#thank you for all these questions fellow trailblazer

[pinkrose05]

Oh this sounds fun, count me in!

Warning: Long Post.

(Oops.)

1- I went with Stelle because I like the deadpan menace vibe. Caelus is pretty neat in his own right, but Stelle... my beloved gremlin...

2- Yanqing! He's my son and I love and cherish him with all my heart. Go kick ass, subway surfer boi!

3- My pfp would have you think it's Argenti, but I actually have a terminal case of Ren hyperfixation. He's got sooo many different personality facets and involvement in several story branches that is just so neat to think about!

...as I do 24/7. Please send help.

4- Also Ren lol, he checks off all the right boxes (buffs his own crit rate, scales off HP, runs on basic attacks, has the single most satisfying followup attack in the game. Oh did I mention the sfx? I think I should mention the sfx. It's great.)

5- I wasn't too big on Guinaifen initially, but playing Aetherium Wars and Foxian Tale practically 180'd my view. She's so lively and charming, and her backstory makes her current persona all the more interesting, too. Ily xiao-Gui... please come home already....

6- This is probably a tie between Qingque and Hanya. QQ's RNG within RNG is hilarious when it goes off, but man, Hanya has some of the best animations in the game, period. Her SP recovery is also very comfy (<- Ren main who dies inside whenever the SP count falls below 2 in any team ever).

7- Silver Wolf.... I'm so sorry queen, you keep running next to guys I'm saving for. Next time. Next time for sure.

8- Belobog, hands down. The scenery is cool, the vibes are cool (or warm, if you're in the Underworld), and OST is some of my all-time favorite; I love those strings so much!

9- The Luofu had a pretty strong start, even with all the fetch quests. I may be in the minority here, but I really enjoyed Dan Shu's quest chain, and was very excited to see how they'd handle the moral dilemma thereof in future updates. Oh, to go back to these better times... *weary sigh of ancient soul*

10- Argenti's story quest may not have been lore-heavy, but boy, it definitely was one of the weirder ones- and that was fun! I won't go into detail here, but it changes... quite a few things. And that last cutscene... beautiful.

(Shoutout to the Serval + Gepard quest pair though; that one was great closure for the former, and a nice show of her dynamic with the latter too.)

11- Had he not been an established recurring presence (that already stole the thunder of another's quest), I would've nominated Ren for this one. However, my actual pick is Jing Yuan. I'd love to see centric content for the cat dad sometime... regardless of what it tackles, I'm fairly certain it'll be a good time.

12- Foxian Tale of The Haunted is the peak of events in hoyoverse games. 20/10, please keep up the quality in the next lore-heavy main event. Shoutout to Critter Pick for the babies, though!

13- Remembrance! Why wait for the enemy to take action when you can make them dissociate their way to death?

(Of course, the agony of running into freeze-immune enemies is unmatchable, but I still think it's worth. Elation is a solid second though, that Aftertaste explosion is just delectable.)

14- Kafka's a pretty fun bossfight, in that she's the most straightforward of the bunch. Just cleanse the effects, keep trading blows, and you'll get there if you believe hard enough. Also this fight gives you the Go, Bladie achievement, and few references in this game have made me laugh so hard.

15- Ahahahahahahaha... figured it out yet? Aha is a menace in all the best and worst ways, and I'm afraid they had me hooked to their shenanigans alll the way back from the start. Live, laugh, love, never gonna give you up-

16- Giovanni Di Giorgio Da Epsilon, the man of all time!

(....can you tell I'm an Elation folk enjoyer?)

17- Sometimes family is a pint-sized gamer, a coat afficionado, an occasionally feral but mostly just tired wet kitten, a gundam proxy constantly doing their best, and the cat that brings them all together like some sort of clairvoyant glue. We praise the Stellaron Hunter family in this household.

18- I'm not much for shipping, honestly, but kafblade reads romantically as well as it does platonically, so that's nice. I'll take any and all ship content if I like it enough, though.

19- Jingliu and Luocha's plan is vaguely intriguing, in that it ties the Luofu's story to several ships we might visit in the future. I wonder what the Marshal's take on this is, and what exactly goes on in the Xuling...

Honkai Star Rail questions

I spent all night last night catching up on events in Honkai Star Rail, and somehow I ended up thinking about whether I'd seen any posts like this one. I couldn't remember any, so I decided to make my own. Hopefully it will be fun for someone as we now test out our free Dr. Ratios and wait for 2.0 to arrive!

This is not a tagging sort of meme - if you play HSR and are in the mood, answer these! Feel free to explain or not explain as you see fit. Bonus points for including screenshots/pictures/art/whatever - not required, but no one ever argued with some pretty.

Note that I'm keeping this one positive, because my mood is "yay this is a fun game I'm happy it's here" and that's the general vibe I want to put out into the world!

*

Stelle or Caelus? (i.e., which default do you use, regardless of what you named them?): 

First 5* Character:

Favorite 5* Character (Story/General Characterization):

Favorite 5* Character (Combat/Play Style):

Favorite 4* Character (Story/General Characterization):

Favorite 4* Character (Combat/Play Style):

Existing character you haven't pulled yet but want:

Favorite 1.0 Zone (Location) - Herta Space Station, Belobog, or Xianzhou Luofu: 

Favorite 1.0 Zone (Story):

Favorite Character-Specific Quest:

Character who doesn't have a quest yet, but should:

Favorite Event:

Favorite path to choose in Simulated Universe: 

Favorite boss fight (design, combat, story relevance, whatever strikes you most): 

Favorite Aeon:

Favorite non-playable NPC:

Favorite non-romantic relationship (friends, enemies, complicated, whatever):

Favorite ship (if any - canon is irrelevant here, btw, this is all vibes): 

Plot thread you're most looking forward to seeing in the future: 

Bonus question: any other (generally positive) thought, theory, or headcanon that you've been dying to talk about, but haven't had the excuse to mention before:

[gay-dorito-dust]

Can I request headcanons for Sunday, Boothill, Welt, Gallagher, Blade, and Dan Heng react to his shy gn crush giving him a love letter before leaving quickly?

Sunday:

Is calm upon receiving the note and still just as calm after reading it.

He knew this day was coming, you weren’t necessarily subtle about it either but he didn’t want to bring it up to you, knowing that if he did you’d loose all the confidence you’ve mustered up in order to give him the note.

He could read you like an open book and yet your sweet, genuine words touched his heart regardless. You held his heart in your hand and you weren’t even aware, he’ll be sure to rectify that soon enough.

While he wishes you could’ve told him in person, however he’ll gladly suffice for a note instead, seeing as it was the closest he’ll get in regard to an official confession.

With his place in your heart ensured, Sunday could finally use this as an opportunity to spoil you to your hearts content. Anything and everything you could ever possibly want or wish for was going to be yours if he had anything to do with it.

Your wish was his command and he’ll gladly rid himself of any competitors for your heart, all the while shielding your eyes from his underhanded tactics in doing so.

Welt:

You make this old man feel as though he were young and lively when you gave him the note and running off before he could say anything.

He felt as though he was in a romcom that he saw once…not that he was complaining.

Your note was so sweet and thoughtful that the more he continued to read, the more he began to find even more reasons to love you, for who you were was the most precious and perfect person in his life.

He didn’t want to confess first incase that he misread your past interactions for something else, but the note you’ve given him proved that his initial thoughts were correct, and that in reality he was just insecure and felt silly of the idea that someone his age was still experiencing things such as a crush.

But it was so much more than that and Welt knew it.

The only question left was, when was it going to be his time to confess?

Dan heng:

Thank god he took the note back to his room while he did because had he read it beforehand, otherwise his fellow trailblazers would’ve seen his face go the reddest it’s ever been in history.

He reads and re-reads your note to make sure that he wasn’t tricking himself but no, it was a real physical note from you confessing your crush on him.

Dan Heng felt as though he needed to sit down and think this through before he did something impulsive and stupid.

His little dragon noodle brain was telling him that he should seek out the most beautiful of all treasures, whether that be literature, clothing, jewels, and give them to you in droves in hopes of impressing you into being his mate.

Dan Heng dismisses it quickly as it came as it’ll probably overwhelm you and that was the exact opposite of what he wanted, and with that it was back to the drawing board to brainstorm.

Gallagher:

The moment he reads your note, he’s already got ideas on how your first date should go.

He’s not pissing about, not when you’ve given him the opportunity to treat you like he thought you should be treated; like you were the most priceless thing in existence because to him you very much were.

So why should he hesitate and potentially miss his chance to be with the person of his dreams?

He knew your favourite drink like the back of his hand from the countless times he’s made in perfecting it to your liking, so that wasn’t going to be as much of a problem as asking you out on a date was.

But he’ll figure something out, even if he’d have to improvise on the day. It would’ve been worth it if it meant having you by his side by the end of it.

Blade:

He’s not use to this sort of thing as love notes were a foreign concept to him.

He understood the intention and meaning behind it but he wasn’t the one to receive such notes.

So when you dropped off the note with him and ran the faster he’s ever seen you with a flustered look upon your face, Blade instantly knew then and there what the note was solely from your expression.

He wasn’t stupid so why he feeling a fluttering within his chest upon making this revelation?

It wasn’t painful nor caused his body any ache nor strife, if anything the more the warm, euphoric feeling spread throughout his body, the more his daily pains become an after thought in light of a possibility that you might actually like him back.

He always thought that the stories and blood -both his own and others- that stained his hands would run you off within a moments notice. Instead you choose to grasp his hands gently, wipe away the blood unfazed and still be able to look into his eyes after all that and smile.

You were his and Blade would be damned if he allowed anyone to encroach on you, regardless of their intentions. You weren’t to be taken from him for he’s already been through a lot and you weren’t going to be another name amongst the lost.

Boothill:

‘What’s this? Finally come to confess to me have you?’ He’d tease but would be genuinely surprised when he opens the note and finds that it actually is a confession note.

His crush? Liking him back? Bullshit!

He may act confident and self assured but he was in heavily in denial to begin with, but the more he re-read the note, he could tell that you were being serious. Which was a drastic change from your typically shy and anxious demeanour.

He even had to pinch the skin of his face to make sure that he wasn’t dreaming this up and that you were genuinely in love with him.

Sad he knows, but would you really be willing to date a man who wouldn’t be able to feel you expect from his face? Yeah he didn’t think so.

And yet you’ve proven him wrong by writing him a love letter confessing how you didn’t care about that, and how you loved him regardless if he could feel you or not. He was still someone you cared for deeply at the end of the day, never less someone you happened to find attractive. You weren’t shallow and Boothill knows this.

Not only that but he was genuinely scared that his best wasn’t going to be enough for you, sweet, kind, caring you…However Boothill recognises that hesitating and fearing the what ifs weren’t going to help him in wining your heart true and proper.

[hismourningflower]

— AMONG THE DATA | honkai star rail fanfiction. dan heng x gn!reader | fluff, mutual pining | requested work. ⋆ friends to lovers, mutual pining, probably an ooc dan heng, reader is shorter than dan heng, there's a lot of simping and people who aren't good with emotions

⋆ thank you for the request dear !! this was requested by @lovingluxury !!

Okay, but what about Dan Heng x librarian!reader (can be gn) who has opened a library in the express (with pompoms consent of course)? When he is not working on an entry for the archives, he’s with you in the library watching you work.

— DATA HAS BEEN UPLOADED! send an ask to join the taglist; specify genshin, honkai or both! @lovingluxury, @dumbificat, @starryshinyskies, @ryuryuryuyurboat, @ainescribe

pom pom had taken your request well when you'd boarded the astral express with caelus at your side, march 7th trailing behind with the biggest grin on her face. that's a well known sign that there's trouble on the horizon but how could pom pom not trust caelus after all he'd done? he was a reliable member of the nameless and now, after march and caelus presented their ideas to pom pom, so was you.

nonetheless you were a bookstore owner tired of the dreary life presented to you in a city with a lack of fellow book lovers. when they'd met you, caelus and march only had one person on their mind; dan heng. 'why not open a library on the express?' caelus had suggested, his hands clasping a dusty tome you'd acquired a few amber eras ago. march grinned, chiming up from where she was swatting a cloud of dust away from her face, 'yeah! you can travel with us and set up your store whether we stop!'

these were very good ideas, you admit and so you had shyly followed them onboard the astral express, grand and refined in all of its glory. it smells of rich coffee beans and well cared for plush velvet couches in the parlor car. with pom pom's consent, you officially had your own personal library onboard the astral express, travelling the cosmos with new friends at your side - and not to mention the small store you'd set up whenever the express docked somewhere, business was booming well.

the main reason behind caelus and march's plans was going too well to be true, almost. with your library and dan heng's data bank, the express was almost a walking embodiment of knowledge - if it had legs, that is but that's besides the point! the two of you were commonly found together, side by side with your heads deep in literature and data as if it was the last thing in the cosmos.

