#multiple of my central american friends moved here for similar reasons

[maxellminidisc]

Idk about other latines but lol just saw somebody be like "Everyone I've ever known that immigrated to the US was middle class and rich and that's why I dont take people in the diaspora into consideration". And I'm just like LOOOOOL ok....

#most of the people ive met who are first gen or immigrants themselves immigrated #because their life or their family's life was not sustainable to survival #like my moms family was literally impoverished #multiple of my central american friends moved here for similar reasons #its always the white argies and brazilians saying shit like this lol #like i get when people say we have to take a backseat in discussions of actually LIVING in the 3rd world #but its like also shit these constant generalizations are always made about how cushy we must have it when nah #if you look at a lot of our lives IN CONTEXT to living in the us we do not in fact have it cushy in american society #and that goes DOUBLY if youre afro latine but these same people love acting like they dont exist soo...

[lilydalexf]

Old School X is a project interviewing X-Files fanfic authors who were posting fic during the original run of the show. New interviews are posted every Tuesday.

Interview with Sophia Jirafe

Seven of Sophia Jirafe’s fics are at Gossamer, but more of her X-Files stories are at AO3 (as sophiahelix). I’ve recced some of my favorites of her stories here before, including Stones and Bones. She was active in the fandom during the show’s run and has never strayed far from fandom in general. She co-founded Glass Onion, a great multi-fandom mailing list that now has nearly 1,000 fics from 100 fandoms at AO3. Big thanks to Sophia Jirafe for doing this interview.

Does it surprise you that people are still interested in reading your X-Files fanfics and others that were posted during the original run of the show (1993-2002)?

It did initially, but so many old shows are on streaming now and getting discovered by new people, it makes sense.

I did get a comment from someone who said my first story under this name, posted in early 2000 when I was a college freshman, was older than her by a couple of months, and THAT took me aback.

What do you think of when you think about your X-Files fandom experience? What did you take away from it?

It was my first fandom, discovered when I was 17 and searching for info about the show on the school library computer, and it really shaped my whole life! I met a lot of people I still know today (mostly in non-fannish venues like FB, though I do still have some connections in fandom), and learned a lot about writing and just life generally, since I was younger than most of fandom at the time.

Social media didn't really exist during the show's original run. How were you most involved with the X-Files online (atxc, message board, email mailing list, etc.)?

I started off on a tiny forum at a website called Squirrel’s Nest, but I kept seeing people thanking Scullyfic in fic headers and eventually I was able to join the mailing list (which was capped to 500 members). Scullyfic was everything to me — I made friends, betas, discussed the show, learned about all kinds of things on Off-Topic Fridays, etc. A lot of those friends, I would email with or more often chat on AIM (individual or these sprawling group chats that would go on all day), and then at the end of 2001 we started migrating to Livejournal. I was getting into Buffy more by then, but it was still mostly the same crowd of people I knew from Scullyfic.

What did you take away from your experience with X-Files fic or with the fandom in general?

I feel like it started me on a whole life path really — finding that my deep obsession with fiction could be channeled like that and shared with other people, as well as deepening my writing. Online fandom has been a major part of my social life for over 20 years now, and I love the mix of getting excited about things with friends and also the creative outlet.

My corner of X-Files fandom in particular was just very calm and enjoyable for the most part, full of older professional women who were happy to be friends and give me advice about all kinds of things, and it really set the bar for me with my online interactions. Now I’m almost 40 and trying to be that person for my younger friends, as well as having no patience for toxicity and in-fighting in my fandom spaces.

What was it that got you hooked on the X-Files as a show?

A combination of the creepy conspiracy angle and just adoring Scully. I remember how mysterious and fascinating the show seemed when I discovered it right before S5, and there was no way to find out more except to keep watching and hoping they explained. Scully was so smart and tough and beautiful and interesting, and as a teen I was just captivated by her (and the UST, though I didn’t care about Mulder as much).

What got you involved with X-Files fanfic?

I ran across it a couple times early on but felt embarrassed by the concept, but then I read the first in Karen Rasch’s Words series and suddenly it clicked for me. After a while I started daydreaming my own conversations between them, very similar to what happens to me now when I’m getting into a new pairing, so after reading tons of recommended fic by big authors, I started writing my own (the 3-4 stories I posted in high school are all wiped from the internet now, though).

What is your relationship like now to X-Files fandom?

Good memories, though because it was my senior year of high school and college, I know a lot of it is just tied to that time in my life, and also being in my very first fandom. I will rewatch episodes from time to time, but I basically never revisit former fandoms because they’re kind of like exes, even if I finished on a good note. I also think my taste in fic has changed (and there isn’t the same novelty of “characters I like getting together omg!”)

Were you involved with any fandoms after the X-Files? If so, what was it like compared to X-Files?

So many! None of them had quite the same combination of excellent central architecture (especially pre-AO3) and a really high level of discussion and friendliness without being enormous, but I’ve loved them all in their own ways. I’ve done fandom on LJ/DW, Tumblr, Discord, and now on Twitter, and I think I miss the mailing list days the most. You didn’t have to repeat yourself so much in multiple conversations, you weren’t character limited, and the discussion was all in one place, with personal stuff more confined to your side conversations. Discord is a little like that, but it moves too fast and there’s too much noise for my taste.

Who are some of your favorite fictional characters? Why?

Heh, after X-Files I went through a whole phase of faves in the Scully vein — Buffy, Aeryn Sun, Kara Thrace, etc. Like many people I’ve shifted primarily into m/m in the last decade (Sherlock, YOI, and recently The Untamed have been my major fictional fandoms, along with a lot of sports RPF), but for non-fannish shows I’m always looking for awesome new female characters, like Elizabeth on the Americans, Peggy on Mad Men, Nadja on What We Do in the Shadows, etc. And I do LOVE Killing Eve and have written a little f/f over there.

Do you ever still watch The X-Files or think about Mulder and Scully?

I’ll rewatch favorite episodes occasionally, and I keep thinking about a full rewatch but it takes so much time! I never saw the second movie, and I didn’t finish the first of the new seasons because I was hating it, so it’s a little hard for me to think fannishly about them when I disliked basically everything after “Je Souhaite” so much (as far as I’m concerned the show ends there).

Do you ever still read X-Files fic? Fic in another fandom?

X-Files no, but yeah I’m still very active in fandoms.

Do you have any favorite X-Files fanfic stories or authors?

I lost all my saved fic several computers ago, but I recall loving “Blue Christmas” by Plausible Deniability and “Diamonds and Rust” by MustangSally (obviously everything she wrote was great).

What is your favorite of your own fics, X-Files and/or otherwise?

Looking at my X-Files fic, I can’t believe how short it is and how comparatively little of it there is (I have lost track of a few ficlets). It felt like such a big deal to finish anything back then! I think my favorite remains Alphabetum, which involved a tricky structure and 5 elements given by people as part of the Scullyfic Improv challenge, where you had a week to write a story around those elements.

My favorite of my recent fic in fictional fandoms is probably the GoT/YOI crossover novel I wrote a couple years ago, for a completely opposite experience to this (and proof you can grow as a writer with a lot of effort!)

Do you think you'll ever write another X-Files story? Or dust off and post an oldie that for whatever reason never made it online?

It’s honestly hard to imagine going back (like I said, I usually don’t), but I guess I could get inspired by something.

Do you still write fic now? Or other creative work?

I certainly still write, and I do have to give credit to XF fandom and Scullyfic in particular for giving me the start I got, where I really wanted to be writing good fiction. The few things I wrote in high school were just me jamming out romantic cliches, but the people I was lucky to know in XF fandom showed me that “just” fanfic can still aspire to be high quality. I am a much, much better and more disciplined writer than I was back then, but I might never have started on this path without fandom friends encouraging me.

Where do you get ideas for stories?

Usually just daydreaming about emotional dynamics between characters/people, but sometimes something specific in canon or real life (I write a lot of RPF) gets me going, or maybe something I read.

What's the story behind your pen name?

When I wrote for X-Files, I picked “Sophia Jirafe” combining my favorite first name with a fancy spelling for my favorite animal (I was 18! Don’t judge!) Over on Livejournal, my friend Jintian and I initially shared an account with the same name as our website, double_helix, and when she got her own account I changed to sophia_helix, which is now sophiahelix just about everywhere. A little clunky, but I like the continuity (and I do run across old friends who remember the name).

Do your friends and family know about your fic and, if so, what have been their reactions?

The friends I’ve known for a very long time know about it, but we have never talked about it in depth. My husband, who I met not long after getting into fandom, also knows about it, and he’s encouraging and also a writer so we talk all the time. I told my mom in college and she was pretty dismissive, so we haven’t talked about it since (but my younger sister knows and is cool about it).

When I was younger, it was something I shared readily (I bonded with a new friend in law school I saw looking at LJ), but now I don’t really bring it up with new acquaintances.

Is there a place online (tumblr, twitter, AO3, etc.) where people can find you and/or your stories now?

I just made a Carrd the other day with all my various fannish addresses (Twitter, locked fannish Twitter, AO3, Tumblr)

Is there anything else you'd like to share with fans of X-Files fic?

Just that it really was a high quality fandom — so much excellent long casefic, so many cool down to earth people, just generally a great launching place for a young fan. The friendships I made with older people were really important to me, and it makes me sad to see a lot of younger people now getting upset about the idea of anyone over a certain age being in their fandom spaces. I hope someday fandom can get back to appreciating that people of all ages can be the fandom type, and that everyone brings something different to the community.

(Posted by Lilydale on December 1, 2020)

#new post #old school x #xfiles fanfic #xf fanfic #xf fanfic author interviews #sophia jirafe

[halsteadpd]

The Beginning: Part 2

Part 1

A/N: First of all, I am so sorry to everyone who got like 10 emails alerting them that I posted a story-I have no idea what happened! I had to turn off all my Fanfiction email notifications because anytime someone followed/favourited/reviewed I would get at least 15 emails telling me about it. On that note, for those of you who did give me some love, THANK YOU! It definitely helps keep the momentum going when writing. Anyway, enjoy. Hopefully there isn't a thousand emails again.

There is TW in the tags.

XXXXXXX

Jay has been in Afghanistan for a few months now. Tensions between the army and locals/terrorists are rising. Reinforcements arrive weekly as the firefights increase—men and women are dying often and if the army wants to keep their hold on the Taliban, new soldiers will continue to arrive. Every night there's a series of bombings nearby that keeps the army on their toes; sometimes the shells come close enough that they can feel the wind emanating from the explosion.

There's an upcoming high stakes recon mission that Jay and his crew have been preparing for. There's word of a village that's being quietly transformed into a second HQ—something closer to the army base so the Afghans can keep an eye on the soldiers and their activity. They first found out while locals were gossiping about the Taliban moving in—their translator had picked it up during a separate operation.

The busy schedule was a welcome distraction to Jay. He hasn't had time to think about Ava and in the rare occurrences when his mind does wander, he is surprised that he forgot about her for so long. Obviously he still wishes all the best for her, but the fact that she walked out on him still hurts. He doesn't get any letters like he did during his first tour; seeing his buddies get pictures and words of encouragement from home is probably what hurts most.

It reminds him he's all alone in the world and if he were to die, they wouldn't have anyone to tell.

Jay rolls over in his bed—the mattress creaking underneath his weight. His colleagues are all asleep around him and he knows he too should seek peace. Tomorrow evening is when they set out on their mission; one they had been anticipating since the beginning of the war. If all went in their favour, they would be crippling a central piece to the Taliban and how they operate.

The sky is clear and from his bed, Jay can see the countless stars littering the sky. It's on nights like these that make him feel like he's just a small speck of dust floating through the universe; it makes all his problems seem so small and obsolete. His day job is also a good reminder of all the good things he's had in his life; he never had to experience a war until he signed up for it.

Turning onto his back, he blows out a breath of air before further relaxing into his cot and falling asleep.

The next day, the base was bustling. As a decoy, teams were still sent out on their respective recon missions in case anyone from the enemy lines was spying on them. Most of the soldiers on base were helping prepare for the real assignment that would be taking place later at 1800 hours. They needed to make sure they had enough ammunition should something go sideways.

Jay sat on his bunk polishing his gun, ensuring that everything would go smoothly and that his gun would be ready for combat. The last thing he needed was his gun jamming—in country it was the only thing that kept him and his friends alive.

As teams returned from their respective operations, the energy of the base increased. There was a combination of excitement and anxiety; they didn't want to get too excited in case of a failed mission; there was also the risk of losing people on their side. After dinner, the three groups that would be going into the village prepared their equipment. Nobody spoke and the only noise came from equipment being stacked and guns being loaded.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

The teams quietly made their way towards the outskirts of the village and regrouped before rushing in; a surprise invasion is the only way to catch those inside off guard. It also prevents casualties on their side. Screams of women and children reverberated against Jay's ears as his team began to clear out the first house closest to them.

"I've got a mother and three children in here!" One of his group members yelled out, alerting his squad of the civilians. He gathered them in a corner while the rest of the team cleared the home.

"The rest is empty!" Jay called back as his team finished sweeping the home. "Let's move."

His team stayed along the side of the home—using it as a shield—as the other two groups finished clearing their areas. They kept an eye on rooftops nearby, looking for any sign of unusual movement.

"Move forward!" The commander called out as everyone regrouped and Jay's team stealthily made it to the wall of the next home.

"Breach!" As soon as the team stormed into the home, bullets began to fly from both inside and outside of the home—they no longer had adequate cover. Jay could hear the guttural moans of one of his friends over the sound of bullets flying as another was crying out as he attempted to stop the bleeding. Quickly, they all rushed into the hut—their guns going off in quick succession at the enemy.

With efficiency and prowess, the group cleared the rest of the house and took cover against a wall while the other two groups focused on the attack going on outside. They were trapped for now.

Jay looked down at the now lifeless body of his teammate—he had been shot in the throat and blood continued to ooze out of the wound that was no longer being covered. Another called for immediate backup from base while bullets continued to lodge themselves into the exterior walls of the home. The only thing the soldiers could do was lie against the concrete wall and hope for help to arrive soon.

As Jay rested against his shoulder against the wall, he took in the scene in front of him. Six children, two women, and three men were dead. There was blood all over the floor which was consequently smeared throughout the home from their boots. The smell of blood was in the air and Jay gagged slightly, not having any fresh air to breathe.

All he could do was wish for backup to arrive quickly so he could get out of there.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

It was early the next morning by the time the US Army had the upper hand against the terrorists. The sun was beginning to rise and the smell of gunpowder, smoke, and iron remained in the air.

The village had been freed from a Taliban hold but the night had been long and full of firefight. Those who made it through the darkest hours were lucky to be alive. The sight of the area they currently occupied was a mess. Those who lived there were trying to make sense of what had happened all night—Jay wasn't even sure he knew either.

The army wasn't expecting an ambush; they thought they had the advantage since they acted so quickly. Evidently the Taliban were already stationed in the village.

The number of deceased were currently unconfirmed but based on the sound of women and children still crying, there were many. Jay couldn't bear to watch a toddler covered in blood, screaming out for his mother. Unfortunately that toddler wasn't the only one who lost someone the night prior.

Three were confirmed to be dead on the US side and were currently laid on the ground under white blankets. The bodies would be loaded into the trucks whenever the group would leave and return to base. Soon they'll be put into coffins with an American flag tied snug on top.

It's days like these when Jay really appreciates his life, because that could have easily been him lying on the ground instead. He remembers his first tour—the firefights would always scare him because he would be flirting with death. But now, he didn't have anyone to go home to; nobody cared whether or not he would make it out alive.

He wished it was him instead.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Erin quickly made her way into her office and placed all her paperwork on her desk. She was running late this morning and needed to leave right away if she wanted to make it on time to the press conference. She double checked that she had everything she needed before rushing out of her office.

Journalism is a subject that Erin was always intrigued with. She loved watching news anchors argue and debate with individuals they brought onto the show—she always wanted to be one of them. Even now her days are surrounded with interviewing and investigating during the day and pouring over the news in the evening.

Currently, she's advocating about how the war in Afghanistan is only a way for the President and his friends to fill their pockets; soldiers are dying at the hands of American politicians. She's been reprimanded by her boss multiple times for asking the President "inappropriate questions" but frankly, she doesn't care. She's trying to bring light to an issue that she believes is important—this is exactly why she became a journalist.

Erin makes it just in time to the White House Presser and quickly gets out her recorder and list of questions. She makes notes of others' questions in case she needed to follow up with the President about his answers. Often, pursuing a question that others are uncomfortable with is what gives journalists popularity; she knows this feeling well since she's often trending on Twitter.

A few of the other reporters ask their questions before she gets picked to ask hers. "Mr. President reports came out this week of the US Army being ambushed during a recon mission in Afghanistan that resulted in three dead soldiers, do you feel any remorse for sending these men and women into a war that could have been avoided?"

"Listen, you've asked questions similar to this before Ms. Lindsay. I will reiterate what I've said in the past. The brave men and women in our military are the reason why we live in a free country and get to live our lives. The whole point of them being stationed in war torn countries like Iraq and Afghanistan is strictly for peace keeping business. There are women and children in these countries that have seen nothing but war in the last few years and our military will ensure peace as soon as they can. Next question."

Erin rolled her eyes as the next journalist began asking his question. Many people knew that the military wasn't sent in for peace keeping purposes. Many of the politicians in the U.S. were crooked and war was an easy pay day for them. It didn't matter to them that people were dying daily on both sides—unnecessary deaths. More money was allocated towards war than anything else. Erin thought many of the millions could instead be used domestically to ensure Americans had basic healthcare, had enough food to eat, and had a roof over their heads.

But apparently that was too much to ask for.

She sat through the rest of the presser quietly and quickly left the building when she got a second. She was sure her boss would be waiting for her when she returned to the office—he had ordered her to ask "more journalism questions" instead of constant questions of the war. It was as if everyone was against Erin and her advocacy.

As soon as she entered her building, she was ushered to her boss' office by his assistant. She flopped down onto the chair across from him and took in his unamused expression.

"How can I be of service?" Erin asked, a small smile on her lips.

"You know exactly what you're here for. I asked you to stop asking about the war." He spat back.

"Look, I'm just doing my job, okay? Americans are dying and people need to know!" Erin retorted.

"I understand that, but the President is getting annoyed. There's a lot of negative attention on us because of your actions."

"Are you really that shallow that you can't see past yourself and this company?" Erin asked, her voice dropping low. "Nobody here knows what's going on over there! Why are so many of them dying? We deserve to know. This is taxpayer money being used for war!"

"Okay, fine. I understand what you're saying." He blew out a breath. "How about I offer you an alternative position for the time being? It'll be three months, max. It's right in your wheelhouse. We've been talking about this for a few weeks now and I think you'll like it."

"I'm listening…" Erin drawled out, clearly intrigued.

"How about you cover the war in Afghanistan?"

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Please leave me a review!

#TW: war #TW: blood #linstead #linstead au #linstead fanfiction #one chicago #chicago pd #chicago pd au #chicago pd fanfiction #one chicago au #one chicago fanfiction #linstead fanfic #chicago pd fanfic #one chicago fanfic #jay halstead #erin lindsay #Jesse Lee Soffer #sophia bush

[sudoscience]

New In Town: Background Info

Click here for a version with working hyperlinks.

