#the items themselves r as expensive as they r unique

[tarostrinkets]

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[globalinsightsservices]

Duty Free Retail Market Potential Growth Opportunities and Competitive Landscape Report to 2033

Market Definition

Duty free retail is a type of store where customers can purchase items without having to pay taxes or import duties. These stores are typically found in airports, but they can also be found in other locations such as border crossings and cruise ship terminals.

Market Outlook

There are several key trends in Duty Free Retail technology. First, retailers are increasingly using data analytics to understand customer behavior and preferences. This information is then used to improve the customer experience by tailoring promotions and product offerings. Additionally, retailers are investing in mobile technologies to provide a more convenient shopping experience for customers. This includes developing mobile apps and using mobile payments. Finally, retailers are also looking to adopt new technologies such as virtual reality and artificial intelligence to create unique customer experiences.

The key drivers of the duty free retail market are the same as the key drivers of the retail market in general: location, price, selection, and customer service.

Location is important because it determines who has access to the duty free store. Price is important because it affects how much people are willing to spend on duty free items. Selection is important because it affects what people are able to buy. And customer service is important because it affects how satisfied people are with their purchase.

The duty free retail market is also affected by global events. For example, when there is a terrorist attack in a major city, people are less likely to travel and shop at duty free stores in that city. Or when there is a major sporting event taking place in a country, people from all over the world may travel to that country to watch the event, and they may also visit duty free stores while they are there.

The key restraints and challenges in the duty free retail market include the following:

1. Lack of clarity on the definition of duty free: There is no clear and universally accepted definition of what constitutes a duty free retail outlet. As a result, there is considerable variation in the products and services offered by duty free retailers, as well as in the prices charged. This lack of clarity makes it difficult for consumers to compare prices and makes it more difficult for new entrants to the market to establish themselves.

2. High costs: Operating a duty free retail outlet is typically more expensive than operating a traditional retail outlet, due to the need to lease space in airports or other locations where footfall is high, and the need to invest in security and other infrastructure. This makes it difficult for new entrants to the market to compete on price.

3. Limited product range: The product range offered by duty free retailers is typically limited compared to that offered by traditional retailers. This is due to the restrictions placed on duty free retailers by airports and other authorities, as well as the need to focus on high-margin products such as alcohol and tobacco.

Request Sample:  https://www.globalinsightservices.com/request-sample/GIS21744/

Research Objectives

Estimates and forecast the overall market size for the total market, across product, service type, type, end-user, and region

Detailed information and key takeaways on qualitative and quantitative trends, dynamics, business framework, competitive landscape, and company profiling

Identify factors influencing market growth and challenges, opportunities, drivers and restraints

Identify factors that could limit company participation in identified international markets to help properly calibrate market share expectations and growth rates

Trace and evaluate key development strategies like acquisitions, product launches, mergers, collaborations, business expansions, agreements, partnerships, and R&D activities

Thoroughly analyze smaller market segments strategically, focusing on their potential, individual patterns of growth, and impact on the overall market

To thoroughly outline the competitive landscape within the market, including an assessment of business and corporate strategies, aimed at monitoring and dissecting competitive advancements.

Identify the primary market participants, based on their business objectives, regional footprint, product offerings, and strategic initiatives

Market Segmentation

The Duty Free Retail Market is segmented on the basis of product, channel, and region. By product, the market is divided into perfumes & cosmetics, wine & spirits, electronics, luxury goods, food & confectionery, and others. By channel, the market is classified into airports, cruise liners, railway stations, and others. Region-wise, the market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Rest of the World.

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Major Players

The Duty Free Retail Market report includes players such as DFS Group, Dufry, LS travel retail, Lotte Duty Free, King Power International Group, The Shilla Duty Free, Gebr, Heinemann, China Duty Free Group (CDFG), and The Naunace Group.

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Research Scope

Scope – Highlights, Trends, Insights. Attractiveness, Forecast

Market Sizing – Product Type, End User, Offering Type, Technology, Region, Country, Others

Market Dynamics – Market Segmentation, Demand and Supply, Bargaining Power of Buyers and Sellers, Drivers, Restraints, Opportunities, Threat Analysis, Impact Analysis, Porters 5 Forces, Ansoff Analysis, Supply Chain

Business Framework – Case Studies, Regulatory Landscape, Pricing, Policies and Regulations, New Product Launches. M&As, Recent Developments

Competitive Landscape – Market Share Analysis, Market Leaders, Emerging Players, Vendor Benchmarking, Developmental Strategy Benchmarking, PESTLE Analysis, Value Chain Analysis

Company Profiles – Overview, Business Segments, Business Performance, Product Offering, Key Developmental Strategies, SWOT Analysis

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With Global Insight Services, you receive:

10-year forecast to help you make strategic decisions

In-depth segmentation which can be customized as per your requirements

Free consultation with lead analyst of the report

Infographic excel data pack, easy to analyze big data

Robust and transparent research methodology

Unmatched data quality and after sales service

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Global Insight Services LLC 16192, Coastal Highway, Lewes DE 19958 E-mail: info@globalinsightservices.com Phone: +1-833-761-1700 Website: https://www.globalinsightservices.com/

[littlegeniusacademy]

Business Terms for Kidpreneurs

Kidpreneurs have big dreams of running successful companies. But to start any business they need to learn a whole new language. By mastering the business lingo, they can confidently engage with experts and investors. Here’s the ABC of Business that they should acquaint themselves with. 

A for Assets - In accounting, assets encompass everything of value that a company owns, including cash, equipment such as computers and tools and products ready for sale.

B for Budget - A budget is a plan illustrating anticipated income and expenditure over a specific period. 

C for Capital - Capital denotes financial resources allocated to commence and expand a business. Kidpreneurs require capital to transform ideas into reality. 

D for Demand - Demand signifies consumer desire for product or service. Understanding consumer demand helps in planning and setting goals. 

E for Entrepreneur - An entrepreneur is someone who initiates and launches a new business, introducing change through innovative ideas. 

F for Fixed Cost - Fixed costs are consistent monthly business expenses that are predictable and easy to budget for. 

G for Goods - Goods are physical goods that customers purchase, such as toys, food items, household tools, crafts etc. 

H for Human Resources - Human Resources encompasses the people employed in the business, handling hiring, policy setting, payroll management, conflict resolution and performance management.

I for Income Statement - An income statement illustrates a company’s earnings and expenditure over a specified period. It shows the net profit or loss. 

J for Joint Venture - A joint venture is when two or more businesses collaborate for mutual benefit. 

K for KPIs - Key Performance Indicators are benchmarks used to define and measure business success. It helps to identify issues before they occur. 

L for Liabilities - Liabilities represent obligations that the company must repay on time. 

M for Market Share - Market Share indicates the portion of industry sales handled by a company. An increase in market share shows the company's growth. 

N for Niche - A niche is a specialised segment within a broader market. Startups can cater to the market by finding a specific niche. 

O for Overhead Costs - Overhead costs are ongoing business expenses that are not related to producing goods or services. Reducing overheads can enhance profitability. 

P for Profit Margin - Profit Margin indicates a company’s profit as a percentage of revenue. The higher the profit margin, the better. 

Q for Quality Control - Quality Control ensures products and services meet standards and delivers value. 

R for Returns - Product returns involve customer purchases sent back for return or exchange. Low return rates indicate satisfied customers. 

S for Sales - Sales refer to the money earned by selling goods. Kidpreneurs should track daily, weekly and monthly sales. 

T for Target Market - A target market is a specific customer segment that a company plans to pursue or serve, guiding your decisions on product, pricing, distribution etc. 

U for Unique Selling Proposition - A unique selling proposition sets a company apart from its competition, representing its distinctive value.

V for Variable Cost -  Variable costs fluctuate based on production value and rises with increased sales. 

W for Working Capital - Working capital equals current assets minus current liabilities, used for daily operations. 

X for (e)xpense - Business expenses are day-to-day costs incurred to run operations. Keeping a track of all expenses can help in aligning the budget.   

Y for Y-O-Y - Y-O-Y stands for year over year, offering a means of comparing results to the prior year and showcasing progress over time.  

Z for Zero-based Budgeting - Zero-based Budgeting enables Kidpreneurs to start fresh everyday, ensuring every penny and activity matters.  If you want your kids to learn the A to Z of business at an early age, Little Genius provides a Junior CEO Program, enhancing and refining business skills for kids. For more information, please visit our website https://littlegeniusacademy.co.in/

[daybannercoupon]

The key keys to investing

Many individuals think of investment money in an important international economic system just like the US ALL. This is finished with the particular S&P 500 inventory list regarding above 500 first-class US ALL organizations. It doesn't look like a whole lot when compared to the around 5, 000 stocks and shares bought and sold around the US ALL industry. Nonetheless, these kinds of 500 organizations are the cause of about 80% with the overall capitalization with the US ALL currency markets. The typical & Poor's 500 could be the major US ALL inventory signal. The efficiency has a bearing on the particular GDP regarding transferring nations around the world and also income progress along with several derivatives. The whole planet paths the particular list everyday. stocks investing Are you aware that organizations (components with the S&P 500 index), everyone understands and also makes use of the particular products of the organizations, those types of are usually Microsof company, Mastercard, Yahoo, McDonald's, The apple company, Delta Airline carriers, Amazon online marketplace among others. In the event you spend money on sec regarding these kinds of key US ALL organizations, it could be the most effective purchase you possibly can make. Can it be challenging to create any rewarding inventory collection all on your own? Without a doubt, it's going to seem to be one thing unachievable to get a non-professional. Any person needing to start out investment needs more money, comprehend and also examine business accounts, on a regular basis help make proper adjustments inside their collection, keep an eye on industry discuss rates, and a lot notably, determine which usually 500 organizations to get in the beginning of these quest as a possible trader. Sure, there are a few concerns, yet all of them are solvable. Discuss value. Here is the value of your firm's discuss with a stage. It's rather a second, one hour, per day, weekly, monthly, and so forth. Stocks and shares can be any energetic tool. Industry will be unstoppable, and also value will probably be increased or perhaps reduced down the road as compared to it really is nowadays. Yet how will you know very well what value will be sufficient to get, whether it's pricey or perhaps not necessarily or even you ought to appear down the road? A better solution is easy, you can find economic designs regarding figuring out what exactly is referred to as honest benefit. Each and every trader, purchase business and also finance provides a unique, yet in the middle of the intricate statistical data can be quite a DCF product. There are numerous posts outlining DCF designs and we will not necessarily enter in the data and also illustrations. The key aim will be to discover a at present undervalued business simply by figuring out the honest benefit, which can be afterwards changed into an amount every discuss. We all help make everyday data and discover the particular honest rates of most the different parts of the particular S&P 500 List according to twelve-monthly accounts, observe adjustments inside the list and also up-date the info. Purchase criteria. For your projecting product to be effective properly, we'd like economic info coming from companies' twelve-monthly accounts. We all method this kind of info personally, without the need for software or perhaps computerized methods. Like that, we all jump in to the companies' financials entirely, examine and also go over the particular record, next nourish in which info directly into our own projecting product, which usually establishes the particular honest value. It is vital to own no less than 5-year info and appearance strongly on the characteristics regarding earnings, net income, running and also totally free cashflow. Ab muscles selection to be able to probably choose business will come simply right after figuring out their existing honest benefit and also benefit every discuss. We all take into account organizations using a prospective greater than 10% regarding honest benefit, yet initial items initial. Start. Thus, their twelve-monthly record happens nowadays. The particular record has to be audited and also printed from the SEC (Securities and also Swap Commission). According to part 8 with the record, we all help make data inside our product, replacement beliefs, compute multipliers, and lastly decide the particular honest benefit. Simply by almost all standards, the business will be undervalued and also at this time the particular discuss benefit is significantly below the particular computed beliefs, why don't we move further in to the record. Earnings. Why don't we examine earnings characteristics (it can be a considerable factor). Earnings continues to be increasing the past 3-5 decades, it will be best when it is often improving year in year out regarding a decade, nevertheless the amount regarding these kinds of organizations will be negligible. We all offer goal to be able to earnings inside our calculations-no earnings : you should not are the business inside our collection. We all look closely at achievable imbalances. As an example, through the pandemics (COVID-19), several organizations coming from diverse areas have got endured economic loss as well as the earnings lowered. That is someone method, with regards to the market. The best option: earnings progress + 5-10% throughout the last 5 decades.

Web income. We all go through the web income number, and it's also excellent when in addition, it increases, in training the internet income will be a lot more risky. In cases like this quite aspect will be in which business provides q income, rather than a damage, which can be 10-15% regarding earnings. Needless to say, a solid drop inside income is a unfavorable aspect in the particular data. The best option: any income regarding 10-15% regarding earnings throughout the last 5 decades. Resources and also financial obligations. We all see a equilibrium page to see the firm's resources boost year in year out, financial obligations lower, and also money boosts at the same time. Funds and also funds equivalents are usually improving. We all look closely at their total credit card debt, it should not necessarily go beyond 45% regarding resources. Alternatively, regarding organizations from your economic market, it isn't essential, and several feel safe together with 60-70% credit card debt. That is focused on someone method. We all take into account simply short-term and also long-term financial obligations, breaks and also lending options, procurment financial obligations. The best option: progress regarding business resources, overall credit card debt < 45% regarding resources, business money greater than 30%. Cashflow. We have been right away enthusiastic about the particular running cashflow (OCF), increasing yr simply by yr at a rate regarding 10-15%. We all examine money costs (CAPEX), it could a bit boost or perhaps continue to be the identical. The principal signal for people will probably be totally free cashflow (FCF) computed since OCF : CAPEX = FCF. The best option: progress regarding cashflow coming from functions, hook boost inside money costs, and a lot notably, twelve-monthly progress regarding totally free cashflow + 10-15%, that your business can easily devote to the more advancement, or perhaps for instance, about repurchasing regarding the explains to you. Dividend. Besides the rest, we must look closely at the particular dividend coverage with the business. All things considered, we all want it any time income are usually contributed, also somewhat tad, for our assets inside the business. In the event the dividend increases coming from yr to be able to yr, that simply pleases the particular trader. Furthermore, the general return inside organizations using a dividend must boost. Several buyers favor any "dividend collection, inches buying 15-20 dividend organizations together with brings regarding 4-6%, besides the progress inside the benefit with the explains to you by themselves. The best option: twelve-monthly dividend and also dividend produce progress, dividend produce previously mentioned the common produce regarding S&P 500 organizations. Multipliers. Relocating about the multiples with the business, all of them are computed making use of diverse remedies. Any time establishing the identical multiplier, you need to use several remedies using a diverse method. We all have a tendency to trim in the direction of the common. The particular essential signals will be the 3, 5 and also 10-year beliefs. The particular list regarding a decade gets the least expensive effect inside the data plus the twelve-monthly. In the present economic system, we all take into account 3 and also 5-year signals being the main kinds. How many multiples will be massive plus it tends to make simply no perception to be able to compute every single one of which. We have to take notice simply to the particular key kinds. One of them are usually Price/Earnings proportion (P/E), Price/Cash Movement proportion (P/CF), ROA and also ROE, Price/Book (P/B), Price/Sales, Venture Value/Revenue (EV/R), Real Publication Benefit, Go back about Put in Money (ROIC). It is crucial to consider these kinds of signals inside characteristics above 5-10 decades. The best option: price/profit and also cashflow proportions are usually regressing or perhaps have reached the identical stage (these proportions needs to be lower than 15), performance proportions are usually improving yr simply by yr and also relocating toward 25, some other proportions are usually previously mentioned common on this market. It is a tiny established regarding buyers. Needless to say, there are numerous signals in the firm's twelve-monthly record, quite kinds contain running income, wear and tear, revenue just before fees, fees, goodwill and others. We all get ready the main element and a lot crucial economic signals, it is possible to help save lots of time and also study almost all organizations inside the S&P 500 List. We have now a broad thought in regards to the economic well being with the business. We all produced several data inside our economic product, in which we all established the particular proportion regarding undervaluation at this time and also determined whether or not to get explains to you with this business or perhaps not necessarily. You can find simply no impediments. Spend 5-8% of one's accessible price range and get the particular inventory. Be sure you diversify the collection. Acquire undervalued organizations, 1-2 inside each and every market. You can find 11 areas inside the S&P 500. Pick simply people organizations whoever enterprise you recognize, whoever companies you employ or perhaps whoever goods you get. Usually do not dash the particular data within your product, in case you are uncertain, usually do not spend money on this provider. Amazingly, a great undervalued business may well not attain the benefit for some time. The particular dividend paid out can increase the circumstance. Avoid organizations together with details noises. Generally, they will don't stop talking yet usually do not carry out significantly. The particular S&P 500 list regarding organizations continues to be glorious the average twelve-monthly go back regarding 8-10% for quite some time. Needless to say, there were negative decades regarding organizations, nevertheless they are usually recouping faster as compared to their particular "junior colleagues" inside the S&P 500 or perhaps 1000. Use a excellent and also rewarding purchase.

