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design-studio-ui-ux · 8 days ago

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B2B Web Design: The Key to Enhancing User Experience for Enterprises

Can efficient web design compel enterprises to shop on your B2B website? Yes. In this article, we explain what enterprises want from B2B sites and how efficient design can help them achieve those things.

Shopping on B2B Websites

In 2024, the number of transactions on Business-to-Business (B2B) websites has been projected to grow at a rate 8-times higher than offline B2B sales

This rapid growth will only continue over the next few years

80% of B2B interactions will happen online by 2025

By 2026, the global B2B eCommerce market will be valued at over $36 trillion

What are the leading B2B websites of the world getting right to make so many sales and secure so much? They all have one thing in common – well-designed B2B websites.

What type of User Experience do Enterprises Expect from B2B Sites?

92% of B2B transactions involve two or more decision-makers and for a large percentage of transactions, the decision-making process takes up to 4 months to complete

When enterprises browse and shop on B2B websites, their expectations for user experience (UX) are shaped by the need for efficiency, reliability, and personalization

Here are the main web design features enterprises expect to find in B2B websites when they are in the thick of the shopping process:

Intuitive Navigation

Enterprises require a user-friendly navigation system that allows procurement teams to quickly locate products

This includes well-defined categories and subcategories tailored to their industry needs, along with a prominent search bar that supports advanced queries

For instance, a printer-buying firm should be able to easily navigate to a section titled “Office Printer” without sifting through unrelated categories on your printer-selling site

27% of B2B buyers in the US think that the ability to easily find products is the most important feature of a B2B website. Just by giving a B2B website a well-designed search and navigation system, you can gain an edge over your competitors.

Bulk Ordering Capabilities

B2B customers usually place large orders so enterprises expect features like bulk order forms that simplify this task

Customers should be able to add products using only the Part Number or SKU and specify the desired quantities for each item

Once completed, the form should seamlessly direct them to the checkout page

These simple web design features streamline the ordering process for enterprises and save them valuable time

Strong Payment Systems

Some enterprises are willing to spend over $1m on B2B websites

Having robust systems in place for handling credit limits is essential for attracting such high-margin clients

Enterprises appreciate B2B websites that accommodate substantial purchase orders while securely storing account information

Comprehensive Product Information

Detailed product information is crucial for informed decision-making

Enterprises expect a content management system (CMS) that supports extensive product descriptions, high-quality images, specifications, pricing details, and maybe even video content

Fast-Loading

60% of B2B enterprises claim that poor loading speed has prevented them from completing purchases on B2B websites

To avoid losing clients, B2B sites must provide fast-loading website experiences without any delays

It means every design element’s load speed needs to be individually optimized for speed

Mobile Responsiveness

78% of enterprises want B2B websites to offer better mobile experiences

Prioritizing a mobile-first B2B website design will help businesses cater to the growing number of enterprises that prefer this medium

A mobile-first B2B website design will ensure that users can navigate, search for products, and complete purchases easily from their touchscreen smartphones

Flexible User Permissions

Given that B2B purchasing often involves multiple decision-makers within an organization, enterprises value B2B websites that offer flexible user permissions

This feature allows various team members to log in and access shared account info while enabling administrators to manage permissions effectively across different users

Strong Customer Support Options

Robust customer support options are essential for addressing inquiries during the purchasing process

Enterprises expect easy access to live chat support, detailed FAQs, and dedicated account managers who can assist with complex questions related to orders or negotiations

Seamless Checkout Process

A streamlined checkout process is paramount for minimizing cart abandonment rates

Enterprises expect features like one-click checkout options that allow customers to make purchases quickly using stored payment information

How B2B Web Design Gives Enterprises the User Experience They Want

Here are all the steps a B2B web design team will take to address the UX expectations of enterprises:

Navigation

Conduct thorough user research to understand the specific navigation needs of different procurement teams and decision-makers within target enterprises

Develop a clear Information Architecture (IA) that organizes products into well-defined categories and subcategories relevant to the industry

Create wireframes and prototypes to visualize navigation flows

Conduct usability testing with real users to ensure they can locate products quickly and intuitively

Bulk Ordering

Design bulk order forms that allow users to enter Part Numbers or SKUs and specify quantities easily

Ensure the form is short, straightforward, and automatically corrects input errors

Implement functionality that automatically directs users to the checkout page upon form submission

Test the bulk ordering process with actual customers and refine it until it is perfect

Payment Systems

Only select robust payment gateways that are capable of handling large transactions securely

Add credit cards, purchase orders, bank transfers, and other payment methods to the site

Develop features for managing credit limits and payment terms at the account level

Ensure compliance with data protection regulations (e.g., PCI DSS) to safeguard sensitive financial info

Comprehensive Product Information

Choose a CMS that allows for rich content creation

Implement a searchable product database that allows users to filter content by various attributes

Regularly update content and product information to maintain relevance

Fast Loading

Optimize all design elements (images, scripts) for speed

Regularly measure their site load speed by checking their Google Core Web Vitals

Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to identify performance bottlenecks

Continuously monitor site performance metrics to ensure fast loading times

Mobile Responsiveness

Adopt a mobile-first approach in the design process

Ensure that all features are accessible on mobile devices

Design touch-friendly design and navigation elements (e.g., buttons)

Conduct thorough testing on various mobile devices to ensure usability across all screen sizes

User Permissions

Develop a robust role management system that allows administrators to assign permissions based on user roles within an organization.

Implement an administrative console for managing user accounts and permissions efficiently

Customer Support

Integrate live chat support and comprehensive FAQ sections directly into the website for live assistance during the purchasing process

Provide options for accessing dedicated account managers on the spot

Checkouts

Design a multi-step checkout process that minimizes required fields while still capturing essential info

Implement one-click checkout features for returning customers using stored payment information

Use tools to recover abandoned carts by sending reminders or incentives to complete purchases

Conclusion

Leading providers of B2B web design services know what enterprises want. They optimize their web designs to give them exactly what they want. These professionals also:

Employ clear, impactful messaging on B2B websites’ homepages that succinctly communicate the effectiveness of their B2B solutions

Regularly publish insightful content to position their clients’ brands as thought leaders

Explicitly communicate how their clients’ B2B solutions help the target enterprise on every product or service page

Offer ROI calculators to help businesses estimate the financial benefits of using their clients’ B2B solutions

Offer free trials or demos to their clients’ B2B solutions

By implementing these B2B web design strategies, you too can create engaging website experiences that drive conversions and foster long-term client relationships.

#b2b web design #b2b website design #website design #web design agency #b2b web design services

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navarroenterprises · 8 days ago

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Navarro Enterprise: Embracing Sustainability Through Reuse, Reduce, and Recycle in Fashion

At Navarro Enterprise, we believe that fashion should have a conscience. In an era marked by fast fashion and environmental challenges, we have made it our mission to promote a sustainable approach to clothing. By emphasizing the principles of Reuse, Reduce, and Recycle, we aim to create a positive impact on both our customers and the planet. Join us on this journey as we explore how you can participate in making fashion more sustainable!

Reuse: Breathe New Life Into Your Wardrobe

1. Upcycling Initiatives:

At Navarro Enterprise, we are committed to encouraging creativity. We offer workshops that teach you how to upcycle old garments into trendy and unique pieces. Transforming a simple T-shirt into a chic tote bag or turning worn jeans into stylish accessories is not only fun but also a fantastic way to reduce waste.

2. Clothing Swap Events:

We regularly host clothing swap events for our community. Bring your gently-used clothing and exchange them with others! Not only do you get to refresh your wardrobe without spending a dime, but you also foster a sense of community and sustainability.

3. Second-Hand Marketplace:

Our online platform features a curated selection of pre-loved garments. By shopping second-hand, you not only discover unique fashion items but also contribute to reducing the demand for new clothing production. Every purchase you make helps extend the life cycle of textiles!

Reduce: Mindfulness in Fashion Choices

1. Thoughtful Consumption Campaigns:

At Navarro Enterprise, we encourage our customers to be mindful of their clothing choices. Our "Buy Less, Choose Wisely" campaign promotes quality over quantity. When you invest in timeless pieces, you create a sustainable wardrobe that lasts and remains in style.