"do you prefer them categorised this way?" you voice chimes into the quiet of the library car, decorated by rows upon rows of books and tomes and the occasional plant that pom pom had insisted on. dan heng lifts his head from the data he'd projected on the small circular table he sat at, admiring how you were testing new ways to organise your books upon his own opinion.

he liked being included that way, able to interject his opinion and you'd always take it so sweetly. he valued that as much as you valued his opinion, the feeling of being seen and appreciated. perhaps, he wonders if that's why he found himself drowning himself in your presence between stops; between the gruelling tasks that came with being a trailblazer. you were comforting, a safe place among the data.

realising he'd never responded to your question, he blinks and a crack of a smile forms on his face. you almost smile instantly at the sight as he speaks up, "what's next? colour coordinated?"

you shrug, a melodic laugh erupting from you as you turn back to your organising. dan heng relaxes, a sigh of relief coming from him as heat creeps up his neck, flushing his cheeks. by the aeons, what did you do to him? little did he know, the moment you turned away, your teeth tugged at your lower lip, unable to force back that lovesick grin as your hands idly dawdled with leather-bound books.

"maybe i can create a rainbow out of all the colours we store here," you comment in response after a few moments of recollecting yourself - dan heng doesn't miss how you use the word 'we' when referring to the library, "y'think pom pom would like that?"

we. dan heng's heart flutters, unsure when he'd suddenly 'adopted' this little library with you but he wasn't complaining, deciding to occupy himself as his hand swipes at the data, the hologram flicking to the next page of information on a planet far away. a hum of agreement rumbles from his chest and then the library falls back into a comfortable silence with only the faint phonograph from the parlor car to accompany your breathing.

maybe this is the opportunity to spill your feelings, you consider as you sneakily glance over at dan heng's concentrated form. the dark haired man's eyebrows furrow, creating small wrinkles on his forehead in thought and you wonder what he's thinking about. a shaking sigh escapes your parted lips as you clear your throat, about to speak up.

"can we talk-"

"-there's something i want to talk to you-"

the pair of you blink, staring at each other for a few moments as it comes to your realisation that you'd both uttered the intentions of starting a 'talk' at the same time, your words blurring over each other in nervous tones and bated breaths. dan heng smiles weakly, waving his hand to you.

"sorry, you first." he laughs awkwardly, leaning back in the chair he'd been perched on for hours now. your hands tremble as you try to keep yourself occupied, a battle with your nerves as you slide a thick book back onto the shelf in front of you.

"this is... going to sound really odd- and it's okay if you don't feel the same way or anything! i just think it'd.. be for the best if i just get it off my chest instead of bottling it up further-" you're rambling, an anxious mess that can barely breathe in between their words until dan heng cuts you off, his eyes sparkling in the overhead lights of the library car.

"are you... confessing to me?" he asks, holding his breath as his mind whirls for a moment. you pause, nodding in embarrassment. you're about to speak again when dan heng quickly continues, "i feel the same - i mean, that's what i wanted to talk about... too..."

he what? your thoughts are a jumbled mess, heat rushing through your every limb as you both stare at each other, processing the situation. oh aeons, you'd both gone to confess at the same time? among pages that hold secrets and hear all but never speak, among your own very special version of data compared to that of dan heng's data bank?

smiles creep onto both of your faces, you can't deny the lovesick feeling driving you as you take hesitant steps towards where he sits and dan heng rises to his feet, lanky cold hands finding your warm cheeks and cupping them so delicately as you stand before him. your breaths mingle, closer than perhaps either of you had expected when you both stepped into the library car that morning.

in the mix of breathing and trembling hands, your eyes gloss over each other's faces. they drink over the insecurities you love about the other, the soft appearance of their lips and the way their eyes shine in the harsh light. moments later, lips press together in a gentle kiss that say more than words could ever convey.

pom pom had taken your request well, yes. because they were onboard with caelus and march's convenient plotting. in their own defence, they claimed to have been merely trying to draw dan heng out of his room, away from his beloved data that he sleeps among. in the response to the library's opening, he would shuffle to your library whenever the silence of the data bank got a tad too loud, when it echoed in his ears and the past came back to creep into his mind.

you silenced it, your smile warm and inviting the moment he would slide open the car's door and step inside. you assumed he just wanted your presence, his eyes lingering on data about who-knows-what but at the end of the day, dan heng loved watching you work - he loved you.

now you were his, among the data and the books you both surrounded yourself in.

⊹˚₊‧───────────────‧₊˚⊹

© thexianzhoujade 2024. | reblogs appreciated | do not re-upload, copy, translate, etc. my works on any form of media.

[honkaiedit]

Hello everyone! We would like to officially welcome you all to HONKAIEDIT, a new source blog for mainly for Honkai: Star Rail but we also reblog Honkai Impact 3rd! We hope to share and create Honkai content for everyone and also to create a fun environment for our fellow trailblazers!

Send us an ask if you have any questions. We will be tracking #honkaiedit. Don’t forget to tag us in your creations so we can reblog and share them with everyone!

Affiliate applications are currently open so if you’re part of a source blog and are interested in affiliating with us, please apply here! We’re also looking for more members to join us — especially queue monitors — on our journey. If you’re interested, please click here!

It would be lovely if you could help boost and spread the word! Thank you so much! May this journey lead us starward.

[kayzee4real]

Gender-Neutral Reader x Bottom Dan Heng

Helloooo welcome welcome to my second-ever fanfic. Here I have some stoic Dan Heng that becomes a completely different vulnerable version of himself in bed. Honestly, I’m still learning about his personality since so far in the game they don’t really show his true colors yet, but I tried my best to make it as close to the real Dan Heng as possible. Also trying a new dialogue style since I hate typing the blah said blah responded stuff. If you liked this fanfic and also play genshin impact plzzz check out my previous fanfic if you haven’t already; Gender-Neutral Reader x Tartaglia. If not that’s also okay *sulk* /j. Anyways that’s all, enjoy the fanfic!

KEYWORDS

Italic = thoughts

d/s = dick or strap

y/n = your name

You are a trailblazer who has traveled with the Astral Express for some time now. One thing you can never get used to on your expeditions, however, is your fellow trailblazer Dan Heng. His charm is unignorable. From his silky black hair to his piercing blue eyes, down to his mysterious personality, everything about him is something you admire.

You two are okay friends, you’ve even tried flirting with him a couple of times, it even got to the point where March tried to be your wing-woman, but he never seemed interested so you just decided to leave him alone and keep your feelings to him bottled up. 

After one expedition, you were able to get your hands on some liquor as a souvenir. While Dan Heng and March were locked away in their rooms, you, Welt, and Himeko drank a few and talked about the expedition. Suddenly, the conversation shifted

Himeko: “Y/n, so what’s the situation between you and Dan Heng?”

You: “Hm? What do you mean?”

Welt: “I was wondering that too, you two always seem so close together. It sometimes seems like you two are in a relationship.”

You: “Haha, I wish. I don’t think he feels the same way back though…”

Himeko: “Actually, I’ve known Dan Heng for a while longer than you have, and from my observations, it looks like he really enjoys your company and likes you but he’s just too shy to show it back.”

You: “I’m not sure…”

Welt: “I agree with Himeko. Dan Heng has a tough exterior for everyone, which is hard to break, but he seems to want to show his soft spot for you. He just probably doesn’t know how to do it.”

By this time you feel yourself getting drunk and don’t know if you can handle such a personal conversation any longer.

You: “Well, thanks for the talk but I’m a little tired now and I think I’m going to bed.”

Both Himeko and Welt wish you goodnight. By now it’s time to mention that you and Dan Heng’s rooms are right next to each other (I don’t care if it’s lore accurate). So as you were walking to your room, you thought to yourself:

Could they be right? Could Dan Heng really like me back? After all this time??? Not possible… it was probably some dumb drunk old people talk trying to boost my self-esteem or something. Who knows… I’ll just go to bed and forget about it.

Except as you turn the door knob, you’re shocked to see that your room looks just like Dan Heng’s room, and Dan Heng is in here too.

Dan Heng: “Umm, you walked into the wrong room. I would tell you to knock next time but seeing as you’re pretty drunk I’ll let it slide as a mistake.”

You: “Ah… my bad.”

How embarrassing. However, this gave you an opportunity to finally ask Dan Heng if he liked you back, to be able to come to the final conclusion. Are you going to do it? Of course you are, because you are big and brave. So you close the door behind you for privacy as Dan Heng looks at you confused.

Dan Heng: “Do you… need something?”

You: “I need you to answer a question for me, please.”

Dan Heng: “Okay, what is it?”

You pause for a moment, hesitant to ask. However, considering there’s no turning back, might as well just go for it.

You: “Do you like me back?... Like romantically?”

It feels like an eternity waiting for his response, you feel your heart racing. Finally, you notice Dan Heng’s expression change from serious to more of a flustered one.

Dan Heng: “...I guess I do.”

You: “Wait really?”

Is this really happening? Or is it a dream? Perhaps a drunk hallucination?

Dan Heng: “Yeah, sorry for not showing it sooner.”

You inch closer to him and can’t help but hug him. He accepts the hug and even returns it. You can tell he is flustered and blushing, but you decide not to say anything. Though, you feel yourself begin to become aroused. Maybe it is the drinks making you hornier? Who knows. What will you do next? Pull away and run away to go take care of it? Or…

You: “Dan Heng… would you maybe… help me?”

Dan Heng: “Hm? With what?”

You only look down at your crotch and he immediately understands. You see his face turn red but didn’t necessarily want to refuse. 

Dan Heng: “Okay… but just this once.”

Without hesitating, you take off your pants revealing your d/s, Dan Heng does the same. As you’re leaning over him at the end of his bed, you ask him if he really wants this and he silently nods. 

You: “Then turn around”

He obediently bends over on the bed, clearly still flustered by what is happening, but he’s not complaining. You line your d/s to him and slowly push in. You want to be patient as it is probably his first time. However, when you reach his prostate, you see him squirm. Then out of nowhere, there’s a cloud, and poof, he turned into his dragon form?! At this point you both pause in utter shock, it seems like neither of you expected this, even though you knew about his form.

You: “Ah… should I continue?”

Only silence can be heard from Dan Heng. You take that as a yes and keep moving your hips. You hear him moaning and whimpering from the pleasure which fuels you to move faster. His arms are weak, about to collapse from the overwhelming pleasure. You grab him by the waist firmly to steady him and that's when he finally collapses. He buries his face into the pillows which muffles his cute noises, so you’re given an idea. You lift your hands off his waist and gently grab onto his horns, then pull his head off the pillow. While one of his hands is squeezing your wrist and the other is gripping the sheets, he is now shamelessly vocalizing his cries and whimpers. You can’t help but smile at how helpless and cute he seems right now.

Dan Heng: “Y/n.. please… ah!~”

You: “Hm? What was that?”

Dan Heng: “I’m.. gonna come…”

He says through gasps. This makes you grin even more. The room is filled with lust, his tail is twitching and swishing, and everything feels perfect. You let go one of his horns and grab his long tail that has been moving back and forth uncontrollably. Pulling it, you thrust into Dan Heng deep and fast and watch him shiver while he climaxes and yells your name. You pull out and watch his body go limp as he tries to catch his breath, and returns to his normal form. 

You: “Dan Heng…”

Dan Heng: “Hm..?”

You: “I love you.”

You curl up next to him, placing his head on your chest. 

Dan Heng: “I love you too, y/n…”

BONUS MARCH POV

What the heck is going on in Dan Heng’s room?! I can’t sleep at all because it’s so loud! What could they possibly be doing? It sounds like… hm… oh. OH…

Thank u so much for readingggg! Also, I was halfway through the fanfic watching a leaked Dan Heng dragon scene and this may not be all that accurate on the transforming part but yk who cares because it’s a good headcanon :( Also, I don’t know if it is noticeable yet, but I am deeply inspired by dilucpegger on ao3 (u should check them out their fanfics are amazing!!!) Anyways hope u enjoyed! I MIGHT be doing a dom female one next so 😏 stay tuned or wtv lollll BYEE!