[unfolded73]

How Do We Get Back (1/16) - schitt’s creek ff

(AO3 link)

Summary:  In a literal alternate universe where the Roses escaped financial ruin, David and Patrick struggle with loneliness and a sense that something isn’t right. A chance meeting in New York and a terrible tragedy drive them to question whether the timeline they are on is the right one.

Notes:  I'm really excited to start posting this fic which has been obsessing me for a few weeks. Thanks to @j-philly-b for being my New York-native nit-picker - pizza fight forever. See notes at the end for warnings about plot elements in this fic ... or don't if you prefer not to know.

Rating will be explicit in later chapters. This chapter 3.5k words.

______________________________

Soft music played from somewhere, infused into the space like just the right amount of an expensive perfume: not enough to draw attention to itself, but enough to help round out the aesthetic with taste and class. The white walls positively glowed under warm, carefully selected lighting, offering a contrast to the pieces on offer to buyers. Minimalist and spare, every item was lovingly placed by the owner in exactly the perfect spot to highlight its assets and mask its flaws. It was why buyers went out of their way to come here, or so the proprietor had been told in more prosperous days.

“Tell me about this sculpture,” said a woman in a severe suit and a severe haircut and impossibly high heels.

David Rose, the gallerist she was addressing, put his hands together in an obsequious manner and walked over to stand at her side. Her command had come without the courtesy of turning and looking at him; rather with the expectation that she would get a prompt response — she was the kind of woman who always got a prompt response.

“This is another exciting piece by Devonaé Streeter. She works out of New York now, but after a few months in Prague—”

“I don’t want to hear about the artist. Tell me about the work.”

David squinted an eye at the bronze sculpture, standing its solitary vigil on a white pedestal. He imagined the… woman? it depicted was looking back at him, or would have been if she had more than empty eye sockets to look at him with. He launched into his patter.

“Devonaé’s bronze works often challenge the viewer to look past the grotesque features of the art to see the grotesque features in themselves. This particular figure is an allegory for the way in which we fail to recognize each other’s pain, and I think—”

The woman turned on her heel and walked away, dismissing him and the statue with one quick wave of her hand. She turned her attention to the art on the walls, scanning over the canvasses quickly. David could almost see the calculations going on behind her eyes, like a scrolling ticker on a cable business news show. She wasn’t here to appreciate the art, she was here to find something to invest in. Most of them were, especially people like her.

“Tell me about that one,” she said, pointing to the largest canvas.

David winced. He would have taken the painting in question down a while ago, or perhaps never would have hung it in the first place, if he weren’t hurting a little bit for artists these days. And of course if he hadn’t signed a contract. He’d met Carmen at a party, and okay yes, she’d seemed a little crazy at the time but he’d assumed that was because of all the drugs they were taking. He’d agreed to display her art in his gallery. Now, months later, not a single one of the paintings had ever sold.

Clearing his throat, David said, “Carmen Herrera. She has a… unique vision, as you can see from this piece.” He focused on the track lighting above the painting as he talked; he’d never been able to look at this piece without developing an anxious flutter in his stomach. “It is intended to shock, of course. The worshippers…” He let his eyes glance over the blood-soaked imagery, wondering why he was bothering. This woman was never going to buy one of Carmen’s paintings. “The worshippers hurt themselves and each other at the behest of their goddess.” He gestured vaguely upward.

“Mictēcacihuātl,” the woman murmured.

“Umm… bless you?”

“The Aztec goddess of death,” she explained, still staring at the painting.

“Oh, uhh, yes exactly,” he vamped. “Personally, I’ve always thought the worshippers represent the American electorate, voting against their own self interest because of the lies politicians tell them.” He didn’t really think that. He wasn’t sure Carmen could have said, if pressed, who the President of the United States even was. But he gave potential buyers this line, figuring they might recoil a little less from the painting if they thought it was allegorical.

The sharp-suited woman couldn’t seem to take her eyes off of it. “No, I don’t think that’s what it’s about,” she said. Then she turned to him. “I’ll take it.”

David gaped at her for a second before he recovered enough to respond. “Yes, of course.”

After several minutes of dealing with the payment and shipping, tasks that always made David’s palms sweat with anxiety that he’d screw up some detail of the transaction, the woman was gone and the gallery was quiet as a tomb — its usual state. David sighed and looked up at Carmen’s terrifying painting. “See you never, you creepy fucker.”

He walked back into his office and pulled out his phone. Opening Instagram, David scrolled aimlessly through posts by celebrities and influencers, many of whom he had met and a few of whom he had fucked. When no images of his sister appeared after a few minutes of scrolling, he pulled up her profile and checked her last post — two days ago, which was very unlike Alexis. David’s heart started to hammer in his chest with familiar worry for his sister. He checked the time and counted forward. It would be close to midnight in Italy, probably as good a time as any to catch her on her phone.

Hey r u ok? he texted, and then spent a full minute watching for any sign of a return message before he clicked off the screen and tossed the phone onto his desk with a huff. Then when that dramatic gesture didn’t give him a result, he picked his phone up again, just in time for it to vibrate with an incoming call. He almost dropped it.

Seeing who was calling, David almost let it go unanswered, but at the last second he tapped the screen. “Hi, Dad.”

“David, how are you?” His father’s voice was always confident and booming, as if he could summon happiness if he just projected from his diaphragm. David held the phone away from his ear with a wince, and then put it on speaker before setting it down.

“Fine. Why are you calling me?”

“Do I need a reason to call my only son?”

David rolled his eyes. “Yes.”

There was a pause. “Well, actually, I just heard that Eli was released from prison.”

Pulling a nail file out of his desk drawer, David snorted. “What, and you’re going to rehire him as your business manager?”

“Well, of course not, David.”

“Good.”

“I’m never going to speak to him again.”

“Good.”

“I mean, can you imagine how our lives might have turned out if he’d managed to get on that plane to the Cayman Islands before the police caught him?”

“Yes, I can, because you’ve mentioned it an average of once a month for the last three years,” David said, taking a few desultory swipes across the end of the nail on his middle finger.

“I mean, it was bad enough with all the tax penalties we had to pay. If it weren’t for Eli, we’d still have the beach house!”

“Uh huh.” If David had heard all of this before once, he’d heard it a hundred times. “Where’s Mom?”

“She’s on location with Sharknado 5. And you know, the prison that jackass was in was pretty swanky.”

“Then maybe Eli will actually be more miserable now that he’s been released. When does Mom get back?”

“Two more weeks. She’s got her phone in Bulgaria; you can call her.”

David didn’t want to call her. He wanted his father to call her so that she could talk him off of this angry ledge before he had another scare with his heart.

“Just… don’t worry about Eli, okay?” David set the nail file down and pinched the bridge of his nose. “He’s not a part of your life anymore.”

“Damn straight he’s not.”

“Weren’t you telling me something about a new business venture at Christmas? Some kind of app?” David didn’t want to talk about this, or about anything really, but he figured he could at least try to pull his father out of this emotional tailspin about the former business manager who almost made off with the Rose family fortune.

“Yes, well, the spouting video market is quite crowded now, of course, but we’re making some in-roads. Slow and steady wins the race, that’s what I always say.”

“It’s streaming video. And that’s what you used to say about your rivalry with Blockbuster,” David snarked, his moment of charitability toward his father difficult to keep front of mind when he was being so irritating.

“And Blockbuster went out of business.”

“So did you!”

“It was a strategic restructuring, David. A shift into other markets. Like streaming video. Sure, the money isn’t flowing as freely as it did in the Rose Video heyday, but we’re doing fine.”

“Okay.” He went back to filing his nails.

“Are you still seeing… what was her name?” Johnny asked.

Trying to remember who his dad was even talking about, David squinted. “Who?”

“You know, the girl who used to eat garbage as performance art?”

David huffed. “Eliose didn’t eat garbage, she covered herself in… you know what, it doesn’t matter. We haven’t seen each other in months.”

“Oh. Is there anyone special in your life right now?”

An image of Brenton flashed in his mind. He was probably back in David’s apartment as they spoke, making the place reek of bong water and eating all of David’s food. He sighed. “No, no one special.”

“Well, don’t give up, son,” Johnny said. “How’s the gallery?”

“I just sold a painting.”

“That’s great!” his father boomed. “Good for you!”

“Okay, selling paintings is my job, you don’t have to praise me quite so effusively for doing my job.”

“No, of course I don’t need to. But I’m proud of you, son. Especially now that…” There was a moment of dead air.

“You still there?” David asked.

“Oh! Yes, I’m still here.”

“I thought the call had dropped. Now that what?”

An uncomfortable chuckle came out of the phone speaker. “You know, I forgot what I was saying.”

“Uhhh… okay.” David rolled his eyes again. “Anyway, the art business isn’t booming like it used to be, but today was good.”

“You know what? I just remembered I need to make another call,” his father said. “Sorry, David.”

“Whatever. You called me.”

“Talk to you soon, son.”

“Mm-hmm. Bye.” David tapped the screen and ended the call. He noticed the time and sighed, glancing out of his office door at the empty gallery. He might as well lock up and go back to his apartment. He moved quietly around the space, flipping off all of the lights and turning off the music that he played from a spare iPad that he’d gotten in a gift bag when he was Hayden Panettiere’s date to the 2012 Teen Choice Awards. Once he had his coat and messenger bag and had the security gate pulled down and locked, David pocketed his keys and stepped out onto the busy SoHo sidewalk. It had been misting rain for hours, the January day not cold enough to produce snow, but the temperature was now dropping below freezing and making the sidewalks treacherous.

The stationary store next door to his gallery was still open and doing a brisk business, and he was tempted to go in and look at the journals, but he resisted the impulse. Even though he used them sporadically, he’d already bought more empty journals than he could fill in a lifetime. The bar at the end of the block was also starting to fill up, and while he’d been known to get a drink there after closing the gallery, he wasn’t in the mood to be around people at the moment. Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he summoned an Uber to ferry him the two miles to his apartment in Chelsea.

Braulio is 4 minutes away, his phone told him. While he waited, he texted Alexis again. Can you respond pls???

“Want me to talk or not talk?” his Uber driver asked as soon as David was settled into the back seat of the black Nissan.

“Don’t talk, please,” he responded. “Sorry.”

“Hey, no worries, man. That’s why I ask.” Braulio turned up his music a couple of clicks, the kind of unobjectionable, nondescript soundscape that was like something you’d hear in a modern hotel lobby. The driver had probably read on a website that it was the key to increasing tips or 5-star ratings.

David’s block on West 21st Street was packed with four and five-story apartment buildings, the short trees at regular intervals along the sidewalk offering a tiny break from the monotony of sandstone and concrete — although not this time of year, when they stuck up like twigs haphazardly shoved into the dirt by a giant, bored child. Shivering in his too-thin but fashionable jacket, he clicked on a rating for his Uber driver and shoved his phone in his pocket before making his way over to the short flight of stairs that led up to his building.

“Spare change,” a familiar voice called from a heap of blankets at the base of the building.

David opened his messenger bag and fished for the coins at the bottom. “It’s getting cold; you need to go to a shelter.”

“Not that cold,” the woman countered, holding her dingy Starbucks cup aloft. He dropped the coins in.

“The temperature’s dropping though.”

“Cold enough to ice skate.”

He took the non-sequitur in stride. “Well, not quite, but almost.”

“Your skates have to stay on the right line, ya know. You slip off and then suddenly—” She hit the cup, making the coins rattle. “Different universe.”

“Uh-huh. Will you go to a shelter, please? Don’t stay out here all night.” He re-clipped his bag and turned to walk away.

“You’re not supposed to be here, Mister Rose.”

“Well, I live here.”

“Not supposed to. Supposed to live in a motel with your family.”

David stopped and turned around. “What? Ew.”

“Rosebud,” she murmured.

“Oh, are we in Citizen Kane now?”

She hunkered down in her blankets, putting an end to what could only loosely be termed a conversation. Sighing, David left the homeless woman behind and entered the building’s vestibule. He then unlocked the inner door, shoving his way in with a grunt when the door inevitably stuck a little bit.

He mounted the one flight of stairs to his apartment. At the height of his family’s wealth, when David had been in his late twenties, he’d lived in a very posh apartment on the upper east side, but after the incident with his father’s business manager, he’d downgraded and moved to Chelsea. It was still a very nice, modern apartment, but it wasn’t what he’d once had.

The scent of sandlewood incense greeted him as he unlocked his door, and he wrinkled his nose and recoiled a little. Dropping his bag, he made his way to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator, hoping to find his leftovers from last night’s take-out. Of course they were gone. He slammed the refrigerator and swung around, ready to have it out with Brenton once and for all.

The man in question chose that moment to stride into the kitchen, shirtless, a pair of athletic shorts slung low on his waist. “Hey,” Brenton said. “Glad you’re here, we need to talk.”

“Yeah, we sure do.” David tried not to let his eyes drift down to the v-shaped crease of Brenton’s hips and failed.

