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#i get it that the US is like 50 countries in one masquerading as one but like
realstesh · 3 months
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New Year resolutions (art and non-art)
It's 2024 for me already, and with the arrival of it, there is also a new list of goals that I want to achieve in the new year. This post is a kind of promise and a reminder to myself, with a look back and a look into the future.
Warning - may contain many grammar mistakes, since English is not my first language and I'm emotional about all of this. Also, there is a lot of text, haha.
Be free to read it of you want, there are some art related stuff and self reflection. Maybe someone will find something relatable here, since I had (and still have)... a lot of self doubt and problems, but I began to overcome them, from physical appearance to mental stuff. This also can be your another warning if you are triggered by any of this.
I'll start by mentioning what I need to overcome in order to become better in any area. I have to overcome my laziness, procrastination, and self-pity. All three things are in step with each other, so the goal will be the same for all: I will prevail over this. Not "I will do my best" or "take the first steps in this battle", but only one thing: I will overcome those things, and I will win battles with them every single day in any field: gym and training, reading and drawing. Eternal self-pity only exacerbates already overgrown laziness and procrastination by masquerading as this idiotic and often misapplied "Don't overwork yourself and take breaks to avoid burnout." Only constant development only growth
I'm going to beat my laziness every day.
I'm going to step over my "I don't want to, I won't do this" and do what I have to do to be a better version of myself every single day.
Now let's get into the specifics. 
1. This year (2024) and beyond, from the very first day of it, I will exercise and work out to the maximum (in the gym and at home), eat right, give up sugar in any form, give up flour based products. I will go to the gym three times a week, and the other 4 days I will work out at home.
I actually started going to the gym this year (2023), but… it was all in vain because of the previously mentioned laziness, procrastination, and self-pity. I often skipped gym because I was "not feeling it today" or "ouch, my head\tummy\left buttcheek hurts". I also broke the diet many, MANY times, and in the end, I ruined my progress and actually gained weight and excessive fat on my legs (it's a hard topic for me, so it is a big deal). So fuck me for being a pussy and lazy bitch; this time I'm not going to go down this road because I need to get in better physical shape for my mental health, and for another reason that I'll not mention, since… I really do not believe that I will ever achieve it. But we will see.
2. This year (2024) and beyond, from the very first day of it, I will read every single day 50 pages minimum.
So, this might sound like it came out of nowhere, but I actually suck at finishing my books—hell, even STARTING to read them. I buy them thinking that I'll read them, but in the end, I do not. I currently have 3 unfinished classic literature (classics of my country and world literature) and at least 7 books about culture and art (more like guides and textbooks for writers, artists, etc.). And guess what? HAVEN'T READ ANY OF THEM. 
I want to read more, learn more, and actually put my knowledge to use. And really become a more well-read person with a broad outlook.
3. This year (2024) and beyond, from the very first day of it, I will draw every single day, work on my art style and work on traditional artwork, as well as work everyday on at least one of my projects that I have (like writing a script, lore for the characters or the world, etc).
I believe at this point it doesn't need any more explanation except for some things. I actually have 5 projects that have a decent cast of characters and a story kinda sroted out, but the thing is, the story and lore don't actually have any consistency, are unfinished, and have a lot of plotholes in them (one of the projects doesn't even have a story figured out yet, sheesh). So I will work on those projects in every single aspect and flesh them out.
I also have 2 projects that are not just random ideas, but I really want to make them too, so I'll work on them as well.
Another thing - traditional art. So, I really love watercolor, and I want to learn how to work with it. I want to start making art with it, probably some covers for my projects or just commissions (only local, yet). So I will work on my watercolor skills as well as traditional artwork in general.
Those are my super-duper main goals for this Year and beyond, but... some parts sound a little sad, like me failing the gym this (2023) year and all that. Well, yes, it does. 
It's actually showed me that I'm weak in my spirit when it comes to myself only. For my whole life, I actually power through every obstacle and shit thrown at me, but only as long as it actually might affect others in some way. For example, when I started Uni, if it wasn't for the aweful stuff that my family was going through at the time, I would've just sailed through Uni on the lowest scores possible for graduation, since I don't give one shit about engineering and physics (yeah, I'm a design engineer) and I actually hate it with all my guts. But I not only forced myself to understand all of this but actually started working in the field early, and from the very first semester (and for every single one until graduation), I was paid a monthly stipend for acing my classes to provide financial support for my family.
But since I have... let's say, A LOT, of self hate in different aspects of my life and me in general, I don't prioritize myself when something involves only me. 
Like gym.
It's for me and me only, but since I think that I dont deserve it, or need it really, or the money or the time that go to gym can be used for someone or something else, like family needs (despite the fact that I'm financialy comfortable with covering gym and all fam needs), I just shut myself and do jack shit. You get the idea. I hope.
So yeah, this year showed me that I'm weak in that department and need to grow a backbone to lift myself, to become better and to beat the shit out of my pathetic weak-willed, lazy dumb ass to become better. It will be hard, to achieve all of the above, but guess what?
I will do it.
I will power through any obstacle, I will step over myself in order to achieve what I want, even of it means stepping out of my comfort zone and pour more blood, sweat and tears into it. Because that's the only way that it can be achieved.
So I want to end this (yet another) schizo break with the small letter to myself:
Stop bitching. Stop crying every day about something that you know is not true or about something that you know doesn't exist. Stop creating troubles and phantom problems to serve as your excuse. It's pathetic, and you are pathetic if you give in to your own illusion, your laziness, and self-made promises that you know you won't hold.
You won't achieve anything by doing nothing. Life won't magically get better. You won't magically get better at anything if you do not actually put anything into it or give up at the start, halfway through, or at any point of your journey.
You can do it, I know you can. YOU know you can. It will be difficult, but since when was anything easy for you to achieve? I saw you work hard to make your family proud and to make things better for them as best you could. Now it is time to do the same for yourself. Don't give into temptations, lies, and illusions that all of this is for nothing. Even if one of your goals is not achieved because of it, you have others that I know for a fact will be achieved. Don't give up. Stay strong and true to yourself.
You got this.
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clickvibes · 3 months
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SZA Performs Exclusive Apple Music Live Show from Brooklyn
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Stream the performance in full on Apple Music and Apple TV+ on Wednesday, December 13  Grammy-award-winning music trendsetter and icon SZA is the next artist to take the stage for Apple Music Live — the live performance series that gives the biggest stars in music a platform to connect with audiences around the world. The "S.O.S. Tour" marks SZA’s first-ever arena tour and earned the superstar endless praise. The Apple Music Live performance at the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, New York will debut Wednesday, December 13th at 7:00pm PST / 10:00pm EST exclusively on Apple Music at http://apple.co/SZA-AML and Apple TV+. Fans can also stream the Apple Music Live performance anytime on demand on both Apple Music and Apple TV+.During the performance, SZA showcases her biggest hits and fan favorites including, “Kill Bill”, “Snooze”, “Seek & Destroy”, and “Nobody Gets Me”, plus selections from the critically acclaimed Ctrl: “Drew Barrymore”, “Broken Clocks”, “Love Galore” and more.In an extensive career spanning conversation airing tomorrow on Apple Music 1, SZA sits down with Zane Lowe to reflect on the Apple Music Live performance and her record-breaking year, telling Zane: “I love connecting with people in the crowd when I feel like it's really me and you right now. And I go eye to eye with so many people during this show, and it's something about tour that it makes the love real, and tangible.” During the candid conversation, SZA also touches on navigating fame, her spiritual hygiene, overcoming anxiety, taking creative risks, and more. Tune in to the full interview on Tuesday, Dec. 12 at 10am PT on Apple Music 1 at http://apple.co/_Zane.“SZA is one the most streamed artists of 2023 with only her second full length album, so we are elated to have her S.O.S Tour be apart of our 2023 season of Apple Music Live,” said Apple Music’s Global Head of Hip Hop and R&B Ebro Darden. “The show is, of course, incredible just like her music, her songwriting and her desire to give us, the fans, so much amazing content this year. Thank You SZA!”Over the past year, streams for SZA's music has nearly quadrupled on Apple Music worldwide increasing 280% as she smashed a number of all-time records with her sophomore album SOS. Upon the release of the album, SZA broke the record for the R&B artist with the most simultaneous entries on the Global Daily Top 100, with 26 songs reaching the chart in one day. Breakout single, ”Kill Bill" spent 28 days at No. 1 on the Global Daily Top 100, her longest run at No. 1 in the chart's history. All told the song reached No. 1 in 37 countries worldwide. Additionally, "Kill Bill" finished at No. 3 on Apple Music's Top 100 2023: Global chart. With single "Snooze" at No. 5, she became the first R&B artist in the year-end chart history to have two songs in the top five of the year-end global songs chart. SOS was the second biggest album of 2023 on Apple Music worldwide, and the No. 1 R&B album of the year. Over the past two years, “SZA Essentials” has been one of the fastest-growing R&B playlists on Apple Music, with a 203% increase in streams worldwide. SZA has launched 12 songs to the top 10 of Apple Music's Global Daily Top 100. She is among the top 50 artists of all time on Apple Music worldwide. The second season of Apple Music Live kicked off this past May with a special performance by Ed Sheeran, which was followed by Burna Boy’s historic London Stadium show from earlier this summer and Dominic Fike gave an electrifying show in Atlanta. Brent Faiyaz serenaded a packed house in London and most recently Peso Pluma brought his música mexicana sound to Anaheim complete with his full live band. Additional Apple Music Live standout performances have included Harry Styles’s One Night Only in New York performance, Billie Eilish’s Live at the O2 performance; Alicia Keys’s first-ever Holiday Masquerade Ball; and riveting performances from chart-topping artists Lil Durk, Mary J. Blige, Luke Combs, and Wizkid. Explore the full lineup of past performances in the Apple Music Live archive. Get exclusive wallpapers for your phone on SZA's concert page in Shazam. Tap “Save" to unlock the Apple Music Live setlist, tour photos, and more after the show.About SZA:  Born in St. Louis and raised in Maplewood, NJ, genre-defying, and GRAMMY Award winning recording artist SZA released her long-awaited sophomore album SOS (Top Dawg Entertainment/RCA Records) on December 9, 2022, which earned RIAA Gold certification upon release. Instantly and universally met with acclaim, SOS debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and has remained in the top spot for ten non-consecutive weeks. Amassing over 400 million streams in the US during release week, SOS became SZA’s first No. 1 on the Billboard 200 (the second largest streaming week for a female artist and third largest of 2022 among all albums at the time), and dominated worldwide charts with No. 1 debuts in Canada, Netherlands, New Zealand, and more.  While SOS also debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top R&B Albums and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts, several tracks dominated song charts and playlists across digital service providers, with standout track “Kill Bill” earning SZA her first No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and Global 200 charts. Currently RIAA-certified 3x Platinum, SOS includes features by Travis Scott, Don Toliver, Phoebe Bridgers and Ol’ Dirty Bastard; with production by Ctrl hitmaking collaborators ThankGod4Cody and Carter Lang, alongside Jeff Bhasker, Rob Bisel, Benny Blanco, Kenny “Babyface'' Edmonds, Emile Haynie, Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins, Jay Versace, and more.The launch of SOS fostered a series of new achievements for the dynamic global icon.  SZA peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Artist 100 chart as the most popular artist across all musical genres, and No. 1 on the Hot 100 Songwriters chart. SOS broke the record for the most weeks at No. 1 by a woman on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart, and the first R&B album to spend ten non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 this century. SOS yielded four No. 1 hits at both Rhythm and Urban Mainstream radio - “Snooze,” “Kill Bill,” “Shirt,” and “I Hate U.”  SZA closes out 2023 as the most Grammy nominated artist of the year with a total of nine, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year for “Kill Bill,” Album of the Year and Best Progressive R&B Album for SOS, Best R&B Song for “Snooze,” and more. A multitude of critical praise complemented the remarkable success of SOS, inclusive of ranking No. 1 on several best-of lists in 2022 and 2023. Variety described the album as “cinematic in its scope and tone as it ripples with elements of folk, jazz, pop and ambient electronica and brings in undertones of even surf, trap, grunge and AOR rock,” while the Associated Press proclaimed “SZA proves in ‘SOS’ she still a voice of this generation.” Her first ever arena tour in the US and overseas sold out in minutes and garnered similar rave reviews. The New York Times called her Madison Square Garden headlining debut “vigorous, confident, theatrical and intimate – the sort of show that manages the rare trick of feeling both vibrantly communicative and also protectively insular,” while Billboard declared that the performance “delivered a message that she’s truly made a next-level step in her career.” In 2017, SZA released her major label debut album Ctrl (TDE/RCA). Revered for its raw and honest lyrics, it landed at No. 1 on Billboard’s R&B Albums chart, No. 2 on the R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart and No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart. RIAA-certified 3x Platinum, the albumreceived five Grammy nominations in 2018 and more than half the songs on Ctrl are currently certified multi-Platinum and Gold. Ctrl continues to remain on the Billboard 200 chart since its release and holds the record for the longest run for any Black female artist’s debut album. An Academy Awards nominee, SZA has won 27 awards since the release of Ctrl including a 2022 GRAMMY Award for Best Pop Dou/Group Performance for “Kiss Me More” with Doja Cat, Billboard Music Awards’ Top R&B Female Artist, BET Awards’ Best New Artist, BET Soul Train Awards’ Best R&B/Soul Female Artist and Best New Artist, MTV Video Music Awards’ Best Visual Effects for the “All The Stars” with Kendrick Lamar, and NAACP Image Awards’ Outstanding New Artist, among others. In 2018, she won NAACP Image Awards’ Outstanding Duo or Group for “All The Stars” with Kendrick Lamar and Outstanding Soundtrack/Compilation for the Black Panther Soundtrack. SZA also received Billboard’s 2019 Women in Music Rule Breaker award and more recently named Billboard’s 2023 Woman of the Year, Webby Awards Artist of the Year, WSJ. Magazine’s Music Innovator of the Year and Variety’s Hitmaker of the Year.  To this day, SZA continues to set the standard on creativity and songwriting, while shattering records with over 10 billion streams worldwide across all platformsAbout Apple MusicApple loves music. Apple revolutionized the music experience with iPod and iTunes. Today, the award-winning Apple Music celebrates musicians, songwriters, producers, and fans with a catalog of over 100 million songs, expertly curated playlists, and the best artist interviews, conversations, and global premieres with Apple Music Radio. With original content from the most respected and beloved people in music, autoplay, time-synced lyrics, lossless audio, and immersive sound powered by Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos, Apple Music offers the world’s best listening experience, helping listeners discover new music and enjoy their favorites while empowering the global artist community. Apple Music is available in over 167 countries and regions on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV, HomePod mini, CarPlay, and online at music.apple.com, plus popular smart speakers, smart TVs, and Android and Windows devices. Apple Music is ad-free and never shares consumer data with third parties. More information is available at apple.com/apple-music. Read the full article
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donttalkaboutmemes · 8 months
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Mulan (1998) Sentence Meme
Under the cut you will find 150+ sentences from the 1998 version of Mulan to use for your enjoyment!    