[actorsmask]

Blythe: About OCs

About Amberlynn(@/cat-lover-amberlynn): Oh, a fellow Fool. I remember that big brother had a few flings with her before... Hoo boy, but it was not a relationship or thing I was expecting to last since it was transactional. But! She does have access to amazing dresses, so I'm not complaining. She's rather nice too.

About Warau(@/w4rau-sm1les): ... Him? Uh, he's... Unique, that's for sure. My advice: Don't acquaint yourself with him. He's either gonna kill you for the fun, befriend you and annoy you constantly for fun, or break you down mentally for fun. Yes, it's all for fun. Why haven't I cut him off yet?........ That's a good question, to be honest.

About Simon(@/masked-genie): Oh, Simon! My other big brother! We knew each other before the whole curio incident that turned me into a kid, and even back then he was pretty polite. Who knew he turned out to be Veritas' ex... Pretty scary to see the two fight when you turned into a kid, especially when he kind of walked out on you. But that's all in the past, and we're all on good terms now!

About Elinoir(@/riddler-elinoir): Oh, she's a really fun lady! Her riddles are interesting, and she always interesting things to bring up during conversation. It must be pretty fun being following the Enigmata. As far as I know, you can just walk around and spread misinformation! Though, I think Veritas is getting annoyed of her.

About Zila(@/thecursedooone): I don't like her. At all. I don't like people that have tried to kill me, and I never trust people with a grudge against the Fools as a Fool myself. I'd rather live a long life, thanks!

About Hatsu(@/4a-5tu): It was a complicated relationship at first, but we slowly but surely started to bond with each other. I never knew that we would’ve started dating, much less be this open about it. But I don’t mind it at all, I’m glad that we managed to meet each other… Even if it wasn’t the best at first.

About Rayne(@/rayne-carnation): Another rough start to talk about… She shot Sampo after all. But luckily it was that only, and she was nice enough to be deemed redeemable and it lasted. We’re on relatively good terms now, but not really close. Hatsu seems to enjoy her company though.

About Phyvas(@/phy-v4s): He's an interesting memokeeper, that's for sure. I can't disclose our conversation and interaction because he kind of threatened me, but he seems like a nice enough guy. He didn't try to kill me after all.

About Hyena(@/hyenapriest): Nice fella, nice friend, what else need I say? They were there for me a few times during a low point, and helped cheer me up. Didn't know how to, but they got the spirit.

About Hanako(@/yxxrei-aoiro): I met her in the Snow Plains once, brought her back to Belobog for some time and chatted with her. She's been sheltered in a safe house Wildfire provided, and she seems to be doing fine. She talks to her friend sometimes.

About Shelley(@/spaceoddityhsr): Interesting and fun! A Nameless and an Emanator of Harmony, and supposed aunt of the legendary Trailblazer! Who wouldn't be curious about her? Though, with all her titles and whatnot, she's not that different from a regular person. She's just a lady with a good sense of humor and a lot of good things to talk about!

About Aphelion(@/of-dust-and-scrap): Aphelion! Mechanic from another planet, right? They're a really fun person to be around, and they don't discriminate! I went to the Belobog Museum once with them, and it was pretty fun hearing them talk about the machinery here and on other planets! I also learned a few tidbits of history~

I will update this voiceline list as Blythe meets more OCs!!!

[dearestones]

Destiny Made Manifest (Yandere! America x Global Superpower! Fem! Reader)

Warnings: Yandere behavior, yandere character, physical violence, etc. 

@anonaymouse Request: hiii, can you maybe do Yandere America with a global superpower fem darling? thank you ❤️

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The thing about global superpowers is that there aren’t too many to begin with. Superpowers were basically Nations who exerted an exorbitant amount of power in politics not only in their home countries or nearby regions, but also on an international scale. They were the apex predators in an environment where everyone themselves was a predator, but they were far more crafty and cunning. You didn’t get to the top by being kind.

You got there with bared fangs and under the table deals. 

You got there by making yourself untouchable, seemingly invincible.

You got there by being unashamed to be as bold and as unrelenting as the empires from ages long gone. 

However, just like your forefathers who dominated countless territories and stripped smaller Nations of their people and traditions, global superpowers were at risk of being toppled and taken over by someone who was stronger. Better. More bloodthirsty.

As a global superpower yourself, you were always wary of how you were perceived and what sorts of interactions you would have with smaller, insignificant Nations. If any one of them began to doubt you and your effectiveness as an important member of the national community, you would begin to doubt yourself, which led to other superpowers sensing your weakness. And speaking of other superpowers…

You would not deny that you liked having the attention of your fellow peers on you. It was gratifying to receive the acclaim usually afforded to other Nations for all of the hard work that you put into your reputation. However, a larger reputation meant that you were far more open to attacks and criticisms from your peers. And if things continued to spiral downward from there, you could very well say goodbye to whatever status you had in the first place. After all, death threats could easily become outright attacks on your homeland if you weren’t careful.

However, while you were so focused on your image and the tenuous hold that you had on your perceived power, you did not quite notice that someone else had taken notice of you.

If there was one Nation that you didn’t want to bump heads with, it was the United States of America. Brash and independent, rambunctious and mischievous, this Nation was a man who always got what he wanted. He was the trailblazer in inciting and carrying out revolutions, the Nation others looked up to if they wanted to bask in the opulence and indolence of being such a young, successful upstart. 

Before you had become a superpower, you would have done anything to get on America’s good side. 

Now that you were now his equal, your very existence was a challenge to his own status and hold in society. 

So, it was understandable that while you wanted to stay on America’s good side, you also wanted to avoid America at all costs. As a Nation who was invited to numerous summits and were asked your opinions for a lot of issues, that was understandably a tall order to fill. Yet, you were still a professional and it wouldn’t do to offend the American. 

Meeting after meeting, you would give your reports, ask your questions, answer any queries the council would offer, and whatever else that was needed to streamline the world of politics. Throughout all of this, you kept your head down and did your job. 

What you didn’t expect was that America didn’t want to be as professional as you. 

He didn’t want to know the politically correct nonsense that your boss wanted you to espouse. No, he desired your inner thoughts and feelings that you dared not voice aloud. Picking apart your brain, irritating you, and getting in your way was his method of derailing meetings and inciting the ire of many of your peers. Time and time again, you had to rein in your anger, but sometimes—

“Outside, the both of you. Now.” Germany’s voice boomed throughout the conference hall, which reverberated and caused pangs of guilt to echo through your head and your heart. 

“Chillax, dude! It’s not like—”

Before America could spill a gallon of gasoline onto the roaring flames of Germany’s infamous temper, you dragged the American out of his seat and outside. As you passed, several Nations snickered or looked on in irritation. As much as it disheartened you, you offered apologies or affirming nods in their general direction before throwing yourself (and your burden) out into the hallway.

For a moment, you gathered your breath before facing what you assumed to be your enemy. “All right. What’s your problem with me?”

America blinked before a cheshire cat grin widened his lips and stretched out the baby fat on his cheeks. “Nothing, dude. What makes you think that you and I got beef?”

Irritation heated up your body and before caution could cast a vice-like grip on your mouth, you rounded on the blond and tore into him. “Then why all the theatrics and the constant pestering? You’re a constant nuisance during meetings and you’ve done nothing but give me more work to deal with because we get nothing done! Why?”

It was at that moment that you realized that all this time, not once had America’s gaze wavered you from yours. Normally, you would have attributed this as a way to express his more extroverted personality, but you had the sense that he wanted to show how much power he had over you in this moment. Just three more steps and he would easily tower over you. If he were to lean over, you would have no choice but to lean back or risk being so close that you would breathe in his air. Uncomfortable with this sudden breach in personal space, you tried to step back, but not before one of America’s arms shot out and wrapped around your waist.

His body warmth began to envelope you and his scent crawled into your nostrils and flustered you. It was getting hard to think, but your anger was steadily crowding into all of your senses. Your instincts as a Nation was to claw and bite back, to kick and scream in rage. However, this was the modern day. You couldn’t just act like a brute even if the other party was not acting civilly. 

That didn’t stop you from grabbing hold of his wrist and squeezing. Hard. 

America released a pain huff, but other than that, he was relatively unfazed. 

“You’re strong,” he complimented you. “I like that, but do you know what I would like more?” Here, his other hand grabbed the wrist that was holding him hostage before ripping your hand off and then twisting your arm until you had no choice but to kneel on the ground in pain. As your knees thudded on the rough flooring, America took it upon himself to not only release your arm, but also kick you right in the chest. 

Immobilized with pain, you almost didn’t notice that America was straddling your waist.

“As I was saying… I think I would love it more if you were below me. Weak and powerless.”

As his face neared yours, he whispered one final taunt, “How can I have a problem with you if you were not a problem to begin with?”

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DISCLAIMER: I do not condone yandere behavior outside of fictional settings. Please don’t mistake the actions of fictional characters displayed in works of fiction to be considered harmless in real life.

If you want to donate a Ko-Fi, feel free https://ko-fi.com/devintrinidad.

HETALIA AXIS POWERS/WORLD SERIES MASTERLIST

[shkopstore]

Hey there, bag enthusiasts and fellow fashion rebels! Today, let's embark on a wild journey into the world of weird-shaped bags – those eccentric companions that speak volumes about our personalities. From wacky geometrics to unconventional silhouettes, these bags defy the norm and invite us to embrace the wonderfully weird side of fashion. Join me as we explore why having an offbeat bag is like wearing your personality on your sleeve… or should I say, on your shoulder?

Express Yourself, Unapologetically: In a world of conventional accessories, a weird-shaped bag is your rebellion against the ordinary. It's a canvas for self-expression, a way to broadcast your uniqueness loud and clear. Whether it's a bag shaped like a vintage cassette tape or a quirky animal silhouette, your choice of a weird-shaped bag tells the world that you're not afraid to stand out and embrace your one-of-a-kind personality.

The Conversation Starter: Weird-shaped bags are the ultimate icebreakers. Imagine strolling into a room with a bag that defies expectations – heads turn, and conversations spark. These unconventional accessories become instant conversation starters, inviting curious gazes and the age-old question, "Where did you get that?" Your bag becomes a storyteller, allowing you to share anecdotes about your unique finds and, in turn, unveiling a bit more about your personality.

A Dash of Playfulness: Who said fashion has to be serious all the time? Weird-shaped bags inject a delightful dose of playfulness into your wardrobe. Whether it's a bag shaped like a donut or an oversized pineapple, these accessories add a touch of whimsy to your ensemble. It's like saying, "Sure, I take my style seriously, but I don't take myself too seriously."

Break the Monotony: Tired of the same old, same old? Weird-shaped bags are your ticket to breaking free from fashion monotony. They bring a breath of fresh air into your collection, offering an unexpected twist to your overall look. It's about embracing the joy of unpredictability and injecting a bit of excitement into your daily fashion routine.

Define Your Own Trends: Who needs mainstream trends when you can set your own? Weird-shaped bags are trailblazers, not followers. When you carry one, you're not adhering to the fashion rules – you're rewriting them. Your bag becomes a statement that says, "I make my own trends, thank you very much."

Conclusion: In the realm of fashion, weird-shaped bags are the rebels, the mavericks that break free from the traditional mold. They're not just accessories; they're bold declarations of individuality and personal style. So, the next time you're eyeing that bag shaped like a UFO or a vintage camera, don't hesitate – go ahead, grab it, and let your accessory do the talking. Weird-shaped bags aren't just about fashion; they're about embracing your quirks, celebrating your uniqueness, and making a statement that says, "This is me – delightfully, unapologetically weird." Cheers to the eccentricity in all of us! 🌈✨

-ShkopBlog

[tkmedia]

Tokyo Olympics 2020: Luka Doncic, Rudy Gobert among notable international NBA players at Summer Games

Getty Images The opening ceremony of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics is set for Friday, and soon after it will be time to begin the men's basketball tournament. Always one of the most anticipated events of the summer Olympics, this year's edition will begin on Saturday, July 24 with the opening group stage game between Iran and the Czech Republic. Much of the focus, both here in the United States and around the globe, will be on Team USA. They are going for a fourth straight gold medal but could be in for a real challenge this time around. During their pre-Olympics exhibition schedule, they often looked disjointed and lost to both Nigeria and Australia. They finished those exhibition games with a 2-2 record. Bradley Beal (health and safety) and Kevin Love (calf) are no longer on the team and have been replaced by Keldon Johnson and JaVale McGee. Adding to questions about the roster, Khris Middleton, Jrue Holiday and Devin Booker will be arriving late and exhausted after their Finals appearances. Internal issues aren't the only reason that Team USA could be denied gold for the first time since 2004, however. While basketball has always been a global game, there's more elite talent around the world now than ever before. Just take Nigeria, for example. When they played Team USA in the 2012 Olympics, they lost, 156-73. Earlier this month, when the two teams met in an exhibition game, Nigeria beat Team USA, 90-87. Please check the opt-in box to acknowledge that you would like to subscribe. Thanks for signing up! Keep an eye on your inbox. Sorry! There was an error processing your subscription. As we head into the tournament, here's a look at all of the international NBA players who will be representing their countries in Tokyo. 

