Aaron’s face let you know he wasn’t buying your excuses. “Okay, you got me. How’s James doing?”

Aaron took a drink of his coffee, looking around the cafe before he finally answered. “He’s been distracted. The day after his meeting with Alexander he called me into his office and asked me what I knew about you and Alexander.”

“Did you tell him?” You asked, worrying your lip. Aaron nodded.

“To be fair, I never really knew much about your relationship, but James is my boss and I wasn’t going to just lie to him,” Aaron explained. “I told him how it was difficult for you to hear about Alexander, and how you were going to tell him when you were ready.”

“How’d he take it?”

“I couldn’t tell. I know he got a little more distant after, but it’s not like James talks to me about his feelings. You’d have to ask Thomas if you want to know that.” You nodded. “How are you doing, (y/n)?”

“You were right, I should’ve told him sooner. I miss him,” you told him. “I just… I really messed this up.”

Aaron paused before practically slamming his hand on the table. “Tell you what, clear out whatever wallowing you had planned for Friday. We’re going out.”

“Wait, what?”

“Not like that. Let’s just go somewhere and get your mind off of things. I can tell you need it,” Aaron explained.

“I don’t kn-”

“I wasn’t asking. I’ll see you on Friday.” Aaron drank the last of his coffee before standing and grabbing his things. He was gone before you even had the chance to argue, and you couldn’t help but laugh.

Once Friday came around, you had half a mind to cancel on Aaron. One of your clients seemed hell-bent on ruining his political career and that mess had you running around New York City almost all day trying to do damage control that his non-existent PR team should have been doing. When you got to your apartment, you already had your phone in hand ready to cancel. You were immediately interrupted by a notification, Aaron’s name popping up.

From: Aaron now

Don’t even think about cancelling. I’ll be there in 30

It worried you sometimes how well Aaron knew you. Or maybe you were just predictable. Half an hour wasn’t nearly enough time to glam up, so you just changed into a light, (f/c) dress and freshened your makeup. Just as you pulled on your shoes, you heard three knocks on your door. “(Y/n), you better be ready,” Aaron called from the hallway.

“Yeah yeah, I’m ready,” you said, opening the door. “Let me grab my bag and then we can head out.”

“I thought you were ready,” Aaron huffed, his small smile letting you know he wasn’t being that serious.

You and Aaron walked into the same bar the partners frequented after cases. It was bittersweet, all the good memories with James and the others flooding your mind. When you spotted Thomas across the bar, you were immediately tempted to turn around and leave. 

“Don’t even think about it, I invited Thomas too,” Aaron said. “You know it’s good for me to get closer to him if I want to be an actual partner.”

“Okay, fine. It’ll be nice to hang out with Thomas,” you agreed. Aaron led you over to the booth Thomas had managed to grab. The second Thomas spotted you, he lit up. You could tell he was stopping himself from running to meet you, tapping his fingers on the table. Though you’d been dating James, you knew Thomas took a huge liking to you, something like a younger sister.

“(Y/n)!”

“I’m also here, Thomas,” Aaron said as you slid into the booth. 

“Yeah, but I see you at work. (Y/n), it’s been boring not seeing you. All James ever does is mope and talk about you,” Thomas spilled. “Please tell me you guys are going to work this out. James is miserable.”

“I dunno, Thomas. He hasn’t tried to reach out and I don’t want to push him away any more than I already did,” you told him, looking down at the table.

“You guys are children.” Thomas rolled his eyes. “Whatever, I guess you’ll just have to work it out in person.”

It sounded reasonable, but you didn’t understand why he was now smiling. The three of you kept up some idle chitchat, catching up on what was going on in each other’s lives. As you were talking about the mess your client was putting you through, Thomas’s gaze landed somewhere behind you. You paused, confused at what could’ve grabbed Thomas’s attention. You thought your story was pretty interesting.

“I see Aaron’s here, who-” James cut himself off once he could see your profile. “(Y/n)? What are you doing here?”

“James! I- I’m sorry, Aaron invited me out but I didn’t know you and Thomas would be here,” you tried explaining. “I’m sorry, I should go. Aaron, let me out.”

Aaron refused to move from the bench, effectively trapping you in your seat. Thomas grabbed James’s arm, keeping him in place too. “You guys need to talk this through, you both are obviously miserable,” Thomas said.

Thomas got out of the booth, practically shoving James into his spot. James looked anywhere other than at you, meanwhile you glared at Aaron. “We’re just going to sit at the bar, don’t even think of leaving,” Aaron warned you, finally getting out of the booth. 

Thomas and Aaron walked away, leaving you and James in relative privacy. “I really am sorry, I thought it would just be me and Aaron.”

“Were the two of you?” James trailed off, even though his thought process was evident.

“No, he said I needed to stop wallowing so he was just trying to get my mind off things,” you explained. You looked at your hands, avoiding meeting James’s eyes. You were shocked when one of his hands grabbed yours, his thumb rubbing the back of your hand. It was familiar, like coming home after a long day. You finally looked up. The way James looked at you was soft, so different from the last time you saw him. “James?”

“I just wanted to let you know I think you’re beautiful,” James said, voice soft enough that you almost missed it. You could feel the heat rushing to your face, not expecting him to say that.

“I-”

“It was wrong of me to act the way I did. I let Hamilton get under my skin,” James explained. “After hearing what he was saying to you at the event, and then him saying that at the meeting, I let my own insecurities get the better of me. I should have just talked to you.”

“I should’ve told you long before something like that could’ve happened,” you said. “We both could have handled it better, but I should’ve told you. I was scared that telling you would make you look at me differently, that you’d see me as that poor girl from the article.”

“I wouldn’t. I know who you are, you’re a lot more than Hamilton’s ex-girlfriend. You’re incredibly talented, driven, smart, compassionate—I could go on for ages,” James told you, now going to hold your other hand. “I didn’t talk to you for a week, and it was one of the hardest things I’ve done. Every night I wanted to call you, I wanted to listen to you complain about those politicians, I wanted to make you laugh. I missed you more than anything else.”

“God, that was so sweet and cheesy and I don’t even know how to respond to it,” you said, shaking your head despite the smile on your face. “You have no idea how much I missed you.”

“Would you be willing to give me another chance?” James asked.

“I should be the one asking that,” you said with a humorless laugh. “Do you think we can sneak out without Thomas and Aaron noticing? I kinda want to just get some takeout and hang out at my place.”

“Yeah, I heard talk about your client on the news. I can imagine that’s made your day interesting,” James told you, looking around the bar. “I don’t see Thomas at the bar anymore and I doubt Aaron would stop us if he sees us leaving together.”

“See, someone gets it!” The smile James gave you was blinding, making your heart flutter at the sight. He got out of the booth first, offering his hand to you. When you took it, everything just felt right again.

**********

Permanent Tag List: @treatallwithkindness

[deargodsno]

WHITEFISH, Mont. — Richard B. Spencer, the most infamous summer resident in this town, once boasted that he stood at the vanguard of a white nationalist movement emboldened by President Donald J. Trump. Things have changed.“ I have bumped into him, and he runs — that’s actually a really good feeling,” said Tanya Gersh, a real estate agent targeted in an antisemitic hate campaign that Andrew Anglin, the founder of the Daily Stormer, a neo-Nazi website, unleashed in 2016 after Mr. Spencer’s mother made online accusations against Ms. Gersh. Leaders in Whitefish say Mr. Spencer, who once ran his National Policy Institute from his mother’s $3 million summer house here, is now an outcast in this resort town in the Rocky Mountains, unable to get a table at many of its restaurants. His organization has dissolved. Meanwhile, his wife has divorced him, and he is facing trial next month in Charlottesville, Va., over his role in the deadly 2017 neo-Nazi march there, but says he cannot afford a lawyer.

The turn of events is no accident. Whitefish, a mostly liberal, affluent community nestled in a county that voted for Mr. Trump in 2016 and 2020, rose up and struck back. Residents who joined with state officials, human rights groups and synagogues say their bipartisan counteroffensive could hold lessons for others in an era of disinformation and intimidation, and in the wake of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

“The best way to respond to hate and cyberterrorism in your community is through solidarity,” said Rabbi Francine Green Roston of the Glacier Jewish Community/B’nai Shalom, who now lectures other groups on how to ward off hate campaigns like the one Whitefish endured. “Another big principle is to take threats seriously, and prepare for the worst.” Mayor John Muhlfeld agreed, “You have to act swiftly and decisively and come together as a community to tackle hate and make sure it doesn’t infiltrate your town,” he said. On Saturday, Mr. Spencer said he kept a “very low profile” in Whitefish, and though he had been denied service in local establishments in the past, “I don’t have any anxiety dealing with anyone.” He said he does not run from Ms. Gersh and understood why people would be angry with him. “I don’t want any battles with them here in Whitefish,” he continued, “and I hope they take a similar attitude, that it’s best to move on.” His mother, Sherry Spencer, did not respond to requests for comment.

Advice and an Accusation

The trouble in Whitefish started after Mr. Trump’s victory in the 2016 election that November. Mr. Spencer, who had called his white nationalist movement a “vanguard” for Mr. Trump, delivered a racially charged speech at his institute’s conference in Washington, his words greeted by Nazi salutes. Video of the address went viral. In Whitefish, residents discussed protesting in front of a downtown commercial building owned by Mr. Spencer’s mother.

Ms. Gersh said Ms. Spencer had called her.“She flat-out asked me, ‘Tanya, I don’t believe in my son’s ideology,’” Ms. Gersh recalled over coffee in her office downtown. “‘I’m heartbroken that this is hurting Whitefish. What should I do?’” “I said: ‘Sherry, if this were my son, I would go ahead and sell the building. I would donate some money to something like the Human Rights Network to make a statement, and publish that you don’t believe in the ideologies of your son.’ And she said: ‘Thank you, Tanya. That’s exactly what I should do.’”Ms. Gersh said she had arranged to sell the property without making any profit. But a short time later, she said, Ms. Spencer sent an email saying she had changed her mind about working with Ms. Gersh. Ms. Gersh supplied names of other real estate agents.Two weeks later, in December 2016, Ms. Spencer posted an article on the open publishing platform Medium accusing Ms. Gersh of using the threat of protests to blackmail her into selling. Mr. Spencer said on Saturday that he and his former wife had written the article published under his mother’s name. He repeated their claims against Ms. Gersh, adding that she had called his mother, not the other way around. The Spencers’ accusations quickly reverberated among the far right. Mr. Anglin of the Daily Stormer exhorted his “fam” online to “TAKE ACTION” to defend Ms. Spencer.

Ms. Gersh arranged to sell a commercial property in downtown Whitefish owned by the mother of Richard B. Spencer, who once said he stood at the vanguard of a white nationalist movement emboldened by President Donald J. Trump.

He shared personal information and the social media accounts of Ms. Gersh and her family, including her son, then 12. A post in which Mr. Anglin encouraged his followers to “stop by and tell her in person what you think of her actions” was the first of some 30 articles he published targeting the Gersh family and the Jewish community in Whitefish, according to a lawsuit Ms. Gersh filed in 2017 against Mr. Anglin in U.S. District Court in Montana.Ms. Gersh received hundreds of text messages, emails and Christmas cards threatening her. Her voice mail filled up several times a day. Hateful comments about Ms. Gersh appeared on real estate websites. Homeowners were afraid to list with her.

The campaign swept in Rabbi Roston, another area rabbi, Allen Secher, and his wife, Ina Albert, and any Whitefish residents and business owners the trolls believed were Jewish.

At one point, Rabbi Roston realized one of the anonymous antagonists was the father of her son’s best friend. Her family did not confront the man, who has since moved away. “He had a lot of guns,” she said.Mr. Anglin next announced a march on Whitefish, planned for Martin Luther King’s Birthday in 2017. An ad for the event depicted the gates of the Auschwitz death camp with photos of Ms. Gersh, her son, Rabbi Roston and the other rabbi’s wife superimposed.The march was planned to end at the Gersh home.‘A Full Plan in Place’ Whitefish and Montana mobilized.Montana’s governor, attorney general and congressional delegation issued a bipartisan open letter, making it clear “that ignorance, hatred and threats of violence are unacceptable and have no place in the town of Whitefish, or in any other community in Montana or across this nation.” The governor at the time, Steve Bullock, wrote editorials condemning the antisemitic campaign and met with the families in Rabbi Roston’s home.As tensions rose in Whitefish, Mr. Spencer and his parents made public statements distancing themselves from the march and from Mr. Anglin. Behind the scenes, the police and the federal authorities readied themselves for a potentially violent event.Mr. Muhlfeld, the mayor, said that the town had not refused Mr. Anglin a special event permit but that Mr. Anglin had not met the town’s conditions, including a prohibition on firearms.

“If you asked, ‘Do you think they’re going to show up?’ they were like, ‘Nah,’ but they had a full plan in place,” Rabbi Roston said. “If you look at Jan. 6, the quickness with which people wrote off threats was dangerous,” she added.

The Anti-Defamation League, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Secure Community Network, the official safety and security organization of the North American Jewish community, advised residents on what to do.As a result, Ms. Gersh did not speak publicly about her ordeal at the time. Rabbi Roston kept a low profile, discouraging coverage in the Jewish news media to protect the congregation and avoid giving attackers the attention they craved. The congregation did not cancel its Hanukkah party in December 2016 but moved it from the rabbi’s home to the conference room of a motel, with two armed security guards at the door. On each table, the rabbi placed a pile of supportive letters that had arrived from around the nation.Volunteers distributed thousands of paper menorahs. “There were menorahs in every window in Whitefish,” Ms. Gersh said. An anti-hate rally drew 600 participants in zero-degree weather. On the eve of the neo-Nazi march, Rabbi Roston helped organize a chicken and matzo ball soup get-together for 350 people at the middle school in Whitefish, in a demonstration of unity and appreciation. On Martin Luther King’s Birthday — Monday, Jan. 16 — not a single neo-Nazi turned up to march. “We could say they chickened out,” Rabbi Roston joked.In April, Ms. Gersh, represented by the Southern Poverty Law Center, filed suit against Mr. Anglin for invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress and violations of Montana’s Anti-Intimidation Act. In 2019, she won $14 million in damages. A team of lawyers is still searching for Mr. Anglin and his assets. The trial in the Charlottesville case, Sines v. Kessler, begins on Oct. 25. A group of victims and counterprotesters filed suit against Mr. Anglin as well as Mr. Spencer, along with nearly two dozen people and groups involved in the “Unite the Right” rally, after a neo-Nazi at the Charlottesville march plowed his car into a crowd of counterprotesters, killing Heather Heyer, 32, and injuring at least 19 others.

Mr. Spencer’s lawyer withdrew from the case last year because he had not been paid. “Due to deplatforming efforts against me, it is very difficult for me to raise money as other citizens are able to,” Mr. Spencer told the judge in a pretrial hearing in 2020. He is now representing himself. As the trial approaches, the case has generated a number of contempt-related fines and sanctions against the defendants.“ After four years of so little accountability, it’s important to make clear that accountability matters and it works,” said Amy Spitalnick, the executive director of Integrity First for America, the nonprofit group that brought the lawsuit.Separately, in May, a federal judge in Ohio ordered Mr. Spencer’s National Policy Institute to pay $2.4 million to William Burke, a counterprotester who was severely injured in Charlottesville. Mr Muhlfeld said he had last seen Mr. Spencer in 2019, skiing at the mountain resort. “He walked into the Summit House and summarily was booed by pretty much everyone,” Mr. Muhlfeld said, referring to a restaurant there. “Richard Spencer wanted this to be his happy vacation place where he could play and have fun, and people would just live and let live,” Rabbi Roston said. “Then he started suffering social consequences for his hatred. ”Ms. Gersh said that she had been afraid to work again after the hate campaign, but that after Charlottesville, “I knew that I had to go back to work because if I didn’t, they win.”

She keeps a photo of Ms. Heyer on her desk and bear spray in its drawer.

[elenarcrypto]

The Effects Of With And Without Crypto PR

Most crypto and blockchain startups often have difficulties dealing with PR. This is not new. This is not new. FT columnist Jemima Kelly recently unveiled all that a particular company must do to promote its token. The company was established in Ukraine. ASKfm decided to launch their crowd sales by placing 500,000 of their tokens at the summit of Mount Everest "for those who are brave enough to go to the mountains," according to the company's official statement.

No one was foolish enough to take that risk, thankfully, and in due time, but it appears that wasn't the objective in the first place. The Ukrainian corporation deployed a team to the world's highest peak to position a token cache, according to the inquiry. However, their public relations plans were not as good as the industry might say.