2. Capsule Wardrobe Guidance:

Creating a capsule wardrobe can greatly reduce clutter and waste. Our style experts are here to help you curate a versatile collection of garments that can be mixed and matched for any occasion. With fewer, well-thought pieces, you can maintain a fresh wardrobe while minimizing your environmental footprint.

3. Sustainable Brand Partnerships:

We are proud to collaborate with brands that prioritize sustainable practices. By sourcing our products from eco-conscious manufacturers, we ensure that each piece not only meets high quality standards but also respects our planet.

Recycle: Giving Back to the Earth

1. Textile Recycling Initiatives:

Navarro Enterprise actively participates in local textile recycling programs. We encourage our customers to bring worn-out clothing to our stores, where we facilitate responsible recycling. Your unwanted items can be transformed into new textiles, preventing them from ending up in landfills.

2. Educate and Inspire:

We provide resources and information about textile recycling and its importance. Our blog and workshop series offer insights into how you can recycle clothes responsibly and what happens to textiles after they’re recycled.

3. Supporting Local Initiatives:

We collaborate with local organizations focused on recycling and sustainability. By supporting these groups, we help strengthen community efforts for a healthier planet and inspire others to get involved.

Conclusion: Join the Navarro Enterprise Movement

At Navarro Enterprise, our commitment to sustainability through Reuse, Reduce, and Recycle is more than just a marketing slogan; it’s a fundamental part of who we are. We invite you to join us in making responsible fashion choices that embrace sustainability.

Together, we can pave the way for a more sustainable future in fashion. Every small action contributes to a larger movement towards environmental responsibility. So, whether upcycling that old sweater, shopping our second-hand marketplace, or participating in our events, know that you are making a difference.

Let’s work together to redefine fashion—one reused garment at a time. Together, we can create a community that values sustainability and inspires others to follow suit. Visit Navarro Enterprise today and take the first step toward a more sustainable wardrobe!

#clothes #social enterprise #navarroenterprises #FashionWithConsciene #SustainableFashion #Upcycling #CreativeFashion #WasteNotWantNot #SecondHandStyle #EcoConsciousFashion

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luckyladylily · 1 year ago

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Ok I thought about how to express this a bit more and

The way to properly manage development resources is to have properly set development goals from the start, not being willing to cut corners once your overreach catches up with you. Part of properly set goals is looking at what you have and determining what is reasonable to achieve, and how to maximize the usefulness of those resources within that limit. This is why style over raw fidelity comes up so often in these discussions - the greatest strength of a well treated art team is their ability to create a powerful and unique style that punches above it's weight class of raw fidelity. Any studio that doesn't crunch it's artists will try to maximize that advantage while properly masking the lack of raw fidelity. The advantage of no crunch is quality over quantity.

If you are not crunching you would basically always go for the higher quality because the cost of doing so is very small since you are already most of the way there. And if your goal is to provide better conditions for your workers, you will always be better served better managing your goals than looking at places you could cut corners.

On the other hand, crunching allows you to create more by stretching and stressing your development resources, but at the sacrifice of quality. Volume is prioritized over doing it right, because you can't crunch creativity. This leads to glitches, lack of individual and cohesive style, lots of corners are cut. The advantage of crunch is quantity over quality. It is very important to note this is not speed over quality, just quantity. There is a reason crunched games tend to have inflated development times - remember the fiasco of cyberpunk 2077. But, critically, it is usually quite easy to mask the failures of crunch when it comes time to market the game - its hard to see how something should have been better, while it is very easy to see how there could have been less of something.

And its not like crunch happens on accident. Any time a AAA developer has crunch time? That was planned. It was known that it would happen, because it always happens. They are actually very proficient at estimating the capabilities of their teams, as their entire crunch based business model relies on these teams being pushed to the limit before being discarded.

There is this perception that to get rid of crunch we as end point gamers are going to have to make some significant or even noticeable sacrifice. That is the lie of consumerist driven activism. The games might be smaller, but you would never notice because what's being cut is low quality bloat, and what remains is of higher quality than it ever was. The only people who really sacrifice something if we get rid of crunch is the investors who don't get the "benefit" of having wrung every last dollar of value out of developers before spitting them out and the CEOs who get a smaller bonus checks.

when i say 'i want worse graphics', some ppl assume i mean 'i want stylyzed instead of realistic' then get mad at me for saying it wrong (???) so let me be clear:

i want worse graphics. i want the models topology to be a bit off, i want the rigging to have a few verts mis-weighted, i want the final model to not be accurate to the concept art cuz it would have been too labor intensive to make the scarf that long. i want the shading to do the thing where a real time character shadow is casting on top of another baked in shadow. i want whatever eases the devs workload and prevents crunch so they can go home to their loved ones and actually enjoy their life outside of work

and im not kidding

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rosewood-multifandom-writer · 6 months ago

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How I describe RE5 and RE6: RE5 is what happens when you prioritize story and character over gameplay (the gameplay sucks). RE6 is what happens when you prioritize gameplay, quick time events as well as the quantity-over-quality vibes of the game (the storyline sucks, the villains suck, and it sucks that this game was basically the RE team writing themselves into a corner and pressed the emergency reboot button).

Gameplay wise, I like RE6. Story and character wise, I like RE5. I really wish we had RE6 have a bit of RE5’s writing, because it was slightly better in that game.

#mini ramble #ramble #resident evil

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stxleslyds · 4 years ago

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Is there any comic book author out there that would restore your faith in DC's ability to (a) properly characterize Jason Todd and (b) have him to through a believable character arc (whether he progresses or regresses)?

Like, if DC announced that <writer name here> is leading a Jason-centric series, you would think "Finally! Hope for my boy Jason!"?

... Or is Jason's inconsistency and static growth inevitable in business models like DC's and Marvel's? I mean, from my perspective, it appears that their business relies now on quantity than quality. That's why Jason's growth is progressing at the rate of a Dragon Ball Z fight.

Hi!

I would love to see Judd Winick back again writing Jason, what he did was phenomenal, he made Jason unique within the Batman books, so I would love it if he made a mini for Black Label or normal DC.

If we are going for a full ongoing or lets say a 20-issues long book i will go with someone like, Kelly Thompson (Black Widow 2020), Kyle Higgins (Nightwing 2011, Winter Soldier: Second Chances) or Matthew Rosenberg (Hawkeye: Freefall, Tales of Suspense: Hawkeye and the Winter Soldier)

I think they could write amazing Red Hood stories, Kelly writes Natasha who is a spy and extremely skilled assassin beautifully, it’s very well balanced but she makes sure to let the reader know that Natasha is a big deal and her enemies have to be extra careful with her. Also she is big on team-ups and i love that.

Higgins’ Nightwing run wasn't perfect (but i still liked it a lot) but it gave me the sense that he can make a complicated story work and his Dick Grayson felt consistent during his run. His work in Winter Soldier was perfect, Bucky is a complicated character with many issues that he wants to work on. Higgins told his story but didn't nerf Bucky’s skills or anything, he made them shine, and that's what i would love to see for Jason, a new story that doesn't need to nerf Jason in order for it to work.

Rosenberg is funny and he isn't scared of writing characters who kill, he has twists in his stories and he doesn't nerf characters, he adapts the context of the story to the power levels of the character he is writing. Another thing that i love about Rosenberg is the fact that he brings other characters to the book, in Hawkeye: Freefall Clint was joined by Bucky, Natasha, Sam, Luke and others and it worked, if they were with Clint during the whole issue or just for a few moments it still felt like a Hawkeye book and that's exactly what Jason needs too!

Those are writers whose work i have read but i would LOVE if DC brought a (Winick) Jason Todd/Red Hood fan. Someone who loves the character and has new stories to tell with the Jason that we once had. To give an example, i would love to see someone write Red Hood the same way Spider-Woman is being written by Karla Pacheco. Karla respects the origins of Jessica and loves the character, the stories that she is telling are based on events that have happened to Jessica.