Argentina

Bolmaro hasn't played in the NBA yet, but we'll include him because he was the No. 23 overall pick in last year's draft, and could arrive in the league as soon as next season. If you're unfamiliar, he's a 6-foot-6 guard with a lot of flair to his game and has a chance to be one of the breakout stars of this summer. The veteran guard finally made his way to the NBA last season after starring overseas with Real Madrid. One of the most competitive and hard-working players around, Campazzo was inserted into the starting lineup during the playoffs after the Nuggets suffered a number of injuries and helped the team reach the second round.  If you were like most people and gave up on the Thunder last season when they started intentionally trying to lose every night, you might have missed Deck's arrival. He signed in April and ended up playing in 10 games, averaging 8.4 points, four rebounds and 2.4 assists. - Luis Scola -- N/AOK, cheating a bit again here because Scola doesn't play in the NBA anymore, but we have to show him some love. After a decade in the league, the now 41-year old forward is still going strong, and just a few years ago led Argentina to the gold medal at the Pan American Games. 

Australia

Baynes won a championship with the Spurs -- and fellow Australian Patty Mills -- in just his second season in the league, and has since built himself a nice career as a tough, reliable big man. Coming off a disappointing season with the Raptors, he should have extra motivation for this tournament.  The former No. 5 overall pick was once an extremely promising prospect, but it just hasn't worked out for him because of injuries. He only played six games this season due to a calf injury, and since entering the league in 2014, he's played 245 of a possible 574 games. Ingles has emerged in recent seasons as one of the most versatile forwards in the NBA, and a truly elite 3-point shooter. He's shot at least 39.1 percent from downtown for five straight seasons, and his career-high 45.1 percent mark this season was good for fifth in the league. Green was the No. 18 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, but he didn't get much of an opportunity in his rookie season, which isn't all that surprising given former head coach Rick Carlisle's style. Green ended up playing 39 games and averaged 2.6 points and two rebounds.  - Patty Mills -- San Antonio SpursThe longtime Spurs guard has built a reputation as one of the most steady backup guards in the league. But when he puts on his country's jersey, he seems to reach a new level. Already one of the best Australian players ever, he'll try to add to his legacy this summer when he leads the Boomers in search of their first Olympic medal. Thybulle was born in Arizona, and has actually spent most of his life in America, but lived in Australia for many years as a child and has dual citizenship. Despite having played just two seasons in the NBA, he's already made his name as a terrific perimeter defender and was named to the All-Defensive Second Team this season. 

Czech Republic

A former second-round pick, Satoransky has become a pretty solid player with the Wizards and now the Bulls. Currently the only player from the Czech Republic in the NBA, he's led the country to their first Olympic appearance since becoming independent in 1993 and will be a flag bearer at the opening ceremony. 

France

It wasn't long ago that Batum's career seemed to be winding down. Injuries limited him to 22 games in 2019-20, and he eventually came to terms on a buyout with the Hornets. When he signed with the Clippers prior to this season, expectations weren't very high. But he surprised everyone by becoming a key part of their run to the Western Conference finals. After spending the last six-plus seasons with the Magic, Fournier was traded to the Celtics at the deadline. Unfortunately, he got COVID-19 shortly after arriving and never really made much of an impact. As he prepares for free agency, the Olympics will give him a chance to show teams just how much he's worth. The first few conversations in the French locker room between Batum and Gobert might have been a bit awkward after the Clippers came back from a 2-0 deficit against the Jazz in the playoffs. While the big man faces his fair share of criticism, he's one of the best defensive players in the league and a walking double-double.  Since being drafted late in the first round in 2016, Luwawu-Cabarrot has already played for four different teams, and at one point found himself out of the league. He kept working, however, and eventually earned a spot on the Nets. While their playoff run came up short, he proved he belongs in the NBA. Knicks fans had high hopes for the former No. 8 overall pick, but things haven't gone to plan. While he's shown promise as a perimeter defender, his offensive game hasn't been good enough. On the international level, however, he was instrumental in France's bronze medal finish at the 2019 FIBA World Cup, where they beat Team USA in the quarterfinals.

Germany

A former second-round pick, Bonga showed some flashes when he was first traded to the Wizards, but saw his playing time reduced this season as they made a run to the playoffs. He's set to be a restricted free agent this summer, and it will be interesting to see what his NBA future holds. A good showing in Tokyo could help him get a new contract.  - Mo Wagner -- Orlando MagicInterestingly enough, Wagner was traded to the Wizards from the Lakers along with Bonga. Now, they'll team up again for Germany. Like his former and current teammate, Wagner is facing an uncertain future in the league. When the number of teams you've played for (four) is higher than the number of seasons you've played (three) that's usually a bad sign. 

Iran

There are currently no Iranians in the NBA. 

Italy

The veteran forward signed up with the Hawks last summer in free agency, and it turned out to be a brilliant move for both team and player. Gallo got one last big payday, and the Hawks got an important player for what ended up being a surprise run to the Eastern Conference finals. Now, Gallinari will lead Italy in their first Olympic appearance since 2004. Mannion has spent most of his life in the United States, but he was born in Italy when his father was playing there professionally and has represented the country since his U-16 days. As for his NBA career, it hasn't been too noteworthy so far. He made the Warriors as a second-round pick but played limited minutes in just 30 games.  - Nico Melli -- Dallas MavericksAfter a successful career in Europe, Melli finally made his way to the NBA in 2019 when he signed with the Pelicans. Though ostensibly a floor-spacing big, he's struggled to shoot it from deep in his first two seasons and was traded to the Mavericks at the deadline. He's another player who could use a good showing in Tokyo ahead of restricted free agency. 

 Japan

Though still only 23 years old, Hachimura is already one of the best Japanese players of all time. The No. 9 overall pick in 2019, he was the first Japanese player ever drafted in the first round, and is also the only Japanese player to ever play in the playoffs. While he's struggled with injuries so far, he's also shown plenty of promise with the Wizards. Watanabe is probably best known for being the brave defender on Anthony Edwards' unbelievable dunk last season, but he should be known for being a trailblazer. When he made his NBA debut with the Grizzlies back in 2018, he became just the second Japanese player to ever play in the league. 

Nigeria

The only NBA player on this team who actually grew up in Nigeria, Achiuwa moved to the United States as a teenager and quickly became a high-level prospect. Last year, he went No. 20 overall in the draft to the Heat, and earned a spot in the rotation thanks in large part to his hustle and energy off the bench. A second-round pick back in 2018, Metu made his start in the league with the Spurs. However, he never really found a consistent role there and spent time in the G League before eventually getting waived. That wasn't the end of the road for him, though, as he eventually linked up with the Kings and closed the season with a number of encouraging performances. Some players spend their whole career searching for a ring; Nwora got his after just one season. While he only saw limited playing time as a rookie, Nwora and the Bucks took down the Suns in the NBA Finals earlier this week. Now, he's on his way to Tokyo to check off another milestone early in his career by representing his country in the Olympics. The No. 3 overall pick in the 2015 draft, Okafor was one of the early faces of "The Process" in Philadelphia. Unfortunately, his rookie season with the Sixers turned out to be his best, and he's bounced around with the Nets, Pelicans and Pistons in recent years. One of four Timberwolves players heading to Tokyo, Okogie was the No. 20 overall pick in 2018. He's impressed as a perimeter defender through the first three seasons of his career, but saw his playing time decrease this season in large part because of his struggles on the offensive end. Okpala was a second-round pick back in 2019, but since making the Heat roster he hasn't really done much of note. So far he's struggled to find any consistent playing time in a crowded frontcourt, and has bounced up and down from the G League. In 42 games he's scored 99 points. After a storied collegiate career, Oni was the No. 58 pick in the 2019 draft. As a result, he became the first Ivy League played drafted since 1995, and the first player from Yale drafted since 1987. He appeared in a career-high 54 games this season for the Jazz as they earned the best record in the Western Conference. After going undrafted, Vincent went the G League route and worked hard to improve his game. The effort paid off, as he was named G League Most Improved Player in 2020 and earned a call-up to the Heat. This season he broke into the rotation and averaged 4.8 points over 50 games. 

Spain

The younger Gasol joined the Lakers last offseason in search of another ring, but things didn't quite work out for him or the team. He'll have another chance next season, however, as they'll be one of the favorites if they can stay healthy. On the international level, Gasol is back at the Olympics after missing the games in 2016. - Pau Gasol -- N/AThe elder Gasol brother no longer plays in the NBA, but we have to give him a shoutout as he continues to lead the Spanish national team. This will be the fifth straight Olympics for Gasol, as he looks to add a fourth medal to his already extensive resume. The younger Hernangomez was the No. 15 overall pick back in 2016, and spent the first three-plus seasons of his career with the Nuggets before being traded to the Timberwolves. While he's shown flashes here and there, he hasn't really fulfilled the promise that led to him being a first-round pick. The elder Hernangomez made the All-Rookie First Team with the Knicks back in 2017, but so far has not been able to build on that initial success. He's since spent time with the Hornets and the Pelicans, never playing more than 58 games in a season. It will be interesting to see what happens next for him as he hits unrestricted free agency this summer. Once one of the most exciting prospects in Spanish history, Rubio has been playing with the national team since he was a teenager, and made his Olympics debut back in 2008. While he's never become a star, he's had a long and solid career in the NBA with the Timberwolves, Jazz and Suns. 

Slovenia

Cancar was originally drafted by the Nuggets in the second round in 2017 but didn't come over to the NBA until 2019. Since then, he's bounced between the Nuggets and the G League and has been unable to earn any consistent playing time. In two seasons he's appeared in 55 games. The young phenom is not only the best player in Slovenian history but is already one of the best players in the NBA after just three seasons with the Mavericks. At this rate, he's well on his way to being an all-time great. This summer, he'll lead Slovenia to their first Olympics since they became an independent country in 1991.  Read the full article

[hero-tech-institute]

Student Profile: Nami

“Hey, Nami here! Since Luffy said that a few of his crewmates, including me, are playable muses, I guess it was only fitting that my profile was next on the list! Robin’s planned as well, and maybe a few others will also be added later on, once the dean of HTI gets to know more in general about our home series, One Piece! In canon, I’m one of the founding members of the Straw Hat Crew and have always been the persistent voice of reason - even with my still-persistent habit of pickpocketing - and my official role is as the ship’s navigator; the HTI continuity sadly doesn’t really allow for that much exploration beyond the campus grounds, but hey, at least adventure is always around the corner even within the university borders, especially given the sheer amount of franchises and universes represented!

“But I’m getting ahead of myself. Pre-timeskip, I was 18 years old and 5'6-1/2" in height, and while my weight wasn’t ever confirmed in canon (thank goodness!), I’m pretty sure I’m about average in build? Like what, 120 pounds or so? I think that’s about right. Post-timeskip me is 20 years old, with a confirmed height of 5'7-1/2", though again, my weight has never been stated (and I’m not telling, either, not again!) If you wanna RP with me, as with the other Straw Hat Pirates, ask if you wanna talk with pre-timeskip me or post-timeskip. And for RPs set in the HTI universe, assume the latter!

“Like I said, I’m the most sane member of the Straw Hats by quite a margin, sticky fingers aside of course. According to Eiichiro Oda, our home series’ creator, I’m actually the third smartest character in the entire East Blue, which came as a surprise even to me! So you can bet on me being intelligent, compassionate, and responsible, even if it means having to literally smack some sense into the crewmates of mine when they’re acting like idiots (which is to say, unfortunately, almost all of them, almost always). Conversely, since I lived in poverty and had a hard time with pirates in general when I was younger, I’ve also come off as manipulative, greedy, and conceited. It’s not difficult for me to make enemies as well as friends, since I could charm you into dropping your sense of security in a heartbeat and then make off with this! *holds up [Y/N]’s wallet* Told you I’ve got sticky fingers! *laughs and hands [Y/N]’s wallet back* Still, my friends come first no matter what, and I wouldn’t sell them for anything in the world. They’re idiots, sure, but the Straw Hats are my idiots!