The team encountered bad weather when descending after positioning the tokens. The expedition became stranded at 7,000 meters, with no means of communication and no oxygen. The squad had to be rescued by local air rescue on the second day, but the worst was yet to come. One of their guides had vanished, and it was discovered later that day. Local officials later confirmed his death, turning a botched crypto scam into something far more mysterious than anyone could have imagined.

The actions that culminated in the death of a man did not appear to be enough to induce the Ukrainian company to run and hide beneath a rock. “ASKfm kicks off a new stunt —this time without killing a guide,” the company wrote to gain attention. However, ASKfm isn't alone in its efforts to gain media attention.

It's an unexpected consequence of the prohibition on crypto and blockchain advertisements, or the latter's capacity to go beyond today's advertising rules. However, to attract opportunities, capital, leads, and viewers, blockchain and crypto startups and ventures often do the unthinkable. This is supported by the following cringe-worthy ventures that the industry is now trying to forget.

Kim and Dennis Rodman

Dennis Rodman, a former NBA star, was once paid by Potcoin to travel to North Korea and serve as an unofficial observer during the dictator's summit with Donald Trump.

Mao Has Returned!

An actor portraying Mao Zedong, China's most admired and prominent communist leader, appeared at a blockchain conference in China. The usage of photos of former and current Chinese leaders in national broadcasts and advertising is illegal under Chinese law, which is why the incident provoked significant criticism on social media. Making people mad isn't the most effective way to get them to use your goods.

You can see me now (and then you can't)

Savedroid's official website and social media accounts were recently deactivated, and their website was replaced with a South Park meme. What is the goal? To raise awareness about the risks and hazards of cryptocurrency scams. Investors were not amused in the least.

How to take action?

It's simply a sample of PR for blockchain doing wrong, as examples mentioned above. Of course, the fact that both businesses suffer the most common difficulty that blockchain and crypto startups encounter when attempting to gain media attention is a major one. But more to it. But more to it.

All of this is about clarity and strategic thinking when it comes to doing worthwhile and scalable Blockchain PR. You can help with a renewed focus on a PR strategy. So how can crypto businesses still get good news in such uncertainty and reach new people?

Focus on the fundamentals

As a crypto startup, you must be able to share information about your venture with the rest of the planet. We understand. You want to make the front pages of major newspapers no matter what, just as all of your predecessors did; however, this is not a good strategy. To begin, you must understand what is driving all of the other organisations' PR accomplishments, which requires going back to basics.

Despite the fact that crypto and blockchain firms confront unique challenges, many of today's public relations and marketing best practises still apply: is your website interesting and user-friendly? Is your brand in line with the message you're trying to get across? Are you able to communicate your mission and vision to people who aren't in these industries? Have you determined who your target market is?

You must have a thorough understanding of your business, sector, and target market. The ideal crypto PR strategy will devote the majority of its efforts to establishing your voice and brand. You can also take the help of a Crypto PR Agency who does all the PR work for you.

Build Your Content

It's difficult to be a new company in a relatively new industry, especially when the media is still grappling with the concept.

Write a white paper as one of the first things you can do to improve the content on your website. This should address all of the fundamentals, including prices, contracts, and legal difficulties, as well as provide the concrete framework for your abstract goal and vision—how you want to make your impact on the crypto business.

Avoid using jargon in the material and instead, aim to describe complicated processes straightforwardly. Clarity is crucial once again. You will retain integrity by appealing to both savvy and novice viewers in this manner.

Your content will undoubtedly aid you in reaching out to journalists, influencers, bloggers, and publications. Don't forget that they're all searching for experts who can speak authoritatively about cryptocurrencies

Media Relations

Contacting the media is the perfect way to support your ICO or crypto startup. Examine how other firms have gained awareness through thought leadership blogs, guest posts or articles, websites, press releases, and other methods. Getting the attention of the media is an art, which is why you must know exactly how to make your company and proposals beneficial and persuasive. To build the proper relations with the media, you can even hire the Fintech ad, who will do all the groundwork for you.

So, before you start emailing every major publication you come across telling them how great your startup is and why they should contact you, take a step back and review our Pitching To Journalists Toolkit, which will walk you through exactly what kind of email you need to send to get a busy journalist's attention.

A Final Thought

Even with the digital ad prohibition in place, attending events, conferences, and networking activities can help your blockchain and crypto company gain exposure and media coverage. You'll have exclusive access to those making headlines in the crypto community, as well as investors.

[texanredrose]

Dear Diary - July

July 4th- Dear Diary, Father called today. He tried weaseling around the terms of our agreement but I held firm. I know quite well that he doesn’t approve of the fact I’m attending the gala with a date he hasn’t personally vetted but he doesn’t get to have a say in who I include in my life anymore. In the back of my mind, I’m also highly aware he would object to everything about Blake, strictly for his own poor opinions and not because Blake is anything but a stellar individual and a sweet, heartfelt soul. Ultimately, it was foolish of me to talk her into attending the gala without first ensuring she understood the... full situation. The world I knew growing up was so enclosed that the realities of the world at large have yet to truly trickle in, old grudges and outdated views holding firm when they have no good reasons to cling to them except out of vain pride. I’ve made mention of severing ties with Father, but I never told anyone aside from Winter the details. Blake and I are supposed to go for a jog tomorrow morning; I will address it then. I tried calling her but the words caught in my throat and I...

I realize- not for the first time- that Blake is a better friend than I truly deserve. She picked up on my sour mood and turned the conversation away from my family and the gala entirely, pulled me into a discussion about a show I’ve never even heard of but now am interested in seeing. She’s made a claim that I can’t possibly see working in even the most abstract fictional sense and started discourse over the whole debacle, so now I feel compelled to witness for myself to see if my mind changes. We’re having a little watch party at her place on Friday- provided our conversation tomorrow goes well, I suppose- and the reprieve was nice. But I can’t help feeling like going to the gala- although an event I am required to attend- is a huge mistake.

Winter understands- perhaps better than Blake or Ruby ever could. She’s been separated from that world for longer but she knows what’s to come. Everyone will ask about her service, about why it ended, and she won’t lie- we’ve spent far too much of our lives lying to everyone and ourselves. She’ll square her shoulders and tell nothing but the truth with clear pride and from that moment on, everything will be different. From the moment Penny’s brought up, Winter will go from respectable former service member to an irresponsible single mother in their eyes- because staying in a loveless marriage where both of you cheat on the other like most people drink water is somehow the morally righteous avenue in comparison. And that she’s adopted? The circumstances around that adoption? Perish the thought of caring for another person out of something other than blood compelled obligation or financial opportunity. It makes my blood boil.

Even as I’m writing this, Blake’s checking up on me via text. Ruby, too, though she seemed busier nowadays. I know she’s been spending more time with Penny and I’m glad my niece- which... I suppose I haven’t been thinking of her as such until recently, but that is the proper familial relation- is becoming friends with my best friend. It’s... strange, in a way, because even though it’s only Winter and I now as blood relatives... I feel as if I have a bigger, more supportive family now than at any other point in my life.

I know I started this diary with the express intention of chronicling my exasperation with Winter and Yang but... it does feel nice to write the words ‘I feel very loved right now’ in my own handwriting and know that I fully mean them. 

And now Yang’s texting me. I guess Blake enlisted everyone’s assistance to cheer me up. I wonder what her response would be if I jokingly referred to her as my future sister-in-law. Jokes of that nature are typically her domain but... well, maybe it takes speaking in a language she understands to get her to notice Winter’s advances.

Regardless, it’s just occurred to me that I do have quite an extensive support network and I should set up contingencies. In the event Blake still wants to attend the gala with me, I should have a back-up plan; I think I’ll reach out to Pyrrha, see if she’s free that evening and could stay in the area if a hasty exit is required. Winter and I may be mandated to remain at the event but, if either Blake or Yang begin feeling uncomfortable- I don’t see the latter missing out on anything falling within the classical definition of a ‘party’ but Winter seems adamant- they can leave at any time they wish.

I already envy them that freedom.

July 5th- Dear Diary, Again, I find myself a bit amazed. Blake possesses a very intricate understanding of the worst case scenario and she seemed rather blasé about the whole thing. I don’t believe for a second she’s that confident in facing those stuffy morons at the gala- I can see in her eyes how she wants to balk and run- but she’s going to try and I’ll always admire her courage to try when every instinct screams at her otherwise. Also, our jog went a bit... longer than either of us expected; we both forgot the initial limit we’d set and just... kept running. Our conversation took so many turns- I actually find myself looking forward to the possibility that someone might incense her enough to pull a passionate rant from her mid gala. It would be glorious to witness and being able to say she’s my date to all the stupefied morons? Priceless.

Also, my conversation with Yang last night drew on a bit longer and I... was reminded of a few things. I sometimes forget that she plays her cards so close to the vest, to use a phrase, and hides her turmoil behind a mask of support. I suppose effectively raising Ruby on her own had some bearing on the way she always seems to keep her troubles to herself rather than ‘burden’ her friends with such thoughts, but that’s what we’re here for, damnit, and I’ll not stand idly by when something is bothering my friend and potential future sister-in-law.

After a lot of work, I managed to ferret the issue out of her. It seems she’s a bit intimidated about the gala. While she’s promised to dial back her puns and brash demeanor, she worries she’ll embarrass either myself or Winter, and while her heart’s in the right place, neither of us are worried about such. I tried to assure her of that but I’m quite certain my words fell on deaf ears; I forget, also, that she’s not as confident in herself as many believe. A cocky strut and a large smile can fool many but her vulnerabilities are there, if one looks close enough. On the upside, it provided a perfect opportunity to provide her Winter’s number, if only so she could see for herself that Winter has utmost confidence in her. That seemed to lift her spirits but, as of yet, she hasn’t reached out to Winter.

I swear, these two will be the death of me.

July 9th- Dear Diary, I spoke to Pyrrha and it turns out she and Nora have plans the night of the gala to see a movie. The theatre isn’t too far from the museum, so they’ll be in the area and happy to provide their assistance. Well, I’m not so sure about the ‘happy’ part; Nora didn’t seem entirely enthused but Pyrrha managed to talk her into it. Not sure what’s going on with those two but they’ve certainly been hanging around each other more often as of late. Probably a good thing; Pyrrha could use a little of Nora’s effortless ability to relax and just be goofy while Nora could certainly use a lesson or two in conducting herself according to... well, common decency. I swear, half the time, I think she purposefully ignores well established etiquette just to see how many people she can rile up, but she means well. I think.

At any rate, this secures Yang and Blake a back-up plan in the event things go south. Another round of assurances have occurred in the past day, going every which way- and I mean that literally. 

Winter has talked to me, promised to intervene if Father gets up to his usual tricks, which he no doubt will, and I assured her that I’d rather he do his best to tear us both down rather than just one of us suffer the consequences. I think it helps ease her mind that I’m willing to stand beside her, knowing quite well the hell we’re going to be walking into, but we both broke free of that world. If we must return, it won’t be alone. Funny, to think there was a time I envied her so greatly, I refused to talk to her. I suppose children aren’t the best equipped to handle the figurative minefields we navigated in our youth. It’s nice to think that she’s on my side, firmly; that we have each other’s backs. I think... I think one of these days, I should apologize for holding so much against her without saying a word...

Anyway, after ensuring that we were on the same page, we then had to deal with Yang and Blake. I’m not sure which of us had it harder, to be frank. I opted to try again explaining to Blake the sort of environment she’ll be walking into... it brought a considerable amount of shame to my heart to admit how awful these people are, and how I aspired to be exactly like them at one point in my life. Although I never said as much, I think she might’ve picked up on my fears that I’m truly no better, and she... well, did her usual Blake thing and offered for us to show up at the gala and then immediately run away, find a nice ice cream parlour, and settle down for a treat. While I’m not sure if her advocacy for avoiding the whole thing came from jest or seriousness, it made me laugh, because I honestly think it would be a much better way to spend an evening. Ice cream with a dear friend beats sitting in my apartment watching reruns and doing paperwork, anyway, and I do so enjoy her company. Alas, that seemed to be the extent of her concern regarding the events, and she’s steadfast in her courage to handle the whole ordeal with that quiet little smile of hers. I’ve recently begun to think how lucky I am to have such wonderful friends, and Blake comes in very high on that list.

However, by bringing it up again, it seems I unintentionally gave Blake the idea that I might want to take someone else instead. Preposterous, mind- no one else can read Yang half as well, aside from Ruby, and I’ll not be bringing that miniature tornado anywhere near these morons for fear she’ll either become embarrassed or challenged, neither of which would end well for all parties involved- and it took a fair amount of time to convince her otherwise. Truthfully, I can’t imagine bringing anyone else with me, not only to keep an eye on Winter and Yang but because I don’t think I’d want to have anyone else at my side when the vultures begin to circle. Blake’s seen... well ‘my worst’ is a bit misleading, since I’d like to think I’d grown a bit by the time we met, but certainly not my best. She’s seen the ugly side, the part I’m still trying to weed out from my soul, and knowing that I’m walking back into the garden where it grows wild- again I find myself questioning if this is the right decision to make. But that’s what the back-up plan is for, I must remember that. I’m a Schnee and I plan for every eventuality.

Anyway, setting aside the myriad of thoughts pinging around my head regarding this ridiculous gala, there’s what little I’ve gleaned about the communications between Yang and Winter, from the four most reliable sources.

From Winter’s perspective, she’s done everything she can to assure Yang that her presence is not only wanted but welcomed, and that anyone who makes her feel otherwise will be ‘dealt with’- a fine, empty threat at first, but there are times when I see a look come into Winter’s eyes I haven’t seen since her days in the military, and I’m not so sure ‘empty’ is the proper word. Of course she wouldn’t hold it against Yang if she didn’t want to go- really, neither of us could- but welcomed the company, and supposedly she admitted that she’s looking forward to seeing Yang in her dress again. It's both strange and fascinating to watch how quickly those jagged, rough edges from our childhood and beyond are melted away when Winter talks about Yang. I think 'smitten' is putting it lightly; I don't doubt Winter would fight the whole Atlesian army with one arm behind her back if Yang asked her to, and she'd do it with a smile. It's actually adorable and I never thought that would be an apt description for my little sister.

From Yang's take, I'm beginning to think this attraction goes much deeper for her. Not to say Winter's interest is purely superficial but it suddenly occurred to me that Yang never really showed much hesitation entering romantic relationships before or flirting with whoever caught her eye. She's dated before- and run the gambit as far as potential partners go- but the prospect of asking someone out or being asked out always seemed like no big deal. It might happen, it might not, but she didn't seem to concern herself with the outcome a great deal. Now, though? I swear, it's like she's worried the world might end if she makes the wrong move. Suddenly, every little thing she does matters, and it's stressing her out. On the one hand, I worry for my friend's health; it can't be good for her to continue worrying about how things might go. On the other... I'm a bit relieved she's taking this so seriously. Winter's rarely, if ever, spoken to me about her romantic leanings, seeing as the intimate nature of the conversation calls for... well, a closer relationship than we'd had for a few years. Now that we're actually talking about these little details, I can tell how serious she is about pursuing Yang, and knowing that an equal amount of care and consideration is being taken the other way around comforts me. However, Yang's sudden obtuseness and refusal to believe what's clear, plain as day in front of her face is vexing to the utmost degree.

Ruby's helped shed light on that. Apparently, I'm not in possession of all the facts regarding the sisters' upbringing. After Ruby's mother passed and Yang took over Ruby's care, their father shut down. I'd gleaned as much from their comments regarding their home life but I'd perhaps misjudged the duration; it seems quite clear that their father is still very upset over Yang's mother leaving him, as if he never truly healed from that loss even after all these years. In the back of their minds, the sisters have always wondered about the relationship between their father and Ruby's mother- if it was genuine love or merely a terrible coping mechanism- and that has made both of them reluctant to pursue anything serious in the romance department. It might be a fear of turning out like her mother holding Yang back or perhaps even taking after her father and falling into a deep depression if the relationship were to fail. Ruby's convinced it's just a phase, that Yang just needs a little more time before she'll come to the obvious conclusion that, yes, she likes Winter just as much as Winter likes her and they should give dating a chance.

The final bit of the puzzle is Penny, surprisingly enough. We talked a bit when I drove her over to Ruby's apartment, and she was very open and honest about how Winter's been acting when she thinks no one is looking. Penny hasn't expressed concern, per se, but she's noted that Winter will sometimes be caught up in her own thoughts, humming the tune to some high tempo song, though she usually frowns when she notices that's what she's doing, and often appears contemplative before resuming her humming. When I asked her what sort of songs Winter hums, she informed me rather bluntly that they're the kind Yang listens to- driving rock ballads with brash vocals. I'm not entirely sure what Winter does and doesn't tell Penny, so I opted to leave it at a comment on how I didn't think her musical tastes tended that way. At which point, Penny rather bluntly informed me that Winter had started listening to that sort of music because Yang did, and that probably had something to do with why she would frown from time to time about it; it probably made her think of Yang and miss her, because they don't spend nearly as much time together as Penny spends with Ruby or I spend with Blake.