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1.      “Now all of China knows you’re here.”
2.      “We’ll set up defenses around the palace immediately.”
3.      “Send your troops to protect my people.”
4.      “I believe my troops can stop him.”
5.      “A single grain of rice can tip the scale. One man may be the difference between victory and defeat.”
6.      “Whose the smartest doggy in the world?”
7.      “Remember, the doctor said three cups of tea in the morning and three at night.”
8.      “You should already be in town. We are counting on you to uphold the family honor.”
9.      “I’m going to pray some more.”
10.   “The matchmaker is not a patient woman.”
11.   “I should have prayed to the ancestors for luck.”
12.   “How lucky can they be? They’re dead.”
13.   “This is your chance to prove yourself.”
14.   “Who spit in her bean curd?”
15.   “Recite the final admonition.”
16.   “Fulfill our duties calmly and respectfully.”
17.   “This shall bring you honor and glory.”
18.   “Now, pour the tea.”
19.   “To please your future in-laws, you must demonstrate a sense of dignity and refinement.”
20.   “You may look like a bride, but you will never bring your family honor!”
21.   “My, my. What beautiful blossoms we have this year. But look, this one’s late. I’ll bet that when it blooms, it will be the most beautiful of all.”
22.   “By order of the Emperor, one man from every family must serve in the imperial army.”
23.   “I will serve the Emperor in my father’s place.”
24.   “I am ready to serve the emperor.”
25.   “You would do well to teach your daughter to hold her tongue in a man’s presence.”
26.   “You dishonor me.”
27.   “You shouldn’t have to go! There are plenty of young men to fight!”
28.   “It is an honor to protect my country and my family.”
29.   “So you’ll die for honor?”
30.   “I will die doing what’s right.”
31.   “I know my place! It is time you learned yours!”
32.   “You must go after her. She could be killed.”
33.   “So tell me what mortal needs my protection, great ancestor! You just say the word and I’m there!”
34.   “These are the family guardians.”
35.   “And you, O demoted one?”
36.   “One family reunion comin’ right up.”
37.   “Rise and shine. Ya’ll way past the beauty sleep thing, trust me.”
38.   “Don’t look at me. She gets it from your side of the family.”
39.   “She’s just trying to help her father.”
40.   “Dishonor will come to the family. Traditional values will disintegrate.”
41.   “Your great-granddaughter had to be a cross-dresser!”
42.   “Let a guardian bring her back.”
43.   “We must send the most powerful of all.”
44.   “You are not worthy of this spot.”
45.   “Just one chance, is that too much to ask?”
46.   “I’m doomed and all cause Miss Man decides to take her little drag show on the road.”
47.   “Go get her? What’s the matter with you?”
48.   “The emperor will stop you.”
49.   “By building this wall, he challenged my strength. Well, I’m here to play his game.”
50.   “Tell your emperor to send his strongest armies.”
51.   “How many men does it take to deliver a message?”
52.   “I see you have a sword. I have one, too. They’re very manly and tough.”
53.   “Who am I fooling? It’s going to take a miracle to get me into the army.”
54.   “Did I hear someone ask for a miracle?”
55.   “Your serpentine salvation is at hand, for I have been sent by your ancestors to guide you through your masquerade!”
56.   “If the army finds out you’re a girl, the penalty is death!”
57.   “Who am I? Who am I? I am the guardian of lost souls! I am the powerful, the pleasurable, the indestructible.”
58.   “My ancestors sent a little lizard to help me?”
59.   “Dragon. Dra-gon. Not lizard. I don’t do that tongue thing.”
60.   “I’m travel size for your convenience!”
61.   “My powers are beyond your mortal imagination.”
62.   “All right, that’s it! Dishonor! Dishonor on your whole family! Make a note of this. Dishonor on you, dishonor on your cow!”
63.   “I’m just nervous. I’ve never done this before.”
64.   “You’re gonna have to trust me. And don’t you slap me no more.”
65.   “This is it. Time to show ‘em your man walk. Shoulders back, chest high, feet apart, head up, and strut.”
66.   “It’s all attitude. Be tough, like this guy here.”
67.   “Punch him. It’s how men say hello.”
68.   “I’m gonna hit you so hard, it’ll make your ancestors dizzy.”
69.   “Relax and chant with me.”
70.   “Chicken boy? Say that to my face, ya limp noodle!”
71.   “Excellent strategy, sir. I do love surprises.”
72.   “You will stay and train the new recruits.”
73.   “This is an enormous responsibility. Perhaps a soldier with more experience…”
74.   “I don’t need anyone causing trouble in my camp.”
75.   “Sorry you had to see that, but you know how it is when you get those manly urges and you just gotta kill something. Fix things. Cook outdoors.”
76.   “Your commanding officer just asked you a question.”
77.   “I’ve got a name. And it’s a boy’s name, too.”
78.   “I didn’t ask for his name. I asked for yours!”
79.   “Tomorrow the real work begins.”
80.   “You know, we have to work on your people skills.”
81.   “Remember, it’s your first day of training, so listen to your teacher and no fighting. Play nice with the other kids, unless one of the other kids wanna fight, then you have to kick the other kids butt.”
82.   “But I don’t wanna kick the other kid’s butt.”
83.   “Lets see your war face!”
84.   “I think my bunny slippers just ran for cover.”
85.   “That’s my tough looking warrior. That’s what I’m talking about. Now get out there and make me proud.”
86.   “Wait! You forgot your sword!”
87.   “My little baby, off to destroy people.”
88.   “Looks like our new friend slept in this morning.”
89.   “Are ya hungry? Cause I owe you a knuckle sandwich.”
90.   “You will assemble swiftly and silently every morning. Anyone who acts otherwise will answer to me.”
91.   “The quickest way to the emperor is through that pass.”
92.   “This is not a good idea. What if somebody sees you?”
93.   “Just because I look like a man doesn’t mean I have to smell like one.”
94.   “We’re doomed! There are a couple of things I know they’re bound to notice!”
95.   “Come back here. I know we were jerks to you before, so let’s start over.”
96.   “I never want to see a naked man again.”
97.   “Hey, don’t look at me. I ain’t bitin’ no more butts.”
98.   “You think your troops are ready to fight? They would not last a minute against the Huns!”
99.   “Those boys are no more fit to be soldiers than you are to be captain.”
100. “The general may be your father, but I am the emperor’s counsel. And by the way, I got that job on my own.”
101.  “I’ll hold him and you punch.”
102.  “For what it’s worth, I think you’re a great captain.”
103.  “I saw that. You like him, don’t you?”
104.  “I think it’s time we took this war into our own hands.”
105.  “You men owe me a new pair of slippers.”
106.  “We’re in a war, man! There’s no time for stupid questions!”
107.   “Search for survivors.”
108.   “I don’t understand. My father should’ve been here.”
109.   “We’re the only hope for the emperor now.”
110.   “Prepare to fight. If we die, we die with honor.”
111.   “You missed! How could you miss? It was three feet in front of you!”
112.   “Man, you are one lucky bug.”
113.   “We’re gonna die! We are definitely gonna die! No way we survive this! Death is coming!”
114.   “I knew we could do it! You the man! Well…sort of.”
115.   “You are the craziest man I’ve ever met. And for that, I owe you my life. From now on, you have my trust.”
116.  “I knew there was something wrong with you.”
117.  “I did it to save my father.”
118. “I didn’t mean for it to go this far. It was the only way. Please, believe me.”
119. “A life for a life. My debt is repaid.”
120. “I was this close. This close to impressing the ancestors, getting the top shelf, an entourage. Man. All my fine work.”
121. “I should have never left home.”
122. “You went to save your father’s life. Who knew you’d end up shaming him and disgracing your ancestors and losing all your friends?”
123.  “Maybe what I really wanted was to prove I could do things right, so when I looked in the mirror I’d see someone worthwhile. But I was wrong. I see nothing.”
124. “Your ancestors never sent me. They don’t even like me.”
125. “You risked your life to help people you love. I risked your life to help myself. At least you had good intentions.”
126.  “I’ll have to face my father sooner or later.”
127.  “We started this thing together, and that’s how we’ll finish it.”
128.   “Are we in this together or not?”
129.   “Well, let’s go kick some hunny buns!”
130.   “You don’t belong here. Go home.”
131.    “Keep your eyes open. I know they’re here.”
132.   “I know what this means to you. Your father would have been very proud.”
133.   “Your walls and armies have fallen, and now it’s your turn. Bow to me.”
134.   “I tire of your arrogance, old man. Bow to me!”
135.   “No matter how the wind howls, the mountain cannot bow to it.”
136.   “You took away my victory.”
137.   “So what’s the plan? You don’t have a plan?”
138.    “It looks like you’re out of ideas.”
139.   “That creature’s not worth protecting.”
140.   “She’s a woman. She’ll never be worth anything.”
141.   “I’ve heard a great deal about you. You stole your father’s armor, ran away from home, impersonated a soldier, deceived your commanding officer, dishonored the army, destroyed my palace. And you have saved us all.”
142.   “See to it that this woman is a member of my council.”
143.   “There are no council positions open, your majesty.”
144.   “With all due respect, your excellency, I think I’ve been away from home long enough.”
145.  “Take this so your family will know what you have done for me, and this, so the world will know what you have done.”
146.   “Is she allowed to do that?”
147.   “Um…you…you fight good.”
148.  “The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all.”
149.  “You don’t meet a girl like that every dynasty.”
150.  “The greatest gift and honor is having you for a daughter.”
151.  “She brings home a sword. If you ask me, she should’ve brought home a man.”