“So, what does HTI have to offer for me? Well, according to Oda, if it weren’t for my adventures with Luffy and the rest of his crew, I’d end up working in child care! I... guess it makes sense, seeing as I’m good with kids and have helped plenty of children in need throughout my adventures, though in all honestly I’d have gone for a cartography or exploration position. Still, in the HTI multiverse, I’m a sophomore with a dual major in Geography and in Teaching and Education, and maybe so my map-making interests aren’t out of place, I could try for a future career as a geography teacher or something. Elementary, high school, maybe even college...? Anyhow, aside from the obvious companions of Luffy and Robin (with the rest of the Straw Hats hopefully following suit), a number of other people from other franchises have also found a kindred spirit with me. Fellow Education student Astrid Hofferson has about the same role as me in that she’s a strong, capable, and sane woman in the midst of a lot of crazy people (her boyfriend Hiccup of course being a major exception). We’re both study-mates and sparring buddies, and she’s gotten to know my Clima-Tact almost as much as me - or at least the business end of it, anyway! Katara from the Medical program has the same interest in caring for people that I do, and though our opinions don’t always synchronize, what with her being a tad more blindly idealistic than I find comfortable, when we do agree on stuff, we can do amazing things! Another buddy of mine, Shulk, balances out my slightly less savory habits with a solid drive to protect those in need and a sense of reason rivaling mine, as well as an intelligence I’d be proud of - even if it’s in a different field of study. We’ve made plans together for exploration of the HTI multiverse and also hope to trailblaze other worlds together alongside some of the other world-hoppers on campus. And surprisingly, Keith Kogane has looked to me for advice and comfort before, since my caring nature is something that he feels he should’ve had ever since he was younger, and I’ve come to admire his dedication to upholding the liberty of all people and not just the ones on top; he’s actually asked me before if I could star-chart his universe, though I’m not sure if I’m ready yet to tackle the whole new ballgame of outer space...

“Anyway, that should be it for me, and like I said, if the dean’s comfortable with adding more of the Straw Hats to his muse list, he definitely will (Robin’s next, but she’s the last of us he’ll add for now). Until then, feel free to send me questions and invite me to RPs - as long as you guys and gals keep an eye on your wallets, for obvious reasons!”

[easyhairstylesbest]

Virgo Monthly Horoscope

MONTH OF January

Monthly Snapshot

No more drama! Well, a Virgo can dream…but the New Year will soon find you settling into more of a regimented groove, the kind of rhythm that feels natural to your systematic sign. Your 2020 was colorful and creative, despite the pandemic, and with more than just a twist of the theatrical. It’s been exciting but exhausting!

As Jupiter and Saturn settle into their first full month in Aquarius, your sixth house of organization and wellness (the “Virgo zone”) become your focal point for much of 2021. Break out the spreadsheets, checklists and fitness trackers. The hedonism of 2020 will give way to a healthy revolution in 2021.

But you can still stretch out the “misbehaving” until January 19, while the Sun visits Capricorn and your fifth house of pleasure and play. Then, El Sol will move into Aquarius and your health sector, getting you back on track with your planning and perfecting!

A lot of intense inner work was demanded of you in the second half of 2020. And while you’ve certainly transformed into a poignantly self-aware version of yourself, you’re eager for a new routine. Good news: That’s coming your way starting early this month. Get ready for long-distance connections, possible travel (within safety limits) and horizon-expanding experiences. It’s time to engage with the wider world again, Virgo—and you’re primed for it!

Just block out January 30 to February 20, when your ruling planet, Mercury, has its first retrograde backspin. Be sure to back up your data and devices and to implement all your important plans before this wonky, signal-scrambling cycle. We don’t need to tell YOU that an ounce of preparation is worth a pound of cure, but during Mercury retrograde, it’s worth about a metric ton of it!

Week 1: January 1-10

Float like a butterfly

At last, the intensity lifts! On Wednesday, January 6, activator Mars ends an extended six-month trek through Aries and your intimate, tunnel-visioned eighth house. Since June 27, 2020, you’ve been taking quite a dive into your own emotional depths, exploring some raw feelings—whether you wanted to or not. It’s been incredibly eye-opening, but also quite vulnerable and even exquisitely painful at times. And now, your metamorphosis is complete.

Mars normally stays in one sign for six weeks, so having a quadruple-length visit from the edgy red planet hasn’t been easy (ouch—those childhood wounds have been poked!). But on the upside, you’ve certainly transformed, Virgo. You may have had some crucial experiences around opening your heart, especially since the pandemic exposed everyone’s quirks and imperfections. You may have merged your energy, finances and resources with other people to a deeper extent than normal, a learning experience for sure.

Through it all, Mars made you face your fears and do “shadow work.” If you felt at times like the darkness would never end, get ready. From January 6 to March 3, Mars will blaze through fellow earth sign Taurus and your visionary, expansive ninth house. The world will start to feel wide-open again, and hope and optimism return. At last!

So, Virgo, what adventure in personal growth and expansion would you like to tackle next? With go-getter Mars in this entrepreneurial and wisdom-seeking zone, a startup venture could take flight. You’ll be feeling independent and excited to spread your autonomous wings. Learning, teaching, travel and publishing are favored.

If you can’t get out of city limits due to restrictions, you can certainly blast past the mental barriers you’ve imposed on yourself. Sign up for a course—or teach one. Start getting your message out to a wider audience and connecting with people who are exploring the same big questions as you are. By the time we can all move about the cosmic cabin freely again, you could have some awesome destinations lined up!

Week 2: January 11-17

Who gets to drive?

This week finds you torn between taking a risk and tightening your grip on the reins. Should you release a bit of control in the name of greater possibilities…or is it better to keep a watchful eye on every detail? With restless Mars and Uranus both in Taurus, your growth-driven ninth house is electrified, and a part of you is eager to throw caution to the wind. But your inner micromanager could make a showing, thanks to Jupiter and cautious Saturn in Aquarius and your organized, analytical sixth house.

It all begins on Wednesday, January 13, when Mclass=”body-el-link standard-body-el-link” ars and Saturn get embroiled in a tense square. The effect is like having one foot on the gas, the other on the brake. A project or plan that’s been zooming along could hit a snag, forcing you to pause and recalibrate your budget and timeline. Further investigation may be warranted before you can take that next big step. Yet you’ll feel the urgency to move quickly. Don’t let anxious feelings force any knee-jerk moves—do your best to buy a little time for “research and development.”

Besides, on Thursday, January 14, trailblazer Uranus wakes up from a five-month retrograde in Taurus, bringing exciting growth opportunities out of the blue. With the planet of radical change in this worldly sector, you could connect with a long-distance client or collaborator. An opportunity to teach, publish or broadcast could appear, and you’ll want to make use of every platform.

The ninth house rules travel, but with restrictions on the rise, you’re more likely to book plans out into the future. Don’t let that stop you from exploring dream destinations or concocting plans to see new parts of the world. Just make sure there’s a good cancellation and refund policy before hitting “book now.”

Fun fact: For the next two weeks, there are NO retrograde planets! Take advantage of this rare “all clear” signal and make some decisive moves.

A creative project or a romantic situation is also in the spotlight on Thursday as the bold Sun and potent Pluto make their once-a-year meetup. A brewing attraction could come out into the open, or you may feel the urge to be part of a power couple. Whether it’s an artistic collab or a steamy affair, you’ll feel the dynamic energy between you and the other person.

The Sun-Pluto conjunction could also push you out onto center stage, ready or not. While the Sun is all about visibility, secretive Pluto may make you more reluctant to let it all hang out. Remember: You don’t have to reveal all your deep, dark secrets in order to shine, Virgo. Craft your pitch or choose a few key details of your story, add some compelling headshots and play PR maven for yourself. Your talents deserve to be witnessed!

Ready to break free from limitations? On Sunday, January 17, a once-every-seven-years event occurs as expansive Jupiter and liberated Uranus form a tricky square. Should you dive into a project fully or keep your options open? It will be nearly impossible to decide under these skies. Let yourself explore every option fully before settling on any one direction.

Week 3: January 18-24

Done is NOT better than perfect

Cleanup in aisle six…or should we say house six? This week, your sensible and systematic sixth house will be #lit as the Sun blazes into Aquarius until February 18, joining your ruling planet, Mercury, expansive Jupiter and structured Saturn. Since Virgo is the natural governor of this zodiac zone, you’ll be in your element, ready to plan, perfect and purify.

Get out the rubber gloves and trash bags for a major cleaning and decluttering mission. Break out your favorite spreadsheet app, start a new bullet journal or treat yourself to a gorgeous new day planner—whatever makes your orderly Virgoan nature happiest!

But before you start color-coding data cells and bleaching every countertop, stay nimble, Virgo! Speedy Mars is heating up your expansive ninth house this week, distracting you from your due diligence. But some of those divergences could be mighty tempting…so don’t pack your calendar with so many to-dos that you miss out on adventurous side roads.

On Wednesday, January 20, Mars unites with changemaker Uranus in Taurus and your ninth house of growth, adventure and expansion. A sudden opportunity could appear, but you’ll have to move FAST to seize it. This might involve a startup business, a long-distance connection or a chance to travel (even if it’s after Covid restrictions lift).

This disruptive alliance could also find you feeling claustrophobic and trapped by all your mundane responsibilities. Is it time to make a quick jailbreak? On Saturday, January 23, Mars will square off against freedom-seeking Jupiter. Will you find liberation by escaping your duties—or by setting up an efficient system that allows you to work smarter, not harder?

You’ll be on the horns of this very dilemma all weekend, possibly even obsessing over whether you need to bow out of a big commitment or build a better structure—one that allows you to burgeon without burnout.

Casting a strong vote for creating a strong, stabilizing system is Saturday’s annual Sun-Saturn conjunction, a once-a-year moment that can be sobering yet clarifying. As boundary hound Saturn meets the limitless Sun, you’re forced to recognize that you’re only human and to see the hardships or downside of a situation without even a peek through your rose-colored glasses.

Warning: Everything can seem harder and more defeating than it really is at a Sun-Saturn connection. But as a Virgo, you like to look with an unflinching eye at what any buildout—whether it’s committing to a business venture or repainting your kitchen—will really take to be done right. So spend the weekend mapping your vision to a master plan, and you can move into the last week of January feeling confident and clear about your goals!

Week 4: January 25-31

Ducks in a row—with miracles in tow

Health and organization are the focal points of this week as a posse of planets piles into Aquarius and your service-oriented, wellness-focused sixth house. The Sun, Mercury, Jupiter and Saturn are all in this idealistic sign, bringing out your inner project manager. Since Virgo is the natural ruler of the sixth house, you’ll be “in the zone,” ready to belatedly tackle the New Year’s resolutions you haven’t yet gotten around to implementing.

On Tuesday, January 26, the Sun in Aquarius will square off against disruptor Uranus in Taurus, echoing the tension of the January 17 Jupiter-Uranus square. Once again, you’ll be torn between the urge to take a sudden leap of faith and to throw caution to the wind…with a strong tug from your inner micromanager.

You can’t truly fly if you’re always riding the brake—but you also don’t want to throw away everything you’ve built. Try to find that elusive middle ground, knowing that your nervous system is likely to get a bit frayed by the intensity of this Sun-Uranus face-off. Watch for fragile egos and erratic behavior, and stay centered so you don’t get sucked in.

A peak moment arrives on Thursday, January 28—one that could put you in touch with your true inner radiance. The first full moon of the year lands in Leo and your twelfth house of closure, healing and divine epiphanies. Both full moons and the twelfth house specialize in transitions. If you didn’t declare “cosmic closure” on the hardships of 2020 a month ago, this is your moment to do so. An artistic or spiritual project you’ve been working on since the August 18 Leo new moon could come together now.

There’s even more magic in the air today as the Sun conjuncts expansive Jupiter in their once-a-year merging, known as the Day of Miracles. This is considered by astrologers to be one of the luckiest days of the year. With your hardworking sixth house in play, you could have a mental or spiritual breakthrough around finding ways to work smarter and more effectively.

Look for inspiration around delegating important tasks to trusted helpers, acknowledging where you need help and support (and then actually asking for it) and breakthroughs in healthy self-care. Been dreaming of the perfect right-hand helper/cheerleader? Today may be the day they walk through the door (or pop up in your inbox).