Ultimately, the only logical conclusion I can draw is that I need to engineer more opportunities for Winter and Yang to interact, to help both of them get over themselves. Hopefully, with the gala just two short weeks away, I can provide plenty of excuses for just that. I'm sure they can sort through their respective issues together, in time. Absolutely.

July 10th- Dear Diary, I've orchestrated two more small gatherings. My intent is to have Blake assist me in providing Winter and Yang with plenty of one-on-one time. We'll see how it goes. Here's hoping for the best!

7 - 12

I. I gotta write this down. Fifty years from now, when I’m old and grey and can’t remember my name, I want to remember THIS NIGHT. Holy shit. Where do I start?

So, Weiss called me up a couple days ago saying she wanted to have a “game night” with Blake, Winter, and me- which, for one, surprising she didn’t invite Ruby, but Rubes is hanging with Penny so I GUESS I understand it, but even so- and I was like, sure, I’m game (I’m hilarious). Well, we get there tonight, and wouldn’t you know it, little Miss Frosty thought it would be a good idea to bust out Remnant: The Game. I INTRODUCED HER to this thing and she thinks she can beat me? AND she doesn’t bother inviting Ruby, the only person to give me hell over the years? Oh, it’s ON.

But it goes way beyond that. Because GUESS WHO starts off the night by mentioning how we’re all tragically at a disadvantage? Winter. Because of course the woman who served time in the military things she’d got the chops to play against ME.

So now I’ve already got my list of priority targets and a plan: put Blake between me and Winter, let them duke it out while I eliminate Weiss (safest bet since she always charges into a battle and never reinforces her back line) and then sweep Blake away in time to DESTROY Winter. It’s a matter of pride at this point; I ain’t gonna make it easy for her to use whatever tactical insight she might have over me to her advantage! I’ll go toe-to-toe with her at the end but I’m not about to get knocked down early!

The first few turns go exactly like I expect. Blake picks Menagerie (which, by the way, props to Weiss for getting the expansion, I really wish they’d include Menagerie in the base game) and Weiss goes for Mantle. I’ve got Vale and Winter picks Mistral- and I gotta ask her at some point to tell me some stories from there. She talks about it pretty fondly and soldiers get up to all sorts of mischief I can only dream of; she’s gotta have a few good ones. Anyway, I leave just enough of a weak point that Blake can’t resist cutting me off from Menagerie, but it also puts her squarely between me and Winter, so check THAT box. Meanwhile, I poked Weiss over in Mantle and she’s ready to make me pay. I’ve got enough good cards from my first few hands, so I’m building up my defenses in preparation for my strike.

And then Winter, this beautiful, wonderful, ridiculous woman sees RIGHT THROUGH ME and back doors her way into Vacuo, decimating the NPC defenses to establish a stronghold, completely letting Blake control the trade routes.

So, at this point, I’m impressed! But it takes more than that to beat YANG XIAO LONG at her own game!

The next few turns are pretty standard- except, like, Blake and Weiss started... HARDCORE FLIRTING. I’m not even kidding; I never thought I’d see ONE person I could describe as “thirsty as fuck but classy about it” much less TWO, but here I am, sitting front row to the “Weiss and Blake need to get a room wow” show. Winter didn’t seem to notice but, hey, I got EYES for this sort of stuff, I know when my friends are pining, and I sure AS HELL know when they REALLY want to make the first move but they’re too chicken shit. I decided to let them keep flirting; honestly, as long as they’re preoccupied with each other, they’re not giving me ABSOLUTE HELL which is pretty necessary after a few bad hands and a shit dice roll. Luckily, I’ve adjusted my defenses, so I’m ready if Winter strikes, but I think I’ll have to do the pragmatic thing and take Weiss out first. Between the two of them, Weiss is more likely to help her sis out even in a game, and I can’t fight a war on two fronts and succeed at this stage.

Then comes the moment of truth; I’ve just duked it out with Blake and we’re both weak, weak enough that Weiss COULD over extend and nearly wipe one of us from the board, and it’s an opportunity she’s NEVER passed up before. I’m ready to start cursing when Weiss goes AND ROUTS BLAKE! Like, it was BRUTAL! She ran herself thread bare just trying to reach the furthest spot BUT SHE DID IT. In one turn, Blake’s lost every territory she had, and she’s out of the game. 

But then it’s MY turn, and I hit on the three cards I needed, and Weiss spread herself WAY too thin. I’m in awe at my luck. I proceeded to absolutely STEAMROLL Weiss off the map, eliminating TWO PLAYERS in ONE TURN. Like. I’ve been playing this game FOR YEARS and I’ve never seen that!

So now it’s down to me and Winter. I honestly lost track of where Blake and Weiss went after that turn; they might’ve gone to the living room or something, I don’t know, because I am FOCUSED. Winter’s got a solid hold on Mistral and Vacuo, but I’ve got Menagerie, Mantle, AND Vale. Downside: I’m stretched thin. Not thin enough for me to be worried, but I know I’ll need to commit to a front. Winter’s pretty strong, all things considered, and I can’t bank on my perks to carry the game; I know I’ve only got two turns max before Winter’s gonna to cut through my lines like a hot knife through butter and wreck all my perks AND my supply lines.

And that was when I saw it. A side of Winter I hadn’t seen before. I got to see SOLDIER Winter, OFFICER Winter, the woman who’d held lives in her hands and made the tough calls and had to find a way to sleep at night with them.

Let me just say: I’ve never seen anything hotter. The pure focus, the grim determination, just how serious she was taking it- I might know that this is just a board game but I could see in her eyes that the miniatures on the board represented more than just plastic to her. For all the strength in her posture as she looked down at the game, I could see the cracks. Winter had only attacked the NPCs in Vacuo, which are almost impossible to NOT beat; now she’d be facing off against me, and it would be harder to come out of the fights without casualties.

And- she was RELUCTANT. Beneath the confidence and pride, there was a vulnerability. She didn’t want to lose, yeah, but more than that she didn’t want to lose her troops. Winter...  she CARED. About the little plastic figures, she really did, and when I pointed out as much, she brushed it off, but I could still see it. The way she picked up the dice like they were toxic and how she steeled her nerves.

When she looked at me right then, I was SO FUCKING GLAD I was sitting down because HOLY SHIT my knees went weak. This is a woman with cold fire in her veins, at once not wanting to burn but ready to incinerate, ready to do what she must but also obviously wishing she had another option. 

And suddenly, I GOT IT. Like, it all made sense- how she’d had a rough relationship with Weiss when they were younger, how the military helped her see the error of her ways, her attempts to reconnect with Weiss- everything about Winter clicked into place at that moment. She’s always seen herself as someone who wanted to do something, something more, but couldn’t find a way to accomplish it. So instead, she became devastatingly good at the things she NEVER WANTED TO DO. And now she’s at a point where she CAN go those other routes but SHE DOESN’T KNOW HOW! But she’s tryin anyway, and that- I can’t even think of the words but it just, it gets me? Like, deep in my soul, I just resonate with that so much, with that burning desire to try even when you don’t know, to stumble through, but I at least am willing to fall flat on my face. Winter isn’t, at least not yet, but I think she just needs someone to show her it’s okay to stumble. Someone’s gonna be there to catch you.

So before we really got into it, I pointed out that it was really late and I have work early in the morning- which, for the record, isn’t a lie! I do have the early shift tomorrow! Then I suggested we call it a draw.

I’ve never seen anyone agree with me so quickly. Or look so relieved. I don’t think we should play Remnant: The Game again anytime soon; it’s obviously still too soon for Winter to be really entertaining stuff like that. But, damn, for what I saw tonight?

If I wasn’t already crushing so hard, I’d be worried my poor little heart would give out on me. There’s so many layers to her and every little peek just makes me want to see more! Weiss also invited us to a movie night later in the week; I’m dyin’ already to get to it!

I honestly didn’t think I could get this bad. And we’ve got that fancy party coming up! I wish I could bottle up this feeling and pull it out on rainy days. Nothing’s bringing me down any time soon!

20170715

I find myself motivated, putting pen to paper again, though for a much different reason than last time. I hope that looking back on my words might provide me with some sort of insight because, at present, I find myself too entirely possessed of a number of emotions to even begin processing them all.

Earlier this week, Weiss invited me to a game night, which seemed such a mundane and normal part of civilian life that I admittedly jumped at the opportunity. Little did I know, Yang would also be present, as well as Blake- the latter is a rather interesting character and seemed a touch intimidated when we spoke, though I’m not sure why. I’ll investigate more into that matter at a later point.

Anyway, throughout the game- a military strategy game; I should’ve expected such from my sister, rather than cards- I found myself consistently losing focus. I shouldn’t have chosen Mistral as a starting point. It made ascribing names to the figurines under my command far too easy, and with Terry’s recent transfer to Vacuo, I set myself up for a rather trying time. 

And I think... no, I’m sure Yang picked up on that. She’s perceptive- and clever, trying to set me up to take out Blake while she focused on Weiss, but that’s another matter- and she called an early end to the game before things got out of hand.

Now, I’m recently returned from a movie night among the same company and I’m... conflicted. It occurs to me that Yang is friendly, overtly so, and that her actions might just be those of a concerned acquaintance with perhaps a little first hand knowledge of the trials I face. But I find myself wanting to take them as something different, as a prospective partner trying to be supportive. It’s not fair to either of us, perhaps, but I can’t seem to stop myself from doing it.

I honestly can’t recall much of the movie. I’m sure Weiss meant well, opting for a storyline with action, but the military setting... it reminded me too much of the life I’ve left behind. The fact it was a “historical” representation of one of Atlas’ most famous battles also chaffed me raw; significant license was taken in many regards, and each inconsistency piled upon each other until I was fidgeting more than I was still.

But Yang noticed and put a hand on my arm, talked quietly so I had something else to focus on during the hard-to-watch scenes. She’s such an open and caring individual; I truly doubt I’ve ever done anything worthy of her presence in my life. Even as just a friend, I am more than grateful for her.

And I had the opportunity to repay the favor. I suppose I’m the only one she feels confident speaking with regarding her birth mother; she mentioned having a solid lead on a location for her again and a few of the reasons she can’t pursue it immediately. Although Blake seemed to be of a mind that she should leave the past alone, I encouraged her to seek her own closure. I even offered to accompany her.

I’m not entirely sure she’ll take me up on the offer but I believe I saw Yang’s eyes light up, shine in a manner that I’ve rarely seen. I assured her I would be able to get the time off from work with no trouble and that Penny can always stay with a friend while I’m gone.

I don’t know what possessed me to say all that, to make the offer in the first place- I’m not sure if I can actually get the time off or if I’d be comfortable leaving Penny alone. She’s improving by leaps and bounds since she met Ruby- and she’s apparently made new friends in a Pyrrha and Nora, who appear to be other friends of Ruby’s, and Weiss seems familiar enough to not be concerned- but I still feel confident I’d stand by the offer were she to take me up on it.

I’m a woman of meticulous planning. I calculated every step, even when unexpected obstacles appeared. My plans might’ve changed vastly in the past few years but that doesn’t mitigate the work I put into making those plans to begin with.

So how could I be moved to something so rash as a trip to the border? It would be at least a day’s journey by airship, perhaps warranting an overnight stay, and if Yang had said she was leaving tomorrow morning, I’d be packing a bag rather than writing all this out.

I fear that my feelings for Yang are getting the better of my judgment. More, I’m quite certain nothing ill will come of it, and for someone who sees the danger in everything, I’m aware enough to realize I may be making a grave mistake.

But this isn’t nearly as serious as I’m making it out to be, is it? Romantic entanglements, regardless of intensity or brevity, are ultimately a surmountable challenge, a wound that can heal with time if things go awry.

What I mean is: I think my affections for Yang may go deeper than I initially thought. And even if I’m destined for heartache... I think I’m okay with that.

I’m obviously not in my right mind. I’ll not be confessing my undying love anytime soon, of course.

But I will be packing an ‘A’ bag tonight. If Yang wants to go, I will support her, and I’ll be ready to support her if she opts to go alone.

More and more of my plans are involving Yang. So, too, do they involve Weiss and Penny.

Is this what it’s like to have a family?

July 19, 2017

This is just a post to say that I am extremely nervous Because it’s two days until the party and while Fire and Ice are dancing around each other even more than before, I’m also going with Princess, and she’s been unbearably sweet the last few weeks? I’m not even sure what’s going on anymore???

Even though she absolutely destroyed me in a board game last week. Like, absolutely wrecked me. But she wrecks me every time she smiles at me, so I guess it’s no surprise there!

Anyway, I might be scarce the next few days. Enjoy the queue in the meantime.

July 21st- Dear Diary, This is perhaps premature, but I’m about to finish my preparations for the gala. I’ve been texting Blake and it seems like she’s battling a last minute bout of nerves; she offered for us to run off to a movie theatre if I’d rather not have ice cream. I suppose that means our movie nights and little watch parties are rather enjoyable for her.

I hope tonight goes well. I think it’s rather apparent that Yang and Winter are getting closer; they seem to be confiding in each other more. Only a few more nudges and they’ll be together, I’m sure of it!

P.S. ... it’s too early to tell if this was a massive mistake or the best thing that could’ve happened. I think we all learned a lesson tonight... I also need to treat Blake to a dinner... and do something for Pyrrha and Nora...

Personally? I think I’m inclined to count tonight as a win regardless. But I should contact some lawyers just in case.

7 - 21

LET THE RECORD SHOW.

I FUCKED UP.

I REALLY FUCKED UP.

20170721

When I found Penny, I learned what the phrase ‘mother’s intuition’ truly meant.

When I finally reached out to Weiss, I learned what the phrase ‘unconditional love’ truly meant.

Today, I learned what the phrase ‘I am living’ meant, because there is no more apt a descriptor for this sensation.

I’m calling Yang first thing tomorrow morning. I’d hate for her to think I might be cross about the whole debacle. To be frank, I can’t stop smiling, even as I pen this. I will relish the look on Father’s face until my death bed, and even after.

And I need to thank Weiss for making this all possible. 

Right now, I’m going to drink a glass of wine to celebrate.

July 21, 2017

... I’m going to eventually make a longer post about tonight (yep, the party, just got back, though ‘escaped’ might be the better term) and you know... in my free time, I come up with as much fictional content as my fingers can produce... and if I’d read a description of tonight, I’d leave a comment about how the suspension of disbelief is a very real thing and the events portrayed completely destroyed it... but here I am, having seen with my own eyes... and I have to say...

... truth really is stranger than fiction.

July 22, 2017

Who wants the dirty details on last night? Check below the cut.

I just have to get this out. I swear, on all the fanfic I’ve ever produced, that what I’m about to describe actually happened. I know none of you are going to be inclined to believe it though. I’m still not sure I do.

So Princess’ party, the one where I was basically there to help babysit Ice and Fire. It was at this museum- because I guess that’s what the upper echelons of society think is cool, just milling around surrounded by ‘interesting’ things to make up for their emptiness; I might be a little bitter- but we arrived in grand style. Limousine, Princess escorting me while Ice escorted Fire, glasses of champagne and insincere inquiries into our health and such- if I believed for one second any of it was real, I might’ve been charmed. For all the boring small talk, standing beside Princess... I’m forced to admit there was a certain romantic quality to it.

Okay, before I go into the other stuff, allow me to gush first. Princess... I suppose it would be rather accurate to say I adopted the moniker for her at first to mock her. Then, it became something of a joke- a lighthearted tease. But last night, I swear, I am entirely sincere when I say she looked like a Princess. I could wax poetic about this for a while but I’ll try to tone my gay down a little. I dunno what it was but seeing her in such formal attire... the only regret I have is that she wore more makeup than usual. I’m not against a little foundation of course- and I... probably go a little overboard on the eyeliner and eye shadow- but it covered up her scar. Honestly, I think that is the one thing that encouraged me to get to know her, above all else; it hinted at something much deeper than what I took at face value. Aside from that, she just... carried herself differently. Regally, almost. I’ll admit, I prefer when she’s relaxed and casual- as much as she gets, anyway- but... I definitely see the appeal of her more formal posture. And, yes, for all those who asked: we did get to dance and I didn’t fall flat on my face. I mean, we spent most of it talking about Ice and Fire but... I noticed she danced much closer to me than Fire did when she was teaching me. And she felt so comfortable with me, like she was really enjoying it. That part? I couldn’t write something that magical.