152.   “Sign me up for the next war!”
153.   “Would you like to stay forever?”
154.   “Come on. Tell me. Who did a good job?”
155.   “You can be a guardian again.”
156.   “You know, she gets it from my side of the family.”
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mainsana · 1 year
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Fanatical football fans
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World Psychiatry: Official Journal of the World Psychiatric Association 6(3): 161-162, 2007 Soccer and Society 5(1): 27-42, 2004įanatical about "harmful dysfunction". Journal of Sport and Social Issues 22(2): 199-211, 1998Ĭreating a soccer strategy for Northern Ireland: reflections on football governance in small European countries. IXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON AIDS AND THE IVTH STD WORLD CONGRESS IXth International Conference on AIDS in affiliation with the IVth STD World Congress : 860, 1993Įven the parliament interrupted its session creating local and national identity in Viennese football. Neonatal Network: Nn 24(6): 47-48, 2005Ĭarnival AIDS AIDS education utilizing carnival street bands. Scientific Reports 5: 8462, 2015Ĭreating a winning team: lessons from football. International Review for the Sociology of Sport 30(2): 191-224, 1995Ĭarnival or football, is there a real risk for acquiring dengue fever in Brazil during holidays seasons?. Minerva Medica 45(14): Varia 265-268, 1954įootball and the politics of carnival: an ethnographic study of Scottish fans in Sweden. History of the carnival and the carnival in history identity with complexes and relations between the latter and carnival masquerade, in the contrast of spirit and senses. Giving the game away: football, politics and culture on five continents: 52-71, 1995 Essentially turning us into a fanatical football town – I believe it’s possible.Don't stop the carnival: football in the societies of Latin America. Whether the fan-centric approach will work remains to be seen, but for now Cannon doesn't sound daunted: "We’ve got this Super Bowl coming up in a couple of days, and the challenge will be how do we take maximum advantage – for the next six months, 12 months, three years – in terms of building our fan base, building the Falcons brand, connecting with the hearts and minds of our constituents. beer will set fans back just $5, an unheard of price in today's sports stadium economy. That means bigger seats, better tailgating, more points of sale and, most notably, remarkably affordable concessions: Hot dogs and pretzels will cost $2, while a 12 oz. That includes getting fans engaged with slickly produced videos about the team's place in the community and, much more importantly, a stadium experience that will rival any in the league. That's why the Falcons are now employing a strategy that is centered on catering to the fan. Getting that fan base to stick around even when the team isn't going to a Super Bowl is a different story. And obviously a winning football team wakes that up." "What we’re seeing in these last several weeks is that there is a passionate fan base out there. "I accept none of the excuses about why Atlanta is not a good sports town," he says, dismissing notions that people in Atlanta are more likely to follow college football or NFL teams in other cities. Now the team ranks 13th with 1.2 million followers, a 50% increase over the last six months.īut the challenge will be in sustaining the current fan fervor into the future. Cannon acknowledges that Atlanta has the reputation of being a poor city for sports, but he doesn't buy it. Building out those areas was a timely decision: "In the nick of time we essentially doubled our resources into that team," says Cannon. Last August the Falcons ranked 17th among NFL teams in Twitter followers with 800,000. Cannon also notes that home game inventory is selling ten times as quickly now versus the previous six months.Īnd when Cannon took over as CEO a year ago, one of the first weaknesses he identified was an under-investment in digital and social, two areas that are key to reaching the millions of fans who won't step foot in the stadium. So far, so good. The new stadium is already 75% sold out for next season more than 80% of club seats are sold, as are 90% of luxury suites.
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bllsbailey · 2 years
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Black Radio Host Roasts Kamala Harris and Her Penchant for Saying Absolutely 'Nothing'
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He’s not the first to roast a prominent Democrat. Charlamagne tha God of the radio show "Breakfast Club" has set many a Democrat ablaze. He rightfully told Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) that she was the original Rachel Dolezal, a white person who masqueraded as a black woman in 2015. Charlamagne connected this act of cultural appropriation to Warren, who used her fake Native American ancestry to elevate her career. Warren was a 2020 candidate at the time. The black radio host leans Left, but he’s not insane; he’s honest. And he does what most in the liberal media sphere do not—hold their side accountable. No host on CNN or MSNBC would call Warren the OG Rachel Dolezal. No way. He’s also not holding back torching Kamala Harris. The radio host was a guest on "The View" Monday.
First, there’s nothing defensible about Harris. Second, what he said is 100 percent accurate. She says nothing. "View" co-host Joy Behar wondered what Harris' response was when Charlamagne asked who was running the country, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) or Mr. Biden:
Radio host Charlamagne Tha God mocked Vice President Kamala Harris during an appearance on "The View" Monday, saying she said "nothing" when he asked her last year whether Joe Biden or Joe Manchin was the real president. The question from the popular liberal media personality irked Harris and made headlines in December, and Joy Behar couldn't wait to bring it up when he appeared on the ABC gabfest. "You pull no punches with your opinions, which we appreciate," she said. "We’re just like you here. I heard that you asked Vice President Harris who’s the real president here, Biden or Manchin? Did you ask her that question? What did she say?" "Nothing," he said, drawing laughter. "She didn’t really give an answer, but I mean as you can see, it still seems like President Manchin is currently running this country, and I think that was – you know, in hindsight, people thought I was being harsh by asking that question, but now it’s, like, well, damn. Who is running this country? Is it President Biden or President Manchin?" (via Fox News)
First, "The View" is softball compared to what Charlamagne asks his guests. I’d say elevating Manchin to be de facto president is a bit of a stretch. The West Virginia Democrat recently killed his party’s last-ditch effort to pass some form of a mass spending bill. It was going to concentrate on global warming. Manchin’s “no” vote killed any push in the 50-50 Senate, which sent the more liberal members of the Democratic Party into a full-froth tantrum. Some were even saying this derailment of the bill is going to kill us all. That’s no exaggeration. Manchin isn’t the cause of the death regarding the Democratic Party’s agenda on the Hill. This tortured demise was death by a thousand cuts. If Democrats had taken the mindset they took with the heinous gun control bill they passed, they would have gotten much more done. That train of thought was not making perfection an enemy of the good. Why was that approach taken for guns but not everything else? It’s because Democrats were unfocused for two years.
The Democratic leadership’s inability to corral the more unruly elements of their party and make them realize that a neo-Trotskyite spending bill would never pass killed them. I’m not complaining. With a cuckoo crowd like this in charge, Congress getting nothing done keeps us all safe. Biden was elected without a mandate, so moderation of a host of spending items became essential for proper governance. That was the reality. Democrats chose to ignore that fact and ended up getting next to nothing done except trash the economy, send inflation into the stratosphere, and ship truckloads of cash to Ukraine. 
In these times, you need a strong president. The leader of the Democratic Party was AWOL because he couldn’t do the job. He promised to deliver Joe Manchin on Build Back Better. It failed. Mr. Biden is the decades-long fixture in DC, supposedly an ace at deal-making. Yet, one senator proved too much for him. 
Who is running the country? Right now, it’s a council among Pelosi, Schumer, White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain, and a host of lower-level staffers. The nation is in a tailspin because of this confederacy of dunces. 
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ahandfulofregrets · 3 years
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so the US wanna colonize eurovision now?
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antiloreolympus · 2 years
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10 Anti LO Asks
1. I do not get why the colors are so oversaturated. persephone is so hard to even look at because she's just one shade of neon pink, and it really doesnt help rachel seems to think dull backgrounds help? that only makes the contrast even more intense and makes it even harder to look at. there used to be such a strong grasp of color harmony but that's been gone for so long now that I doubt it'll ever come back. Even her non-comic art now is the overly bright, wonky style. What a downgrade.
2. I don't get why we're supposed to be against Minthe when she once slapped Hades (which came out of nowhere and is OOC) yet we're supposed to laugh at Hekate slapping him during a moment which seems to imply it's a common occurrence between the two. Surely his "best friend" wouldn't physically assault him in the same way that sours his relationship to another person for good right? RS flip flops a lot on what's ok for some but bad for others, but the anti Minthe angle for everything is ridiculous
3. I dount RS even knows she's doing this but the fact her Persephone is idolized for her youth/beauty/fertility and nothing else (especially compared to older women like Demeter, Leto, Minthe, etc who "lost it" when they got older or ever had those "desired" traits to begin with) has deeply misogynistic implications to it. RS can claim all she wants it's a pro feminist story, but even a basic look into it makes it seem like it's a very regressive, conservative piece masquerading as "progressive"
4. I feel like no one really talk about how the actual SA in comic was depicted really voyeuristically? Like there's so many panels of her being groped and emphasizing her body, still always making a point to show how "sexy" she while she's literally being assaulted. It doesn't help afterwards the comic again and again makes a point of sexualizing her (esp from Hades' POV) w/o her consent. RS says she wants to give her "agency", but she sure seems determined to make sure Persephone never has it.
From OP: I can’t really see the SA scene as sexualized. I think I get what you’re referring to but I think it’s just meant to show what Apollo was doing which makes it more disturbing to read. I do agree with the rest though.
5. It's so stupid how fast RS reverses any stakes in comic, making any sort of tension just non existent. just off the characters who were shown to dislike hades/be disapproving of him wanting to get with persephone (hera, eros, hekate, etc) they just get over it in about an hour, maybe a day at most to now blindly support it ad want them together. like seriously? RS is trying to sell us theyre a couple going against all the odds when only like, two people don't approve. what are they overcoming?
6. any LO theory we see now is just people debating on how, when, and how many babies persephone will give hades and that's about it. does she really have nothing else going for her beyond what she can give to a man who is doing nothing to accommodate or compromise for her? Does her sexual trauma not matter when Hades needs babies? Oh, and PS to any LO fas reading this, Hades and Persephone didn't have kids in the myths, especially not Dionysus. JFC.
7. Something that gets overlooked i feel is that despite Hera being the worst to Minthe, Minthe still told her friend not to mess with Hera when Thetis was sending dick pics to Hera. TO ADD SALT TO THAT HERA WAS KISSING HADES right after their fight and probably sometime when Minthe and hades were together.
I’m not saying Minthe is a done nothing wrong character but she is a far more likeable character than the cast members were supposed to be rooting for
8. what I dont get is you get lo fans saying it has to be uncritically praised because "we need a woman's voice to be heard!" like ... ok, lets hear what actual greek women have to say on the mythology and raise them up, not some random new zealander who is butchering a real country's culture and stories to tell her weird 50 shades/sleeping beauty rip off. idk how to tell them making a privileged white lady even richer with her capitalist bootlicking, status quo praising work isnt subversive lmao
9. What I find frustrating is LO fans say the art decline is just "style progression" and the culture of webcomics is more about speed but 1) stop marketing it off its "great art" then of it doesnt match up but 2) that undersells how many other webtoon creators, often just by themselves, create beautiful episodes every week while rachel has a 4-5 art team and its only gotten worse in quality. Objectively she has become a worse artist. especially when you see her older art. It's harsh but true.
10. I think some people act as if it's impossible to put "contradictory" colors next to each but that's not the case, it just requires a little more work. Case in point, the idea of Persephone with red eyes isn't inherently bad, the problem is it's very obvious Rachel just picks colors at random instead of googling color palettes (and yes, pink and red can work!), hence why it looks bad. It's actually possible to pair basically every color together, but Rachel just doesn't put the effort into it.
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missameliep · 2 years
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I posted 3.735 times in 2021
165 posts created (4%)
3570 posts reblogged (96%)
For every post I created, I reblogged 21.6 posts.
I added 3.688 tags in 2021
#not choices - 1507 posts
#long live the queue - 473 posts
#choices fanfic - 390 posts
#writing inspiration - 271 posts
#desire and decorum - 246 posts
#quotes - 194 posts
#lol - 155 posts
#desire and decorum fanfic - 155 posts
#choices fanart - 152 posts
#writing tips - 145 posts
Longest Tag: 104 characters
#all the other pants probably left the stores embarrassed by these ones and we couldn't find regular ones
My Top Posts in 2021
#5
Do u play VIP books? Like The Unexpected Heiress, Ms Match, Slow Burn etc...
or Not VIP books like The Royal Romance, The Royal Masquerade, A Courtesan of Rome, Big Sky Country, Laws Of Attraction etc...
also can u suggest to me other Choices's blog to follow?