Nail down your introductions and get the ball rolling, but don’t sign on the dotted line just yet. That’s because on Sclass=”body-el-link standard-body-el-link” aturday, January 30, communication planet Mercury (your galactic guardian) will go retrograde in sometimes erratic Aquarius and your sixth house of getting things done until February 20. You’ve had your inspired, lucky moment—and now you may suddenly feel a bit befuddled and disorganized. (Where could that file have possibly gone?)

Safeguard your health and watch out for “accidental” breaks in social distancing rules—because it will be easier to catch whatever germs that are in the air, especially since your stress levels may spike. Use this time to get organized, deep-clean your house and tweak your 2021 plans. Keep yourself , and this tricky transit will pass in no time.

LOVE & ROMANCE:

Ready for a break from the intensity, Virgo? On January 6, a transformational six-month cycle comes to an end. Lusty Mars has been in Aries and your intimate eighth house since June 27, 2020, staying four times longer than usual. You’ve had a front-row seat to your rawest emotions, and at times, there was no avoiding those vulnerable feelings.

On the upside, the eighth house rules sex and sensuality, and with intensifier Mars here, some Virgos made the most of this cycle behind closed doors. But with the pandemic thwarting your mojo and meet-cute opportunities, you may also have experienced some of the red planet’s frustrating tendencies, especially while Mars was retrograde from September 9 to November 13, 2020.

On January 6, Mars finally moves on to a new sign and won’t return to this part of your chart for a couple years. Until March 3, Mars will blaze through fellow earth sign Taurus and your expansive ninth house. While Taurus moves at a more cautious pace than Aries, this is still a time for growth and movement. New opportunities could come out of left field, and for some Virgos, a long-distance attraction could heat up.

The other love planet, Venus, has been a bit moody too—at least since December 15, when she started a visit to Sagittarius and your emo fourth house. But by January 8, that will become a dim memory as Venus sashays into Capricorn and your passionate, playful fifth house until February 1. The rest of the month will turn up the heat, and while we know pandemic precautions are a must, you can certainly flirt like a champion, even if it’s from afar. Get the Valentine’s Day celebrations started a month early.

A red-hot day arrives on January 9, when Venus and Mars form their annual harmonious trine (120-degree angle) in these expansive and open-hearted zones. You can finally feel adventurous and playful enough to express your desires without being attached to any outcomes. In other words, flirt for flirting’s sake…and let Cupid’s chips fall where they may.

Key Dates:

January 9: Venus-Mars trine

Bring on the lasting love! As affectionate Venus and passionate Mars harmonize in stable earth signs, you could have true romance with all the trimmings—sensuality and stability. Skip the “come here now go away” players and their mixed messages. A partner who makes you feel secure is suddenly the most attractive catch in town. Coupled? Mark a long-term relationship with a thoughtful gift to let your mate know how much you cherish them.

MONEY & CAREER:

  Dear Reader: To bring you cutting-edge financial and career astrology, we’ve replaced our monthly Money & Career horoscope with class=”body-el-link standard-body-el-link” an expanded new offering. And we’re bursting with excitement to announce it!

We invite you to join the waitlist for our Astropreneurs community, where we’ll be sharing tools, trainings and cosmic career coaching in 2021 and beyond! Whether you’re an entrepreneur, a dreamer with a side hustle or just looking for deeper satisfaction from your work, we’ll guide you to your path and purpose by the stars.

2021 Vision Board Experience: January 28 with The AstroTwins Ready to designclass=”body-el-link standard-body-el-link” a path that truly fulfills you in 2021? Join us for a star-powered live online event to create success, leadership and impact on January 28, 2021. Tickets available at https://astrostyle.com/visionboard21

Love Days: 11, 16

Money Days: 24, 6

Luck Days: 21, 3

Off Days: 19, 28, 13

See All Signs

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Virgo Monthly Horoscope

[coopdigitalnewsletter]

11 Feb 2020: Why political software sucks. Writing for death. Remote working.

Hello, this is the Co-op Digital newsletter - it looks at what's happening in the internet/digital world and how it's relevant to the Co-op, to retail businesses, and most importantly to people, communities and society. Thank you for reading - send ideas and feedback to @rod on Twitter. Please tell a friend about it!

OK, this one’s a bit of a linkorama.

Sustainability, data and AI in retail

Pandora, Zalando, IKEA, Amazon ramp up sustainability focus - how long until retail businesses must have a clear, strong sustainability position if they’re to avoid losing customers and revenue? - not long, believes this newsletter.

UK consumers warming to AI, with 54% happy to resolve queries with bots.

IKEA are promising new data controls for customers - that link might be behind a paywall so it’s explained here.

“In the future, all but the most convenience-based retailers will begin to use their stores as media to acquire customers and their media platforms as stores to transact sales. Put another way, media is now a cost of sales and rent is now a cost of customer acquisition.” - a retail opinion.

“Amazon Choice” labels look like an editorially curated quality filter but are just a popularity algorithm.

The impact of coronavirus on China-centered supply chains - now that China is responsible for around 15% of global manufacturing, the concerns for supply chains are real.

Why political software sucks

In the US, the Democratic party’s Iowa caucus votes were delayed by flaky software (and here’s how caucuses work). Some interesting commentaries on the underlying causes of unreliable software:

“The space is dominated by decision makers who are stuck on a very short term decision making cycle. Structurally there is no space for long term investment, despite everybody stating that this would be good [...] In normal tech circles we’d have a bunch of free software libraries and tools we build on together, but the campaign tech space doesn’t have this because decision makers fear our tools will be taken and used by the other side.”

“no one should have been solving the problem of making the caucuses more innovative. transparency & speed was what it sounds like the actual needs were, & those are often best served by rock-solid last-gen technology, optimized & tested to heck.”

“well-intentioned but underfunded and lacked comprehensive organizational buy-in [...] the product testing cycle and margins are nonexistent [...] a hard market where everyone hates you and no one has money to pay you”

Software is always harder than it first looks, even to fellow developers commenting online! The comments above recall Conway’s law (“organizations which design systems ... are constrained to produce designs which are copies of the communication structures of these organizations”). But here you might extend that slightly: the software you get reflects the organisations’ communications structures, but also the values and the incentives that commissioned it.

Writing for death, care promises

Designing content for people dealing with a death: “There’s no room for doubt or misunderstanding. That means the words we use must get straight to the point. By trying to be kind, we often use more words when we should be helping people to understand what they need to do as quickly and simply as possible.”

Scotland’s independent care review has published its comprehensive report on the care system, encompassing “legislation, practices, culture and ethos” - it’s ambitious and essential reading for those working in digital gov, but also those who care about humans.

Remote working

18F’s best practices for making distributed teams work (18F is a digital services agency within the US government). Perhaps there are some lessons here for organisations with many locations: tear down any head office vs shopfront barriers by going “remote first”.

There are now startups explicitly working on making remote staff work easier.

Help agriculture

Digitalfolk, could you help next-gen agriculture get more sustainable and more human-centred? Add your name here: Agriculture is a game-changer! Community of Practice.

Digital in organisations

Six digital strategy plays to drive value in established corporations - some of these plays are common sense (like cutting cost/time/process/error), but this is an interesting read, and it’s good to see some failures discussed as well.

How to scale agile product development and delivery - spoiler: not by imposing some framework.

Co-op Digital news and events

“‘We don’t want to just give people a refund when there’s a problem; we want to give them a genuine response and a personalised experience that they will remember.’ [says Claire Carroll, Head of Sales and Service at the Co-op.] The Co-op’s trailblazing approach has been a great success: customers actually buy more in its stores after making a complaint. ‘The basket spend is 6% higher’”

That’s from a shiny Salesforce customer success story - Co-op customer service advisors run 3m requests yearly through it. If customers are sending more after a complaint, that means Co-op is handling complaints - fixing the problem - in such a way that’s builds increased loyalty and confidence in the business. The industry term for this is “service recovery” (and that link is an interesting thread of how to win at ecommerce), but you might equally call it putting customers first. As exciting as the Salesforce bit is, this story is really about a Rescue Lasagne.

Public events, most of them at Federation House:

Carbon Co-op’s Beginner’s Guide To Retrofit (a monthly event about retrofitting your house for energy efficiency) - Wed 12 Feb 6pm at URBED, 10 Little Lever Street, Manchester, M1 1HR.

Manchester Law Tech Meetup - Thu 13 Feb 6.00pm.

Open Data Night - February 2020 - Tue 18 Feb 6.30pm.

Conscious Entrepreneurs - Wed 19 Feb 12pm.

Open Data Manchester: Black software (explores racial injustice & the professionals & hobbyists of color who helped build the internet) - Wed 18 Mar 6.30pm.

Returners/Re-trainers (about successful initiatives to create better routes for women returners/re-trainers) - Thu 26 Mar 11.30am

Internal events:

Digital all-hands - Wed 12 Feb 1pm at Fed Defiant.

Co-operate show & tell - Wed 12 Feb 3pm at Fed 6 co-operate space.

Data management show & tell - Thu 13 Feb 2.30pm at Angel Sq 13th floor breakout.

Membership show & tell - Fri 14 Feb 3pm at Fed 6 kitchen.

Food ecommerce show & tell - Mon 17 Feb 10.15am at Fed 5.

Delivery community of practice - Mon 17 Feb 1.30pm.

Health team show & tell - Tue 18 Feb 2.30pm at Fed 5 kitchen.

More events at Federation House - and you can contact the events team at  federation.events@coopdigital.co.uk. And TechNW has a useful calendar of events happening in the North West.

Thank you for reading

Thank you, beloved readers and contributors. Please continue to send ideas, questions, corrections, improvements, etc to the newsletterbot’s typing entity @rod on Twitter. If you have enjoyed reading, please tell a friend!

If you want to find out more about Co-op Digital, follow us @CoopDigital on Twitter and read the Co-op Digital Blog. Previous newsletters.

[buttonholedlife]

Get To Know Chicago Based House and Techno Artist Ōsé | EDM Identity

Ōsé has helped make an impression on the Chicago home as well as techno scene along with his excellent manufacturings and also opening sets before Jauz and also Richie Hawtin.Attendees at Jauz's North Coastline afterparty or even Richie Hawtin's current excursion quit in Chicago might possess left behind inquiring themselves a question: who is Ōsé? The latest grad of Los Angeles-based development school Icon Collective has gone back to Chicago and made a label for themself in the local area scene along with various position slots at Protocol Music Hall.With a creation style that draws inspiration from numerous designs of property and also techno, Ōsé has struck the ground running

in 2019 and also is actually a musician to watch on in 2020 and also beyond. He is actually launched many EPs including 5150, Provider, and also Electrical Power Move, all packed with his darker and danceable manufacturing style.With lots of original popular music out now and a lot more on the technique, Ōsé has taped an exclusive all-original mix for our team all to indulge our ears on. Take a listen closely to his visitor mix below as well as read on to read more about this inspiring promising artist.Stream EDMID Guest Mix 188|| Ōsé on SoundCloud: Greetings Ōsé, many thanks for chatting along with our company today. Allow's boot things off along with a consider you as an artist, when did you first decide to dive right into the planet of dancing songs and

w hat's the tale behind your name?My first visibility to dance music was when dubstep was actually 1st making its own method into the

States.It was actually thus fresh and also unlike everything I had actually listened to previously. I had constantly been actually making popular music and also audio yet I couldn't craft how the hell they were making this weird songs, as well as Iknew I needed to think it out so I believed I 'd open up

up GarageBand as well as be on my means ... child, was I incorrect. After a little even more research I very soon recognized that I was battling a really rigorous uphill war trying to use GarageBand as well as it certainly received my ended up item. I very soon bought Maschine(components & software) along with hopes that it will boost my creation efforts and although it carried out, I was certainly not satisfied with the workflow. With some additional excavating,

I discovered that a bunch of these musicians whose songs I was so surprised by were utilizing Ableton Live so I chose to get a copy. Right now I have all the resources that they were actually making use of ... I only required to place in my 10,000 hours(which I am still focusing on). When it comes to my name: In particular folklores, Ōsé is actually a fallen angel and also some of the presidents of hell. He shows guy the

benevolent scientific researches and provides straightforward response to inquiries of the divine in addition to possessing the power to drive a man crazy. It is actually all cooperative with my advertising that hinges on various kinds of thoughts control.After developing up in the areas of Chicago, you just recently attended Image Collective

Songs Creation College. Tell our team a little bit of bit about your course and just how you found yourself going to there.I was undergoing a definitely rough spot in my life as well as I knew that I must bring in an adjustment or I definitely would not manage to take it much longer. I was actually so nourished up with nearby pubs and the exact same saddening skins every weekend that it was actually driving me outrageous. I had started creating the previous year and

discovered some solace in my personal computer screen however struck a large wall surface in my manufacturing skills and also came across Symbol Collective's web site at an ideal time. After a little research study, I

obtained the hell of it as well as to my unpleasant surprise, I was actually accepted with lower than a week to leave all my things and head to Los Angeles. Being actually the worrier I am I was doubtful if I would certainly have the ability to make it function yet I knew that if I kept in Illinois I will be actually embeded the same gloomy comments loophole without any lighting in the end of the passage. I merely needed something to transform, yet nothing ever before carries out unless you are actually the stimulant, so I stuffed my bags and also rented a U-Haul to move to Los Angeles and start at Icon.What are actually a few of the absolute most beneficial items of understanding that you got during the course of your opportunity at Icon?The very most important item of know-how I acquired from my opportunity at Icon

was actually undoubtedly using the Art of Circulation course. It showed me how to develop with no strands attached as well as simply be myself because that is regularly the very best version of you, as well as a model that no person can easily emulate.You have actually burst onto the Chicago setting in the final month along with opening up slots for Jauz as well as Richie Hawtin at Pact Popular Music Hall. Explain what looked at your scalp thŌsé evenings.