I just want DC to find a writer that has loved Jason since his first appearance as Red Hood or someone who wouldn't be afraid of giving us Drug Lord/Underworld Boss Jason Todd. Jason being a badass and fighting people like Black Mask and the Penguin and shit. I want him to be different, to bring duality back to Gotham’s vigilantes.

But here is the thing, they way i see it, the concept of Red Hood as it was in 2005 is something that current DC can’t handle, they just don’t like it. They like heroes, they like people who don't kill because if they are in Gotham then they HAVE to follow the Bat’s rules. Jason doesn’t fit in. Even this washed up version of Jason doesn’t fit in, because his character wasn’t meant to follow the Bats rules!

Someone disagreeing with Batman is considered a villain, the is no gray area for DC anymore and that is what is hurting Jason's characterization. So in a sense the problem is DCs business model but not because they prioritize quantity over quality but because they refuse to be creative or to have some of their characters be dual, anti-heroes are an thing and DC should make use of them.

When it comes to Marvel, I believe that this era is their best, there are a lot of books, yes, but that’s because they want to reach more readers, you have the x-books for the mutants fans, the books directed for younger readers like Champions and Ms. Marvel, there is also the cosmic side that is getting even more interesting with Guardians of the Galaxy...to me Marvel is doing wonders right now.

Sorry for the long answer! I hope you have an amazing day and lets hope that Zdarsky’s Red Hood gets better or that Jason gets the love that he deserves!

#jason todd #red hood #dc comics #asksss

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drizztdonturden · 1 year ago

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#added the scene tally for context bc this isn't even *just* a durge problem let me know if you want it off the post op#tbh i wasn't even surprised anymore by just how much more content ast*rion had compared to everyone else#larian - for whatever reason - had decided to make him their poster child and writers' pet for the entirety of ea already#so to have it be the same at release was#not surprising#what was surprising though is that they didn't even *try* to even out the content the others had#the difference in quantity and quality and just overall care is so stark#to have it confirmed by one of the main writers and apparently NARRATIVE LEAD DESIGNERS whose job it is to oversee EVERYONE'S development#is... Disappointing to say the very least#to have a writer say sorry#we didn't time and resources for any of the others#but we miraculously have the time to plan storyboard write record and animate them all for ast*rion is Truly Amazing

Hello! I hope OP doesn't mind me commenting on this, but I'm actually the person that wrote the post on Reddit analyzing Wyll's level of content in comparison to other companions. A friend told me that discussion of the data was circulating on Tumblr, so I took a look at some of the things being said on here, and made an account so I could clarify a few things. @galedekarios, you pretty aptly described what the biggest issue is, so I hope you're okay with me including your tags!

The first thing I want to state, is that Baudelaire Welch, the dev in question, uses they/them pronouns. I've seen a lot of people on Tumblr use the wrong pronouns, and I want to make sure that if this dialogue is happening, we all respect their identity properly.

I know a lot of people seem to be under the impression that this is the case, but Baudelaire Welch is not Astarion's writer. That is Stephen Rooney. However, Baudelaire is the senior narrative designer on the game, and according to their own blog, they are the "feature lead for companion characters and romances," and they wrote the Durge storyline. This is important to note because this isn't about Astarion's/the Durge's writer receiving more resources than their peers, this is about one of the narrative leads prioritizing one character over another. According to their Discord posts, they took the opportunity to work on Astarion over other companions, and didn't put aside the time to do this work on any other companion.

I've also seen people talking about the Durge being the intended main character. This is not accurate--what is correct is that there were early implications that Tav was meant to be a Bhaalspawn. But in this iteration, Tav did not have amnesia, nor were they implied to secretly be the super sexy and totally Bhaaling Jesus Christ of All Bhaalspawn. It appears that when Larian made the decision to make Tav just some guy and add the Dark Urge as an origin, they chose to make Durge more explicitly evil. It's a misconception to claim that Durge was always meant to be the main protagonist--rather, the Durge was added so this fandom could have more freedom to build their character however they wanted.

People also have been claiming that Astarion was the most popular companion in Early Access--that's not true. That's not even true in the full release of the game.

Contrary to popular belief, the finalized Wyll was not the last implemented companion. That was Karlach, who still has about 2 hours more dialogue than Wyll has. Theo Solomon stated in his interview with Dan Allen that he was brought in to play Wyll in November, whereas Samantha Beart was brought in to play Karlach six months prior to release (Apologies for not having a time stamp! I lost my notes that included it).

When I made the post, I was subjected to racism, bullying, and harassment. I bring it up because I think it's important to note that the reason Wyll was changed so much was because Larian made a mistake, and listened to a group of people that tend to criticize characters of color--especially fictional black people--far more heavily than their white counterparts. And while I believe Larian is well-intentioned, I don't think it's entirely possible to discuss the disparity of content without acknowledging that Wyll is a black man in an IP that has a lot of vocal racists in its fan base.

Anywho, apologies for the rant. But I think that this is something that needs to be addressed, and that we as a fandom need to discuss it factually. I hope this helps clear up some things!

i had not seen the "durge/astarion is canon!" post until earlier today with that discord screenshot and honestly ... a writer being like "i managed to shove in all this extra content for astarion/dark urge, but then we simply ran out of time for the other characters" is not good, actually. that doesn't mean your ship is the most canon. it means that astarion kept getting extra attention and other companions kept getting neglected. that other companions simply do not have the amount of content astarion has is not a good thing, it is a bad thing.

and like i'm saying this as someone who really loves astarion/durge. it's unplatable to me and that larian writers are sitting in fan discords going "yeah we just didn't do that for other characters but somehow i found the time for this!" is kind of gross to me

#i did used to use tumblr so luckily i know how to tag things lol #bg3 critical #critical thinking #also if ANYONE wants to link me that astarion/durge is canon post pls do i'd love some context haha

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apollotarot · 3 years ago

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🌚 New Moon In Scorpio 2021 Tarot Spread

We at Apollo Tarot share a tarot spread related to the zodiac sign the Moon is passing every New and Full Moon. Here is our New Moon in Scorpio 2021 Tarot Spread for the November 4th Moon.

New Moon In Scorpio 2021 Tarot Spread

If you already know how to plan for your life using the Moon Cycles, please skip the quick intro below, and jump to the juicy part. But if you need a refreshment, here is how to use our Tarot Spreads according to the Moon's position.

A quick intro to our New Moon in Scorpio Tarot Spread:

We can align our intentions with the Moon's cycles to make the most out of its influence on us.

New Moons are perfect for new beginnings, starting projects, or growing them. Now Full Moons, and the period after it, are most suitable for a "draw-back." That's when we evaluate our accomplishments, reorganize, and plan for the next New Moon phase.

So, briefly:

🌚 New Moon: Set your intentions, and begin your projects;

🌝 Full Moon: Celebrate your achievements, and release what no longer serves you.

Since the Moon rules the emotional tone of a given moment, it's good to know her mood. Which is influenced by the zodiac sign the Moon is passing at the moment. The zodiac signs also indicate how well we do things.

What are the planetary aspects affecting this New Moon in Scorpio?

On November 4th, the Moon is all new again. The alignment of the Sun and the Moon takes place in the sign of Scorpio, with Mars, the planet of energy and initiative, squaring restrictive Saturn and rebellious Uranus.

It will be one of the most challenging Moon Cycles of the year, so let's prepare for it.

By the way, November as a whole is a tense and intense month 😵‍💫 #spoilalert.

As said before, Mars and Uranus are opposing each other. But the highlight of this cycle that begins with the New Moon In Scorpio will happen with a Full Moon that will also be a lunar eclipse.

This Eclipse during a Full Moon can shake structures, mess with once secured resources, question our values and how we function. In addition, this Scorpio Moon Cycle can touch emotional issues powerfully.

What energies are involving this New Moon in Scorpio Cycle?

In Scorpio, the Lunation that begins now promises intensity and asks for deep dives within, but be careful not to drown. Overthinking your feelings is never helpful. Instead, close your eyes, pause for a moment, and use your heart to discern aspects of yourself that are in time to let go.

The risks of accidents and damages also exist throughout this New Moon in Scorpio Cycle.