Although it's never explicitly stated by the games, I'm going to assume the story is set in the US, or at least a country like it. The existence of monsters likely altered the course of several events in human history, so it's possible things are actually radically different. For the purposes of this story, I'll assume most things are still the same unless stated otherwise, (e.g. the American Revolution was still in 1776, and World War II was still in the early-middle of the 20th Century.).

Let's also just go ahead and say the story takes place in 201X for now.

[For the record, I pronounce 201X as "twenty-ex-teen". I guess you could say it "two-oh-one-ex", but why would you? I also assume it refers to the whole decade, so, for example, when I say "the early part of 201X", that could mean anywhere between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2014.]

Navigation:

Humans and Monsters (Current headcanon)

Humans and Monsters (Old) (Preserved for posterity)

Footnotes

Master Post

Humans and Monsters

Humans and monsters have always coexisted relatively peacefully, at least as well as humans and humans. There have been some smaller wars over land and resources, but nothing like the war in Undertale (hereinafter "The War").

Someone still remembers that other universe, though. The universe where monsters freely used magic. The universe where a monster could absorb a human SOUL. The universe where the monsters were sealed underground and later systematically slaughtered by a human child. Perhaps that someone is W. D. Gaster. Perhaps it is Chara. I haven't decided yet. Until that time comes, I'll call that person Individual 1.

Individual 1 remembers the world of Undertale, but the version they remember is the one in which the genocide route takes place. After that world is destroyed, Individual 1 uses their DETERMINATION to bring the world back. They restore the world to long before The War takes place. Individual 1 convinces the King of All Monsters (who is probably someone other than Asgore) to strictly curtail the use of magic. It is Individual 1's belief that the only way to prevent The War from occurring is if humans never learn that monsters can absorb their souls. This is why we don't see evidence of magic in Deltarune.1

Sometime in 1965, a man in Twin Falls (Bill Hammond) learns of the monsters' hidden power. He attempts to alert the government, but it's years before anyone in power takes him seriously. Most people view him as a crackpot; he's this universe's Alex Jones. However, he begins to gain a following among the commoners, who take to calling themselves the Arcane Enforcement Unit. Hate crimes against monsters become more frequent, and the government establishes the Directorate of Inter-Species Relations to combat this.

Hammond's influence grows, and he runs for president multiple times, though he rarely gets more than 2% of the vote. In 1996, his campaign performs surprisingly well, but he is assassinated. His following was strongest in Twin Falls, and it once again becomes a hot spot for anti-monster sentiment, only this time it extends to humans who are considered "monster sympathizers", including Kris's birth parents and eventually Rudy, who is born around this time.

Paul and Judy Harper are DISR employees in Twin Falls. In 2003, the year Asriel is born,2 the DISR begins a joint operation with DHS and FBI to infiltrate the AEU, which is now suspected as a terrorist organization. The Harpers are assigned to the team, Operation Golden Flower, as undercover agents in 2005. In 2007, Judy becomes pregnant. Later that year, their cover is nearly blown. In order to keep their child safe, they begin making arrangements with some old friends of theirs, the Dreemurr family in Hometown. Their son is born in December,​3 and adopted by the Dreemurrs immediately. A few months later, Paul and Judy are killed; their death is not publicized classified in order to avoid jeopardizing the operation.

In the early part of 201X, an AEU supporter named Noah Trey Ullman is elected mayor of Twin Falls. This is when things really start to go south. Ullman incites violence against monsters and monster sympathizers. They usually stay out of the majority monster neighborhoods, but they tend to target monsters who are known to affiliate with humans. This is what prompts Rudy to move to Hometown.

Humans and Monsters (OLD)

Humans and monsters have always coexisted, but there's always been a lot of tension between them. For most of their history, they've lived more or less independently of each other. As humans began to industrialize, they began to expand and encroach on monster territory.1 Interactions with monsters became more frequent, as did altercations. While there hasn't been an outright war between humans and monsters, there have been frequent skirmishes, akin to the US and the Native Americans. There was a period where humans sought to make use of magic, primarily by employing the monsters. The monsters were often subjected to inhumane conditions, and uprisings, while infrequent, were not unheard of.

Knowing that a monster with one or more human souls could become a being of great power, this practice was eventually outlawed. Humans became reluctant to hire monsters at all, and most monsters eventually relocated to their own settlements. These are similar to Indian reservations, with the distinction that they are not considered sovereign. In order to keep things under control, the government created the Directorate of Inter-species Relations in the mid-19th Century. Under the pretense of fairness, the DISR banned the use of magic about 100 years ago;2 this would theoretically allow more monsters to be hired, so long as they weren't being exploited for their magical abilities. In practice, because magic is so central to a monster's existence, this drastically changed the monsters' way of life. Initially, smaller acts of magic were allowed, but as more monsters moved into settlements, their interactions with humans became less frequent, and the humans became more fearful, having only the legends and rumors to inform them rather than their own experiences. Eventually, all magic was banned, and the Arcane Enforcement Unit was created in 1956 to enforce said ban.

Of course, some monsters remained in the human cities. They felt they still had ties there, and refused to move. They are largely relegated to their own neighborhoods, and the AEU does its best to "gently encourage" them to relocate. Other than the AEU, very few humans interact with monsters.3

What happened five years ago?

There was a change in leadership at the AEU, and they became much more aggressive in their policing.

[I think this was a separate subsection because I originally planned on writing more, but now it seems pretty silly to have a subsection with just one sentence.]

Footnotes

Notes for New Info

There are several reasons I decided to scrap the old backstory, but this was probably the main one. I really liked the theory that Deltarune takes place after the Genocide Route, and I wanted to expand on that. I'm no longer sure I buy that theory, but I still think it's a cool idea. ↑

As noted in the "Headcanon for Existing Characters", I originally planned for Asriel to have started college early, which would further demonstrate how exceptional he is, and also factor into the resentment Kris wishes they didn't have of him. This is also his first semester of college, which is why Kris is so worried he'll have changed. I think I'll keep him a freshman, but increase the age gap between them. When Asriel gets back from college, he'll have just turned 19, while Kris will be turning 14 very soon. I'm assuming he's returning for Thanksgiving Break (and also that Thanksgiving still exists in this world), and this is the first time he's been back home since he left for college. ↑

Yes, Kris's full name is Krismas (no, not really). Their birthday is 22 December, and Asriel's is 15 September (unless there's an official birthday listed somewhere, in which case it's that). I hope it's okay if I write that Kris is biologically male, even though they identify as non-binary. Since I've already changed their pronouns in the main story, this is probably the only time it will ever be mentioned, unless maybe they go swimming or something. I got the idea from @caretaker-au and how they represent Chara as male non-binary (is that the right way to say that?); I know some people find that blog to be problematic, but I think that was more to do with them drawing porn of Chara and Asriel, not because they drew Chara as biologically male. (For the record, I was not aware of that when I started following them, especially since Tumblr banned porn a year before I even bought Undertale.) ↑

Notes for Old Info

Another reason I dropped this: I'm pretty sure this was inspired by @wolven0ne-universe's "Long Road" AU. Actually, there's a lot that was inspired by Long Road, even in the new backstory: the decision to have multiple OCs, the way magic supposedly works, humans exploting monsters for their magic, a shadowy organization that abducts monsters because of their magical abilities, etc. Some of this is attributable to the fact that I never read fanfics prior to playing Undertale, so some of these were "inspired" by Long Road simply by virtue of it being, like, the second fanfic I ever read, ever. (The first was "Flowey is Not A Good Life Coach".) Anyway, my point here is that I dropped this backstory in part because I didn't want it to be too similar to Long Road, not because I suddenly stopped liking Long Road. ↑

Here's an additional reason I changed the backstory: I wasn't sure if this was a believable timeline. I feel like it's plausible that human society would forget that monster magic involves a lot more than just a monster's ability to abosrb a human soul in just 100 years, but that doesn't seem like nearly enough time for monster society to forget that monsters can use magic. Plus, if monsters and humans have coexisted for all of human history, and monsters have been using magic for like 99% of said history, that seems like it could have created a lot of ripple effects that I would spend way too much time thinking about. Like, what if the existence of magic resulted in the first Industrial Revolution happening in the 15th Century? What would Earth look like in 201X if that were the case? I just didn't want to deal with all of that. ↑

Other than wanting to believe that Deltarune takes place after the Genocide Route, the next most important factor in my decision to scrap this backstory is that it's just really dark. The story has enough potentially depressing shit that I didn't need to add a monster Trail of Tears on top of it all. Plus, I was worried it might come across as racially insensitive. ↑

#New In Town #deltarune theory #deltarune fanfic #story notes

[letstraveltoorion]

Histoires de planètes

Bibliography

  Histoires de planètes

ANTHOLOGIE

 Textes réunis par Jacques GOIMARD & Demètre IOAKIMIDIS & Gérard KLEIN

 Science Fiction - Cycle : La Grande anthologie de la science-fiction vol. 7

 Illustration de Pierre FAUCHEUX (1st cover - 1975) & Éric SEIGAUD (2nd cover - 1985)

 LIVRE DE POCHE, coll. La Grande anthologie de la science fiction n° 3769, 1er trimestre 1975

448 pages, catégorie/prix : 4, ISBN : 2-253-00723-4

 Autres éditions :    LIVRE DE POCHE, 1976, 1977, 1985, 1997

Stories:

 1 - Jacques GOIMARD & Demètre IOAKIMIDIS & Gérard KLEIN, Introduction à l’anthologie, pages 7 à 14, Introduction (lire ce texte en ligne)

2 - Demètre IOAKIMIDIS, Préface, pages 15 à 32, Préface

3 - Jack VANCE, Le Diable de la colline du salut (The Devil on Salvation Bluff), pages 33 à 64, trad. Simone HILLING

4 - Michael SHAARA, La Planète Greenville (Greenville’s planet), pages 65 à 83

5 - Ian WILLIAMSON, La Nef engloutie (Chemical plant), pages 85 à 115, trad. Paul HEBERT

6 - Robert SHECKLEY, Les Monstres (The Monsters), pages 117 à 131, trad. Alain DORÉMIEUX

7 - Chad OLIVER, L’Objet (Artifact), pages 133 à 163, trad. Bruno MARTIN

8 - Lester DEL REY, Stabilité (Stability), pages 165 à 188, trad. Michel RIVELIN

9 - Roger DEE, Le Robinson de l’espace (Man Friday), pages 189 à 224

10 - James Henry SCHMITZ, Le Garde (Caretaker), pages 225 à 244, trad. Arlette ROSENBLUM

11 - Alfred Elton VAN VOGT, Le Village enchanté (The Enchanted Village/The Sands of Mars), pages 245 à 267, trad. Richard CHOMET

12 - Robert A. HEINLEIN, Oiseau de passage (The Menace from Earth), pages 269 à 309, trad. Roger DURAND

13 - Fritz LEIBER, La Forêt enchantée (The Enchanted Forest), pages 311 à 340

14 - Robert F. YOUNG, La Déesse de granit (Goddess in Granite), pages 341 à 373, trad. Catherine GRÉGOIRE

15 - Philip José FARMER, Attitudes (Attitudes), pages 375 à 404

16 - Idris SEABRIGHT, Se battre et mourir (Brightness falls from the air), pages 405 à 415

17 - Edmond HAMILTON, La Planète morte (The Dead Planet), pages 417 à 434, trad. Bruno MARTIN

18 - Dictionnaire des auteurs, pages 435 à 443, Dictionnaire d’auteurs

 Data taken from the NooSFere database (https://www.noosfere.org/icarus/livres/EditionsLivre.asp?numitem=1870)

 Histoires de Planètes (or Stories of planets) is a collection of small stories and novella regrouped around a common thematic, in this case, planets. I picked up that book while I was a teenager back in high school. I remember, at that time, I was reading every story I could find that were labelled as science fiction, at my local library. Although, I was enjoying what I was reading most of the time, it’s only now I realized that I was taking every science-fiction story as some extra flavoured adventure stories. Today, I recognized that in most cases, I never really quite understood what I was reading … which means that I have a much better appreciation of what I’m currently reading now, than 40 years ago.

 Of the stories collected in this book, here those that impressed me and the reasons why:

 Le Diable de la colline du salut (The Devil on Salvation Bluff–1952) by Jack Vance : I didn’t like this story at first; but now I grasped its importance. The story is about human settlers trying to adapt to their new colony which is orbiting around multiple suns. I did not understand then the true meaning of this story until I went to Afghanistan. Only then did I remember this story and everything became clear to me. As I came off the plane in Kandahar, I was hit by the hostile conditions of the place: The stench in the air, the blazing heat of 38℃ at 08h00 am, the noises and, of course, the military conditions… I was a stranger in a very alien land! The psychological shock was quite evident and it took me about 6 weeks to adapt to the local conditions (and don’t get me starting on the jet lag). What helped me were the sounds the birds were making which were the same as at home. Then it hit me like a train: the birds (sparrow) were the same as the ones at home because those at home WERE IMPORTED BY THE FIRST EUROPEAN COLONIST who came to North America. They brought those birds with them because it reminded them of the home they left … their old life. Those sparrows served as psychological support for the colonist to adapt to their new environment; not realizing the ecological disaster they nearly created. In the story the colonist finally accepted their new world once their symbol of normality (the central clock) got destroyed.

 In retrospect, Jack Vance, here, raised up the issue of mankind adapting to their new environment and the psychological stress they will face. Today, we are perfectly adapted to Earth and it is quite easy to figure out what is good for us and what could constitute a threat. On an alien world, where everything will be different (The air, the light, the day time, the flora and fauna), how will the colonist know what is good and what is not? If you heard a cat purring, you know there is no threat … but if you hear the roaring of a lion or the howling of a wolf, notice your heart will start racing immediately. This why this story is a good one for any sci-fi setting (2300 AD or any other).

 La Planète Greenville (Greenville’s planet - 1952), by Michael Shaara: I remember this story caused me a shock when I read it due to its lack of a happy ending. Because I read it while I was a teenager, it was my first exposure to this kind of story. And to be frank, I didn’t know how to handle it. The story is about the exploration of an uninhabited planet covered almost entirely by water aside two very tiny islands. The moral of the story is because a planet appeared to be uninhabited, it might not be the case … and the local inhabitant might not be where you’ll expect to find them or may not even share the same environment as you are.

 La Nef engloutie (Chemical plant - 1950), by Ian Williamson : I really enjoyed this story … although the French translation of the title has nothing to do with the original text … but in retrospect, translating the original title into French would not have made sense either. The story is about a search and rescue operation for a starship that has crashed on an unexplored planet. Their only clue: the ship attempted to crash land near a red lake. I won’t say more as you need to read this story to better appreciate it. If you are into sci-fi RPG, this could be a great plot for a campaign either 2300 AD, Traveller or any other similar setting…  

 Les Monstres (The Monsters - 1953) by Robert SHECKLEY: A sentient alien species attempts to deal with their first contact with humans. One thing I remember of this story is that some biological imperatives might be at the core of cultural behaviours or way of thinking … or both. This is an important clue if you want to write about an alien species. When I read that story for the first time, I thought the whole concept as quite stupid but now, after I gained experience on other cultures (through my travels) I think that Robert Sheckley was bang on! The biological imperative of any sentient species will have a direct impact on their cultures and way of thinking … to fail in understanding this will result in conflict that will make the North American Natives’ genocide look like a garden party.

 Le Robinson de l’espace (Man Friday - 1954), by - Roger DEE: This story started as its name indicate, as a sci-fi take on the classic Robinson Crusoe’s story. However, as you move forward into the narrative, you’ll start to realize that in the relationship between Robinson and Friday turned out to be not what you expected to be at the beginning. I must say that even today, this is a twist that I that I haven’t seen in use in many stories.

 Morale of the story, never assume that mankind is the most advanced or intelligent species when we will encounter another sentient being… Especially if that alien “look” more primitive than us.

 Le Village enchanté (The Enchanted Village/The Sands of Mars - 1950), by Alfred Elton VAN VOGT: An astronaut, Bill Jenner, is the only survivor of a ship that crashed on Mars. After many days and seeing is resources in food and water dry up, he came upon a small Martian village on the edge of the desert (1950, remember). After he reached the location, nearly dead from hunger and thirst, he quickly realizes the village IS trying to help him but his biology was too different from the ones whom the village was built for … thus forcing him to adapt … adapt???

 What I liked about this story is the fact that A.E. Van Vogt had a genial idea to show us that what we take for granted or logical might not be so. If we build stuff to fit our needs and logic, an alien civilization will indubitably do so to fit THEIR needs … not ours … so let’s not assume that what can be applied to us will also be the same for them.

 Oiseau de passage (The Menace from Earth) by Robert A. HEINLEIN, The story is set in the near future when the Moon is colonized with people living in underground cities. The “menace” of the title is a glamorous woman tourist who visits the Moon colony. She is assigned a young guide named Holly, a 15-year-old girl and aspiring starship designer who is the first-person narrator. Holly’s best friend Jeff develops a crush on the “groundhog” visitor, Ariel. As Jeff spends more time with Ariel, Holly becomes jealous and begins to doubt his friendship (source Wikipedia).

 I could not have written this any better than this. What I liked about this story is the way Heinlein described the Lunar colonies … not as advanced outposts from mankind but as a regular place where people have adapted and used the characteristic of their environment to create new form of entertainment and culture. I really enjoyed the detail he placed on how to wear a space suit and the little details you have to think of just to be comfortable in it. The fact that it was written from a woman’s perspective is a plus.

 La Déesse de granit (Goddess in Granite - 1957) by Robert F. YOUNG : I must credit Robert F. to have written a story in which I still remember the emotion it transcended in such a way that I still remember it forty years after I’ve read it. Only because of the location in which the story takes place was the reason why this short novella ended up in this collection … the rest is more of an internal journey than a sci-fi story. Somewhere, on a small planet, a civilization has sculpted an island in the shape of a woman. A masterpiece of craft whose hair was made by a forest and the eyes, two perfect lakes (artificial?).

 Today, I realize this story would have been impossible since only a human would have created such a sculpture and not a mysterious, long dead, alien civilization. Yet, the idea of some kind of macro engineering for the purpose of art … is an interesting idea. Indeed, why always assume that ruins and artefacts were created for the sole purpose of religion, habitation and … maybe some type of industrial process? Art in itself can become a purpose and the human is probably not the only one who has some.

 La Planète morte (The Dead Planet - 1970), by Edmond Hamilton : This story is probably the main inspiration for the story I’m currently working on. At the edge of the galaxy, a damaged explorer ship is forced to crash land on a dead planet orbiting an agonizing star. Miraculously, they survived but their ship was severely damaged, stranding them there. As the crew started looking for some mineral deposit to help them in their repairs, they stumbled, instead, upon a lifeless domed city under the ice. Who build it? When was it built? But more importantly, what kind of security system was left behind?