“I’m gonna go stay with my boyfriend in LA for a while, so…” He shrugged. “Thanks for everything.”

“I’m sorry, your what? You never mentioned a boyfriend before,” David said, grimacing. He’d met Brenton last month at a cocktail party he’d thrown at the gallery. Young and blond and in his mid-twenties, Brenton was the son of a well-known hedge fund manager, and he seemed to be a guy whose sole occupation was drifting from one party to another, looking for a good time. He and David had hooked up several times in recent weeks, but their conversations had been limited to fashion and art world trends and what kind of sex they were into.

“Because we weren’t like that, you and me,” Brenton said with a disarming smile. “This was never about, you know, unpacking our pasts. And we never said we were exclusive.”

“I know that,” David snapped. “I didn’t say I expected exclusivity. Still, you might have mentioned—”

“He and I were figuring some things out, you know? But he’s gone out there for pilot season and the auditions are stressful, so I think I really just need to be there for him.”

“Oh, he’s an actor,” David said. “How fun for you.”

There wasn’t really much more to say, so after a few more empty platitudes from Brenton, he disappeared into David’s bedroom to get dressed and to gather whatever belongings he’d brought over in the course of their month-long affair. David sat at the kitchen island and flipped through an issue of Vogue without seeing the pages. He probed a little bit at his feelings, pressing against them like you’d touch a bruise, trying to determine how painful it was. He didn’t really care that much about Brenton — he was shallow and mostly unkind. David didn’t think he’d miss him. What did hurt was once again being shoved aside as soon as something better came along, after a lifetime of being shoved aside as soon as something better came along.

Once Brenton was gone, David tried cracking open a window to air out the apartment, but quickly closed it when it let in a biting cold wind. He was starting to get a headache, and he reached up to massage the back of his neck, trying to stave it off. Pulling out his phone, he checked Alexis’ instagram again, and then opened his messaging app.

[David] 911. Call me.

Surprisingly, his phone rang only a few seconds later.

“David, what? What’s the emergency?” Alexis sounded manic and not a little annoyed.

“I’ve been texting you all evening!” he almost shouted. “I’m sorry for worrying that you were dead.”

“I’m fine, why would I be dead?”

“Your social’s been dark for days.”

“Ugh. I’ve just been busy, David, I don’t have to post something every day as proof of life, do I?”

“You have to at least respond to my texts, Alexis.”

“Look, the club we were in might’ve gotten raided by police earlier, a little bit, but it’s fine because we found a back way out and we ran. It’s no big deal.”

“It kind of sounds like a big deal,” David said, rubbing his neck again. The headache was getting worse; the muscles running down from his skull were like iron rods. “Why were the police raiding the club?”

“How should I know what the Monaco police were doing?” she asked.

“Monaco? I thought you were in Italy.”

Alexis laughed. “Monaco is in Italy, David.”

“Monaco is a separate country, Alexis.”

“No, it’s… is it? Well anyway, Tiff and Lily and I are back at the hotel. I might come home, though. Stavros called and he wants to see me.”

David moaned unhappily. “Alexis, no, don’t go see Stavros. You’ll end up getting back together with him and that would be a terrible life choice.”

“Speaking of terrible life choices, is that Brett guy still crashing at your place?”

“It’s Brenton, and we were seeing each other, he wasn’t just ‘crashing’ here.”

“Mm-hmm.”

“And it’s over anyway.”

“Oh.” Her voice softened for the first time. “I’m sorry, David.”

He waved his hand, not that she could see him. “It doesn’t matter. I didn’t like him that much. He was just really hot.” He looked around the quiet, empty apartment. “You could stay here for a while, if you want.” Alexis was a chaos engine, but he also kind of missed her. Her whirlwind life would keep him from thinking about his own sad existence as much.

“Ew, what? Why? I’ve got way more space at Mom and Dad’s, and when I want to stay in the city, Klair lets me stay at the apartment with her stepmom. Who’s actually really cool, although she takes way too many pills.”

“Fine, whatever. Far be it from me to come between you and Klair’s stepmom.” He fluttered his hand again.

“Okay, don’t be like that. See, David, I know how you are. You’re lonely right now and you think you miss me, but you’d be sick of me the second I set foot through your doorway. You’d complain that I was too messy and that my friends were too loud and that I hadn’t used a coaster for my water glass.”

“Well, if you’d use a coaster—”

“David, it’s 3 a.m. here and you’re lecturing me about a hypothetical coaster. I’m gonna get some sleep now, okay?”

“Fine.”

“Go to Mom and Dad’s if you’re lonely,” Alexis said.

“I’m not lonely.”

“Goodnight, David.”

“Goodnight, Alexis.”

(Chapter 2)

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[additional content warnings after some spoiler space]

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This fic will include a temporary character death, the temporariness of which should be obvious by the time it happens. Also note that this fic does include marital problems and adultery committed by Patrick, who didn't meet David in Schitt's Creek in this timeline, and (as you will see in the next chapter) ended up marrying Rachel. Just giving you an extra warning for that if it squicks you out. 

[cantbehandled-ever]

i was tagged by the lovely @flowrxchild and @satans-helper to answer these questions, thanks sm!

What was the last thing you read?

- my chem textbook, i have a final on thursday

Favourite movie?

- the sixth sense

Favourite book?

- a case of need by michael crichton

Dream date?

- kayaking!!! i love kayaking and me and my date could go kayak where all the manatees are!!

Do you have a crush?

- on every girl i meet

What are your hobbies?

- collecting vinyls, playing my bass, being an absolute dumbass, kayaking, going to concerts, and camping

What’s your favourite time of day?

- mid morning! i’m a morning person and it’s typically after i’ve had time to wake up, but haven’t dealt with enough to ruin my day yet lol

If you could look like anything, what would you look like?

- skinny. that’s all i want

Are you romantic?

- cripplingly so! so whoever ends up being my partner needs to prepare themselves

What’s your favourite type of weather?

- sunny, but cool. i like it cool enough to wear layers, but not freezing

What do you like talking about?

- my niche interests, music, and i like when people share anecdotes that they think i will find funny

What are your turn ons?

- being gentle, nice smiles/ nice laughs, being super passionate about what they’re doing, playing with my hair, and a bunch of other stuff because i’m horny and touch-starved

Turn offs?

- being condescending, being overly controlling, conservative political views, and not having stuff they care about

If you got a tattoo what would it be and where would you get it?

- i want a bee tattoo so bad and once i get the money, i’m probably going to get it! i want it on the outer left arm, above the elbow

Do you have any pets?

- nope, i miss it though. pet fees at apartments are so expensive though

Dream job?

- an oral surgeon i suppose, but idk. i just want something that makes me happy and can support me.

Dream place to live?

- not in florida lol. i want to live closer to the mountains and forests, but idk exactly where

Dream vacation?

- backpacking through ireland! my uncle did it when he was around my age and it sounds like an amazing experience

Do you have any piercings?

- two, but they’re nothing interesting unfortunately. i really want to get my nose pierced, i just don’t want it affecting my chances of getting into dental school bc i’m not “professional-looking”

If you had kids, what would you name them?

- considering i don’t want kids, i have no fucking idea lol

What are your best traits?

- my laugh, i have a good sense of humor most of the time, and i tend to be pretty understanding

Worst traits?

- i am very anxious, so i get paranoid that i upset people way too easily. i also am way too sensitive. plus, i’m annoying

What’s your worst fear?

- me getting stuck doing something i hate for the rest of my life

What do you want to eat right now?

- nothing, i just ate cheddar broccoli soup though, so that can be my answer

What’s your best vacation you’ve ever been on?

- when i went to colorado and i stayed in the mountains! we went white water rafting and hiking, it was a really nice time

Favourite city?

- greenville, south carolina

Favourite social media platform?

- tumblr

Favourite article of clothing?

- either my doc martens or my flares!

Do you play any sports?

- not anymore, but i used to swim competitively and play volleyball

Favourite meal of the day?

- dinner, i suppose. i don’t really eat breakfast and lunch is usually at school, so it’s p boring

What are you excited for?

- being done with this semester lol, also weirdly enough, i’m really excited to get my wisdom teeth out bc i’ve had a lot of problems with them

Not excited for?

- finals

When was the last time you cried?

- yesterday. i cry all the time

Dream house?

- lots of windows, super cozy, room for a big garden!

What’s something you hate about the world?

- lack of basic human empathy, also a complete disregard for our environment. bonus item: capitalism

What’s something you love about the world?

- has a lot of creative outlets and lots of unique cultures

What scents do you like?

- peonies is my fave, but i also like really clean scents

What kind of sleeper are you?

- stomach sleeper! also a really light sleeper, so i never really feel well-rested

Are you a cat or dog person?

- technically a dog person, because i’ve never owned a cat, but i do want a cat eventually

How long would you survive in a zombie apocalypse?

- probably two weeks, maybe a month if i find a good group

Are you trusting?

- unfortunately way too much lol. i guess i’m kinda naive because i want to give people the benefit of the doubt, but once you break my trust, you’ll never get it back

What fictional character do you identify with?

- ben wyatt from parks and recreation

What labels do you commonly get?

- annoying, loud, straight (lol v unfortunate), and funny

What song would be your life anthem?

- i still miss someone by johnny cash

What issues are you dealing with rn?

- stress and the normal mental illness bullshit

How can someone win you over?

- tell me i’m funny lol, also just be nice to me

What’s something about you people don’t know?

- i’m allergic to shellfish

i tag: @mountainofthesunn @aint-no-denying @shes-outta-sight @gvfyeet @longhaireddeacy @bigthighsandstupidguys @n1-party-anthem @im-gettin-hazy @v-i-d-e-n-o-i-r

[uzukamis]

fluff alphabet - [ajay]

A - ATTRACTIVE. [what do they find attractive about the other?]

Ajay loves how bashful you get when he’s around. Even simply holding your hand gets you flustered, and it brings him much joy to see your cheeks turn bright red at his expense. That, and the way you stumble over your words, is what he finds most adorable about you.

B - BEST MEMORY. [what is the best memory they have with you?]

Ajay’s best memory of you is from the cast party- where he finally confessed. Nothing in his life could ever top the feeling he felt when you said you liked him back, and the affection that arose in him when you pressed your lips against his own was certainly like no other.

C - CUDDLE. [how do they cuddle?]

Ajay loves the feeling of your head pressed against his chest, and his face buried in your neck. This position almost always leads to your limbs tangling with his own, but he could never find it in him to care, for the closer you were to him, the better.

D - DATES. [what are dates with them like?]

Unique and organized. Ajay is not one for spontaneous adventures, so he definitely plans each and every aspect of the date out to make sure it goes smoothly. In the beginning of your relationship, despite him having the most confidence, it takes him a few days to work up the nerve to ask you on a date. His personal favorite is taking you out for a picnic.

E - EVERYTHING. (you are my ____ (e.g. my life, my world…)

“You are my princess”. Typically those words are only spoken when a feeling of jealously erupts inside of Ajay, but when he’s feeling extra soft for you, he will whisper those words to you at night when you cuddle, but god forbid your twin catch you two in the same bed.

F - FEELINGS. [when did they know they were falling in love?]

Ajay knew he was falling in love with you when you remained calmed after getting locked inside of the theater with him all night, even going as far as helping him work on his own anxieties. Your resolve is one of the many things he cherishes about you. 

G - GENTLE. [are they gentle? if so, how?]

You will certainly never meet anyone more gentle than Ajay. Despite the snarky character he presents, he is always soft for you. He will practically worship you with soft kisses and gentle hugs- especially if you’re feeling down.

H - HAND HOLDING. [how do they like to hold hands?]

Ajay loves intertwining his fingers with your own. He loves teasing you about how tiny your hands are, but in truth, he absolutely adores it.

I - IMPRESSION. [first impression/s]

Ajay’s first impression of you was that you were simply another bright-eyed freshman attempting to gain the acceptance from an upperclassmen, but the moment you stepped up onto the stage for your audition, he quickly ate his words. It was only a little after that that he realized his heart beat sped up anytime you were around.

J - JOKER. [are they into pulling pranks?]

Neither one of you are into pulling pranks, but Ajay definitely loves pulling jokes on you. He would never do anything to get you injured, but nonchalantly throwing a snowball at you? Certainly.

K - KISSES.  [how do they kiss?]

It really just depends on the setting. Normally, Ajay will simply tilt your chin up towards him and press his lips to your own in a short, but sweet, kiss. However, if it’s a little more heated than that, his kisses will seem feverish as he swipes his tongue across your bottom lip. A majority of the time it ends with you against the wall and breathless.

L - LOVE. [who says ‘i love you’ first?]

Ajay. Despite you feeling the same way, you’re much too scared of him rejecting you, so you just don’t say anything. When he first said it to you, you were draped across his body, with your legs hanging off of the side of his bed. He pressed a small kiss to your cheek before whispering it to you. You froze, but the beaming smile you had on your face was enough for him to know that you felt the same.

M - MORNINGS. [what are mornings like with them?]

If you aren’t spending the night at his house, when his parents and/or your twin allow it, Ajay will immediately open up his phone to text you a sweet ‘good morning’ text. However, on the off chance that you are spending the night at his house, he will most likely wake up before you. During this time, he will simply hold you in his arms until you awake. When this finally happens, Ajay will shower you with kisses and he’ll absolutely melt over your sleepy doe eyes.

N - NICKEL. [do they spoil? do they buy the person they love everything?]

Ajay is the kind of guy to spoil you with sentimental things. From sweet texts at each hour of the day, to adhering to your dorky personality and lounging inside of blanket fort- there isn’t anything Ajay wouldn’t do for you, but luxurious items are not his go-to. 

O - ORANGE. [what color reminds them of their other half?]

Whenever Ajay sees the color yellow, his first thought is of you. You remind him of the sun with your bubbly and kind personality. Yellow is also the color of happiness, which you are without a doubt the epitome of his own.

P - PET NAMES. [what pet names do they use?]

Ajay loves calling you “princess”. It originally started off as a joke considering your part in the play, but you both fell in love with it soon after it began. 

Q - QUESTIONS. [what are the questions they’re always asking?]

Ajay is always asking if things are alright for you. He never wants to overstep his boundaries, and wants to make sure you are 100% comfortable in the relationship, especially knowing that this is your first one.

R - RAINY DAY. [what do they like to do on a rainy day?]

Ajay prefers staying in with you, wrapped tightly under his comforter. The rain tends to make you both sleepy, so you normally end up falling asleep, curled up in his chest with his arms wrapped around you securely.

S - SAD. [how do they cheer themselves/each other up?]

Ajay tends to keep to himself and never wants to burden you with his trivial issues. You always notice the shift in his mood, however, and you try cheering him up by being more bubbly than usual, as you know he would much prefer not talking about it. Your technique always works, primarily because he can’t resist you and sheer bouts of cuteness.

T - TALKING. [what do they love to talk about?]

You both talk about anything and everything, really, but with the election coming up so quickly for class president, Ajay has been nonstop spewing about the campaign, much to your dismay. 