What was that encounter like?I have actually been creating and also executing popular music for pretty much my whole lifestyle yet my shows would certainly

commonly be to an unfilled room or even if I was fortunate, a loaded cellar of one hundred people maximum. To participate in to clŌsé to 1,000 individuals as well as feature all my effort was actually an outright dream, as well as it was a lot more special to share the phase along with a fellow Image grad. I don't bear in mind a lot of being on phaseas I sort of passed out from the adrenaline, yet I do don't forget instantly stepping off the phase and bursting into tears as I provided my dad a huge caress who has actually consistently been my some of my most significant enthusiasts and also advocates together with my mom and also sis.

As for the Richie Hawtin program, which was even harder for me to procedure. He is just one of the major advocates that has enabled electronic songs to be extra largely allowed as well as is a trailblazer for the category of techno and also electronic music generally. Atop the only thing that, he is among my most significant impacts. To share show business along with someone of his quality was only an aspiration happened, and also it was actually the best option to feature the darker edge of Ōsé.What sticks out regarding your music is that it is actually permitted you to open for 2 astonishingly various acts. What sort of atmosphere perform you select in your sets and perform you move toward prep work for them differently?Although a DJ is actually suppŌséd to be actually a crowd-pleaser, I think the absolute most

vital part of DJing is actually participating in popular music that resonates with you on every degree feasible. If you are actually having fun and playing the music you enjoy, I really feel that it is actually fairly challenging for the group to possess a bad opportunity unless they involved the gig along with the inappropriate mindset from the beginning. From a spectator point ofview, the best momentous opportunities at a series are actually always unreleased songs that you have actually never heard, and might certainly never hear again, so I attempt to participate in as a lot of my unreleased songs

as achievable to offer the concert-goers the same feeling of ecstasy that I really feel when I hear a song that I won't have the capacity to listen to once again, or at least for yet another married couple months till released. You have actually possessed no scarcity of brand new songs releases in 2019, with several self-released EPs. Just how have you been actually capable to crank out a great deal in therefore little bit of opportunity and also what's your creation flow like?The finest way to possess a higher outcome, in my viewpoint, is actually to certainly never let your own self cease making. I believe that at times our experts might think that our creativity is actually sieved or even broken when it may really merely be our vanity not being actually felt free to along with what our experts are developing. That being actually claimed, I assume

it is actually always essential to keep in mind why you're developing: certainly not due to the fact that you intend to create a"banger"however due to the passion of developing from the beginning. Thus when your monitor isn't simply what you desire it to become, you can remain based as well as always keep improving. It is actually regularly vital to know your restrictions and when you need to step out of your workshop for a breather, however equally as essential to understand when you need to resolve the problems that you are actuallyexperiencing. When you resolve thŌsé complications you become a much better developer as well as even a far better individual with every hurdle you jump over.You Full Command EP is arranged to find out on November 1.

What can audiences expect on Total Management!.?. !? You can easily count on a little bit of a darker side on this EP. The topic is a little grimmer than my normal tunes as I desire to drop some lighting on a number of the concerns that I experience our company are actually all being actually dealt with at this moment while still being a little bit tongue in cheek. Music has regularly been a technique for me to presume additional as well as grow my mindset and also I wish to attempt as well as aid other individuals discover their ideas and consciousness along with my music.Looking in the direction of the future, what are some traits you wish to obtain both temporary and also long-lasting? I am actually

bewitched due to the wealthy background of electronic popular music as well as rave society so apart from participating in considerable amounts of jobs as well as discharging as much popular music as I can, I am operating on receiving associated with putting on shows for Chicago that showcase the abrasive Do It Yourself attribute of where raving absolutely stemmed from. Nothing at all fancy; Just a grimy stockroom, excellent individuals, and loud songs.

Most definitely keep an eye out for 5150 top quality events around Chicago in 2020 plus whole lots of Ōsé launches on my label 5150. As for the long-lasting,

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This content was originally published here.

[agritecture]

Four Bold Predictions by Andrew Blume

I’m feeling a bit exposed in penning these predictions. Admittedly, the safer bet probably would be to gamble your money against them. While a voice in my head tells me not to publish what I have to say; a much louder voice in my head has totally drank the kool-aid of urban agriculture.    

That louder voice is full of optimistic energy, the sort of stuff that is foundational for genuine change. So perhaps my title is someone misleading; I don’t necessarily prognosticate these four points will happen in the future – but rather – I dream of a world where this is our future:

1. By the year 2037, it will be mandated that all students take cultivation, nutrition, & wellness courses during their primary or secondary school education.

I think it’s safe to say that every parent in the world wants their child to be healthy. I have a hard time imagining a parent would ever say, “No thanks, I don’t want my child learning about how to become a healthy human being.” What I can easily see though, is how the devil is in the details.

Who will pay for these school programs and what will they really look like? Those are valid questions indeed, and I will circle back to my opinions on the larger topic of public governance during my 4th and final prediction; for now however, I want to stay on my point that the mindset and political will for this education reform will develop.

Stephen Ritz, a personal friend and the undisputed champion of cultivation in education, is already pioneering this path. If you ever have heard him speak, you know his momentum is something like a freight train of green values. Yet Stephen’s Green Bronx Machine isn’t the only community pillar fighting this good fight: there is also Teens for Food Justice, Community Healing Gardens, the Kitchen Community, and countless other organizations. Behind these community organizers’ continued action and advocacy, the momentum for teaching our growing children to become children who grow will continue.

Click here for info on Stephen Ritz’s book, The Power of a Plant

As our friends on the frontlines of education plant more seeds, the movement towards healthier children will mature. Connective tissue will be formed through new data and evidence. Studies and analytical comparisons of classrooms where students grow will prove that these children are learning about more than just plants. Waistlines will shrink, behavioral issues will decrease, and perhaps most importantly for fueling this change from an administrative point of view, test scores will increase.

Since traction begets traction, this data will be necessary to form the political will for reformation of our education system to incorporate cultivation and wellness into the curriculum. However, alongside the political will, a mature industry will need to be in place to ballast the change.

So to overcome the potential speedbumps of this evolution between now and 2037, the urban agriculture industry will need to develop to support a political push. Which brings me to my second prediction…

2.     Urban Agriculture Will be Totally Mainstream Within Ten Years

For the time being, gardening is hard work. Understandably, a vast majority of people don’t have the time, resources, or discipline to get outside and cultivate their own sustenance. Yet seemingly every day, a new kickstarter or major company announces a step towards trailblazing a new path forward in our sprouting sector.

Those new products, companies, and implementers will push the boundaries of how and where people garden. Farmbot, Agrilution, and the food computer are all great examples of ways to easily garden that would not have been feasible even five years ago. These revolutionary cultivation solutions will popularize “Agritecture”, the merging of agriculture and architecture. As people start to see Agritecture design amenities pop up in trendy real estate developments, a snowball of more people and investment will be attracted to the field. As that snowball grows, innovation via augmented investment is inevitable.

The Farmbot is capable of taking the work out of gardening.

Steve Jobs was the prophet of end-to-end user experience. With significant advances in materials science, machine learning, nanotechnology, and biotech on the horizon, our sector can and will converge with the forefront of innovation. At that point, end to end user experience will integrate into maintaining domestic and commercial Agritecture installations.

At the risk of sounding like a naïve millennial, I imagine a connected future where cultivation can be as easy as pushing the popcorn button on your microwave. Once we have that level of end-to-end UX integrated into how we cultivate, once it really is that easy, Agritecture concepts will be in every home, restaurant, office, and structure with wifi. So to circle back to my first prediction, why wouldn’t it be in our schools too?

3.     Kimbal Musk’s achievements will be noted in history as on par with his brother Elon’s

I know what you’re thinking. Talking about the next Elon Musk is so cliché. It’s like talking about the next Apple… But hear me out:

Elon is currently undisputed champion of innovation for this generation. He is the man behind Paypal, Tesla, Solar City and SpaceX - which means he has had a hand in disrupting currency, mobility, energy, and even the final frontier of outer space - four seriously complex sectors for one entrepreneur to redefine.

On top of all of those reasons to be skeptical that Kimbal will genuinely rival Elon, I have never met Kimbal, nor do I pretend to know much about his venture Square Roots. While my employer Blue Planet Consulting did complete a successful consulting engagement with Square Roots, I was not directly involved in that project in any way.

So why am I audaciously prognosticating that Kimbal Musk – a man I’ve never met – will one day rival his brother Elon; a proven once-in-a-generation entrepreneur? I have a simple answer to that: My religion is food.

I found this religion because, like you and every other human being on earth, I eat everyday. During this daily experience of consumption, I attempt to be mindful that I am merely an organic body ingesting other organic matter. This organic matter that I am absorbing and metabolizing will fuel not just my corporeal body, but my spiritual mind as well.

Yet eating isn’t the only ritual in the ‘religion of food.’ Procurement of ingredients, dining selection, and cooking are also critical cornerstones. In these processes, we create authentic bonds with ourselves and our loved ones.

Yet many, lack the ability or discipline to tap into the potential of the emotional capital in our kitchens. The constant battle to avoid choosing to ingest food that is easy, inexpensive or mouthwatering seems difficult or impossible for many; while for others, the choice for healthy food simply doesn’t exist. For anyone who falls in the above two categories, from what I can tell, Kimbal is on a path attempting to help.

In this way, I’m placing my bet on Kimbal more as a wager on the sector of food, rather than as a gamble on an individual. I am confident that an improved food system will generate massively positive outcomes, and since I’ve seen Kimbal place a stake along the same line, I trust he will go far.

So Kimbal, if you’re reading, I’d like to work alongside you in improving the food industry! I feel that your cowboy swagger is exactly the type of leadership our movement needs if we are to elbow a new mentality into the callous food system we’ve inherited. Let’s talk sometime about the path forward for how you can catch and even surpass your brother’s impact imparted on our species?

4.     There Will Be a Turning Point in History Known as The Organic Revolution

Americans today are living Donald Trump’s America. It’s a bizarre world where all of our public resources seemingly channel away from logic or compassion. Yet Donald Trump and those infected by the 1980’s consumerism-at-all-costs mentality will only be in the driver’s seat of America for a limited time. In time, there will be a changing of the guard, and millennials, the largest consumer class in history, will be guiding the path forward.

Just as I have a significant amount of faith in food as my religion, I have conviction that our millennial cohort is more caring and capable than any before us. We were raised as the most linked generation on earth. Our connections and communities in the virtual world endow us with fresh power to realize whatever we can imagine.

Ideas can and will spread through our cohort at the speed of light. Thought leaders shaping those ideas will transcend beyond the confines and conventions that bounded those before us. New ways to crowdsource helping our fellow citizens will emerge and our future leaders will use those channels to more effectively rally resources. The empathy and means to help one another will be more available than ever before!

Our current 240-year-old system of governance was founded during an epoch of pen and paper, horse and carriage, slavery and mercantilism. Since inception, it has morphed time and time again. The current incarnation is perhaps among the ugliest, however as a bright green eyed millennial, I still believe the next manifestation of structure can leap us towards utopia.