Hi, Anon! 😊
I don't have VIP, so I've only played the books that are available to all the players.
I've played the first chapter of The Unexpected Heiress and I really enjoyed it. Historic books are definitely my cup of tea, and the mystery revolving around MC's sister is really something that got me hooked, so I plan on keep on playing as soon as I get some free time. I've played the first chapter of A Very Scandalous Proposal and it was interesting too, though I'm not sure if the plot will be enough to keep me interested (I don't particularly liked the LI Simon). As for the other books you've mentioned, I don't know if they are available to non-VIP players.
I've played all the non-VIP books you've mentioned, and A Courtesan of Rome is def one of my favorites; I love the MC, the plot, the dialogues. A very enjoyable book.
Of course, I can suggest other Choices blogs.
I have to say most of the Choices blogs I follow are because of the fanfics (the fandom has some amazing talented writers), but I don't know if that is exactly what you're looking for... So I'll list after the cut a few of my favorite blogs, some of these blogs post amazing fanart (some of them may not be very active lately or post about content other than Choices):
@lorirwritesfanfic @princess-geek @noesapphic @itsbrindleybinch @thefirstcourtesan @boneandfur @ritachacha @takingcourage @brightpinkpeppercorn @cashweasel @choicesarehard @kinda-iconic @thequeenofpixels @storyofmychoices @misadrawss @theo-oface @ellezelindraws @lizzybeth1986 (has the most interesting analises of TRR and it's characters) @lizeboredom @homeformyheart
I'm definitely missing a lot of great blogs, but I hope that helps, Anon.
Thanks for the ask and I hope you have a lovely day/night! 😊
42 notes • Posted 2021-09-12 23:50:45 GMT
#4
The Sweetest Melody - Mr. Sinclaire x Lady Clara (MC)
Book: Desire and Decorum Pairing: Mr. Sinclaire x Lady Clara (MC) Rating: G Word count: 4k
Summary: Music has always been Lady Clara's favourite companion, and during a storm night, she reminisces about some important events in her life.
Notes: * All characters belong to Pixelberry; * English is not my first language. And sorry for any typos; * This time, @princess-geek​ was not my beta, because this fic is a birthday gift for her. Débora, I hope this time I have the date correct! Happy birthday, my dear friend! 😊🎁🎉
* This is aso my submission to @choicesaprilchallenge2021 - Day 9: The Smell of Rain
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Ledford Park – march, 1819
Lady Clara’s soft voice silences and her eyes flick from the page of the book in her hand to her surroundings. At last, nothing but the gentlest sound of deep inhales resonates at the children’s chamber. A satisfied smile curls her lips, and she closes the book, returning it to the spot over the nightstand, and leaves quietly to not wake Percival and Beatrice.
Walking down the stairs, the lady rubs her belly fondly.
“And at last, only the two of us remain, little one,” Lady Clara says caressing the roundness of her bump, still too small to be perceived by anyone else underneath the layers of clothes and loose waist. By her counts, she is almost halfway through the pregnancy and her bump seems bigger than when she was carrying her Beatrice, and much livelier. Perhaps a big boy is coming this time.
“I hope you are in the mood for music.”
Her feet take them to the only place she wishes to be in a quiet evening like this.
At the drawing room, the pianoforte calls to her. Her mother Mary filled their world at Grovershire with music, her singing was a constant companion while doing chores together and sitting by the fire at evenings as quiet as this one. It is undeniable that she passed on to her the same love. Luckily, she was blessed with a voice equally angelical, and with the years, at Edgewater and later at Ledford Park, she has learned to enjoy music in different forms.
The perfect atmosphere set at the drawing room; every little detail prepared for her, just like she enjoys. The fire crackling, casting a gold glow; the illumination cosy and inviting and two of the large windows half-opened allowing the breeze inside. The wind carries the fragrances of the incoming spring, and the moist of the incoming rain.
Carefully, she removes the shawl and folds it, before adjusting the long skirts and taking her seat by the pianoforte.
Her fingers touch the keys and deftly glide, drawing the sweetest melody. After a few minutes, she is startled and stops playing, surprised by the little dance performed by the tiny being on her womb.
Smiling, she caresses her stomach and muses, “Do you like this one, my darling? That is your father’s favourite as well. Tomorrow, God willing, he shall be here with us and you might witness an extraordinary occurrence: a duet. He shall never admit it publicly, however whenever we are only the two of us, he sings. Do not tell anyone,” she whispers.
A gush of wind invited the curtains to an impromptu dance and the flames in the bronze candelabra sitting over the pianoforte flickered and almost faded. An earthy scent invaded the parlour. The rain was most certainly washing the fields beyond the estate. Raising from her seat, she moves to the closest window.
Resting her elbows at the windowsill, she inhales deeply, rejoicing at the pleasant smell that brings countless wonderful memories to her mind, including her favourite one: the evening she almost had her first kiss with her now husband at the Westminster Bridge four years ago.
The way his eyes rested upon her face and gazed at her lips caused her breath to hitch back then and are etched in her mind. A glimpse of the flames burning behind those blue eyes and his stern façade. Not even his fancy tied cravat could disguise his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down when he swallowed hard staring at her. How could she forget that or every tiny detail? His half-closed eyes. The sound of his breathing. His scent mixed with the smell of rain. His lips oh-so-close.
For weeks, her mind, her body, her soul had already been conquered by him; however, he did not know, he could not see that. But the skies did, they did see that and envied what was blooming between them.
The gates of heavens opened, and the rain poured down over them trying to extinguish that fire. Cold large drops, countless, washing him and herself and the entire world around them.
The downpour surprised and interrupted them, and his lips fled from hers like a defeated army withdrawing; nevertheless, not even if an entire ocean poured down their heads that night and every other night could put out the flames that were already burning. Every trial and tribulation on their path have showed that they could last and survive any storm. And ever since he has proved her over and over the intensity of the fire that lays inside of him…
Despite the wind that kissed her face and tousled the braided hair falling to her shoulder, freeing a few brown strands, an intense heat creeped its way to her cheeks, causing them to burn beneath her cold hands. She smiles a nervous smile, and fans herself with her hands.
How can a simple memory of him be so intoxicating?
The first droplets of rain hit her arms and face like ice shards, and she closed the two large windows before it damped everything inside, including herself. Were she at Edgewater, Lady Dominique would have had a servant close every single window of the manor hours ago at the first indication a storm was coming, and certainly would admonish her about the dangers of a draughty room to one’s health, specially to a woman in her condition.
A slow smile pulled at the corners of her mouth. Her Ernest sounds like the elderly woman sometimes – protectiveness and worry dripping from every word, every gesture. If he had his wishes, she would only leave the house after the baby were born and would not be allowed to use the stairs to not risk tripping and falling.
Too much concern for her safety and sometimes too little for himself.
Staring at the starless sky, now covered by the dark blanket of the stormy clouds, she hopes for once her dear husband does not succumb to his customary stubbornness and stay put and safe at the London’s townhouse. Stormy nights are not made for travelling.
Not that she is particularly thrilled to spend the night without him. On the contrary. Had she been granted her wishes, after enduring months apart and countless hardships, they would never spend a single night apart, and his steady heartbeats would lull her to sleep.
Sometimes, however, life does not grant one’s wishes. That is one of those occasions.
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49 notes • Posted 2021-04-08 07:59:43 GMT
#3
pinterest aesthetic tag game | the first nine pictures when you open pinterest are your aesthetic!
Thanks for the tag @lorirwritesfanfic and @princess-geek 💗
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54 notes • Posted 2021-09-27 22:27:45 GMT
#2
rules: tag 9 people you want to get to know better!
thanks for the tag @stars--above and @lorirwritesfanfic
favorite color: blue in all its shades
currently reading: right now, too many academic articles and I'm trying to catch up on my reading list
last song: I Still Do - The Cranberries
last series: i’m watching never have i ever, mr robot and lupin (i have several series on my list... and so little time)
last movie: maybe luca? i cannot remember
sweet, savory, or spicy: spicy or savory. i like both
currently craving: my covid's second shot? lol and also to visit the botanic garden in my city. i miss it a lot. the smells. the green. i haven't been there since before the pandemic... so... probably that.
coffee or tea: both. i'm enjoying a nice vanilla and cinnamon tea right now, but can go on without my morning coffee.
currently working on: 
* i'm working on a Desire and Decorum AU in collab with @noesapphic;
* finishing a fic for RODAW (Colt Kaneko x MC);
* trying to channel some of my inspiration these past days to write some original works on the side...
tagging: @noesapphic @princess-geek @dianalend @i-put-the-sin-in-sinclaire @ezekielbhandarivalleros
58 notes • Posted 2021-08-18 23:47:21 GMT
#1
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Link to the MASTERLIST 
You can also read my fics on AO3
(Books: Blades of Light and Shadow, Desire and Decorum, Perfect Match, Ride or Die and The Royal Romance)
If you wanted to be added or removed from my TAG LIST, just let me know.
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86 notes • Posted 2021-01-23 01:37:46 GMT
Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →
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onyx-sun · 3 years
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Roaming Renegade: Eligos
A traveling mercenary that seems wary of the Imperial Army. Often caught thinking about something, or talking to himself. Appears in Fire Emblem: Three Houses.
(Stats and Lines under the cut!)
Stats HP: 40/43/46 Atk: 36/39/42 Spd: 42/45/48 Def: 34/37/40 Res: 31/34/37
Unit Type Infantry - Lance
Weapons Iron Lance - Mt: 6 / Range: 1 Steel Lance - Mt: 8 / Range: 1 Silver Lance - Mt: 11 / Range: 1 Familial Lance - Mt: 16 / Range 1 - If foe initiates combat, grants Def/Res+2 during combat. Familial Lance+ - Mt: 18 / Range: 1 - If foe initiates combat, grants Def/Rest+4. If unit’s HP ≧ 50%, unit makes a guaranteed follow-up attack.
Assists N/A
Specials Sunrise - Charge: 4 - Restores HP = 50%. Boosts damage dealt by 100%.
Skills A) Close Def 3 - If foe initiates combat and uses sword, lance, axe, dragonstone, or beast damage, grants Def/Res+6 during combat. B) Chill Speed 3 - At start of turn, inflicts Spd-7 on foe on the enemy team with the highest Spd through its next action. C) Def Smoke 3 - Inflicts Def-7 on foes within 2 spaces of target through their next actions after combat.
Summoning Quote “Where am I-? Askr, huh? I’m...Eligos. Tell me this; are there others from my world here, from a country called the Adrestian Empire?”
Greeting Quote (If Edelgard is not in the plaza) “Hello, I am Eligos. Your companion [friend’s name] asked me to say...”hello”.” (If Edelgard is in the plaza) “-! Ah...I’m Eligos. Your companion [friend’s name] says hello...I need to go. Goodbye.”
Plaza Lines (If Edelgard is not in the plaza) “A war here as well, huh...could this one have been avoided?” “Do you need any help with your work? I may not look it, but I do have some experience with helping teach others.” “I wonder if she’s here...” “My lance? Well...it’s from someone very important to me. Someone I lost.” (If Edelgard is in the plaza) “...Please don’t tell her I’m here. Please.” “.......” “I’m sorry but...I can’t stay. We can talk later.” “...Why did you do it? You had options...choices you could’ve made to avoid all of this.”
Voiced Lines “[chuckles]” “What are the other nations in this world like? Ah, that’s an odd question, isn’t it?” “I learned so much from my father...I wonder what he’d think of me now?” “It’s admittedly strange to be using a lance now...I’m much more comfortable with a sword in hand.” “Was I...wrong, in my decision? Ignore me, I’m just thinking out loud.” (If you have summoned Edelgard) “The Emperor, huh...she really was serious. But why...?” (If you have summoned Edelgard) “She doesn’t know I’m here, right? I...don’t think I could face her.” (If you have summoned Dimitri) “...I’m proud. Of how far he’s come. Who? No one, just talking to myself.” (If you have summoned Claude) “My friend...I believe in you. Perhaps you can get through to her. Ah, just talking to myself again.”