 This story impressed me at the time because of the concept it brought to me: Up to this point, when I thought of ruins and archaeology, I immediately thought of old stones and primitive technologies (thanks in part to Indiana Jones) … but what about an advanced civilization? This story made me realize that if a civilization had the power to create self-repair machines powered by a near limitless energy sources, there was a chance their technology and creation might still be around even if their creators were gone since the dawn of time.

 Also, I did not realize immediately … in fact I only found out 2015 or so (and I read that book back in the ’80s); but Edmond Hamilton was also one of the writers of one of my most beloved childhood heroes: The Capitaine Flam (Originally Capt Future). Of course, how could I’ve guessed at the time, that the cartoon by TOE ANIMATION (Japan), I was watching was from the same person? Only through the lens of the internet I was able to make the connection. In retrospect, learning this only made me appreciate the serial Capt Future even more.

 In conclusion, this anthology confirmed that even old stories that, in many ways, could be considerate as “obsolete,” could still hold sparks of genius if someone cares to take a second look without any prejudice. Not all of the stories were good, or aged well, but each one of them has the merit to ask some very tough questions that warranted some explorations. Which, in fact, is why I keep those stories around … as they could always use a second look.

[no-dull-days]

Nicaragua Turismo

Prior to Somoza, Central America was a republic consisting of El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama and Guatemala. The law of the land, was that all business owners had to get their businesses approved by a number of politicians located in present day Honduras and El Salvador. Because the locals in these regions knew business owners would pass through their neighborhoods with livestock and other valuables, business owners were regularly robbed. This is why El Salvador and Honduras are still particularly dangerous today and Nicaragua houses hard working business owners who provide millions of dollars of exports to a variety of countries. Nicaragua is by far the safest country in the region for this reason.

Nicaragua travel guide tips: You should be very protective of your belongings, carry small amounts of cash, and a few duplicate laminated copies of your passport. Familiarize yourself with Dengue and Chikungunya virus. Be careful who you speak to about Nicaragua’s president and tumultuous history. Photographing government buildings is illegal. Don’t draw attention to yourself.

Nicaragua Travel Guide

Vast jungles are evident from the air along with an aviation graveyard clearly from the civil war. I pass through a small airport with no major delays and locate a man holding a sign with my name on it. Two hours later, I arrive in a small surf community. Spread out over half an acre are ten dorms, huts, and casitas housing small groups and couples. Meals cost between three and five bucks. I was walking distance to the beach and rented surf boards for $5/day. I met almost everyone in the small community and rented an ATV to ride through the jungle. I zipped through cities and local attractions. I read books on the beach and thoroughly unwound. No need for a Nicaragua travel guide when basking in the beach sunshine.

Transportation in Nicaragua

If you take shuttle vans or hostel arranged transportation, you’re gonna pay about 300-500% over market value. If you’re traveling beyond the “too weak vacation” you’re gonna want to save cash wherever you can and taking buses will save you more than a few bucks. Even if you’re only here short term, taking buses are just more exciting. They add a lot to the adventure. Bus stations might be intimidating if you don’t speak Spanish, but I can assure you, they’re easy. There’s no announcements or indication when you arrive at your intended destination, but it’s fairly clear by the scenery and signs. Otherwise, simply point to your destination on the map and ask.

Lines form in front of the signs and fees are collected on board. Fair warning, buses get quite cozy. Transportation is roughly C$30-70 (about $2 US). If you take a taxi, be sure to ask the rate before you get inside.

Cash in Nicaragua

Nicaragua uses the Cordoba. Many businesses accept US dollars though. You can order international currency from your local bank if you request it in advance. It’s much easier to pay for everything in native currency because it’s exact. You may even pay more using US dollars because of a conversion rate. You can also get Cordobas from ATMs, but you’ll pay a percent of the transaction to your bank.

Nicaragua travel guide tip: To obtain cash, you can also get Cords via the black market. Men hold enormous stacks of money on street corners throughout the country. I don’t know who they work for or how they make a profit, but they’re very convenient. Know how much your US dollars are worth before approaching, and give them $5, $10 or $20 bills. They give you Cords. Though this is the black market, it’s safe. I’ve used them numerous times in multiple cities without problem. Do this transaction in public though.

Doctors make about $1,500 US dollars/ month and people who have nice jobs make about $3-400/ month, so the dollar will go a long way. In Leon, one of the more expensive cities, I paid about $15 US for a very nice meal in a fancy restaurant. To save more cash, get yourself a Sawyer Water Filter and fill up a water bottle throughout the day. Otherwise, you’ll pay about C$200 Cords/ day for water.

San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua

I could’ve stayed longer, but I knew it was time to move on. My next adventures took me to San Juan del Sur, a small beach community with a thriving nightlife filled with Aussies, Canadians, Israelis, Americans, and a few Europeans. They had dangerously wicked Sunday fun-days. What else would you expect from a city without a police department? This didn’t bother me since I’m not a big drinker, go to bed at a decent hour and wake up with the sun.

San Juan Del Sur and up the west coast of Nicaragua have a thriving surf culture with schools and villages to match their six foot swells and gorgeous beaches. It’s in these areas where people can take guided tours and ride ATV’s through the city, jungles and beaches. I paid $90 for three hours. Moreover, there’s horseback riding, zip lining, and volcanoes to explore. There's internet cafes for workaholics and techies, and colonial cities such as Leon and Granada with 17th century architecture. You’re bound to run into a number of expats here.

After leaving a bar one night though, a few very persistent girls tried to lure me off the main drag. If I followed them, I knew I'd be mugged. Nicaragua travel guide tip: If you’re bar hopping after dark, stay on the main street only. Do not under any circumstances venture down to the beach away from the crowd. Also, leave your phone and wad of cash at home. San Juan Del Sur is accessible by bus. However, it’s easier if you’re in a group to take a cab and split the fee. If you’re going to a surf village or hostel, some places will arrange a taxi for you and wait with your name on a card. I’d recommend San Juan Del Sur for surfing, nightlife, and tours.

MiraFlor, Nicaragua

MiraFlor is a great cloud forest about 15 miles northeast of Esteli. About 90 minutes away because of poor road conditions. There’s upper and lower MiraFlor which is basically dense forest and less dense. The upper region is far better and occupied by organic farmers. The food here is sensational. Everything I ate was organic. I paid $45 for one night in a casita with two queen beds. Three meals were included with coffee and water. $15 got me a guided horseback tour through the mountains plus a dip in a secret waterhole. There’s massive toads in MiraFlor, sloths, puma and other wildlife. Safety was no concern in MiraFlor. Nicaragua travel guide tip: You can book a tour through Cafe Luz.

Matagalpa, Nicaragua

Matagalpa is similar to Esteli, but a little nicer. It’s not a tourist or colonial city. Just a normal city with lots of people working and going to school. It’s in the mountains about two hours from Esteli. It’s nice to walk around for the day. Nicaragua travel guide tip: If you visit Matagalpa, stay on one side of the river. Same with Esteli. Rivers are like railroad tracks divided by the good and bad side of town. Matagalpa is also in the coffee region. You could certainly crash here for the night if you’re visiting a nearby coffee plantation. Safety was no concern. I’d recommend Matagalpa for stress free simple living.

Sebaco, Nicaragua

Sebaco and the small surrounding cities are filled with farmers. I’ve never seen more people without teeth. Most-likely from sugar cane. Sebaco is about an hour from Esteli and costs C$20. I took a bike taxi to a museum and explored the city. I met a few locals and had lunch with a family. I spoke with a variety of locals all of whom couldn’t have been nicer. Visiting Sebaco was like being in an Indiana Jones movie. Sebaco was educational, fascinating, and a massive culture shock. Safety was no concern.

Managua, Nicaragua

Managua is the nation's capital and is very dangerous. The only reason you’ll have to visit Managua is for the airport. You may also be in Managua to catch the TICA bus if you’re going elsewhere in Central America. The TICA bus is the same as a Greyhound. Managua is also where you’d catch flights and buses to Nicaragua’s east coast or Caribbean islands.

Nicaragua travel guide tip: Managua is not a sightseeing city. It’s a hub for business and transportation. Do not walk around alone. Do not flash valuables. Do not visit Managua after dark. Do not take random taxes in Managua. Crime and kidnapping are in abundance here.

A ticket to Panama on the TICA bus is $90 US and about $45 to Costa Rica. There’s information stations all over the country but all buses leave from Managua. Managua is accessible from just about anywhere in the country. Don’t take a cab to Managua because they’re expensive and it’s common for tourists to be overcharged. When going to Managua, know where you’re going and how to get there. My experience in Managua is during the day. Get in and out of town in the morning or early afternoon. Masaya is about 2.5 hours from Managua. Or you can take a cab for $25-30 US.

The City of Masaya

Aside from traveling in Haiti and Jamaica, Masaya has a massive Rastafarian presence. I walked the streets looking for a room to rent and stumbled upon a restaurant. I feasted, eating an entire chicken, salad, gallo pinto, vigorón and sopa de mondongo. I chased it down with four beers while watching a soccer game as two ceiling fans kept me cool as a cucumber. I paid $2.30, said goodbye to my new friends and waddled out. I smoked a cigarette with the door man who carried a full size axe over his shoulder. We watched a man with scrotal lymph edema waddle with great difficulty.

The city has a large Christian presence. Michael Jackson, Phil Collins, and Bryan Adams along with other 80’s music was quite common. Nicaragua travel guide tip: You must possess a sense of adventure to enjoy yourself here and shopping is a must! Wallets, clothing, souvenirs, machetes, bracelets, kitchenware, clothing, and gorgeous artwork are in central downtown.

Masaya Volcano Park

About 15 miles outside of the the city of Masaya is a Volcano Park. There’s a C$100 entrance fee and it’s C$100/person for the 5.5 mile cab ride to the top. There’s a number of hiking trails and great views of a smoking volcano. It was C$25 to get from the volcano park to Granada via bus. I was so disconnected from everything I’d ever known. I took a bus from Masaya and set my feet down on an empty highway submerged in dense jungle. It looked like the big man upstairs cut a straight line through the jungle with a disposable razor. Across the way, was the entrance to Masaya Volcano.

I walked straight up to the edge and inhaled the noxious volcanic fumes. It reminded me of that favorable scent of gasoline. I also thought of the evil dictator Somoza and how he threw his opponents into this very volcano. I went to the top of almost every peak. I even ran up the slopes where the scent of sulfur was powerful.

Granada, Nicaragua

It was the first time I was rooming with other people. Three nights in, I went to dinner with a girl from my room. Five minutes away, I knew something was wrong but we kept walking. Upon return about an hour later, I shook hands with the guy who stole my credit card and rang up a $1,400 tab in Managua. Everyone in our room was robbed. I experienced organized crime, first hand.

Granada attracts the most tourists because of it’s nice hotels and expensive restaurants. It also attracts an onslaught of criminal rings from Costa Rica. In this case, it was a four man team. Each had their own role. Two of them got beds in separate rooms and locked an empty locker. They stuffed their beds and staked out the room. Two other men were brought in to strike up conversation. They kept the managers and other travelers occupied while their friends robbed nine lockers in two rooms.

When I was here in the high season (November to May), I was on a private tour that took me boating through the Granada Isletas where monkeys climbed on the boat and ran across my lap. The Granada Islets are over 200 islands with an abundance of wildlife. Islands are owned by locals, aristocrats, and foreigners, while others can be rented for private events. You can arrange a tour from a guide in the plaza.

Granada doesn’t resemble any of the other cities, nor does it resemble Nicaragua. Though Granada is the nicest city in the country, it’s a hot spot for crime. I think we all know, getting robbed isn’t so much about the money. It’s the feelings of violation and loss of trust. Maybe this was a good thing, because you shouldn’t be trusting anyone while traveling alone.

Nicaragua travel guide tip: I was robbed. I know others who were robbed. I was conned by locals and a lawyer. If you're robbed filing a police report at the police station for insurance wasn't too bad. After eight days here, I experienced more scams and deception than any other city. Isletas below.

I’d recommend a short afternoon in Granada to see the Isletas then spending the night at the Apoyo Lagoon, about 20 minutes from Granada. If you do stay in Granada, look for a hotel or hostel that does not allow people from Central America.

Mombacho Volcano

Mombacho volcano can be seen from Granada. It’s a huge volcano with hiking trails and spectacular views from within jungle terrain. In the off season, it’s a cloud forest which is definitely fun to hike through and explore the mysterious land with lush greenery during tropical rains. In the high season, the visibility is far better. The only way to visit is on a tour, during which you’ll learn about flora, fauna, and the hundreds of highly poisonous reptiles living in the habitat.

Since Mombacho is adjacent to Granada and I wouldn’t recommend visiting Granada, I’d recommend another rain forest and or volcano such as Masaya, MiraFlor, Cerro Negro, Ometepe, or Indio Maiz. You can certainly see Mombacho in the morning, tour the Islets in the afternoon, then take a cab to Apoyo Lagoon.

Apoyo Lagoon

Anxious to leave Granada, I shopped around and found a taxi for $15 US. About 20 minutes away from Granada is a small slice of paradise. It’s a gorgeous lagoon. I paid $12 for a bed in an empty dormitory. There’s private rooms for $29, but there’s no point when it’s so quiet. I was the only one in a room with six beds, four fans, and steel lockers. I found about a dozen hotels, hostels, and resorts on the lagoon. There’s convenience stores scattered throughout the area. Wherever you decide to stay there’ll be restaurants. $12 includes access to kayaks, inner tubes, and a floating dock to hang out on. Meals cost between $3-$5. Nicaragua travel guide tip: Don't miss out on Apoyo Lagoon!

Maderas Beach

Maderas Beach has a series of surf schools and nice resorts. It’s located about 30 minutes south of San Juan Del Sur and only accessible in an off road vehicle. It’s located just beyond the dense jungle. Howler monkeys are common in these parts. They’re monkeys that make creepy howling noises and throw poop if you get too close. Some of these beaches are private, but most are open to the public. There’s excellent surf, fresh food, and passion fruit smoothies. Mid summer, there was an international surf competition in this region with over 300 competitors from 70 countries. Nicaragua travel guide tip: There's quite a few 3-5 star resorts scattered throughout this region.

Beaches in this area have some amazing homes overlooking the water from massive cliffs. Property values have risen from $8,000 to over $150,000 in the last 5-7 years. Imagine seeing this every morning when you wake up. I’d recommend this region purely for surfing.

With a wide array of activities to choose from and epic smoothies, Nicaragua is a true adventure. Healthy food is plentiful and there’s an endless supply of photo opportunities. Avoid unpaved streets after dark and sectors of town on the other side of rivers. If you've enjoyed this Nicaragua travel guide, please share. Thanks for reading.

[weshipyourride]

Looking Back at 2019: Our Favorite Moments

As the calendar year draws to a close and we give the BikeFlights.com vans' engines a few moments to cool, we're taking the time to reflect on some of our Outreach Team's highlights from the road. So grab a hot beverage of choice and join our West Coast, Mountain States and East Coast marketing managers around our proverbial campfire as each shares his favorite events of 2019.

Colin Blanchard, West Coast Marketing Manager

West Coast by Colin Blanchard

The Sea Otter Cycling Classic

Early in the season nothing beats the Sea Otter Cycling Classic. Getting to see so many people stoked on bikes after a long winter is a blessing. The weather in Monterey, California was amazing this year. Riding in short sleeves and shorts was something that I had been missing. 

This year was a mix of work and play. We had just rolled out our partnership with UPS, which meant that a lot of people came by to talk about the change.

The Sturdy Dirty Enduro

A new event for BikeFlights.com this year was The Sturdy Dirty in Issaquah, Washington which is a women’s specific enduro race.

This event stands out for me because of how amazing the people at the event are, along with the riding. Having lived in Washington previously, going there feels like home and the trails, albeit hard, are always welcoming.

They also had some of the best snacks on course!

North American Handmade Bicycle Show

With frequent travels from east to west, I end up driving though Sacramento, California quite often. Getting to know the small bike companies in that town has been such a joy. That friendship was made even better considering the North American Handmade Bicycle Show happened there. 

Considering BikeFlights.com works with so many small builders, we have gotten to know them personally very well over the years. Getting to see them all in one place doesn’t happen enough. Friends from Squid Bikes hosted some great pick-up races, which made the event even better.

The Downieville Classic

Downieville, California is one of my favorite places in the world. The mixture of the small town and epic riding is hard to match. BikeFlights.com has been working with the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship, who hosts the Downieville Classic, for the past two years.

So many riders travel from all over the country to race down these amazing trails, though I find the best part is hanging out with friends on rides. May it be taking a dip to cool off or sessioning some of the harder parts of their trails.

Single Speed Cyclocross Worlds

Similar to the Sea Otter Classic, getting away from the colder temperatures is always a joy. Which is one of the many reasons I loved going to the Single Speed Cyclocross World Championships in Saint George, Utah.

Though I do not own a cyclocross bike, that didn’t stop me from racing on my single speed dirt jumper. It wasn’t ideal for some of the course but it certainly made other parts more fun.

This year has been an amazing year of meeting new riders all across the West. I can’t wait to see what will happen next year!

Some photos provided by The Radavist and Angel Perez.

Michael Potter, Mountain Region Marketing Manager

Mountain Region by Michael Potter

Land Run 100

District Bicycles Owner and Land Run 100 Co-Promoter, Bobby Wintle puts on one hell of an event in Stillwater, Oklahoma. A two-day party of inclusion, motivation and celebration of all people. Before the ride, a block party is hosted leading into the event that features music, beer and an atmosphere unlike any other event I’ve attended this year.

If Land Run is not on your list - you’re missing out. This event guarantees a good day on the bike, regardless of weather. It is all worth it for that “welcome back hug.”

Leadville 100

The highest event on our calendar, this ride starts at over 10,000 feet of elevation in Leadville, Colorado. If the elevation doesn’t take your breath away, the views will. Considering this was my first endurance mountain bike race, I felt nervous going into the ride, but left with excitement for more.

The infamous belt buckle is the coveted prize for not only completing the course, but also meeting time goals. I rode away with the “big buckle!”

SBT GRVL

A first year event usually brings some uneasy feelings, considering the unknowns of the weekend. SBT GRVL in Steamboat Springs, Colorado clearly considered those unknowns and crushed the route, communication, amenities and execution.

This event has proved themselves already, but we have no doubt that their team has a few ideas up their sleeves to out-do their inaugural event. I look forward to challenging myself in Steamboat again in 2020.

Dirty Kanza

My experience at Dirty Kanza in Emporia, Kansas was rocky to say the least. Multiple flat tires with sidewall tears took me completely out of contention in the 100-mile edition. Though my bad luck here sidetracked my goals, I learned a lot this day.

I learned that the cycling community is generous and thriving. Maxxis provided me two new tires because they wanted to see me finish. They wouldn’t let me quit, and I’m thankful for that. Their tires brought me home, and the second half of my ride was such a great experience.

USAC CX Nationals

Despite Cyclocross Nationals taking place on the west coast in Tacoma, Washington, I was lucky enough to attend and race myself. MFG Cyclocross constructed and performed one of the best cyclocross courses and events I’ve been to in years.

We partied hard and hosted many friends throughout the week. We also enjoyed quality time among our team to bond and prepare for the new year ahead.