We may face unforeseen events, setbacks, and changes in plans. Time schedules can also be different from predicted, and irritability can take us over.

We must not act on impulse, but we must take care not to fail to do what are in our plans. This New Moon In Scorpio reinforces the importance of honoring commitments and agreements.

And there's more, Venus in Capricorn will shake relationship structures since the Planet of Love will be retrograde and confronting Pluto for months to come.

What will this New Moon in Scorpio bring to the collective?

Collectively, these are challenging economic and political times, with risks of more turmoil ahead. We must also be aware of the risk of accidents, climate issues, and natural disasters.

It is essential to go deeper into what we are up to, prioritizing quality over quantity and rethinking our paths. Use this New Moon in Scorpio to question your values and reflect if they can bring effective changes for a better world.

These are not easy times, but we can change the course of events, if only with time.

Five Cards - New Moon in Scorpio Tarot Spread:

Now, to make the most of this New Moon in Scorpio, start shuffling your favorite tarot deck, and ask the cards:

New Moon in Scorpio 2021 Tarot Spread

How can I best transmute negative feelings into positive ones?

What do I need to be aware of before acting on impulse?

How can I best prepare for unpredicted events?

How can I strengthen my ties with loved ones to endure challenging times?

What do I need to change in me to change the world?

As an extra activity, you may want to pick the Death Card from your tarot deck and meditate or reflect on its power, as this card correlates with Scorpio.

Our Bijou Tarot Card Necklaces are among our shop's best-sellers. Shop for yours here 👇

Share your New Moon in Scorpio 2021 Tarot Spread with me!

I'd love to hear your thoughts about our New Moon in Scorpio 2021 Tarot Spread. Please leave us a comment here or on any of our social media channels.

Don't forget to sign up for our newsletter (subscribe at apollotarot.com) to get the next Full Moon in Taurus 2021 Tarot Spread in time.

We have a collection of exclusive Tarot Card Phone Cases. Take a look here.

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jebazzled · 4 years ago

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troubleshooting: common quandaries and thots to overcome

It's no surprise that people whose major hobby involves writing, the internet, and fandom are often people who carry a lot of anxiety and tension around with them. For many of us, writing is something we do to escape, relax, unwind, and flex creative muscles we might not get to use at work or school. I get it.

For many of us, however, it also seems like forum rp is a stressor, a cause of great anxiety and insecurity. We've all seen or known people who go through a major rp-related crisis.

Sometimes, these crises are truly major - catastrophic falling-outs and permanently damaging rumor mills and etc etc. But a lot of the time? Well. It's not that it's "in your head," because obviously what you are feeling is very valid. But I think sometimes the way we think of internet spaces fuels dysfunctional thinking.

This isn't quite a tutorial; it's more in the vein of my tough love re: writer's block. I'm going to talk through some common scenarios, anxieties, and other issues I see in the rp community, and offer my (fully unsolicited) thoughts and advice. As always, your mileage may vary, but I'm trying!

Topics covered, because this one is a LONGBOI:

Insecurity & thread reactions

Insecurity & completionism/ Being Liked

Jealousy (especially ship-related)

The server is not therapy.

So here's the thing about the internet: for better or worse, it's for everyone.

On the far end of the spectrum, this means that the internet is a great incubator for toxic garbage. See: right-wing radicals, etc. But for most of us, this means that there is room on the internet for weird little me and my weird little hobby. You can find a community to talk about virtually any interest. You, for example, found the rp community.

So here's the thing about the internet: for better or worse, it's for everyone. This means that while you can find a community to talk about virtually any interest, you are never going to find a community that is completely without flaws.

There will always be people who annoy you, rub you the wrong way, or who you think are mean-spirited and negative. There will always be someone you don't get along with. There will always be people who disagree with you.

I have been in servers where members come to me time and time again to complain about other members, as though I am going to boot someone for wanting to talk about x just because they, personally, are sick of hearing about x. I am not going to tell someone to change their personality because someone else, personally, finds it annoying.

Offline, you wouldn't tell your manager at Starbucks to fire Susie because you don't like talking to her. You would simply not talk to her outside of a professional context. You would simply not take your break at the same time as her. You would simply not make small talk with her when the store is quiet and would instead, like, read the liner notes on whatever CD is at the register. (Does Starbucks still sell CDs?)

There will always be people in your community who you do not like and whose logic does not make sense to you. If they are not doing anything genuinely abusive, they have as much right to be in your community as you do. There is, in fact, likely someone in your community who finds you somewhat annoying. C'est la vie.

A community is not an environment custom-curated to your exact specifications. It is a community. You are not entitled to it being perfect. You are entitled to a space free from harassment and bigotry. If the space is free from harassment and bigotry and you cannot enjoy the space because someone else in it is existing harmlessly in a way that you dislike or find irritating, you have the option to leave the community. Discord server links are not a binding contract!

This is all to say: I think a lot of us expect far more of our online communities than is fair. Remember that every single person in your server is an individual human being with an interior life as rich as your own, and a list of neuroses possibly as extensive. None of them, yourself included, are perfect.

Oh, speaking of that list of neuroses! Let's tackle it, babe.

Your neuroses are not anyone else's problem.

It is on you to work through and overcome your anxieties and insecurities.

It is kind of other people to accommodate your growth, or to modify their behavior so as not to trigger your anxieties and insecurities. They are by no means required to do so.

Note: they do need to respect your triggers, if you have them and list them.

So here we go: troubleshooting frequent freak-outs. Buckle up!!!

Insecurity & thread reactions (or lack thereof)

Some people experience a lot of anxiety and insecurity around how their writing partners react to their threads. This might surface in the form of feeling unappreciated/disliked if the thread partner doesn't drop an emoji react on the link in your server's tag channel, or in feeling like no one likes your writing because they aren't swooning over it in #affirmations/ #thread-shoutouts/ #quotables/ etc.

You are serving as both texters in this meme.

So... you don't actually know what's going on with your thread partner at any given moment, you know? Personally, here are some possible scenarios with me as your thread partner:

You tag me and I put a passage from your post in #thread-shoutouts: I am at my desk, on my computer, not engaged in active DM conversation with anyone, and your post either made me cackle or it made me emo

You tag me and I DM you to gush about it: there's a lot happening in the server right now/ I don't want to derail a public conversation

You tag me and I react with an emoji: I am at date night with my girlfriend and she is in the bathroom. I have had time to read your post. I probably haven't put it in my tracker and will try and remember later, when I find it in one of 100 tabs open on Safari on my phone.

You tag me and I don't react at all: I am swamped with work and read your post in between emails. Instead of taking a second to react I immediately jumped into my tracker to log your reply, and now I am back to emails.

You'll notice none of these rationales are: "I don't react at all because I dislike you as a human." "I actively chose to quote Susie in #thread-shoutouts and not you because I want to hurt you." "I don't DM you about our thread because I hate our thread."

It doesn't have to be that deep! Stop hurting yourself. Let yourself assume the kindest option. After all, don't you want people to assume the best of you, too?

If your thread partners know you value emoji reacts or thread shoutouts, it is kind of them to do them. But it isn't inherently unkind for them not to, either. You're better off trying to kick that need for public validation.

Overview for addressing thread reaction insecurity:

If your server has a thread shoutout/quotables/etc channel, mute it. Don't look at it. Stop giving yourself something to fixate on.

When you are worried that someone hates a thread because they aren't giving emoji reacts, instead of building a narrative in your head that may or may not be true - communicate! "What beats do you want us to make sure we hit in this thread?" is a good introductory question to see if a thread is doing something for either or both of you, and gives your partner a chance to say something if they do want it to go in a different direction and would be more excited.

If someone is continuing to write with you, regardless of whether they post an emoji, it is probably because they enjoy writing with you!

Be deliberate about your thread premises! In my experience, threads done "just because" without a specific purpose (e.g. building chemistry between ship partners, introducing a subplot about a cursed hairbrush, kidnapping a house elf) are the first to lose steam and lose interest. It's entirely possible that someone likes you, likes writing with you, and simply doesn't prioritize this thread above their others because there's nothing meaningful to prioritize!