Lv 40 Dialogue “Hello, [summoner]...I believe I owe you an explanation. Hm? I don’t have to say anything? No, I’m not forcing myself to say this - rather, I want to tell you this...as a friend, confiding in another. My name isn’t truly Eligos. It’s Byleth.” (If you have summoned Byleth, Tested Professor - if not, the next two lines do not occur) “I am well aware that I'm not at all like the other version of myself, walking around. There is a reason...though I hope you don’t think any less of me for it.” “I once taught the Black Eagles House of the Officer’s Academy. The house leader, Edelgard...she thought very highly of me. She was a bright student, though stubborn as a mule. I don’t understand her reasoning why, but as it turned out, she was masquerading as the Flame Emperor - and eventually wished to declare war on the Church of Seiros. She wished to change the system, and decided to do so by force. When I saved her that day, in the Holy Tomb...I never wanted a part of this war. So that night, I left. I may care for the students I left behind...but I cannot be asked to fight in a needless war. If you ever see Edelgard, [summoner]...ask her this for me. Why was war the only option she felt she had? She had choices, choices with less bloodshed - so why did she choose to try and forge a nation on the blood of innocents?”
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Note
5, in each category
I5. Who Sired them, and into what Generation were they Sired? What’s their relationship with their Sire like, and what were the circumstances of their Embrace?
Beatrix Lehmann sired Leonard Lehmann as the 10th generation of their line on the 15th March 1516. He avoids disclosing his generation at all costs considering the fact that it is very high for a kindred that has survived as long as he has. It's also why he has a bitterness streak towards any kindred younger than him he learns is of a lower one.
His relationship with his sire was one built upon a mutual blood bond. Despite having a rebellious attitude he was a mummy's boy for his first century until through discussions with 'siblings' and exposure to kindred outside of the house started to have him questioning. By the late 1700s his loyalty to her was induced through blood bond entirely, he played into it to maintain an act but with some assistance from contacts he broke away. He has a lot of spite and distaste towards her now. As he rightfully should considering the traumatic abuse and manipulation he endured in his time under her influence.
The circumstances of his embrace were the following: he was adopted originally by his sire due to his resemblance to her son (the original Leonard Lehmann) whom had been the only one of her children to survive infancy let along into their teenage years. She became scared that this doppelganger would change too much and the resemblance would be lost and so she arranged for his embrace to take place on the anniversary of her own son's death, as a sort of way to have him carry on. A ghoul that had been acting as a mentor and friend to the boy arranged to cut tutoring off early on the day, presented him with a new set of clothes, took him to eat dinner and watch the sunset - and ended up being the first person Leo killed in the blind hunger of the initial aftermath of being embraced.
Beatrix was but a neonate herself still at this point and with no permission having been sought for her actions that evening. Her own sire was furious with her but figured the boy would make suitable leverage over her so let him remain. It's for this reason so much time was spent kept aside and masquerading as a ghoul during his first century.
II5. What were they most afraid of in life? How has this changed?
In life it was being accused for the deaths of his family. He felt partially responsible for their demise and the consequences that would of arisen at the time if he were to have that pinned on him? Not entirely pleasant. That and being 'broken over the wheel' for thefts committed in the time between loosing his family and being taken in by his sire. A truly horrific and agonizing way to go, a fear of that specific end is good cause for his remembering of it's existence.
Now however... torpor. The prospect of falling asleep and not rising again for some unknown amount of time is terrifying to him. Especially when he's on this constant rat race to keep up to speed with the times. In his mind getting torpored and taken out of the game for even just a few years could potentially be something he wouldn't recover from.
III5. Which of their Clan’s stereotypes apply to them? Which do they act against, or embody the opposite of?
In regards to what applies: - He definitely has a sense of noblesse oblige. Positioning himself as Prince in such a way that he defines his role less in the keeping of personal power and more in regards to the protecting of his people he serves with it. - He also adheres to quite the degree of Machiavellianism, which sometimes gets associated with his clan. - The suits. The goddamn suits. - Has a cruel power seeking streak prompting the desire to maintain control over his surroundings. While not outright power-hungry as the clan may be stereotyped, having power helps ensure stability.
Regarding what he acts against/opposes: - He has little mind for maintaining dignitas. He would much prefer to be seen as an incompetent fool so he can overlooked briefly enough for a backstab than he would want to adhere to all the tedious rules that come with the clan. - He knows that unlike his cousins he was not chosen for the embrace by courtesy of some kind of skill he possessed. He was not scoped out due to being a suitable protégé. - Will outright make a fool of himself on purpose (-bingo card insert-)
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IV5. What do they think about the Kuei-jin?
I admittedly ignore WoD's lore around them cos of the sinophobia that has been engrained into it.
So instead have a little general NZ infomation. (cw: I do go into some current affairs so for anyone that wants to avoid such topics feel free to skip. Also, still not escaping people being shitty via talking about it unfortunately. British colony after all.)
During the 1860s, what was still 'initial colonization time', when many Europeans were coming to settle in the country there were also many Chinese arriving. British colonies being British colonies however held a heap of prejudice so imposed a poll tax upon their entry to the country (following the lead of US & Australia). This lasted from the 1880s to 1940s. Add on top of this discriminatory policies against even those born in the country preventing involvement in politics or work in various professions prior to the 50s and well, shit's been bad to say the least.
Over past few decades there have been several waves of Chinese immigration to the country and those identifying their ethnicity as Chinese make up a notable proportion of the Auckland demographic (~10%). This can be seen reflected in the fact that in many areas of Auckland signs can been seen written in both Cantonese or Madarin and English and also the massive yearly lantern festival and New Years celebrations in the city centre!
On a more serious note: Several of the wave haves come in response to governmental actions back in China, such as the 1997 handover. Conflicts over the CCP do get seen from the community as well - whether it be the group of protesters on Auckland's Queen Street on the daily handing out pamphlets to raise awareness of persecuted groups whilst fearing the long arm of the regime, or the conflict between pro/anti-beijing stances to arise on UoA's campus during the most recent protests in Hong Kong.
Conflict and concern over issues from back in China over the extent of control and actions of CCP's regime are alive within the NZ Chinese community. For an in depth look at part if it - this article from 2018 tries to touch on sources from both sides. And, by golly, does all this not help with the ongoing sinophobia present in society.
V5. What do they think about Clan Lasombra?
He thinks the conflict between Clan Lasombra and Clan Ventrue within the modern era is horrendously petty and grounded in the sect conflict more than anything. He himself is fearful of low generation Lasombra due to their capacity for long distance travel but the average fledgling to jump the ditch over from Australia is of little issue to him. He finds them to typically be smarter and more reasonable than some of the sabbat. Therefore be sorts he's willing to sit down and have a chat with.
The typical lasombra's desire for social climbing however is something of concern to him. They don't play by the same rules as the Ventrue and he finds something relatable in them. Those factors give him cause for some alarm. Even the nicest ones he encounters.
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darkmindsotome · 4 years
Text
Losing The Lot
Fandom: Love365 Masquerade Kiss  
Pairing: Kazuomi Shido x MC
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Word count: 4,043
Warning: NSFW Smut
Written by: darkmindsotome
Tagging @voltage-vixen​ as requested. Prompt #7: Strip poker
Darkmindsotome Masterlist
---
Losing The Lot
My laptop beeped ending the latest transmission from the EAC. I closed the device and slid it under the seat of the car that was currently winding its way through crosstown traffic in the rain to take me back to my apartment after successfully completing my latest mission.
I closed my eyes and rolled my neck, sinking into the cushioning of the backseat. I didn’t typically find all missions exhausting but being a spy was both physically and mentally demanding. I watched the streetlights blur against the rain on the window, happy to finally be able to relax.
My mind wandered wishing for nothing more than to sink into a hot bath and then curl up on the sofa with a big tub of Lady Borden ice cream and binge on Mission Impossible films. My phone vibrated next to me and when I saw the caller my heart jumped.
“Welcome back.” A voice I had missed hearing for the last few days spoke before I had even placed the phone near my ear properly.
“I won’t ask how you found out I was back in the country again.” I smiled. Despite how exasperated my words sounded I was seriously happy to hear the voice of the man I loved.
“Can’t a guy take an interest in his Girlfriend these days? Did you get me a souvenir?” Kazuomi sounded like an excited child. His energy and upbeat attitude brushed away the tension in my body.
“You wanted a souvenir? Kazuomi I was on a mission, not a vacation.” I playfully chastised him knowing full well any kind of reprimand from me would go unanswered as it usually did.
“So you didn’t get me anything at all?” I could practically see his pouting face even over the phone.
My wonderfully mischievous guy who worked harder than he showed to anyone. A man who was at the top of official lists as one of the world’s most wanted bad guys. Who was labelled a playboy the world over and covered in multiple gossip columns constantly never showed this kind of vulnerability to others. He was far from pristine white, his actions were always a little shady but I trusted him. I felt a warmth bloom in my chest as I thought about it.
“I didn’t say that.” I laughed our conversation was coming to an end as my car had stopped at the curb of my apartment and I knew I would lose reception for a few minutes as I entered the building. “I’ll bring it over to your place tomorrow.”
The door to the car opened and instead of seeing the driver, I saw my boyfriend.
“Why not just give it to me now?” He had a look on his face like he had just pulled off the biggest prank of his life and the smile could have made my knees buckle had I not already been sitting.
He was outlined by the lights behind him that were casting a shimmering aura over him. As if he needed to be painted in a sexier manner. This guy was a walking advert for sexual desires and just oozed appeal. A natural charmer I really would not be surprised to discover his friend's claims that celestial beings had fallen under his spell.
“What are you doing here!?”
“Is that any way to greet your man? Although I have to say you look good even when pulling that face.” He winked at me his brown hair was caught at the moment between lightly damp and becoming unstyled by the rain. A few droplets of water fell from the tips of it and ran down his neck finding the open collar of his shirt and vanishing beneath it.
“You!” I gave him a light slap as I got out of the car pretending not to notice that I was jealous of a raindrop. My eyes fell on a familiar vehicle and I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. “I can’t believe you showed up in the limo.”
“I never go anywhere without it.” He shrugged as if this sort of thing was normal for everyone. If there was one thing he enjoyed it was opulence and dammit if he hadn’t provided a good show of it to the point where very little was able to still shock me. He bent over and grabbed my suitcase from inside the car, tapping the roof after he shut the door sending it on its way. “Come on let’s get inside before we both drown.”
He grabbed my wrist with his free hand pulling me towards my building. The warmth of his grip where his skin touched mine had me willingly follow him in a trance. I really was a hopeless case.
*
The door unlocked with a click that was lost against the sound of the downpour of water. We both walked in and Kazuomi put the suitcase he had pilfered from the car next to the kitchen counter. I closed the front door behind us only to find myself wrapped up in a pair of strong arms and my damp bare neck claimed in a rush of fiery kisses.
“Mhm, Kazuomi…” I purred as he chased away the chill on my body from the rain with his lips. I loved his kisses, I’d never met someone who kissed like him before.
“No one says my name like you do.” He returned my purr with one. Even as his lips travelled over my skin his hands began pawing and kneading at me through my damp clothes. The cold fabric clung to the flushed flesh under it. “How long are you planning on keeping me waiting?”
“Waiting? On what?” While is still had enough of my senses to talk back I did. This was our little game that fuelled the fire in both of us. An endless game of cat and mouse where neither of us was willing to simply give in.
“My souvenir of course.” He buried his head in the crook of my neck before drawing back to capture my ear lobe lightly between his teeth, giving it a gentle tug. “But if you don’t have one… I guess I could claim you instead.”
Before he could latch on to me and make it impossible for me to move I spun around in his arms and placed a finger on his lips enjoying his reaction as he wondered what I was doing.
“As tempting as that is I do have something for you.”  I made sure to rub myself just a little against him as I pushed him back. There was no way I was going to make getting things all his way that easy for him, I never did.
“Oh?”
I moved past him and clipped open the suitcase searching for the gift I’d found for him. A rectangular box slipped out from under some of my clothes and I picked it up suddenly feeling a little nervous about giving the third richest guy in the world something so pathetic.
“I didn’t see anything that really got my attention but I found these and thought you would probably like them.”
“A deck of cards?” Kazuomi didn’t display any of the elitist reactions I imagined. Instead, he looks seriously amused and happy with his souvenir.
“Their special cards, here see?” I keep forgetting this guy can be so incredibly down to earth it naturally makes me smile as I pluck the box from his hands and crack it open to remove one of the cards.