2019 was a big year. I attended 23 events in 11 different states while traveling nearly 25,000 miles through an additional seven states. I moved from North Carolina to Colorado and learned the balance of life on the road, maintaining a healthy marriage and found a renewed vigor for riding bikes of all kinds. I am so excited to see what 2020 has ahead.

Vince Camiolo, East Coast Marketing Manager

East Coast by Vince Camiolo

Santos Fat Tire Festival

Being based in the Northeast US, late February is about the time my tolerance for heading out on rides dressed like Randy from “A Christmas Story” reaches an all season low. This year was my third southbound trip to the Santos Fat Tire Festival in Ocala, Florida. The idea of a mountain bike festival in central Florida may evoke some side-eye glances, and for my inaugural Santos in 2017 I was simply excited by the prospect of winter riding bathed in warm sun on bare skin. However, the event itself and the Santos trails made the festival a highlight of my year independent of the escape from Philly winters, and 2019 was no different. The expo and demo-oriented festival is well organized, well attended and maintains a grass-roots feel. The organizers are friendly, helpful and go out of their way to make the vendors feel appreciated. And the food trucks are some of the best I’ve encountered at a cycling event.

The Santos trails, while not at all mountainous, are certainly unique, providing fast flow through dense green forests of sand pine and scrub oak draped in hanging moss. The area even offers the Vortex Freeride Area to ensure all levels and styles of mountain bikers are satisfied.

Dirt Rag Dirt Fest PA

While Santos Fat Tire Festival is technically the first mountain bike festival of the season, the Northeast has to wait a couple more months to officially open their season. And even then, as exemplified by the conditions at Dirt Fest PAs of the past, Pennsylvania weather in mid May can be unpredictable and far from ideal. Although Dirt Fest PA manages to be a great time despite the weather, 2019′s conditions propelled it to an easy choice for this 2019 event highlight list.

The sun stayed out, the sleeves stayed short, the wonderfully flowy Allegrippis trails stayed dry and camaraderie and celebration of mountain biking flourished.

 RAGBRAI

I probably don’t have to explain what the Register’s Annual Great Big Ride Across Iowa is, but it is challenging to convey the impressive scale of the event to someone who hasn’t witnessed it for themselves. Although the official rider number is sub-10,000, more accurate estimates generally hover north of 30,000. Needless to say BikeFlights.com is busy every July getting the bikes of many of those riders to and from the event. As the lone on-the-ground BikeFlights.com representative it’s also needless to say that my days around the start and end of RAGBRAI were also quite busy this year. Opportunities to eat and sleep during those days were at a major premium. But RAGBRAI makes this list for the time between the start and end during which -- in addition to catching up on sleep and resting my feet -- I got to explore opportunities Iowa offers in three of my favorite things: mountain biking, coffee and baseball. And it delivered on all three.

Iowa may not be on anyone’s short list as a premiere mountain biking destination, but the small trail systems maintained by local organizations that dot the state are impressive and a much appreciated reprieve from many hours of windshield time in the BikeFlights.com van.

It was also fun to see how the Iowa host towns embraced RAGBRAI.

JDRF Ride to Cure Diabetes La Crosse

Every year the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund puts on at least five fundraising rides across the country. They’ve raised more than $47 million dollars for “research to deliver life-changing therapies and, one day, a cure for type 1 diabetes (T1D)” and we’re proud to be an integral partner in helping the ambitious fundraising cyclists get their bikes to and from each event.

The Mississippi River town of La Crosse, Wisconsin is traditionally the host of the first JDRF Ride event of the season. It’s a wonderful opportunity for me to connect in person with the organizers and bike team with whom I work closely all year, and spend some time in a great Midwest river town. Thanks to The Root Note for keeping me fueled with great coffee and vegan crepes on a daily basis!

Philly Bike Expo

Ok, it’s true I’m a born-and-raised-unapologetically-Philly-prideful-never-not-wearing-a-Phillies-hat kind of person, but I swear I’m not unfairly biased in declaring the Philly Bike Expo as one of the best events of the year. The volume and diversity of attendees, ranging from casual commuters to bike messengers to professional racers of all disciplines, makes it a no-brainer for vendors of all types. What really sets it apart, however, is the social dynamic coursing through the veins of the show. The big players are there, but it’s clear the small frame builders and makers run the show. Remember in high school when the punk kids had that party and the jocks finally realized they were cool and asked if they could come? Maybe not. But the Philly Bike Expo is kind of like that.

Philly Bike Expo was also an opportunity to bring star Support Team member and personified sunshine Marci out to meet BikeFlights.com customers old and future (and perform some bubble trumpet).

This year marked my third and, sad to say, final year on the road full-time for BikeFlights.com. It was another great year spreading the good word of BikeFlights.com and working with partner events ensuring their participants can conveniently get their bikes and gear to and from the event. And although I’ll continue with BikeFlights.com in a modified capacity, I’m looking forward to pursuing a dream, along with my wife Natalie, opening a coffee roastery and cafe in Trenton, New Jersey, One Up One Down Coffee. 

#bikeflights #packshipride #shipitandripit #nahbs #seaotterclassic #sturdydirty #sscxwcut19

[warmdevs]

New Post has been published on https://warmdevs.com/teenagers-ux-designing-for-teens.html

Teenager’s UX: Designing for Teens

Teens are wired. Technology is so integrated with teenagers’ lives that creating useful and usable websites and apps for them is more critical than ever. To succeed in a world where the next best thing is a click away and text message interruptions are the rule, not the exception, website and app creators must clearly understand what teens want and how to keep them on a site.

To understand the expectations of a generation that grew up with technology and the internet, we conducted qualitative usability studies with teenage participants to identify guidelines for how websites can be improved to match this age group’s’ abilities and preferences.

Our research refutes many stereotypes, including the following:

Mobile proficiency transfers across all devices

Teens just want to be entertained online with graphics and multimedia

Teens are tech-savvy

Teens want everything to be social

Teens are not technowizards who surf the web with abandon. And they don’t like sites laden with glitzy, blinking graphics. Letting stereotypes steer your design can lead to disastrous outcomes.

Teenagers use the internet on many devices in various environments. For our research, we focused on web and app usability for laptops, tablets, and mobile devices. Although teens spend endless time texting and on social media, we didn’t focus on these activities because our goal was to derive design guidelines for mainstream websites and apps, not to help build the next Snapchat.

The Research

We derived 130 usability guidelines for engaging teens and keeping them on your site. These recommendations are based on observational studies using multiple methodologies. A total of 100 users between the ages of 13 and 17 participated in three rounds of research: 38 teens in the original study for the first edition of this report, 46 teens in the second study, and 16 in the most recent study. We triangulated findings across three methods:

Usability testing. We met with test participants one at a time and gave them tasks to perform, asking them to vocalize their thoughts as they attempted tasks. To keep the scenarios as authentic as possible, we matched the tasks with each teen’s actual interests and simulated real-world situations.

Field studies. We observed teenagers in their homes and at school. During these site visits, we didn’t give users tasks to perform, but simply watched as they used the web the way they normally would in these settings.

Interviews and focus groups. To gain further insight into their experiences and attitudes, we asked participants to offer stories and examples detailing how and when they used the web, and which sites they considered interesting and useful. We also solicited advice from teens on how to make websites appealing. Interviews were held before and after usability sessions, as well as during a focus group.

We conducted studies in the U.S., United Kingdom, and Australia, in cities and towns ranging from affluent suburbs to disadvantaged urban areas. We tested a roughly equivalent number of boys and girls on a total of 210 websites and 30 apps that covered a broad range of genres, including:

School resources (University of Nottingham, Central Bucks High School West, BBC Bitesize, Quizlet)

Tourism/Arts & Entertainment (Visit London, TripAdvisor, ExploreChicago.com)

Health (Australian Drug Foundation, TeensHealth, National Institute on Drug Abuse)

Informational/Reference (Nature, Food Network, Scientific American)

News (Buzzfeed, CNN, Weather.com, Daily Mail, The New York Times)

Entertainment and Games (Stack AR, YouTube, Playlist.com, Geometry Wars)

Ecommerce (Adidas, H&M, ASOS, Jabra)

Corporate sites (McCormick, Unilever, Pepsi-Cola, Procter & Gamble, Samsung, Morton Salt)

Government (Gov.UK, Australian Government main portal, Pennsylvania’s Department of Motor Vehicles, the U.S. White House, NASA)

Nonprofits (Rotary International, Charity: Water, World Food Programme, National Wildlife Federation)

As these examples show, we tested both specialized sites that explicitly target teenagers and mainstream sites that include teens as part of a broad-target audience.

Teen Motivations for Using Websites

Teenagers access the web for myriad activities, including entertainment. Generally, they have a specific goal, even if that goal is just to keep themselves occupied for 10 minutes.

Although their specific tasks might differ from adults, teens are similar to adults in major ways: both groups expect websites to be easy to use and to let them accomplish their tasks. Like adults, teens are goal-oriented and don’t surf the web aimlessly; usability is thus as important for them as for any other user group.

Teens in our studies reported using the web or various apps for:

School assignments

Hobbies or other special interests (including learning new skills or finding fun activities)

Entertainment (including music, videos, and games)

News (including sports, current events, and entertainment)

Learning about new topics

Talking to friends

Shopping

Even when teens don’t make purchases on ecommerce websites, they do visit them to research products and build wish lists for the credit-card–carrying adults in their lives.

Changes Over Time: Good and Bad News

The good news: Teens are becoming more successful at navigating websites and finding what they need. At the time of the third study, the oldest participant was born in 2001 and the youngest was born in 2005; therefore, all participants in this study grew up with access to computers. Between all three studies conducted over the last 15 years for this report, the amount of time teenagers spend on computers and mobile devices has steadily increased. How effective teenagers are with technology is correlated with the amount of time using technology.

Are teens getting better or are websites getting better? Probably a bit of both. We observed many of the same bad user habits among teens in our last study as we saw in our first study, back in 2004. Thus, the improved performance obviously stems in part from improvements in website design. That said, even though teens in our original study were heavy web users, teenagers today have even greater access to the internet and spend more time using it. This generation grew up with technology and is much more effective at using it than the participants in our first study (in which the oldest participant was born in 1988 and the youngest in 1992).

The bad news: Teens are not as invincible as some people think. Although teens might feel confident online, they do make mistakes and often give up quickly. Fast-moving teens are also less cautious than adults and make snap judgments; these lead to fewer successfully completed tasks.

Teens perform worse than adults for three reasons:

Insufficient reading skills

Less sophisticated research strategies

Dramatically lower levels of patience

To improve your site’s usability among teens, you must consider all three factors. Also note that we have seen these factors in all our research with teenagers during a 15-year period, meaning that they are likely to continue to hold in the future, even if other teen habits may change as fads come and go.

Across different types of websites, teens had the most success on ecommerce websites, which often adhered to design standards and required little reading. Teens encountered the greatest challenges on large sites with dense content and poor navigation schemes. Government, nonprofit, and school sites were the biggest culprits of poor usability.

Despite usability improvements, we observed users struggling with the same issues as in previous years — as well as new issues created by emerging features and design approaches. Thus, both traditional and new guidelines must be considered as technology and people continually evolve; our new report contains 130 total guidelines, compared with 61 in the first edition and 111 in the second.

Many of the guidelines also apply to general audiences. For teens, however, these guidelines are even more important because the usability issues present bigger hurdles.

The Importance of Content and Layout

Write for impatient users. Nothing deters younger audiences more than a cluttered screen full of text. Teens can quickly become bored, distracted, and frustrated.

Teenagers don’t like to read a lot on the web. They get enough of that at school. Plus, their reading skills are not ideal — especially those of younger teens. Sites that were easy to scan or that illustrated concepts visually were strongly preferred to sites with dense text.

Applying proper web writing and formatting techniques is crucial in communicating with teens. Display content in small, meaningful chunks with plenty of white space. Small chunks help students retain information and pick up where they left off after the inevitable interruptions of text messages and phone calls.

Teenagers in our study were often overwhelmed with content on websites. To focus their attention on one area, we observed several teens highlighting text as they read down the page. These are some of their comments:

“Sometimes reading in black and white is hard. Highlight helps me read better.” – 16-year-old male

“I lost my train of thought, so I highlighted the text to focus more on it.” – 15-year-old female

Teens were overloaded with information on the screen. We observed multiple participants highlighting text on the page to help them focus — here, a teen highlighted the term bluegrass, as she wondered what type of music that was.

Help teens learn and stay focused by choosing your words wisely. Use words that teens understand. Write in short sentences and paragraphs. Format key points or steps of a process using bullet points. Teens generally have poorer reading and comprehension skills than adults. If your site targets a broad audience, aim to write at a 6th-grade reading level (or lower). Writing at this level will help audiences of all ages — young and old — quickly understand your content.

One surprising finding in this study: teenagers dislike tiny font sizes as much as adults do. We’ve often warned websites about using small text because of the negative implications for senior citizens (and even people in their late 40s, whose eyesight has begun to decline). We’ve always assumed that tiny text predominated because most web designers are young and still have perfect vision, so we were surprised that small type often caused problems or provoked negative comments from our study’s teen users. Even though this audience is sufficiently sharp-eyed, most teens move too quickly and are too easily distracted to attend to small text.

“You go to Music and it’s real tiny. … You look at this stuff and it’s hard to see. You have to squint. These are really small, and you can’t see. It needs to be a little bigger.” — 16-year-old female

Present Interesting Content Professionally and Clearly

Teens complained about sites they found boring. Dull content is the kiss of death if your goal is to keep teens on your site. However, not everything needs to be interactive and fancy. Although teens have a strong appreciation for aesthetics, they detest sites that appear cluttered and contain pointless multimedia.

Beware of overusing interactive features just because you design for younger audiences. Multimedia can engage or enrage teens, depending on its usefulness. The best online experiences for teens are those that teach them something new or keep them focused on a goal.

What’s good? The following interactive features all worked well because they let teens do things rather than simply sit and read:

Online quizzes

Forms for providing feedback or asking questions

Online voting

Games

Features for sharing pictures or stories

Features for creating and editing content

These interactive features let teenagers make their mark on the internet and express themselves in various ways — some small, some big.

The site type influences user expectations. For example, teens expect ecommerce and brand sites to look professional, and informational sites to look simple and polished. For the latter sites, presenting interesting content in a clear manner is much more attractive than experimenting with new sophisticated features. Teens can learn and feel engaged without the nonessential enhancements.

Speed Is Key

A slow-loading website is a deal-breaker. Whatever you do, make sure your site loads quickly. Slow, sluggish sites are frustrating to anybody, but they’re especially offensive to young audiences who expect instant gratification.

Think twice before you develop that super cool widget or include that 4K video. If it’s slow or buggy, forget it. Teens won’t have the patience for it. Because teens often work on older, second-hand devices — and sometimes have slow internet connections — fancy features and  high-resolution multimedia might not work well.

“I hate this waiting. It’s very annoying … I usually wouldn’t wait this long for a page to load. I would go to a different site, I would go to the next one.” — 17-year-old male

Don’t Talk Down to Teens

Avoid anything that sounds condescending or babyish. The proper tone can make or break your site. Teens relate to content created by peers, so supplement your content with real stories, images, and examples from other teens.

Some websites in our study tried to serve both children and teens in a single area, usually titled  Kids. A grave mistake: the word “kid” is a teen repellent. Teenagers are fiercely proud of their newly won status, and they don’t want overly childish content — one more reason to ease up on the heavy animations and garish color schemes that work for younger audiences. We recommend having separate sections for young children and teens, labeled Kids and Teens, respectively.

Let Teens Control the Social Aspects

Facilitate sharing but don’t force it. Teens rely on technology for social communication, but they don’t want to be social all the time. They want to control what they share and how they share it. Sites that force teens to register and then automatically make their profile public violate trust. Parents and teachers teach teens to protect their privacy at a young age, and one of the things teens learn early is to avoid nosey sites.

When offering sharing options, include a link to copy the web address, as teens are likely browsing on their phones and want to share it directly with a friend. Participants in our studies often preferred using social media apps, like Snapchat, to message friends, so providing a Copy Link option allows them to send a direct message to a friend on any platform. When this functionality isn’t available, they tended to take screenshots and share them with friends. Though this behavior reaches their goal, from a business perspective, it hinders other teens’ ability to easily visit the content.

Design for Mobile Viewing

All of the teenagers in our most recent study had mobile devices, but not all had laptops or computers. Therefore, teens are often viewing your content from the palm of their hand.

Complex mouse gestures often don’t translate well to mobile. The adoption of portable devices requires that you design a website so that it doesn’t compromise usability.

Teens often work on touch-enabled devices, making interactions that require precision — such as dropdown menus, drag-and-drop, and small buttons — difficult. Design elements such as rollover effects and small click zones are also problematic, if they’re usable at all. Small text sizes and dense text make reading difficult.

Media portrays teens as competent computer jockeys. In reality, teens’ overconfidence combined with their developing cognitive abilities means they often give up quickly and blame the website’s design. They don’t blame themselves, they blame you.

Age-Group Differences

The following table summarizes the main similarities and differences in web-design approaches for young children, teenagers, college students, and adults. (The findings about children are from our studies with 3–12-year-old users; the findings about college students are from our study with 18–25-year-old users.)

Children Teens College Students Adults Search Bigger reliance on bookmarks than search, but older kids do search Heavy reliance on search; some difficulty formulating search queries; click topmost results in SERP Heavy reliance on search; some difficulty formulating search queries; click topmost results in SERP Heavy reliance on search; some difficulty formulating search queries; click topmost results in SERP Scrolling Don’t scroll (younger); some scrolling (older) OK scrolling OK scrolling OK scrolling Animation and sound effects Attend to things that move and make sounds Might appreciate them to some extent, but overuse can be problematic. Dislike them; autoplay sound disruptive in dorms Dislike them; autoplay sound disruptive at work Patience Want instant gratification Hate waiting for things to load or having to close pop ups; easily distracted Want answers quickly; no patience for complicated interactions; easily distracted. Want answers quickly, but more likely to wait than college students Trust & credibility Want good initial reaction; Credibility less important because goal is mainly entertainment Difficulty judging credibility Very critical; quick to judge websites Less critical of websites than college students; still quick to judge Tabbed browsing Not used Used often; few tabs Used often; many tabs open at a time Commonly used; varies depending on technical comfort Disclosing private info Hesitant to enter information Hesitant to enter information Less ‘fear’ of technology and therefore (often recklessly) willing to give out personal info Often recklessly willing to give out personal info on sites they trust Advertising Difficulty distinguishing from real content Like discounts but hate popups Have a keen eye for ads and don’t like being tricked Mostly avoid ads but appreciate them when they are relevant and unobtrusive Age-targeted design & content Crucial, with very fine-grained distinctions between age groups Want age-appropriate content; prefer sites with neutral graphics rather than childish ones Want age-appropriate information, but don’t want everyone to sound ‘hip’ Less critical for most sites

Clearly, there are many differences between age groups. The highest usability level for teens comes from designs that are targeted specifically at their needs and behaviors, which differ from those of adults and young children. As the table shows, this is true both for interaction design and for more obvious factors, such as topics and content style.