Anyway, about an hour in, everyone’s moved past the polite part and the gossip machine is starting up. I think the whole cataclysm of events started with someone making a snide remark to Ice about her somewhat recent adoption of a child she’d found (I’ll admit I don’t have all the details but from what I understand it was an important turning point in Ice’s life that steered her back towards Princess and repairing their relationship as sisters) and that got Fire going. I may complain about her propensity to make puns and lewd jokes, but there’s this other side to it that people don’t really acknowledge much. You have to be extremely well versed in conversation and language to not only make those sort of jokes but to steer others into creating opportunities for you to do so; the people who best utilize it are also the ones who tend to make more puns and innuendos than any other, because they’re constantly aware of what’s being said and what lies beneath what’s being said. (A skill I am woefully lacking in, despite what you all might think; I’m certain there’s a sex joke in there that I can quite articulate but Fire certainly could. Without blushing.) With an opening created- and something of a single mother herself, considering her family- Fire went off in the classiest way, with the sweetest smile and keeping a tight lid on her anger. At first, at least.

And then Princess’ father decided to join the conversation. I’ll have tea with the devil before I subject myself to his company again. Honestly, after meeting him myself, it’s an absolute wonder anyone connected to him could have a scrap of a soul, with as black as his is. I’m just going to refer to him as Douchebag McMustache for the rest of this- I don’t really care about how long that is; the accuracy is more important to me. (And I did say it to his face, so it’s not like I’m being duplicitous.)

After Douchebag McMustache butts in, things start getting tense. Princess and Ice are cold towards him- and I mean below absolute zero. I’ve never seen either of them just... wall themselves off like that. It was terrifying, if I’m honest, because it didn’t sound the least bit like they weren’t used to it. I’m fairly certain that’s how they must’ve been for most of their lives, to everyone. Just... cold, biting, and bitter. Icebergs lingering in the dark, adrift at sea.

By that point, I... well, I was getting mad. Every word, every movement he made, all he did was cut down their accomplishments and make light of their triumphs. And all these mindless, rich, stuck up assholes just chortled right along with him, encouraging him even more to continue dragging them through the mud. I think it was when he pointed out Princess’ scar, how it must be so difficult for her to find a ‘respectable date’ given such a ‘horrific deformity’ that I snapped.

So, I did what any sane person would do in that situation. Douchebag McMustache is the CEO of a large corporation. I proceeded to list off every setback, every public affairs disaster, every little shred of doubt that might make an investor a bit nervous. And then I used his own words about me against him. He’s a racist bastard- that much I’d already known- but he decided to go the standard route of implying I must be of subpar intelligence purely because of the ears on my head. So, obviously, if someone as dumb as me can see how terribly the company is being managed, how their profits will be taking a sharp dive soon, how his ability to contain situations is severely lacking, then it’s bound to be known by the public, and then I proceeded to cite every single article and report to back up everything I’d said. I did my research before walking into that lion’s den; it took a few all nighters, but I have more than enough shade to throw on anyone who might’ve tried trading verbal barbs with me. When he accused me of trying to undermine the trust others might have in him, I admitted that I intended nothing of the sort. I just wouldn’t want to have any of my money tied up with him when those stock prices start falling, is all.

Because that’s how you get the attention of people like this. Physical harm, emotional scaring, environmental concerns- that doesn’t shake them, but mention how that pocketbook of theirs might suffer? Now you’ve got them by the balls.

I expected to get a few snide comments, some side looks, and maybe even a threat or two. I was ready for that. I don’t think Princess was- my reaction, at least, if nothing else- but... maybe it’s my optimism talking, but I swear, I think Weiss absolutely supported every word that came out of my mouth. You should’ve seen the way she looked at me then; it was more than gratitude it was... almost admiration? Perhaps something softer? The part of me that just wants to tell her that I might be falling in love with her wants to say that it was adoration and pride, but I think that’s reaching a bit too far.

Anyway, the moment it became obvious that the other guests were discreetly checking the articles themselves- and maybe even making arrangements to sell off their stocks- is when things really got out of hand. Douchebag McMustache doesn’t have the same calm, cold, steely resolve as his daughters; he got angry, and he said something absolutely disgusting that I won’t repeat. The basic gist: not only did he grievously insult his daughters, and their mother, but every woman out there, so add ‘misogynist’ to the list of ‘reasons this man is an absolute asshole’.

Now, one thing you must understand about Fire: she’s an extremely intelligent woman. She hides it sometimes beneath jokes and charm, but she’s keen. However, when it comes to almost anything, she’s more prone to acting on instinct and using her strength to her advantage.

So she absolutely walked straight up to Douchebag McMustache and said something to him- it was so low, not even I could pick it up. Whatever it was, it prompted him to take a swing at her.

And that was when he fucked up.

She decked him. Straight to the face, didn’t hold anything back, absolutely decked him. I heard the nose crunch and everything, watched him go flying back.

I’d like to say we stayed there and turned the whole party into a brawl. I’d really like to say that. But Ice immediately reacted, rushed over to Fire and told her to grab me and get the hell out of there. Which we did, because Princess is nothing less than thorough; she’d had an escape plan in place since the beginning. 

After we got picked up and whisked away, Fire... well... I think it hit her pretty hard that she just laid out the father of her crush. Don’t get me wrong! I really didn’t think Ice was upset with her over it last night, told her as much, and she called this morning to confirm as much! But, ya know. I’ve mentioned Fire’s always been concerned about having an anger management problem and things like this make her worried that she’s, I dunno, turning into some red eyed rage monster or something. 

I haven’t talked to Princess yet. I figure she’s going to be way too concerned about Ice and Fire to really

Well, speak of the devil. She’s calling me now. I’ll give all of you an update at some point.

July 22, 2017

I said I’d give you an update and here it is, fresh off the presses: I am very gay.

That is all. Stay tuned for more of me flailing while trying not to crush on my friend.

[orbemnews]

Kids are taking governments to court over climate. And they are starting to win. The 25-year-old climate activist had taken the German government to court last year and won. On April 29, the country’s Supreme Court announced that some provisions of the 2019 climate change act were unconstitutional and “incompatible with fundamental rights,” because they lacked a detailed plan for reducing emissions and placed the burden for future climate action on young people. The court ordered the government to come up with new provisions that “specify in greater detail how the reduction targets for greenhouse gas emissions” by the end of next year. The decision made headlines across the world. “It was hard to digest, because it was so, so unexpected,” Neubauer told CNN, stressing that while it was her name on the case — Neubauer et al. versus Germany — she was just one of many people involved. “This case changes everything,” she said. “It’s not nice to have climate action, it’s our fundamental right that the government protects us from the climate crisis.” Peter Altmaier, the German minister for energy and the economy called the court’s finding “significant” and a “historic decision for climate and the rights of young people.” Climate lawsuits are becoming an increasingly popular and powerful tool for climate change activists. A January report released by the United Nations Environment Programme found that the number of climate litigation cases filed around the world nearly doubled between 2017 and 2020. Crucially, the governments are starting to lose, Neubauer’s victory came just months after a court in Paris ruled that France was legally responsible for its failure to meet emission cutting targets. Another similar case involving six young people from Portugal was fast-tracked at the European Court of Human Rights last October. Mark Clarke, a partner at the international law firm White & Case, says that not only are there more climate cases being brought forward, there’s also a shift in the way they are being framed. “The most significant trend is the pivot away from claims for damages as a result of the physical impacts of climate change, towards rights-based claims,” he said. The cases are most often centered around the idea that future generations have a right to live in a world that is not completely decimated by the climate crisis. Neubauer and her co-claimants argued that the current German government’s failure to have a concrete plan to reduce emissions beyond 2030 would make their lives more difficult because they’d be forced to confront the catastrophic impact of climate change in the future. The 2019 law called for a 55% reduction in greenhouse gases by 2030 from 1990 levels. The lawsuit argued that the target wasn’t sufficient to meet Germany’s obligations under the Paris accord. Under the agreement, most signatories pledged to keep global temperatures below 2 degrees Celsius and as close to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has said that warming of more than 2 degrees would have devastating consequences, including sea level rise, frequent heatwaves, extreme weather and droughts. “The [German Constitutional] court was not so much talking about the impacts of climate change on young people, but the impact of mitigation measures,” said Gerry Liston, the head of climate litigation at Global Legal Action Network, or GLAN. “If action is delayed, it will require vastly greater emissions reductions in the future and that would impose a massive burden on those alive then,” he said. Liston is representing the six Portuguese young people who have taken 33 governments to the European Court of Human Rights over their failure to act on the climate crisis. Aged between nine and 22, they are already experiencing its effects. Four of them are from Leiria, a region devastated by deadly wildfires in 2017. The fires killed at least 62 people — some of them burned alive in their cars as they tried to escape. Joana Setzer, a fellow at the London School of Economics’ Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, said the fact that so many of the climate cases are brought by young people makes them more powerful — because children and young adults can legitimately argue they will face the worst impacts of the climate crisis in the future. “These kids, they found their voice, they went to the streets and they were there, shouting in front of parliaments, and when they couldn’t go to the streets anymore because of social distancing and Covid, they went to court,” she told CNN. Governments around the world have been coming up with ever more ambitious climate targets in recent years. But according to UN climate chief Patricia Espinosa, many have so far failed to set out plans on how to reach them. Now, they are being held accountable for their promises. “The government seems to still mix up setting climate targets with doing climate action,” Neubauer said. “It’s two different things — targets cannot replace what the government does now, and what the government does right now is basically preventing us from reaching those targets.” The new tobacco Setzer told CNN that while a majority of climate cases are still either unsuccessful or pending, there have been some significant wins in recent years. The UN report on climate litigation also said there has been an increase in the success of actions taken. Tim Crosland, the director of Plan B, a charity focused on climate litigation, said that when it comes to lawsuits, climate is the new tobacco. “In the tobacco litigation cases, you had quite few successful cases to begin with, before the tide turned and the litigation started to go the other way,” he said. Crosland said the trend in climate cases began to emerge in 2018, when three key events helped shift the public perception of the scale and urgency of the crisis. “You have the IPCC report when we get the headlines around the world that say we have 11 years to save the planet; you have Greta and her school strikes, and you have the extinction rebellion protests,” he said, referring to the Swedish activist Greta Thunberg. “You have the IPCC report when we get the headlines around the world that say we have 11 years to save the planet; you have Greta and her school strikes, and you have the extinction rebellion protests,” he said, referring to the Swedish activist Greta Thunberg. “This culminates in a number of things, including this trend of governments declaring climate emergencies and it becomes really hard for the courts to ignore.” Clarke, the White & Case lawyer, added that legal precedent is building as the number of cases rises. Advances in climate science are also helping, he said. “[That] is enabling claimants to address the challenges they have previously faced with respect to establishing causation and the apportionment of liability.” Yet for many activists, winning isn’t even the ultimate goal, Setzer noted. “They are really understanding the strategic role of litigation and making the process as — or more — important than the outcome. These cases receive so much media attention and this is becoming something of a real concern for governments,” she said. ‘We can’t sit by and watch this’ As one of the faces of the climate movement in Germany, Neubauer says she is on the receiving end of lots of backlash — she even jokes that she gets death threats at the same rate as postcards from her grandfather. “It’s incredible how much aggression arises once people take action … but it’s not my problem. If [some people] decide to spend an afternoon writing hate messages about me on their Facebook wall, that is their problem and not my problem. That’s their hate.” She said the lawsuit was just a logical continuation of the climate protests she helped to organize across Germany. “We found out that we had been striking for 125 weeks and the government was somewhat resistant to the idea that it might be actually their job to protect our future through the action today, and so I felt we need to do everything possible to change the course of things.” It’s a sentiment echoed by Marina Tricks and Adetola Onamade, two British students who have launched their own legal action together with Plan B against the UK government over what they say is a “failure to take practical and effective measures to meet its legally binding targets for reducing its domestic greenhouse gas emissions.” “The government is saying we are climate leaders and we are setting an example, but then they are putting £27 billion into roads, and a few million into the green recovery deal and they are completely ignoring the global dimension,” Onamade said. “We can’t sit by and watch that happen — we will hold them accountable in court, but we will also hold them accountable on the streets,” Tricks added. In response to the lawsuit, the UK government said the claim was “totally without merit” and that the assertion that the government was failing on climate policy is “manifestly false.” Along with their co-claimant Jerry Amokwandoh, Onamade and Tricks say that they have families and friends in West Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America, parts of the world that have been hit hard by the climate crisis. They allege the UK government’s support of fossil fuels and the lack of meaningful climate action violates their human rights, including their right to family life, according to the claim for judicial review filed with the court. “The UN has put out estimates that there could be 200 million, and up to 1 billion, [climate] migrants by 2050, and we know these facts, yet we’re still on the same trajectory,” Tricks said. “It’s the fact that the government is seeing these facts — because I know that if I’m seeing them, they’re definitely seeing them — so they have the full knowledge, they have the means, they have the solutions, yet they’re doing nothing.” Over in Germany, it took the government less than a week to come up with new climate goals following its defeat at the Supreme Court. It is now proposing to cut its carbon emissions by 65% from 1990 levels by 2030, as opposed to the original 55%. It also pushed forward its net zero target, from 2050 to 2045. The law will need to be approved by the German parliament. Neubauer remains unimpressed. “I wonder if they’ve actually understood what the court has ruled there,” she said, saying that adding a couple of percentage points here and there simply doesn’t cut it. “We need to think the other way around. There is a clear boundary — the amount of emissions, the carbon budget that we have, is finite. You cannot extend it any longer and we need to think from that budget backwards, what does it mean for the amount of emissions we can produce today and tomorrow,” she said. Source link Orbem News #Climate #Court #Governments #Kids #starting #win

[toonstarterz]

BECAUSE I’M NOT POPULAR, I’LL READ WATAMOTE: CHAPTER #120

Sometimes I feel like a broken record with the amount of times I’ve talked about Tomoko’s growth, or about the heartwarming direction that the series has been taking. And sometimes I worry that I’ll run out of things to say. But thankfully, Watamote is smart enough to avoid reusing the same ol’ happy endings over and over under the guise of “development”. As of now, Watamote has lost nearly all of the predictability it’s early chapters were infamous for. And that ultimately makes Tomoko’s story that much stronger as a result.

Take this party chapter. It’s easy to predict that Tomoko will make a fool of herself in some way, and if this were in the past, that’d be a fair guess. And make no mistake, Tomoko’s awkwardness is still present, but we also get our share of surprises here and there. The biggest of which is that this party is not filled with high-energy antics, but a deep sea of emotions that makes this one of the most significant chapters to date.

Chapter 120: Because I’m Not Popular, I’ll Attend the Party (a.k.a. The Melancholy of Yuri Tamura)

I like the difference in how Tomoko and Yoshida react to being placed in awkward social situations. With Tomoko, there’s this agitation, the natural defensiveness of being in unfamiliar territory. As for Yoshida, she seems to be facing the situation with her usual scowl of indifference, as if daring anybody to cross her. It’s a nice reminder that not all loners react the same way in a heavily socialized world. 

I find it interesting that in response to Mako’s innate friendliness, Tomoko has to force herself to sound cheerful, whereas Yuri doesn’t appear to give a damn about how outwardly cheery she looks. Perhaps Yuri is so comfortable with Mako that she knows she doesn’t have to try so hard, unlike Tomoko, who still feels the need to match Mako’s demeanor somewhat.

Coming from a guy who lives in the Western world that once considered Korean BBQs to be the “hip” thing to do, I can kind of understand Tomoko’s sentiment here. The KBBQ, at least in my case, were not popular for the food (though it was good, make no mistake) but for the experience. Barbecues, whether Western or Korean, are not just a style of food. It’s also a kind of social event, so it kind of makes sense that it would be popular with the cheerful, extroverted types. 

If there’s one thing Tomoko and Yuri can truly bond over, it’s their apathy. 

I guess it depends of the place. Given that I’ve eaten at all-you-can-eat places for around $10-$15, it does seem like a rip-off at first glance. But because KBBQs are fairly high-end restaurants, I could see why it would be so pricey. 

Masterful composition work here. Of course the moment Tomoko refers to her group as the four of them, Ucchi (the unofficial fifth member) is seen sitting right next to her. It only serves to emphasize the point that Ucchi is the outsider in Tomoko’s small circle of friends. Pretty ironic given that Ucchi probably obsesses over Tomoko the most. It’s also a good setup for the following punchline. That fact that Ucchi is cooking so seriously isn’t really funny until we get to...this.