U - UNENCUMBERED. [what helps them relax?]

You being in his arms is what comforts him most of the time. If not that, simply hearing your voice is all he needs.

V - VAUNT. [what do they like to show off? what are they proud of?]

Ajay loves teasingly bragging about how great of a director he is, but in truth, despite in many accomplishments, he is mostly proud of scoring you. 

W - WEDDING. [when, how, where do they propose?]

Ajay has thought about it a few times, and though he desperately wants to marry you in the future, neither of you are in a rush. As of now, you both just want to enjoy the remainder of high school together.

X - XYLOPHONE. [what’s their song?]

“I Will Always Love You” by Whitney Houston. You both enjoy singing along to it at the top of your lungs in his car, but it also symbolizes to Ajay that, no matter what, he will always love you. He hates how mushy it is, though, and would never admit that to a single soul.

Y - YOU. [you’re the ___ to my ___]

Ajay would look you softly in the eyes, his hand cupping your cheek as he rubbed his thumb over your soft skin before saying,

“You’re the she to my nanigans”. 

You would laugh a push him away, knowing that he has always seemed to have a knack for ruining soft moments.

Z - ZEBRA. [if they wanted a pet, what pet would they get?]

Ajay would definitely want an exotic pet- like a snake. He would probably end up getting a dog, however, knowing that you love them intensely. 

[gwimulchorom]

She was piling items constantly into her bag that she’d lost count at this point what she’d crafted. 

It had been something she had decided on when she’d returned to Silverymoon, to the comfort of her workshop where she had been free to roam without consequence. Her first order of operations had been to thread the mystium she’d purchased into the cloaks she had ordered: fine and supple, they were of a soft material she kept rubbing her face on, and it made her feel an excitement she hadn’t felt since she’d been resurrected. 

The first cloak had become a set of colors matching Haruuc, one she took careful precision to create. Everything was familiar to her, components and magic she was deeply familiar with, but there was a warmth in knowing that he would enjoy that gift, a gift she had put thought in and hoped he would put to good use. The other 2 cloaks too had been crafted with the same touch, though they had been put away as she considered her options about them before anything, the struggle of feeling her pinch with money once again return. 

Who would buy a product made by someone like her? She couldn’t help but wonder as she set up the enchantment table for herself, quickly fashioning the pouch that would eventually become another Bag of Holding. Creating items for her own use was one thing, but actually selling them again...it felt difficult to overcome her own personal grievance of crafting something that seemed of such shoddy, terrible quality compared to what she had once been capable of.

Myron scrunched the cloak she’d made in frustration, squeezing her eyes shut as the crushing weight of her own expectations seem to weigh on her. Even if she hated what she’d made, she couldn’t help but recognise that reality was winning against her feelings. She was broke, and knew logically that selling the other Cloaks would make her the Mystium back and more. It seemed she had no choice but to put a brave face on about herself and confront her marketability as an enchanter, now that she had downtime. 

She’d returned 11 thousand gold richer, and a renewed confidence on what she was able to sell. Tate had asked her about that Bag of Holding a while ago, and after the whirlwind of activity, Myron found that she’d put it off long enough. 

A laundry list of items Tate seemed to have in mind followed, and Myron had eventually finished off the pouch by adding an additional set of riding boots, a wand and a rather shoddy set of leather gloves into it as additional commissioned work. It was practice for her, really, and none of the items she crafted beside the pouch had been terribly expensive: plus, it seemed Tate had no notion of money whatsoever, and Myron had compiled her remaining gold in deep thought on what she’d suddenly discovered. 

She was in the market again. 

Her mind whirled, already thinking about the stash of dragon hide and blood left forgotten in the storeroom of The Twins. After poisoning herself on a cup of the white dragon’s blood (”experimentation”, she’d argued to a visibly annoyed Muirin when she woke up), Muirin had confiscated the white dragon’s parts and kept them hostage in Waterdeep until Myron could “decide on how to safely deal with all of them, because she wasn’t”. 

Dragon armor was always lucrative, as with dragon-blood weapons. Those never seemed to fall out of fashion, and only a select few people could deal with such parts while preserving as much of the magic within. The Wyrmworks had taught her as much when she had dealt with carving up all kinds of dragons for them, enchanting them for her own use, and she had the unique expertise of being able to work on them. Who else could really tout themselves as dragoncrafters the same way the old men did, really? 

Of course, she smugly primped herself as she imbued the scales into Alaskar’s Tooth and watching the white veins mix in fluidly with its existing blue ones. As long as she kept at collecting the scales she needed, it was only a matter of time before she finally restored the Tooth to what it needed to be. 

“Bow to me,” she whispered to the ornament in a hiss of Draconic, and felt once again the fierce lightning that crackled across its surface. 

She had so much time on her hands now to grow herself and the tooth from strength to strength. If her current commissioned work was a testament of those who perceived her now, she may as well lean into it. 

[theultimatefan]

Joe Bonamassa Launches NFT Of “One Song Record Company”

Blues rock hero Joe Bonamassa is partnering with Heritage Auction House to announce a game-changing NFT collection that stands to reshape the music industry forever by tokenizing the original master and publishing rights to a brand-new song titled "Broken Record." This lot is truly unprecedented as the chart-topping guitarist is the first artist in music to sell his publishing in an NFT as part of this digital + physical collection, which also features his own “Holy Grail” 1959 Gibson Les Paul Sunburst guitar and 1963 Fender Vibroverb amp that were used to record the song. The auction is set for July 31. Bonamassa calls this lot "the one-song record company" because it totally transforms the way musicians can make a business from their intellectual property. Joe’s business partner Roy Weisman elaborates: “That is what this NFT concept gives artists — the opportunity to raise capital on an independent basis that will allow them to overstep the so-called gatekeepers of the music industry.” “One of the things that I like about being an independent artist is that Roy and I came up with this idea,” Bonamassa says. “We didn't have to run it up any sort of chain of command. It was like, let's do this because it feels right. And it's the next logical step in how independent artists are going to be on equal footing with major labels.” Weisman says “we’re now truly in a unique time in the music business where it is completely just supply and demand. People can find artists online anytime, people can buy their music, investors can invest in them with an artist having to go through that typical major label or even large independent label system that is heavily weighted against artists from the start.” This history-making auction from the music-business revolutionary is far from routine; then, nothing Bonamassa does is ever ordinary. Joe is breaking new ground in the music industry and playing by his own rules with this lot featuring highly collectible items, including not only some of the most prized musical instruments on the planet, but pairing them with a series of certificates of authenticity as cutting-edge non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The type of guitar has been used by rock royalty such as Keith Richards, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Mike Bloomfield. The instrument with the “unmatched deep, throaty sound,” as David Schiller writes in his book Guitar, was the ax that built rock and roll. Non-fungible tokens are changing the business world and Bonamassa's clever use of the new technology is now allowing other artists to build what is their own business. Bonamassa's auction is unique and stands to reshape how musicians make and sell their art. This incredible lot includes 13 items individually tokenized on the Ethereum blockchain. Each physical item will have a digital NFT component. This lot is a dream come true for any serious collector of vintage gear or NFT investor looking to diversify their portfolio. It should surprise no one who follows Bonamassa’s career that he’s leading this revolution. No guitarist has ever received as much coverage in the music and business media as the two-time Grammy Award nominee who has topped Billboard’s Blues chart 24 times – at only the age of 44, no less. Only last year, in fact, Forbes heralding the guitarist for “Taking Control Of His Business, Building A Brand And Investing In Himself.”Bonamassa, a wunderkind who opened for B.B. King when he was just 12 years old, learned early on never to trust the industry: His 2000 debut A New Day Yesterday, released on a Sony subsidiary, was a critical smash, with Billboard hailing the comer as “a bold talent who rises above narrow radio formatics.” Problem was that major labels have no time for bold talents who don’t get played on the radio. Bonamassa and Sony parted ways. For many musicians, that would have been the end of the story. For Bonamassa, it was only the beginning of the beginning: In 2002 the guitarist and his longtime manager and business partner Roy Weisman created J&R Adventures – a self-contained label, management, marketing and

concert promotion company. Which has meant that for the last 20 years, they haven’t had anyone looking over their shoulder, anyone telling them what to do or where to go, anyone telling them no. “We go against the grain by nature, and that's how we've been successful,” Weisman says. “I'm not really looking to get the input of the industry because quite frankly, I think the mainstream industry won't like independence. And with this auction, we’re going to show the world how to merge their copyrights, their intellectual property and sell it directly to an investor without a middleman like a major record company taking a major piece of the money and leaving them without any core assets. Now with the NFT, artists have an opportunity to build capital for themselves to then build what is their own business. And that is a beautiful thing. It's a game-changer.” The way both men tell it, the idea of selling the guitar and amp and the song in a single auction lot was an easy one, just another inevitable next step in the evolution of their revolution. It took Weisman and Bonamassa all of 20 minutes to settle on the concept and its eventual execution, which resulted in a full-blown studio session during which the guitarist recorded something of which he’s extraordinarily proud … which no one, outside of the winner, might ever hear. Joe explains “if three people hear the song and that’s it, I'm still proud of the work. If it’s licensed for film or TV and everybody hears the song, even better. But the fact of the matter is, I'm proud of the song whether three people hear it or 30 million hear it. It doesn't matter. My approach would not have changed.” “And in the end, we came to the conclusion that if we’re going to do this, let’s make a splash. This is going to be really cool.” ITEMS IN THIS LOT: 1 Vintage Guitar from Joe's Collection -1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard, Serial # 9 0346 1 Vintage Amp From Joe's Collection -1963 Fender Vibroverb, Serial # 00352 1 Original Song by Joe Bonamassa -Track name: "Broken Record" -Written and Produced by Joe Bonamassa -Mixed and mastered by Kevin Shirley -Executive Producer: Roy Weisman -(will include WAV file for digital playback and Master for Manufacturing) -Master Rights and Publishing included - Rules as stated on Agreement 4 Videos -1 Full Live Studio Performance Video -EPK Interview about Song -Guitar "Origin" Video -Amp "Origin" Video Original handwritten Lyric Sheet - Signed by Joe 1 Original Cover Art design -1500x1500 digital JPEG image -J&R Retains Copyright of the design, NFT owner CANNOT use for Merch or Commercial use 1 Joe Bonamassa Hand-Signed Lithograph -Exclusive cover art printed and Hand Signed by Joe (1 of 1 original) -Framed, 21-inch X 21-inch 4 Concert Tickets & 4 Meet & Greet Passes to One Joe Bonamassa Show every calendar year. - Tickets and M&G passes must be used for the same show. - Where Joe Bonamassa is the sole headline artist (no festivals or special events). - Only if there is a scheduled Meet & Greet for the applicable show. - For as long as and until Joe continues to actively tour. - All costs to attend the show (travel, accommodations, etc.) other than the tickets and passes are the responsibility of the NFT owner. 1 Digital Photo Book - Includes 6 photos of Joe (in the studio and with the guitar & Amp) - These will be delivered digitally as JPEGs. - NFT owner will not own copyright of images A Personal "Nerdville" Museum Tour and lunch with Joe Bonamassa - Choice of either Los Angeles or Nashville location - Date and Time Subject to Joe Bonamassa's Schedule - Tour for Purchaser and 1 guest (2 people MAXIMUM) - Lunch will follow the tour at Joe's residence - Subject to signature by Purchaser and guest of a confidentiality agreement - No filming or recording of any nature permitted - This is a ONE TIME ONLY event - All travel, accommodation and other expenses are the sole responsibility of the Purchaser TOKENIZED ITEMS: (13 Different Minted items) -Song -Guitar -Amp -Tickets and Meet & Greet -Nerdville Museum Tour and Lunch with Joe -Full

Music Video -EPK Video about Song -Guitar "Origin" Video -Amp "Origin" Video -Digital Cover artwork image -Litho Print -Hand-written Lyrics Page -Digital Photo Book

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The Secret World of Star Wars Toys and Collectibles

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This article is part of our Collector’s Digest content series powered by:

Want to know something about world of nerdy collectibles? You ask Brian Volk-Weiss, the prolific producer and creator of Netflix’s The Toys That Made Us and A Toy Story Near You, two must-watch documentary series that track the stories of the coolest, rarest, and most valuable toys and collectibles ever made and where to find them.

Volk-Weiss isn’t just a documentarian, though. He’s spent years chasing collector’s items for his own personal collection, and he’s learned a few secrets and heard quite a few stories about the high-stakes world of collectibles along the way.

Star Wars collectibles are of particular interest to Volk-Weiss, who has previously written about the rarest, most expensive Star Wars action figure for Den of Geek. But did you know about the secret Facebook group that deals almost exclusively in precious Star Wars collectibles that sell for six figures? What about the warehouse where sellers who don’t own their own stores keep and sell their prized collectibles?

On a recent Zoom call, Volk-Weiss took us on a trip through the lesser known corners of Star Wars collecting, and even shared his sacred rules when it comes to curating his own collection. Yes, that includes a collectible contingency plan were his house to burn down.

You can check out the interview below. This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.

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DEN OF GEEK: How did you spend your May the 4th this year?

Brian Volk-Weiss: I am looking at what I already have, praying that some cool stuff gets announced. I mean, that’s usually what I do on the fourth. Well, I mean, before COVID, I’d go to Toys “R” Us, Walmart, and Target and grab whatever gets put out. This year, I ordered an Ahsoka Tano statue, I think about five or six months ago, maybe even more, that I think is supposed to come tomorrow. So if it does, that is exactly how I’ll be spending the fourth, opening that statue that’s long overdue.

You’re not just some creator and producer who works on the idea, but is not invested. You’re in the trenches. In The Toys That Made Us and A Toy Store Near You, you were actually hitting the aisles. You were going to the stores, finding the collectibles.

I try to sell shows that are hobbies of mine, so that a) I’m getting paid to do my hobby, but b) that passion that you need to make your show, because it takes a long time and a lot of work, you really need to be excited about the show to try and do a good job. So yeah, I buy toys. Quite a few.

Is Ahsoka a new favorite character of yours?

Oh, absolutely not. Since the end of [The Clone Wars] season five … I mean, technically, it would have been the end of season four, but really, there’s a moment in the last episode of season five when she resigns from the Jedi Order. I’ve been obsessed with her ever since that moment.

And I have to give myself credit. I knew for over a year before it was announced that Ahsoka was going to be on TV, and I kept my mouth shut. So I’ve known that was coming for a long time. And I kept my mouth shut, Lucasfilm. You should be very proud of me.

Yeah, but by saying that, that now makes me want to try to pull other stuff out of you, because now I’m sure you know about things that are coming down the road.

No, I really don’t. And it’s because of COVID. The reason that I knew about the Ahsoka of it all was I was at Disney or Lucasfilm all the time, and every now and then, you’d hear something. But I kept my mouth shut. Because of COVID, I didn’t have as much access.