After rubbing the image on the card the figure that was once dressed in fanciful clothes and opulent robes revealed more and more skin. The idea was the longer you played with the cards the more of their secrets the heat from your hands uncovered. I thought that concept alone was so incredibly Kazuomi I just had to get him a deck.
“Impressive.” His eyes light up at the new discovery reminding me of a kid watching a magic show for the first time.
“You like them?”
“My beloved brought me a gift of course I love them.” He held the cards in his hand and dragged me back to him with the other. It was such a smooth and fast movement I could feel my insides jolting at it. He bent down to whisper in my ear. “You really are a naughty girl though. To think you would get me a gift like this. I hope you’re ready for a game.”
His voice was intoxicating, neither of us moved our eyes remaining locked as the heat between us ignited our competitive natures.
*
The clean apartment had become a mess in a matter of a couple of hours. Items of clothing were dotted around like breadcrumbs trailing a path to us as we sat either end of my white corner sofa playing Texas hold ‘em.
After scrambling around in drawers and cupboards looking for something we could use in place of betting chips we found a bag of candy and split it 50/50.
Several hands later, most of the clothes on the floor were mine. I had played several card games in the past and I was confident enough to say I could put up a good fight. It was, however, just my luck that my charming boyfriend also had a reputation for never losing. This fun, kinky game was rapidly becoming my waterloo.
I was now left with only my shirt and underwear while Kazuomi was only missing his jacket and waistcoat. His brown eyes were paying way more attention to me than his own cards. It was really distracting and I kept fidgeting in place, willing my mind to focus on the cards and not the impossibly attractive man in front of me. How was he even winning when he wasn’t even paying attention anyway?
“You look like you have something to say.” He was still smirking after watching me lose my skirt. I made sure to stay out of his reach as I disrobed but that didn’t stop him from making some suggestively sexy gestures of his own like licking his lips and slicking back his damp hair from his face. I don’t know if it was the time we spent apart or what but he looked so different right now, my heart started to pound so hard I could feel it.
“What makes you think that?” I shrugged trying to hide how hot I was getting while I shuffled the cards.
“You are giving me the most adorable glare. I just love it when your little miss perfect mask slips off.” He had crawled towards me over the sofa on all fours like a prowling lion. It would only have taken a small pounce to have me trapped under him, an idea I can’t say I minded at all but the game was not over yet.
“Just deal the cards.” I shoved the shuffled deck towards him and watched as he calmly rolled back into his original seat accepting them.
“As my Lady commands.”
Competitive spirit reignited we returned to our little game. It is probably about this time that a normal person may consider the fact that this was not going well and forfeit. As a certain hardened gambler playing me so often remarked though part of the fun in a game was never knowing how things were going to turn out until the very end.
I think at this point from the heated stares and the way in which we were responding to each other’s every move there was no question where this was going to end. It only remained to be seen who was going to come out on top?
After checking my hand, I was a little relieved to see some good cards, King and ten of diamonds. The smiling face of the girl dressed in the increasingly dishevelled robes of the King looked back at me. I know I got these cards for Kazuomi as a kind of novelty gift but honestly even I’m a little turned on looking at them. 
Kazuomi didn’t exactly have the unreadable poker face I had seen at Masquerade when playing cards there with other people. It was not deadpan but it may as well have been for all the hints it was giving away.
He was smiling serenely. Every now and then he brought his hand out to take a drink from the table, pulling it back, brushing lightly over his own thigh drawing my attention to the growing bulge in his lap. It was subtle enough that he could still claim he had no idea what I was referring to should I bring it up.
I was more than familiar with his little teases at this point and refused to acknowledge it, my eyes returning to the game as the next cards flopped onto the cushion between us after we each threw in some ‘chips’ to bet. I was looking at more diamonds Queen, eight and four.
This should be easy I was holding a great hand so far. I nearly smiled imagining that I might get him to remove some more clothes. To hide it I instead licked my lips and rubbed my thighs together adjusting myself in the seat. When did I get this wet? Embarrassment suddenly hit me and I could feel the heat rising from my core to colour my face.
“Call.” He announced his move and I could hear a little strain in his voice.
Glancing over I could see the same anguish of forced restraint that I was feeling. I nodded not trusting my voice currently to not blow my cover and reached out to turn the fourth card. Three, another diamond. I could feel my body unconsciously relax a little after seeing the new card.
There was only really one card that could beat me now, I end up putting half my chips in the pot and he calls again. I look over at him, his wolfish grin had grown and dammit if he didn’t look like the very definition of lust in a dictionary.
Eight of clubs fell on the river. This changed things a little there could be the chance he may have three of a kind here I decided to play it a little safe and just make a small bet.
“Call.”
Again? Seriously? I ran some very quick calculations that honestly made very little difference to the commitment I had as to how to play my hand.
“King high flush” I flipped over my cards smiling as I called it out. I felt the rush of anticipation coursing through me. There was a very low chance I was going to lose, 2% in fact. 
“Nice! Very good hand.” Kazuomi nodded still smiling.
“Thank you.”
“Not quite good enough though. Ace high… flush.” As he flipped his cards over I couldn’t take my eyes off them and the defeat it dealt me.
“Wha-? No way how many times is that you’ve won?” I pouted far from ready to give up on the game between us it was like a new fire had been lit. I had been so close that time.
“I haven’t been counting. I would say I’ve at least won enough to enjoy a good show.” His eyes had turned predatory as he provoked me.
“Well, I suppose I should continue the performance then.” I raised myself to my knees, remaining on the sofa.
Walking my fingers up the front of my shirt and slowly unbuttoned it. My eyes never left him as I let the fabric glide downwards before dropping to the floor. I felt a new rush of excitement that had nothing to do with a card game. His predatory look and that smile on his face had morphed for a fraction of a second revealing how he was also struggling to keep himself in check.
“I would be more than happy to call it here if you don’t want to continue.” I decided to push a few buttons. It isn’t very often I got to see him this close to the edge after all.
“Oh? Are you admitting defeat?” The crack in his mask sealed shut behind a reinforced veneer.
“Never, I’m in this till the end.” My firm denial brought back his smile.
“Then it’s a race to the finish. I’ll warn you now I won’t hold back.” Kazuomi’s voice issued his warning like a devilish promise sending a shiver straight up my spine. His curved lips had me thinking of his kisses and how badly I craved for them to be covering me right now.
“That makes two of us.”
The next game started and it felt like a slow torture. I had Ace of clubs and a King of diamonds, another decent hand. Luck seemed to be at least interested in keeping these matches between us close.
I bet and he calls. Ace and three of clubs falls on the flop with the Ace of diamonds. It looks like I could be in with more than a slim chance here. I tap my hand to signal a check. He bets and I raise then he does something he hasn’t done all night.
“All in” His bet throws me for a loop.
I check my cards again quickly wondering what could actually beat them. Pair of aces or deuces… that made two hands that could trump mine. There was still a higher chance of me being ahead right now.
Looking up at my boyfriend who was still as unreadable as before, I found him enjoying watching me waver on this last game. If he loses after calling 'all in' that was it. I would not only have won the hand but he would have to strip completely. My crushing defeat could become a momentous victory in the blink of an eye. 95% chance.
“Call.”
After making my bet the cards move again, the five of diamonds appears on the turn. Victory was so close I could almost feel it.
“Check”
“Check” Our call was in unison and you could cut the sexual tension with a knife.
Everything was dependant on this last card. The chances of failure were slim and then it hit. Queen of clubs fell on the river. My hands tremble a little as I turn over my hand.
“Ace King, that gives me three of a kind.”
“Jack five,” Kazuomi's words sounded muffled in my ears as I looked at the cards he held. My eyes blew wide at the hand he hit back with. Of all the low blows to be given tonight. “Flush, I win.”
“Jack and Five of clubs? No way!”
“It was just a lucky hand.” He chuckled seeing how animated I was.
“That is more than lucky that’s unbelievable! Why the hell did you play that?” I wasn’t trying to be a sore loser. I just couldn’t believe he kept that hand going through the game until he got lucky on the river.
“I’m a great believer in being in it to win it and this was the last game of the night. I figured if I was going to lose I should make it memorable.” He shrugged the grin on his face turned into a shit-eating smirk. The look was unashamedly seductive it should have been illegal.
“Loose? You didn’t though you totally destroyed me!” I huffed scooping up the cards and candy from the sofa and putting them on the coffee table with an artless thud.
“I’ll happily hear your complaints in bed. Right now I’m claiming my winnings.” He took my petulant act of clearing the sofa as an invitation not waiting for my reply.
In his impatience he threw me back on the sofa, climbing on top of me silencing any protests I might have by kissing me ferociously. Our bodies became a tangle of limbs, stroking and grabbing at each other. This was more our MO. Passionate, wild neither of us willing to let the other win even now. The spy and the ex target, Kazuomi and me.
It was a no-holds-barred battle between equals. I found myself wondering if we would ever reach a point where we weren’t playing these games. If he would become the focus of one of my missions in the future placing us right back at the starting point. So many ideas and concerns, worries for another time. Right now I was more than happy to just focus on the man I loved.
My hands travelled over him pulling his shirt free of his trousers and snaking up under the fabric. His taut muscles flexed under my touch as he moved unperturbed locating my weak spots. He trailed kisses from my ear to my collarbone and tried to go lower only to be yanked back up as my hand gripped tight on his belt preventing him.
“Have I ever told you that I love how unpredictable you are?” He kissed me hard, his tongue twisting against mine in a way that had me breathless as it brushed over the roof of my mouth.
“Have I ever told you that you talk too much?” I somehow managed to backtalk him. His hands traced the edge of my bra, releasing the clip at the same time as I unbuckled his belt. My hand slipped down grasping his hardened length he had been flaunting throughout the game. His hips bucked pushing it into my palm as he groaned. “Mmm god, I missed you.”
“Missed you too.” He kissed me quickly before pulling back long enough to pull his shirt over his head, the buttons were apparently too much effort to bother with. “You have some time off now right?”
“Mhm, until the next mission at least.” I nodded and pumped my hand a little. The lust in his eyes had turned them nearly black, I bit my lip.
“So there’s not a problem in me keeping you up all night then.” His hand plunged into the thin fabric of my panties. The pad of his thumb brushed over the bundle of nerves as he slipped his fingers deeper inside.
“Ah! …. Kazuomi” I cried out my body writhing under his touch. I wanted more, I wanted him.
“Yeah?”
“I L-” My words, the ones I never said outside of the bedroom were cut off with a growl from him.
His teeth sunk into the flesh of my bottom lip leaving it feeling deliciously sore. I felt his hands move to shove the waistbands of his boxers and trousers free of his hips. The removal of the restricting clothing had his arousal standing to attention pressing into my inner thigh. My body clenched around the fingers buried inside me.   
“How much more were you planning on making me fall for you? Careful with all that cute stuff it kills me.” Kazuomi removed his fingers, my body naturally chased his desperation taking over wanting to reclaim the friction it had lost.
The sound of fabric tearing should have concerned me but I was past the point of caring about a destroyed set of lingerie. He pushed into me slowly I didn’t think I could have gotten any hotter but as I was forced to stretch around him I felt like I was being filled with liquid magma. Sweat was prickling on my skin and I willed my eyes to remain open. I wanted to see him.
Our heavy breathing, pants, moans and cries rang out. Each of us taking turns to tantalise and tease while our bodies rocked harder and harder together. My vision sparked white as an orgasm claimed me. Kazuomi helped me ride it out against him before joining me in my euphoria and falling flat on top of me. Our bodies were still joined together, muscles twitching and the sweat running freely combining our scents in the air. My heart was hammering in my chest, my pulse throbbing in my head in the aftermath of the wave that had washed over me.
I reached up to run my fingers through my man’s soft brown hair knowing him to be a man of his word and looking forward to the rest of our night as we pushed each other to the brink, jumping together into paradise. I was finally home.
---
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heamarvel · 4 years
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Introducing the Harlequin Hoopla!
We here at Marvel HEA HQ believe in love - obviously - and we adore celebrating it. In order to help the Marvel fandoms (all of them) do just that, we’ve created a prompt fest for the month of February to celebrate that love is love is love. 
Harlequin has been a brand synonymous with love stories for over 50 years, so we decided to take a little inspiration from them for this fest. For those who aren’t familiar, Harlequin publishes books in separate lines - and each line has specific things about it. They have a line of all suspenseful stories, one of all stories set in Amish country, one where all the books are over 300+ pages, etc. 