Okay, so there’s couple things want to note here. First of which is Ucchi’s deathly serious expression. Even with her emoji face, it’s clear from her body language that Ucchi is acting with no reservations whatsoever. Tomoko didn’t do a single thing to her at this moment, and yet Ucchi unabashedly decided to do something nice for her. Unlike other times where she could come up with some poorly-veiled excuse, this is all on Ucchi. 

Second, it’s the first time she did something like this in front of her friends. When looking at it from their perspective, they’re rightly shocked. Ucchi probably told them stories that made her out to be the victim, and yet here she is doing something completely contradictory to that. 

As I’ve stated countless times before, I think it’s pretty much confirmed that Ucchi has accepted that she holds some affection towards Tomoko, lesbian or otherwise. The question now is how is she dealing with it? Judging by her silent blush, I think a safe guess is that she’s still coming to terms with it. Ucchi’s usually pretty vocal about how “gross” Tomoko is, but now, we don’t even see her thoughts on the matter. I think this signifies that Ucchi has so much inner conflict that she can’t find the words to adequately explain how she feels. Perhaps this makes her a tsundere, but if it does, then it’s the good kind of tsundere. 

I gotta admit, my heart sank a bit seeing Yuri talk negatively like this. Even if she’s not an especially positive person, Yuri never really gave the impression that she was a downer. Given that she isn’t the type to speak facetiously, it must mean that she’s given this some serious thought. 

It’s kind of telling that of all people, Yoshida is the one who brings up the possibility of just hanging out without the excuse of being classmates. Most of the cases of Yoshida hanging out with her field trip group we’re just a result of convenient timing. To actually suggest that she would spend time with them on her own accord indicates that she’s considered them to be worth her time. How sweet. 

As pessimistic as Yuri sounds, she’s not wrong. There’s plenty of evidence to support the idea that neither Tomoko or Yoshida are the types to be actively social. They don’t go out of their way to plan ahead like that, and usually only follow after someone invites them first. It a depressing thought, but I’ve been in that situation before, so I can see where Yuri’s coming from.

Ugh, this brings back painful memories of all those networking activities I had to do back in college. The “whole swap seats and make new friends” idea was clearly geared towards people of an extroverted nature. It works well for them, but it’s incredibly frustrating for introverts who can’t force genuine social interaction. 

This one of those “punchline” panels where there’s just so much to dissect. Let’s start with the one on the right. Even if you know nothing about Yuri and Minami, just by looking at them you can tell that they’re NOT friends. But you can also infer that it’s Yuri who has a problem with Minami. It’s also subtle, but do you notice Minami’s more relaxed posture compared to Yuri’s slightly jutted arms? She clearly has no intention to deal with Minami at all.

Then there’s Tomoko, getting sandwiched by two popular kids. She’s clearly on edge, and if her facial expression is any indication, she’s either looking at Yuri to relay her discomfort, or she’s confused by the distance Yuri is keeping between herself and Minami.

It’s a interesting way to illustrate their current states of loner-dom. Yuri has no trouble keeping to herself because no one ever approaches her, whereas Tomoko is the one that has to ward off unwanted attention. 

Now this is quite the interesting move here. Despite being told to swap seats and “make friends”, Minami makes no attempt to engage Yuri, and instead turns around to speak with Mako instead. This suggests that Minami does not find any value in talking to someone like Yuri, and postulates that going back to Mako would be better. 

It’s a nice case of active avoidance. Even though she’s in a situation where she’s basically forced to socialize with Yuri, Minami physically turns away from her to speak to her already-established friends. Poor Yuri.

It pains me to admit that Minami is actually kind of adorable.

Damn, talk about rubbing salt in the wound.

I can’t help but wonder if Minami is aware that Yuri, the girl whom Mako “betrayed” her for, is sitting right next to her. If she does know about what had happened between them at the field trip, then bringing it up now, is quite frankly, kind of a bitch move. But given what we’ve seen of Minami before, I think that it’s more likely that she’s just tactless/oblivious rather than malicious. 

But Yuri’s reaction is one of the many surprises this chapter. Even though she was just indirectly insulted, Yuri has a completely emotionless response: she just focuses on eating. Even though Yuri is known for her blasé demeanor, we’ve seen before that’s she’s not immune to expressing annoyance. Her non-reaction suggests that she’s really gotten over this particular incident, or that she’s just used to people ignoring her. Poor, poor Yuri.

As for Tomoko...does she actually know what went on between Yuri, Mako, and Minami? I’d imagine Yuri might have mentioned it very casually, but as of now, there’s nothing to confirm that Tomoko is in the know.  

Funny, you’d think the “class mom” type like Makeup-chan would be the one to be the class representative. 

I can’t say I agree on Tomoko on this one. As they say, maturity is in the mind, not in the body. I think that disparity between Tomoko and Katou isn’t something you exclusively feel at parties. Though, it can be more apparent, if you look at it like a relationship between a party host and their guests. People tend to think that taking on more responsibilities, whether voluntarily or not, equates to more maturity, but that’s not necessarily true, as Tomoko doesn’t seem to understand.

Also, that otaku friend of Kakinuma has the hots for Makeup-chan. 

Ah, there’s that old-school Watamote cringe humor. But even then, this is pretty mild to the kinds of disasters we’ve seen before. Even when Tomoko’s worst bubbles back up to the surface, it’s still better than it was before. 

Did we even get name for this guy before?

PFFT, phrasing the start of the conversation to sound like a confession? This is such a bait for those fans who keep hoping for Tomoko to get a boyfriend soon. 

At least we got a glimpse of this guy’s personality. From what it looks like, he’s seem like the kind of unreserved guy who has no qualms on talking about dick pictures with a female classmate. I mean, even if Tomoko was totally guilty then, it’s still kind of inappropriate to bring it up.

Tomoko’s arsenal of completely relatable lines continues to impress me. 

Hypothetical #1: Funny how in the past, Tomoko would half-joke about Tomoki perving on her. There’s also that instance when she asked Tomoki to show her his dick, so it’s nice to know that Tomoko’s incestual accusations were mostly in jest, and that she never actually believed that about her brother. 

Hypothetical #2: As many have noticed, this an obvious reference to an actual instance that happened to the mangaka. This one of those moments where I genuinely laughed out loud. Referential humor, for me, only works if the humor can be ignored by those that don’t get the reference. It works here because it’s still pretty funny, whether or not you know what the joke is referring to.

Odd use of the word “fun”. The word “fun” isn’t the first word I’d use to describe anything remotely sexual. Perhaps “fun” has different connotations depending on the culture?

Again, we have another moment that shows that Tomoko’s thoughts don’t always follow through on her actions. She may have joked before on how Yuu is a “slut”, but she would never truly out the girl as such to other people, hence why she mentally apologized for potentially giving that impression to a guy. It’s kind of sweet on how Tomoko is actually kind of protective of Yuu; likely believing that Yuu is too good for just any ol’ dude.   

Hah, Tomoko totally cut Komiyama out from that selfie. I expected nothing less. 

Yeah, I figured that the translators were taking liberties when they used the word “spaghetti-ing”. And the thing is, I actually don’t mind this kind of translation, because I could actually see this term be plausibly used by the mangaka. Not to get too deep on how I think manga should be translated, but generally, I think that indirect translations are fine so long as the meaning is still the same, and it doesn’t mischaracterize the speaker. 

Cue the mood whiplash. I figured that we would get a glimpse of Yuri being lonely at this party, but I didn’t expect it to have such a large focus. I can now understand why only having Mako at the party wouldn’t have been enough for Yuri to attend. My assumption was that while Yuri was a loner like Tomoko and Yoshida, she was better acquainted with people than either of them. But as we see here, I was totally wrong. It’s Tomoko, and to an extent Yoshida, that know more people than her. 

I think this drives the point on how Yuri differs in her level of solitude than either of her field trip buddies. While Tomoko and Yoshida have decidedly less social skills, they have a slightly larger network of people to actually be social with. Yuri on the other hand, has one really solid friend in Mako, but her network of people is limited to that one friend (before Tomoko and Yoshida came along). This leads me to believe that Tomoko and Yoshida at least have a marginally larger degree of energy to socialize, whereas Yuri has very little energy to socialize with anyone other than the four she came to the party with.

Poor, poor, poor Yuri. 

Okada: “So...what kind of person is Kuroki-san?”

Yoshida: “A bitch.” 

This is a nice bit of subtle development on Mako’s part. She seems to be more conscientious about Yuri’s status as a loner, and how much being Mako’s friend means to her. Good job, Mako, you managed to avoid another betrayal.

How ironic of you Minami, accusing Mako of not reading the mood when it’s you who can’t read the mood. I still can’t decide whether Minami is just innocently insensitive, or if she’s just selfish and doesn’t care how other people may be affected by her actions. It’s something I’ll be keeping an eye out for in the future.

And it’s not just Mako, but Yuri showing a positive change as well. Yuri’s always seemed pretty reserved when it comes to discussing her own feelings, but here, she’s actually opening herself quite a bit by honestly bringing up her intentions for even going to the party at all. I’d imagine that in the past, this is something Yuri would’ve kept to herself, but I think that being around the brashness of Tomoko and Yoshida has influenced her to be more bold herself. 

I wonder if Yoshida could hear her when she said this?

If there’s one thing that Yuri may still be working on, it’s realizing that there are people now like Yoshida that are genuinely fond of her, and that her own actions directly affect the choices of these people. Yuri probably realized that leaving without telling the others may have come off as inconsiderate, hence why she apologized. 

On that note, it’s nice to see a moment that directly illustrates that Yuri is someone of relative importance to Yoshida. Before, Delinquent-chan would address Yuri as just someone she knows from the field trip. But these last two chapters make a point that Yoshida is fond of Yuri beyond just knowing her.

Pulling out the same excuse from that Christmas party with Yuu and Komiyama, eh, Tomoko? It’s always good to have an excuse ready when you need to make a hasty retreat.

That’s quite the self-assessment there, Tomoko. It’s kind of what I was saying earlier regarding how she has and hasn’t changed. Her ability to actually socialize, especially under pressure, has made good improvement, resulting in her “A”. But her social endurance, that is, the amount of time she can socialize before burning out, hasn’t really changed that much, resulting in her “D”. 

Overall, I’d say that she’s more or less overcome the worst parts of her social anxiety, but obviously, that doesn’t change the fact that’s she’s an introvert by nature. 

Unlike Yuri, who thinks that separating from the class will mean that they’ll never hang out again, Mako is more optimistic. She feels that being third-years won’t change anything, and that they’ll still see Yoshida and Tomoko even if they end up in certain classes. It scares me to think how depressed Yuri might be if she never had a friend like Mako.

And there we go, people. The line that could very well change the direction of this series. As Yuri has pointed out, neither Tomoko or Yoshida are the types to put in the effort to be social on their own accord. Now, Yuri could’ve easily left it at that, and accepted the possibility that she’ll never hang out with them again. But, no. This is the point when Yuri realizes that she cares too much about her budding friendship with these girls, and to keep it afloat, she’s the one that’ll have to take the proactive approach and lead their friendship in the future. It’s quite a step up from Yuri’s normal passivity, and it really highlights how valuable these new friends are to her that Yuri is willing to step out of her comfort zone to keep them together. 

And even if she still believes that they’ll never see each other in their third year, she’s still willing to extend their time together as much as possible, even if it’s just a little bit before the next train arrives.

I’m proud of you, Yuri. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you your role in this chapter was that of a shoujo manga protagonist.   

And there you have it. Second year is now over. What can we expect from this series for Tomoko’s third year? There are still quite a few “arcs” that still need to be wrapped up. The friendly rivalry between Komiyama and Akari, plus the breaking point for Ucchi’s hate-crush on Tomoko are things to keep an eye out for. But there’s are also some new elements to the series that may come to the forefront. Perhaps Katou will play a major role, or maybe the rest of Nemoto’s squad will come into focus at some point. Yuri, will undoubtedly, continue to play the part of Tomoko’s closest school friend, and it will be a pleasure to see where she’ll go from here.

But of course, we can’t forget Tomoko Kuroki. Having overcome the worst part of herself, what sort of struggles could she face in the future? A falling out with her friends? Choosing a career? A love confession? I don’t think anything would be too overreaching at this point. But no matter how you look at it, I’ll be there to review it. 

Heads up! Starting next week, I’ll be attending a boot camp for learning user experience (UX) design. It’s only for a few months, but as this is going on, my free time will be severely limited. I’ll still be writing reaction/reviews as the chapters come out, but please understand if they come out pretty late after the initial chapter release. Otherwise, thanks again to everyone who follows me!

[cryptocoingrowth]

BTC Could Hit $10K, ‘Stay Away from North Korea,’ Akon City: Hodler’s Digest, Jan. 13–19

Hodler’s Digest Coming every Sunday, Hodler’s Digest will help you track every single important news story that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions and much more — a week on Cointelegraph in one link.

Top Stories This Week

Bitcoin ready to push above key resistance to hit $10,000The world’s biggest cryptocurrency has started 2020 fighting. For a time on Friday, Bitcoin hit $9,000 — with analysts claiming there are multiple signs that a “bullish transformation” is underway. This weekend also saw the BTC network’s mean hash rate hit new all-time highs, meaning it’s never been harder to mine new coins. Although BTC fell from highs of almost $9,200 on Sunday to hover at about $8,600, analysts believe it is ready to push above the resistance to hit $10,000. Even despite the latest turbulence, which saw prices drop $500 in five minutes, BTC is up 20% year to date — and by more than 5% over the past week. The strong performance will leave crypto skeptics such as Peter Schiff red-faced. Back in November, the gold bug had predicted BTC would imminently drop to $1,000.Research: Binance and Huobi received over 52% of total $2.8 billion illicit BTC in 2019Sticking with the Bitcoin theme, let’s look at some worrying new research that suggests just two exchanges — Binance and Huobi — together received 52% of illicit Bitcoin transfers worth $2.8 billion in 2019. According to Chainalysis, the crypto was moved from 300,000 individual accounts associated with criminal activity — and 75% of the illicit BTC was sent to just 810 accounts. Researchers believe that some over-the-counter brokers may be specializing in providing money laundering services to criminals and taking advantage of loose Know Your Customer requirements. Huobi did not respond to the claims, but Binance said it was committed to tackling financial crime in crypto and continually improving its Anti-Money Laundering measures.United Nations: Stay away from North Korean crypto conferenceThe public is being warned not to attend North Korea’s upcoming cryptocurrency conference, with experts warning it could violate sanctions. Reports suggest that the event, due to take place in February, will include discussions focused on how crypto can be used to evade sanctions and launder money. One British government spokesman said attendance would effectively support the isolated state’s use of this technology and “unavoidably increase” their ability to generate revenue for prohibited weapons programs. Earlier this month, Ethereum Foundation researcher Virgil Griffith was charged with conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, amid allegations he attended last year’s conference.New analysis finds Mondays are best days to buy BitcoinMondays are enough to fill many of us with dread, but there might be a bright spot. Research shows that Mondays actually offer the best average daily return for Bitcoin at 0.54%, while Wednesdays attract a loss of about 0.23%. This is based on analysis of the cryptocurrency’s performance from April 2013 to January 2020. Over a shorter time frame — from the beginning of 2019 to Jan. 13, 2020 — Fridays delivered the highest average return at 1.1%, with Mondays coming second with Tuesdays and Thursdays delivering negative returns on average.

Singer Akon says world’s first “crypto city” is set for Senegal in 2025Akon says he had finalized an agreement to launch a “crypto city” in West Africa. Akon City is expected to open its doors in Senegal by 2025, and vows to be a “100% crypto-based city with Akoin at the center of transactional life.” The metropolis is being built on 2,000 acres of land gifted to the project by Senegal, and the first phase of construction is scheduled to finish in about five years’ time. It is hoped that Akoin will empower “rising entrepreneurs with digital and real-life tools and services, and enable brands to unlock the power of Africa’s rising economy.” Rest assured, we’ll give you plenty of updates on how the project progresses.

Winners and Losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin is at $8,670.33, Ether at $165.92 and XRP at $0.23. The total market cap is at $236,788,834,292.

For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.