So we spoke back in the spring of, well, I guess almost a year ago, for A Toy Store Near You, and if I recall correctly, you said that the Millennium Falcon was your Holy Grail of Star Wars toys?

That’s right. I used to bite my fingernails and my mom told me if I didn’t bite them for a year, she would get it for me. And I stopped. Very hard. Other than quitting smoking, that’s the second hardest thing I’ve ever quit. I’m not even trying to be funny. And I got my Millennium Falcon and proceeded to obliterate it over the next 10 years.

It lasted 10 years? That’s actually pretty good. But that certainly was not your first Star Wars toy?

No, my first. I still have my original R2-D2 and one of my original stormtroopers. I still have those. And in my collection that is absurdly big now, I do believe those are the two old…I have two mini figs from Lego. Those four toys are tied for the oldest toys in my 2000 plus toy collection.

And what is the current status of that stormtrooper and R2?

It’s funny you asked that, because this is crazy. The R2-D2 and one of those mini figs is in my home collection. The stormtrooper and the other mini fig is at a friend of mine’s house in the insane off chance, this will show you how crazy I am, that…I’ve had to evacuate my house twice in the last two years because of fires. If God forbid anything happens to my home here in LA, my two oldest pieces, I have a backup. That’s how crazy I am.

It’s sort of like, whenever the Congress and president gather in Washington, there has to be the designated survivor, right?

These are my toy designated survivors. I’m going to steal that from you. I love that.

We’re pretty close in age. The R2 unit I had, it’s still around, but man, it’s not in great shape. The dome is loose, the sticker is off. And then my stormtrooper, totally yellowed. Is yours the same thing? Or does it actually look good?

My R2’s dome is great. It still makes that super duper weird noise that, we all know how it was made, but it was still kind of weird. But the stickers are very faded. And my stormtrooper, you can tell it’s 40 years old, but it’s not yellow or anything.

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What are the figures that you think people are kind of getting into now? Because obviously, we’re legacy collectors and nerds, we grew up with the first generation of it, but what are the things that people are attaching themselves to now? Anecdotally. As much as you can say.

Ahsoka Tano, all of her stuff, especially because it was made in limited numbers when it came out in the early aughts, as they say, maybe not early aughts, but like 2008 to 2012, there’s an Ahsoka Tano that’s $2000-3000 now. Not a prototype, not a sample, not a paint test. Literally an Ahsoka Tano that was still in the package. That’s two to three grand now. That’s because a lot of the people that are 10 to 20 years behind us, they’re starting to have money. And the same way you and I wanted to start collecting when we got a little money, now they are too.

Is part of that because of the multi-generational component? I guess maybe the question is, what makes Star Wars collectors different than others? I always kind of wonder if it is this sort of multi-generational element to it that’s maybe not present with other franchises or IP.

The main thing about Star Wars collecting that is different than almost any other kind of toy collecting there is, is the amount of people doing it and the amount of data that exists. There are, and I’m making this up, so please, anyone who sees this that’s offended, I am making these numbers up, I don’t know the real numbers, but there are like 10 types of Luke Skywalker New Hope figures with…You need a scanning electron microscope to see the difference in the hair color changes. There is so much data. Oh, that light hair with a freckle on the cheek? Oh, that came from the Taiwan factory. Brownish hair with no freckle? That came from the British factory.

There’s a private Facebook group called Deal or No Deal. It covers all toys. There’s only 3000 members. I mean, I’ve seen stuff sell in the six figures. Very, very high end general toy group. It’s 85% Star Wars. So that’s what makes Star Wars collecting unique compared to any other toy.

You’re saying that the accumulated data continues to unveil other collectibles that we did not know about?

I’ll be honest with you, I’m not trying to be funny or humble, I don’t consider myself a toy expert. I know more about toys than most people, but most people are toy collectors. But I mean, there’s like 10 to 20 Star Wars collectors who have been doing it almost as a full-time job for 20, 25 years. So those 10 to 20 guys, and I think they’re all guys, I mean, they’re probably embarrassed by me talking about Star Wars. So I learned from them…I mean, I could learn one to five new things a week just from knowing those people.

What’s the craziest Star Wars collectible quest you’ve ever heard of? The epic lengths that someone has gone to to pursue an item? Does anything come to mind?

I think Gus Lopez going to Tunisia with a storage container. That’s probably my favorite. I mean, he literally went all around Tunisia to the sets and was buying stuff off the people that own the land. The sets are still there. I went there for my bachelor party and I was there, I think, 10 years after Gus. So what was still there when I was there in 2012, and I think he was there in 2002, approximately…And I’ve seen a lot of his collection. Almost any question you would ask. Like, “What’s the best story?” The answer is Gus Lopez.

And you can get really crazy with the collecting, and sometimes you have to establish rules. I mean, I know I’m fortunate to work a lot of comic-cons, and I’m out there, and I’ve established rules for collecting so I don’t spend too much money or go too crazy. Do you have any rules that you apply to yourself?

Well, number one rule? It must go on display. So I will not buy anything to just go into storage, because if I did that, it theoretically violates my whole reason for toy collecting, which is the objects give me some joy. So if I’m putting it in the garage or a storage shed, it doesn’t give me any joy. This is getting harder and harder for two reasons. One, I now have a lot of “insider knowledge.” So I’m not buying things that I know will depreciate in value. So that’s tough. And then the other thing is, it’s kind of a bad theory because it ends up costing me more money in the long run, because I guarantee you, I will have to buy a new house next year because my collection room is already getting too small. But that’s the first rule. Nothing goes to storage.

My second rule. Have you ever heard of this place called Frank & Son? It’s two full-size warehouses where I think they tore the wall down in between them. And I think Monday to Friday, it’s where toy sellers who don’t own a store keep their stuff, and then they sell it online. On Saturdays, it’s open to the public.

So before COVID, my rule was I would go there only once a year for my birthday. So that’s already a rule, because if I went there more than once a year, we’d be bankrupt and living on the streets. And two, I bring a thousand dollars cash and I leave all my credit cards at home. And by the way, dude, I’ve gone in there and spent it in the first 12 minutes I’ve been in there and basically had to walk around like a jackass for two hours and not buy anything else.

The Star Wars Topps cards have very much been part of the collecting within the Star Wars fandom, and you can display those. Did you have them as a kid? Have you ever collected them as an adult?

I had them as a kid. If I had to guess, I had all of them. Right now in my collection, I have one Star Wars pack. My second favorite character is the aforementioned Ahsoka Tano. My favorite character in all of Star Wars is Return of the Jedi Luke, specifically that. And the only Star Wars cards I have is an unopened pack, it’s probably worth five bucks, and it’s him in Jedi Luke attire.

You are working on so many things. I know you’ll have a new season of Toys That Made Us at some point, I know you’re working on this Gates McFadden Star Trek podcast your company is producing. What else is on the way that you can talk about, man?

There’s a lot of stuff I can’t talk about yet, but two things I can talk about. We’re partnered with Dwayne Johnson and his company, Seven Bucks, and we have a show coming out called Behind the Attraction that’s all about the attractions at the various Disney parks. I can’t say when, but that’s coming out this year.

And then we have another show, which I literally cannot even believe is real, called The Center Seat: 55 Years of Star Trek. We’re making that for History Channel, and to the best of my knowledge, it is the deepest dive documentary about all of Star Trek. I think we’re doing the first documentary ever about the animated series. The first one out ever about Voyager.

And then A Toy Store Near You, which is coming out in June, season three. So I’m pretty excited about 2021.

The post The Secret World of Star Wars Toys and Collectibles appeared first on Den of Geek.

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New Post has been published on https://bestfungames.com/marvels-avengers-review/

MARVEL'S AVENGERS REVIEW

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MARVEL’S AVENGERS REVIEW

Marvel’s finest have never looked or sounded this good, but their best efforts feel in vain.

By Robert Zak September 07, 2020

As the Marvel’s Avengers campaign ends, to be replaced by samey missions, it reminds me of the dual identity of so many superheroes. Avengers straps on its tightest, glossiest spandex for the campaign and dazzles with its moves, but once that adventure ends and it returns to the daily grind of a multiplayer-oriented endgame, it blurs into the crowd. Inoffensive, yet indistinguishable but for its famous superhero superstars.

The frustrating thing about Marvel’s Avengers is that for the first few hours, you see hints of what it could have been—a visually spectacular and satisfying adventure—but then a functional, unoriginal loop of missions takes over, and you realise that that’s the actual game you’ll be spending most of your time with.

The campaign offers a simple story, following future Ms. Marvel Kamala Khan as she seeks to reassemble the Avengers following a disaster that creates a wave of new superheroes labelled as ‘Inhumans’. You’re pitted against floating-head-with-tiny-limbs, MODOK, who’s intent on wiping out all Inhumans with the help of AIM’s Scientist Supreme Monica Rappaccini and her army of robots.

A pretty regular Marvel setup then, and beautifully written, animated, and voice-acted throughout. I found myself actively looking forward to the cutscenes and snippets of in-game banter.

R relationship between Bruce Banner and Kamala Khan unfolds beautifully. Banner’s unsure body language and mix of irritation and avuncular care he shows towards Khan—whose chirpy teenage optimism is just what 2020 needs—is a masterclass of voicework and mocap. It also elegantly addresses the fact that, to a 30-plus curmudgeon like me, the fresh-faced Khan can be kind of annoying, but her convincing character arc soon gets me completely onboard.

(Image credit: Marvel’s Avengers)

Given the amount of big names the campaign has to introduce, it’s understandable that not all the relationships get the same level of attention, but each character still entertains as you bring the Avengers’ floating command centre back to life. The villain MODOK, with his pustulent, hypertrophic head that seems to swell up with every scene, is brilliantly brought to life. The performance turns one of Marvel’s goofiest-looking heroes into a memorable, eerily soft-spoken villain.

However, once you’re aboard the Avengers’ Chimera ship, it becomes a little too obvious that you’re being roped into the publisher’s long game. You walk around on deck as your Avenger of choice, picking up time-limited challenges from vendors, buying gear using real or in-game currency, and using a map to freely drop into missions set across several biomes around the world. Some you do solo, others you do alongside up to three other Avengers, who can be controlled by AI or online players. I’d play with others where possible, and it speaks to the simplicity of the missions and combat that there’s not too much need for communication or a balanced squad.

I did get to play online alongside Hulk wearing a Hawaiian shirt and fedora though.

(Image credit: Marvel’s Avengers)

PERFORMANCE

I’ve been reading a a little bit about performance problems on PC, but can say that my experience has been mostly stable. There were a couple of odd bugs during the campaign that forced me to restart the game, and multiplayer matchmaking has been very slow from my experience, forcing me to give up after minutes of waiting multiple times.

The combat is a curious mix of classic brawler moves like juggling, suspended aerial attacks and light-heavy combos with the counter-and-dodge-based style of the Arkham games (there’s even a move where you jump over a shielded enemy’s head to break their shield). Little icons on the edges of the screen tell you how close a missile or laser is to blasting you away, while enemy melee attacks are telegraphed by coloured circles, which let you know whether to dodge or parry them. Get enough attacks together, and your rage meter fills, letting you unlock spectacular special moves like Iron Man summoning his Hulkbuster mech, or Ms. Marvel turning into a long-limbed giantess resembling a wacky waving inflatable tube girl.

The icons give you a lot to think about while filling your screen with a confetti of mechanised enemies and special moves executed by your fellow Avengers, and it doesn’t always feel like you—or even the game itself—can keep up. A couple of dozen hours in, I’ll still often dodge instead of parrying when the enemy attack circle is white (dodge for red, dammit!), and that all-important telegraphing of enemy moves isn’t entirely consistent, and the camera’s a little too close for comfort – great for ogling Hulk’s slabs of back muscle, not so great for managing space in a scuffle.

Playing as the speedsters of the group, Ms. Marvel and Black Widow, feels much better than Hulk, whose lumbering style doesn’t sync well with the already slowish animations and floaty jumping physics. High-flyers Iron Man and Thor, meanwhile, definitely offer a buzz as you can freely swoop into battle from way overhead of your buddies. Unfortunately finer aerial maneuvering and attacks are fiddly and much weaker than melee. It may be fun to fly, but the action’s really on the ground.

But in a game so much about fan service, there’s something to be said for making each superhero feel unique, even if that is at the expense of balance. The characters move and attack just like you remember from the movies or imagine from the comics, right down to the disinterested way Hulk toe-pokes chests open. During these little moments, and amidst the on-screen muddle when you string together a bunch of counters and executions before letting rip with a hero’s special move, the superhero fantasy successfully shines.

(Image credit: Marvel’s Avengers)

The bigger problems come later. Missions may be set all over the world, but levels themselves are sparse expanses of snow/forests/city where you hunt for crates hidden in metal bunkers guarded by faceless robots, before proceeding to complete a main objective—destroying a few structures, or holding onto some control points, Battlefield-style.

The game tries to spruce things up with awkward platforming segments and hunts for SHIELD stashes (essentially a slightly better stash among endless stashes), but they’re visually ugly and unvaried, in stark contrast to the elegantly animated and designed superheroes that run around them.

Also, for some reason the ‘Power’ level required for various missions is all over the place, greatly restricting the amount of missions you can tackle. I was quite up for a boss-fight mission that SHIELD offered for their daily challenge (which improves your faction rank with SHIELD, which lets you buy locked-off gear yada-yada), only to find that I was dozens of levels below being able to do it. These are the kinds of things that can be smoothed out over the coming months, but as things stand a good chunk of the endgame remains level-gated.

(Image credit: Marvel’s Avengers)

Back aboard the Chimera, the metagame of daily challenges, endless gear upgrades (with daily ‘specialty’ items) and missions becomes particularly noticeable post-campaign. Without the more bespoke campaign-specific missions and story to break them up, the monotony begins to set in, and while there is an obsessive feedback loop to repeating missions, upgrading your gear, and improving your character in perpetuity, you don’t even get to see these gear upgrades. The only aesthetic changes are different costumes, which are a hard to find, and otherwise locked behind higher levels and real-world currency.

There’s nothing too egregious about the microtransactions, which are purely cosmetic and also include emotes, nameplates and execution animations, but there’s nothing particularly satisfying to work towards in the endgame either.

Perhaps a fleshed-out single-player campaign will never be enough to satisfy Avenger’s marketing aims. The story is worthy of Marvel’s movie canon, but it’s too short and ends up being a shiny wrapper for what’s currently a rudimentary game-as-service.

(Image credit: Marvel’s Avengers)

This comes with the caveat that it’s just getting started, and there have been plenty of online-oriented games that started slowly. There’s enough button-mashy mileage in the combat system, especially as new heroes get introduced as DLC, but it’s the mission design and loot loop that let it down. It’s just not strong or varied enough to justify the long-term investment the game wants from you.

Not that justification beyond a 14-hour campaign and ‘it’s your favourite superheroes and they look amazing’ is needed for a day one purchase, based on the game’s early sales. But if Marvel’s Avengers wants to keep loyalists sweet and expand its player-base, it needs a lot more flesh on its vibranium skeletal armature. If only the game could carry some of its narrative prowess from the campaign over into the endgame.