So, we’re going to have 4 “Lines” - separate prompt categories - for you to choose from as you create. Each line has a daily prompt and you can mix/match cards as much as you’d like. 
SuperRomance: Any rating, fics need to be longer than 3k, mood boards must have 8 images and original art must be complete.
Presents: Any length, size or completion status, but must be rated M or E
Romance: Any length, size or completion status, but MUST be fluff focused and be rated G or T
Suspense: Any length, size or completion status, any rating. These are all action or supernatural prompts. 
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Rules: 
Basically, none. We ask that you post your prompt on or after the day it corresponds to (in your time zone is fine). The collection will open late on Jan 31 (EST) to start posting Feb 1 prompts. We ask a minimum fill of 500 words per prompt, with the exception of the SuperRomance prompts, which are to be a minimum of 3k or longer. You can start anytime.
Anyone who completes 5 or more prompts will get a participation badge and specific instructions on posting will be released closer to Jan 31. The event will run with 4 prompts for each day of February (and yes! that means that this is a Leap Year!)
Any Marvel ship is welcome - and poly ships are encouraged! - as well as any Marvel universe (MCU, 616, 3490, AoS, Daredevil, etc.) but remember that a Harlequin novel has to end with a Happily Ever After between the main protagonists! We also ask that the main rules from our Holiday Movie Challenge be respected: no underage sex, no romantic or sexual relationship of any kind between an underage person and an adult, and no glorification of N*zis if you write HTP or darker stories. Usual boundaries for age participation applies: 16+ for SFW content and 18+ for NSFW content - ages of consent and such vary so much from country to country, so we thank you for your understanding as we err on the sides of caution. 
Below you will find images containing the prompts for each category, as well as the prompts written out so that those who use dictation have access to them.
Links to our FAQ and other information can be found here!
Happy Creating!
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SuperRomance (3k or longer, any rating)
First Date
Soulmates
Sheriff and Single Parent With Miscreant Kid
Friends to Lovers
Set in Space
Need to get married for an inheritance
Saved from a bad marriage
Accidental Pregnancy
Time travel
Highlander AU
Wrong food order
Lost pet
Jock & Nerd 
Valentine’s Day
Ancient Rome or Greece
Secret identity 
 War of the Roses
Hollywood Star
Modern Royalty 
Lead Ballerina & Major Donor
Rival scientists
Set in 19th century 
Fairytale re-telling
Reality TV
Artist & Model
Rival restaurant owners
Journalist
New neighbors
Opposing Counsel in a Court Case
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Presents (Any length, rating M or E)
Friends to Lovers
Actor on a Western Set and “real cowboy”
Billionaire and mechanic
Both main characters in the military 
Secret baby
Enemies to lovers
Set in 1920s
Single parents who are enemies on the PTA
Soulmates
Political Marriage
 Wrong number
 Accidental poly  
Balcony Sex
Valentine’s Day
Lingerie
There’s only one bed
Bathtub
Threeway/Fourway (not established relationship)
Regency AU
Amnesia
Kink negotiations
First time
Married sex
Masquerade Ball 
Doctor/nurse
Broken bed
Hiding from kids
Model/Photographer
Secret Identity
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Romance (Any length, but fluff focused, and closed door sex - rating is G or T)
Secret baby
Snow Angels
First Date
Meet at an animal shelter
1890s American West
 Wrong number
Enemies to lovers
Roommates
Only one bed
Caught in bad weather
First Anniversary 
Sentinel/Guide
High school sweethearts
Valentine’s Day
Pen pals
Boss & Secretary 
 Masquerade ball
 Library AU
 Soulmates
 Best Friends to Lovers
Hired date to a wedding
The Notting Hill set-up: “I spilled something on you, want to get cleaned up in my apartment?”
Set in Tudor England
Coffee Shop Meet Cute
Teacher / Parent
Holiday Celebration
Chef & Food Critic 
KidFic 
Home decorating
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Suspense (supernatural/action, any rating)
A/B/O
Mob AU
Transformation
Virgin sacrifice
Shifters
Clans at War
Pirates
Body swap
Dragons
Wing!Fic
Star Athlete
Merpeople
Secret identity
Valentine’s Day
 Secret Service & President
 The Christmas Truce
 Ghost hunting
 Vampires
 Witness Protection
 Soulmarks
Tentacles
On the run
Demigods
Wizards
Race car driver
Time travel
Con artist and mark 
Rodeo
Fantasy AU
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Disclaimer: We are in no way associated with Harlequin and are not being paid by anyone associated with the brand. We also would like to reiterate here that our Hallmark event has had its name changed as a result of the actions they took to pull a same-sex ad on Dec 14th, 2019. It is now known as the Holiday Movie Challenge. Thanks for your understanding!
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sherlock-study · 4 years
Text
I have a lot of mixed feelings about the whole US-China-WHO thing. I’m Taiwanese and China has basically been bullying us for like 50 years.
We’re not allowed in the UN. We’re not represented in the WHO. We’re forced to use a stupid name to compete in the Olympics. We have missiles and probably nukes directed at us and almost no diplomatic ties with anyone because China bought (and is still trying to buy) all of our diplomatic allies
It’s really fucking horrible to have your identity denied and forcefully assimilated because China told everyone else to shut the fuck up or bid adieu to $$$. Not to mention the Hong Kong and Tibet and Uyghur situations.
So as a Taiwanese I get where Trump is coming from (even though I despise that swine) We’ve been enduring China’s abuse for decades while the rest of the world has just begun to realize what the Chinese government can do to them.
Some people may be mixing in their sinophobia and trying to masquerade that as support for Taiwan and punishment for China, but for the Taiwanese this is one of the rare occasions we can be seen in a positive light without China ruining everything.
But at the same time I really dislike trump and everything he stands for. I also feel like Taiwan is just a pawn (as we have always been) and will be easily discarded and forgotten by the rest of the world once this COVID thing is over. IDK. Im starting to ramble. This is really difficult for me.
P.S. As a Taiwanese citizen of Chinese ethnicity I would also like to remind everyone that disliking the Chinese government and taking appropriate measures to limit its influence in your country does not necessarily equate to prejudice against Chinese people or sinophobia. But when you accuse someone of being a spy/whatever or really just treat them differently simply because they are Chinese then that is sinophobia sorry
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robert-c · 4 years
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Traditional Values
This phrase always tempts me to laugh, especially when I see who says it, and hear what they mean by it. I would imagine it included things embodied in say, the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution; things about freedom of religion, speech, liberty and justice. The ideals we are still striving to fully implement.
But apparently those most fond of using this phrase mean traditional practices, not values. For example, black people were slaves for almost the first 100 years of this republic and for the next 100 couldn’t use the same water fountains, go to the same schools, etc. as white people. Despite the progress of the last 60 years there is still an enormous difference between people of color and whites in education, income, and incarceration for similar crimes.
Support of “traditional” practice doesn’t stop there. Despite the fairly clear language prohibiting legislation favoring a particular religion they cling to the days when a particularly Christian Protestant view was not only dominant, but influenced law even more than current anti-Choice advocates desire (e.g. Sunday closing laws, “blue laws”, prohibiting the sale of certain items on Sundays [hammers OK, nails NO, and more], prohibitions on birth control, etc.).
And let’s not forget the simple censorship of language and subject matter that to some extent still exists on major public networks; all defended on the basis that these are “offensive” to some people. Well, if there is a right “not to be offended” then my rights have been violated. I am offended by televangelists. I’m offended by racists, and those who “blindly back the blue”. Being a defender of the Constitution I don’t think I have the right to shut them down – but neither do I think they should have the power to shut down anyone else.
Let’s take the mask and gloves off. “Traditional Values” is just code for enforcing a social order and culture that existed 50 to 100 years ago and was always out of step with the best interpretation of ideals in our founding documents. It is language crafted to appeal to a nostalgic image of your youth, or even the fabled youth of your parents. It isn’t about what is fair, just or reasonable.
Self-centeredness is also part of our “traditional values”, so let’s look at that. How in the world does the personal sexual preferences of a waiter or waitress affect their service to someone at the restaurant? Why is it any of their business as long as they get what they have paid for; efficient, friendly service? Why do they care who is in the stall next to then in the public restroom? What’s it to them if their neighbor doesn’t go to church and stays drunk on Sunday? Don’t they believe that God is going to deal with him later? Why do they think it’s their business? Is their God so weak that He needs their help?
Let’s call it like it is – “traditional values” is nothing more than an excuse for trying to dictate to others how they should live in the most personal ways. It is the opposite of everything this country ever stood for. Let’s not let them get away with projecting their ideas as somehow the “real America”. They are nothing more than a group of petty wannabe tyrants masquerading as a persecuted minority. Everything they attempt to claim that the “radical left” will do to personal liberty is exactly what they will do if they get power.
Perhaps their idea of “traditional values” has to do with business. Historically, most of the time that meant little or no regulation. Child labor, manipulation of the stock market, selling “medicines” that were ineffective or even dangerous, work places that were unsafe due to improper handling of hazardous materials, are just a few of the things that businesses used to be able to get away with, traditionally.
There has been more than half a century of myth making and lies to support the idea that the “old ways were the better ways”: that businesses are always good; that regulations are always bad; that we were founded as a “Christian” nation; that people are poor because they are lazy or stupid and don’t deserve any better; that material success means you are smarter, or a better person than others; that people receiving welfare or other charity are lazy cheats; that tolerance of those who disagree is the same as agreeing with them; that “political correctness” is something new and “leftist” (during the segregated south any mention racial equality or criticism of white supremacy could result in violence against you),and more.
We don’t have 50 years to combat these myths, but we may not need it if we call bullshit every time we hear one. I hope that everyone challenges these presumptions when people spout them. I know it won’t be easy, I generally prefer to avoid conflict and controversy in otherwise friendly settings. However, those on the extreme right have never followed these social conventions; they are almost always the first to bring up a controversial political or religious topic to give themselves an excuse to “share their beliefs”. I see now that maintaining a polite silence only encourages them further and gives the impression of a greater agreement with their positions. We don’t have to become the obnoxious initiators of these conversations in every setting, but we shouldn’t sit quietly by.
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sheepydrawrs · 5 years
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YOU HEARD RIGHT. I’M TAKING COMMISSIONS. IT’S A MIRACLE. I’ve been wary to take commissions as in the past juggling a long list and a 40~50+ hour work week wasn’t a possibility. But at this point in my employment situation when it seems even the slightest misstep is treated as an offense against god and country, I have to make it work. So read on for terms, conditions, slots, and info! It’s a bit of a read but I’m attempting to put terms in place to protect both me and you as a possible future client. Please read carefully!
So for prices: These are set rates, I have a hard limit of two characters per illustration and I’m not offering backgrounds at this time. These are all priced as fullbody illustrations. Prices will only increase when multiple additions are asked for (such as extra outfits, etc.) These prices are subject to change as my situation fluctuates (An increase will happen if I ever have to 100% rely on this as my income), but will never affect any active commission. Please send all inquires to ssmith.comms @ gmail . com
Options!:
Tattoo Design: I have designed my own tattoos and I’ve provided an example of both the arm tat I have on my body (the snake) that my own artist worked with to adjust, and the clean linework, ready for transfer, I intend to get. My designs all include blackwork or detailed linework and if color is your thing I would recommend taking it to your artist to work on or finding a different person. I am not a strong enough colorist to feel comfortable taking them. If you want rough color blocking for an artist to work with I can do that to better define shapes, but I can’t do complete tattoo-ready colors.
Sketches/Lines: Details are my thing. Want a character illustration? You got it. I do prefer to work with visual references, even if it’s just a pinterest board for character inspiration/design details. If you have a 100% creature character I would please ask for ideas on how a character moves or what real-world animals would be best to pull anatomical reference from. (A big magical cat will look different if based on a cheetah compared to a tiger)
Design Sheet: Got a character you want outfits for? You got it. This isn’t a full front/back and portrait sort of thing but “Outfit Set Designs” didn’t fit very well on my template. Each design sheet will have 2 outfit designs. lined and colored, and the paper-doll base I make for it. Want more than one? +5$ for each extra outfit.