Most Memorable Quotations

“The state should become a digital platform that is created for people.”Mikhail Mishustin, new Russian prime minister“We cannot discount the future role of cryptocurrencies in funding acts of domestic extremism, both within New Jersey and across the United States.”Jared Maples, director of the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness“Supporting the DPRK’s use of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, risks violating the Security Council’s resolutions because it would unavoidably increase the DPRK’s ability to subvert sanctions and generate revenue for its weapons programs.”British government spokesman“Be cautious if considering an investment in an IEO. Claims of new technologies and financial products, such as those associated with digital asset offerings, and claims that IEOs are vetted by trading platforms, can be used improperly to entice investors with the false promise of high returns in a new investment space.”U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission“So right now, Bitcoin and Ether are the two that we think fall under our jurisdiction.”Heath Tarbert, Commodity Futures Trading Commission chairman“We are looking forward to our joint efforts with Z Corporation/TaoTao in bringing our services to Japan. Foremost, we want to ensure that we work in full compliance with Japanese laws and regulations where local and global standards function as a key role in establishing sustainable development industry-wide and greater public adoption.”CZ, Binance CEO“We're not looking to build a service here, make money and enjoy the revenue, we're looking to create a standard”Eyal Hertzog, Bancor co-founder and product architect

Prediction of the Week

“Weak hands are out” — Trader who called $20,000 Bitcoin top calls bottomWaiting for prices to dip to $6,000 before you invest in Bitcoin? You’ve missed your chance, according to Peter Brandt. The veteran trader — who successfully predicted in early 2018 that crypto markets would fall 80% from their all-time highs of $20,000 — struck a bullish tone during an interview with Cointelegraph. “The weak hands are out; the strong hands own it,” he surmised. Brandt added that “anybody who is interested in what Bitcoin has to offer” should dedicate 10% to 20% of their portfolio to the cryptocurrency.

FUD of the Week

U.S. SEC warns investors that IEOs may be breaking the lawThe United States Securities and Exchange Commission has warned that initial exchange offerings may be breaking the law. After the initial coin offering boom turned into a bust, many projects have taken to launching their tokens directly on exchanges. But the regulatory body says: “Be cautious if considering an investment in an IEO. Claims of new technologies and financial products, such as those associated with digital asset offerings, and claims that IEOs are vetted by trading platforms, can be used improperly to entice investors with the false promise of high returns in a new investment space.” The SEC said that alarm bells should ring if IEO organizers fail to address federal securities laws or mislead investors, adding: “There is no such thing as an SEC-approved IEO.”U.S. SEC charges convict and associates for $30 million fraudulent ICOAnd speaking of the SEC, this week saw the regulator charge a group of criminals who raised over $30 million through a fraudulent ICO. Boaz Manor, one of his business associates and two companies are accused of violating the anti-fraud and securities registration provision of federal securities law. They are accused of marketing and selling securities with a plan to develop technologies for hedge funds and other investors in digital assets. According to the SEC, Manor changed his hair color, grew a beard and used aliases to conceal his identity because he had previously served a year in prison after pleading guilty to criminal charges arising from the collapse of a large Canadian hedge fund.Singapore crypto consultant kidnapped for $1 million ransomA businessman was recently kidnapped in Thailand and tortured for a $740,000 ransom in BTC. Mark Cheng transferred all his available funds of $46,000 to his captors and reportedly made a daring escape as they prepared to murder him. He was on a business trip to Thailand when he was bundled into a truck by masked men. A Thai actor is believed to have owned that pickup truck, and police have now identified him as a person of interest in their investigation. Describing his escape, Cheng said: ”One of them held the gun against the back of my head while the others stepped away. Fortunately, I know martial arts. I reached behind my head and grabbed the pistol, and then I fled.”

Best Cointelegraph Features

Predictions for 2020Take a look at the biggest and best predictions for 2020. We’ve asked prominent industry experts which altcoins they’ll be keeping a close eye on in the coming 12 months, what Bitcoin’s price might look like this year, what this year’s biggest topics are likely to be, and for their thoughts on the major themes for crypto and blockchain in 2020.Telegram’s legal battle with the SEC heats up over TON recordsJoseph Birch looks back at Telegram’s clash with the SEC, which became one of the crypto world’s most closely followed legal dramas in 2019.Interview with Daniel Marco on the state of blockchain in CataloniaCointelegraph features editor Alex Cohen speaks to Daniel Marco, the director general of innovation and the digital economy in the government of Catalonia, to find out how the region’s ambitious blockchain strategy is taking shape.Original Article - CoinTelegraph.com Read the full article

[ebizworldwide]

How to Find Your Startup’s First Customers on Social Media

Your first customers are your crucial ones.

They exist with you initially. They're the ones that see you at your worst and enjoy you grow.

And that makes them invested. They'll commonly become your most loyal as well as vocal supporters. Due to the fact that they've been there during. Like the wonderful aunties that can not stop chatting regarding exactly how adorable you were when you were still in diapers.

It's an essential duty to fill up for your business. You wish to ensure you're filling up the position with people that are worthy.

The perfect customers.

But if you desire perfection, you cannot wait for it ahead to you. You have to go out as well as find them.

And you can do it with listening on social media.

Social listening is very easy, it fasts, and it must certainly be one of the first things you include in your client engagement technique. There's no better way to see just what's taking place in the market, locate your worth, and meet the people that will certainly keep you in business.

Here are merely a couple of methods to identify and also engage with people to turn them into consumers:

1. Monitor discussions on Twitter

You could effortlessly find people discussing:

People seeking services and product recommendations.

People reviewing your industry.

People speaking about your competitors.

You could make it really simple for on your own and set up informs and saved searches to track all those conversations appropriate to your startup.

For instance, in my instance I monitor keywords like "social media tools" and also "media surveillance" to maintain a pulse on Mention's niche.

So identify keywords that will certainly lead you to the vital discussions, when you prepare, jump in.

Now, when you locate individuals searching for referrals, it's an invite to be salesy on social for as soon as. Typically on social media, jumping into a conversation and advertising your job is a big no-no.

But if you're addressing someone's question, and also the solution just happens to be your firm, that's supplying you both with worth. Win-win!

When joining chats reviewing the market, you cannot be as promotional. Go in with the goal to assist your neighborhood members, not to pander your item. Don't mention it till the subject actually shows up, if it does.

And if it doesn't, that's fine. You've made a get in touch with-- that can be long-lasting. Who's to state it won't show up in a later conversation?

And for discussions regarding rivals, just review on.

2. Find your competitor's dissatisfied customers

Another excellent list building possibility is to monitor your rivals. You can take it even further by drilling down their states to concentrate on people that could be open to switching.

A competitor's miserable client is a warm lead for your company.

Someone grumbling regarding your competitor is an excellent chance to provide an ear, offer support, and fairly allow them know exactly what options are out there. After a little bit more discussion, it could end up being a poaching chance as well.

Use progressed settings as well as view evaluation in your social listening tool to locate miserable customers.

Sentiment analysis can filter by tone so you could pick out the negative points out of your competitor.

And in advanced settings, you could additionally establish "and also" key words to include words or phrases that signal distress, like "draws," "hate," "does not function," etc. Those will certainly help you find their consumers that are most likely very ready for discovering regarding alternatives.

For example, Close. io found one social mention that transformed into over $500/month.

Through monitoring their rivals as well as looking for dissatisfied customers, they located a person grumbling concerning a competitor's inadequate of a certain attribute. Something that Close.io did offer. That was the excellent opportunity for Close.io to start a conversation.

Again, context is everything. You cannot always be so salesy, yet there will certainly be times when all the celebrities line up as well as you have an open invitation to ensure. Listening will assist you discover those opportunities.

3. Be present in forums

Participating in industry and specific niche online forums is another terrific method to construct relationships and also supporters, as well as obtain some consumers along the way.

But market internet sites, in addition to specific niche sections on sites like Quora as well as Reddit, can be tough to locate if you do not already understand about them. So where does that leave new startups?

If your media tracking device brings in conversations from forums, you can utilize that to find out where your audience is socializing. If I'm keeping track of "Mention" or "social media software" which term's made use of in a thread on Reddit, I'll see it.

For example, one entrepreneur posted his crowdfunding tale on a number of different subreddits, and also all of the threads had active conversations going on:

Being able to jump in created links with other readers and also we had the ability to address some concerns increased, assisting individuals out.

It's also aided me identify which subreddits to watch on, based on where individuals are currently speaking about us.

Look out for conversations where you can chip in to build connections. And also once more, you'll usually discover people asking for business recommendations, where it would not be inappropriate to advertise your personal firm. Other than that, focus on having valuable discussions, not selling.

4. Join social communities

There's also private communities on sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, as well as Slack.

The finest means to obtain take advantage of out of these teams is merely by being active, getting involved in discussions, and also being friendly and also helpful.

This will certainly enlist the team's other members right into your brand name's community. Area participants end up being fantastic customers, and also will certainly be some of your friends in the meantime.

And if there does come a time when a chat concerning your product turns up, you'll be actually thankful you're a member.

That held true when I discovered this message in among my preferred Slack neighborhoods, from a person who's currently a satisfied consumer:

And one of the very best way to obtain new clients from communities like these?

Simply ask for feedback. In the very early days, you'll be clamoring for it anyhow. If it's not against an area's standards, article about your product in such a way that's not marketing, yet simple. Ask for guidance, and also actually listen. If you execute the area's suggestions, they have no factor to quit being a customer.

5. Get involved in on-line events

AMAs. Q & As. Webinars. Twitter chats. Podcasts. Online networking events.

These are all possibilities to put yourself out there.

In checking your sector, you'll locate out regarding online occasions very effortlessly. (If you can't currently tell, keeping track of makes a whole lot of things simple.)

And online occasions are great for constructing really close relationships with your neighborhood. Something concerning the online aspect, it makes it more personal and a little closer to the connection you obtain connecting face-to-face.

The excellent news? On the internet occasions normally occur frequently-- occasionally as commonly as once a week-- so the hosts are usually very welcoming to pitching on your own as a feasible guest.

Make it regarding them for long-lasting relationships

Did you notice an overarching concept of this blog post? Yup, I mentioned quite a few times exactly how important it is not to ensure yourself unless the scenario essentially asks you to.

Social media has to do with constructing connections-- obtaining customers is an additional benefit. Social pals become clients, advocates, maybe also future employees. However only when you build a relationship around helping them.

[larrykrakow]

Donald Trump Is Out Of Touch

New Post has been published on https://theprogressivemind.org/donald-trump-is-out-of-touch/

Donald Trump Is Out Of Touch

Donald Trump rose quickly and seems top be falling quickly. Through peaks and valleys with one abhorrent action after another, he has survived based on economic data that now has quickly turned for the worse. His loyal base loves him and thinks he can do no wrong, but we take a deeper look into the soul of a demagogue.

Free media played into the hands of Donald Trump as they would cover him around the clock discussing everything he said. Sadly and grossly, he would say offensive things. The media made sure that it was all over the airwaves. In a roundabout way, the mainstream media is partly responsible for his rise. He got free press, bad or good. It was more than Hillary Clinton had received. It was also way more than the establishment Republicans would receive. Trump was a story for the sensationalists on both sides of the aisle. Media bias towards the sensational story gave voice to a demagogue.

Donald Trump is out of touch. He has not lived up to his promises and has failed to react soundly to our current crises.

We have seen policy after policy and crude statement after crude statement.  When is enough finally enough? Only time will tell as election day comes in November.  Until then, we are in a holding pattern as we have divided government. Fortunately for us, we will not see some of the worst that the current Republican Party has to offer.

Now, we have to look at how Donald Trump is handling the situation on the ground. We are just about halfway into June in his third year in office. The recent killing of George Floyd and the uprising that followed proves that there is a yearning for change. Decades prior to the current President, the ground had shifted towards the right wing. The seeds of mistrust of the government were sewn by the climb of Reaganomics and the War On Drugs. Unfortunately, this was the start of deregulation of the markets and the militarization of police.

Undoubtedly, we saw the current events coming.

Trump is a symptom of a greater problem with our society.

When Ronald Reagan allowed his FCC appointees to remove something called the Fairness Doctrine, we saw the path for a corporate takeover of our government. Donald Trump did not come out of the system. He came out of anger against the system.

The system kept wages low.

It made healthcare expensive.

The system gave bailouts to large corporations and allowed the looting of the treasury.

Corruption got us into wars and a climate crisis.

As the suffering began to grow, challenges to our gains in race relations fomented. Amazingly, we were able to give civil rights, but soon, they were under attack and by the 80s, drug abuse became an industry. Reagan demonized a whole segment of society with his War On Drugs. Prosecutions of people of color were far worse than they were for white people. White people were fine, because they believed a narrative about black and brown people. Our country was founded on the oppression of black and brown people. This led to hyper militarization of police departments over the years. Immigrants were wrongly blamed for job losses. Muslims were treated as terrorists, even though such a small percentage of them ever committed crimes.

As the years went on, we expanded military operations around the world and have depleted national resources to fight never-ending wars. Regulations on Wall Street were loosened. Then, the inevitable happened. As the economy crashed, hate was building. We were witnessing the rise of a black man who would soon become President. As conspiracies surrounding Obama’s birth certificate swirled, Donald Trump saw a chance to pounce. He peddled the birtherism theory and kept going with it as he started to run for President. Only when his back was to the wall did he relent and publicly dropped the birth certificate issue.

We live in a sickened society that rolled the dice on Trumpism.

People were fed a narrative about Hillary and Donald. There was a distrust of establishment politics, so Trump won key segments of working class voters that he normally would not have won. He tapped into an anger from people that believed he will bring their jobs home. He made promises that he could not keep. People in the rust belt of America were desperate. They couldn’t bring themselves to vote for Hillary in the wake of her husband signing NAFTA as President. In a way, they blamed her for the actions of her husband.

So now, why is he down in the polls to Joe Biden? Well, a lot has happened and he failed to understand the moment. After all, everything is always about him. The people need relief as Covid 19 wreaks havoc on the people and the economy. He has pledged that no more relief will come to the people. As protests rose up from the George Floyd murder, he spoke of bringing in the military to put down the protests. He had to backtrack as former and current military people called it a non starter. Essentially, he was talking about waging war on the American people, the same ones that he wants to lead as President.

When will we start to understand the power of the media as they prop up people like him? As MSNBC, CNN and other news outlets were bashing this demagogue, he was turning this around and labeled them as fake news. After all, the corporate media does push an agenda onto their viewers. The media dug themselves into a hole. That was unintended as they, in their position of power on air decided to use that power to fight him. Trump was the first politician to effectively attack the media relentlessly and it had an effect on the networks. As he blamed the media and everyone else for the failures in the country, but eventually he started to run out of people to blame.

Young people are not likely to get radicalized. They don’t pay attention to television They can think for themselves and They do not live in a bubble.  They are completely aware of the crises we face and are largely the ones in the streets protesting. Student debt, never ending wars, Covid 19 and two financial meltdowns were the things that they saw from birth until now. Add in the police brutality and there is your flashpoint. In the end, Donald Trump does not want to help the younger people who are suffering. He wants to continue to seek out accolades from out of touch conservatives. Young people will not support this man for reelection. Now however, it seems that his base is shrinking as people suffer from job losses due to the pandemic. As people continue to suffer and risk evictions and foreclosures, you will see people who rolled the dice on him turn away from him.

Trump plays along with the policies of the Republican Party as long as HIS name is on them. It is about him and him alone. He was already wealthy at birth. Now, we must peel off support he has from those that rolled the dice on him. They are the working class and in November, they must speak.