Keep your eyes on your own paper and stop reading so much into what other people do or don't do. It's probably not that deep!

Insecurity & completionism/ Being Liked

You would not be the first person to exacerbate their own problems because of a sense of duty to the spirit of completionism. Here's the thing, friend:

You do not need to write with every member.

You do not need to plot with every character.

You do not need to be in every subplot.

You do not need to have a character in every member group.

People fall into this trap thinking that if they can be everything to everyone, it will make them popular/important/beloved/a truly included member of the site.

But quantity is not the same as quality. You might have a thread with every character onsite but if half those threads are under a "they're on the same bus" premise, then yeah, people aren't going to want to keep up with that thread, and it's going to contribute to your thread reaction anxiety!

Write characters you are excited about. But more importantly: write plots you are excited about. Write threads you are excited about. You can be friends with people in your server without writing with them! You are better off writing a smaller number of really well-plotted, juicy plots that everyone involved feels heavily invested in than in writing a lot of watery threads for the sake of writing with every single person. It's hard to believe, but many people would rather NOT have a thread and wait until there's a juicy reason to than write a thread that doesn't have any development relevance simply for the sake of it.

If you're finding that it's hard to find juicy or plot-driven reasons to thread with many people, that might be a hint to write different types of characters. While yes, people exist who are very self-contained and isolated, the purpose of rp isn't to be a direct mirror of real life. It's to have fun while writing with other people. If your character is not fun to write with other people, they are probably not a good fit for an rp setting.

RP is not a popularity contest. This is not high school. No one is voting for prom queen. Be kind and be open to ideas and collaboration and people will like you. People will enjoy writing with you! People might even go out of their way to write with you. And they will be writing things that matter to both of you. That's winning, dude.

You might be tempted to pinpoint a "popular group" in the server and fix your sights on becoming one of them. This is also a failing proposition: often the "popular group" you might first identify is incorrect, and you are mistaking "exclusivity" for "importance." Sometimes sites have a small, tight-knit group with intricate inter-group plots and a very visibly closed-off dynamic. Since that dynamic mirrors the popular girls you were raised watching in teen movies, I can understand why you would assume that these people are the most important people to befriend on a site. They're not. They're cliquey and exclusive, and trying to get them to make room for you when they have intentionally and performatively set themselves aside from many other members is like... lmao, dude, it's not going to work.

Not only that, but the fact that these people are hard to pin down? It's not a selling point! The most beloved members on any site are not the ones who make you beg for a scrap of their attention. The most beloved members are the people who are friendly and kind. THAT is who you want to Get In with.

Overview for addressing completionism tendencies and "what if I'm Left Out" woes:

This is not a popularity contest, and you are a grown up. Focus on having fun and enjoying writing. That is not something you can do if your first priority is Getting In with the people you think are a site's "Popular Crowd."

You do not need to be everything to everyone. You cannot be everything to everyone.

In fact, everyone will appreciate you more if you do less and you do it well.

Focus on the positive. Who cares if Susie and Sally won't write with you? Sarah and Sam love writing with you! Yes, it would make sense for Susie to plot with you because your characters work together - but again, this is a hobby, not real life, and if you and Susie don't vibe, your characters don't need to interact! Why write with people who make you feel insecure? Trick question; there's NO reason to!

I understand the drive to be well-liked. Trust! I, too, desperately want to be well-liked. You'll have better luck if you don't try so hard. Be yourself and make friends with people who genuinely like you. Stop worrying about what the site's yearbook will look like. There isn't going to be a fucking yearbook.

Jealousy (especially ship-related)

Do you ever find yourself feeling a spike of anxiety or resentment when one of your favorite writing partners writes with someone else?

This reaction is especially common where ships are concerned: when one partner writes AU ships with their character, or has a plot with their character's previous partners before their OTP, etc.

It's a bit territorial, and it's not a good look, friends!

Your writing partners get to write with other people. How much they enjoy writing with other people has nothing to do with how much they enjoy writing with you. How much they write with other people has nothing to do with you. What they write has nothing to do with you. It's not all about you!

It truly doesn't matter how anxious you feel when your writing partners write with other people. They are entitled to write with whoever they want! What makes you nervous about them writing with other people?

In a forum rp environment, the best way to secure fulfilling, satisfying character arcs for your character is to plot with multiple others. That includes you, on both fronts: your writing partner needs you for their character's development as much as you need them! They aren't going to just stop writing with you arbitrarily.

If they do stop writing with you, there is probably a reason! Are they still on the site? Are they still writing? Are they going through something in real life that might impact their muse? There could be a hundred reasons why they are writing more with Susie now than they were with you, and they could be anything from "Susie is out of town this week so I want to give her a lot of replies to come home to" to "a ladder fell on my head and I am recovering from a concussion" to, possibly, "your territorial behavior makes me uncomfortable, and I would rather write with people who do not make me feel bad about writing with other people."

This behavior is especially weird in a ship context, and is something worth unpacking. When you write ships, do you resent/get anxious about your ship partner writing AU ship threads? About their character having previous partners? About their character having crushes that they do not act on?

An AU ship is an alternate universe specifically because it is not real. Susie and Sally shacking up in a space AU has no bearing over whether or not Susie and Marco end up together as finals.

Just like human beings have romantic history, it makes sense for characters to have romantic history, and these plots give your writing partner an opportunity to write plots that they might not get with you. For example, your writing partner might want to write a breakup plot with weird friendship tensions, which might not be a relevant vibe for Susie and Marco. But your partner can explore that with Marco and Sally. Again: it's not all about you, and your writing partner gets to write what they want, and you do, too.

Sometimes I think we can trace the territorial side of ship-oriented plotting to toxic monogamy culture, as described here. Particularly relevant are the below:

the idea that you should meet your partner’s every need, and if you don’t, you’re either inadequate or they’re too needy

the idea that commitment is synonymous with exclusivity

the idea that your insecurities are always your partner’s responsibility to tip-toe around and never your responsibility to work on

the idea that your value to a partner is directly proportional to the amount of time and energy they spend on you, and it is in zero-sum competition with everything else they value in life

Your writing partner is not cheating on your ship by giving their character other ships. If it feels that way to you, you are getting too emotionally invested, and you should probably back off of ship-oriented plotting for a while to unpack why you are feeling this way.

That said, of course be clear about boundaries. This applies both to M-rated content and to parameters of plotting. For example, you might tell your partner that you are not interested in a plot whose core conflict is "will they or won't they." You want to write these characters with the longevity of their relationship never in doubt. You might not want a plot where one character is cheating on the other. You might want these characters to be monogamous. That's fair! It's not fair for you to expect your writing partner to limit the plots they do that do not actually involve your character to avoid triggering your insecurities.

Overview for dealing with jealousy:

It's not all about you! Your writing partners deserve to have a good time as much as you deserve to have a good time. They can enjoy writing with you AND writing with someone else.

Be very clear with your boundaries. If there are plots between your character and another character that you cannot write, let your partner know before they accidentally step in a minefield.

Be willing to step away from ships. There are plenty of plots that do not involve ships. If ships make you a jealous and anxious mess, you should stop writing ships and work on that journey. It is more important to be a good writing partner than it is to write romantic ships.

Writing is such a personal thing, and we all of course connect very deeply to our characters - it only makes sense that we be invested in their outcomes! But if your gut reaction is one of jealousy, this is something that you need to work on, not something your writing partners should need to tiptoe around.

The server is not therapy.

Because rp is an online hobby, it can be easy to forget that every person you interact with in the server or forum is also a whole ass person on the other side of the screen. Which is to say, your rp friends do not exist to be your emotional support.

Of course they can be supportive - some of my closest friends are people I have met through rp! But online as in real life, you need to remember that everyone is always going through something. You are never the only person in the world who needs support, and you need to be thoughtful in how you engage with your friends here.

Do you listen when they share their problems, or do you immediately change the subject to talk more about your own? Do they not share their problems at all - is this a one-sided close friendship? Are the majority of your DMs to them seeking comfort, advice, affirmation, validation?