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Receives a commission to drive with out choosing up strangers: Amazon Flex pays $ 15 an hour and above

You need an appearance that fits your schedule, and you like the idea of ​​making an extra batter with your car. However, inviting strangers who may or may not be drunk into your vehicle is not good. Does that sound like you? Here's an alternative: Deploy packages to Amazon Flex. (Entertaining fact: boxes are less likely to throw themselves in your back seat.) In the past, Amazon relied on shipping partners such as FedEx, UPS and USPS to transport a reasonable portion of its packages. Swiss Post devoted itself to deliveries from Amazon every Sunday. Now the Amazon Flex e-commerce giant is more dependent on independent contractors across the country. Before you get started, let's review the basics to see if Amazon Flex is right for you.

How much money can i earn?

Let's get started right away: you're here for the money. The Amazon Flex website states that drivers earn $ 18 to $ 25 an hour. However, this is an estimate of gross wages that includes tips and bonuses. The good news is that Flex is one of the few gig apps out there guarantees Wages between $ 15 and $ 19 - also a gross amount - depending on the location. Not all orders have a tip component, but if you receive a tip, you can keep 100% of it. Another advantage: Amazon Flex deliveries are based on planned shifts of up to four hours in length. This makes earnings more predictable than other app-based work.

Where is Amazon Flex available?

Amazon Flex was only launched in Seattle in 2015. It has slowly expanded into high-demand areas in the United States and is currently available in an estimated 50 major cities, including: Austin, Texas Atlanta Baltimore Cleveland Detroit los Angeles new York Minneapolis Phoenix San Antonio San Francisco Amazon does not offer a comprehensive list of all locations where the company operates. In-demand locations are often posted on his Getting started page,

What are the requirements?

No prior knowledge of deployment is required to become an Amazon Flex driver. The biggest qualifications are a valid driver's license and the ability to pass a background check (more on that later). Below you will find an overview of the additional requirements. Vehicle: The requirements vary depending on the type of delivery. Any reliable car is suitable for Prime Now orders. Amazon.com orders require a mid-size sedan, SUV, van, or pickup with a covered bed. Motorcycles, mopeds and motorized bicycles are not permitted. smartphone Only Android and iOS devices that run Android 6.0 and iOS 11 (or higher) are accepted. Car insurance: Amazon offers additional delivery insurance, but drivers must have a separate, valid auto insurance plan.

How do I apply?

To register, you need to create one Amazon account if you don't have one yet. Then download the app to start the application. iPhone users can download Amazon Flex from the app store. The process is slightly different if you are using an Android device, as the app is not currently listed in the Play Store. In this case, follow separate Android instructions This includes downloading the app directly from Amazon Logistics. You may need to disable your phone's security settings for third-party apps to install properly. After installing the app, follow the instructions for location and availability of the schedule. You can specify which days and periods you prefer. If your region is in high demand, you may be able to continue. If not, you have to join a waiting list. Before accepting orders, you must submit additional information, including a photo, a copy of your driver's license, tax and bank account details, and your social security number. After you submit this information, you are stuck while the background check is being processed. Amazon Flex says it can take up to 10 business days. Several drivers have reported that the process could take longer.

What will i deliver?

Amazon Prime is not just a smiley brown box. Your load may include Whole Foods foods or random convenience items from local stores. It depends on what services are available in your area and what types of orders you accept. Wondering how Amazon Flex performs compared to the other delivery shows? We compared that Top 10 delivery apps to make your search easier. Amazon.com: This is the standard parcel delivery service. Pick up parcels at a nearby distribution center. Amazon Fresh and Prime Now: These are same day deliveries - a mix of parcels and groceries - available in Prime Now hubs or Whole Foods stores. Save orders: Not all items may be available at Amazon centers. In this case, you will search for the desired goods in selected areas in the local shops. instant quotes: These appearances are based on your current location. Amazon will direct you to the nearest pickup location for fast delivery.

How do shifts work?

Moving or "locking" with Amazon Flex works differently than most gig apps. Unless you are placing an immediate offer order, do not simply register and start driving. For most jobs, you can plan when and how much you want to work. The "Upcoming Offers" list suggests blocks based on the schedule you specified when you signed up. If you want to work outside of these parameters, you can view all blocks by changing the "Filter" settings. Deliver as little as you want. There is no minimum order for drivers. (However, you are limited to 40 hours a week.) Blocks run for two to four hours and you can see how much money they are worth before accepting the job. Remember: the blocks are suggested times. Some drivers reported that some blocks took much less time - and drivers were still paid for the entire block. The opposite is also true. Some deliveries can take longer than four hours if the instructions or locations are difficult, but you won't make more money for that extra time. If you have accepted a block that you do not want, cancel it at least 45 minutes before the start time. If the order is an immediate offer, you can cancel it within 5 minutes after accepting the delivery. If you cancel late, you will be warned. After three warnings, you run the risk of being released.

How is the work?

Let us not gloss over it: delivery can be difficult. Packages are heavy. Instructions are often vague. You have a pretty tight time frame. But the reward is higher than most appearances. The guaranteed wages paired with an occasional light delivery load make it worthwhile for many drivers. A good way to get an overview of the work is to search the Reddit sub-forum for Flex employees: r / AmazonFlexDrivers, Users share the ups and downs of Amazon Flex drivers. On some days, customers leave treats outside so that delivery staff can grab them. On other days, the drivers get lost for hours in labyrinthine residential complexes and look for the right quantities.

Tips for Amazon Flex drivers

Deploying to Amazon Flex is a bit more involved than other app-based gigs. Use these tips to shorten the learning curve. Don't skimp on the training materials While you are waiting for your background check to run, read the training materials. Don't just blow them through. Take the time to get used to the app and know how to properly photograph the packages - or you can quickly trigger warnings (including cancellations). Learn packing and organization techniques A common shortcoming among novice drivers: they were miserably unprepared for their first delivery. After picking up your order at the delivery center, pay close attention to the addresses and organize the packages according to your route. Many drivers benefit from YouTube tutorials that show you how to top up your orders effectively. Track your miles and expenses While Amazon offers wages of up to $ 25 an hour, your take away pay is likely to be much lower. This number is gross wages. Gig employees often overlook costs such as gasoline, maintenance and tolls. If you may be driving hundreds of miles a day, these costs add up. Be sure to record them to get a better view of your actual earnings - and to reduce your tax burden. Many drivers get by with a spreadsheet. If this is too old-fashioned, use an expense report software such as Everlance, MileIQ or Quickbooks. Get a lay of the land Based on the driver reports from Glassdoor, Indeed and Reddit, the inaccurate GPS from Amazon Flex is a big problem. This will take you to a general place, but after that you may be left to your own devices to find the right threshold. It helps if you know your locale well. Many drivers especially complain about large residential complexes. When you receive a delivery, take notes on how the unit numbers and buildings are organized. (Does unit 2302 mean it's on the second floor?) Take a picture of the community map. Ask the neighbors for directions. This will save you a lot of time in the long run. Adam Hardy is an employee of The Penny Hoarder. He deals with the gig economy, entrepreneurship and unique ways to make money. Read hislatest articles here, or say hello on Twitter @hardyjournalism, Are you ready to stop worrying about money? Get the Penny Hoarder Daily Data Protection Policy Read the full article

[prancingmaria]

[non-no August issue] 4 Questions to BTS

source: myheaven0624 twitter

JIN 1. Hobbies etc. that you're into now, way to spend your day-offs? Since JUNGKOOK said he will learn how to play the drums during our world tour breaks, I also started playing the guitar. However, we couldn't bring drum set during the tour, so in the end I'm the only one bringing a guitar and always practicing (laughs). I play our own songs, "Butterfly" and "Spring Day." I want to play them on stage someday.

2. Tell us your fashion style I like neat and simple fashion. As much as possible, I keep in mind to wear things I received when I go to places where I'll be seen by many people. It's because I think that if I'll be in the opposite position, I would be very happy if I see my present worn by an important person.

3. Favorite scent I'm using a perfume with a sofly wafting sweetness. If I will compare, it's like the fluffiness of cotton candy. It's not the scent of the cotton candy itself (laughs).

4. Japanese movie, drama, anime etc. that you're attached to I love Japanese anime, so I watched "ONE PIECE" and "BLEACH" every week when I was a trainee. Recently, I'm into a manga about high school volleyball called "HaiKyuu!", I often read it.

SUGA 1. Hobbies etc. that you're into now, way to spend your day-offs? Day-off, so to speak, I think of "ordinary" things to do. Going to cafe alone, meeting a friend, a regular day with nothing happening is important for me. Since it's a rest day, I don't do special things and I just consider spending the day relaxing.

2. Tell us your fashion style Rather than picking up various kinds of clothes, I'm the type who gets attached to things I like and wear them for a long time. I think I have worn clothes of my choice and also expensive clothes tens of thousands times at work since debut, but I want to become a person who looks special even if I wear ordinary clothes, so I choose simple clothes these days. And, I dislike showing off my skin, so even in summer I'm the type who wears long sleeves.

3. Favorite scent I like sweet scents for perfumes, but depending on my mood on that day I only use perfumes sometimes, I have never used 1 up. I like drinking coffee, so it really calms me when I sniff its scent. For me, coffee is like a substitute for water, an indispensable thing.

4. Japanese movie, drama, anime etc. that you're attached to "Slamdunk" is the all-time best manga in my life! Since I repeatedly pick up my favorite works, I've already read it more than 100 times. The animes I watched during my childhood were mostly Japanese works.

J-HOPE 1. Hobbies etc. that you're into now, way to spend your day-offs? I'm currently obsessed with collecting figures. I've recently added boards* called skateboard deck to that collection. They are colorful and have a variety of designs, I enjoy just by looking at them. Unfortunately, bringing it outside to go skateboarding.....I don't do that (laughs).

2. Tell us your fashion style I pursue styles in which I can express myself well without being too safe nor too much. I plan to challenge a cool-looking fashion this summer. However, since I've bought a street branded black fur jacket last year's winter, I haven't shopped yet........

3. Favorite scent I'm really sensitive to scents, so it's natural for me to wear perfumes, and then I apply a sweet-scented body lotion before going to bed and I always use a diffuser in the room. I bought kona coffee powder when we visited Hawaii in April, so I intend to use it as a substitute for air refresher.

4. Japanese movie, drama, anime etc. that you're attached to I like Otsuka Ai-san's "Sakuranbo"! A senior** introduced it to me when I was playing a game in an internet cafe when I was a child, I thought it was a good song. I also often listen to YUI-san's songs.

T/N: *board part of a skateboard ** somebody who is older than him

RM 1. Hobbies etc. that you're into now, way to spend your day-offs? I'm most into studying Japanese language now.......Really! I'm watching the drama "Midnight Diner", whose dialogues are easy to listen to. Getting in touch with nature is one way to refresh. Walking in a nearby park and also if there's time going as far as the sea.

2. Tell us your fashion style I choose clothes whose styles are nicely seen while having a relaxing feeling.　I didn't have confidence when it comes to style before and I didn't like skinny (pants), but after I debuted everyone told me that my legs are long and that they're pretty, so it became like a challenge*. The stylish among the members, other than me (laughs), is probably J-HOPE. He is good at matching items!

3. Favorite scent The scent of natural fabric softener. Also, I've talked about it with JUNGKOOK, the smell of the Japanese buildings (laughs). Particularly, I'd sense it with the airport. When we arrive (at the airport), everyone talks amongst themselves and say "We've arrived Japan!."

4. Japanese movie, drama, anime etc. that you're attached to I listen to AK-69-san, KOHH-san, Sakamoto Ryuichi-san, and Kuramoto Yuhki-san's music. As for movies, I like Director Koreeda Hirokazu's works. The peaceful world view through his film making captivates me.  I will certainly go and see if ever there's a screening** in Korea.

T/N: * challenge of wearing skinny pants ** screening of Koreeda Hirokazu's films

JIMIN 1. Hobbies etc. that you're into now, way to spend your day-offs? Playing my hobbies which are billiards & bowling with friends and gathering at home playing computer games. Whoever wins that time differs, so whatever I do me not being the best is for certain (laughs). 2. Tell us your fashion style I'm the type who wears western type of clothes for several months if I find a good style. These days, I like simple fashion such as shirts + slacks and white shirts + denims. However, I haven't decided yet as to what kind of style should I do for this year's summer.....It seems like once I start shopping I will buy different clothes (laughs), I will think carefully and I will go shopping. 3. Favorite scent Scent of flowers and the smell of meat when being roasted.....I like natural smell, so I don't wear perfume that much. The refreshing smell of the diffuser in our room is my favorite. However, my roommate, J-HOPE-san is particular about that type of smell more than me. 4. Japanese movie, drama, anime etc. that you're attached to As for manga and anime, we should keep an eye on famous ones. As for novels, I just recently bought "Reisei to Jônetsu no Aida." I look forward in reading it!

V 1. Hobbies etc. that you're into now, way to spend your day-offs? Classical, jazz, opera, R&B, hip-hop, EDM, regardless of genre. I particularly like Hisaishi Joe-san's "Summer" now. Tatatatatantata~n (starts to sing). I want to listen to a live piano performance (of it) someday. 2. Tell us your fashion style The item I often wear is shirt. I have several pieces of designs with simple to unusual prints. The traveling bag I bought in New York this spring too, it's my favorite. I'm using it carefully! 3. Favorite scent There are many instances when I chose refreshing & relaxing scents for perfumes. I use several types to match my fashion. 4. Japanese movie, drama, anime etc. that you're attached to I recently finished all the episodes of the drama "Nigeru wa Haji da ga Yaku ni Tatsu!" I like the weekly hug scene between the heroine and her contract marriage partner every Tuesday. I thought I've seen that male character somewhere, and when I searched, I was surprised that it's Hoshino Gen-san, the artist whose music I usually listen to. By the way, I like Hoshino Gen-san's "Nichijou." I'm also practicing "Koi" dance! JUNGKOOK 1. Hobbies etc. that you're into now, way to spend your day-offs? Recently, I enjoy playing FPS (kind of shooting game). I play 3-4 hours every day, and in the blink of an eye I don't have time to sleep (laughs). That and I always listen to music. I also easily get into music like future bass, so if anything there's a bit of seemigly sad mood, I prefer peacefully heart calming melodies. 2. Tell us your fashion style I like big silhouettes such as parkas, and color black. I think I don't change the things I wear that much including summer. The genre is different, but I feel RAP MONSTER-san and J-HOPE-san's dressing well, I think it's cool. 3. Favorite scent The scent of the wind and greenery the moment spring arrives. Long time ago, on a spring day, I went biking along the river while listening to music together with RAP MONSTER-san and V-san. I felt the unique beginning of spring's atmosphere, my heart gets excited when I remember that day, it becomes an enjoyable feeling. 4. Japanese movie, drama, anime etc. that you're attached to I like Japanese animes, and particularly "HaiKyu!!" which JIN-san also likes. It's also helpful in studying Japanese.