[scottmapess]

BITCOIN IS BREAKING OUT! Should I Buy? What Price Will Bitcoin Be At The Halving? PREDICTION TIME!🔴🔵

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

All right. Let’s get into this for the past twenty-five days. Bitcoin has been slowly grinding up. I know it didn’t seem like that many people thought the bitcoin price would drop lower. But Bitcoin is breaking to the upside. And it seems to me at this point like a three thousand dollar bitcoin, like a four thousand dollar bitcoin, maybe even like a five thousand dollar bitcoin price is a pipe dream at this point, as in those prices maybe will never happen again. So the question is, what will the price be at the having and going forward? Welcome back, everybody, to altcoin Daily, where of course, you subscribe for our daily videos on everything going on in cryptocurrency. Today, the Bitcoin having search term has just reached a new all-time high on Google Trends. I like that. The reason this is significant, though, is because this is the most aware that the bitcoin having has ever had. And no coins are searching for this because I would assume that most of these searches are coming from people who don’t know a lot about Bitcoin and maybe are looking to get in and find out, you know, what it’s all about. It seems to me that you and me and people who have been Hotaling for a long time, we’ve completely forgotten that the freak and having is 35 days away. This only happens twice in a decade. And with Bitcoin with the price right now being $7000 per bitcoin, the having is about to leave. Forty-five million dollars worth of current weekly demand for the new supply with nothing. Now, truth be told, the actual having date is usually a bit of an anticlimactic non-event as far as the price is concerned. In the past, the big bitcoin price moves usually happen before or after the halving. So if you’re looking for significant price increases in thirty-five days, probably won’t see it until maybe six to 12 months. But that’s the beauty of bitcoin. This thing is trending up. And if this continues, which I believe it will, people with a long term mindset are really going to benefit people who can actually hold holding bitcoin is a bet for the future that you believe that given enough time, people will wake up to the properties that bitcoin has, i.e. censorship, resistance, i.e. undebatable. You’re making a bet that people are going to buy into these properties. You’re betting that demand will increase because people will see that bitcoin is better money and since the supply flow keeps decreasing, either having this thing could turn out to be a really good investment. If you have the patience to treat it as such. So my price prediction for the having. And by the way, guys, take three seconds. Like the video, support the channel. Let’s get this video out there to as many people as possible. My price prediction for the having. Maybe around eight thousand dollars. You know, my price prediction is really that this thing continues to trend up because demand will increase and supply will decrease. And so sorry, I can’t get more specific than that. Eight thousand maybe by having builders. It’s really a long term game, but I’m curious to know what you think about this. I’ve talked for a while. I’m looking in the comments right now. Let’s see, you know, the people who comment. You guys are the real experts, right? Let’s see what you guys think. Bitcoin price predictions by the having. Now, I am acutely aware that there are people who aren’t as bullish as I am. There are a certain amount of people who don’t even believe that bitcoins bottom is in. And while nobody will really know until enough time passes, there are people who believe that bitcoin could go lower. To those people, I want to share this recent article with you. This is the argument as to why Bitcoin has bottomed. Has the crypto market bottomed? That’s the question that’s been on everybody’s minds over the past couple of weeks, ever since the March 12th capitulation event. Traders have been divided over this question, despite the uncertainty. Willie Wu, a prominent on-chain analyst, recently weighed in on this pressing debate, writing that two fundamental metrics are suggesting the bottom has been established. And I am I’m aware Willie Wu is not always right. He’s just reading the on-chain data and drawing conclusions. But let’s get into his opinion. Utilizing two indicators, Willie Wu explained that the way in which Bitcoin mining ecosystem is developing is indicating this market has bottomed in March. So two things. First, the hash ribbon’s moving averages of the hash rate have started to recover, which is a reliable bottom signal. The last time the hash ribbons looked similar as they do now was in December of twenty nineteen at the bottom of 6400. And in December of 2018, the bottom three thousand one hundred fifty was the first thing. So the hash ribbon’s looks similar to those points in Bitcoin’s history. The second thing is that the miner energy ratio, the ratio between Bitcoin’s market cap to its energy consumption is in the BI’s zone and briefly breaking into the extreme by zone during the March crash. The last time this ratio entered the extreme by zone was months before the previous having, the previous having prior to the 4000 percent rally to twenty thousand. And of course, that did take many months. And you know, he gets into this into, you know, his tweets right there. I just some of them off for you. Let’s get to something else. Other factors are flipping bullish, too. There are other factors suggesting the worst has passed for the cryptocurrency market. According to screenshots of crypto enabled retail brokerages based in the UK shared by trader Nick Battal, a majority of users of these platforms are leaning long on Bitcoin. In fact, for IAG dot com, they’re signalling that 78 percent of clients accounts are long on the cryptocurrency. Furthermore, Coinbase pro order book shows that there are more traders bidding. The foremost crypto than selling it with their existing nearly 24000 bitcoin worth of orders down to an order price of $2000 and just a mere 4000 worth of orders up to twelve thousand dollars. The fact is, there is such booming demand for bitcoin suggests it will be hard for sellers to push the cryptocurrency back to the three thousand eight hundred dollar lows. So further argument as to why it’s less likely will go down and for not going down or just going up. And this maybe is the most interesting in 35 days after the halving. And for the rest of Bitcoin’s life, you’re going to need a lot less money to just maintain a price point of seven thousand dollars for Bitcoin will be a lot easier to keep a price point of seven thousand dollars. So just for some history for the past four years to maintain or to maintain seven thousand dollar price points since October of 2017. Bitcoin must have had about 400 million new cash inflows every month for the last 2.5 years, assuming all trading is a zero-sum game. After the halving, we only need 200 million to keep a seven thousand dollar level. So if 400 million stays. What do you think is going to happen now? Despite all of this, caution is still advised. Even though most bearish people have turned long term bullish, those who go all-in in a speculative asset will get wrecked. I agree with this. And finally, let’s take a look at our bitcoin. The subreddit, the most popular subreddit for Bitcoin, wanted to point out a few things, number one. One of you posted our video about Mark Cuban and Mr Wonderful as somebody who wasn’t us. Posted this video on Reddit. And they’re getting a lot of upvotes on Reddit. So we salute you. If you take one of our really good videos and post it on Reddit or Twitter or what have you, a lot of times that stuff gets upvoted. So please, you know, that’s a good thing to do. Besides that, something else I wanted to show was I thought this was cool. Red Cross deployed a tent bought with Bitcoin donations. Check this out. Bitcoin donations, saving Italian lives and helping to protect first responders on the front line. Anonymous Bitcoin donations worldwide should be proud of this bitcoin against the pandemic. So, yeah, that’s good. You know, the beauty of Bitcoin. You can send money anywhere in the world. Nobody can stop you. And its network effect is the biggest highly liquid. You get that. And that is it for me today, my friends. My name is Aaron. I hope you got value in this video. We’ll see tomorrow. The Chinese government in Beijing, cryptocurrency. It’s a real thing. Keep going. I was young. Thank you to all, Lord. You’re a wealthy man. If you go to the Republic of China. Low point now. Yeah. His shine up. See, all the sunlight reflects the currency. Then don’t do it now. Well, Voltaren leading a betrayed will come in. Not between him. I’ll do it. I’m shy and no. I get the White House NTSA an old tap. We got those terrorists called. Keep the money in that balance. If you don’t study it peacefully, there are no laughs in here. It’s a risk for me too.

source https://www.cryptosharks.net/what-price-will-bitcoin-be-at-the-halving-prediction/ source https://cryptosharks1.blogspot.com/2020/04/bitcoin-is-breaking-out-should-i-buy.html

[jeffrmayhugh]

BITCOIN IS BREAKING OUT! Should I Buy? What Price Will Bitcoin Be At The Halving? PREDICTION TIME!🔴🔵

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

All right. Let’s get into this for the past twenty-five days. Bitcoin has been slowly grinding up. I know it didn’t seem like that many people thought the bitcoin price would drop lower. But Bitcoin is breaking to the upside. And it seems to me at this point like a three thousand dollar bitcoin, like a four thousand dollar bitcoin, maybe even like a five thousand dollar bitcoin price is a pipe dream at this point, as in those prices maybe will never happen again. So the question is, what will the price be at the having and going forward? Welcome back, everybody, to altcoin Daily, where of course, you subscribe for our daily videos on everything going on in cryptocurrency. Today, the Bitcoin having search term has just reached a new all-time high on Google Trends. I like that. The reason this is significant, though, is because this is the most aware that the bitcoin having has ever had. And no coins are searching for this because I would assume that most of these searches are coming from people who don’t know a lot about Bitcoin and maybe are looking to get in and find out, you know, what it’s all about. It seems to me that you and me and people who have been Hotaling for a long time, we’ve completely forgotten that the freak and having is 35 days away. This only happens twice in a decade. And with Bitcoin with the price right now being $7000 per bitcoin, the having is about to leave. Forty-five million dollars worth of current weekly demand for the new supply with nothing. Now, truth be told, the actual having date is usually a bit of an anticlimactic non-event as far as the price is concerned. In the past, the big bitcoin price moves usually happen before or after the halving. So if you’re looking for significant price increases in thirty-five days, probably won’t see it until maybe six to 12 months. But that’s the beauty of bitcoin. This thing is trending up. And if this continues, which I believe it will, people with a long term mindset are really going to benefit people who can actually hold holding bitcoin is a bet for the future that you believe that given enough time, people will wake up to the properties that bitcoin has, i.e. censorship, resistance, i.e. undebatable. You’re making a bet that people are going to buy into these properties. You’re betting that demand will increase because people will see that bitcoin is better money and since the supply flow keeps decreasing, either having this thing could turn out to be a really good investment. If you have the patience to treat it as such. So my price prediction for the having. And by the way, guys, take three seconds. Like the video, support the channel. Let’s get this video out there to as many people as possible. My price prediction for the having. Maybe around eight thousand dollars. You know, my price prediction is really that this thing continues to trend up because demand will increase and supply will decrease. And so sorry, I can’t get more specific than that. Eight thousand maybe by having builders. It’s really a long term game, but I’m curious to know what you think about this. I’ve talked for a while. I’m looking in the comments right now. Let’s see, you know, the people who comment. You guys are the real experts, right? Let’s see what you guys think. Bitcoin price predictions by the having. Now, I am acutely aware that there are people who aren’t as bullish as I am. There are a certain amount of people who don’t even believe that bitcoins bottom is in. And while nobody will really know until enough time passes, there are people who believe that bitcoin could go lower. To those people, I want to share this recent article with you. This is the argument as to why Bitcoin has bottomed. Has the crypto market bottomed? That’s the question that’s been on everybody’s minds over the past couple of weeks, ever since the March 12th capitulation event. Traders have been divided over this question, despite the uncertainty. Willie Wu, a prominent on-chain analyst, recently weighed in on this pressing debate, writing that two fundamental metrics are suggesting the bottom has been established. And I am I’m aware Willie Wu is not always right. He’s just reading the on-chain data and drawing conclusions. But let’s get into his opinion. Utilizing two indicators, Willie Wu explained that the way in which Bitcoin mining ecosystem is developing is indicating this market has bottomed in March. So two things. First, the hash ribbon’s moving averages of the hash rate have started to recover, which is a reliable bottom signal. The last time the hash ribbons looked similar as they do now was in December of twenty nineteen at the bottom of 6400. And in December of 2018, the bottom three thousand one hundred fifty was the first thing. So the hash ribbon’s looks similar to those points in Bitcoin’s history. The second thing is that the miner energy ratio, the ratio between Bitcoin’s market cap to its energy consumption is in the BI’s zone and briefly breaking into the extreme by zone during the March crash. The last time this ratio entered the extreme by zone was months before the previous having, the previous having prior to the 4000 percent rally to twenty thousand. And of course, that did take many months. And you know, he gets into this into, you know, his tweets right there. I just some of them off for you. Let’s get to something else. Other factors are flipping bullish, too. There are other factors suggesting the worst has passed for the cryptocurrency market. According to screenshots of crypto enabled retail brokerages based in the UK shared by trader Nick Battal, a majority of users of these platforms are leaning long on Bitcoin. In fact, for IAG dot com, they’re signalling that 78 percent of clients accounts are long on the cryptocurrency. Furthermore, Coinbase pro order book shows that there are more traders bidding. The foremost crypto than selling it with their existing nearly 24000 bitcoin worth of orders down to an order price of $2000 and just a mere 4000 worth of orders up to twelve thousand dollars. The fact is, there is such booming demand for bitcoin suggests it will be hard for sellers to push the cryptocurrency back to the three thousand eight hundred dollar lows. So further argument as to why it’s less likely will go down and for not going down or just going up. And this maybe is the most interesting in 35 days after the halving. And for the rest of Bitcoin’s life, you’re going to need a lot less money to just maintain a price point of seven thousand dollars for Bitcoin will be a lot easier to keep a price point of seven thousand dollars. So just for some history for the past four years to maintain or to maintain seven thousand dollar price points since October of 2017. Bitcoin must have had about 400 million new cash inflows every month for the last 2.5 years, assuming all trading is a zero-sum game. After the halving, we only need 200 million to keep a seven thousand dollar level. So if 400 million stays. What do you think is going to happen now? Despite all of this, caution is still advised. Even though most bearish people have turned long term bullish, those who go all-in in a speculative asset will get wrecked. I agree with this. And finally, let’s take a look at our bitcoin. The subreddit, the most popular subreddit for Bitcoin, wanted to point out a few things, number one. One of you posted our video about Mark Cuban and Mr Wonderful as somebody who wasn’t us. Posted this video on Reddit. And they’re getting a lot of upvotes on Reddit. So we salute you. If you take one of our really good videos and post it on Reddit or Twitter or what have you, a lot of times that stuff gets upvoted. So please, you know, that’s a good thing to do. Besides that, something else I wanted to show was I thought this was cool. Red Cross deployed a tent bought with Bitcoin donations. Check this out. Bitcoin donations, saving Italian lives and helping to protect first responders on the front line. Anonymous Bitcoin donations worldwide should be proud of this bitcoin against the pandemic. So, yeah, that’s good. You know, the beauty of Bitcoin. You can send money anywhere in the world. Nobody can stop you. And its network effect is the biggest highly liquid. You get that. And that is it for me today, my friends. My name is Aaron. I hope you got value in this video. We’ll see tomorrow. The Chinese government in Beijing, cryptocurrency. It’s a real thing. Keep going. I was young. Thank you to all, Lord. You’re a wealthy man. If you go to the Republic of China. Low point now. Yeah. His shine up. See, all the sunlight reflects the currency. Then don’t do it now. Well, Voltaren leading a betrayed will come in. Not between him. I’ll do it. I’m shy and no. I get the White House NTSA an old tap. We got those terrorists called. Keep the money in that balance. If you don’t study it peacefully, there are no laughs in here. It’s a risk for me too.

source https://www.cryptosharks.net/what-price-will-bitcoin-be-at-the-halving-prediction/ source https://cryptosharks1.tumblr.com/post/614956515227484160

[heatherrdavis1]

BITCOIN IS BREAKING OUT! Should I Buy? What Price Will Bitcoin Be At The Halving? PREDICTION TIME!