If you need a text-based counseling service, BetterHelp can connect you with a therapist. A therapist is a person whose job is to listen and ask nothing from you for their own personal emotional needs.

Your friends - online as in real life - are not therapists. They will not always have the bandwidth to help you. They will not always feel comfortable helping you. The internet breeds a sense of intimacy, the idea that regular chat conversation makes for a deep knowledge of another person. And of course this is sometimes the case! But in many cases, the person you are asking for psychoanalysis in the DMs on Discord doesn't actually know you very well. And if you have been relying on them for emotional support, you might be wearing them out.

Overview for not treating your rp friends like therapists:

Be thoughtful. If you have something heavy you want to talk about, first ask if they have the bandwidth. For example: "Hi Susie! Do you have the energy to give me some advice on x work issue?"

Listen. If your friend wants to talk about their issues, stop thinking about how you can relate and it sounds just like that time you... and just LISTEN. If you want to offer advice, keep it about them. If you don't know how to help, commiserate. "That's rough, buddy."

Self-check. Look at your chat history as though it's between your friend and someone you've never met. What do you think of this person? Are they a good listener? Do they reciprocate the support they get from your friend? Do they remember things your friend tells them about their own life? Or is this a one-sided conversation? If you're realizing that you're leaning too much on this friend, give them some space. If you're realizing you've gone way overboard leaning on this friend, maybe apologize and promise to be more conscientious going forward.

Be considerate. Remember that every person you know from the internet is so much more than what you've seen - I don't mean that in a "all internet users are creeps" way, I mean that in a "even if you've chatted in a server with some every day for six months, you still don't actually know them super well." Think of other people you've spent Some Time with. Think of your lab partner in 8th grade bio. You shared a desk with them for an hour a day five days a week for two thirds of the year. How much of your life did you share with them?

This tutorial got LONG - sorry, friends! Lots to talk about. I'm always happy to give Real TalksTM like this one. Feel free to drop into my askbox if you have a topic you'd like me to cover. I'm full of thoughts and feelings, and it would give me great joy for y'all to ask for them for once.

I hope this is helpful, and wish all y'all the best. Happy writing!

#rp guides #resources

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kiingocreative · 4 years ago

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In his book How to Write Dazzling Dialogue, James Scott Bell lists a couple of techniques we can use to help train our dialogue skills.

The Voice Journal is a technique to discover a character's voice. Bell says, "This is a free-form document, stream of consciousness, in the character's own voice. How do I know what the character's voice sounds like? I prompt them with questions and then let them talk. I do this fast, without thinking about it much. What I'm waiting for is the moment when the character starts talking to me in a voice I did not plan. And it always happens. That's the fun part, when the character starts to take on life for me. We don't want our characters sounding the same when they speak, and the Voice Journal helps you avoid that condition."

As with most creative techniques, we want to prioritize quantity over quality while we're in the creative mindset. Don't be concerned if a character's voice isn't coming yet--just keep writing. Bell says, "Take your time with this journal. Don't try to do it all in one sitting. I come back to it often with my main characters, adding to it, analyzing it, sharpening it."

Bell also suggests a time-tested technique for practicing dialogue: improvisation. He says, "A 'down and dirty' way to do improv, however, is right in your own home. Watch TV with the sound off, and do the voices of the characters. I find it best to do this with commercials. The ads move fast, so you have to. This may sound silly or crazy, but guess what? You're a writer. You're already crazy. Go ahead and grease that wheel." Bell also suggests pulling from a list of character archetypes (such as "geek", "mad scientist", "farmer", etc.) and improvising in that chosen voice.

#writingtips #creative writing #screenwriting #writers on tumblr #writers #writing #writerblr #writing advice #writing community #writing resources

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arcticdementor · 3 years ago

Link

I have to begin this column by admitting that “Biden” (note: when in quotation marks, I refer to the “collective Biden”, not the clearly senile man) surprised me: it appears that my personal rule-of-thumb about US Presidents (each one is even worse than his predecessor) might not necessarily apply in “Biden’s” case. That is not to say that “Biden” won’t end up proving my rule of thumb as still applicable, just that what I am seeing right now is not what I feared or expected.

…

I think that both of these grossly oversimplify a probably much more complex and nuanced reality. In other words, “Biden” surprised many, if not most, Russians. That is very interesting by itself (neither Bush, nor Obama nor Trump ever surprised the Russians – who knew the score about all of them – in any meaningful way).

My strictly personal guess is that there is some very serious infighting currently taking place inside the US ruling class. Furthermore, that serious infighting is not about core principles or even strategy – it is a dispute over tactics only.

We have to keep in mind an old truism about outcomes: John F. Kennedy once said that “victory has a hundred fathers, but defeat is an orphan” and he was right. When any group seizes power and effectively controls its interests, all is well, and everybody is busy consuming the proverbial milk and honey. But when this group suffers a series of humiliating defeats, a typical cascade of events begins:

Finger pointing: everybody blames everybody else (but never himself/herself)

Hindsight wisdom: “if I had been in charge, this would not have happened!”

Infighting over quickly shrinking spoils of war

A collapse of the centralized center of authority/decision-making centers

Generation of subgroups, fighting each other over their sub-interests

In other words, following many years of extremely weak presidential administrations (since Clinton, imho), it is hardly a surprise that infighting would take place (in both parties, by the way). In fact, an apparently chaotic set of uncoordinated, or even contradictory, policies is what one should expect. And that is exactly what we have been observing since 1993 and this dynamic has been getting worse and worse with each passing year).

…

That being said, there are some observations which might be helpful when trying to at least (indirectly) identify who are the main groups fighting each other.

The hardcore, really nutty, russophobes are still here, especially in the US media which seems to be serving not so much “Biden” as much as some “crazies in the basement” kind of cabal. Next to the legacy ziomedia, there is an increasing number of US/NATO/UK military officials who are foaming at the mouth with threats, warnings, complaints and insults, all against Putin and Russia. This is important because:

The “Zone A” media has comprehensively and very effectively concealed the very real risks of war with Russia, China and Iran. And if this was mentioned, the presstitutes always stressed that the US has the “best military in the history of the galaxy” and that Uncle Sam will “kickass” anybody he chooses to. If the people of the USA were informed of the truth of the matter, they would freak out and demand that this path to war be immediately abandoned and replaced with a meaningful dialog.

US/NATO/UK authorities have talked themselves into a corner where they have only two outcomes left: they can do what the US always does, that is to “declare victory and leave”, or they can force Russia to protect her borders on land, air and sea and, thereby, face a major military humiliation delivered by Russia.

Truth be told, during the recent naval exercises UK and US officials made a lot of threats and promises to ignore Russian warnings, but in the end, they quietly packed and left. Smart choice, but it must have been painfully humiliating for them, which is very dangerous by itself.

…

There will be many more NATO exercises in the Black Sea in the future. Ditto for USN operations off the Chinese, Iranian or DPRK coasts. This (always explosive) combo of ignorance, arrogance and incompetence could result in a major war.

LAnother option is the terminally delusional UK government (supported by those Brits who still have phantom pains about their lost empire and, of course, by the largely irrelevant 3B+PU gang) might do something really stupid (say, like this) and trigger a war with the DPRK, Russia, China or Iran and then the US would have to move to defend/save a British Navy which is mostly a joke (at least by Russian or Chinese standards). The main problem here being that the USN is also in a terrible shape and cannot compete against Russian and Chinese standoff weapons (I mean that literally, there are currently no defenses against maneuvering hypersonic missiles! The only exception would be the Russian S-500). The latter two nations, by the way, have joined into an informal and unofficial military alliance for many years already; check out this article and video or this one for a recent update).

But opposite, de-escalatory developments are also taking place. First and foremost, “Biden” seemed to have “farmed out” the “Ukrainian dossier” to the Germans and washed Uncle Shmuel’s hands from it. If so, that was a very slick and smart move (which is something we have not witnessed from any administration in decades!). I highly recommend this translation of a most interesting article by arguably the best Ukraine specialist out there, Rostislav Ishchenko.