[foxvslynch]

Fox Vs. The Elephant Man

One of the most frustrating elements of David Lynch’s visual aesthetic is his reliance on (often gross) visual shorthand for his characters. Usually, beautiful people are either beautiful to signify goodness or purity, or they are beautiful as a means of highlighting the gap between their assumed goodness and purity and their debauched, dark, or otherwise sordid insides. Much of Twin Peaks is predicated on a somewhat insulting question - how could a beautiful, innocent girl like Laura Palmer come to such a horrific end? Eventually, this question is resolved, explored, and changed into many much more powerful questions, but the visual language of the series’ cast is very intentionally loaded in ways that are both powerful and unfortunate (for a powerful example, look to the clean-cut, professional exterior of Dale Cooper and the lovable, spiritual inside, for an unfortunate example look at the myriad awful ways that Audrey gets utilized).

My first viewing of The Elephant Man was refreshing and surprising because it attempts to subvert societal prejudices about disability and deformity. This is Lynch’s second feature and a notable move away from the internality of most ‘good’ Lynch films. The Elephant Man is a collaboration with other writers (Christopher De Vore and co) and reality, or at least, 19th-century records of reality. It is an adaptation of two books, Frederick Treve’s 1923 book The Elephant Man and Other Rememberances and The Elephant Man: A Study in Human Dignity by Ashley Montagu. Lynch (mostly) steps outside of his typical surrealistic mode to deliver a straightforward period piece / biopic about Joseph Merrick (changed to John Merrick in the film) a severely deformed twenty-two year old London man in the nineteenth century who is discovered by the surgeon Frederick Treves and becomes the talk of London high-society.

 The most easily identified ‘classic Lynch’ aspect of the film are the opening and closing impressionistic dream sequences. The opening scene is a stylized take on whatever befell John Merrick’s mother whether his severe deformations were really the result of elephant trampling or not. It opens with a photograph of a woman (John’s mother), which then dissolves into a seemingly unframed photograph, which then dissolves into a small herd of out-of-focus elephants knocking down and attacking an actress who seems to be a composite of the two photographs of Merrick’s mother. This sequence contains terrifying distorted sounds of screaming and elephant trumpeting and faux-stop motion images of a woman writhing in pain. The sequence concludes with white smoke and the crying of an infant. The metaphors on display here aren’t exactly elaborate, but they do give a hint into the pathos of Merrick, as I believe we are meant to see them as originating from his mind.

The second dream sequence is very explicitly also from Merrick’s mind, and bookends the film. Frankly, I have very little to say about it. It’s comforting, I assume it exists to give a sense of closure and peace for Merrick who dies young in bed, but there just isn’t that much in it to really latch onto.

This write up will not be a scene-by-scene of the plot. I want to speak, instead, about a few of the stylistic and thematic elements of the film that I thought were interesting and worth expounding on. 

The most important interior in this film are the corridors and chambers of the East London hospital. When Merrick is first brought to the hospital, Lynch uses the techniques of horror films to give insight into perspective of the normal characters, the hospital staff.  The ‘monster’ is jostled into the hospital with a bag over his head. Every head in the room is turned to him immediately and you can imagine them imagining what this man looks like that he should be brought in in a large coat and with a bag over his head. There is a lot of powerful imagery in the first half of the film: high-angle shots of nurses walking tensely down long hallways, long trips up flights of stairs, etc. A nurse walks in on a half-naked Merrick, there is an extremely typical jump cut to her screaming face, straight out of Hitchcockian horror, a la Psycho.  This seems to be used to evoke the visceral ‘feeling’ that these women have towards the disfigured and strange Merrick. It’s a horror film intentionally drained of all danger. Their reactions are very pointedly unwarranted – Merrick is not a threat, the man can barely walk and has to sleep sitting up to avoid suffocating. The fear, as with most fear of the other, comes more from the hangups of their culture than the reality of the situation. As the hospital staff comes to know and understand the common humanity that Merrick shares, the visual language of the interior of the hospital becomes much more conventional. Merrick is transported from a drab, clinical room to a cozy, homely apartment.

 Another interesting aspect of the film is the reactions to Merrick from the differing social classes. A somewhat underbaked question that the film presents is: does high society actually harbor the same sensibilities and biases, as the unwashed masses? Is the façade of social class simply the differences in expressing the same things? John Merrick is made an exhibit multiple times throughout the film. In the beginning, he is a fixture of a traveling freak show where he is treated as an invalid and exploited by a modern-day slave owner who parades Merrick around, exploits his misfortune, and pretends they are in a mutually beneficial partnership. After all, if Merrick cannot work – what other option is there than ritual debasement and abuse? The second form of exhibitionism is perpetrated by Dr. Treves, who uses Merrick’s deformed body to make a name for himself in London’s anatomical society. There is a scene where Merrick is displayed naked to the audience of doctors that is eerily reminiscent of the circus freak show – he is treated as a pitiful mass of flesh to be gawked at but not to be understood. Treves clinical exhibition is certainly his most unsympathetic moment in the film. He will eventually reckon with the similarities between the anatomical society and the freak-show slaver, and his efforts to give Merrick a comfortable, noble life certainly end up redeeming Treves. The third form of exhibitionism is perpetrated by London high-society socialites who install Merrick as a fashionable dinner guest. These men and women are mostly uninterested in the life or perspective of Merrick and they seem to fear his appearance as much as the impoverished freak show attendees do. There are only a few visitors who dash these expectations, and they are certainly the heroes of the film. The fourth form of exhibitionism is perpetrated by a night watch guard using John Merrick as an attraction for his crowd of seedy, deviant friends. I almost read this as a commentary on the inherent exhibitionism of freakshow horror films in general, or the zeitgeist of the counterculture who goes to see Rocky Horror or Eraserhead at drive-ins at midnight. To look forward for a moment, I could certainly imagine Dennis Hopper’s band of deviants paying Merrick a drunken visit if Blue Velvet were in The Elephant Man’s universe. These scenes are deeply unsettling: he is abused, spun around, and made an object of mockery and exoticist derision. However, it is also the most honest form of abuse. No bones are made about the point of these excursions. There is no feigned interest in his unusual anatomy from a scientific standpoint; no one (like the circus owner in the freakshow) considers there to be any form of mutual benefit. There is no rhetoric of ‘partnership’ between the security guard and Merrick. It is pure, straightforward profiteering and abuse.. Another fourth form is Merrick’s role in London high society.  

The reason I consider the preceding theme to be somewhat undercooked is how little water it holds. While you can, certainly, notice the parallels between tea and biscuits and a traveling circus, it is obvious which one is preferable to Merrick. In one, he is abused, gawked at, and cheated. In the other, he gets to keep the company of the most exclusive Londoners, pursue his artistic ambitions, and experience art and culture – all at the cost of a few trendy tea parties.  

It has also been mentioned to me, and I should point out, that this film almost certainly contains some of the best ‘naturalistic’ performances in Lynch’s career. Now, before I get into this, I should explain what I mean. Last week, I wrote about Lynch’s unique perspective on the medium of film and his intuitive understanding of the artifice: we are watching a dream projected onto a two-dimensional canvas. This perspective extends into the performances he gets from his actors. Since the mid-1950s, and especially since the 1970s, big-budget American filmmaking has been very explicitly linked to naturalistic acting. Most of the time, American directors are trying to get performances that feel real, or at least internally consistent, and there are plenty of incredible examples of this: Orson Welles in Citizen Kane, Al Pacino in The Godfather, Elizabeth Taylor in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood etc. These performances are about the creation, sustaining, and dramatic deviation from a ‘center’, a realistic voice and perspective. David Lynch is not, in my opinion, a great ‘naturalistic’ character writer or director. That simply isn’t his usual focus, though the emotions he does wish to conjure are real and powerful. He will often take actors to cheesy or unconvincing places (think of the glassy eyed women of Blue Velvet or Patricia Arquette in Lost Highway) in service of a broader point or narrative aesthetic.  

The Elephant Man feels notable for both being a good David Lynch film and featuring naturalistic, centralized characters.Anthony Hopkins is, by virtue of being Anthony Hopkins in a well-made film, fabulous. The character of Frederick Treves is absurdly well defined for how little we tangibly learn about him. You can watch the film and see his reservation, his deep self-awareness and sense of morality, his goodness, and his conflict. However, the real runaway of the film is certainly John Hurt as John Merrick. Despite the fact that he is an insane prosthetic getup the whole time (or because of it?) he is able to give Merrick depth and pathos. The first third of the film is spent with Merrick in silence. Joseph Treves believes that Merrick can mostly only vocalize as a parrot, and when it is revealed that Merrick has his own mind and knows how to express it – it’s just beautiful. One of my favorite aspects of this film is just to watch John Hurt walk. So much physical pain and exhaustion is in every step. It’s a beautiful, thoughtful performance.

To wrap this film up, I want to get a little more personal. I have Moebius Syndrome, a neurological condition that is most visibly present in my face. My face is mostly paralyzed. I can’t smile, my speech (though much better than it was as a kid) is always going to be hard for some people to understand, my eyes don’t really close in the traditional sense, I have virtually no lateral eye movement, etc. As a result, I have an eternal poker face that I spoil by also being uncontrollably expressive with my body. I find it reassuring that Lynch, who is often kind of gross to me with how he uses deformity and disability as a shorthand for deviousness or immorality, made a film where we are supposed to cheer for and believe in the ‘monster’. The most accurate part of the film, to my experience as a disabled person, was John Merrick’s socialization process by Treves and the hospital staff, and the natural downsides he still has with communication. Something that people who cannot express themselves ‘normally’ can’t understand is how much of their internality they can make external unconsciously. Without concerted effort, I cannot present the full spectrum of my thoughts with my face, or even the surface level ones like happiness or anger, and so what exists inside of me is able to simply stay there, if I don’t act on it. There is a sort of solace and superpower to being able to choose what you will show, and I love that we always have a sense that Merrick has a deeper internality than he lets on. There are a few examples, like knowing the 23rd Psalm, recognizing his impending death, and his attempts to explain to others his feelings. I love that there is a film that tries to take seriously the experience of forced internality. I also love that this film believes in the goodness of the helpers, the people who know there is value inside of every person and who work to bring it out.

Next week, we meet Kyle MacLachlan for the first time in this series – IN SPACE! That’s right, it’s nearing time to take on David Lynch’s 1984 adaptation of Dune, the 1965 Frank Herbert novel.

#The Elephant Man #David Lynch #film

[ninjaruski]

On not being obligated to teach privileged folks.

What some privileged folks don’t seem to understand its that mo one is arguing that work does not need to be done to inform people about oppression: we're all on the same page where that is concerned. The question that occupies many of us is who should be doing the work in education about oppression and what kind of work. This was made abundantly clear recently by a friend who said, with regards to someone demanding to know why they weren’t obligated to teach them "your mistake is in thinking that you have a right to my doing the work for you, instead of doing it yourself," which is exactly the point.

People with privilege seem to be laboring under the assumption that the people who have been victimized must take on the burden of educating those who have not; that the only way forwards is if the marginalized take on the additional strain of "explaining," which should rightly be articulated as "convincing" the oppressor of the truth of their oppression, but I want to go further with this statement. One of the things that all marginalized folks have to do before they even get to the point where they're "explaining" something, is to convince the power majority that their experience is real and valid. That is, we literally have to convince people that what we are experiencing is a fact of our lives, even if they do not experience it.

Once we've made it over that hurdle, then we can start with "explanation," as we are then starting on common, if not shaky ground. That is, once there is a shared consensus on the possibility of an experience of oppression not shared by the oppressor in the world, then the oppressed can attempt to have a dialogue about the causes for that experience. To be clear: no conversation about the source of an experience of oppression can occur until an oppressor has at least recognized that oppression is taken place. This is insane, but it is the world we live in. The problem is, put simply, many privileged folks simply cannot accept the truth of the reality experienced by marginalized folks, which cuts short any possibility of explaining "why" something happened.

Here's where the hard work comes in: privileged folks need to take it upon themselves to move outside of their bubble. If you’re hearing shades of the “echo chamber” critique here, then you’re on the right track: the presumption that oppression does not exist if you do not experience it is part in parcel of the way that we’re engaging in “the discourse.” I have phrased it in this way because a similar “bubble” functions horizontally across and within oppressed groups. We might point to the subordination of Black women by Black men as an example, or the minimization of Asian-American experiences of racism by Black folks as an example, or the failure to recognize LGBTQ or issues of ability as issues of Black liberation. 

In all of the examples, including the horizontal examples, privileged folks need to understand that their experience of the world is not the default experience of the world, which requires them to actively accept that other people might have other experiences that contradict their view of the world. This is especially true among racial groups as many presume that racial marginalization functions in the same way for all racialized subjects. Pro-tip: it doesn’t. Sarcasm aside, accepting and recognizing a multiplicity of experiences requires a person with privilege to take the time and look at what's happening around them and ask "why," or to do some research into the "why" and then reach out to the marginalized such that there is a ground to stand on. 

It actually requires them to expend effort beyond asking someone who is or has been marginalized to provide the starting point and help them on the path. Further, if we are to simplify what I am arguing here, it is that it is not solely the burden of the minority to reach out to the majority with the intention of convincing them of the truth of their experience and then educating them on the reasons for that experience: members of the power majority must take it upon themselves to fine their own starting point and then reach out to the marginalized for clarification.  It is further important to note that I have not once said that I "expect hearts and minds to be won" for me. I have said that I expect people, privileged people, to take some agency for their own education, instead of resting on the assumption that people will go to them to do the educating. Doing so allows the privileged person to retain their centrality in any discussion about oppression or marginalization, rather than the privileged person taking time to find a starting point and reaching out. Moreover, the attempt to find a starting point is an act which, at the very least, indicates a modicum of trust in the experiences of the oppressed. Put simply: what I am asking for is cooperation and dialog, words which imply two individuals coming together by their very definition. What is being argued here is that the onus of education and engagement with the experiences of others should not solely rest with the people who are being marginalized, just as the work of combating oppression is not solely the work of the oppressed. The majority of responses from privileged folks that attempt to recenter the oppressed as educator by accusing marginalized folks of being uncooperative presume that I, and others, wish to do nothing: this is precisely the opposite of what I am asking. Again, what is being argued here is that people beyond those marginalized by the current order, must take up some agency to seek out knowledge about marginalization.  

#do your fucking homework #and then come ask me about my experience #but don't expect me to babysit you all the way to the holy land #I might tell you where to start #but its on you to do the work #privilege #education

[paranoidsbible]

Uncle-Daddy’s Big Book of Deception

Uncle-Daddy’s Big Book of Deception Non-profit and free for redistribution Written on September 13th | 2016 Published on September 13th | 2016 For entertainment and research purposes only