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

All right. Let’s get into this for the past twenty-five days. Bitcoin has been slowly grinding up. I know it didn’t seem like that many people thought the bitcoin price would drop lower. But Bitcoin is breaking to the upside. And it seems to me at this point like a three thousand dollar bitcoin, like a four thousand dollar bitcoin, maybe even like a five thousand dollar bitcoin price is a pipe dream at this point, as in those prices maybe will never happen again. So the question is, what will the price be at the having and going forward? Welcome back, everybody, to altcoin Daily, where of course, you subscribe for our daily videos on everything going on in cryptocurrency. Today, the Bitcoin having search term has just reached a new all-time high on Google Trends. I like that. The reason this is significant, though, is because this is the most aware that the bitcoin having has ever had. And no coins are searching for this because I would assume that most of these searches are coming from people who don’t know a lot about Bitcoin and maybe are looking to get in and find out, you know, what it’s all about. It seems to me that you and me and people who have been Hotaling for a long time, we’ve completely forgotten that the freak and having is 35 days away. This only happens twice in a decade. And with Bitcoin with the price right now being $7000 per bitcoin, the having is about to leave. Forty-five million dollars worth of current weekly demand for the new supply with nothing. Now, truth be told, the actual having date is usually a bit of an anticlimactic non-event as far as the price is concerned. In the past, the big bitcoin price moves usually happen before or after the halving. So if you’re looking for significant price increases in thirty-five days, probably won’t see it until maybe six to 12 months. But that’s the beauty of bitcoin. This thing is trending up. And if this continues, which I believe it will, people with a long term mindset are really going to benefit people who can actually hold holding bitcoin is a bet for the future that you believe that given enough time, people will wake up to the properties that bitcoin has, i.e. censorship, resistance, i.e. undebatable. You’re making a bet that people are going to buy into these properties. You’re betting that demand will increase because people will see that bitcoin is better money and since the supply flow keeps decreasing, either having this thing could turn out to be a really good investment. If you have the patience to treat it as such. So my price prediction for the having. And by the way, guys, take three seconds. Like the video, support the channel. Let’s get this video out there to as many people as possible. My price prediction for the having. Maybe around eight thousand dollars. You know, my price prediction is really that this thing continues to trend up because demand will increase and supply will decrease. And so sorry, I can’t get more specific than that. Eight thousand maybe by having builders. It’s really a long term game, but I’m curious to know what you think about this. I’ve talked for a while. I’m looking in the comments right now. Let’s see, you know, the people who comment. You guys are the real experts, right? Let’s see what you guys think. Bitcoin price predictions by the having. Now, I am acutely aware that there are people who aren’t as bullish as I am. There are a certain amount of people who don’t even believe that bitcoins bottom is in. And while nobody will really know until enough time passes, there are people who believe that bitcoin could go lower. To those people, I want to share this recent article with you. This is the argument as to why Bitcoin has bottomed. Has the crypto market bottomed? That’s the question that’s been on everybody’s minds over the past couple of weeks, ever since the March 12th capitulation event. Traders have been divided over this question, despite the uncertainty. Willie Wu, a prominent on-chain analyst, recently weighed in on this pressing debate, writing that two fundamental metrics are suggesting the bottom has been established. And I am I’m aware Willie Wu is not always right. He’s just reading the on-chain data and drawing conclusions. But let’s get into his opinion. Utilizing two indicators, Willie Wu explained that the way in which Bitcoin mining ecosystem is developing is indicating this market has bottomed in March. So two things. First, the hash ribbon’s moving averages of the hash rate have started to recover, which is a reliable bottom signal. The last time the hash ribbons looked similar as they do now was in December of twenty nineteen at the bottom of 6400. And in December of 2018, the bottom three thousand one hundred fifty was the first thing. So the hash ribbon’s looks similar to those points in Bitcoin’s history. The second thing is that the miner energy ratio, the ratio between Bitcoin’s market cap to its energy consumption is in the BI’s zone and briefly breaking into the extreme by zone during the March crash. The last time this ratio entered the extreme by zone was months before the previous having, the previous having prior to the 4000 percent rally to twenty thousand. And of course, that did take many months. And you know, he gets into this into, you know, his tweets right there. I just some of them off for you. Let’s get to something else. Other factors are flipping bullish, too. There are other factors suggesting the worst has passed for the cryptocurrency market. According to screenshots of crypto enabled retail brokerages based in the UK shared by trader Nick Battal, a majority of users of these platforms are leaning long on Bitcoin. In fact, for IAG dot com, they’re signalling that 78 percent of clients accounts are long on the cryptocurrency. Furthermore, Coinbase pro order book shows that there are more traders bidding. The foremost crypto than selling it with their existing nearly 24000 bitcoin worth of orders down to an order price of $2000 and just a mere 4000 worth of orders up to twelve thousand dollars. The fact is, there is such booming demand for bitcoin suggests it will be hard for sellers to push the cryptocurrency back to the three thousand eight hundred dollar lows. So further argument as to why it’s less likely will go down and for not going down or just going up. And this maybe is the most interesting in 35 days after the halving. And for the rest of Bitcoin’s life, you’re going to need a lot less money to just maintain a price point of seven thousand dollars for Bitcoin will be a lot easier to keep a price point of seven thousand dollars. So just for some history for the past four years to maintain or to maintain seven thousand dollar price points since October of 2017. Bitcoin must have had about 400 million new cash inflows every month for the last 2.5 years, assuming all trading is a zero-sum game. After the halving, we only need 200 million to keep a seven thousand dollar level. So if 400 million stays. What do you think is going to happen now? Despite all of this, caution is still advised. Even though most bearish people have turned long term bullish, those who go all-in in a speculative asset will get wrecked. I agree with this. And finally, let’s take a look at our bitcoin. The subreddit, the most popular subreddit for Bitcoin, wanted to point out a few things, number one. One of you posted our video about Mark Cuban and Mr Wonderful as somebody who wasn’t us. Posted this video on Reddit. And they’re getting a lot of upvotes on Reddit. So we salute you. If you take one of our really good videos and post it on Reddit or Twitter or what have you, a lot of times that stuff gets upvoted. So please, you know, that’s a good thing to do. Besides that, something else I wanted to show was I thought this was cool. Red Cross deployed a tent bought with Bitcoin donations. Check this out. Bitcoin donations, saving Italian lives and helping to protect first responders on the front line. Anonymous Bitcoin donations worldwide should be proud of this bitcoin against the pandemic. So, yeah, that’s good. You know, the beauty of Bitcoin. You can send money anywhere in the world. Nobody can stop you. And its network effect is the biggest highly liquid. You get that. And that is it for me today, my friends. My name is Aaron. I hope you got value in this video. We’ll see tomorrow. The Chinese government in Beijing, cryptocurrency. It’s a real thing. Keep going. I was young. Thank you to all, Lord. You’re a wealthy man. If you go to the Republic of China. Low point now. Yeah. His shine up. See, all the sunlight reflects the currency. Then don’t do it now. Well, Voltaren leading a betrayed will come in. Not between him. I’ll do it. I’m shy and no. I get the White House NTSA an old tap. We got those terrorists called. Keep the money in that balance. If you don’t study it peacefully, there are no laughs in here. It’s a risk for me too.

Via https://www.cryptosharks.net/what-price-will-bitcoin-be-at-the-halving-prediction/

source https://cryptosharks.weebly.com/blog/bitcoin-is-breaking-out-should-i-buy-what-price-will-bitcoin-be-at-the-halving-prediction-time

[cryptosharks1]

BITCOIN IS BREAKING OUT! Should I Buy? What Price Will Bitcoin Be At The Halving? PREDICTION TIME!🔴🔵

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

All right. Let’s get into this for the past twenty-five days. Bitcoin has been slowly grinding up. I know it didn’t seem like that many people thought the bitcoin price would drop lower. But Bitcoin is breaking to the upside. And it seems to me at this point like a three thousand dollar bitcoin, like a four thousand dollar bitcoin, maybe even like a five thousand dollar bitcoin price is a pipe dream at this point, as in those prices maybe will never happen again. So the question is, what will the price be at the having and going forward? Welcome back, everybody, to altcoin Daily, where of course, you subscribe for our daily videos on everything going on in cryptocurrency. Today, the Bitcoin having search term has just reached a new all-time high on Google Trends. I like that. The reason this is significant, though, is because this is the most aware that the bitcoin having has ever had. And no coins are searching for this because I would assume that most of these searches are coming from people who don’t know a lot about Bitcoin and maybe are looking to get in and find out, you know, what it’s all about. It seems to me that you and me and people who have been Hotaling for a long time, we’ve completely forgotten that the freak and having is 35 days away. This only happens twice in a decade. And with Bitcoin with the price right now being $7000 per bitcoin, the having is about to leave. Forty-five million dollars worth of current weekly demand for the new supply with nothing. Now, truth be told, the actual having date is usually a bit of an anticlimactic non-event as far as the price is concerned. In the past, the big bitcoin price moves usually happen before or after the halving. So if you’re looking for significant price increases in thirty-five days, probably won’t see it until maybe six to 12 months. But that’s the beauty of bitcoin. This thing is trending up. And if this continues, which I believe it will, people with a long term mindset are really going to benefit people who can actually hold holding bitcoin is a bet for the future that you believe that given enough time, people will wake up to the properties that bitcoin has, i.e. censorship, resistance, i.e. undebatable. You’re making a bet that people are going to buy into these properties. You’re betting that demand will increase because people will see that bitcoin is better money and since the supply flow keeps decreasing, either having this thing could turn out to be a really good investment. If you have the patience to treat it as such. So my price prediction for the having. And by the way, guys, take three seconds. Like the video, support the channel. Let’s get this video out there to as many people as possible. My price prediction for the having. Maybe around eight thousand dollars. You know, my price prediction is really that this thing continues to trend up because demand will increase and supply will decrease. And so sorry, I can’t get more specific than that. Eight thousand maybe by having builders. It’s really a long term game, but I’m curious to know what you think about this. I’ve talked for a while. I’m looking in the comments right now. Let’s see, you know, the people who comment. You guys are the real experts, right? Let’s see what you guys think. Bitcoin price predictions by the having. Now, I am acutely aware that there are people who aren’t as bullish as I am. There are a certain amount of people who don’t even believe that bitcoins bottom is in. And while nobody will really know until enough time passes, there are people who believe that bitcoin could go lower. To those people, I want to share this recent article with you. This is the argument as to why Bitcoin has bottomed. Has the crypto market bottomed? That’s the question that’s been on everybody’s minds over the past couple of weeks, ever since the March 12th capitulation event. Traders have been divided over this question, despite the uncertainty. Willie Wu, a prominent on-chain analyst, recently weighed in on this pressing debate, writing that two fundamental metrics are suggesting the bottom has been established. And I am I’m aware Willie Wu is not always right. He’s just reading the on-chain data and drawing conclusions. But let’s get into his opinion. Utilizing two indicators, Willie Wu explained that the way in which Bitcoin mining ecosystem is developing is indicating this market has bottomed in March. So two things. First, the hash ribbon’s moving averages of the hash rate have started to recover, which is a reliable bottom signal. The last time the hash ribbons looked similar as they do now was in December of twenty nineteen at the bottom of 6400. And in December of 2018, the bottom three thousand one hundred fifty was the first thing. So the hash ribbon’s looks similar to those points in Bitcoin’s history. The second thing is that the miner energy ratio, the ratio between Bitcoin’s market cap to its energy consumption is in the BI’s zone and briefly breaking into the extreme by zone during the March crash. The last time this ratio entered the extreme by zone was months before the previous having, the previous having prior to the 4000 percent rally to twenty thousand. And of course, that did take many months. And you know, he gets into this into, you know, his tweets right there. I just some of them off for you. Let’s get to something else. Other factors are flipping bullish, too. There are other factors suggesting the worst has passed for the cryptocurrency market. According to screenshots of crypto enabled retail brokerages based in the UK shared by trader Nick Battal, a majority of users of these platforms are leaning long on Bitcoin. In fact, for IAG dot com, they’re signalling that 78 percent of clients accounts are long on the cryptocurrency. Furthermore, Coinbase pro order book shows that there are more traders bidding. The foremost crypto than selling it with their existing nearly 24000 bitcoin worth of orders down to an order price of $2000 and just a mere 4000 worth of orders up to twelve thousand dollars. The fact is, there is such booming demand for bitcoin suggests it will be hard for sellers to push the cryptocurrency back to the three thousand eight hundred dollar lows. So further argument as to why it’s less likely will go down and for not going down or just going up. And this maybe is the most interesting in 35 days after the halving. And for the rest of Bitcoin’s life, you’re going to need a lot less money to just maintain a price point of seven thousand dollars for Bitcoin will be a lot easier to keep a price point of seven thousand dollars. So just for some history for the past four years to maintain or to maintain seven thousand dollar price points since October of 2017. Bitcoin must have had about 400 million new cash inflows every month for the last 2.5 years, assuming all trading is a zero-sum game. After the halving, we only need 200 million to keep a seven thousand dollar level. So if 400 million stays. What do you think is going to happen now? Despite all of this, caution is still advised. Even though most bearish people have turned long term bullish, those who go all-in in a speculative asset will get wrecked. I agree with this. And finally, let’s take a look at our bitcoin. The subreddit, the most popular subreddit for Bitcoin, wanted to point out a few things, number one. One of you posted our video about Mark Cuban and Mr Wonderful as somebody who wasn’t us. Posted this video on Reddit. And they’re getting a lot of upvotes on Reddit. So we salute you. If you take one of our really good videos and post it on Reddit or Twitter or what have you, a lot of times that stuff gets upvoted. So please, you know, that’s a good thing to do. Besides that, something else I wanted to show was I thought this was cool. Red Cross deployed a tent bought with Bitcoin donations. Check this out. Bitcoin donations, saving Italian lives and helping to protect first responders on the front line. Anonymous Bitcoin donations worldwide should be proud of this bitcoin against the pandemic. So, yeah, that’s good. You know, the beauty of Bitcoin. You can send money anywhere in the world. Nobody can stop you. And its network effect is the biggest highly liquid. You get that. And that is it for me today, my friends. My name is Aaron. I hope you got value in this video. We’ll see tomorrow. The Chinese government in Beijing, cryptocurrency. It’s a real thing. Keep going. I was young. Thank you to all, Lord. You’re a wealthy man. If you go to the Republic of China. Low point now. Yeah. His shine up. See, all the sunlight reflects the currency. Then don’t do it now. Well, Voltaren leading a betrayed will come in. Not between him. I’ll do it. I’m shy and no. I get the White House NTSA an old tap. We got those terrorists called. Keep the money in that balance. If you don’t study it peacefully, there are no laughs in here. It’s a risk for me too.

source https://www.cryptosharks.net/what-price-will-bitcoin-be-at-the-halving-prediction/

[istvp]

IraQuarantine

.

as this pandemic continues in all around the world because of the novel coronavirus (COVID19), countries are forced to take drastic measures to prevent the further spreading of the virus, countries like China the United States Italy the United Kingdom and of course Iraq

most of these countries started applying curfews and total shutdown of most institutes from schools and colleges to sports event and movies and music.

and also Quarantine

where people must remain in their houses and never leave unless its for food or an emergency.

like in Italy where people cant leave their apartments or go to the rooftops.

streets and alleies are empty and people are forced to stay in their houses no matter what,

where now you feel like you are a prisoner in your own home, trapped with everyone you know and things you own and suddenly your large 5 bedrooms house start to feel like a prison sell and your 1 bedroom apartment starts to feel like a broken elevator and you are trapped in it with nowhere to go in between floors.

what you can do now is limited by what you have as entertainment and what ways you can make that time goes by fast or make the most out of it.

most people in these countries have internet and great cellular network, and other forms of entertainment.

they can work from home and still make a living.

they can watch anything or read anything online.

they can buy things and have them delivered online.

they can watch youtube and post videos and pictures online.

and they can take classes and study

online.

and they can play videogames

online.

as most countries have a reliable and sustainable internet network that enable this online life. and without it you cant keep people from going out and breathe fresh air.

this brings me back to my own country, Iraq

where the curfew is applied and schools and everything is on lockdown and you have to do your part and stay at home.

but how?

the average internet speed in Iraq is 0.6mb per sceond. making it one of the worst internet connection you can have in this modern world.

and other than the slowliness of this internet you have the issue of reliability and stability.

you can not rely on this connection as it is wireless and it can be affected my almost anything in the air, from rain and wind to the distance between the client and ISP.

it is safe to say that this internet in not usable in days like these, as I am writing this, the internet cuts off because of the electricity who also went off,

Yes you heard me right, the electricity is off as it does not work, you cant see, you cant have AC or heat, you cant turn on the fan or tv. and the fridge will not give you cold water. and also means that the internet will go off as well becuse the network is heavenly a dependent on the electricity.

I dont need to explain to you how the electricity is the most important thing out our daily lives as you already know that.

from the door bell to the charger of your phone and the stove or the dishwasher.

you really cant live if your electricity went off for couple of minutes let alone hours and days and in my case years.

.

Basra Iraq is where I live and I have establish that I lose electricity and have a bad internet. what can I do to stay indoors ? what can I do with this internet ?

I cant work online

I cant watch videos on the internet

I cant use socialmedia

I cant play videogames online

or regular video games if I lose the elctricty

I cant facetime

I cant study only

I cant post onile

and I cant have a good phone call becuase the internet is just not consistent or even close to being consistent. and a lot more that I cant do.

and when the electricity is off

I cant wash clothes

I cant play video games

I cant take tv classes

I cant use the vacuum

I cant have hot water for showering

I cant have cold drinks

I cant have lights in my room

and my food could go bad without the electricity

and there are a lot more thing I cant do.

most people here have adapted to this situation

the loseing of electricity. so we have backup generators to help us in the hours where the main grid is down. but we dont really have anything to backup the internet or support it,

in most days its fine, both the electricity and the internet are relatively fine, but now as most of the population of Iraq are staying at home and consuming a lot of energy, there is a heavy load on the network, we are straining the grid and stretching it thin, thinner than it already is.

and if suffer more from this pandemic as the summer is coming and we have to deal with the heat (123f-50°c) through out 6 months, Im afraid that the network will collapse and we wouldn't be abale to properly fix it and maintain it and times like these.

what I do most of the times when both the internet and electricity cuf off is

I write a lot, like Im doing right now

and I read a lot

I go on the roof as most houses here have rooftops you can breath and gaze on the sunsets or sunrise

I can clean the house and do what I can to prevent this virus from further spreading

I can workout and train and make most of my time productive.

I can wash dishes.

and other things to keep me busy if I already done most of my routine.

but that is speaking about me strictly, here in Basra people cant really just accept that they need to be quarantined because of a virus, so they break it and they walk in the town and they shop in crowded markets that are unsanitized and unsanitary, and you have to forgive them because of what they suffered throughout the years and how much they know death and how they are not afraid of it, not yet at least.

.

the reason I write this now is to inform and share as well as document what life is like for me in a quarantine in Basra Iraq.

and also to put a spot light on few things some people might take for granted times like these,

so I want you to know that being in a quarantine is that fun or entertaining and its a hard time and there will be problems. but please try to always think and have in mind that there are people like me in which there quarantine is actually like prison, and me saying that as I think about all the homeless people and the refugees in camps and all the poor people who dont even have what I have right now.

I want you to also think about me and them just as I am thinking about you in this time,

and I know that we will come out of this better

I hope we do, Im doing my best to help with this and see it in affect when this pandemic is over.

people are showing their best all across the world and some of them are showing their worst.

we need to learn from this and we need to wrok and plan ahead from this point forward, for the sake of

Children

Planet earth

Elderly

Animals

Environment

and for each other

Humanity.

I would like to thank every human who is on the front line of this pandemic our heros, from doctors and nurses, medical staff and researchers, lap researchers and technicians

Janitors and cleaners. and everyone that is doing thier part in any way small or big. and I will thank Science for it is our only helper and our only way out of this.