Ishchenko goes into a lot of interesting details and explains what “Biden” apparently just did. Frankly, the Germans richly deserve this full-spectrum mess and they will be dealing with the consequences of this disaster for a long time, possibly decades. In fact, the Germans are stuck: they want to be the Big European Leader? Let them. After all, the EU politicians, led by Germany, did all they could to create what is now often called “country 404” – a black hole in the heart of the European continent. Germany is the biggest economic power of the EU? Good, then let the Germans (and the rest of the EU) pay for the eventual reconstruction of the Ukraine (or of the successor-states resulting from the breakup of the country)! Russia simply cannot foot that bill, China most definitely won’t (especially after being cheated several times by the Ukies) and the USA has absolutely no reasons whatsoever to do so. I would even argue that chaos (social, economic, political, cultural. etc.) in Europe is probably seen by the US ruling class as highly desirable since it 1) weakens the EU as a competitor 2) justifies, however hypocritically and mistakenly, a “strong US presence” in Europe and 3) gives NATO a reason (however mistaken, misguided and even immoral) to exist

The US is protected from the fallout (immigrants, violence, extremism, etc.) of the Ukrainian disaster by distance, the Atlantic, a much stronger military (at least compared to anybody else in NATO). The US can print money in any way it wants and has no interests whatsoever in the (dying) Ukraine. If Ishchenko is right, and I agree with him, then there is somebody (possibly a group of somebodies) who is a lot smarter than anybody in the Trump Admin and who figured out that the Nazi-occuppied Ukraine should be an German/EU problem, not one for the US.

There is, of course, also the pessimistic analysis: the US is on the retreat everywhere, but only for the following reasons:

Regroup, reorganize, buy time to develop some kind of coherent strategy

Focus on each adversary separately and prioritize (divide et impera at least!)

Re-analyze, re-plan, re-design, re-develop, re-train, re-equip and re-test pretty much everything in the US armed forces (which have not been shaped by any rational force planning in decades)

Those who believe the strategic retreat theory (I am not personally discounting this version, but I do not see enough evidence – yet – to endorse it either) typically add that “the US only left Afghanistan to hand it over to the Taliban/al-Qaeda and unleash them against “soft underbelly of Russia”. Now, that is utter nonsense, if only because Russia does not have a common border with Afghanistan.

…

Coming back to “Biden’s” great retreat: if “Biden” is smart enough to hang the Ukraine on Germany, “he” is probably too smart to predicate the US foreign policy towards Russia predicated around the “soft underbelly” thingie. As for all the “fire and brimstone” threats of war against Russia, they are not impressing anybody as the Russians, the Chinese and the Iranians know that a confident and powerful country does not need to threaten anybody, if only because the actual capabilities of these country are a very telling “threat” by themselves. But when a former superpower is weak, confused and frightened, it will make many roaring statements about how it can defeat the entire planet if needed (after all, the US military is “the best military in the history of the galaxy”! If you doubt that, just listen to Toby Keith!). In other words, while in the West threats are an instrument of foreign policy, in Russia, and in the rest of Asia, they are inevitably seen as a sign of weakness, doubts and even fear.

Then there seems to be a long list of weapons systems, procurement plans and “defense” monies which have been pulled back, including the (truly awful) LCS and F-35. While it is true that the US is gradually phasing out fantastically expensive weapons systems and platforms which were also more or less useless, this show the ability to at least admit that all that talk about super-dooper US superweapons was just that, talk, and that in reality the US MIC is incapable of producing the kind of superb high quality systems which it used to produce in large quantities in the past (Arleigh Burke, F-15, Jumbo 747, the Willys Jeep, F-16, A-10, Los Angeles SSN, KH satellites, etc.). This is why the F-15X is designed to “augment” the F-35 feet (by itself a very smart move!).

Such an admission, even if indirect and only logically implied, might show a level of maturity, or courage, by “Biden” which his predecessors did not have.

Could it be that the folks at the Pentagon, who do know the reality of the situation (see here for a very good Moon of Alabama article about this), figured out that Clinton, Bush, Obama and Trump vastly over extended the Empire and now they need to regroup and “re-everything” to achieve a more sustainable “defense” posture?

Could it be that “Biden” will deliver what Trump promised, i.e. to end the useless (and unwinnable!) wars, stop caring too much about the agonizing EU, silently accept that Russia has no intentions (and no need!) whatsoever to attack anyone and focus on the biggest non-military threat out there: China. Maybe.

As far as I know, many (all?) simulations – by RAND and the US military – and command staff exercises have shown that the US would lose badly to both Russia or China. Could it be that “Biden” wants to put Russia and China on the backburner and “deal” with Iran first? The latest news on the US/Israel vs Iran front is not good, to say the least.

…

So what are we left with?

Frankly, I am not sure.

I think that there is very strong, even if only indirect, evidence which there is some very serious in-fighting taking place in the “Biden” administration and there is also strong, but also indirect, evidence that the military posture of the United States is undergoing what might end up being a major overhaul of the US armed forces.

If true, and that is a big “if”, this is neither good news nor bad news.

But this might be big news.

Why?

Because, objectively, the current US retreat on most fronts might be the “soft landing” (transition from Empire to “normal” country) many Trump voters were hoping for. Or it might not. If it is not, this might be a chaos-induced retreat, indicating that the US state is crumbling and has to urgently “simplify” things to try to survive, thereby generating a lot of factional infighting (at least one Russian observer specialized in “US studies”, Dmitrii Drobnitskii, believes to be the case: see the original article here, and its machine translation here). Finally, the state of decay of the US state might already be so advanced that we can consider it as profoundly dysfunctional and basically collapsing/collapsed. The first option (soft landing) is unlikely, yet highly desirable. The second option (chaos-induced retreat) is more likely, but much less desirable as it is only a single step back to then make several steps forward again. The last option (profoundly dysfunctional and basically collapsing/collapsed) is, alas, the most likely, and it is also, by far, the most perilous one.

For one thing, options #2 and #3 will make US actions very unpredictable and, therefore, potentially extremely dangerous. Unpredictable chaos can also quickly morph into a major war, or even several major ones, so the potential danger here is very real (even if totally unreported in Zone A). This, in turn, means that Russia, China, Iran, the DPRK, Venezuela or Cuba all have to keep their guard up and be ready for anything, even the unthinkable (which is often what total chaos generates).

Right now, the fact that the US has initiated a “great retreat” is undeniable. But the true reasons behind it, and its implications, remain quite obscure, at least to me.

I will conclude by asking you, the readers, for your opinion: do you think that the US is currently in a “contraction phase”? If yes, do you believe that this is a short-term only phenomenon, or will this retreat continue and, if yes, how far?

#unz review #the saker

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broth-y · 4 years ago

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Gundham Tanaka’s Perfect Plan

kazuichi souda/gundham tanaka

alternatively: How to Spend the Rest of Your Life With the Boy of Your Dreams.

a/n: this is for day seven of soudam week! i chose the wedding prompt and kinda messed with it. if you've been paying attention, i only participated in 4/7 days, but i had to prioritize quality over quantity. i procrastinated. i think the proposal itself is cliche, but it doesn't even bother me because i am happy with this piece. i really hope that you guys like it!!

AO3

“Kazuichi, have you fallen asleep yet?” Gundham’s words were quiet, as to not wake the boy in his arms if he had fallen asleep. Their bodies pressed together tightly.

“Not yet, why?” Souda murmured.

“I believe that an outing is long past due.”

“Huh?” He questioned, too tired to translate his boyfriend's words.

“I would like to go out to dinner with you soon.” Gundham had carefully calculated a plan, it was simply a matter of convincing Souda to join him.

Kazuichi hummed, “we always get food on Fridays.”

Gundham’s hand found its way into his partner's hair. He twirled his fingers through it slowly. “I wish for something with more grandeur. Perhaps we could go somewhere lavish next Friday.”

“Fancy dinner on Friday? Sure, whatever ya want, we can dress up n’ everything.” He answered drowsily, laughing slightly.

“I would be greatly satisfied.” His plan was going exactly as he intended. Souda even added the idea to put on their best clothes, saving Gundham from having to persuade him.

“If we’re going somewhere fancy, you’re paying.”