D&D Sets: A fullbody lineart with flat colors of your D&D/TTRPG character for a character sheet, and 2 circle OR square (your choice) icons to use for your tabletop needs. Want one default and one injured? A special masquerade second icon? One happy, one sad? You got it. +3$ for each extra icon. +7
A note on what I will and won’t do: I won’t do nsfw content that includes nudity, gore, etc, but I will do slight stuff, like scantily clad fantasy armor. I won’t do commissions that’re 100% fanart, meaning I won’t just draw you Naruto. I will however draw your OC ninja holding hands with Naruto.
TERMS OF SERVICE! (For everyone’s benefit)
These commissions, unless agreed upon before hand, are meant for personal use only and may not be used for production or profit. If the commission is going to be used as an asset for a monetized production I must be notified before hand and agree to separate terms in regards to credit and possible changes to pricing.
All payment will be made through paypal. I will work up a draft and once that is sent (it will be watermarked) and agreed on I will then send an invoice. I don’t like holding onto money for projects I have not started and I want to protect any prospective clients who may be in a slot and end up waiting an unsual amount of time as my workload/life situation changes with nothing, so please do not pay in advance. Payments sent without an invoice ahead of schedule without a draft forfeit the right to approve the draft before finals are started. Clients who do not receive art within 90 days of payment date and can provide proof are eligible for a complete refund of purchase price. (Those that pay ahead of time without invoice forfeit this refund clause.)
I reserve the right to decline a commission I do not feel comfortable taking or ones I know I will do poorly on. I reserve the right to cancel a commission outright if a client decides to attempt to force blocked content into the piece that’s already been accepted.
Complaining about my prices will not make me change them. Too much? Find a different artist. Too little? Tip me.
SLOTS!
Slots are taken in a rolling set of two. I do not have a waiting list at present but if it becomes something people really want I’ll look into what’s believable for me to handle.
Slot One: @kc5rings
Slot Two: Taken!
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appalledbc · 5 years
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“Our House is on Fire,” and Carbon Taxes Are Not Enough to Save Us
In 2008, British Columbia implemented North America's first broad-based carbon tax. Between 2007 and 2016, provincial real GDP grew by 19%, while net emissions were reduced by 3.7%. Although GDP growth over nine years is impressive, the meagre 3.7% reduction in emissions over such an extensive period is, to say the least, dismal. Add another year, the results look even worse: in 2007, BC emitted 64.76 tons of Greenhouse Gas emissions; in 2017, 64.46 tons - a  mere .30 ton drop in emissions or 0.46%, less than one-half a percent, over ten years. And these recent figures do not take into account all the carbon emitting forest fires in BC over these years - a situation, one could easily surmise, that would add significantly to the total amount of emissions recorded over this ten year period.
Nonetheless BC’s initiative continues to be frequently looked to as a model strategy for carbon emissions reduction. But, in our current context of a climate emergency, it is not really, I would argue, an effective enough method for reducing emissions as aggressively as we must in order to have a truly habitable world.  It is instead a good example of market based economics that has been successfully sold politically, especially by neoliberal economists, and that is why it continues to be pushed in at least 50 jurisdictions around the globe as a relatively comfortable method for dealing with emissions by those in particular who have a stake in the business-as-usual game that serves their economic interests.
It is this sort of strategy, that is, putting a price on carbon, that our current federal government has adopted as its main strategy in its Greenhouse Gas Pollution Act of 2018 and, with variations, some of the major federal parties advocate - specifically a fee-rebate structure - but it, like the BC initiative, is also woefully ineffective. We don’t have a recent report, but as of 2017 emissions in Canada (716 million tons of carbon dioxide) have been reduced by a mere 2% since 2005 levels, we are 79 mega-tonnes short of the Paris Agreement targets, and emissions in 2018 have risen 7% since 1997, the year we signed the Kyoto Agreement. It’s doubtful they dropped significantly in 2019.
The fee/tax is supposed to provide an incentive to change one’s carbon behaviour. What works against such an incentive, however, is a politically motivated tax credit payable to just about everyone to use as they wish - except the big industrial polluters who have a different market based scheme based on industry sector thresholds that is also inadequate. Such compensation, in effect, undermines any real incentive to change one’s carbon behaviour. Unless one is a committed environmentalist, why should one change one's carbon behaviour when there’s little or no pain? And in what way are such fees an incentive, say, to drive less when one has no other choice but to do so, as many do, for example, in rural Canada, where there is no public transportation to speak of, or to opt for a green vehicle or home energy source when one cannot afford the capital outlay even with government subsidies, now only available from the federal government in Ontario? Not to mention  that, despite the tax credit, any fee or tax on fossil fuels disproportionately wounds those with lower incomes who cannot afford to absorb increases even with a dividend.
Even if the fee were higher, as some have suggested it should be for the process to work effectively, is anyone who isn't in the 10% going to stop driving a fossil fuel car? Is any medium size business suddenly going to switch its energy sources and green its infrastructure without significant subsidization? We're all deeply locked into fossil fuel capital investments and inscribed in the global infrastructure of fossil fuels - our houses, our cars, our businesses - and because we've naturalized that situation so deeply, we won't abandon them completely until we absolutely have to do so in order to survive. 
That day may be coming: a report synthesizing all the recent research by the Science Advisory Group of the UN Climate Action Summit to coincide with the UN Summit on climate change reveals that 2014-2019 is on track to be the hottest six year period on record and that emissions reductions should really be three times what the Paris Accord recommends. Issued just two days later, the UN International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report co-written by 100 scientists synthesizing 700 recent scientific studies indicating that conditions are even worse than they anticipated in their 2018 report underscores once again the monumental crisis we're facing without aggressive action.
Yet carbon tax strategies remain attractive to governments and political parties, and it would seem many climate conscious environmental organizations also think they are a good strategy. Why? Because they are more politically palatable and would seem to balance some effort against climate change with a business-as-usual economy.  But it is, alas, no longer business-as-usual:  there are no jobs on an uninhabitable planet.
There is of course considerable resistance, propagandistic and otherwise, from the vested interests of fossil fuel production corporations, their financial backers, and their friends in media and government to any efforts to wean us off fossil fuels and to shift us exclusively towards sustainable green energy sources. Ask yourself who benefits from political inertia? Who benefits from climate inaction? We have a considerable number of those especially in the Western world who indulge in classic whataboutism too: what about China? What about the recalcitrance of Brazil, Turkey, and Russia? What about all the developing countries still burning coal? 
And there is also what has now become a desperate resistance from climate change deniers who, when they behave with a degree of civility on social media and elsewhere, masquerade as philosophical skeptics with a veneer of reason and dance around the massive amount of globally coordinated scientific evidence on the existential reality of global warming and climate change. (Check out the hashtag #climatebrawl.) Their goal is essentially to keep the issue in doubt and a contested state. Recent cooperative research from the University of Montreal and the University of California at Santa Barbara, however, reveals that the majority of people in every single federal riding in Canada with the exception of three accept the fact of climate change and suggest that some sort of action should be taken. Indeed, with the exception of the three all say their province has experienced climate change.
No wonder they say that. The planet’s average surface temperature in 2018 was the fourth highest since 1880, when record keeping began. Nine of the ten warmest years in recorded history have occurred since 2005 - soon to be ten of the eleven warmest. This past June, the month ER visits in Ontario uncharacteristically but perhaps not coincidentally spiked, was the hottest June ever recorded, while July was the hottest month in human history, the four-hundred and fifteenth straight month of temperatures higher than the twentieth-century average. We also learned recently that September 2019 was the hottest September in recorded history. But, worse news of all, we have increased C02 emissions globally by 20% since 2015, in  mere 3 and 3/4 years. 20%!!
The simple fact is that Canada is the ninth biggest emitter in the world, that Canada has the highest per capita carbon footprint of any country in the G20 (16 tonnes), that we are the tenth biggest emitter in the world if emissions are counted from 1900, that Canada’s North is warming at three times the global average, and that Canada in general is warming at twice the global rate, among the major effects the devastation in the North about which we learned this spring and summer - melting ice and refreezing ice slabs, eroding permafrost, raging fires, warming oceans - and several sustained dome-like heat waves in the South. 
And the effects of carbon emissions will be with us forever: the temperature we experience at the Earth’s surface will not decrease if/when we actually manage to stop carbon emissions. It will remain at whatever level it is at the precise moment when we fully stop emissions. That's why net zero* strategies are ineffective: they still allow for the continuous production of CO2 emissions, and seldom do the offsets actually balance that output. Recent research on the significant carbon debt incurred between old forests and new forests of four decades to 100 years are a good example of that failure. In other words, biomass/biofuels (whose carbon debts are misleadingly not budgeted accurately in national carbon ledgers) as well as reforestation are not quite the salvation we might think they are as raging forest fires spewing carbon around the world continue.**
Our carbon dioxide*** emissions are 415 parts per million and accelerating. We burn two-thirds more fossil fuels today than in 1990, and one-half of all fossil fuels burned in human history have been burned since 1990. Another way of saying that: emissions have gone up by 46% in the last 300 years, half that amount in the last 30 years! They will be with us for thousands of years. In other words, the longer we wait to get the process of aggressive decarbonization going, the hotter it will be and the more the economic fallout even if we finally do manage to stop emissions completely.
Much, much more than a carbon tax is required. We'll find out soon enough that only binding government legislated regulations with legal consequences will actually work to reduce emissions and mitigate their effects with the dramatic intensity we need. We will learn that we need to shift the focus to the larger perspective of systemic change - no easy task given that the entire global economy is driven by fossil fuels. Carbon taxes can play a supporting role,**** to be sure, but the sooner all our political parties stop flirting with a price on carbon and market based solutions in general as their main climate change policies, the sooner we can get on with the job that needs to be done right now.
That job is five-fold: 1)  Recognize fully at every level of government the scale of the challenge and that we all have a moral responsibility to work against the undeniable harm being inflicted on our world. Global warming even now affects every single aspect of our lives. Its effects are economic, social, and psychological; and it is already emerging as the number one health issue in the world as conditions worsen. 2) Reduce carbon emissions radically now through legally binding regulations. 3) Aggressively mitigate through whatever methods available the effects of carbon emissions already present in the atmosphere. 4) As politically difficult as this might be, shut down through legislation the production of any and all fossil fuel infrastructure (no more pipelines no more new extraction, no more subsidies). And 5) develop adaptation and survival strategies in all our communities big and small. Why this last? Because we long ago reached the point of no return and  there is no going back.
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*Net zero emissions or emissions neutrality means that the amount of emissions generated is no more than the amount taken out, a theoretical complete offset. But the new emissions generated in this process nevertheless remain in the atmosphere, thus extending the presence of those emissions in the atmosphere for decades to come. This is an inadequate form of mitigation in my judgment simply because we’re still burning fossil fuels and emitting carbon. What we need to get to is a state of carbon emissions negativity whereby our carbon footprint is less than neutral by reabsorbing the carbon emissions already in the atmosphere. That job is undermined with net zero strategies. As long as we continue to burn fossil fuels at our current rate, that will not happen and matters will only get worse.
**See Eddy Isaccs in his recent report from The School of Public Policy (https://tinyurl.com/y3vdfc5m): “This is because of the time lag between the instantaneous CO2 release from combustion of wood and the decades of regrowth required“ - 44 to 100 years.
***Why Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is a Problem
Two conditions are always in play with respect to Earth’s atmosphere: the amount of sunlight (solar radiation) that reaches the Earth’s surface through the electromagnetic spectrum and the amount of greenhouse gasses in the air.
Greenhouse gas levels control the amount of heat (infrared radiation) absorbed into the atmosphere as it radiates up from the Earth.
Nitrogen and oxygen make up 99% of the atmosphere, but they really don’t have an effect on the Earth’s temperature because they do not absorb heat (infrared radiation).  Carbon dioxide does indeed absorb heat, a process that prevents CO2 escaping from the atmosphere into space. Thus the more CO2 in the atmosphere, the hotter the Earth’s surface temperature.  Fossil fuel emissions are the biggest source of C02 emissions, and C02 can last in the atmosphere for thousands of years.
****I agree with Eddy Isaccs in his recent report from The School of Public Policy (https://tinyurl.com/y3vdfc5m) that revenue from pricing carbon emissions should focus not on recycling that income for whatever reason, political or otherwise, but on investments in solar and wind infrastructure that can actually contribute directly to the reduction or mitigation of emissions.
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