COMPLETE!

☆may repost / use translation w/credit☆

[connorrenwick]

Circular by Design: Daniel Svahn Turns Waste Furniture Into New Furniture

The circular economy is a proposed alternative to our traditional ‘take–make–waste’ model of production and consumption – one that offers hope in the face of environmental catastrophes from climate change to ocean plastic. Designing out waste and pollution, keeping materials and products in use and regenerating our natural environment are so important to contemporary design that we have created a dedicated space for the projects bringing these ideas to life. Circular by Design, a fortnightly column by longtime contributor Katie Treggiden, starts by exploring the reuse of waste as a way to keep materials in use and bring the legacy of the linear system full circle.

Stockholm-based product and interior designer Daniel Svahn established his eponymous studio after graduating from Beckmans Collage of Design in 2009 with a BFA in product design. Crediting his inspiration to the everyday things we see all around us – whether ‘small or big, relevant or irrelevant, nice or ugly,’ he feels anything can be made into something new if you’re observant enough and keep your imagination awake. True to his word, A New Paradigm – an evolution of the New Goodies but Oldies project he presented at the 2020 Stockholm Furniture Fair – is a collection of six pieces of contract furniture made from furniture discarded by the same sector.

Tell me a little bit about your childhood, education, and background in terms of how you first became interested in creativity, design, and sustainability.

I come from a typical Swedish working-class home. My parents had non-creative jobs but were creative anyway. Dad liked to paint and create sculptures for our backyard and mom would constantly reimagine our home, making countless hand-drawn floorplans. That was my first encounter with interior design, spatial contexts, and art. I, too, created a lot as a child and young adolescent, but it wasn’t until my early 20s that I started to think about pursuing a creative career. Funnily enough, my interest in design, furniture, and interiors started after I got a job at IKEA – I was exposed to such a range of furniture and interior products and my interest grew, but it was also a reality check as I learned more about industrial-scale production and the impacts of our contemporary lifestyles – something that has stayed with me ever since. But it was actually a supervisor at IKEA – Pernilla – who urged me to apply to art school. I studied painting, photography, sculpting, design, and installation art at various preparatory schools, before taking my BFA in product design. And now, after almost ten years of working freelance and teaching, I have just completed a Master’s in spatial design at Konstfack University of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm. I used this time to experiment with concepts around sustainability – an opportunity I am incredibly grateful for.

How would you describe your projects: A New Paradigm and New Goodies but Oldies?

They are both all about material reuse and upcycling – and are also a commentary on the production industry, ‘wear and tear’ consumption, and a common, widespread disrespect for material. They argue for material reuse and upcycling as part of any new production. They are projects that enable me to experiment, educate, and show the potential material can have if it is allowed to live out its full lifecycle. Even if a product is old, broken, or obsolete, the material in it still has so much more to give.

What inspired these projects?

During my Master’s, we had a course around ‘degrowth’ [the notion of living meaningfully, enjoying simple pleasures, and intentionally slowing things down in order to minimize harm to people and planet] and how we, as the interior architects and designers of the future, could adopt it in our creative practices. My work came to be about material waste from furniture and how we can and need to tend to ‘old’ material. It is absurd how much fine, already extracted and produced, material is being wasted after its first lifecycle, instead of being put to new use – because it’s cheaper and easier to buy or make new. But things are changing. In Sweden, this work is being led by a handful of companies and initiatives, but they often lack the creative and aesthetic sense in problem-solving and that’s where designers come in. We all need to work together – designers, architects, the industry, clients, consumers, and people in general – if we are going to shift to a more sustainable and circular way of thinking in most of our dealings in life.

What waste materials are your products made from, how did you select those particular materials, and how do you source them?

I focused on the furniture and material waste from the public sector and contract markets since those are the fields I work most in. Waste is a particular problem within the governmental sector, where laws and regulations are strict around public procurement, but not when it comes to getting rid of furniture deemed as old, broken, or obsolete. Most often, these items are just thrown away. However, in Sweden, we now have a handful of fantastic professional companies working on a large scale with reuse, upcycling, and reconditioning of furniture from that area and it is a growing field. Today such companies can recondition old furniture into near new. Interior architects can, therefore, provide more circular, sustainable, and better alternatives for new projects, instead of always selecting newly produced ones. But not all products or materials are easy to process that’s where my ideas come in. I have been working with Recycling Partner (RP) and Rekomo, to learn about the problem articles, such as laminated pieces and obsolete furniture typologies, that they have a hard time with and risk throwing away themselves. These products and materials are hard to recondition for new interior projects. When I suggested that I would try to create new things with this material, these companies bought into the idea straight away and gave me the material I wanted since it was waste for them anyway. It became a win-win situation towards a common goal of material reuse and upcycling.

When did you first become interested in using waste as raw material and what motivated this decision?

I have always used old or found materials in prototypes and even in final designs. The concerns around material waste have also been with me for a long time and I have been playing with different ideas of how I can create new things from old for years. It has been craft-, art-, and product-orientated and all of these ideas and trials have led me to where I am now. Learning from, and being inspired by ‘degrowth’, the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, and all amazing people and companies who push the sustainability agenda really drives me to push myself to find ways that I, within my field of expertise, can contribute to our common goals and a more sustainable and better future.

What processes does the waste material have to undergo to become the finished product?

They have not undergone too much processing at all – and actually that has been a guiding principle for me in the process, to not make too many or overcomplicated incisions into the material, but rather to see how far I can stretch it by doing as little as possible. Guided by the material, as a sort of collaborative partner in the design process, its pre-set appearance and with few cuts and simple joinery, I have tried to generate interesting and unique pieces of furniture. Both to push myself in my design creativity, but also to further justify working with reuse and upcycling by keeping hours and costs down, so it will not be more expensive in the end than buying new. When my pieces are finally done and put together, it just takes some sanding, a little tender loving care, and a coat of paint to make them look like all-new pieces that are not obviously upcycled. I think it is increasingly important in the justification of reuse as ‘the new production’ for the finished products to look new.

How did you feel the first time you saw the transformation from waste material to product/prototype?

Joy – and excitement of course! When you can really see what you can create from waste and how simple the process can be, it’s a pretty good feeling.

What happens to the products at the end of their lives? Can they go back into the circular economy again?

Sure. Since I have done minimal work cutting the pieces and connecting them with wooden pegs and glue, you can knock them apart and treat the material the same way again for new purposes and designs. If you would like to, that is. A bit of touching up, sanding, and adding new colors to it and you have a whole new product or object that allows the material to live as long as possible, regardless of the original intent.

How have people reacted to these projects?

Reactions have been very positive. You can tell that people and the industry are taking sustainability much more seriously now. In the specific field of material reuse and upcycling, I can also see a greater interest, especially for new ideas dealing with some of the more problematic waste streams – we cannot have too few of them. A nice and funny anecdote from this past February when I showcased my project The New Goodies but Oldies at the Stockholm Furniture Fair is that some architects told me that it probably was the best show at the fair and that they were ‘upset’ they hadn’t come up with the idea themselves! They said it was a breath of fresh air, apart from the rest of the ‘fluff’ at the fair, and that it gave them hope for the future. How could I argue with that? It just fueled my ambition and set me on my path for the work with the A New Paradigm project, and all that may follow.

How do you feel opinions towards waste as a raw material are changing?

Eyes and minds are slowly being opened. Climate change, the depleting of our natural resources, and overproduction have made people more aware of the effects we have on nature and their consequences, but it needs to spread even further. On a municipal and professional reconditioning level, the interest in developing these types of ideas is spreading, even into the world of politics. That is when we really can start to generate change and create new laws and legislations to simplify the usage of material reuse and upcycling to a greater extent throughout society. If we can create new products, out of the supposed ‘waste’, that look and behave like new, I cannot see a reason why not. By working with and addressing the industry and political sphere first to generate change, I believe it will be easier to spread the ideas to the rest of society later – or better yet, in parallel.

What do you think the future holds for waste as a raw material?

I think it holds great potential, but we need to develop more, new and smart ways of tending to all the kinds of waste we already have and, ultimately, stop generating more. There are already a lot of examples of this from new plastic products created of salvaged plastic waste from the oceans to the use of food waste for both coloring and new materials and the development of various kinds of composite materials. The problem with some of these though is that they may be hard to recycle when they are created, so it is not only about how we make things but also what happens to them at the end of their lives. Even if waste and the reuse and upcycling of it becomes the new method of production, we still need to rethink our consumerist ‘wear and tear’ ways and create things we really need and that will last for a really long time. Longevity is key.

via http://design-milk.com/

from WordPress https://connorrenwickblog.wordpress.com/2020/08/04/circular-by-design-daniel-svahn-turns-waste-furniture-into-new-furniture/

[elizabethcariasa]

2019 tax return filing checklist, including the documents itemizers need to fill out Schedule A

The individual tax filing season doesn't officially open until Jan. 27, but you're ready to file your taxes.

Or are you?

Tax filing, whether you do it yourself via tax software that you buy, use online or access via Free File or hand off the annual task to a tax pro, requires its own specific preparation.

You've got to have all your tax-related documentation before you can start filling out that Form 1040.

Here's a checklist of forms and documents you'll need to complete your taxes, as well as a look at tax situations you need to consider before filing.

Yes, it's long. But going into your tax filing properly prepared will pay off, both in making sure you get all the tax breaks you're due and by ensuring that you don't make a 1040 mistake that could cost you. 

Start with last year: Your 2018 return you filed last year was the first one under the new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA).

Yes, a couple of tax things have changed and yes, the Internal Revenue Service has (or will) tweaked the forms. But that last 1040 and any of its six new schedules you used are a great preview of what you're likely to see this filing season.

You'll also want to dig out that copy of last year's state tax filing if you live in a state that collects an income tax.

These old forms will be particularly helpful if your personal and financial life didn't change much in 2019 from 2018. They'll give you a good idea of what to expect this time round, especially what forms you'll need to do your taxes.

Plus, these documents will have some data — for example, Social Security numbers (yours, your spouse's and any dependents' identification digits) and bank account info if you want your refund directly deposited — that you'll need again this year.

Gather perennial filing documents: The world, tax and otherwise, largely has gone digital. That should help you in the gathering of the tax and financial documents that you'll need to fill out your taxes.

Most third-party tax reporters — these are the folks that let you and the IRS know how much money you made at your job, either full-time or as a freelancer, and how much unearned income you got from investments — must get you this relevant income info by Jan. 31.

Some documents, however, come sooner, especially if you've opted to receive this data electronically.

So instead of or in addition to dogging your mail carrier, check your email inbox or go directly to those accounts online for this data. Then download it a special tax filing folder.

Among the documents you of particular tax-filing note are:

W-2 forms reporting your wages and W-2G for gambling winnings if you had a really good time in Las Vegas.

Various 1099s with sundry income amounts. These include 1099-R for retirement distributions; 1099-INT for interest earned; 1099-DIV for investment dividends; 1099-B for brokerage sales; 1099-G for state tax refunds or other government payments; and 1099-MISC for independent contractor and other types of, as the alphabetic extension indicates, miscellaneous income.

Some 1098s, such as 1098-T that students will need to calculate education tax credit eligibility; 1098-E with potentially deductible student loan interest payment amounts; or the plain old Form 1098 for homeowners with mortgage interest, loan points and, in some cases, payments made toward private mortgage insurance (PMI) real estate taxes. Note that your PMI itemized deduction was resurrected by the federal spending/tax extenders bill signed into in law last December.

Don't forget more specialized filing material: Every filer's tax situation is unique. That's why you could need tax info in addition to the usual forms that applies to your particular financial circumstances and tax-filing needs.

Considerations here include:

Records of estimated tax payments you made for both your federal and state taxes.

The amount of tips or other gratuities you received as part of your job. You should have been keeping records of these amounts, especially if you've had to report them each month (as noted in the ol' blog's tax moves column there to the right) to your employer.

Any unemployment benefits you received. Among the government payments detailed on the aforementioned Form 1099-G are these payments you received. Yes, that's considered taxable income (sorry) and it has to be included on your 1040.

Did you move for a job last year? Sorry, you probably aren't going to be able to count on Uncle Sam to help cover your relocation costs. This above-the-line deduction is still around, but tax reform made the tax break available only to members of the Armed Forces.

Distributions from retirement accounts, depending on the type of plan you have, could be taxable. Double check income statements for your workplace retirement and/or IRA withdrawals, as well as your Social Security benefits if you're now getting those payments.

If you're still contributing to your retirement plan, is any of it deductible? Have your statement of these amounts to help you decide. Don't forget about plans you've set up if you're self-employed, whether as your full-time work or as side hustles. These contributions also can be used to reduce your tax bill, so have those statements handy, too.

Did you and your spouse separate or get divorced last year? Then a TCJA change to alimony could come into play this filing season. For divorces and separation agreements finalized after 2018 (that's tax-speak for "in tax-year 2019"), alimony payments are not deductible for the payer or counted as taxable income to the recipient. However, if your divorce was finalized pre-2019, you're grandfathered into the old system: alimony is still deductible, again as an above-the-line deduction, to the payer and still counts as income to the ex-spouse getting the payments. So be sure you have the paperwork showing the year of your marital split and, as long as they haven't made any modifications to that prior dissolution agreement, the amount paid/received for tax deduction/payment purposes.

Getting to know the tax you: OK, you have the paperwork, statements and official tax forms or IRS-approved substitutes.

Don't, however, start working on your taxes just yet.

You also need to take a look at your life last year and answer a few questions that could have tax implications. They include:

Which deduction method do you plan to use, claiming the standard amount for your filing status or itemizing? You're not locked into the deduction choice you made last year. You can change it each year, depending on your most recent financial and tax circumstances.

Do you have any unresolved state or IRS tax issues?

Did you get married or divorced last year? This will affect, among other things, your filing status.

Are you supporting anyone not living with you?

Are you providing the majority of financial support for someone who is living with you?

Did you have a child last year? Was that new family addition adopted or the adoption process begun last year? Again, among many other child-related tax matters, this could affect your filing status.

Did you pay for a dependent child's (or another dependent's) care so you could go to work?

Did you receive any assistance from your employer to pay for education expenses, child care costs or adoption expenses?

Did you or any member of your household pay any college costs?

Did you hire household help?

Did you make any major improvements to your home?

Did you sell, refinance or face any foreclosure transactions on your personal residence?

Do you own a second residence or any other real estate? If so, did you rent it out last year? The length of those rental periods could affect your tax bill.

How old are you? And how hard is it for you to read this? Your answers could affect the amount of standard deduction you can claim or even the form you file.

Did you retire? If you're collecting a private pension payout, you should get a Form 1099-R cited earlier. If you're also getting Social Security benefits, be on the lookout for your 1099-SSA. Also remember that some of your government retirement money could be taxable.

Were you a resident of, or did you have income in, more than one state during the year?