“I would insist, my love.” Kazuichi yawned, “then it’s a date.” he was sluggish and Gundham knew it would be only mere moments before he fell asleep.

“Perfect.” Tanaka intertwined their fingers together with his unoccupied hand. His request had gone ideally, everything he needed was ready. However, he was terrified.

The box resting in the pocket of Gundham's slacks seemed to weigh him down as if it were a brick instead. He stared at himself in the mirror. He knew that he would struggle to hide his uneasiness throughout the night. Glancing at the clock, he realized their time to ready was running thin. “Souda, make haste. The reservation is in less than an hour.” He yelled to the boy in their adjacent bedroom.

“I’m tryin’. Can you come tie my tie babe?” Kazuichi asked.

“Yes, of course.” He walked into their bedroom, seeing Kazuichi with his shirt unbuttoned and tie thrown haphazardly around his neck. “You look dashing.” He smiled as he approached him.

“You too, but you might need a shirt to go out.” Souda laughed. His calloused hands wrapped around the bare torso of the taller.

Gundham nodded, carefully fixing Kazuichi’s collar. “I will dress soon.” He answered and decided not to mention the shameful amount of time he spent rethinking his arrangements while Souda was in the shower; time he could have used to get ready.

“Why did you wanna go out anyway?”

He finished tying his partners vividly green tie. “Need I a reason? I wish to do something different, and I am honestly tired of pizza delivery.”

"Pizza delivery is good." Kazuichi responded, sticking his long tongue out towards the other man. "Your standards are just higher than mine."

"Touche." Gundham smirked as he walked to the closet. He removed his shirt, which he had ironed meticulously for the event, putting it on and buttoning it. As he reached for his own tie, he noticed Kazuichi, kneeling at the other side of the closet, and removing a pair of shoes. "Are those the shoes you will be wearing tonight?"

"Yeah, don't 'cha like 'em?" He asked, a pair of abrasively green shoes in hand. Kazuichi beamed, "They match my tie!"

"That is certainly a unique choice, my dear." Gundham chuckled as he adjusted his shirt.

The pair finished dressing, Gundham adding a vest and Kazuichi, a blazer. He was left with one final request. Before they headed out, on foot, Gundham turned to his boyfriend. "Would you like to get ice cream after dinner? Our usual spot is close to where I made our reservations. Perhaps we could go to the park, as normal?"

"The park where you took me on our first date, for sure babe. You know how much I love ice cream." He answered, seemingly pleased.

All was set in motion. It was simply time for Gundham to go through with it.

“The waitress said my shoes and tie were cool, she totally liked them! I knew that somebody would.” Kazuichi grinned and licked happily at his chocolate ice cream, coated in sprinkles. They were walking, free hands intertwined, through the twilit park.

Gundham laughed, “You seem to be implying that I do not.”

“You insulted them at home, Gundy.” He joked.

Tanaka scoffed in response, “I said they were unique, which was not an insult. I love your eccentric accessories.”

“Well, thank you.” Kazuichi stood on his toes to place a quick kiss on his partner’s face.

“You are very welcome.” Gundham noted the quick darkening of the sky as the sun set. He finished his dessert and knew his partner would soon follow suit. The persistent butterflies in his stomach began thrashing once again and he prerpared himself for what was to come.

"Do you wanna sit down for a few minutes, then probably head home?" Souda asked, nodding to a bench just meters up the path.

"I can agree to that." He nodded. Kazuichi demolished the remains of his ice cream, as they walked. He threw a napkin in a nearby garbage can upon their arrival.

They lowered onto the bench together, Kazuichi finding a comfortable place, snuggled under Gundham's arm. Silence fell over the pair. Curious fingers ran across Gundham's thigh, fingertips rubbing small circles. Kazuichi was typically one to busy his hands with something.

Gundham worried that his partner, pressed close to his chest, would hear his rapidly increasing heartbeat. He was about to ask a question that would change the course of his life, hopefully for the better. The thought terrified him, more than anything had before. The worst that could happen, would be Kazuichi denying him, it certainly wasn't welcoming for that to be a possibility.

They sat for a few minutes longer, words still yet to be exchanged. The nervousness occupied Gundham's mind far too much for conversation. The common comfort from close contact with his boyfriend, was not present in the moment. just sweaty palms and shaky breaths. Souda sat undisturbed, regardless. Gundham wondered how he had stayed quiet for so long; it was atypical of him not to make any comments.

The uncharacteristic behaviour was soon explained when he felt the smaller boy jerk upwards against his chest.

"Hnhm. I guess I started to fall asleep there." Kazuichi attempted a short laugh, and moved so he could sit up straight. He planted a kiss on his partner's cheek, before asking, "do you think we could go home soon Gundy? I love being here with you, but I'd rather fall asleep in our bed together, not a park bench."

Tanaka forced himself to grin smugly in response, "of course we can." He answered, knowing that marked his time to begin.

Kazuichi rose from the bench, stretching where he stood. After a final deep breath, Gundham lifted himself off the seat and reached his arm out to his partner, who had just turned away. “Before we leave, I have a gift for you.” He blurted.

“A gift?” Kazuichi questioned, turning to look at the other with his eyebrows raised, “What for?”

Gundham didn’t answer, just shuffled in his pocket to retrieve the small box that had burnt a hole there throughout the night. Holding it concealed in one hand, he took his partner's hand with the other. “Kazuichi, I mean not to be cliche, but the years we have spent together have been my favourite of them all. My love spans wider than what is comprehensible to most. I am a man of many words, so let me make this brief.” He smiled smugly as he detached their hands to present the simple ring to Kazuichi.

“I must know, will you marry me?”

Bright tears quickly welled in Souda’s eyes as he realized what was happening. Gundham felt the weight of the other boy press against him as he collapsed into him, his hands grabbing desperately at the back of Gundham’s jacket.

Gundham moved his arms that had been awkwardly sandwiched between them, stuffing the ring box back in his pocket, as he wrapped his arms around his partner. He interrupted the unintelligible sobs coming from beneath him, “There is no need to cry, my love.”

“Of course I’m gonna cry!” Kazuichi sniffled as he lifted his head to meet the other’s eyes. “You just — you just asked me to marry you!”

Gundham placed the shorter boy’s face in the strong grip of both hands. He ran his thumbs gently under Kazuichi’s eyes, wiping away his tears. “Yes, I did. And you still have yet to answer.”

“Of course I’ll fuckin' marry you, get down here." He said, still weak and sobby. He pulled on Gundham's collar, bringing their lips together in a soft kiss.

Months of well suppressed anxiety flowed from Gundham's mind as they met. He relaxed his tensed muscles and held his lover tighter than ever before. They kissed, and he relaxed, knowing that he had won the only person worthy of spending his life with.

Tanaka disconnected their lips to speak, touching their foreheads together instead, "Lest I forget, you have not received your ring." He once again removed the ring from his pocket and presented it to Kazuichi. "I hope you are pleased with it."

The box displayed a wide silver band with a rectangular stone inset in the center. Kazuichi gushed, "How couldn't I be? I love it. I'll have to try not to lose it, between the shop and everywhere else."

He removed the ring from the box, finally and carefully sliding onto the other's finger. A long awaited task indeed. "I request that you keep it in your sights, at least until the wedding."

"Wedding — the wedding!" He beamed, detaching their foreheads as he jumped back, ever so slightly. "We're getting married, Gundham! It didn't even sound real, until you said it."

Gundham couldn't suppress the smile rising in his face from his partner's reaction, "I understand how you feel. It is quite foriegn."

“You — the guy who was Mr. Overlord, incapable of mortal emotions — you asked me to marry you! We’re gonna get married!” Kazuichi grinned. Gundham wondered if it was possible for a person to smile any wider.

“We are.”

“I can’t believe it. I love you so much.”

“I love you too, Kazuichi.” He replied, pulling him close for yet another kiss, entirely unable to believe it either.

#soudam week #soudam week 2020 #wedding #except it is a proposal #soudam #kazuichi souda #gundham tanaka #i hope this is good #im actually proud of it so i hope it doesnt bomb #hope yall like it but its 1am gn guys

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