================================================= DISCLAIMER The Paranoid's Bible and its writers hold no responsibility for the acts of others. The Paranoid’s Bible is for research and entertainment purposes only. Please visit our blog for more PDFs and information: https://www.paranoidsbible.tumblr.com/ ================================================= Contents DISCLAIMER    2 Preface    4 Clone Wars    5 Dirty SEO Tactics    6 Get a Friend Involved    7 Midwestern Theory    8 Be a Good Person, Share    9 Don’t Neglect Reality    10 Afterword    11 ================================================= Preface When I shot the PB team a PM on their blog I didn’t expect my critique to become a quick gig of helping them hammer out a PDF on deception. After much consideration and a few shots of cheap tequila, I agreed to help them out. Because why not? They have a decent idea and are trying to help the pitiful users of today’s internet. So here you guys & gals go: a guide on being a deceptive bastard on the internet and preventing people from getting a good grasp on your information. ================================================= Clone Wars If you’re reading this, then I’ll assume you’ve read The Paranoid’s Bible PDF and the PDF on OPSEC. You should have a grasp on the DOs and DON’Ts of the internet. However this will break those rules just a teensy bit in order to help you create garbage data and digital noise to obscure your real identity and information.  The PB tells you that you should always use a unique username for each account and never repeat this username elsewhere, yet there is an exception to this rule: Cloning. While cloning has several names, I’m partial to the term cloning because it gets the message across—make multiple accounts across the internet using the same username but with different information concerning the basic image of its creator. When you create an account you always end up adding just a tiny bit of yourself to it. Using the ‘About Me’ or ‘Description’ or those pesky bios… you’re going to use these and differentiate each account by giving it its own persona. So while you’re following the advice of the PB team and their various guides, these cloned accounts will be vastly different. Go nuts and use your imagination but remember some simple facts. Globally, European names aren’t all that common. Look at the current global makeup of the Earth’s population. Islamic-like names of Muhammad are quite popular, as are Asian names and East Indian names. While the majority of Western sites are heavily European and Americentric, it doesn’t hurt to mix it up with a Vash or Aiko. Of course, you can then flesh it out a bit more by giving them a European or American-sounding last name and background. You want these accounts to be completely different from your own. Everything about the personas being made for these accounts are not to be related to you or your ‘main account’. You don’t want them to ever communicate with each other or touch in any way. You must keep them completely separated, which is why you’ll be making them on various forums, social media sites and chats. The more ground you cover, and the more varied the accounts are the less likely people can make a cohesive argument as why this piece of information or that data is supposed to be related to you. For example, you make an account on deviantART. They’ve a little bio app that you can adhere to your profile. So, if you made yourself a Tumblr account, then the deviantART account is to not only be different in description but also look. If you hate Undertale, then the deviantART persona loves it. You like yellow, they love blue. So on and so forth until you’ve suddenly a teenage female artist with an Asian background who moved to the U.S. and knows very little about their own Asian heritage, ergo they cling to their last name which sounds Japnese-ish. By doing this, if someone were to ever look for information to use against you or to grab your dox, they end up on a wild goose chase where they’re looking for someone who doesn’t exist. Dirty SEO Tactics There are numerous ways to pollute a search engine’s results with “dirty pages”. Their page rank might not be all that existent, however they do tend to clutter around specific search terms like a username or a piece of common information laced into profiles or bios in order to throw someone off a trail. Now, to do this you need to have clean and organic looking back links. However one good way to populate an account with seemingly organic back links is to use one of the numerous “generators” that usually end up hurting your SEO in the long run. We don’t care about the long run, though. This is a short game tactic that translates into, in the long run, a small, albeit affective little trail duster meant to help cover some of your tracks. These three links are a good start; however there exist numerous “generators” that can be used. Using these three for all of your clone accounts should help you spark a little bit of a boost in their appearance on Google and Bing. With enough accounts under a similar or the same username, you can basically pollute the search results to help cover your main account with the clone accounts. https://www.freebacklinkbuilder.net/ https://sitowebinfo.com/back/ https://www.indexkings.com/ Ensure you read the PB’s “Internet Primer” to help you reduce Ads and pop-ups when using these websites. While not intentionally malicious, numerous sites, like these, can have malicious Ads or pop-ups. ================================================= Get a Friend Involved Let’s say you’ve a friend that you really trust and they’re interested in privacy and security just like you. Here’s a suggestion: Get them involved. Have your friend help you by using one of their own persona/clone accounts to accuse one of yours of being something that currently upsets the moral majority. From there, work in some fake dox and a handful of other pieces of information. Work those bits and pieces into a believable “dox” and have your clone/persona take it a bit too personally and start acting like you’re panicked. Delete the blog after a few days of the drama, let your friend’s persona/clone do some victory posting and move on. People will believe that that information belongs to you and follow that trail instead of looking for your real information. And, if you followed the PB’s namesake you should have very little information out there. You can even be lazy and just make your own callout blog to attack your own persona/clones. In the end, though, you just want to create enough tension and static to misdirect people. ================================================= Midwestern Theory The PB team had a guide for this one however you don’t need an entire guide for what can fit in a chapter. I won’t bore you with the excessive details but some time ago when Newgrounds was the in-thing, someone got upset at people for making the claim that there were a lot of Californians online. This led to the Midwestern netizen forced meme that quickly died out. The claim of being Midwestern is actually a good ploy when covering up your tracks. The Midwestern accent (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midwestern_accent) is easy to mimic and if you watch some Youtube videos (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DlxCDlIfh0), you should find yourself being able to pick it up and force it when need be. Ideally you should never let anyone see your face or hear your voice, yet it does come in handy just in case. Mix the various “Midwestern quirks” with setting all your accounts’ time zones to “Central” and keeping tabs of the time (https://www.worldtimezone.com/time/wtzresult.php?CiID=32119) (Always pick a random city or state in the Midwest) and mix in some research on “College towns” (https://www.collegeraptor.com/college-rankings/best-colleges-in-the-midwest/)… you should be able to spice up your bios and descriptions with something akin to a specific college team or name dropping a college or university that you go to and study at. So when you log off or leave your account, stating something like “OMFG! It’s 12:30 am! I have to go and sleep! I have a compsci class @ 9!” Keep this up with several accounts, adding in the oddball California town or Florida town, and you’ll have created enough static to keep people scoping out the wrong area for information. Though keep in mind that a lot of plant life in the Midwest tends to spread out into non-Midwestern areas. Take a picture or two of common plants around the US that appear in the Midwest, too. Figure out what’s a common park or nature preserve in the area of your false town/city and look at the common trees or plants in the area. Take a picture of something that is in your area that is in that area, too, and tag it with #Yellowstone park or whatever is popular in that area. And suddenly… you’re a Midwestern grilling in sub-zero temperatures because you want your burger. Don’t forget to show your almost zealous obsession and support for that area’s sports teams and no one is going to suspect a thing. Maybe spice in some local news from the area and make a comment on the weather (It isn’t that hard to look up a weather report through Google) and you’re good as Gold. You’re a real Midwesterner now, bro. ================================================= Be a Good Person, Share The PB team has in their namesake PDF a guide on opting out of Google maps, among others. Take the information for getting out of Google maps (and others) and make a flyer. Print it out, take it to Kinkos or some other print shop, or go to your local library and print some copies there. Make some wheat paste (shown below) and paste them all over your town (Put paste on wall and smooth, then put your poster up and slather on paste and smooth it on it too.). Soon a whole mess of people will be blurring out their houses on the online maps, and this in turn messes with the real estate sites to the point of anyone trying to look up your information finds a mass of blurred out houses. This causes a mix of the “Streisand effect” and reasonable deniability. WHEAT PASTE HOW-TO Flour (wheat works best) Sugar 1 Cup of Water Container with a lid • Boil a cup of water. • Put 3 tablespoons of flour into a bowl • Add 10 teaspoons of cool water until it forms a runny mix • Once the water has boiled, add the runny mix to the boiling water. Stir well! • Keep stirring. The mixture will foam up while it boils, so the constant stirring is essential to keep it from bubbling over and to keep it from getting chunky. • Keep the mixture boiling for 2 minutes. • Take the boiled mix off the heat. Add 2 tablespoons or more of sugar (added strength) • Let it cool. Pour into an appropriate container for carrying with you. It will keep well for about a week. • Learn more @ https://destructables.org/destructable/wheatpaste-recipe-putting-postersbillboard-alterations • Spray with a clear sealant or hairspray to help weatherize and make the poster last longer. Police, military members, and their families can opt-out of a wealth of databases. Some take it to the extreme and have their houses blurred out. If enough people in your area begin to blur out their houses and look into other means of removing their information, you’ll soon see a bit of a trend that can affect several blocks when it comes to viewing houses on any online map. This means that you can not only safely blur out yours but it’d be near impossible to guess whose house is whose. It’s only defeated if they have an address, and that’s if it’s actually your address to begin with. Let these people rant and rave as they knock or send a malicious package to the wrong house. If anything happens, since it broke into the realm of reality, they’ll end up being arrested and charged with several crimes. Fun fact: Not many places care about doxing, especially the police. Most modern “dox” is openly available information. This is why you must work toward suppressing it through opting out of websites and databases. If someone takes it from the internet to the realm of reality, lawsuits and arrests can happen. ================================================= Don’t Neglect Reality No one’s denying the PB’s effectiveness when it comes to lessening the overall data of yours online, however until they discuss ways to limit information bleeding offline you’ll need to take a few extra precautions outside of creating noise and lessening your data. They do have a PDF on how your privacy’s invaded, yet that only covers so much. Be a little bit nihilistic and apathetic. Don’t care as much and don’t react if you are doxed or some gets a bit too close. Ignore them; work on lessening your information. In the offline realm however you should work on creating some good for yourself. This means work on cleaning up your neighborhood, keeping your property clean and being nice to your neighbors. Look into doing some volunteering and charity work. Create some good will toward yourself and lessen the general impact in case anything comes toward you and your life. By doing this you can create a large support focus toward you and what good you’ve done. People will be in disbelief and outright call the claims made against you false. Ever wonder why politicians and famous people, even the internet famous, never get much crap and have an unusually large support behind them? What they do is quite simple: Act like a good person. With bit of charity under your belt and by observing social protocols enough by simply greeting people and saying your “Please” and “Thank yous” you’ll create an air of being someone half way decent. People will see this and any accusations made against you will result in either demand for blood or death of someone who dares attack you. Now you shouldn’t encourage the bloodlust or wanting of death, however simply using your time wisely and helping your community can act as a good cover. Someone comes around and harasses you; someone who might have power will come to your aide possibly. It also doesn’t hurt to remove your information and have it replace with falsified information. Checkout https://reddit.com/r/freebies and keep an eye out for free magazine subscriptions. Fill out a few, regardless what they are, with your home address and a burner cell’s number. The name can be made up, possibly made to match the cultural and ethnic makeup of your area. Think about it. What are the most common people in your immediate area? White? Black? Hispanic? It doesn’t matter as long as you pick the majority and follow suit with their name. It’ll help further push that static to help cover your tracks. So if you’ve a large number of Hispanic families in your area, using a Hispanic sounding first and last name on your free magazine subscriptions can help you replace all your removed database records with falsified ones. Go the extra step, load up on other freebies. Anything you don’t need or want can be donated to a number of homeless shelters or shelters for women and/or children. Gives you an extra push in being a good person too! ================================================= Afterword Outside of following the PB’s advice, using a VPN, a non-propriety OS and not touching social media there’s not much else you can do. While being deceptive and sprinkling lies and half truths into your conversations and online shenanigans helps, most of us who were born in the 80s and 90s have screwed up royally and will never trulybe un-doxable or secure. Work toward anonymity and spread the PB’s information to as many people as you can. I should note however that your text and how you type can give you away too. Look into using a text editor and use Basic English spelling and grammar. Mix in some chat speak and some texting quirks and you should be able to keep the personas even more separated and unique.

#anti dox #anti doxxing #security #privacy #opsec #info #garbage data

[cryptnus-blog]

Stablecoins in a Nutshell...And Why They Can Kill Decentralization

New Post has been published on https://cryptnus.com/2018/10/stablecoins-in-a-nutshell-and-why-they-can-kill-decentralization/

Stablecoins in a Nutshell...And Why They Can Kill Decentralization

The most commonly known stablecoin is Tether. It is a cryptocurrency that buys one American Dollar from the market before issuing one tether. This means that when one American Dollar leaves active circulation, one Tether enters active circulation. Thus, the price of Tether has stayed stable over the years. A swing of fewer than 10 cents is unheard of in the crypto world. Except, in cases of stablecoins such as Tether (TICKR: USDT)

So, what seems to be the problem with stablecoins? Is it not a good sign that we finally have a clutch of cryptocurrencies that can stay stable despite the high volatility shown by their non-stable brethren?

Tether Price Chart (Source: coingecko)

Actually, No.

Tether just took a 4% tumble which means that it lost its peg despite having USD in the bank to back its token.

In a ridiculously short paraphrasing, money usually came in two variants:

The ones with intrinsic value (such as Gold), and;

The ones with extrinsic value (such as FIAT)

Each had its pros and cons but it became generally accepted that the usage of money that has extrinsic value gain currency when the stability of the governments (the issuing authorities) increases. Conversely, as the war clouds begin to loom and political crises come into play, the price of Gold shoots up due to increased demand by people who want to get rid of their FIAT and buy Gold instead.

Price of Gold vs War

The regular back and forth between intrinsically valuable currencies and extrinsically valuable currencies gave an opportunity to the powerful. They could stir war-like situations and political stability to keep the cycle going and make profits. The Housing crisis of 2007 caused a sharp decline in the price of the American Dollar and a steep rise in the price of commodities.

Bitcoin, the first cryptocurrency came into being at this time, and analysts rushed to classify it as one of the two types of currencies:

Some called it an intrinsically valuable currency because:

It had a limited supply.

Its value was determined by its demand.

While others called it an extrinsically valuable currency because:

It was fungible.

It was intangible.

While some people stood by the its-not-a-bug-its-a-feature argument, others saw its volatility as a cautionary tale. This brought several people to the same conclusion that their grandfathers arrived at during the inflationary years following World War II. They pegged the cryptocurrency to the stablest known currency of the time in a bid to stop the inflation.

It was only a matter of time for people to begin minting coins and pegging it to a FIAT currency. Some even tried to peg it to commodities. It is flawed for the same reason that most Americans blame the Chinese for. A Dirty Float. During the Bretton Woods conference of 1944, the top economists of 44 countries arrived at the same conclusion. Maybe, a fixed-exchange-rate system could bring the world’s economic state to behave.

Less than 30 years later, the Americans had to move away from the fixed-exchange-rate system to a partially free float. It is partially free because all governments buy and sell their own currencies and foreign reserves in the open market.

Coming back to stablecoins, they too claim to have established a fixed-exchange-rate system that enables a simple transition from traditional currencies to cryptocurrencies. Surely, if they build it, they would come!

Before we get into the technical issues with stablecoins, let’s address the human element first.

Agencies manipulate the Stablecoin

Tether, the world’s largest stablecoin by market share was accused of creating new USDT without buying an equal number of American Dollars. This is an audit problem. For as long as there is a central authority, the element of human error/malice will remain.

Even if we build a smart contract that buys American Dollars (or any other currency) and then issues a stablecoin, the problems will remain.

Stablecoins affect Velocity

Velocity is the rate at which a currency changes hands. If the velocity is too high or too low, the price will fall. Stablecoins remove a currency or commodity from circulation and create artificial scarcity. Technically, the scarcity should not exist because of the 1:1 exchange rate. Practically though, no jurisdiction will agree to accept a cryptocurrency issued by a non-governmental body and will demand USD instead.

Source: The Money Enigma

So, while a 1:1 exchange rate should lead to an increase in the value of the stablecoin, it causes a slight fall in prices due to deflated demand.

Stablecoins are not Decentralized

The stablecoins have issuers to create the token. This is not decentralization. Unless you, I, and everybody else have equal opportunity to create the same stablecoin, like the activity of mining bitcoin, there is no decentralization. Centralized stablecoins are similar to the big banks that were “Too Big to Fail” until they failed.

Stablecoins are Inflationary

The issue of 1 stablecoin to and the removal of 1 FIAT from the economy is inflationary. The exchange of 1 stablecoin for 1 FIAT does not create an economic activity. This makes stablecoins inflationary. Since the FIAT removed from the ecosystem is not destroyed/burned, it is a part of the ecosystem. Issuers can keep this FIAT in banks which loans it out to the public and the locked FIAT increases supply and causes inflation.

Stablecoins Decrease the Tax Base

If you make a profit by trading cryptocurrencies you must pay your taxes on the profits. But, if a trader buys stablecoins during bear market runs, he/she can keep their crypto-profits off the books. Thus, the number of taxpayers and the amount of tax collected decreases. Without taxes, the governments cannot function and will break down. This is different from Zimbabwe and Venezuela. In those countries the government is intact but their economy has fallen. With no government will come anarchy, not laissez-faire.

Also known as Security Tokens, these crypto tokens have a better chance to dodge the problems associated with stablecoins. They are backed by an underlying asset which can be company equities, real estate, or, the world’s favorite asset for over 2000 years – Gold.

Due to their intrinsic value, assets have greater price stability but a lower liquidity. Asset-backed tokens, on the other hand, bring liquidity to the assets without affecting the price stability. If you think about it, this is what happened during the early days of IPOs (Initial Public Offerings). If you owned a big company, you could not sell it. But, if you could divide the company ownership into smaller pieces, you could sell parts of it. That was the birth of equities.

However, equities are highly regulated entities and it is hard to purchase equities in multiple companies based in multiple jurisdictions. At least, for the smaller investor. This is where security tokens come into play. With a standard KYC process and PEP, AML checks, you can purchase equities of companies based in different jurisdictions.

While the standardization of KYC might be a few months/years away, the initial foray can be led by jurisdiction-agnostic assets such as gold which have more palatability. According to the Founder of Aurus, Stefan Gergely,

“Overall liquidity will increase; price will probably stabilize even more. I even expect there to be a long-term, heavy impact such as reducing the potential energy of a financial crisis since people now have a viable alternative to their own currency”.

Crypto-tokens as software layers t0 ensure the fairness of the whole system to via smart contracts is what will bring more acceptance to asset-backed tokens. Offering complex financial products to a people that are still trying to wrap their heads around digital wallet and cryptocurrencies is a hard-sell.

There are other unresolved issues as well such as bounty programs which basically give people free money which is never valued. If I get 10,000 ABC tokens (a fictional token) which I can convert to even 1 ETH, I will not value that 1ETH because I did not work for it. ICOs, on an average, give out 2-5% of their total token supply as bounties and airdrops. This is also a reason for the fall in the price of ETH.

It does not end here, the whacky economics have a dissuasive effect on the investors which was summed up by, Simon Owen, the in-house counsel for Aurus:

I’ve never been a huge fan of bounty campaigns. I understand why many token offerings do them but it seems to me more like a weakness. Here’s how I see things:

Most tokens, even the infamous utility tokens (which I’ve always stood quite firmly against) act in certain ways like securities or shares: their value is supposed to go up, proportionate to the success of the underlying project.

If you own a particular token before your friends or network, you have a vested interest in them getting it anyway, be it because you believe in the project and want to see your friends profit alongside you, be it to hedge certain potential risks.

Regardless, there is an incentive for you to encourage others to buy the token. Any incentive created by the company on top of this has, in my point of view, higher chances of scaring away investors who actually know how to judge the value of a project.

Even though the top 100 bitcoin wallets hold a vast majority of the bitcoins, the community believes in them because bitcoin is decentralized. Bitcoin is a parallel currency. Bitcoin is not affected by the price of the FIAT currencies. The recent downturn of the crypto-markets has taken us back to 1944. The top economists are contemplating stablecoins as a solution to help us sail through these tumultuous times. Fixed-exchange-rate systems led to an economic depression almost 50 years ago. Stablecoins, if left unchecked will make history repeat and kill the decentralization movement as we know it.

In sum, people think that the march from centralization to decentralization is linear. History teaches us that it is circular. The road back towards centralization goes through stablecoins. The stablecoins are not a bridge, they are a flight of Penrose stairs.

Penrose Stairs (Source: Wikipedia)

Featured image from Shutterstock.

Follow us on Telegram or subscribe to our newsletter here. • Join CCN’s crypto community for $9.99 per month, click here. • Want exclusive analysis and crypto insights from Hacked.com? Click here. • Open Positions at CCN: Full Time and Part Time Journalists Wanted.

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Howe Indiana Cheap car insurance quotes zip 46746

"Howe Indiana Cheap car insurance quotes zip 46746

Howe Indiana Cheap car insurance quotes zip 46746

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Howe Indiana Cheap car insurance quotes zip 46746

Howe Indiana Cheap car insurance quotes zip 46746

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The type of life insurance often used as mortgage insurance is: A. decreasing term. B. universal life. C. whole life. D. homeowners insurance. Expensive jewelry is usually insured by a(n): A. umbrella policy. B. replacement cost rider. C. policy floater. D. named-perils policy. The U.S. Congress added disability insurance to the Social Security Act in 19____. A. 35 B. 54 C. 65 D. 72 This type of auto insurance coverage would help pay your medical expenses, if you were injured by a hit-and-run driver. A. Uninsured motorist protection B. Comprehensive coverage C. Medical payments D. Collision insurance As a rule of thumb, experts say that most married people should carry ______ times their net pay in life insurance coverage. A. 2 B. 3 C. 4 D. 5""

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Howe Indiana Cheap car insurance quotes zip 46746

Howe Indiana Cheap car insurance quotes zip 46746

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What company provides cheap motorcycle insurance?

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What is the cheapest possible insurance available?

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What insurance has the cheapest rate for teenagers in California?Is there a company that insures only a driver

What insurance has the cheapest rate for teenagers in California?Is there a company that insures only a driver

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I was on vacation, and got very sick. Small rural area, options were low, so the concierge referred Mobile physician housecall care to the hotel room. they did not take insurance, but told me to submit it to my insurance. I don't know what to put on the claim form??? not an office visit...E.R.? urgent care?? help please...thank you""

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My husband and I just found out that his company is raising our medical insurance rates from $212 a month to $400 a month, so we are trying to shop around for the best rates. We have found some, but hardly any include maternity benefits, and we want that parachute just in case any accidents happen. Is there any plans out there cheaper than $400 with maternity, or should we just hope we don't get pregnant for a couple of years? (We plan to switch insurance in 2 years when I get a teaching job)""

""Where can I find affordable dental insurance, that I can use immediatleywith no waiting period???

Im in the State of VIRGINIA :)

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im just gathering statistics

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Is there an afforadable health insurance you can find for self-employed people?

How do I get Cheap Car Insurance?

I am looking at buying a car for the first time in 8 years. So the problem is that I do not have any No Claims Discount for my insurance. Even though I am 40 years old, clean driving license, no convictions etc, I am being quoted over 400 TPF&T for a 1.4L Astra of Golf even with my retired Mum added as a named driver. I am an office worker, single, won't use it for commuting and will do less than 8000 miles a year. It will sit parked on the street for 4 or 5 days of the week. Does anyone have any top tips for reducing car insurance? It seems daft to be paying over 400 to insure a car that costs under 2000 Thanks Paul""

How to get best car insurance for teenager?

What is the best way to get insurance for 18 years old girl, A-student?""

Do you have health insurance?

If so, How much is it per month? How old are you? What kind if deductable do you have? feel free to answer also if you do not have insurance, also do you suppport Obamacare?""

""I had full coverage auto insurance, my policy lapsed for 2 days & during that time I had an accident am I cov?

The Insurance company is Coast Insurance in California. The accident happened during the 2 day lapse period. I have been with the company for approx 10yrs

What is the average car insurance payment for a 20 year old female?

Im thinking of purchasing a 2008 dodge avenger. Ive never had car insurance in my own name before. I have no accidents on my record and nothing else in my name. Also, i have no major violations.""

Can you be insured under the car's insurance if you don't have insurance for yourself?

What i mean is... If the car (like say your parents, or friends) you are driving has full coverage insurance on it, but you do not have auto insurance in your name whatsoever. What would happen if you hit someone. Would it file under car owner's insurance? No matter what, im assuming both the car (obviously) and the driver (ALL drivers) need auto insurance in their name? Or can you drive w/o insurance if the car has full coverage? Thanks! Just want proof before i prove someone wrong :P""

How do i get health insurance on my own?

i am a senior in high school and i am about to graduate and go to college, I am currently in track so if i twist my ankle then i am done and I haven't have any kind of health insurance since my family immigrant here three years ago, my dad cant speak Eng so he stays home and my mom works really hard for my bro and me, i don't have car/health insurance and yet i drive and when ever i get sick i have to deal with it myself, I am really jealous when i see people can go to doctor when they get sick, I want to know how do i can a reliable and affordable health insurance and i am willing to work and pay for it in college..and i looked for the student insurance but it doesnt cover teeth and eyes....i def need to get my wisdom teeth out..cuz they hurt really bad sometime and there is nothing i can do about it, is it possible for me to work and pay my own car and health insurance? I just freaked out tonight cuz i feel so unprotected""

Should I report my small fender bender to my insurance?

so I hit a motorcycle and broke one tail light off of it. The guy took my insurance info but said if I pay out of pocket he won't report it. the thing is... there was really no fender damage to the paint but he said he needs to paint it. I went to an autobody shop and to fix the light it will be about maybe $200. but if he is gonna want to paint his fender, should I report it to my insurance. I have pictures but not close ups of the paint. how much will my premium go up. I have no deductible and I have mercury insurance in California. Is it worth going through insurance... how can he prove that the paint job is caused by me? Thanks! Any advice on what to do would be great! I don't want my insurance to go up and don't mind paying out of pocket, but am scared he will eff me over with the paint job and go to my insurance.""

Car Question 101: Which car insurance company is the best out there?

I am planning to buy a Toyota Rav4 by next year.Car cost would be between $20-25k. My credit score is ok about 690. How much should I expect to pay on car insurance? And is it per month or per quarter like (2x a year or 4x a year etc). Thanks! :)

Can you help me figure out how much home insurance I need?

I was wondering if you guys could give me some advice about house insurance. We've been paying insurance as if our house is worth 224,000 still however it is worth about 175,000 ...show more""

Which insurance company would you recommend?

I'm looking for a new insurance company for both my car and apartment insurance. Who do you recommend, and who should I stay away from? Reasons?""

Howe Indiana Cheap car insurance quotes zip 46746

Howe Indiana Cheap car insurance quotes zip 46746

Cost of Cancelling multiple 6-month car insurance policies in US?

I am 18 years old, male, clean driving record, good student, going to college. I will only be going home for occasional weekends, and vacations, and I would like to be insured so I can drive my car (saturn 2000 sl) around. I don't want to pay for the high cost of permanent car insurance, but want to be insured when I need it. I looked up ways to get temporary (short term) car insurance and I basically found that if you are under 21, you cannot pay daily or weekly. I also found that US insurance companies generally offer policies that are at least 6 months. Since I want tthen you can only get 6month or 1 year policies. They suggest getting the 6 month policy and paying monthly, and then simply canceling the policy once I am done with it. Therefore if I did this, I would be buying and canceling many policies every year. I would maybe do this a few weekends every semester and also winter, spring, and summer break. So basically I want to save money by foregoing yearly car insurance, but instead would like to do what I stated above. The big question is: IS IT WORTH IT? Ordering, and then cancelling up to six to eight 6-month policies, each paying for the first monthly payment. Note: I currently have MetLife. Thanks!!""

On average how much would it insurance cost for new drivers?

Well I passed my road test the other day and also took drivers ed. My mom doesn't have a car or a license, so I'm the only one with a license and my mom will be buying me a car. We are going to get a car that's no older than 2005, arond 40K miles and is used. I also don't have a credit card. Would anyone know on average how much insurance would cost on average for someone in my situation?""

What if I can't afford my car insurance payments?

I think I do my car insurance a little different than most people. My family goes through a company who pays the insurance people in full. We then pay that company back. I got a new car in January and my insurance went from $25/mo with the '77 Ford Granada I had to over $200/mo with the 2001 Chevy Cavalier. Sad thing is my insurance per month is more than my car payment. Now I can't even afford to pay my insurance. The really bad thing is that I've only paid my car insurance once since January and now my 6 months is coming up and I still owe $1230....I have no idea what to do. Think any of you could help me?

""Wrecked best friends car, no license, I'm uninsured, 18 and terrified! I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!!!!!!?""

So, I am 18, and yesterday my cousin was planned to come in from the UK at the Sky Harbor Airport in, Arizona. On my way there I was driving at a close speed limit of 50, speed limit was 45, approaching a red light, I was slowing down, when something abruptly ran across the road, close to the car, causing me to slam on the breaks, losing control of the wheel, and I tumbled 4 times over the street, busting the side window, scraping some paint, and cracking the windshield. Thankfully, I was not hurt, no neck, back, leg, or any body injuries for that matter. The police was near by, so helped me out, firefighters took care of me, to make sure I was okay. And then the report happened. I told them the honest truth, they said that I won't be arrested, or given a ticket, but I do have to go to court to prove I had no insurance. I don't know what to do, I know it was completely idiotic driving without a license, and no permit, with no insurance, but my friend has insurance on the car. I have the police report, and I don't know what I have to do, but I will help him with anything as this is my best friend, and I am not straying away from this situation. Will his insurance cover this? Do I look okay is this situation? PLEASEEEE! Someone help me! I'm desperate for advice, I've definitely learned my lesson, and I have no family here in Arizona as they are all in Georgia, I am here for school at ASU, please tell me his insurance will cover this!""

What is the positive & negetive aspect of Term insurance?

Why insurance agent do not show interest towards term insurance. Why they insist on ULIP only.

Do you believe everyone has a right to medical insurance?

What are the pros and cons of giving everyone access to medical care?

How much does it cost to insure a 2008+ kawasaki ninja 250?

im thinking of getting one to use to ride back and fourth to work on to save wear and tear on my car. the 250cc ninja's are pretty cheep and i dont go on the hwy so thats not an issue. im only 18 and have a clean record. How much do you pay for in insurance?

What insurance covers a driver to drive any vehicle?

I am looking for this type of insurance and I was told about it but I don't know if it has a specific name

Mazda miata insurance?

okay so im 16 getting a miata, is the cost of insurance going to be high?""

Accident and auto insurance question?

If I get into a wreck that wasn't my fault without insurance and I come home and say go to safeauto.com and get insurance will I be able to claim that on the accident report? Will I be safe from losing my licence?

Car insurance question?

What is the normal price range for monthly payments on car insurance? I'm 23, female, with no prior accidents.""

Insurance on a car for first time driver?

Hi there, Im hoping to take my driving test very soon do I have started looking at second hand cars. I have typed a couple into comparison sites, but seem to be getting 2000+!! I was just wondering if you could give me a list of cars 1litre or 1.1litre that would be cheaper to insure. Im 27 and have 2children, if that makes any difference to insurance? Thankyou""

When health insurance says it has?

weight benefits... what is that? Is it only stomach stapling or is it a weight loss doctor or what??? Do you know andone who has used these benefits? Or do you work with health insurance?

INSURANCE QUESTION ?!?

18 year old, male, 2010 camaro ss with 4000 miles on it. had a few speeding tickets, no wrecks LOOKING FOR INSURANCE QUOTES PLEASE""

What is Comprehensive Car insurance and Third Party Property Damage Insurance ?

I need a brief description (that's not to complicated please:) of Comprehensive Car insurance and Third Party Property Damage Insurance :)

I am 59yo. Is it wise to carry a term life insurance for 100K? What are the advantage to this? I am divorced?

I am retired. My premium cost is $680 per year. It is a 20 year policy which I picked up when I was 59, now I am 74 yo. Give me your opinion.""

Car Insurance for a 16 year old in California?

I am gonna get either a Used 03-04 Nissan 350z and would like to get a rough estimate of how much insurance is gonna cost. Thanks in advance. Also what would happen to my insurance if the car is on a salvage title?

How much is a insurance for a mustang?

And the parts for it cost a lot

Car insurance involving my best friend?

recently my dad got me a car, the car's in my name, the car insurance is in my name and everything to do with the car is in my name but my dad's on the insurance as an additional driver which on my insurance additional drivers are free on my insurance, does that mean I would be able to add my best friend to the insurance enabling her to drive my car and my dad to teach her aswell under my insurance?""

What type of motorcyle is the cheapest to insure?

I heard that insurance is based on ccs and bike type....so what type of bike is the cheapest to insure

How much will insurance be for a 19yr old with a 93 toyota tercel in NYC?

Im 19yrs old and i have my own job, im very responisble and independent. Im saving up for a 93 toyota tercel or honda civic, which will be in the 2000-3000 dollar range. The only problem is finding insurance that I can pay on my own. Unfortunately my mother will not put me on her insurance,so im looking for inexpensive auto insurers in which I can afford about 200-250 a month. Im not looking for full coverage,just whats whatever's needed in the state of new york. Im a very responsible young man and not at all into being reckless or showing off to people. I just want a chance to have my first safe and reliable car. Thank you""

Where can I get affordable health insurance?

My husband has been sick for like a year and we cannot afford to go to the doctor in fact he went to a doctor and they told him he has to go see another doctor because they can't find anything wrong with him. so that's $300 down the drain and we haven't even paid it. Is there something I can get him that would cost $30 a month and have some way for him to get some tests that wouldn't kill us financially?

What kind of car would have cheaper car insurance?

I want to buy a car I have $10 000 and I woult like to purchase a car that would be good on gas, and have a cheaper insurance, any suggestions and quotes?""

Where can I find a list of insurance rates by make/model?

I am looking to buy a used car, but I want to make sure that the insurance isn't sky high. I do not know what kind of car I want right now so I do not have any information to enter in a car insurance search. Where can I find a list of cars that typically have the lowest insurance rates?""

How much would i pay for car Insurance?

How much would i pay for car Insurance for cheap car that cost me honda accord 2000,I am 25 Years old, never been in any accident,I got my license 7 years ago""

Howe Indiana Cheap car insurance quotes zip 46746

Howe Indiana Cheap car insurance quotes zip 46746

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/marrying-insurance-benefits-donald-harrison/"

[ramialkarmi]

A member of Facebook's founding team wants to sell you a sports-free TV package for $16 a month

Philo has launched a $16-a-month internet TV package with programming partners like A+E, AMC, Discovery, Scripps, and Viacom.

The package cuts out sports, a major source of cost for most TV packages, but that means it also cuts out the major broadcast networks.

In the long run, Facebook founding member and Philo CEO Andrew McCollum wants build a truly "social" TV platform, though he's not the first to try.

If you love cable TV but don’t like sports or CNN, a startup called Philo has a new internet TV package to sell you for $16 dollars.

Over the last year, a slew of companies — from DirecTV to Hulu to YouTube — rolled out "over-the-top" TV packages that deliver your favorite shows over the internet (like Netflix or Hulu). They joined the first movers in that market, Sling TV and PlayStation Vue. While these new entrants touted slick interfaces, the packages they delivered were largely similar to cable TV ones, and at comparable prices in the $30 to $40 range.

There's a reason for that: most had sports as a central component, and sports programming is expensive. (In 2016, ESPN alone cost $6.10 in carriage fees per subscriber.)

But then around April of this year, we began to hear rumblings in TV land about a package designed to break from that tradition and cut sports (and therefore the broadcast networks who rely on sports) out of the equation.

That “entertainment” TV bundle has finally arrived, and it comes from Philo, a startup that began by providing on-campus programming to colleges, and whose CEO Andrew McCollum was a founding member of Facebook.

Philo has strategic investments from five of its programming partners, totaling $25 million: A+E, AMC, Discovery, Scripps, and Viacom. And these companies provide the most compelling programming to the service — from AMC, to The Discovery Channel, to the Food Network, to Comedy Central, the History Channel, and so on. But the lack of sports giants means not just programming holes like ESPN, but also news heavyweights like CNN or Fox News that are owned by companies with lots of sports rights.

So what's it like to use?

Philo has a snappy interface, robust search functionality, 30-day DVR, and thoughtful touches (like being able to navigate as easily forward as backward in time in the guide). It's easy to get the hang of and use.

But the truth is that the primary calculation for consumers is going to come down to the programming: Is this set of channels worth $16 to you? If not, it’s not going to fundamentally reinvent TV for you.

But Philo does have that ambition.

Is it time to revisit "social TV?"

The most differentiated piece of McCollum’s pitch, which should perhaps not be surprising considering his past work at Facebook, is that he wants to build the first real social TV platform.

“TV will be transformed by making it more social,” McCollum told Business Insider. “None of the TV products have any social functionality built in at all.”

For now, that statement applies to Philo as well, since the social components that McCollum showed me — like being able to see exactly what spot a friend of yours is at in a TV series, seeing who is actively watching something, or synchronizing your viewing of an on-demand show with someone else — will not be available until some time in 2018. But they look nifty.

“Social TV” might seem like a no-brainer at first.  I love to to debate and discuss the shows I watch with my friends, and you probably do too. But other companies that have tried to implement features like Philo's have seen lackluster enthusiasm from customers. In the past, I’ve had multiple Netflix executives tell me the company has tested many social features in the past, but none of them quite popped. Customers just didn't want them.

Still, with our TV landscape becoming more fractured, and consumption patterns moving more toward on-demand, I for one would love to have a way to keep track of what my friends watch. And if there are well-designed features to help me do things like sync up viewing, so much the better.

"Your friends and social network are the best recommendation algorithm in the world," McCollum said. That rings true to me, as I more often trust my friends than I do even Netflix's much-lauded algorithms.

But the more pressing question for Philo won't be how much people will take to its social elements, but rather how big of a market there is for its sports-free package. Without sports and most news, two of the main drivers of cable TV, it seems a very niche offering.

But as a matter of professional and personal curiosity, I hope Philo can get enough traction to really test its social features, which could be applicable to companies from Netflix to Amazon to Hulu. My TV viewing is starting to feel a bit more solitary in the binge-heavy age, and I could use some help to push it back a bit more social.

Here is the full list of channels for the main package ($16):

A&E

AMC

Animal Planet

AXS TV

BBC America

BBC World News

BET

Cheddar

CMT

Comedy Central

Discovery Channel

DIY

Food Network

FYI

GSN

HGTV

History

IFC

ID

Lifetime

Lifetime Movies

MTV

MTV2

Nickelodeon

Nick Jr.

OWN

Science

Spike

Sundance Channel

TeenNick

TLC

Travel Channel

TV Land

Velocity

VH1

Viceland

We TV

And here are the other channels for $4 more:

American Heroes Channel

BET Her

Cooking Channel

Destination America

Discovery Family

Discovery Life

Logo

MTV Live

Nicktoons

SEE ALSO: Amazon officially announced it's making a 'Lord of the Rings' TV series, as it searches for an epic hit like 'Game of Thrones'

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 'You are the light': Watch controversial Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte serenade Trump with a love song

#Tech Insider #Arab #Entrepreneurship #sillicon alley insider

[tortuga-aak]

A member of Facebook's founding team wants to sell you a sports-free TV package for $16 a month

Philo

Philo has launched a $16-a-month internet TV package with programming partners like A+E, AMC, Discovery, Scripps, and Viacom.

The package cuts out sports, a major source of cost for most TV packages, but that means it also cuts out the major broadcast networks.

In the long run, Facebook founding member and Philo CEO Andrew McCollum wants build a truly "social" TV platform, though he's not the first to try.

If you love cable TV but don’t like sports or CNN, a startup called Philo has a new internet TV package to sell you for $16 dollars.

Over the last year, a slew of companies — from DirecTV to Hulu to YouTube — rolled out "over-the-top" TV packages that deliver your favorite shows over the internet (like Netflix or Hulu). They joined the first movers in that market, Sling TV and PlayStation Vue. While these new entrants touted slick interfaces, the packages they delivered were largely similar to cable TV ones, and at comparable prices in the $30 to $40 range.

There's a reason for that: most had sports as a central component, and sports programming is expensive. (In 2016, ESPN alone cost $6.10 in carriage fees per subscriber.)

But then around April of this year, we began to hear rumblings in TV land about a package designed to break from that tradition and cut sports (and therefore the broadcast networks who rely on sports) out of the equation.

That “entertainment” TV bundle has finally arrived, and it comes from Philo, a startup that began by providing on-campus programming to colleges, and whose CEO Andrew McCollum was a founding member of Facebook.

Philo has strategic investments from five of its programming partners, totaling $25 million: A+E, AMC, Discovery, Scripps, and Viacom. And these companies provide the most compelling programming to the service — from AMC, to The Discovery Channel, to the Food Network, to Comedy Central, the History Channel, and so on. But the lack of sports giants means not just programming holes like ESPN, but also news heavyweights like CNN or Fox News that are owned by companies with lots of sports rights.

So what's it like to use?

Philo has a snappy interface, robust search functionality, 30-day DVR, and thoughtful touches (like being able to navigate as easily forward as backward in time in the guide). It's easy to get the hang of and use.

But the truth is that the primary calculation for consumers is going to come down to the programming: Is this set of channels worth $16 to you? If not, it’s not going to fundamentally reinvent TV for you.

But Philo does have that ambition.

Philo

Is it time to revisit "social TV?"

The most differentiated piece of McCollum’s pitch, which should perhaps not be surprising considering his past work at Facebook, is that he wants to build the first real social TV platform.

“TV will be transformed by making it more social,” McCollum told Business Insider. “None of the TV products have any social functionality built in at all.”

For now, that statement applies to Philo as well, since the social components that McCollum showed me — like being able to see exactly what spot a friend of yours is at in a TV series, seeing who is actively watching something, or synchronizing your viewing of an on-demand show with someone else — will not be available until some time in 2018. But they look nifty.

“Social TV” might seem like a no-brainer at first.  I love to to debate and discuss the shows I watch with my friends, and you probably do too. But other companies that have tried to implement features like Philo's have seen lackluster enthusiasm from customers. In the past, I’ve had multiple Netflix executives tell me the company has tested many social features in the past, but none of them quite popped. Customers just didn't want them.

Still, with our TV landscape becoming more fractured, and consumption patterns moving more toward on-demand, I for one would love to have a way to keep track of what my friends watch. And if there are well-designed features to help me do things like sync up viewing, so much the better.

"Your friends and social network are the best recommendation algorithm in the world," McCollum said. That rings true to me, as I more often trust my friends than I do even Netflix's much-lauded algorithms.