Did you have money in a foreign account?

Did you make any large purchases, such as a vehicle?

Did you have any nonresidential debt that was canceled?

Did you serve in the military? If so, did you receive combat pay?

Did you have health care coverage? Did you buy your medical insurance through the marketplace, either the federal one or your state's marketplace?

I didn't mean to pry, but the tax fact is that that there's really never too much information to take into account when it comes to filling out your annual return. Or planning for next year's taxes, but that's another post.

Some new heath care considerations: Now about your health care coverage….

Technically, the TCJA left in place the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requirement that we must have minimally acceptable health insurance, either through our employers, federal or state exchanges or by buying it yourself.

However, the TCJA took the teeth out of that mandate. It eliminated the ACA's shared responsibility penalty that had been assessed when folks opted not to buy acceptable coverage for themselves and, if applicable, their families.

So you no longer have to worry about owing Uncle Sam more if you didn't have health insurance. You also don't have to mess with checking the box on your return reporting your coverage.

Note, however, that this is only on the federal level. Some states still penalize their residents who do not have adequate health insurance.

And even though the penalty is gone, still be on the lookout for the a Form 1095-B or Form 1095-C, the statements issued by health care insurance issuers or companies (B for smaller businesses, C for larger ones), to confirm that you had medical insurance through your workplace. Keep these for your records.

As for folks who decided to keep or buy a so-called Obamacare medical policy last year through the federal or a state marketplace, the ACA and tax law remains the same for 2019 tax year purposes.

That means you'll need to make sure you get your Form 1095-A, officially titled the Health Insurance Marketplace Statement. This form has information you'll need if you're eligible for the premium tax credit, also known as the federal subsidy.

That tax break still is in effect and it can help you pay for the ACA coverage that you got through the marketplace or reconcile any advance subsidy payments you received.

Schedule A specific information: Now for folks who answered "itemizing" to the deduction method question. This choice could have a major impact on the filing documents you need.

The TCJA almost doubled the standard deduction amounts, so more taxpayers are expected to use this easier-to-claim deduction method this (and future) filing seasons.

But if you do find that itemizing still works better for you (and some of us still do), take note of the new law's Schedule A changes and what you now need (or won't need) to complete it.

Note, as of this item's posting on Jan. 8, the IRS hadn't updated the 2019 Schedule A (as you'll discover if you click the form link below) to reflect the extenders law change enacted on Dec. 22, 2019. So for now I'm using the 2018 form pictured above.

Here's a breakdown, using the new Schedule A as a guide, of what's still deductible and what you need to claim the expenses.

Medical These expenses survived the first major tax reform in more than 30 years. And the TCJA enhanced them a bit. Under the ACA, the threshold for deductions was supposed to go to 10 percent of adjusted gross income, but it was held at the prior-law 7.5 percent of AGI level for all filers, regardless of age. The extenders measure approved last month continued that percentage through the 2020 tax year. So on your 2019 (and 2020) return, you still can claim allowable doctor, dentist and a variety of health care related costs that are more than 7.5 percent of your AGI.

Regardless of the tax year or deductible threshold percentage, you'll still need records of your IRS-allowable medical expenditures. You don't have to submit those documents, but you'll want then if the IRS questions your claims. This includes prescriptions, doctor office visit payments, dental care costs, hospital bills, medical insurance premiums as long as they aren't paid at work via pretax dollars, long-term care insurance premiums and the mileage to and from physicians' offices.

State and local taxes (SALT) As homeowners with expensive residences already know, this part of the "Taxes You Paid" section of Schedule A didn't fare as well under TCJA. You still can claim the taxes you paid to your state and local tax collectors, including income or sales taxes — remember, can't deduct both; you must choose sales or income taxes to claim — along with real estate and personal property taxes, but there's now a limit. Only a maximum of $10,000 in state and local taxes, known by the acronym SALT, can be counted here.

IRS regulations issued last year also blocked state charitable workarounds to this limit. And four states that sued on the grounds that the SALT limitation is unconstitutional lost in federal court. They are appealing, (as are those still fighting the workaround battle), but the legal system won't work quickly enough to affect your 2019 return filing.

For most folks not living in high-tax states or expensive neighborhoods, the 10-grand SALT deduction cap shouldn't be a problem. And if you're not near the limit and are claiming sales taxes, don't forget about adding in any state or local sales tax that was tacked on to a major purchase, such as a car, boat or airplane.

Your state and local officials should provide you with receipts or similar documents detailing the taxes you can claim. If you want to add up your sales taxes yourself rather than use the optional state sales tax table amounts the IRS provides in the Schedule A instructions, you'll need all those receipts, too.

Interest This mainly applies to homeowners, who still can claim the deductible interest on their mortgage. This will be reported on the previously mentioned Form 1098 or an IRS acceptable substitute document.

Note, however, that the limit on the amount of home loan on which you can claim this deduction was reduced under the new tax law. Instead of interest on home indebtedness up to $1 million, you now can deduct only the interest on home loan amounts up to $750,000. Don't panic, though, if you have an older, larger home mortgage. If you got the loan on or before Dec. 15, 2017, your itemized mortgage interest claim is grandfathered in at the prior $1 million level.

One area, however, where more folks might take a deduction hit is with interest on home equity loans or home equity lines of credit (HELOC). These used to be fully deductible. Under TCJA, however, no matter when you got such a home-secured debt, the interest cannot be claimed if the proceeds were used for something else, say to pay your children's college tuition. This loan interest now is deductible only when the loan or HELOC proceeds are used to buy, build or improve the property used to secure the loan.

And thanks to the late-2019 Congressional action on extenders, the option to claim any private mortgage insurance (PMI) premiums is still available. It counts for tax purposes as mortgage interest and should be detailed on your home loan's 1098 statement.

Charitable gifts This itemized deduction is still on Schedule A and you can even give more that before if you're able because the deduction limit for gifts to public charities is increased from 50 percent to 60 percent of AGI. But you still need to follow the other rules, like getting contemporaneous substantiation — a receipt — for any contribution of $250 or more. In fact, get receipts from all the nonprofits to which you give regardless of how large or small your donation.

And since donation deductions still must be claimed as an itemized expenses, many folks are looking at other tax-related philanthropic strategies.

Casualty and theft losses This section is still on Schedule A, but now also is more restricted. You can only claim losses related to a federally declared disaster. In addition to the documentation of the losses and expenses not paid by insurance toward recovery, you'll also have to include the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) number and the location of property against which the tax claim is being made.

Other itemized deductions  This section for reporting specific itemized deductions gets a lot of attention because it's where you enter your gambling losses. This includes, among other things, the cost of losing bingo, lottery and raffle tickets, horse and dog racing slips and the money you dropped at the poker table or roulette wheel at your favorite casino. Obviously, you'll need to keep good track of these expenditures. Remember, though, that your losses can only offset the amount of winnings you got during the tax year, some of which were on the W-2G form mentioned earlier. You can't claim losses to produce a loss on your taxes.

And note that this section does not include those myriad expenses that used to be classified on pre-TCJA Schedule A as miscellaneous expenses. Those write-offs, generally for unreimbursed work-related expenses (either spent on the job you have or in looking for a new one), are gone.

Ready, set, wait to file: Whew! That's a lot of pre-filing stuff to consider regardless of whether you use Schedule A or take the easier standard deduction route.

It's also a lot of documentation to gather or track down, regardless of whether you plan to file your taxes yourself or deliver the material to your tax preparer.

But even if you think you have everything, think again.

via Giphy

With the official start of tax filing season 2020 a couple of weeks away (you did mark Jan. 27 on your calendar, right?), you still have time to make sure your pre-filing preparation is thorough.

Don't slack off here. Getting the documents and data you need beforehand will make the actual form filing easier.

And if you don't have the documents you need by Jan. 27, then take a breath. Remember, statements issuers have a few more days (until Jan. 31) to get the statements to you.

It might be hard, especially if you're expecting a refund, but just be patient and wait until you have all the information you need to file a complete and accurate return. You don't want to pay the price of filing an incomplete or inaccurate return too soon.

Did I overlook any tax documents or filing situations to consider before you sit down, whether by yourself or with your tax pro, to fill out your 1040? If so, please let me know in the comments section below.

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Hey everyone! Xavier here from Houston. While putting together this week's list of problems that startup can solve I compiled this other list of business models that a startup can pursue from a couple of articles and thought it can be useful to you guys so here it is:1. AdvertisingThe advertising business model has been around a long time and has become more sophisticated as the world has transitioned from print to online. The fundamentals of the model revolve around creating content that people want to read or watch and then displaying advertising to your readers or viewers.In an advertising business model, you have to satisfy two customer groups: your readers or viewers, and your advertisers. Your readers may or may not be paying you, but your advertisers certainly are.An advertising business model is sometimes combined with a crowdsourcing model where you get your content for free from users instead of paying content creators to develop content.Examples: CBS, The New York Times, YouTube2. AffiliateThe affiliate business model is related to the advertising business model but has some specific differences. Most frequently found online, the affiliate model uses links embedded in content instead of visual advertisements that are easily identifiable.For example, if you run a book review website, you could embed affiliate links to Amazon within your reviews that allow people to buy the book you are reviewing. Amazon will pay you a small commission for every sale that you refer to them.Examples: TheWireCutter.com, TopTenReviews.com3. BrokerageBrokerage businesses connect buyers and sellers and help facilitate a transaction. They charge a fee for each transaction to either the buyer or the seller and sometimes both.One of the most common brokerage businesses is a real estate agency, but there are many other types of brokerages such as freight brokers and brokers who help construction companies find buyers for dirt that they excavate from new foundations.Examples: ReMax, RoadRunner Transportation Systems4. Concierge/customizationSome businesses take existing products or services and add a custom element to the transaction that makes every sale unique for the given customer.For example, think of custom travel agents who book trips and experiences for wealthy clients. You can also find customization happening at a larger scale with products like Nike’s custom sneakers.Examples: NIKEiD, Journy5. CrowdsourcingIf you can bring together a large number of people to contribute content to your site, then you’re crowdsourcing. Crowdsourcing business models are most frequently paired with advertising models to generate revenue, but there are many other iterations of the model. Threadless, for example, lets designers submit t-shirt designs and gives the designers a percentage of sales.Companies that are trying to solve difficult problems often publish their problems openly for anyone to try and solve. Successful solutions get rewards and the company can then grow their business. The key to a successful crowdsourcing business is providing the right rewards to entice the “crowd” while also enabling you to build a viable business.Examples: Threadless, YouTube, P&G Connect and Develop, Cuusoo6. DisintermediationIf you want to make and sell something in stores, you typically work through a series of middlemen to get your product from the factory to the store shelf.Disintermediation is when you sidestep everyone in the supply chain and sell directly to consumers, allowing you to potentially lower costs to your customers and have a direct relationship them as well.Examples: Casper, Dell7. FractionalizationInstead of selling an entire product, you can sell just part of that product with a fractionalization business model.One of the best examples of this business model is timeshares, where a group of people owns only a portion of a vacation home, enabling them to use it for a certain number of weeks every year.Examples: Disney Vacation Club, NetJets8. FranchiseFranchising is common in the restaurant industry, but you’ll also find it in all sorts of service industries from cleaning businesses to staffing agencies.In a franchise business model, you are selling the recipe for starting and running a successful business to someone else. You’re often also selling access to a national brand and support services that help the new franchise owner get up and running. In effect, you’re selling access to a successful business model that you’ve developed.Examples: Ace Hardware, McDonald’s, Allstate9. FreemiumWith a freemium business model, you’re giving away part of your product or service for free and charging for premium features or services.Freemium isn’t the same as a free trial where customers only get access to a product or service for a limited period of time. Instead, freemium models allow for unlimited use of basic features for free and only charge customers who want access to more advanced functionality. For more on the freemium model (and other pricing models popular with SaaS businesses), see this article.Examples: MailChimp, Evernote, LinkedIn10. LeasingLeasing might seem similar to fractionalization, but they are actually very different. In fractionalization, you are selling perpetual access to part of something. Leasing, on the other hand, is like renting. At the end of a lease agreement, a customer needs to return the product that they were renting from you.Leasing is most commonly used for high-priced products where customers may not be able to afford a full purchase but could instead afford to rent the product for a while.Examples: Cars, DirectCapital11. Low-touchWith a low-touch business model, companies lower their prices by providing fewer services. Some of the best examples of this type of business model are budget airlines and furniture sellers like IKEA. In both of these cases, the low-touch business model means that customers need to either purchase additional services or do some things themselves in order to keep costs down.Examples: IKEA, Ryan Air12. MarketplaceMarketplaces allow sellers to list items for sale and provide customers with easy tools for connecting to sellers.The marketplace business model can generate revenue from a variety of sources including fees to the buyer or the seller for a successful transaction, additional services for helping advertise seller’s products, and insurance so buyers have peace of mind. The marketplace model has been used for both products and services.Examples: eBay, Airbnb13. Pay-as-you-goInstead of pre-purchasing a certain amount of something, such as electricity or cell phone minutes, customers get charged for actual usage at the end of a billing period. The pay-as-you-go model is most common in home utilities, but it has been applied to things like printer ink.Examples: Water companies, HP Instant Ink14. Razor bladeThe razor blade business model is named after the product that essentially invented the model: sell a durable product below cost to increase volume sales of a high-margin, disposable component of that product.This is why razor blade companies practically give away the razor handle, assuming that you’ll continue to buy a large volume of blades over the long term. The goal is to tie a customer into a system, ensuring that there are many additional, ongoing purchases over time.Examples: Gillette, Inkjet printers, Xbox, Amazon’s Kindle15. Reverse razor bladeFlipping the razor blade model around, you can offer a high-margin product and promote sales of a low-margin companion product.Similar to the razor blade model, customers are often choosing to join an ecosystem of products. But, unlike the razor blade model, the initial purchase is the big sale where a company makes most of its money. The add-ons are just there to keep customers using the initially expensive product.Examples: Apple’s iPod & iTunes, and now MacBooks & Pages, Numbers, and Keynote16. Reverse auctionA reverse auction business model turns auctions upside down and has sellers present their lowest prices to buyers. Buyers then have the option to choose the lowest price presented to them.You can see reverse auctions in action when contractors bid to do work on a construction project. You also see reverse auctions anytime you shop for a mortgage or other type of loan.Examples: Priceline.com, LendingTree17. SubscriptionSubscription business models are becoming more and more common. In this business model, consumers get charged a subscription fee to get access to a service.While magazine and newspaper subscriptions have been around for a long time, the model has now spread to software and online services and is even showing up in service industries.Examples: Netflix, Salesforce, Comcast18. API | DataThe API business model startups serve the emerging developer economy, typically monetizing via a subscription, SaaS like model based on API usage, in other cases monetizing via transaction fees if processing currency. ****Examples: Stripe and Twilio.This is by no means an exhaustive list of all business models that exist—but, hopefully, it gets you thinking about how you might structure your business.Let me know if you have any other suggestions(: