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dr-nero-is-god · 3 years

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i felt the urge to riff on the hive streams for a little bit since discussion came up on the hive discord, namely, holding issue with the idea that the alpha stream is inconsistent in that it is about leadership when otto is the only leader, and that it’s also possible that the alphas are just kids with specialized skills, and not actually bonded by any particular unifying element.

and, in response, @vulpix-sinistre brought up a quote from the abridged hive fanfic, that goes something like: “there are four streams: main characters, stereotypical bullies, ?, and nerds.”

and i disagree with the first two ideas, but almost completely agree with the abridged fic quote. that is pretty much how the streams work, and it is IMPORTANT that that is how the streams work.

in the end, you may conclude that the streams system still doesn’t make sense. you won’t be like “well clearly dr. nero was just logically dividing the labor of his students to reflect a specialized training program” because it’s more complicated on that. i hate to do this to y’all, but a lot of everything streams-related requires an out-of-book explanation to get where you’re going, but i can promise that i will at least try to go

first, let’s think about why h.i.v.e. would have streams at all

on the one hand, it’s inescapable to consider that one primary reason that hive has streams is because harry potter had houses, and for the same reason that percy jackson had cabins, the 39 clues had branches, hunger games had sections (or counties, idk), divergent had factions, and so on and so on. the rise of fandom spaces on the internet was concurrent with a big ya/mg boom in the post-2005 world (after twilight was published), and within those fandom spaces it became important to identify with an aspect of the fantasy world as part of your personality. that became a very marketable thing for a while, and so separating children into streams would, to a publisher, seem like a pretty solid storytelling choice.

however! the alpha stream is not the same as gryffindor house. on the one hand, it seems easy to make an alpha/gryffindor and henchman/slytherin parallel, because one group is good (relatively) and one is bad (or at least antagonistic). but it doesn’t work because while slytherin has a reputation for constituents of poor moral character (which has been largely revised in fanon), being a henchman is where you go, according to the books, if you are unintelligent and burly. it’s not a really sexy stream, is what i’m trying to say. and though there are undoubtedly some readers who would look at the henchman stream and see themselves, i think the majority of readers would likely find the henchman stream a completely undesirable stream to be in.

and, given how little importance the role of streams have after the first book, i will go out on a limb and say that mark walden knows that the henchman stream is unsexy. we aren’t interested in the hopes and dreams and motivations of the henchman stream; as we learn in book two, the ideal henchman is weak-minded and easily led—so what dreams would they even have? this leads me to conclude that while mark walden might have sold h.i.v.e. on the “there are personality-based groups in the school!” idea, he had something completely else in mind when he started writing and that, I think, is actually far more interesting.

but really, why would h.i.v.e. have streams at all

a few things about mark walden: 1) he studied english lit in school, 2) he has a background as a video game producers, and 3) he likes james bond. i know the first two things because i have read his bio and i know the third thing because i have read his books in conjunction with seeing all the james bond films. so we will call 1-3 facts.

if you are wondering what a lit degree, video game production, and the james bond franchise all have in common, then let me connect those dots: all three of those things depend heavily on the study and understanding of repetitive structure in storytelling as an interpreter and creator of meaning. each one of these fields requires an understanding of how stories and words work to create meaning in order to be successful.

and, to quote mr. walden here directly (sourced from this here link):

“So, I was playing with this cat one day and it got me thinking that those old-school Bond villains always just seemed to appear out of thin air with very little back story and that got me thinking about how they became world- conquering megalomaniacs in the first place. It was only a short mental walk from there to HIVE.”

so, imagine you’re a writer trying to tell a story about a school for villains like those in james bond—you’ve studied storycraft and you have a lot of experience in a job finding believable and compelling obstacles for people to interact with in video games. you have noticed patterns. and you need to make those patterns work for you.

enter: streams

i have watched all the james bond movies (all of ‘em) (i mean it) (just not the unreleased one yet lol) and you know what?

there’s probably just about four kinds of villains in those movies.

henchmen include the likes of jaws, oddjob, and tee hee. often physically disabled in a cinematically interesting way, these guys are the muscles and the machines in every bond film. they are the ones who tail bond as he takes long train rides and who try to personally throw him into shark tanks. they are the hands and feet of their evil masters and they don’t have a lot of emotional depth or backstory.

politicians/financiers abound in the james bond franchise because he is a government employee who often hangs out with other government employees (he has no friends). these people are like colonel rosa klebb, georgi koskov, prince kamal khan. there are a lot more, as a matter of fact, because the whole point of james bond is that they are in the cold war and even people without titles have political and financial motivations for screwing around with stuff. these types of villains depend on being well and truly embedded in an existing infrastructure or hierarchy, somebody who worked their way up from being a foot soldier or clerk into a powerful leadership position that gives them a lot of state-sanctioned trust and authority.

technicians and inventors include folks like henry gupta and boris grishenko, who use technology as their primary weapon. they are often inventors or innovators and are really good at making high-tech stuff. however, i think this stream is also a direct result of the character Q, someone who is actually on James Bond’s team and who runs an entire department of people who test sometimes outlandish gadgets for Bond to use in the field. (but we love the gadgets. they are fun.) in other words, Bond arguably has a technical stream at his disposal in MI6, which means the idea isn’t necessarily evil, but, likewise, our James Bond School also needs Qs. it’s the rules. if you are familiar with Q from James Bond at all then you understand

and that leaves us with alphas... the “supervillains.” these are the famous ones. dr. no. mr. big. scaramanga. le chiffre. blofeld. max zorin. emilio largo. goldfinger. these are the ones with the master plan, the dreams to recreate the world as they see it, the passion to see their desires to fulfillment and the resources to make them happen. they are rich. they are fancy. they are larger than life. is it weird that karl stromberg tries to incite a nuclear war between Britain and the USSR so that a lot of people can die so that he can colonize the ocean? yes. but by god, it’s fancy and dramatic, and that’s what counts.

are there other kinds of villains? oh, definitely. lots more. but you have to understand, that those kinds of villains generally don’t appear in Bond. sometimes! but it’s not a staple. for example, not many people in the bond films are motivated by revenge because each movie is kind of designed to function as a one-shot. villains don’t come back and so there is no revenge. the villain who gets the most notable reprise, jaws, actually ends up finding his true love in space.

compare: every movie is going to have henchmen. every movie has government stooges making morally questionable decisions. (almost) every movie has Q, or some gadget stuff going on. and every movie has a big bad that has to be better than the last.

so that explains why the streams are what they are.

it was a jumping-off point for mark walden to figure out what this universe might look like and how different character types need to function. consider that while the core four are all alphas and are kind of insulated as a group, the teachers all kind of roughly align with one of these groups. colonel francisco, raven, and chief lewis are henchmen types, doing on-the-ground work to get stuff done. ms. tennenbaum and the contessa are political af, they are all about the corruption and infiltrating institutional power. ms. gonzales, ms. leon, and professor pike all have technical skills that help keep an organization moving forward. and over them all is the singular alpha, dr. nero, who is coordinating and monitoring it all for his own evil plan: to run a high school.

honestly, dr. nero’s hive idea operates just like a james bond villain plot! it works, or it does when pitching the idea. the problem is that the books continued after the pitch did, and with worldbuilding came some complications. namely, the fact that the megastructure of james bond villainy does not replicate well into a small friend group on which the narration focuses. so let’s return to the question presented at the beginning:

how can alphas really be alphas when not everyone on the field trip can be a mastermind?

i’m gonna give this to you in two ways. one, the way i personally interpret it as an in-universe explanation, given the background premises we have already established. and the other, why the stream system kind of ruins the structure it sets out to create.

so, for me, the alphas can be alphas because there is more to villainy than being a mastermind and there is more to being a mastermind than being in charge. as i think about it, this novelization is actually the backstory for every one of the students, who will go on to do great and scary things. they will manage big projects and come up with interesting ways to terrorize the British government, because that is what James Bond villains do (and James Bond does canonically exist in their universe). much like your actual teenage years, this is not the main event.

as students, the core four need to learn to do a little bit of everything. you gotta learn some lock-picking, that’s essential. everyone has to be able to climb a rock wall. it’s the rules. and everyone needs to be able to do some programming. that’s just the way school is. though everyone has a different personality and a different way of looking at the world, their education has to cover the basics because the fact of the matter is, none of them are villains yet. will they become one? that remains to be seen. but they are being given the tools to become the greatest villains if that is something they choose.

the main problem that remains when holding this attitude is that the specialized skills of otto and his friends might be better suited to other streams, in which case, what is an alpha anyways?

here’s the facts: if everyone were assigned to a stream by talent, then there wouldn’t be an alpha stream.

franz? political/financial stream.

nigel? laura? otto? technical stream.

shelby? wing? henchman stream.

you can debate me on the specifics of those assignments, but the point is this: all the other streams are based on hard skills. franz can manage a ledger and that is a financial skill. laura can build a computer from scratch and that is a technical skill. wing can do martial arts, and each martial art is a physical skill that can be taught and performed in a measurable level of proficiency.

the idea of being a “mastermind” is a much softer skill—which is to say, there’s no one recipe that will make it work. my manager at work has coached me by saying that leadership is often about having a “style,” and working at it that way. leadership requires interpersonal flexibility, being able to stay organized and to make important decisions rapidly, it is about being able to prioritize and delegate. and it’s very much open to interpretation, every day, all the time.

let me tell you something else about james bond: there is a lot of classism, racism, and sexism embedded into every aspect of those films, but that goes for double when it comes to the villains in the show. to vastly oversimplify that very concept, it shows up in the bond films like this: henchmen are working class folks, the villainous equivalent of “the help,” and the supervillains are (usually) rich and glamorous and powerful. henchmen are uneducated (read as: stupid) and ugly and poor. no one cares if they die. (there’s more complexities, as always, but this essay isn’t actually about james bond so we’ll fast forward through My Opinions to the end)

the problem with replicating james bond in your villain school universe is that some of the biases of the james bond universe get replicated in there, too. poor and uneducated folks get turned into disposable henchmen whose lives are irrelevant. people who are educated and talented get fast-tracked to a more glamorous and interesting stream that will catapult them to the top of the ladder as soon as they graduate. if you look at the dialect with which block and tackle are written, they are clearly meant to be seen as a different social class than otto, despite the fact that otto is coming from basically nothing. and we understand that when otto graduates, he will be able to do basically anything that he wants to at all.

so, if you’re asking why wing has a role in the alpha stream when he doesn’t seem as leader-y as otto, there’s a simple answer: because dr. nero believes that wing can be more.

the climax of book one is dr. nero explicitly telling otto, wing, laura, and shelby that they are in his school because he believes in them and he wants to see them grow. they are given an elite status other students do not have despite the fact that they have just literally tried to escape. as we see in the case of duncan cavendish, the main way to get on that highway to a guaranteed career is to convince him that you’ve “got it.” for those who are not believed in, there is no way to make up for the special grooming. you’re stuck with the stream you’re placed in, doomed (perhaps) to be a second-in-command at best.

is all this intentional? probably not. but it is implicit in the structure of the story and, alas, that’s the way it is.

all i can think to say in conclusion is that while the stream system tends to replicate some of the unfair and classist realities present in other media and the world we live in, i think part of the reason we read h.i.v.e. is because the alpha stream is so appealing. imagine! you are competent and you have a desirable, specialized skill as well as a proficiency in many general skills and you are certain you are going to do good things—and all because someone believes in you. to receive someone else’s support and confidence can be life-changing. the magic of h.i.v.e. is that yes—lives are changed and ordinary, boring people were elevated to the level of supervillains. we are only left to wonder, are they the only people who deserved that honor?

#meta #spoilers #streams #alpha #henchman #political/financial #technical stream #technical #james bond #hive #h.i.v.e.#higher institute of villainous education #the higher institute of villainous education #otto malpense #max nero #streams post #musings

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thebudgetgarden · 3 years

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The Budget Garden 2: Tachikaze “Goodstuff” (V-Premium)

Hello Cardfighters, So, I haven’t even completed a total of 3 posts before I got my very first request ! A person from my Vanguard playgroup overheard me mention this blog in passing to one of my friends, and so asked me if he could see my approach to a very cheap and strong Tachikaze deck. This, for those who are not in the know, is already a challenge, as Tachikaze is based on certain interactions with it’s own units, and on much more rare occassions, very strong, individual cards. So, I thought I would discuss one of the very first decks I build by myself, Tachikaze Goodstuff, an Accel deck that aims to hit hard and hit fast.

Let’s begin with the grade 3 units, as understanding our win conditions is the key to success with learning and handling Tachikaze properly.

We shall begin first with a list of our main grade 3 units, which in this case are varying rations of 4 different units, these being:

Light Battle Dragon, Gigannoblazer

Sundering Dragon, Terror Therizeeno

Fiery Light Dragon, Opticalcerato

Savage Mercenary

[CONT](VC):During your turn, if three or more new equip gauges were put for your units this turn, all of your front row units get [Power]+5000. [ACT](VC)1/Turn:COST [Counter Blast (1) & Soul Blast (1)], draw two cards, and call two cards from your hand to (RC). Put up to one card from the top of your deck face down as an equip gauge for each of those units. (Put without looking at the front of those cards）

[AUTO](VC/RC):When it attacks a vanguard, COST [retire another rear-guard], draw a card, if a unit with equip gauge was retired for this cost, choose one of your opponent's rear-guards, and retire it.

[AUTO](VC/RC):When placed, or when it attacks a vanguard, you may put the top card of your deck face down as an equip gauge for one of your rear-guards.

[CONT]:You cannot normal ride this card. [CONT](RC):If you have no units with equip gauge in the same column as this unit, this unit cannot attack. So, wow, right off the bat, there is a lot to unpack, so let us take it step by step, first by explaining the notion of what “goodstuff” means. “Goodstuff”, used in the context of card games, is a strategy or type of playstyle that doesn’t adhere to the usual norms of having a normal win condition and trying to fullfill that condition every game. It practically means that we are a Jack-of-all-trades, but a master of none. Taking a look at our grade 3 line-up, this notion becomes all the more noticeable, as we dont really follow a coherent gameplan, rather we decide to play as many tools as possible in order to have the best chance of winning. Reading through these cards, we can already gleam at least three characteristics that set Tachikaze apart from all of the other clans in the game, with those key-words being: Equip gauge, which means placing the top card of your deck under one of your units as a “marker” or “indicator” that can be used in conjunction with various effects Retire, meaning getting rid of one of ours or one of our opponent’s rear-guard units. Excuse me for making such a long-winded introduction to what someone would innitially think is a fairly simple and easy to play deck, but understanding these concepts, as easy as they are for some, is an integral part of understanding the clan as a whole. That is very obvious with our main boss unit, Gigannoblazer. Gigannoblazer encapsulates the essence of Tachikaze perfectly. Not only does he possess a very strong advantage skill that helps facilitate very aggressive plays, but he also allows the Cardfighter that is using him to give a healthy 5k boost in the front row, allowing for magic numbers and choke-points to be hit in a much easier fashion. This is highlighted further by Terror Therizeeno, a strong back-up ride target, as well as a potent rear-guard unit. His skill might seem odd initially, but there is a lot of synergistic potential with his retiring skill, as he allows for dead columns that have already performed their attack to provide some value for you, both in forms of a draw and retiring a pesky unit your opponent may have. Opticerato is also fairly basic and simple. He’s a good call target that also functions well with the rest of the deck while attacking. A very simple and strong card, running a few copies wouldn’t hurt any Tachikaze deck. Savage Mercenary is an odd one. With a whopping 27k power, higher than any grade 3 in the game, you would think that his restrictive skill would stop him from being a gread addition, however, that is simply not the case. With a stupidly easy condition to fulfill, Mercenary becomes a very strong unit that cannot be blocked easily. Having a few copies in your deck as a simple and strong finisher is a must, as this card can easily steal wins from our opponents. All of these cards, while very strong, are also incredibly cost effective. If you were to buy a play-set of each card, meaning 4 copies of each individual grade 3, it would hardly set you back about 6 euros, which is a laughably low cost for such high impact units.

Moving on to the Grade 2 Units, we find ourselves in a very odd and unique predicament.

The grade 2 line-up for Tachikaze is, for a lack of a better term, completely pre-determined. This is not, however, a bad thing. It just means that the choices that we do have are both so powerful and inexpensive that they would usually find their home in the full competitive versions of these decks. The downside, though, is that the creative aspect gets a tiny bit stiffled, which is a small price to pay for such power-houses.

The grade 2 line-up is split amongst 4 very high impact units, those being:

Clearout Dragon, Sweeperacrocanto

Ravenous Dragon, Megarex

Turbo Smilodon

Regiment Dragon, Regiodon

[AUTO](RC)1/Turn:When it attacks a vanguard, put the top card of your deck face down as an equip gauge for this unit. [CONT](RC):This unit gets [Power]+5000 for each of this unit's equip gauges, and if it has three or more equip gauges, it cannot be chosen by your opponent's card's abilities.

[AUTO](VC/RC):When it attacks a vanguard, COST [retire another rear-guard], and draw a card. If this unit is on (RC), COST [Counter Blast (1)], put the top card of your deck face down as an equip gauge for this unit, and it gets [Power]+5000 until end of that battle for each gauge equipped to this unit.

[AUTO](VC/RC):When placed, or when it attacks a vanguard, you may put the top card of your deck face down as an equip gauge for one of your rear-guards.

[AUTO](VC/RC):When it attacks, you may put the top card of your deck face down as an equip gauge for one of your rear-guards. [AUTO]:When retired from (RC) by your card's ability, call up to one card from this unit's equip gauge to (RC). You may put the top card of your deck face down as an equip gauge for that unit. This ability may only be used by a card with the same card name once a turn. There is a lot to unpack here. Simply put, both Sweeper and Megarex are insane cards, maybe unfair in the general landscape of budget deck-building. Sweeper gives himself an equip gauge on attack, and he gets 5k power and a removal dodge ability… on BOTH players�� turns. Meaning that, in the overwhelming majority of cases, on the first turn that sweeper is played, he is going to be a 19k-24k attacker that keeps his high numbers and is resistant to pretty much all forms of removal, apart from some unique cases. There was a point that this card was so good people were considering it as a possible candidate for a BAN. Couple that with its laughably low price point, at 50 cents each, and it’s no wonder why people still use this card in every possible build of Tachikaze, no exceptions. Megarex is a completely different beast entirely. His power-up skill is a bit more restrictive, but it follows the exact same path as sweeper, simply less efficient, while also being more susceptible to removal. He more than makes up for it, however, with his retire and draw skill, which is completely free and works perfectly with the rest of the clan. Another thing to note is that he is insanely cheap, an entire playset of him going for about 1 euro and 20 cents. There is not a lot to be said about Turbo Smilodon, he’s a grade 2 version of Opticalcerato, a card we briefly discussed in the grade 3 section. Smilodon is, also, quite an expensive card. In the time of me writing this, we still dont know what the reprint price for him is from the new Revival Collection set, so for now he is sitting at a comfortable 1 euro and 50 cents per copy. If he’s not readily available, then running the grade 3 Optic is suggested as a replacement. Regiodon is also quite simple. A lot of skills in Tachikaze require the retiring of a rear-guard to be activated, and Regiodon is an excellent card, working as not only fodder for the rest of the team, but also as a multi-attack engine, if placed on an Accel marker. A lot of utility as well as a little bit of extra oomph for your combo turn.

The grade 2 line-up was a million times better than anticipated, but with that, it is now time to move along to the grade 1 line-up. The grade 1 line-up, to a certain extend, has also been solved, however a bit more of a creative spin can be put in it if any Cardfighter feels like experimenting.

There are several key budget units to consider right off the bat, those units being:

Fierce Claw Dragon, Laceraterex

Full Speed Dragon, Bluesprint

Angry Roar Dragon, Roarbaryo

Sonic Noa

[AUTO](RC):When placed from hand, put the top card of your deck face down as an equip gauge for this unit. [AUTO]:When it is retired from (RC), COST [Soul Blast (1)], and return up to one gauge equipped to this unit to your hand.

[AUTO](VC/RC):When it attacks, you may put one card from the top of your deck face down as an equip gauge for one of your rear-guards. [AUTO]:When retired from (RC) by your card's ability, call up to one of this unit's equip gauges to (RC). You may put one card from the top of your deck face down as an equip gauge for that unit. This ability may only be used by a card with the same card name once a turn.

[AUTO](RC):When placed, COST [Soul Blast (1)], put the top card of your deck face down as an equip gauge for one of your other rear-guards, and that unit gets [Power]+5000 until end of turn for each of its equip gauges.

[AUTO](RC):When it boosts a rear-guard, put the top card of your deck face down as an

equip gauge

for the boosted unit.

[AUTO](VC/RC):When its attack or the attack that it boosted hits a vanguard, COST [retire one other rear-guard], and draw a card.

The grade 1 line-up, just like the grade 2 line-up, is also quite excellent. We have more and more cards that fulfill our win-condition and allow us to have options no matter what the current board-state is.

An overwhelming amount of utility and value comes from both Bluesprint and Laceraterex, 2 cards that don’t only gauge themselves but also allow us to get even more value from our retires, both from a card-advantage, in the case of Laceraterex, and a potent multi-attack engine, in the case of Bluesprint.

Roarbaryo, however, is just pure damage output. With the cost of just one soul he can make a unit not only get an equip gauge for future usage, but also gives a boost that can range from just 5k, to 25k in the case of Sweeper. Overall a very simple and strong card. The 3 cards discussed above will not set you back more than 2 euros for a playset of all of them.

Sonic noa is a special case. He is a bit pricier and harder to come by compared to the previous cards that we discussed, but his effect more than makes up for it. Sonic Noa is our decks’ WHOLE game-plan, condenced into one card. Equip gauges, self-retire, card draw, he does it all and he does it very well. A playset of him will set you back about 2 euros but he’s getting reprinted in the next revival collection, so picking him up won’t be a difficult task in the coming weeks.

Example decklist

This particular list is not only very cheap and strong, but it’s also an excellent investment for future Tachikaze builds, if you wish to stick with this particular clan.

GRADE 3

4x Gigannoblazer

2x Terror Therizeeno

2x Opticalcerato

1x Savage Mercenary

GRADE 2

4x Sweeper

3x Megarex

3x Turbo Smilodon

2x Regiodon

GRADE 1

4x Roarbaryo

4x Sonic Noa

2x Bluesprint

2x Laceraterex

GRADE 0

x1 Starting Vanguard

x4 Draw Perfect Guards

x4 Heals

x8 Front Triggers

(Please keep in mind that these lists are made with the Budget Constraints first, as well as what is the most optimal ratio of cards depeding on their availability in Greece. All of these prices and lists are subject to change, but keeping the price low is the number 1 priority.)

Final Price: ~19 Euros

Closing thoughts and Special thanks

While this particular Budget profile wasn’t as long as the Previous one, I feel like I did a good enough job at showcasing one of the least appreciated clans out there, and I hope I assisted you in finding a new and interesting deck or playstyle. As a massive tachikaze fan (one of my top 5 favorite clans), this deck was a joy to playtest and write about.Special thanks to my friend Dimitri, who without him this Budget Profile wouldn’t have existed, as well as a special thanks to my close friends for reading through the previous post, even though they don’t know a single thing about Vanguard.That’s all for now, Cardfighters ! If you have read this far, thank you so much for your time and attention. Have a wonderful rest of your day ! Bloom aka thebudgetgarden (if you have any questions, feel free to contact my discord account: Bloom#8890)

#cardfight!! vanguard #vanguard #budgetdecks #tachikaze #cardgame #tabletop #cards

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ms-m-astrologer · 4 years

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Transiting Mars stations retrograde

Timeline (current events in bold)

Saturday, July 25, 2020, 14:10 UT - transiting Mars enters retrograde zone, 15:14 Aries

Wednesday, September 9, 2020, 22:22 UT - transiting Mars stations retrograde, 28:08 Aries

Saturday, November 14, 2020, 00:36 UT - transiting Mars stations direct, 15:14 Aries

Saturday, January 2, 2021, 19:10 UT - transiting Mars exits retrograde zone, 28:08 Aries

Ugh. Here we go. First, a refresher from Martin Bulgerin (www dot biopscinst dot com) regarding Mars retrograde:

During Mars retrograde periods, we get to experience how we sabotage our own actions, preventing us from achieving what we desire to do. The ability to express your will-power seems thwarted. The key here is to discover what is keeping you from effective action and changing it. This inner nemesis may be an over active temper, an impatience with planning when you can rush into activity, or simply a lack of awareness that causes you to ignore useful clues. This is not a good time to initiate new projects that require perseverence, nor is it easy to work with others during this cycle.

Ms M is grumbling over “what is keeping (her) from effective action and changing it” - she thinks it’s called, “a lack of funds.” However, a look at her own natal Mars placement - Aries/5th House - shows that she’s way, way too fond of having her own way all the time. She isn’t happy when people interrupt her progress from point A to point B; and she doesn’t like being delayed between those points, either. As Mars backtracks, she’s going to find plenty of opportunities to see how that attitude of “get outta my way NOW OR ELSE” is keeping her from doing what she wants to do (and from doing what she knows is right).

During the actual retrograde portion of a Retrograde Zone, we get clarification on issues - so expect some unpleasant realities which have to be bravely faced, some admitting that we were wrong, etc.

It seemed to me, writing this up, that there’s a definite beginning, middle, and end to the fun and games. September gets us off to a slow start - although it may not feel that way, given the nature of the aspects involved. October, the middle, is when the bulk of the “difficult” aspects happen. And with November we again seem to taper off, although (again) it may not feel that way.

(Under “Keep Reading” you’ll find all the aspects Mars is going to make. Not everybody wants to read, or understand, all that crap. For those who do....)

Monday, September 14, 06:28 UT - Juno/Libra opposes Mars Rx/Aries, 28:00

Second of three. This almost looks like a break-up to me. There’s definitely a lack of cooperation. If you only want your own way all the time, why should other people help you with that? There’s a Leo Moon involved, too, applying a trine to Mars and a sextile to Juno - people’s pride is involved, and although we may find an outlet in playfulness and drama, the story isn’t quite over yet. The third/final opposition doesn’t happen until mid-April 2021, with Mars/Gemini and Juno Rx/Sagittarius. That sounds like a break-up, too. Do keep some sense of the long-term.

Placements affected lie between 27:00 and 29:00 of the cardinal signs Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn; and between 12:00 and 14:00 of the mutable signs Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces.

Saturday, September 19, 21:55 UT - Sun/Virgo inconjunct Mars Rx/Aries, 27:24

If you have an impatient Mars, like mine, then this is the day you’re probably thinking “Okay, lesson learned, I’ll adjust, can I get on with it now please?” Nope.

Placements affected lie between 26:24 and 28:24 of all signs.

Thursday, September 24, 10:53 UT - Mercury/Libra opposite Mars Rx/Aries, 26:36

Less of a break-up than an argument. Mercury has just entered its own pre-retrograde shadow, when we get this far. Someone is definitely giving us something to mentally chew on, all right. It isn’t good to be a Libra pushover, but it isn’t good to be an Aries bully either. Where’s that happy medium?

Placements affected lie between 25:36 and 27:36 of the cardinal signs Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn; and between 10:36 and 12:36 of the mutable signs Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces.

Tuesday, September 29, 01:01 UT - Venus/Leo trine Mars Rx/Aries, 25:33

Very sexy energy all right - but note that Mars will also square Saturn on the same day! And Saturn has just stationed direct, too! Enjoy whatever this brings you, but don’t count on it lasting very long.

Placements affected lie between 24:33 and 26:33 of the yang signs Aries, Gemini, Leo, Libra, Sagittarius, and Aquarius.

Tuesday, September 29, 21:50 UT - Saturn/Capricorn square Mars Rx/Aries, 25:20

Second of three. As I said, Saturn will have just stationed direct a mere 16+ hours before. (Interesting how many other planets’ Rx cycles are caught up with Mars’.) This is practically guaranteed to bring us some clarity about our Mars Rx situation, particularly as it relates to how we set ourselves up for failure by being hard-headed and impatient. Remember to keep life at those basic Maslow levels - food, water, shelter, warmth - for a while. (The third/final square happens in January 2021, when each planet will have moved on to the next sign, Mars to Taurus and Saturn to Aquarius.)

Placements affected lie between 24:20 and 26:20 of the cardinal signs Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn; and between 9:20 and 11:20 of the mutable signs Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces.

Sunday, October 4, 05:51 UT - Eris Rx/Aries conjunct Mars Rx/Aries, 24:07

Second of three. Being a human is so hard. Our society tells us “be nice” and then throws the most outrageously cruel bullshit at us. There is nothing wrong with being angry, as long as you’re directing it at the true culprits, and are using the anger to take constructive action. (The third/final conjunction happens on December 22, 2020.)

Placements affected lie between 23:07 and 25:07 of all signs; and between 8:07 and 10:07 of the mutable signs Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces.

Tuesday, October 6, 00:57 UT - Vesta/Leo trine Mars Rx/Aries, 23:35; Tuesday, October 6, 12:50 UT - North Node/Gemini sextile Mars Rx/Aries, South Node/Sagittarius trine Mars/Aries, 23:26

This looks like a nice opportunity to try and realign ourselves! The Moon will be in Gemini, too, applying toward that North Node. If we’re looking for a good cause, this is the perfect set up. Remember that with the North Node in Gemini we’re trying to be more Gemini-like. For Mars, that might translate into being more flexible, more clever, and just fighting smarter.

Placements affected lie between 22:26 and 24:35 of the yang signs Aries, Gemini, Leo, Libra, Sagittarius, and Aquarius.

Friday, October 9, 07:37 UT - Venus 7:33 Virgo sesquare Mars Rx 22:33 Aries; Friday, October 9, 13:09 UT - Pluto/Capricorn square Mars Rx/Aries, 22:29

If you’re in a solid relationship, this could translate into sexytime. Otherwise, well, expect in your relationships criticism masked as hostility, or hostility masked as criticism I guess. The Moon will not be helping matters out, as she’s in Cancer and making this into a temporary t-square - Moon/Cancer opposed Pluto/Cap, Mars/Aries squaring both ends - with Venus/Virgo nagging away. Not a good day for romance, at all. (The third/final Mars-Pluto square happens December 23. Why yes, that’s the day after the final Mars-Eris conjunction.)

Placements affected lie between 21:29 and 23:33 of the cardinal signs Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn; and between 6:29 and 8:33 of the mutable signs Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces.

Tuesday, October 13, 23:26 UT - Sun/Libra opposite Mars Rx/Aries, 21:05

This in a way is the whole crux of the matter. It’s the crisis point of the ongoing Sun-Mars relationship, beginning from their last conjunction (September 2, 2019, 9:44 Virgo). Mars is sometimes described as “the Sun’s right-hand man,” going out and actually achieving all the things the Sun plans. Perhaps today we’ll become aware of how far off track/task we’ve fallen. (This is also the day Mercury stations retrograde. As I heard at a meeting recently, “2020 - the gift that keeps on giving.”)

Placements affected lie between 20:05 and 22:05 of the signs Aries, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Libra, Sagittarius, Capricorn, and Aquarius; and between 5:05 and 7:05 of the mutable signs Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces.

Monday, October 19, 05:38 UT - Jupiter/Capricorn square Mars Rx/Aries, 19:26; Monday, October 19, 07:03 UT - Venus/Virgo inconjunct Mars Rx/Aries, 19:25

Venus is really sticking her oar in to so many of these aspects! She tried to ease matters with Saturn, but she critiqued and nagged Pluto - and now she’s teaming up with Jupiter to let Mars know how fucked u[ he truly is. “Here, dude - this is how it’s done.” The square to Jupiter is the second of three for Mars, and as with the other three-peats, this second pass should give us a little clarity about the situation. If we’ve bitten off more than we can chew, this is the day we spit out the mess. (The third/final Mars-Jupiter square occurs on January 21, 2021, when Mars is in Taurus and Jupiter in Aquarius. And yes, that’s the day after the US Inauguration Day.)

Placements affected lie between 18:25 and 20:26 of all signs; and between 3:26 and 5:26 of the mutable signs Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces.

Thursday, October 22, 09:10 UT - Neptune Rx/Pisces semi-sextile Mars Rx/Pisces, 18:32

The first semi-sextile brought news of a lawsuit to dissolve (Neptune!) the US National Rifle Association (Mars!), so I have very high hopes for this day. Otherwise, this can be a calming influence for Mars, perhaps reminding him of Mars/Pisces and learning how to fight by not fighting. Nonviolent resistance!

Placements affected lie between 17:32 and 19:32 of all signs.

Saturday, October 24, 04:35 UT - Pallas Athene/Capricorn square Mars Rx/Aries, 18:03

Second of three. This is like Captain Pallas Athene demonstrating to Private Mars all the myriad ways he’s screwed up. We can be strong, bold fighters, but if we’re stupid fighters there isn’t a lot of hope for us. Mars may finally clue in, under this influence. (The third/final square between Mars and Pallas Athene occurs on February 26, 2021, with Mars in Taurus and Pallas Athene in Aquarius.)

Placements affected lie between 17:03 and 19:03 of the cardinal signs Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn; and between 2:03 and 4:03 of the mutable signs Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces.

Wednesday, October 28, 00:07 UT - Vesta 2:08 Virgo sesquare Mars Rx 17:08 Aries

This may indicate some health issues - Mars being stamina and physique, Vesta/Virgo being health. A sesquare isn’t a major deal, but it can be serious enough to sideline us for a while. We may also be thinking wistfully (for Mars) about all the things we’d be able to do, if only we were healthier and stronger.

Placements affected lie between 16:08 and 18:08 of the cardinal signs Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn; and between 1:08 and 3:08 of the mutable signs Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces.

Friday, November 6, 03:40 UT - Juno/Scorpio inconjunct Mars Rx/Aries, 15:38; Saturday, November 7, 11:41 UT - Sun/Scorpio inconjunct Mars Rx/Aries, 15:31

As a US citizen it��s impossible not to relate everything happening in November to our all-important presidential election. Regardless of who wins, the other side is going to be royally pissed off. Both sides are implacable. Ms M would like to point out that she herself wants nothing to do with racists - and racism is a key component of Dolt 45’s fan base. Well, that, and making billionaires even wealthier. As puzzled as she is by their deplorable behavior, she is aware that they can’t believe how stupid she is, either. This isn’t going to be easy, or fun.

Placements affected lie between 15:14 and 16:38 of all signs.

Monday, November 9, 16:08 UT - Venus/Libra opposite Mars Rx/Aries, 15:21

The final major aspect of Mars retrograde, with the two planets dignified and facing each other down. What we’re supposed to be doing with them, is balancing them out. We need to combine Aries passion with Libra harmony; Aries bravery with Libra diplomacy; Aries honesty with Libra tact.These aren’t two energies that you bring out, and lock up, as the mood strikes you - these co-exist every day, and it’s our job to learn to walk their tightrope.

Placements affected lie between 15:14 and 16:21 of the signs Aries, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Libra, Sagittarius, Capricorn, and Aquarius; and between 0:14 and 1:21 of the mutable signs Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces.

Thursday, November 12, 00:30 UT - Ceres 0:16 Pisces semi-square Mars Rx 15:16 Aries

Second of three. Mars is pretty much motionless (Ms M got a 10 of Swords image right then) at this point, while Ceres is still in her post-Rx shadow for a few more weeks. All the lessons tie together - none of these energies operates in a vacuum, however much they would like to. This is either the point where we admit we need to act differently, and resolve the issues that were clarified for us - or we stay impaled on the ground. (The third/final semi-square happens on December 28.)

Placements affected lie between 15:14 and 16:16 of the cardinal signs Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn; and between 0:14 and 1:16 of the mutable signs Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces.

#Astrology #Transiting Mars stations retrograde #Ms M astrologer

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gaming · 5 years

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Happy Women’s History Month, Tumblr! 🎉

In conjunction with our official social impact blog, @action, we wanted to highlight women and non-binary/genderqueer individuals who have made significant contributions in gaming. Our first spotlight feature is Christine Brownell, who talks about The Sims, mentorship, and gives advice to those who want to get a start in gaming. Can’t wait? Neither can we.

Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got into the gaming industry.

I’m Christine and I’ve been working in the video game industry for fifteen years. I’ve been a lifelong lover of games, but it wasn’t until I was in college that I actually thought about making them as a career.

Starting out in 2003, I landed a job as a game tester, where I was assigned the task of playing Warcraft 3 for hours upon hours each day (I loved it). Eventually, I was able to move up onto the World of Warcraft development team as a quest designer.

After WoW, I worked on a few other massively multiplayer online games (MMOs), before finding my way to Electronic Arts and The Sims team in 2008. In 2013, I left EA and started my own business, which allows me to work with many different types of clients including game companies.

What was it like working on WoW and The Sims? How did it help you grow into your career today?

Working on World of Warcraft was a once in a lifetime opportunity—it was, and still is, an amazing product, and I got to be a part of a team of super talented, dedicated game makers. I feel so fortunate to have started my design career alongside some of the best designers I’ve ever known. The Sims team was also an incredible team to work with. They taught me so much about what it means to understand and serve your audience well.

Which game that you’ve worked on has been the most influential to your career today?

This is a hard question to answer! If I had to choose, I’d say that working on The Sims Social has been the most impactful to my career. When I arrived at Playfish, I was suddenly faced with challenges I had never encountered before on any other project. The team was struggling to get in sync, to be efficient, and to produce and release content at an extremely fast pace. Before I could even get my bearings, I had to jump in and simultaneously figure out where I fit in on the team as well as partner closely with other leads to create and implement a development process that worked for everyone. While the game itself is no more (EA shut it down in 2013), the things that I learned while on that team have stayed with me. I wouldn’t be where I am now if I hadn’t worked with that amazing, crazy team at Playfish.

You’ve spent time mentoring students and others in the industry. Why is mentoring important to you?

Back when I was still in school, I managed to make a couple contacts within the game industry. They were so helpful and generous, answering my questions and giving me pointers on how to get a job. I wouldn’t have made it into games without their support and advice, and we are still friends today.

Feeling grateful for the help they offered me, I knew I wanted to be that for someone else, a “pay it forward” sort of thing. I regularly volunteer my time with a couple of different organizations, and I absolutely love it. I find the enthusiasm of those I mentor so inspiring. It reminds me of how I felt when I first started out.

Is there a particular woman in the gaming industry that inspires you?

If I’m being honest, I can’t choose one. I’m inspired by all women in games. The game industry is a male-dominated field, so women that wish to enter it often have the additional challenge of proving themselves worthy of being there. I wish this wasn’t the case, and it is changing, but that’s the current state of things.

Women that choose to pursue a career in games tend to be very passionate and dedicated. They want to make games, and nothing is going to stop them. I feel lucky to know and have worked with so many creative, hard-working, and brilliant women. I’m inspired by their success and by their determination to do what they love.

What advice would you give to aspiring women who are just starting out or wanting to join the industry?

1. Play. It sounds obvious, but the first piece of advice I’d offer is to play games. People that work in games tend to play games and talk about games—a lot. Keeping current with industry trends is part of the job. So play a wide range of games of different genres on multiple platforms. Develop your own opinions about what works and what doesn’t. Why is one game so successful while another game fails?

2. Learn. Build relevant skills for the job you one day wish to have. If you want to be an artist, make art, every day. If you want to be a coder, take a coding course on your own time, or build an app. An incredible amount of resources for self-directed learning can be accessed via the web, such as tutorials on YouTube or online courses at sites like Udemy. Or just pick up GameMaker, Unity or Unreal and make a game on your own.

3. Don’t give up! The game industry is very competitive; if you want to make it, be prepared to work hard and continually put yourself out there. Look for opportunities to learn, seek feedback on your work, and never give up on your dream.

Want to learn more or connect with Christine? We’ve heard clicking one of this magical links below unlocks a rare, shiny item.

Twitter | Linkedin | Blog | Website

#Women's History Month #Christine Brownell #women in gaming #simblr #wow

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paelabnavides0 · 4 years

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via Pamela Benavides,

Most people have heard of affiliate marketing, even if they haven’t actually started doing it. Affiliate marketing is basically referring people to various products and services around the internet. For each sale you generate through your affiliate link, you earn a commission. The size of the commission depends on the products themselves, who is selling them and the percentage offered by the seller to the affiliate.

But what is actually involved in affiliate marketing? What do affiliates do on a daily basis? How do they earn money and how do they learn what to do?

1 An Example Of A Successful Website

There’s several ways of marketing products and services online. Many affiliates create a blog first and sell products and services through their blog. Martin Lewis has a very successful website called moneysavingexpert.com. This is also an affiliate website. By creating content and helping people decide which service to use: which credit card offers to choose, the best interest rate etc. moneysavingexpert.com makes money by sending website visitors to various offers. If a sale is made through this website, the link this credited to it and a commission is made. By creating content, offering value and helping people make sensible choices, the website has built a reputation and become more prevalent over time. Google ranks the site highly in the search engines and thousands of people use it to make purchasing decisions every day.

2 How Can I Get Started As An Affiliate?

Affiliate marketing is huge. There are thousands of people already making their main source of income from the internet. To get started as an affiliate you need to learn some basic strategies and build various methods of generating traffic from the internet to those offers. A lot of affiliates start with a simple blog. Many travelers ‘blog’ about their travels. If you don’t have a passion or interest to blog about, you can start by following an online course which will help. See my bio for more info on this.

3 How Long Does It Take To Make A Living?

Some people go into affiliate marketing with the intention of creating a second income. Some people want to make big money. Depending on how much time you can dedicate to your affiliate business, and how dedicated you are to it, is a big factor in determining your results. Results vary from person to person. With a large advertising budget and the right business model, some affiliates have replaced their living in 6-12 months. For others it can take years before it replaces their existing income. Depending on your approach, advertising budget, and business model, it can take between 3 months and several years to build it to a point where it can replace an existing income.

4 Can Anyone Do It?

One of the great things about affiliate marketing is that the technology is now available to allow anyone to build their own online business. As long as you are prepared to learn and implement that knowledge, anyone who can operate an email, can use online platforms and tools to build their own online business. The main thing you need is the desire to learn. Affiliate marketing isn’t for everyone though. It does take a lot of hard work and it can take years before you are rewarded financially.

5 What Are The Pitfalls Of An Affiliate Business?

You need to dedicate some time to your affiliate business for it to work for the long term. Some people go into affiliate marketing thinking it is some magic pill which will pay them instantly in cash. Much like a job you can’t expect to get out more than you put in. Affiliate marketing is performance related. This means you don’t get paid unless you can successfully sell products and services online. If you don’t know what you are doing it can take years to do this. You can’t be a dabbler and expect to earn the big money. The big earnings are created over years of hard work. Don’t expect to achieve this with only a small amount of input.

6 What Are The Best Things About Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate marketing offers an incredible amount of flexibility and freedom. You can work an affiliate business from anywhere in the world providing you have a laptop and an internet connection. You can choose your own hours and build it up around existing work. Many people come into affiliate marketing because it offers this kind of flexibility. They can choose their priorities in life: spend more time with family, choose your working hours, travel and work abroad. No more commuting to work or working long hours for a boss you don’t like.

Affiliate marketing also offers incredible scalability. A business which is local is always limited to the people who can travel to that business. An online business can be global. Using digital products in conjunction with a global reach, you can scale using tools and software to reach thousands of people through digital technology. By using automation much of the work involved with an online business can be pre-built. By building automation into the business model, you can focus your activities on reaching a larger audience through content creation and paid advertising.

7 Why Am I Struggling With My Affiliate Business?

A lot of people struggle with their affiliate businesses.This can be for a number of reasons. Firstly building up an affiliate business takes time. You need to dedicate a lot of time to an affiliate business in the first place. Only when you reach a ‘tipping point’ do you really start to see your progress. Many affiliates simply don’t realise how much work is involved. They underestimate how much time they need to dedicate to their online business to make it work. Paid advertising can allow you to grow your affiliate business quickly. But it costs money and you need the right products too. You can’t advertise small value items with paid advertising. You won’t generate enough profit to cover your advertising costs. You need a range of products and an email list to advertise through. Content marketing takes much longer to work, depending on your chosen area of business. If you find an untapped niche to market your blog in, you can make some fast progress. However, with a competitive niche you will struggle to get noticed above all the other content which you will have to compete with. There’s several reasons why you might struggle. The main one is lack of knowledge. Get the right education first and your affiliate business will move much faster.

8 What’s The Best Affiliate Model To Use?

There are many different affiliate models, all offering something different to suit the individual. Some affiliates target search traffic and aim to get their content found on Google. Some create their own products and sell them directly to customers. However, having a range of products which you can sell over and over to existing customers is a great model for long term success. Selling a single item online is limited. It means you can only make one commission from each sale. By choosing membership products to promote which also offer back end sales and a built in sales team, you can benefit from monthly commissions and up-sell commissions for the lifetime of any given customer. Selling membership products is definitely a game changer when it come to affiliate marketing because you make an income from each customer, rather than a single commission. But a good model to choose is one in which you have a passion for and can keep doing for the long term. Choosing products which you have no interest in is a short sighted plan. Think about what you would like to do online to generate an income. If you choose to go with your passion, your business will last much longer, and be more successful.

9 Can I Just Sell My Own Products?

Many affiliates create their own products to sell online. However, when you are starting out it is a good idea to learn the basics of marketing first. That way you can start earning more quickly from your affiliate business. I spent a long time creating my own products when I first discovered affiliate marketing. But I didn’t sell anything because of a couple of reasons. Firstly I didn’t research whether my products would have a big enough demand. Secondly I didn’t know how to market them. By joining a program which teaches you how to market products first, you can start making money more quickly. Don’t waste time creating products if you don’t know how to sell them. Marketing is a much more important skill for making money online. Once you know this skill, you can then apply it later when marketing your own products and services. Also your own products will be limited in range. By using an existing product range, you can benefit from products which are already selling. You can choose a program which offers high ticket commission, monthly memberships, back end sales and a built in sales team. Building your own products which offers all of these things not a possibility for most people when starting out.

10 What’s The Point Of Affiliate Marketing?

Some people struggle with the concept of affiliate marketing.They think it sounds too ‘salesy’. When I understood affiliate marketing I immediately found it appealing simply because I needed a flexible way to work around my contract work. I had to drop what I was doing at a moments notice if the phone went. This meant other jobs were awkward to juggle around. No-one wants to employ a ‘flaky’ employee. I wanted to work from my laptop and affiliate marketing gave me that opportunity. For many people this is the reason why they choose affiliate marketing. They can earn an income from their laptop, choose their working hours and not have a boss or place of employment. You don’t have to sell directly to anyone or even talk to a customer. There is no stock to hold. Added to this, the scalability of affiliate marketing which lets you scale up to a global audience and deliver products on autopilot, makes it the best flexible business of the future.

Article Source: http:// EzineArticles.com/9671646

from Income Replacement Academy https://incomereplacementacademy.blogspot.com/2020/05/10-things-to-know-about-affiliate.html via IFTTT

from Income Replacement Academy https://incomereplacementacademy.wordpress.com/2020/05/28/10-things-to-know-about-affiliate-marketing/ via IFTTT

from Pamela Benavides https://pamelabenavides0.blogspot.com/2020/05/10-things-to-know-about-affiliate.html via IFTTT

#Pamela Benavides

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easywaymoney0 · 4 years

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via Easy Ways To Make money Online,

But what is actually involved in affiliate marketing? What do affiliates do on a daily basis? How do they earn money and how do they learn what to do?

1 An Example Of A Successful Website

2 How Can I Get Started As An Affiliate?

3 How Long Does It Take To Make A Living?

4 Can Anyone Do It?

5 What Are The Pitfalls Of An Affiliate Business?

6 What Are The Best Things About Affiliate Marketing?

7 Why Am I Struggling With My Affiliate Business?

8 What’s The Best Affiliate Model To Use?

9 Can I Just Sell My Own Products?

10 What’s The Point Of Affiliate Marketing?

Article Source: http:// EzineArticles.com/9671646

from Income Replacement Academy https://incomereplacementacademy.blogspot.com/2020/05/10-things-to-know-about-affiliate.html via IFTTT

from Income Replacement Academy https://incomereplacementacademy.wordpress.com/2020/05/28/10-things-to-know-about-affiliate-marketing/ via IFTTT

from Easy Ways To Make money Online https://easywaystomakemoneyonline0.blogspot.com/2020/05/10-things-to-know-about-affiliate.html via IFTTT

#Easy Ways To Make money Online

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blankdblank · 5 years

Text

Anaticula Pt 31

Pt 1 - Pt 2 - Pt 3 - Pt 4 - Pt 5 - Pt 6 - Pt 7 - Pt 8 - Pt 9 - Pt 10 - Pt 11 - Pt 12 - Pt 13 - Pt 14 - Pt 15 - Pt 16 - Pt 17 - Pt 18 - Pt 19 - Pt 20 - Pt 21 - Pt 22 - Pt 23 - Pt 24 - Pt 25 - Pt 26 - Pt 27 - Pt 28 - Pt 29 - Pt 30 -

The attacks on the Cup signaled the call for both Molly and Arthur to come to work meaning all of you were packed up and sent to your home through the coming days, left to your own devices, mainly spending a few days a week enjoying the muggle films playing and looking through the shops around your home. For nearly a week you all awaited daily news on how things were being handled though today at the early breakfast Arthur seemed in a fowl mood after hearing all the fowl things from the drafts of possible for upcoming articles to help distract the masses and hopefully cast blame. The main culprit chosen to be, as usual, The Black Plague.

A scoff was all it took and through passing you your portion of the mail Percy responded to his father, “I know you don’t understand but someone has to do the job.”

Arthur, “How could you work with him? How could you take that job as his personal assistant after all he has said?!”

Percy, “That is precisely why I took the job.” He said spreading some jam across his toast not looking up at all.

Arthur, “And just what-,”

Percy raised his toast, “He’s calling Jaqi Grindy now.” Taking a bite of his toast making everyone stop and look at him.

Lowering your fork you ask, “Grindy?”

Molly lowered into her seat, “As in Grindlewald?”

Percy nodded as he swallowed locking his eyes on hers, “Yes. Fudge has plans. And no matter my own disagreements someone must be there to listen and plan accordingly.” Biting into his toast before lowering his gaze to the envelope from Hogwarts he opened and drew the letters inside from.

Harry, “Grindlewald, didn’t he kill people?”

Sirius sighed filling his coffee mug again answering, “He was the Riddle of his generation. Only Dumbledore could bring him down.”

Draco, “Why would they call her a killer?”

Hermione, “Perhaps it’s not that she’s a killer, but she is gaining a following, perhaps?”

Percy flatly replied, “No, he is under the assumption she is a Death Eater and took part in the attacks. His favorite being a mental break from all her trauma causing her to fake Riddle’s rise again.”

Neville, “But she was with us.”

Percy shrugged and you said, “It’s like Mum said, reason and truth are colors to the blind.” You glanced up at Neville with a hopefully reassuring smile.

Regulus, “Our mother had a more, colorful way of saying that.”

Sirius chortled, “Oh yes, even managed to throw in a mention of decapitating chickens into one of the versions.”

Regulus, “Wonder we didn’t turn out to be Grindys ourselves.”

Sirius chuckled, “Ooh, she would have never allowed that. Grindlewald got himself caught. Even Riddle was a failure in her eyes.”

Dropping your gaze to the letter Percy passed you your lips turned into an upwards grin, his NEWTS results ignoring the conversation delving into how even Fudge was being hated and Lucius had started to draw a following in your favor.

Study of Ancient Runes E, Arithmancy O, Astronomy O, Care of Magical Creatures E, Charms E, Defence Against the Dark Arts E, Divination O, Herbology E, History of Magic O, Muggle Studies O, Potions E, Transfiguration E

With a giggle you replied, “You improved your Ancient Runes score, well done Percy.”

He chuckled saying, “Come on then, let’s see yours.”

You grinned and passed him back his letter to open yours and then pass it to him, “All O’s.”

Fred opened his through Percy’s congratulations to say, “11 O’s and one E in Herbology.”

George, “Same, but my E is in Transfigurations.”

The rest of the meal until they had to go the conversation was kept on light subjects to try and distract you and with the lists of supplies for courses you would be taking this year.

Leaving the younger teens at home you were off with the twins, headed for Minerva’s home for your usual Tuesday Tea where Snape and Barty were there waiting for you. Once their excitement over your results had lulled your dream had been brought up along with Fudge’s comments Percy had shared.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

George, “Whatever it is, it’s gotta be big.”

Minerva, “After what happened at the World Cup I couldn’t imagine less.”

In your glance at Snape he said, “From my sources a cousin to your uncle Rudolphus roused a group of Death Eaters. Now, Peter has informed you he has found the necessary potion?”

Minerva, “To-,” she looked between you, “You’re not serious?! Letting him come back, when we could end things now?”

Barty, “Actually, if the Lestranges are building up forces it would be best to know who we are up against.”

Minerva, “Clearly if this is a trap-,”

“If it’s a trap we still don’t know what he wants, or who besides me and Harry they will go after.”

Minerva, “You are not meat!”

“No, but I’m tempting enough to distract them from chasing after Harry until we learn their plans.”

Minerva, “Jaqi.”

Snape, “None of this is favorable.”

Barty, “Strategy is key. We work with Jaqi to build our numbers, burrow in get enough on our side to give us secrets.”

George, “It makes sense.”

Fred, “Snape and Barty have been watching the pair of them,”

George, “No doubt winning his favor even in hiding.”

Minerva looked at you inhaling a deep trembling breath, “You know he’s going to come after me. You know I’m going to have to choose.”

Minerva, “But to join them-?”

“He wants me now, I’m going to make him need me.”

Barty, “That’s the spirit! We’ve a good portion of those who didn’t flee when he fell, they know he’ll want her, so they win her favor and they will assume they’re safe. To hide from him they will find us. A great deal of his followers have forgotten just how vengeful he will be. His most loyal are still in Azkaban.”

Snape rested his hand on Minerva’s forearm drawing her eyes from you, “Not even Dumbledore can guarantee her safety. These past few years have proven that.”

“Mum,” her eyes snapped back to you, “Either I find him or he hunts me down.”

Fred, “Just like Percy with Fudge.”

George, “We can’t stop the Hydra,”

Both, “But we can snap off a head or two until we find a way to bring it all down.”

“This is more than just saving the school this time. Everyone must pick a side.”

Snape, “Fudge cannot hide the proof for long.”

Minerva, “Once he is spotted, then the ranks will rise.” You all nodded and she exhaled looking you over again and you grinned at her, “You are not alone in this.”

“I know.”

Plans were beginning to form and once again alliances were being forged, and for all your fears you knew you had to stand and fight. Even if you had to die you were certain, he was going to love you, need you more than air, you were going to make sure of that and just when you’d taken everything from him he would watch you die. If you could achieve anything, you would want him to feel it, what it was like to watch your everything die and not be able to stop it.

…

In a fair trade Remus took up his old spot on the Auror team and Alastor taking up his old place as Professor, meeting you up at the station you traveled to with Snape and Barty. Both of whom joined Alastor, who seemed to be a bit cheerier than usual in his move to the Professor’s car and you moved to the sixth year car finding Cho and Cedric saving a booth for you three.

Cedric, “So, I don’t know how much you’ve learned but Dad says there’s a lot of things going on with the Ministry. Something about the school, but he won’t say what.”

“Even Alastor’s been extra cheerful about coming back.”

Twins, “Can’t be anything good.”

Cho, “What could it be?”

The three of you shrugged, “Not a clue.”

Cedric, “Just hope no Dementors this time.”

An odd song from the Sorting Hat of ancient shadows and great beasts only worsened your fears. Not sated in the least by the entrance or sorting of each of the new students. Amongst them came with the addition to Nigel Creevey to his brother’s side with an adorable matching camera he stole ample pictures of all he saw with you all turned to hear Dumbledore give his opening speech.

“Already, this has been a trying year. Death Eaters at the World Cup, for those of you not old enough to remember these show greater signs of a growing darkness to come. What you all must remember is that in times of darkness you must not let fear rule your actions. For in those moments we must choose to either do what is right, and what is easy.” The serious tone in his eyes dimmed and he stated, “Again we are pleased to welcome Alastor Moody as Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts. Along with that news comes greater news of a higher caliber for what it means for this school. Not many of you might be aware of this but Hogwarts has been chosen to host the Triwizard Tournament.”

Confused murmurs filled the hall then died at his saying, “Bartemis Crouch Sr, Head of the Ministry of Magic's Department of International Magical Cooperation, in conjunction with Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports, worked with their opposite numbers in other countries to revive the Tournament. Previously discontinued in 1792.”

Leaning over you whispered, “I have a five odd time great Uncle Lycoris who competed in that. Won by default.”

Cedric, “Default?”

“One opponent died and the other was unable to complete the final task, lost a foot.”

Looking at Dumbledore again as the chatter died down Dumbledore motioned his hand to silence it, “In nine days time we will be welcoming a collection of students from both Beauxbatons and Durmstrang Academies to try for a place in this tournament. This game is meant as a way of bringing students and cultures together so we might bridge gaps and barriers otherwise untouched. As they are representing their schools and cultures so are we. The students will be taking up the second towers near Gryffindor and Ravenclaw in dorms converted over the summer specifically for them, so have no fear on being cast out of your rooms. We will show our guests the warmest welcome we can muster.”

Dumbledore’s eyes shifted to you at your hand rising along with the twin’s making him chuckle and say, “Yes, questions or arguments are welcome.”

Together you asked, “Classes too?”

Dumbledore drew in a breath then said, “Both schools will be supplying tutors for their selected students to give them comfort in learning in their own dialects. Though pray do not exclude them, many may wish to expand their vocabulary while many of you might choose to do the same. I am aware of a few of you, at least, fluent in their languages among the prefects, so do not be surprised if you are chosen to be their guides in their beginning steps into this strange world of ours.”

A few more students asked their own questions and you sat quietly smoothing your fingers along the chain of your necklace trying to ignore the pull to try and write to Charlie again. A habit you have tried to limit in the past years as his responses kept growing later and later and since March had stopped all together past a simple card for your birthday filled with pictures of the latest batch of eggs.

Four years and you’d barely seen him at all outside of pictures. With holidays spent countries apart. Word of your father’s rule of no dating had cemented into your reputation it seemed, and as much as you hated to admit it your wish to be something more than a sneak and snog sort of tie to the man who had so ungraciously chosen Dragons over you was beginning to show to your banded family. Over and over you wondered just what you had done to have won the Chaser’s attention to have earned the game quaffle but honestly you didn’t care, the tender action was more than enough to grant you some painful hope that some part of your life might one day be normal. Back to the dinner you were torn at the announcement of Quidditch being canceled for the year and the uproar it caused after.

In your own dorm again once the first years were settled you trudged through eyeing your trunks set in their usual spaces by your wardrobes. Twin arms slung around your back and George spoke first, “Let’s hope your Chaser is part of the collection.”

Making you giggle as Fred added, “And you can snog him senseless.”

Cedric, “No doubt make the front page. Famous athlete and a celebrity in your own right, with a great deal of hopeful suitors from our own school to prove what a catch you are.”

“Oh yes, yes Terrence was quite the admirer.”

They all rolled their eyes sitting on the bench across from you as you sat on your steps to untie and remove your boots, Fred said. “Oh don’t play coy.”

George, “Great deal of lads fawn over you.”

Both, “Just afraid of crossing your mysterious dad.”

“No doubt that rule will be spread to the Durmstrang lads as well.”

Cedric, “Hard to say how, I don’t know anyone but you three who speak Bulgarian.”

Again you giggled and leaned back on the steps smoothing your fingers around the chain with a smirk, “He does have lovely eyes, and a very strong jaw.”

Fred chuckled as George laughed out, “He’d need one after that elbow he took in the match.” Spreading your grin remembering him give you the necklace again.

Fred, “If only we could manage a practice somehow.”

Your lips pursed for a moment and Cedric grinned saying, “I know that look.”

You giggled again saying, “I wonder how many teams they have. Fleur says they have four in Beauxbatons. No doubt the same for Durmstrang. We could make a timetable of some sort.”

Cedric, “No doubt with two pros on their way the need for ample practice will be a demand.”

George, “Why punish the full student body and leave the fun to one student.”

Fred, “Plus, what bridges gaps better than quidditch?”

“True.” You moved to grab a piece of parchment from your desk along with a pen you used to write out your four houses followed by B1-4 and D1-4 after that. Copying the list in columns again and again shifting each team up by one until they had all been paired and you said, “It seems we will be having two games a weekend.”

Cedric laughed as the twins said, “Yes!”

Through the door your twins chasers leaned in the doorway, “Who’s having two games a weekend?” At that more of the older students joined you in the common room as you showed them the chart you had made. Stirring smirks on their faces in their loving the thought to possibly convincing the other schools to join in this constructive form of anarchy to keep quidditch going for all of your schools to remain sane in all this madness.

Breakfast came after dreams of Quidditch, from which you woke up laughing at your head to head battles with Sebastian ending with the final score he let you have making the goals of his team shift to flowers with firework hearts exploding and his place behind you ready with flowers in hand while music played. Sharing the dream spread the laughter and in your favorite sweater and jeans with heels after. Under your curls Opal climbed and settled around your neck enjoying the time she would have there listening through your classes until the other schools would arrive, a topic you would have to share with Tulip as well. Fully fed with bag in hand you joined the others in line continuing on to the NEWT level Herbology course, the difficulty of which had the number of classmates to join you cut nearly in half.

Magical Creatures came next with the freshly returned Hippogriffs now with oddly white speckled feathers due to weekly potions you would give them, with their permission of course, so they would remain safe from Fudge. Double Potions then Double Charms were next, followed by your usual noon RoR club including more of the first years who had heard of the club from the older students in their first meal.

Lunch came with another break, Transfiguration, DADA, with two breaks and dinner after. Break, Ancient Runes and History came next without Cedric with nothing but Choir until you were freed to sleep. Of course it would be different the next day with Arithmacy, Muggle Studies, Divinations, not counting of course Advanced Arithmacy on the weekends, Astronomy Wednesday at midnight and Ghoul Studies the same on Thursday.

With the full schedule you thankfully would only need the Time Turner for Divinations at 8 Sunday, Tuesday and Saturday granting you a much needed break from the troublesome task. And no doubt with a schedule like that you certainly were not going to even bother with this Tournament, hoping to have a simple year for once and make some new friends.

Ten days had flew by and right in the middle of Defense Against the Dark Arts Alastor paused the course to guide you all outside into the hall where you all chuckled and cheered waving at the enchanted blue intricately designed carriages pulled by Abraxan Horses.

An odd bubbling came up to the surface of the Black Lake just moments before the mast of an enchanted pirate ship burst through the surface bearing the Durmstrang symbol making you roll your eyes at Alastor’s humming the tune to ‘the Love Boat’ right by you. In a playful shove on his arm you replied, “Honestly, just as bad as the teens.”

Lowly he chuckled, “Oh now, lad can take an elbow like that, he’s got my approval.” Making you giggle and roll your eyes again following him back to the classroom, “Back to class now. Let the travelers relax. We will meet them at dinner.”

The sound of heavy boots and confused murmurs passed you by with the sound of heels and softer echoed tones not long after. Two free breaks granted you ample time to work on your essay for Herbology due the next day so out into the random bout of sunshine you went to plop in out of the open fields to work on the outlines. Under the view of the high towers you caught plenty of stares from the towers above and at the seventh chime of the clock as the sun was setting you made your way inside straight to your dorm to leave your bags there and change your grass stained t shirt for a plain yellow one.

Filling up your tables you easily caught on to the extension of the hall to fit the new students and with that came Bartemis Sr along with them. In a glance at his poorly disguised son you caught his finger tapping on the frame of his glasses, reminding you of his glasses he had bewitched to confuse his father from recognizing him since he was one of the few to know what he looks like since his imprisonment in his late teens.

Dumbledore took his place and with a grin he said, “Now, we welcome the lovely ladies of Beauxbatons Academy of Magic,” The double doors opened and in pale blue silk dresses and dress jackets with matching hats and heels you watched the ladies stroll through the center walkway releasing butterflies with each pause for a dramatic collective sigh.

In their third pause you glanced up at Snape with a wildly disturbed expression beside Barty Jr with his mouth partially open and brows furrowed in confusion for why they would choose that entrance, all while Minerva held back her giggles knowing your mother’s family could have expected you to go there. Lastly Fleur and her sister Gabrielle came through in a series of spins and flips before standing with the others to drop into a joint curtsey.

Alone on the end of your table against the spare two tables for the guests you sat across from the twins, who left ample room for your not so secret admirer to take up the spot. It seemed past a few underclassmen the sixth through seventh years had been brought and in their pre decided houses they had compared to yours they filled one of the empty sides of the two tables to be together. Fleur, upon sitting down beside Draco in Ravenclaw spotted you finally in the table across from her with a hint of regret on her face for having agreed to the assigned seating. Leaning over Draco caught her attention reassuring her that usually you don’t keep to the assigned tables lightening her mood, especially when he learned that him, Luna and Ginny beside him were technically your family.

Dumbledore said next as you eyed the Beauxbatons at your table seated at the end away from the group of males around you, “And now, our brothers from the North, Durmstrang Academy.”

Again the doors opened and through them came the male teens in full brown uniforms, boots and the scattered fur lined hat. Tapping and spinning their staffs you watched their rush inside between matched grunts ending with one flipping forward to land on one knee blowing a flaming Phoenix from the tip of his wand. Straight through the middle with Igor Karkaroff between them the Krum brothers entered then turned to look over the tables and unlike their classmates who chose to match houses as well. Filling up the empty sides to each of the house tables, glad as the visiting females to not have been divided and be in a single row.

Viktor turned to sit by Hermione, forcing her and Harry apart flashing her a grin through a timid hello while Sebastian all but shoved another of his classmates to literally slide onto the bench at your side with a beaming grin settling closer to you. In the shift of your hair and eyes to mint green you took in his bright cerulean eyes locked onto you saying in a thick accent, “Hello.”

Beside him the others leaned in, all greeting you before you all looked ahead at Dumbledore again while Sebastian kept stealing glances back at you ensuring you could see leading to his leaning back a bit more in another scoot up against your side. “Now that we have welcomed our fellow students now we can get down to business. Bartemis, I will leave the rules to you.”

Bartemis brought in the obscure pillar and you caught Sebastian’s lean back to ask his brother behind him in Bulgarian, “What did he say?”

Krum shrugged and you leaned forward a bit saying, “Professor Dumbledore introduced that ass to list the rules for the Tournament.” The teens from Durmstrang all glanced at you and you flashed them a quick grin, a ripple of awed grins spread on their face. Sebastian inched closer to you once again now right up against your side seeing his gift still around your neck he took as encouragement. Peering past them you saw the ladies you translated for as well earning nods from them in return.

In a wave of his wand the pillar melted away and the Goblet of Fire was exposed and at the shift of your hair to black and frozen expression Minerva and Snape shifted in their seats along with Alastor while you tried not to show your looming panic attack. In another glance at you Sebastian smirked eyeing your dark hair before his eyes dropped to your arms coated in bumps making him shrug out of his coat he then draped around your shoulders snapping your muddled mind back into focus. Warmly he smiled at you folding the fur lined tent around you, “You’re cold.”

Weakly you chuckled and eased your arms through the sleeves, “Thank you.”

In his move to help ease your hair free you tried to flinch away to keep him from touching you so you wouldn’t touch him but with him right against you instantly in a powerful flicker you caught his fear.

A cup of your cheek and a sudden lean in only for you to turn away leading to typical crowds of laughter seemingly from nowhere. A flash of unmanned cameras captured his painful fear, your rejection, blinking free of it you eyed his grin and move to roll the sleeves up revealing your hands steadily shifting your hair back to mint green as his arm settled on the table beside yours inching closer while he looked to Bartemis again. While he spoke you translated for the males and George shifted closer to the Beauxbatons confusing them for a moment before he began to translate for them.

“Now, with every Tournament there are explicit dangers, we will get to that in a moment.

Firstly. Each competing school is allowed one Champion to represent them during the Tournament. Students wishing to participate write their names and the school they attend on a piece of parchment and enter it into the Goblet of Fire. The Goblet is an impartial judge, and selects what it considers to be the best student from each school. At the appointed time, the Goblet ejects the names, making each selected student the official Champion for their school. Each selected Champion is then bound by a magical contract to see the Tournament through to the end.

Secondly. Each Tournament consists of three tasks designed to test the Champions' courage, intelligence, resourcefulness, and magical ability. These tasks are exceedingly dangerous and differ from year to year.

Champions receive marks in each of the tasks from a panel of judges, consisting of the headmasters or headmistresses of the competing schools. On top of the tasks there are varying mental challenges a panel of judges will unleash upon each Champion for additional points.

Most importantly. Each Champion is supposed to stand alone during the Tournament, receiving no outside help from anyone, including friends and teachers. Cheating is frowned upon, though it has been known to take place several times during the history of the Tournament, and some people believe it to be a traditional part of the event.

Also The Yule Ball, held on Christmas Day night, is a traditional part of the Tournament. The Ball includes a feast, and a formal dance where the Champions and their partners lead the host school in dancing. Students old enough to attend are allowed to bring a friend. Students that are too young to attend may attend if invited by a student old enough to attend the ball.” Smirks spread through the crowds while Sebastian looked at you again with another grin

“And most importantly. To ensure that the safety of the students is our utmost intention each challenge has been carefully designed and no students under the age of 17 may enter.” Shouts spread through the hall and as you translated Sebastian looked to you again trying to gauge your response to the final rule.

Sebastian, “Are you 17?”

“I will be in April.”

He grinned at you, “You can cheer me on then. If I am chosen.”

“Sounds like fun.” You replied with a grin of your own doubling his as a blush spread across his cheeks he turned his head away to hide from you in the dying of the shouts at the propping of your chin in your palm.

The appearance of the food came next and in your eating you and the twins chatted with the guys around you sharing about the school and your course loads, which all of them were stunned by while Sebastian wondered at how much time he could get with you through all of it. Once the plates were cleared you spotted Dumbledore stand again and say, “Now that we have eaten, off to bed with you. Prefects, kindly split up and escort our guests back to their dormitories.”

You nodded waiting for the hall to be mostly clear leaving the visiting houses confused and stood signaling Sebastian to pop up with you, brows raised and lips parting in his step over the bench copying yours. The twins said, “We’ll take the ladies, the lads are all yours.”

Looking to Sebastian you said, “Dumbledore asked us to show you back to your assigned tower.”

He nodded and the guys all moved around the table to join you in a group following you through the hall weaving through the twists and turns you answered their varied questions coming from the growing crowd behind you as you flashed Fleur a wave she eagerly returned in your diverting paths.

Around an oddly slanted corner you found a portrait of a Jarvey firing out insults even through the offered password making your brows furrow before Sebastian stepped aside at its opening, remaining near you as Krum in the distant end of the hall continued to try and wish Hermione a good night.

Sebastian, “Miss Black-,”

He paused with a hopeful grin at you making you chuckle and say, “Just Jaqi, I’m not a professor.” You said easing off his coat.

He nodded, “Jaqi, Are your dorms far? I would like to escort you to breakfast.”

“Oh,” you let out a weak giggle, “Well the Puff dorms are in the dungeons.” Making his lips part, “It’s a lot homier than it sounds. I can show you sometime if you like. But we can still meet up downstairs in the Great Hall.” You passed him his coat, “I’ll let you sleep.”

He tried to give it back to you, “You’ll be cold,”

And you nudged it back to him with a giggle, then stepped backwards saying, “I’ll take the shortcut. See you at breakfast.” Suddenly you were engulfed in flames and you shifted into a Phoenix stirring gasps from them all as you flipped backwards into a dive through the stairwell drawing them all to the banister with awed chuckles.

Barely anyone could hear Sebastian’s whisper, “See you at breakfast. My firebird.”

For a few short hours you slept and then twenty to midnight you were bundled up in a comforter following the memorized path along with the twins blindly. A hip bump on your side however at the door to your Ghoul Studies class made you pause blinking Bryt Watkins into focus in his Ravenclaw blanket, hat and slippers.

In a quickened flurry of words he asked, “Hey Jaqi! I was just wondering, I know we’ve just been told about them and all but I was hoping you might agree to go with me?”

“To, wait, what?”

“The Ball, at Christmas. I know you were by Krum, and he gave you his coat and all but I doubt he’s asked you already and I was hoping you might, so will you? Go with me?”

“Um…” lost for words you blinked and heard your Professor inside clearing his throat while waiting for his tea to finish brewing.

“Thanks! You won’t regret it!” he shot back then darted inside.

Peering up at the twins you said, “I said um. Didn’t I say um?”

They nodded and turned to look through the door at Bryt excitedly sharing the news with your fellow classmates, “Poor lad.”

You sighed and mumbled, “Terrence all over again.” Shuffling in your moose slippers to your seats.

Pt 33

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lovehaswonangelnumbers · 4 years

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New Post has been published on https://lovehaswonangelnumbers.org/planet-alert-april-2020/

Planet Alert April 2020

By Mahala’s Astrology

Welcome Spring! Thank goodness we are on the way to some nice warm weather and more sunshine. I am writing my article a little early this month because of all that is going on in the world. I was totally surprised how fast the whole earth was shut down. I never believed it could happen that fast. For those of you who are staying home; I hope you are enjoying your time off. For the service workers who are still working; I thank you for being the great Beings you are as you continue to help people. What would we do without the nurses and doctors and the people who keep the grocery stores open so we can still get food, and many others who help in many different ways. I bless all of you.

Here is a quote from Kitty O’Meara. “And the people stayed home. And read books and listened, and rested and exercised, and made art and played games, and learned new ways of being and were still, and listened more deeply. Some meditated, some prayed, some danced. Some met their shadows. And the people begin to think differently. And the people healed. And in the absence of people living in ignorant, dangerous, mindless, and heartless ways, the earth began to heal. And when the danger passed, and the people joined together again, they grieved their losses, and made new choices, and dreamed new images, and created new ways to live and heal the earth fully, as they had been healed”. Thank you Kitty!

In my last article I talked about the 24th chapter of Matthew where it says “when you see a man standing in the Holy Land giving a speech (that would be Trump when he gave his speech in February) then it is time to take to the hills because there will be a time of tribulation like there has never been before.” We are now in that time period because of the Coronavirus. It has affected the whole world.

The Bible also says that this time period would be shortened to save the Elect. This must mean that the virus will not be in effect for as long as the leaders are saying it will be. Right now, the energy of fear is running rampant and this is why we are in the time period of shut-down, which needs to happen to stop this virus.

March is the 3rd month of the year and the word fear adds up to 3. I guess that is why they say March is the month of madness. Maybe the energy will improve when we move into April because that is the 4th month. Passover starts on April 8 and continues until April 16. The full moon is the night of April 7th.

We are experiencing the repeat of the Moses drama right now. Think about what happened in the movie The Ten Commandments. (Hollywood style of course.) Moses went to the pharaoh and said “Let my people go, they want to be free.” Don’t we also want to be free from control right now? Then in the movie many people died, which is happening right now with the virus. Then darkness came upon the land.

In Matthew Chapter 24, it says “At the time of the great tribulation the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light. The stars will fall from heaven and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.” What will cause this darkness to happen? Could it be the planet Nibiru? I almost forgot about that planet because people had stopped talking about it. Then the other day I received a picture of Nibiru (the Red Kachina) and the email said it is approaching Jupiter’s orbit right now which will soon make it visible to the naked eye. Link Jonas Passos March 16th.

Another prophecy is that the rivers will turn red as Nibiru gets closer to us. This is from the red oxide that comes off the planet. Then I received another email about how the rivers all over the world are turning red right now. Link Rivers and Waters are Turning Red. This is the only thing I can think of that could cause the sun to be darkened and the moon to not give its light, and the heavenly bodies shaken.

The Bible seems to put things in order of how they will happen. First it talks about the man standing in the holy land (USA) then the great tribulation (virus) happens and everyone becomes fearful of this virus. That sure has happened. Then it says that the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light.

Right after that happens, it says “the sign of the son of man will appear in the heavens and the people of earth will rejoice because we will see the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory”. He will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather the elect from one end of heaven to the other. This is when we move into the new earth.

I think this time period is getting close because Passover happens in April and so does Easter. If this darkness does happen at that time, are you ready? The conspiracy theory says that the darkness starts on April 1st and will continue until April 10th, which is Good Friday. I don’t know exactly when this will happen but it is the next thing on the agenda. I know I have repeated much of what I said in my last newsletter but I thought it was important to repeat it because we are now in the great tribulation and the darkness could happen at any time.

Many planets have been lined-up in Capricorn since January 12-13, 2020. Capricorn rules structures and governments and look at what has happened since January. The structures are coming down big time. I have never seen anything like this happen in my life- time, have you?

Mars went into Capricorn on February 18, 2020 and started triggering all of the planets in Capricorn. Mars is an energy planet and is good at triggering events. When Mars made an aspect to Jupiter, the stock Market started to go down and is still going down. This is so the new money system can come onboard, which is already set-up and ready to go.

Pluto rules viruses and that is why the pandemic got so bad in March because Mars had been approaching Pluto. Mars and Pluto are exactly conjunct today. This means that a crisis has happened, and now Mars will start moving away from Pluto, although it may take a while before the virus leaves.

Mars will be in Capricorn until the end of March, and then Mars will move into Aquarius and join Saturn. This will be an entirely different energy because Capricorn rules control and Aquarius rules freedom. We will then move out of the control energy and start manifesting freedom. I think April will be a very intense month because the sun will be in Aries which is ruled by Mars until April 20. Then the sun moves into Taurus and everything changes.

Light manifests the energy of 11/2 and the word dark manifests the energy of 16/7, which is the Tower Struck by Lightning in the Tarot. I think the towers are starting to fall. If we add 2 + 7 it adds up to 9 and that is the energy of love which is the glue that holds our Universe together. Love encompasses everything so “Think with your Heart “and we will make it through this great tribulation with flying colors. Maybe everything will change for the better by Mother’s Day. Wouldn’t that be nice.

So Be It.

***** Written in light and love by Mahala Gayle ****

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famedexclusivearchive · 6 years

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[ARTICLE] IDOLS PREPARING FOR FIRST ANNUAL BUSAN SUMMER FESTIVAL

In conjunction with BC Entertainment, Dimensions Entertainment, Gold Star Media, and SBS, the city of Busan has announced the first annual Busan Summer Festival, taking place from July 9th to July 13th. A number of local events will occur over the span of the festival, but the main attraction will be the entertainment, bringing top celebrities to the city over the course of the week.

The main events of the festival will be a series of three concerts bringing together top idols and artists for three fun summer Night On The Beach concerts featuring some of the hottest hits of the past decade, but fans can also meet these idols throughout the week, as they’ll be hosting festivities and giving back to the Busan community.

The three companies and SBS have released a joint statement saying that through this festival, they hope to celebrate the lively and bustling community of Busan and all the idols have expressed excitement for the festival.

All three of the festival concerts will be filmed and aired on SBS later in the summer.

ADMIN NOTES:

The time has come for our next drop event! Everyone under the three companies will be required to participate in their respective concert part of the festival barring extenuating circumstances such as major injury or illness. It must be cleared with the admin if you want your muse to have a plot that will keep them from participating in this event.

EVENT DETAILS:

The Busan Summer Festival takes place in-universe from July 9th to July 13th. Please be aware that I’ve moved this event forward from when I initially intended it to go up, so there have been slight changes in the schedules of Knight, Alien, Impulse, and Gold Star Soloist 3, all of whom have just had concerts pushed back a couple of days. This is only an OOC change, and in-universe, this will have always been scheduled that way.

There are two parts to the festival that may be used for interactions: work time and free time. For the festival, idols will travel back and forth from Seoul to Busan with their manager every day they are scheduled. On days only individual members of groups are scheduled, only those members are required travel to Busan, but others may come to explore the festival as a guests. Any promotional activities taking place on the days of the festival will be scheduled before traveling or pre-recorded on another day. All idols may visit the festival as a guest when they’re not working.

Outside of the idol’s scheduled work, the festival will also have food, shopping, local performers, etc., and anything typical of a summer fair or festival.

For the concerts, all idols will perform in summer wear regardless of concept (boys in board shorts and t-shirts, girls in denim shorts and tank tops) to match the beach and summer themes of the concert. The concert set lists can be found HERE.

Idols are highly encouraged by their companies to promote the festival through social media, but should also be on their best behavior at all times, whether working or not. They’re still in public and are bound by their image maintenance agreements at all times as usual.

CHOICE ACTIVITIES:

There are open events on the schedule listed below open to individual muses. This Google Form has been set up for you to submit up to two activities of your choice for each of your muses to have them scheduled in those spots. All spots will be first come-first served. More spots will be added if necessary, or more choice activities will be permitted per muse if necessary to fill the majority of the slots. Keep in mind that canonically, companies would have final say in where their idols are scheduled, so you can request activities that your muse wouldn’t enjoy doing! These are completely optional, but participating in these choice activities will give you more opportunities for points!

OVERALL:

In game, this event takes place Monday, July 9, to Friday, July 13, but threads and other posts for this event may be started from Sunday, July 1, at the time this post goes up, to Saturday, July 21, at 11:59PM EDT. Threads may be continued past the end date, but must be started before then. Non-event related interactions may of course be conducted during this time as well.

NOTE: All posts related to the event should be tagged #fmdbusanfest.

SCHEDULE:

MONDAY - JULY 9TH

10AM-12PM: group masterclasses at local arts high school (two idols from each concentration teach the masterclass as a group)

2 vocal mentors (2/2 spots taken by leo & theo) - requires a vocal position in a group or a soloist known for singing.

2 dance mentors (2/2 spots taken by lola & kwan) - requires a main/lead dancer position in a group or a soloist known for dancing.

2 rap mentors (2/2 spots taken by max & prophet) - requires a main/lead rapper position in a group or a soloist known for rapping.

1PM-3PM: volunteering to meet kids at local hospital

5 volunteers (5/5 volunteer spots taken by max, kwan, jaewon, phoenix, & cheol)

4PM-5PM: rashguard (swimsuit) collection runway sponsored by cosmopolitan magazine korea.

3 male models (3/3 spots taken by yejun, xion, & leo)

3 female models (2/3 spots taken by juliet & thalia)

7PM-11PM: night on the beach concert night one sponsored by sprite. (setlist)

performing acts: bc soloist 4, element, CHARM, alien, gold star soloist 3, 7rophy, impulse, dimensions soloist 2, DIARY, WISH

two song solo or collab slot: taken by vivienne - must have released at least two points claim songs at the time of the concert. only one muse per mun can claim one of the solo/collab slots.

three song solo or collab slot: taken by nami - must have released at least three points claim songs at the time of the concert. only one muse per mun can claim one of the solo/collab slots.

TUESDAY - JULY 10TH

10AM-1PM: volunteering at local soup kitchen for the elderly

3 volunteers (3/3 spots taken by taisei & holiday han)

2PM-6PM: special idol makeover event at cosmetics department of busan lotte duty free store sponsored by lotte.

3 idol makeup artists (2/3 spots taken by kasem, rey, & lux) - idols will do the makeup of customers who buy a certain amount of products.

6:30PM-7:30PM: sbs mtv the show live from busan

performing acts: knight, unity, & vice

3 special MCs (3/3 spots taken by taesung, kun, & unee) - can’t be from the three performing groups

9PM-11PM: battle of the bands on the beach

2 MCs (2/2 spots taken by bibi & hee)

2 guest judges (2/2 slots taken by xi & trevor)

WEDNESDAY - JULY 11TH

10AM - 12PM: group masterclasses at local arts high school (a few idols from each concentration teach the masterclass as a group)

3 vocal mentors (3/3 spots taken by sangwoo, jaekyung, & julien shin) - requires a vocal position in a group or a soloist known for singing.

3 dance mentors (3/3 spots taken by hanbit, xion, & jeongin) - requires a main/lead dancer position in a group or a soloist known for dancing.

2 acting mentors (0/2 spots taken) - requires a muse to have an acting points claim of any type.

12PM - 2PM: group masterclasses at local arts high school (a few idols from each concentration teach the masterclass as a group)

3 rap mentors (3/3 spots taken by taesung, nami, & trevor) - requires a main/lead rapper position in a group or a soloist known for rapping.

2 songwriting mentors (2/2 spots taken by taeyong & jynx) - requires canon or points claimed songwriting credits.

4PM-5PM: summer casual wear collection runway by local fashion design students

3 male models (3/3 spots taken by blue, joonsoo, & rey)

3 female models (2/3 spots taken by vivienne & hee)

7PM-11PM: night on the beach concert night two sponsored by sprite (setlist)

performing acts: dimensions soloist 4, dimensions soloist 3, femme fatale, unity, mars, gold star soloist 2, decipher, aria, knight, bc soloist 1

two song solo or collab slot: open - must have released at least two points claim songs at the time of the concert. only one muse per mun can claim one of the solo/collab slots.

three song solo or collab slot: open - must have released at least three points claim songs at the time of the concert. only one muse per mun can claim one of the solo/collab slots.

THURSDAY - JULY 12TH

5AM - 7AM: Photoshoot for Cosmopolitan Korea magazine at sunrise on the beach (will not be a cover shoot).

3 models (3/3 spots taken by lola, theo, & unee)

8AM-11AM: animal shelter adoption event (idols will volunteer at shelter and help/encourage visitors to adopt animals)

4 volunteers (4/4 spots taken by kasem, jynx, juliet, & lux)

12PM-2PM: idols vs. local chefs charity cook off

4 members of the idol chef team (4/4 spots taken by hanbit, holiday han, xi, & soo)

3PM-4PM: extreme obstacle course competition

10 competitors (9/10 spots taken by yejun, kei, soo, tristan, junseo, luna, seongin, dana, & jin) - idols compete against each other for the fastest time running an obstacle course, will be filmed and aired as a special feature during the airing of the concerts

4:30PM-5:30PM: visit to soon-to-be-opened cat cafe - promotional pictures will be taken of the idols spending time with the cats to promote the cafe’s opening

4 idols (4/4 spots taken by yenny, seongin, prophet, & cheol)

6PM-9PM: idol beach volleyball tournament

pair one: 2/2 spots taken by kei & allen - eliminated round one against pair three.

pair two: 2/2 spots taken by sun & anna - eliminated round one against pair four.

pair three: 2/2 spots taken by julien shin & luna - second place.

pair four: 2/2 spots taken by sangwoo & blue - winners.

FRIDAY - JULY 13TH

10AM-12PM: group masterclasses at local arts high school (a few idols from each concentration teach the masterclass as a group)

2 vocal mentors (2/2 spots taken by dana & jin) - requires a vocal position in a group or a soloist known for singing.

2 dance mentors (1/2 spots taken by jaewon) - requires a main/lead dancer position in a group or a soloist known for dancing.

2 rap mentors (2/2 spots taken by sun & aeryn) - requires a main/lead rapper position in a group or a soloist known for rapping.

1PM-2PM: summer pastry bake-off

4 judges (4/4 spots taken by junseo, yenny, phoenix, & anna)

3PM-5PM: live auditions for upcoming talent competition show on KBS

2 MCs (2/2 spots taken by bibi & jaekyung)

2 guest judges (2/2 slots taken by taisei & joonsoo)

7PM-11PM: night on the beach concert night three sponsored by sprite (setlist)

performing acts: dimensions soloist 1, vice, bc soloist 2, gal.actic, bc soloist 3, silhouette, lipstick, gold star soloist 1, bee, origin

two song solo or collab slot: open - must have released at least two points claim songs at the time of the concert. only one muse per mun can claim one of the solo/collab slots.

three song solo or collab slot: taken by taeyong - must have released at least three points claim songs at the time of the concert. only one muse per mun can claim one of the solo/collab slots.

POINTS AVAILABLE:

As with all events, there are special points up for grabs.

INTERACTIONS: Having an event thread with a starter and at least three replies (starter ▻ partner reply ▻ op reply ▻ partner reply) by the end of the event is worth 2 points. This is valid for up to five threads.

INTERACTIONS: Having an event thread with someone your muse has never had a thread with before is worth 1 additional point for each thread.

INTERACTIONS: Having an event thread with someone at the same choice activity/activities as your muse is worth 1 additional point for each thread. Thread must take place in part during or surrounding preparations for the choice activity.

INTERACTIONS: Posting an open starter for the event is worth 2 points. This counts for up to one open thread starter (not a text/sms post) per character and does not count toward the monthly limit. In order to be a truly open starter, this should take place during free time exploring the festival instead of work time.

SOLO: Writing a self-para about your muse doing one (or more) of their choice activities is worth 2 points not counting toward your monthly total.

You can also earn the normal amount of points through submitting tips or articles to the Exclusive blog, writing self-paras, etc. related to the event!

Additionally, if you submit any Exclusive blog articles pertaining to the event, it won’t count toward your monthly limit!

If anything in this post is unclear or you have any questions, please feel free to contact the admin. Please like this post to let me know you read it.

#fmdevent #fmdbusanfest #queued post

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coinprojects · 3 years

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New Post has been published on https://coinprojects.net/who-what-and-how-to-regulate-in-a-borderless-code-governed-world/

Who, what and how to regulate in a borderless, code-governed world?

Hold onto your hats, boys and girls! It’s a new world — a financial system without intermediaries, that anyone can access 24 hours a day with only a mobile phone and a wallet! As Julien Bouteloup said to me:

“In DeFi, what we are building is fully decentralised technology, fully transparent, run by mathematics. No one can beat that.”

He continued: “We are building on research papers, 40 years of research, fundamental research, discrete mathematics being built and put on-chain that no one can beat. You cannot beat that. GitHub didn’t exist in the ‘90s. First, the fact that we’re going at the speed of light, is because everything is open source, and everyone can participate.”

Related: DeFi literacy: Universities embrace decentralized finance education

A Novum Insights report stated back in August that since 2020, the DeFi market has grown by a factor 40, with the total value locked in DeFi at around $61 billion at the time (while the current TVL stands at around $165 billion). Stablecoins’ capitalization, an important part of DeFi, grew in the first half of 2021 to $112 billion.

Massive gains are being made but, at the same time, DeFi investors are also losing money because DeFi is not regulated, moderated, intermediated, hosted or validated by a central authority, only driven by smart contracts. So if a smart contract fails or is attacked, consumers have no remedy. Loretta Joseph, global digital asset regulatory expert, said to me: “Regulators protect consumers and investors. In DeFi, you don’t have any intermediaries to regulate, so it’s totally P2P. The question is how it will be regulated in the future. People are going to get scammed. When people start to get scammed, the first thing they do is complain to the regulator.”

Related: Will regulation adapt to crypto, or crypto to regulation? Experts answer

Indeed, since 2019, DeFi protocols have lost about $285 million to hacks and other exploit attacks. And as the experts stated, the majority of hacks were due to developer incompetence and coding mistakes. That’s significant when the sector is entirely reliant on the code.

Related: The radical need for updating blockchain security protocols

The challenges of regulation

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Hester Peirce said in an interview with Forkast.News about DeFi back in February: “It’s going to be challenging to us because most of the way we regulate is through intermediaries, and when you really build something that’s decentralized, there’s no intermediary. It’s great for resilience of a system. But it’s much harder for us when we’re trying to go in and regulate to figure out how to do that.”

Regulatory concerns tend to be around the volatility of crypto markets as contrasted with government-backed fiat currency, the risk of money laundering and terrorist financing, the unregulated nature of the market, and the absence of recourse for financial losses. Nonfungible tokens are exploding, generating excitement, confusion, legal questions and massive gains. NFT markets are also attracting large crypto transactions, which will likely bother regulators, who may see the big money moves in NFTs as money laundering. At a macro level, the decentralization of the financial system and the ability to manage economic stability and protect consumer interests poses a further challenge to regulators.

Related: Nonfungible tokens from a legal perspective

DeFi decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) are popular as a means of transferring cryptocurrencies across different blockchains. This supports crypto lending and yield farming. DAOs, by conservative estimates, oversee more than $543 million. In a DAO, information technology governance and corporate governance are one and the same. The organization is governed and operated by smart contracts, which are monitored and enforced by algorithms. The code both governs and executes. Should the algorithms fail, who then is responsible?

In a joint article, dubbed “Regulating Blockchain, DLT and Smart Contracts: a technology regulator’s perspective,” a group of researchers outline some key points to consider: (1) the importance of identifying central points which can be used to apply regulation to, such as miners, core software developers, end users. They even raise the potential for governmental or regulatory players to be potential participants; (2) issues of identifying liability — could core software developers be held to account?; (3) the challenges with the immutability and lack of update-ability of smart contracts; and (4) the need for quality assurance and technology audit processes.

It is expected that exchanges and wallet providers will be a focus for regulators. Decentralized exchanges allow users to trade directly from their wallets in a P2P manner without intermediaries. Global money-laundering watchdog the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has exchanges in their sights. Christopher Harding, the chief compliance officer of Civic, noted that the FATF proposed guidelines which suggest that DApps will need to comply with country-specific laws enforcing FATF, AML, and Counter-Terrorism Financing requirements.

Related: FATF draft guidance targets DeFi with compliance

A recent review of 16 leading exchange platforms by the London School of Economics and Political Science found that just four were subject to a significant level of regulation related to trading, so there is a clear gap. Getting listed on any major exchange now requires a project to have passed auditing, but meaningful security doesn’t end there. Toby Lewis, CEO of Novum Insights, made the point:

“Also, remember that smart contracts can be attacked. Even if they are audited, it does not give you a guarantee that it will be exploit-free. Do your own research before you start.”

In an open-source environment where projects are developing at an average compound growth rate of 20% per year, finding just the right moment to regulate, wherein people are protected from risk but innovation is not constrained, is a classic problem to solve. Some governments have addressed achieving this balance by using regulatory sandboxes (U.K., Bermuda, India, South Korea, Mauritius, Australia, Papua New Guinea and Singapore), while some have gone straight to legislating (San Marino, Bermuda, Malta, Liechtenstein).

Far from resisting regulation, leading DeFi figures embrace it as part of the maturing of the industry. In an interview with Cointelegraph, Stani Kulechov, the founder of DeFi lending platform Aave, suggests that peer review will be the future: “Auditors are not here to guarantee the security of a protocol, merely they help to spot something that the team itself wasn’t aware of. Eventually it’s about peer review and we need to find as a community incentives to empower more security experts into the space.” In the same article, Emeliano Bonassi spoke about ReviewsDAO, a peer review forum for connecting security experts with projects looking for reviews. Bonassi sees potential for this to become a learning opportunity where people with specialized knowledge can contribute to improving the security of the ecosystem.

Tan Tran, CEO of Vemanti Group, suggested: “Going forward, I do see accelerated adoption of platforms with permissionless financial products and services that can be used by anyone anywhere, but each will be governed by a regulated-party with centralized control to ensure accountability and compliance. This is not about stopping innovation. It’s more about deterring bad actors from exploiting unsophisticated consumers.” Giving an expert opinion on DeFi to Cointelegraph, Brendan Blumer, CEO of Block.one, concluded: “The real winners in the digital economy will be those that think long-term and take the time to ensure their products meet jurisdictional and professional service requirements.”

It certainly looks like exchanges and software developers could be in the sights of regulators. We anticipate regulators will look for ways to improve technology quality assurance processes and DeFi governance, which can only be done in conjunction with the industry. Mark Taylor emphasized that regulators need to continue to work in partnership with crypto industry players to protect consumers.

Julien Bouteluop explained: “We are actually building, in DeFi, everything that traditional finance has, but faster, stronger, more transparent and accessible by everyone that’s here. It’s really different. It means that anyone in the world can access technology and doesn’t need to ask permission from anyone. I think it’s necessary to push for innovation, and to build a better world.”

Who, what and how do we regulate in this global 24/7, borderless market? This is a whole new ball game. Regulators and industry will need to work hand in hand.

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

Jane Thomason is a thought leader on blockchain for social impact. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Queensland. She has had multiple roles with the British Blockchain & Frontier Technologies Association, the Kerala Blockchain Academy, the Africa Blockchain Center, the UCL Centre for Blockchain Technologies, Frontiers in Blockchain, and Fintech Diversity Radar. She has written multiple books and articles on Blockchain. She has been featured in Crypto Curry Club’s Top 100 Women in Crypto, the Decade of Women Collaboratory’s Top 10 Digital Frontier Women, Lattice’s Top 100 Fintech Influencers for SDGs, and Thinkers360’s Top 50 Global Thought Leaders and Influencers on Blockchain.

Source link By Cointelegraph By Jane Thomason

#Altcoin #Bitcoin #BlockChain #BlockchainNews #Crypto

#Altcoin #Bitcoin #BlockChain #BlockchainNews #crypto #Blockchain #CryptoPress

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voiptechsolutions · 3 years

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What Your Business Can Achieve Artificial Intelligence VoIP Phone Systems? Know Why It Is The Next Big Thing?

What is the next big thing in the market for the call center operation? Are you wondering how to transform your daily operation? Well, before you opt for any technology, you need to do your research properly; like competitors' analysis - what kind of phone systems they are using, software, hardware, & all. If you haven’t, then this is the best time to know and make a move. Have you heard of artificial Intelligence? Well, AI (Artificial Intelligence) and machine learning combined have been the most advanced tech in recent years & it’s here to stay. The application of Artificial Intelligence in Cloud-based VoIP Phone systems has made it become more efficient and productive than ever. And, business houses these days are looking to take it to the next level, and they can harness the immense benefits of VoIP phone systems by staying ahead in the ever-changing marketing landscape. Be it the private sector or Govt., agencies, the technology made its own way to almost every sector, and that’s for a valid reason. From showing the products you may like in Flipkart, Amazon, Myntra, etc., to help bots on customer service websites, you will find the applications of Artificial Intelligence in almost every field. And, if you are a call center, integration of AI In a Cloud-Based VoIP Phone System could be the game-changer for your customer service. Want to know how the integration of AI In a Cloud-Based VoIP Phone System can benefit your contact center? You should keep scrolling down. Here is an overview of the remarkable services that you can offer to your customers with AI-powered cloud-based VoIP phones - and how it helps you grow as an organization. Interactive Voice Response: In general, what’s your take on calling customer care? I Hope, it’s not satisfactory! “Press #1 to listen in English. Press #2 for other languages “ “Press #3, if you are an existing customer. Press #4 for select from the menu“ “Press #5 to select the category, Press #6 to……...“ Well, by the time you get to speak to an actual customer care representative, you feel exhausted, right? This is normally what happens during a tech support call. Customers buy products or services, they face a problem, call their customer support, and then spend minutes listening to multiple rounds of a recorded voice reeling off a menu of choices, before finally getting routed to an extension. Only to end up being on hold for half an hour. Are you doing enough to give a great customer experience every time? More likely than not, the person who’s on the other side of the phone gets irritated by the time he/she speaks to an actual human. There comes AI-powered interactive voice recognition technology. Its IVR receptionists don't take much time, by quickly accessing queries of the callers and processing the request to the right extension within a fraction of a second through call routing. It not only saves your callers valuable time, but also puts an end to those long halt, keeping them happy to deal with you time again. With millions of requests processed every day, companies need this technology to manage them more efficiently. Transcription of Recorded Calls: Well, you can call it another handy application that comes with the integration of AI In Cloud Based VoIP Phone System. The application uses the same voice recognition technology to transform the recorded calls into text documents. The voicemail-to-email and voicemail-to-text feature of a VoIP Phone System is based on this technology. As the name suggests, the voicemail messages are transcribed into text documents and then sent to the inbox of the concerned person, or to the messaging platform of your choice. An employee gets instant access to voicemail messages anywhere, anytime without having to wait to get back to the office. It can transcribe the entire conversations between customer care representatives and the customers, and store them in the internal database for future reference. Above all, it would come in handy in case of any disputes and to give more personalized customer support. Language Translator: These days, you can avail exact rendering of texts and conversations in a matter of seconds that too with 100% accuracy and this is only possible with Artificial Intelligence. In this highly competitive marketing landscape where businesses are eyeing for global presence, this could prove to be a saving grace. With businesses going online, the integration of translation assistance into your business phone services can take your communication to the next level. And paves the way to business success. Whether you would like to translate English to Japanese or any other foreign language, AI translation assistance can be an invaluable asset to serve overseas clients. Data Analytics: With AI in your VoIP Phone System, you can easily deal with staggering amounts of data in a matter of seconds. These analytical data provide you with in-depth, actionable insights to optimize your marketing strategies. You can analyze the call metrics, anticipate the behavior of callers, and evaluate the performance of your workforce. With the algorithms getting smarter with each passing day, this technology can help you in decision-making with better efficacy. In conjunction with CRM systems, AI analytics empowers you to give a personal touch to almost everything from regular follow-up calls and text marketing campaigns to web browsing and email marketing. Process Automation: This is one of the best applications of AI for VoIP Providers in particular. With Process Automation, you can eventually boost the productivity & efficiency of your business to a great extent. On the basis of the data obtained from various processes, you can automate certain things to yield better results. You can use AI to improve areas with low efficiency such as; agents’ performance, team effort, process flows, and internal structures. You can streamline workflows by automatically shuffling tasks among your workforce based on their current performance, like follow-up calls, sending email, etc. Are you a call center, looking for VoIP Providers that can integrate cloud telephony in the world? You couldn’t have a better choice than VoIPTech Solutions. We offer you a robust and fully functional AI-powered IVR system that works on any device. Being one of the most sought-after Indian VoIP service providers, we make sure every aspect of your setup is being taken care of by specialists with a complete overview of the system architecture. What’s more, within a couple of minutes you will have the capacity to solve your problem. It is uniquely intended to help new companies. For more info, call: +91-6746828203. Read the full article

#ArtificialIntelligence #bestsipprovider #businessvoipproviders #InternationalVoIPProvider #InternationalVoIPProviderVoIPtechsolutions #topvoipproviders #vicidialer #virtualnumber #voipminutes #voipminutesprovider #VoIPPhoneNumbers #VoipProviders #voipservicesinindia #VoIPtechsolutions

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level99games · 6 years

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In-Depth Anath Guide "Devastation Now"

General Info

Welcome to the Anath In-Depth Guide. In this guide, you'll learn all you need to learn about Indines' Aspect of Devastation! Note that this guide is NOT a substitute for experience. It's always better to go out there and play some games!

About the Author

Marco's back at it again, writing guides for characters! He is the creator of the BattleGUIDES and BattleTIPS series, and works for Level 99 Games as a content creator.

Quick Reference

Match-Ups

Anath does quite well against characters that easily fall to "stat checks" as her stat game is quite strong. Intense Priority can easily shut-down Karin, while her Soak and Power can do wonders against slow build-up characters like Magdelina.

Well-statted and high hitconfirm characters tend to easily abuse Anath's awkwardness, making her quite sad. Characters like Riflam and Cadenza can prove to be quite effective at dealing with her.

Overview

Anath is, in Brad's words, "two Hikarus stacked on top of each other." Though humorous, this is not an inadequate summary of what Anath can do. She takes whatever Hikaru does and turns it up to 11. She has more devastating effects and higher stats, but has some of the game's most awkward cards. If you like playing overwhelming but clumsy fighters, Anath is right up your alley.

Simple Tips

Identify your strong forms. Though Anath has many forms, only one or two are really useful in any given match-up. Identifying which of your forms gives you the upper-hand is crucial, as Anath will not survive if she enters a "sub-optimal" form.

Play at mid-range. It might seem obvious, given the fact that she uses a halberd, but Anath is a mid-range fighter. Range 2-3 is where she is most comfortable as many of her attacks, forms, and effects are quite powerful at these ranges.

Mind your forms. Anath's forms are more predictable than Hikaru's Tokens because Anath not only telegraphs her forms, but they also go on cooldown whenever she swaps out of them. This means that getting stunned can knock her out of her preferred form. Use defensive effects or Dodge to buy time and get back to your stronger form.

Strengths

Oppressive stat game, when played well.

One of the game's strongest unique bases.

Versatile with many forms and great brawling effects.

Weaknesses

Awkward effects that require some positioning to work.

A noticeable lack of defenses on her cards.

Requires judicious form management.

Role on the Team

Anath is an awkward character to place in your roster, as she has a specific niche as a stat-roller. Her ability to "stat-gate" other characters can prove quite useful in drawing bans away from your other team members. Once actually in-game, Anath can exert dominance against many characters in the game, making her more than just ban bait.

Card Analysis

Unique Ability

Anath's Aspect cards show-off just how strong her stats are. With the ability to place Soak 2 or Priority +4 on ANY attack, Anath can easily overwhelm most foes that stand in her way. This does, however, come with a few drawbacks.

Each of her forms comes with a matching weakness. Getting Priority reduces your power, while getting Soak reduces your effective range. This, basically, turns Anath into different kinds of "stat monsters" depending on her current Aspect. She could be a speedster one minute, then a tanky juggernaut the next.

It is, therefore, important that Anath manage her Aspects correctly, making sure she has access to the ones that give her significant advantages in the current match-up.

Dread

We begin with what is, arguably, Anath's best style. Dread has absolutely insane hitconfrim, letting Anath hit characters at almost full-board range, especially when paired with Ranged bases. However, its true power lies in its passive effect.

Dread gives opponents at Range 2 Power -3, which can be thought-of as "effective Soak 3". This is absolutely insane as it allows Anath to tank through a large majority of attacks while hitting back in earnest. This is not to say that the Start effect is "pointless." Outside of giving her hitconfirm, Dread also gives Anath amazing positioning capabilities, allowing her to close or create gaps with ease.

Finally, Dread is also one of her only "defensive" cards, making it easier to use her Power Aspect in conjunction with Havoc for huge damage pay-outs.

Leashing

Leashing is one of those mid-range styles that characterize Anath's effective range. While it is definitely useful for its ability to reposition, when played at Range 2, Leashing gives Anath an easy cornering tool and a slight damage boost to boot! However, that is not all.

Leashing's other big use case is for setting-up mid-range from nearly any position. When the opponent is at Range 1, Anath can simply pull them to establish Range 2 easily. On the other hand, opponents at Range 4 are dragged towards her, establishing mid-range as well. This makes Leashing one of Anath's most versatile tools regardless of range.

Abhorrent

True to its name, Abhorrent might make quite a few players scared to use it. All with good reason. It doesn't look as "exciting" as many of her other cards. However, looks can be quite deceiving.

Abhorrent is yet another positioning tool that benefits Anath greatly. Ignoring pushes and pulls allows her to stay at the specifc ranges she wants, preventing cheeky Grasp plays from ruining her attacks. This, mixed-in with the ability to set-up positioning next beat with its After effect, makes for one of Anath's better positioning cards.

All of this is said without even considering what may be one of the styles biggest advantages: its Power. That extra Power +1 might not seem like much, but paired with the Priority Aspect, Abhorrent can completely decimate opponents who don't respect it.

Destruction

Sure Destruction lacks priority, but it easily makes up for that with its crazy hitconfirm. Range +0~2 makes nearly any base a Burst and Grasp counter, given the right circumstances. This makes Destruction a great way to ensure that Anath whacks her opponent guaranteed.

Aside from this, Destruction serves as a hedge against many opponents who may try to enter melee range against Anath, who loves to be at mid-range. Should they try to approach, they will lose life, making it a risky venture. Use this to your advantage and punish people who are trying to Dodge you.

Finally, its Hit effect is nothing to sneeze at. As with nearly all her other cards, this allows Anath to bob and weave, quickly establishing mid-range once again.

Cataclysmic

Cataclysmic might seem simple, but it has a myriad of uses. Its primary one, which is also the most obvious, involves using its Damage effect to knock an enemy back, forcing them to miss and possibly launching them into the corner. This is great as it gives Anath some easy ways to avoid damage as well as position for some easy "free damage" the next beat.

On the other hand, Cataclysmic's more "exotic" uses are seen in its End effect, which allows Anath to teleport behind the opponent. This effect usually fizzles because the Damage effect often places the opponent into a corner. However, when used with Dodge, Anath can position herself to not only dodge the opponent's attack, but also use the End effect to position a second time, guaranteeing that she always has the range she wants.

Havoc

Anath's unique base is littered with HUGE numbers. It has Power 5, Range 2, and an Advance 3?

Now, this is quite a hard base to evaluate at face-value due to the fact that its quite "hard" to actually see what its effective range is. The Start Advance 3 and Before Move 1, in conjunction with the Range 2, make for quite an awkward attack. Simply put, this attack works at odd ranges if Anath switches sides with the opponent using the Start effect. If she does not switch sides, it works at even ranges. This, of course, does not consider the range modifiers from your cards.

Essentially, this attack's hit confirm is way better than it looks, giving Anath easy access to an attack that technically works at "any" range. Mix that in with its HUGE base Power and Anath can ruin people's lives with Havoc. Pair this with things that give Anath more Range, Defense, or Priority and watch as your opponents melt under its might.

Force Special Action

Many of Anath's cards actually act similarly to the Force Special Action as many of them have "blank" stats. This is, therefore, more used to play into getting more Force, which can be crucial as Anath benefits greatly from having access to bonus stats from the Force Gauge. Specifically, Force Stun Guard is quite useful for giving her added defenses while in Soak Aspect.

Finishers

This finisher looks quite powerful, and it is. The ability to deal that much damage at such a high priority can be back-breaking. It does, however, share the many common weaknesses of similar finishers. Mainly, Dodge and Burst ruin it completely. Use this to pressure your opponent and possibly mount a huge come-back, as it often guarantees a win if it connects.

This is the much easier finisher to use. Once Anath is low enough, simply go into her Soak Aspect then play Devastation now, granting her Soak 5, which almost guarantees that this goes off without a hitch. Once activated, Anath goes from "awkward but powerful" to "awkward but will kill you and all your descendants in one hit." The huge boost to Power negates the negative aspects of the Priority Aspect and then some, giving Anath Power +3 AND Priority +4 on all attacks. Not a lot of characters can survive against those stats, making the life loss worth the strength gain.

Credits

Content & Editing - Marco De Santos

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