But the more pressing question for Philo won't be how much people will take to its social elements, but rather how big of a market there is for its sports-free package. Without sports and most news, two of the main drivers of cable TV, it seems a very niche offering.

But as a matter of professional and personal curiosity, I hope Philo can get enough traction to really test its social features, which could be applicable to companies from Netflix to Amazon to Hulu. My TV viewing is starting to feel a bit more solitary in the binge-heavy age, and I could use some help to push it back a bit more social.

Philo

Here is the full list of channels for the main package ($16):

A&E

AMC

Animal Planet

AXS TV

BBC America

BBC World News

BET

Cheddar

CMT

Comedy Central

Discovery Channel

DIY

Food Network

FYI

GSN

HGTV

History

IFC

ID

Lifetime

Lifetime Movies

MTV

MTV2

Nickelodeon

Nick Jr.

OWN

Science

Spike

Sundance Channel

TeenNick

TLC

Travel Channel

TV Land

Velocity

VH1

Viceland

We TV

And here are the other channels for $4 more:

American Heroes Channel

BET Her

Cooking Channel

Destination America

Discovery Family

Discovery Life

Logo

MTV Live

Nicktoons

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[knockoutlives]

Whatever they offer you, don’t feed the plants.

Josh: Mom just told me. congrats.

Troi: I am so proud of you Vinny! Congratulations babe! I've never been happier for you, for us!

Spencer: Congratulations Vinny! When Adam gets back from his Medical Retreat we need to go for drinks! Congrats!

Abby: Congrats big brother! I can't wait to come visit and see you on stage!

Amelia: Congratulations! I’ll see you at 2 for lunch and you can tell me all about it! Mak: Congratulations Vinny!

Kevin. MY. GOD. VINCENT ANDREW DEPOLA HOW ON EARTH DID YOU KEEP THIS HIDDEN FROM ME?!?! CONGRATULATIONS ON BEING CAST AS SEYMOUR!

Unknown Number: Congratulations!

V: thanks, who's this?

[phone]: you know who this is, we met up for drinks the other night in Queens.

[phone] : had to get out of Manhattan to make sure your boyfriend didn't hear anything about it.

V: oh ya, thanks.

[phone] : that's it? I'll remember that the next time we hook up, and you wanna fuck me.

Vinny sighed and looked from the phone in his gloved hands, to the city street in front of him. Scanning the empty street for anyone he could potentially know. As if even seeing them would allow the other to know who Vinny was messaging. The sender's comments made him recall the night in questions, and the corners of his lips pulled into a smile as he replied.  

V: listen, I've got some things to do today. So I'm going to have to cut this short. But, I expect to see you at my place tonight at 6. He’ll be gone for a few hours.

[phone] : fire escape, or front door.

V: fire escape, just so you don't run into him. I don't need that

[phone] : Your wish is my command - T

Upon sending his last message Vinny locked his phone and let out an even heavier sigh as he leaned on the concrete wall of the building he had just walked out of prior to the bombardment of Text​ message - well wishes. Pushing off of the wall Vinny began his walk down the street heading towards Times Square, and the subway. There was a slight chill in the air, causing Vinny to wrap his arms around his midsection, and pulling his leather jacket closer to his body to conserve warmth.

A smile began to tug at his lips again as he recounted the morning.

--

The day had already began to speed by, though when one wakes up at six to be out the door by seven the time just begins to fly from the second you actually leave the bed. He had left Troi in the warm blankets that morning, to make his way to the gym to beat the rush. (The treadmill he liked at his gym always seemed to be taken if he was late, even If it was by five minutes.) So arriving precisely at seven fifteen gave him enough time to get his workout, shower, and get dressed into human attire by eight. Today had been no different until he left the gym and his phone began buzzing, like a virgin's vibrator on crack.

“Hello, This is Vincent….”  

“Vinny, it's Camille! Would you be able to stop by the midtown studio space this morning?”

“Of course I can! What time?”

“Now, would be nice”

“I'm on my way, I’ll be there by nine!”

Jumping on the subway almost immediately after the phone call, Vinny had arrived at the rehearsal space to find his agent Camille in the lobby of the building looking as if she had just ran down the stairs of the familiar building from the rehearsal space on the fifth floor.

“Vinny!” The woman said with a grin as she took the boy into her arms. Camille was quite short, so she normally came up to Vinny's shoulder, but in her heels today she was almost at eye level. “I'm so glad you could make it, I have two people who would really like to speak to you. It was last minute but apparently they're on a tight schedule. So they needed to get a hold of you A-S-A-P.” “Oh, alright?” Vinny said confusion clear on his face. “Vinny..” Camille said her grin still growing as she stepped into the elevator and dragging Vinny in with her,  the door closing behind them “...you got the part! You’re Seymour!”

-- 2:30 PM Cilantro - Upper West Side, New York City

“Oh, the second your mom read that Playbill article, it got plastered all over Facebook and you were tagged EVERY TIME. If I didn't get the call from Chrissy, I would have seen at least one of the 25 posts your family made!”

“God Amelia, I'm glad we weren't friends when I made it into Idiot. She went crazy. You would never have let me live it down. I mean I shouldn't complain though. She is my mother, Troi’s is just as bad.”

“I mean I would kill for my mom to be half as excited about a part I get. But that my friend is a totally different story. How was Troi when he found out?”

“Oh, he was happy. He had a bunch of errands to run earlier before he got to the studio earlier. So we haven't talked much just yet.”

Amelia took a sip of her mimosa and smiled across the table at Vinny. She was probably the oldest friend he had in the city, nonetheless​ the only one here who knew almost all of Vinny's past with and without Troi. The pair had met when Vinny was touring with American Idiot, and freshly single. In a different time and place Vinny felt Amelia might have been a perfect girlfriend for him, but with her lack of the desired plumbing and the fact that on one drunken night they may have made out, she held the coveted best friend spot and nothing more. But, of course Vinny never told Prima he might have been replaced. “Im glad things are finally working out between you guys. It was rough for a while on tour there. Until, you and Travis were a thing for a bit. You know he's in the city now, I dunno for how long but he’s got a place in Queens.” “Ya don't say?” Vinny said grabbing his Margarita and taking a large gulp of the drink.

“Ya, but we all know how you feel about taking the W into Queens. Vincent Depola doesn’t leave Manhattan unless it’s for a good reason.”

Almost instantly Vinny placed his drink down with a little too much force, and looked from Amelia to his phone. “Looks like I struck a nerve?” “No, I’m just not really in the mood to deal with any drama. And, you know drama follows him.” “Oh I know, I was living through the times of you guys screwing around AND the months following when y’all were just hating fucking. Thank god thats over” “Amen” Vinny added as he looked down at their empty plates. “So when are you going back on tour? Or, are you looking more for something more stable in the city?” “Well it depends on how the next two weeks go on Raph’s residency. I’ve got a few auditions lined up either way. If he’s leaving the city, I might jump on a tour, but there are also some workshops in and out of the city I could hop into if he stays. Why? Are you already going through withdrawls from me?” Laughing Vinny added “No! Well sort of.. I dunno.” “What’s eating at you?” Amelia responded, her tone switching almost instantly from upbeat to concern. “Nothing really, I mean it’s just weird to finally be tied down…” Sipping at his drink he continued. “...Like literally I went from the tour, to spending time home for a few months, and now I'm with Troi in New York. This isn't little old Trigger, this is the real world. And believe me I have never been happier with Troi but I just, I'm by myself too much. Granted now that I'm in the show I'll be able to rehearse and spend time with other people. But, until then it was just Troi and I, and on occasion Spadam. And you know how it is dating a dancer, or at least someone in a similar field as you. If your schedule don't align sometimes you're lucky to see them at night, again if you're lucky.”

“You sound perfectly normal Vin! It sucks, you know I know it. And that’s why I’m engaged to a doctor now. But, this is just your nerves from being pent up this long without anything really happening. Ya, you had the audition grind going, but until something happens you're on edge waiting to snap. You're in a Broadway Show now, you're going to be fine.”

Sighing, Vinny looked over at Amelia with a smile now. “I am. I'm in a Little Shop of Fucking Horrors. Finally!”

“And that's why this is on me” She added placing a credit card on the check.

--- 4:45 PM

Stepping back into the cold afternoon air the two embraced in front of the store for a moment, and then Vinny began his walk towards Central Park. Though the park wasn't too crowded this time of day, Vinny didn't mind the people that much. And, it was the fastest way to get home even if it did take him almost an hour at his leisurely pace. He enjoyed his time alone, it was something he got a lot of. But, ever since the tour ended and he went back to Trigger, it hadn't felt like he had taken a moment to just breathe, even when he was alone.

One moment he was single, and moving back home, the next he had a date with Troi. A date, that put them back on each other's radars. It took some time before he was even capable to even think about kissing Troi. Then it just happened, and happened, and happened. Numerous times, sometimes multiple at a time. Things just fell back into place, as if it was a four piece puzzle, not the complex thousand piece jigsaw their lives really were. It’s not that the two forgot about their previous qualms, but they spent almost a month just accepting the past was in the past, taking a tip from a popular ice queen and just ‘letting it go’. Most importantly though Blaise Monroe was out of their lives, and one thousand two hundred and eighty four miles away living a poor excuse of a life in Trigger, what a wash-up.

There were some days though that Vinny wondered what would have happened if he was still in Trigger? If the couple hadn’t rekindled and moved back to NYC to share Troi’s loft apartment. Would he be on another tour? Would he just be living the same washed up life, that Blaise Monroe was currently living? Or, would Travis still be in the picture, or at least in more then---

“Watch it man!” a cab driver shouted as Vinny stepped back onto the curb, lost in his thoughts and almost catching the cab’s drivers side mirror. “Damn it” Vinny mumbled under his breathe as he regained his bearings. About Halfway through the park, he could see the back of the Metropolitan Museum of Art on his left, and knew he had to go a bit more south if he wanted to get into his neighborhood without leaving the park. Walking on the streets around the park was almost as bad as Times Square. Why people flocked to this place, not even he knew. It was a beautiful park, but there were other wonders to see in the city. That were not inhabited by homeless people pissing all around, or thirsty gays cruising the bathrooms.  Turning passed the Alice in Wonderland statue, Vinny felt a pair of arms wrap around his waist and Troi’s voice enter his ears.   “Hey there handsome” Leaning back into the other man’s arms Vinny felt his cheeks rise into a smile. Turning around he placed his hands around Troi’s neck and kissed him softly, letting his short beard rub against Troi’s stubble ridden face. “How’s my boyfriend? No excuse me how’s the new Seymour Krelborn in the Little Shop Revival!“ “I’m fine! I’m fine! Still letting it all sink in!” Vinny responded to Troi’s enthusiasm with his own. “Of course you are!” “How’d you know I was here?” Vinny added as he laced his hand into his boyfriends and continued the walk towards their apartment. “ I mean I’m far from complaining at all, I just thought you were going to be at the studio for most of the night teaching” “I was talking to Rhea about finding out you got the part, and she said she’d cover my night class. Under the conditions that I take you out to celebrate.” “ I will never feel bad about getting to spend more time with you babe, but that is entirely your call.” Looking away from his boyfriend and around the street to see where they had exited the park. Stopping for the light Vinny sighed softly, inaudible to anyone but himself,  

“Of course I want to take you out tonight! Do you mind if I take a run to the gym first though?”

Almost immediately Vinny smiled at Troi and nodded his head. “Ya, totally!” Vinny added with a little too much excitement.

“Wow, someone's happy I'm not just at the studio,and actually going out of my way to put a little extra muscle on.”

Vinny couldn't help but laugh at his boyfriend's response as he reached his free hand over to jokingly feel Troi’s abs.

“Not enough yet.”

-- 5:55 PM

[phone] : I should be there a little after seven ;)

“Vinny! Have you seen my shaker?”

Quickly locking his phone, Vinny looked up from the couch towards his boyfriend in the bathroom. “Uh, probably in the kitchen, or maybe your gym bag?” He added hopping up from his place on the couch and moving towards the window to unlock it. “Do you need a protein shake today? I mean we are going for dinner afterwards. I don't want to be the one eating a five course meal and then you have a carrot. Those days are long over.”

Emerging from the bathroom Troi was in a pair of joggers and a t-shirt, tugging on a hoodie while almost walking into their kitchen counter. “You're right I guess, I'm only gonna be gone for forty five minutes max.”

“Good! Now go! I'm hungry” Vinny shot back playfully at Troi, as he wrapped his arms around the other and kissed him softly. Biting Troi's lower lip gently, Vinny pulled away and ran his hands over Troi's abdomen once more. “I love you.”

“I love you too!” Troi added with another quick peck, as he gathered his keys and drawstring bag and headed out the door.

As soon as the door shut Vinny practically ran too it to lock both the deadbolt and chain the door, making sure there was no way of potential disruptions. From the door, he made his way to the bathroom to throw some water on his face and check his reflection. He had changed when he had gotten home, from his casual wear to his Grade-A bum attire. Sweat shorts, an oversized hoodie, and his thick framed glasses Because, contacts just hurt after a while.

Staring at himself in the mirror Vinny closed his eyes tightly and ran a hand through his messy hair. Then he heard it, a light rapping on the living room window. The window had opened as he returned to the room to see his guest finishing his window entrance. Brushing himself off and placing his bag on the floor, Vinny’s eyes trailed up the familiar body and he smiled when he reached the man’s face which was covered in shadow from his hood. Not caring about the cold breeze coming through the open window, Vinny stepped closer and placed his lips to the other man’s. Wrapping his arms around him, Vinny broke the kiss to place his head on the others shoulder. The other man did not hesitate to place his stubble ridden mouth onto Vinny’s now exposed neck, tugging lightly on the skin with his teeth. Swatting the back of the man’s head Vinny dragged them down to the couch, where he was straddled by the other male. “No marks!” Reaching around the others waistband, Vinny let his hands wander across the other’s ass and playfully squeezed. Catching the other's mouth in his own Vinny began to remove the others hoodie when --

“Fighting evil by moonlight, winning love by daylight, never running from a real fight. She is the one named Sailor Moon!”

“Fuck, Fuck, Fuck,” The other said un-straddling Vinny as the latter ran his hands up his face and began laughing softly. Standing up and closing the window; the other man leaned on the counter top, one arm on the counter the other rubbing his face.

Laughing still, Vinny bent down and fished out two phones from the bag by the window and brought them over too the counter. Placing his hand on the other’s neck he ran it north towards the man's hair,  and in doing so he pushed down the hood revealing Troi from the shadow.

“Babe, next time you decide to seduce me as a stranger. Turn your old phone’s ringer off ,maybe?”

Grinning at his boyfriend Troi grabbed Vinny's waist to pull him into his side, and kiss the other's forehead while on the balls of his feet. Still biting back laughter Vinny pulled Troi into his chest and kissed the top of the shorter boys head.

“Jeeze, I wish I could say this was the first time I've been cock blocked by Sailor Moon.”

“Hey, it's probably my mother trying to get a hold of you in the first place.”

“Even better! I wish I could say that this was the first time getting cock blocked by your mother.”

Picking up the iPhone in the Sailor Moon case, Vinny saw the missed call was in fact from his future mother in law, and handed the phone back to Troi; before returning to the foreign phone still on the counter.

“So this, is what's finally given you a New York area code.” “Surprise!” Troi added sarcastically as he relocated by hugging the other from behind. Vinny, while toying around with the phone, felt Troi run his hands down his sides and under his hoodie. “ I can give you the entire tour of it, after we take care of something else.” Letting,his hands lower from Vinny’s abs, Troi slipped under the waistband of Vinny’s sweatpants and began searching for his target.

“Oh really now?” Vinny said as he turned (not gracefully) to face his boyfriend, and caught Troi’s lips in his own. Running his own hands across the other’s chest, Vinny straightened himself up and walked Troi backwards to their room. Breaking the kiss, as they crossed the threshold into the dark room Vinny softly pushed Troi onto the bed, and closed the door behind him. “I mean you still need to get a workout in before dinner” “I mean I could use a protein shot.” “Oh ya? Like you needed one the other night at that shady speakeasy in Astoria?” “Hey, that dinner was painful, a little exciting sex in a seedy bathroom livened it up a bit” “God I love you..” Running his hands down Troi’s sides Vinny noticed that in the time it took him to close the door, and make the room completely black Troi had removed his shirt and hoodie. His skin warm, as Vinny felt the smaller boy quiver under his touch. Tracing designs along the other’s chest, his hands teased the soft skin of Troi’s nipples. Where he tweaked the other softly, gaining an audible gasp from the boy under his touch. ‘I thought you weren’t going to follow through with your texts when Rhea let you out early.” Leaning down towards Troi’s left nipple Vinny placed his lips and began teasing the other with his tongue and biting softly on the erect flesh. “And miss out on this? Why did you think I decided to go to the gym? Babe,” Troi gasped and tried to regain his composure. “...today is my off day. I was at the studio all morning. You’re lucky I was able to climb the fire-escape at all.” As Vinny continued to work on Troi’s nipples, and enjoyed the soft sounds of pleasure his boyfriend was making; he began to run his hands up Troi’s muscular arms. Tracing where he knew the other’s key tattoo was, and up his shoulder where his right hand gripped the soft skin that led to Troi’s neck and jawline. Reaching down past Troi’s stomach and into the other’s sweatpants, Vinny squeezed the package that was clad in only a jock-strap. Removing his hand from near Troi’s neck, Vinny leaned up and let his lips mash against Troi’s hungry mouth. Troi wrapped his legs around Vinny’s waist as his boyfriend began to give his neck the same treatment he had previously did on his nipple. Removing his hand from Troi’s sweatpants, Vinny shucked his hoodie off while Troi greedily pulled his muscular boyfriend towards him. Vinny’s skin warming the other’s cold skin under him. While their lips waged war upon each other, their bodies worked together to have Vinny grind on Troi in ways that made the smaller boy moan through their kissing. “And to think, I used to be The Screamer.” Vinny added between panting, as Troi began to suck on his shoulder while his hands need-ily pushed Vinny’s sweat-shorts down. Leaving him exposed to the room, and in position to finish the job the two had set out to do from the beginning. Troi’s sweatpants were next to go as the warmth of their skin on skin began to drive the two wild. Reaching for the lube they kept in the bedside drawer, Vinny’s length pressed up against Troi’s grundle sending the other a bit over the edge. From the touch of Vinny’s length, and the restraint of his jockstrap Troi moaned louder than before, as Vinny silenced him with his lips covering the others. Managing to open the bottle of lube with one hand, and steady Troi with the other, Vinny was about to finish his preparations when --- “Fighting evil by moonlight, winning love by daylight, never running from a real fight. She is the one named Sailor Moon!” Troi let out a groan as he heard his phone go off again, using both of his hands he grabbed Vinny’s waist and looked for the others eyes in the darkness. Feeling Vinny’s nose rub up against the bridge of his own, he looked into where the others eyes were, and pleaded with him. “Forget it, and Fuck me.” Troi all but whispered as he slid his lips once more over his boyfriends.

And Vinny did.

#Vincent Andrew Depola #Troi Bently Vaillancourt #Trinny #Our babies are all grown up and fucking #fuck tags #OneShot:Dontfeedtheplants #OneShot:Trinny