Somewhere in between the polar opposites of what we have now and the singularity-minded future we have the potential to develop, we will require a new lexicon to describe our movement. What better way to define that approach than as The Organic Revolution?

By Andrew Blume 4/19/17

Follow Andrew at @ABlumeTweets

Motivated to join The Organic Revolution? Follow @Agritecture for articles, events, and more.

** Author’s note: During certain points in this post, I referred to “agritecture concepts or the agritecture Movement.” I use the term agritecture not necessarily in reference to the Agritecture Platform that I co-manage with Henry Gordon-Smith, but rather because I feel the term agritecture is simply the most practical term. I often find terms like vertical farming, urban agriculture, building integrated agriculture, and other related lexicon to be overly narrow or clunky. **

[uahq2]

THE PRICE PAID IN BLOOD. HWANG TAEKI,

                                           WE ENTREAT THEE. RISE. RISE. RISE!

being in the lone presence of the high priest is an extraordinary honor and right now, you are in the thick of it. the ever so watchful eyes of ho sangchul rarely glance over to you, he does not even need a proper look to read you like an open book. busy hands with sharp fingernails skim through your file, placing an ominous scribble here and there before he finally raises his voice.

“thank you for meeting me, brother. do tell me something about yourself.”

taeki was tight lipped for a moment. the tension in the air was palpable, the priest scrutinizing him for one single bad move. it was like a game of chess, one taeki was rigged to lose. “well,” he begun, careful. “i’ve been studying hard at the academy ever since i was allowed in. despite my dark baptism, it was a little difficult for me to get in and i intend to make my time here worth it. i have excelled in basically all of my classes, made a couple close friends, and i’d hope i’ve shown incredible growth.” despite the positivity to all the news taeki disclosed, trepidation and disappointment was clear in his voice. there were other things he wanted to say, about how while i respect the academy and the authority, sir, there are many people done wrong through mere blood. or how spirituality, and your relationship to the dark lord shouldn’t be so rule based so long as your relationship is a strong one — words taeki wouldn’t dare utter to the priest under such suffocating watch. “obviously, i’ve participated in a few rituals, after…the missteps of my family, i’ve needed to repair my relationship with the dark lord as best i can. my dark baptism, clearly, though i have also attended the feast of autumn pretty regularly, if not with my family than by those i’ve bonded with at the academy. i’ve attended lupercalia a couple times as well, but admittedly not as many since after the age of eighteen i’ve been…quite busy.”

“i see. now, your file contains the bare necessities about your family. i would like to hear more.”

taeki swallowed. he knew this was coming, he knew it. still, when the priest mentioned his family, he couldn’t help but feel the thud thud thud of his heart against his chest. he kept his poise, though, a skill learned through years of acting, years of careful steps, years of being unable to show any of his true emotions. “it’s…complicated, as i am sure you are aware.” taeki said, looking the priest in the eyes with as much confidence as he could muster. “they are my family, they have raised me and cared for me as best they can. however, you are just as knowledgeable as i am about how gravely they have misstepped in the past.” a pause. “i’ve mostly left them behind. it’s no use keeping ties that aren’t useful to me now, least of all when they prevent my devotion to our lord.” taeki says nothing about how he still sometimes communicates with them in coded letters, carried by his familiar to them. he was still young, only knowing what he was told when it all happened. now, he is young, but the learned sort of young. the visionary sort of young. the trailblazer, tradition-breaking sort of young. but there was only so much tradition one could break when any misstep could result in your life being flipped around. “they were angry, you know. when i applied for the academy. they saw it as a betrayal to them.” his eyes finally fell, telling the truth. even now, despite his never-ending efforts, his relationship with them was strained at best. “did everything in their power to stop me from attending, but look at me now!” a weak laugh fell from taeki’s lips.

“how very interesting. here it says you specialize in necromancy, séances and mediumship. what evoked your interest?”

it was always a dancey sort of topic, the fact that taeki maintained his family line’s long lived tradition despite it being the direct cause of his parent’s excommunication. “it’s something i’ve seen since i was young.” taeki said, trying to be non committal. “it’s also hard to not do something you’re actually pretty good with. and, i like the feeling. it’s nice to feel helpful and useful sometimes.” the last bit was kind of quiet. it was risky — his family was shunned for their interactions with mortals, the fact that they held seances and similar rituals for mortalfolk. “well, that and the fact that being able to summon a spirit with little to no help other than magickal support is pretty cool. though i’d love to learn everything i can about other magicks, i felt…during my years at the academy, it’s good to focus. and i’d love to take this whole communication ritual thing as far as i can, see how far i can take my bloodline and my power.”

“i am sure you will excel at it with the help of the academy. one last question, perhaps more in my own humble interest. say, the devil himself would honor you with a task only you could fulfill. how far would you go to satisfy his excellency?”

“i’d do anything in my power.” for once, taeki’s answer was instant. nothing methodical, nothing deliberate. at least, at first. realizing that the priest probably wanted something more specific, he tilted his head. he’s sure many have said the same things, murder, arson, so on and so forth. “it would be difficult for me, but i think i could betray even my dearest loved ones.” he pictured his fellow witches and warlocks in archangels absinthe, lips tightening at just the thought of gravely injuring any of them. he’s fought hard not only to clear his own name, but also build his legacy, though, and mortal ties, he knew, were in the end quite fragile. “see, when you spend your life being the black sheep, you learn how to appreciate those who care not for your history, who care not for your blood, who care only for you and your own story. those people become your new family, the closest thing to your soul. and the fact that i’d give all of that up for his majesty…well, i’d appreciate it, at least.” taeki leaves the i don’t think i’d kill them, though unsaid

“that is all i needed to hear. thank you.”

[toomanysinks]

Human rights activist Amira Yahyaoui is battling the US college financial aid system

Tunisian human rights activist Amira Yahyaoui couldn’t go to college.

Not because she couldn’t afford it; where she comes from, college is virtually free. She lost the opportunity to pursue higher education, to finish high school, even, when she was exiled from Tunisia at age 17, under the repressive regime of the country’s former President, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

As part of the Tunisian human rights diaspora, she was inspired to build Al Bawsala, a globally renowned NGO that fights for government accountability, transparency and access to information. Now, Yahyaoui has traveled thousands of miles to San Francisco to fight another battle near and dear to her heart: civic education, or in Silicon Valley terms, edtech.

“I always knew that I wouldn’t allow myself to do anything else before solving the problem in my country and today, Tunisia is the only Arab democracy in the world,” Yahyaoui told TechCrunch.

With that in mind, her focus has shifted to Mos, a tech-enabled platform for students to apply for financial aid. With backing from Uber co-founder Garrett Camp, his startup studio Expa, Kleiner Perkins chairman John Doerr, Base Ventures, Sweet Capital and others, Mos has closed a $4 million seed round and plans to take its recently-launched product to the next level.

The startup seeks to decrease American student debt, which totaled nearly $1.6 trillion in 2018, and digitize the antiquated government systems that deter students from applying for financial aid. For a one-time fee of $149 and about 20 minutes of their time, Mos helps students of all backgrounds maximize their aid awards.

“Our mission is to bridge the gap between citizens and government in a way that works with technology today,” Yahyaoui said.

Yahyaoui is applying what she’s learned building a government-fighting NGO to the startup world, and with the support of top-tier investors, she’s well on her way to proving an “uneducated” immigrant woman of color can write a Silicon Valley success story for the masses.

A face of the Arab Spring

Mos founder and chief executive officer Amira Yahyaoui.

After being forced out of her home country, Yahyaoui fled to France, where she lived as an illegal immigrant and continued to fight against Tunisia’s authoritarian leadership through her blog and an anti-censorship campaign she started online.

When social media sparked anti-government protests across the Middle East, Yahyaoui, still unable to reenter Tunisia, became a face of what was later called the Arab Spring. Her digital prowess, activist reputation and persistent efforts to highlight the Tunisian administration’s human rights abuses quickly made her a face of the movement.

On January 14, 2011, when the protests succeeded in making Tunisia a pioneer of Arab democracy and ended Ben Ali’s reign, Yahyaoi got her passport back and went home, immediately.

Back in Tunisia with newfound freedom, she had an agenda: To hold the governing agency charged with writing a new Tunisian constitution accountable.

Yahyaoui built Al Bawsala, translated as The Compass, an NGO focused on transparency and government accountability. Al Bawsala became one of the largest NGOs in the Middle East, a bona fide success that attracted numerous awards and cemented Yahyaoui’s status as a fearless advocate for human rights, a freedom fighter and one of the most influential Arab women in the world.

“I had to work probably 10 times harder to get to be the self-educated me I am today,” she said. “I saw way too many people getting their education refused and therefore their future ruined.”

Her global standing earned her a seat on the board of the United Nation’s High Commissioner For Refugees Advisory Group on Gender, Forced Displacement, and Protection, as well as the title of Young Global Leader at the World Economic Forum and co-chair of the Davos Conference in 2016, a title she shard with Microsoft’s Satya Nadella and GM’s Mary Barra .

Three years later, with a resume enviable to any dignitary, Yahyaoui is leveraging her unique experience to lure in venture capitalists and use their cash for good.

Repairing a broken financial aid system

The Mos dashboard.

Mos is like if Turbo Tax married Typeform and had a baby, Yahyaoui explained. Not dissimilar to Common App, Mos lets students apply to more than 500 federal and state-based aid programs in minutes using a survey that matches them to every grant and scholarship program they qualify for, while simultaneously completing the FAFSA and state aid applications. To ensure every family is getting the most financial support possible, a Mos financial aid advisor reviews each case and negotiates with colleges for higher awards.

“Today, the biggest problem is people think they are not eligible for financial aid just because of how the thing is designed,” Yahyaoui said. “You’re supposed to just go ahead and fill a form that has 200 questions and then send it like a bottle in the sea and wait for months.”

Mos will complete a full-scale launch this summer and eventually tackle other nation’s college financial aid systems thanks to the new infusion of capital and the high-profile relationships Yahyaoui has forged in just one year living in the Bay Area.

Ultimately, it was Yahyaoui’s activism that granted her a ticket into the opaque world of Silicon Valley VC. As it turns out, angel investor Khaled Helioui, a fellow Tunisian immigrant who’d taken up residence in San Francisco, was familiar with Yahyaoui’s work and when he heard she had relocated to the Bay Area to launch a technology startup, he wanted to know exactly what she was building. Today, he’s a Mos investor and board member and it was his introductions that helped Yahyaoui quickly and skillfully close her seed round.

An early angel investor in Uber, Helioui connected Yahyaoui with his friend Garrett Camp, the very wealthy co-founder and chairman of the ride-hailing giant, who was sold on Mos’s mission right off the bat.

“I think because Garrett is an immigrant, he knows what it is to suffer with bureaucracy,” Yahyaoui said. “He was a huge believer. He actually made it so easy for me because he said, okay, here’s an office, just stay and work.”

Camp then introduced her to John Doerr, the chairman of the esteemed VC firm Kleiner Perkins, known for his successful bets on companies like Google and Amazon. With Camp and Doerr on board, Mos didn’t struggle to raise additional capital; in fact, Yahyaoui was in an unusual position of being able to reject investors whose values and vision for Mos clearly didn’t align with hers.

Tearing down barriers

Yahyaoui, center, with the Mos team in San Francisco.

Yahyaoui isn’t in the startup business to get rich off students trying to navigate their way through the absorbently expensive process of applying to and attending college. She’s part of a growing class of founders out to prove that you can pair profits with good morals and lead venture-backed values-based businesses.

“I know if I created the same thing as an NGO, I could have already raised $100 million, but I like the accountability of business,” she said. “We can create businesses that are good for people.”

Yahyaoui’s story, from being exiled from her home country at a young age to fighting an authoritarian regime is not one that’s ever been told before in Silicon Valley.

In addition to being a trailblazing human rights advocate, she’s a woman, an immigrant, “uneducated” by Silicon Valley standards and a first-time tech founder that was able to walk into a meeting with John Doerr and walk out with a term sheet.

If she’s successful in building a global edtech business, she’ll be emblematic of the meritocratic culture The Valley has falsely claimed to uphold. Even if she’s not successful, she’ll have torn down barriers for other underrepresented founders and written a success story fitting for this new era of accountability in tech.

source https://techcrunch.com/2019/04/08/human-rights-activist-amira-yahyaoui-is-battling-the-us-college-financial-aid-system/