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catboylupin · 3 years

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you have rly interesting takes abt wolfstar!! I was wondering if you had any head canons about the Prank like why Sirius did it and what Remus' reaction was?

hello and thank you and i’m So sorry that this has been sitting in my drafts for like Weeks at this point.... i’m physically incapable of doing anything intellectually demanding in a timely matter and this is such a hard topic because, like, i don’t know!! i’m not very well acquainted with the Fandom Mythology surrounding the Prank or the mainstream interpretation of events so i really don’t know what to make of it, especially in terms of sirius’s motivation. here are a few things that i referenced when typing this all out: meta meta/fic fic beautiful art

the first thing that is interesting to me, and something to keep in the back of our minds when thinking about this, is that when discussing the prank in the shack during PoA, sirius says that “it served [snape] right.”

also i think that the song hospital by the modern lovers possesses some outstanding post Prank vibes...

ok so re: sirius’s motivation. i don’t know. i think it was a combination of things. i don’t even think that sirius entirely knew why he did it, or what there was to gain.

i guess the thing to sort out is to what extent sirius factored remus into the equation. was he not thinking about remus at all and how it would affect him and just wanted to hurt snape because he hated him, or was he like “this is for remus and remus will think it’s funny too”?

i think that he felt slightly goaded by snape because snape was being a massive asshole trying to get them expelled, and he also just did not like him at all. like, the most obvious motivation or end goal in sirius telling him is that he just wanted to scare snape so he would leave them alone and also it would be a little funny because hahaha he is a slimey wizard nazi (at age 15/16 do you think sirius would be politically advanced enough to have a ‘punching nazis’ outlook on snape? i don’t know)

and i don’t think that he ever seriously thought that remus would react well (like, how could he? sirius had to have known that remus’s worst fear ever was hurting someone). and he was literally risking the entire school finding out he was a werewolf. but maybe a small part of sirius was like “take that snape!! that’s what you get for bullying my beautiful mysterious friend!! remus will love this lol”

but i think the thing that makes the most sense is that he wasn’t thinking about remus that much and didn’t think he would react well.

and here i where you can start thinking about sirius’s upbringing and how that affected how he viewed werewolves/remus.

i think that sirius was probably raised surrounded by some pretty intense anti-werewolf beliefs and he dealt with remus being a werewolf by 1. separating remus from the wolf and 2. kind of like romanticizing it. so much of sirius’s attraction to remus stemmed from this sort of fascination.. james was so similar to sirius and generally uncomplicated, but remus, even though he was kind of weird looking, always sort of elicited this morbid curiosity from him. and he saw remus’s lycanthropy as something he could fix, or at least help (see: the animagus thing, my personal headcanon that he was very into taking care of remus during their relationship). remus was his tragic werewolf friend. but remus never thought that sirius understood his lycanthropy the way remus wanted him to, that there was always this sort of tension, a lingering sense of “you think you’re so different from your family, but you’re not really.”

sirius could have thought that snape actually knew about remus and wanted to make him prove that he knew, like: “sirius, i know what remus’s secret is, hint hint wink wink” “okay, if you really know then go to the shrieking shack,” like snape kind of goaded sirius into telling him, and sirius thought that he would know better. but that is just such a profoundly stupid thing for sirius to do, and i feel like putting too much blame on snape is being too generous to sirius.

leescoresbies has an interesting headcanon that the prank happened around the time sirius ran away from home and he was thus was very emotionally volatile. and so it was in part a result of sirius’s trauma/anger/joy, and i like that idea, those emotions had to have been a factor. and if you are someone that has a really hard time reconciling with sirius’s shitty behavior as a teen, that’s kind of an easy/ canon compliant way of saying “yeah, he was an asshole, but there was also this other thing going on...etc.” however, i don’t think that was the only reason, or even the main reason. i think that sirius is a deeply flawed person and thinking about the prank from the perspective of said flawed-ness makes his and remus’s relationship all the more complicated/interesting.

and unfortunately a lot of this sort of boils down to whether or not sirius wanted to kill or seriously injure snape. those were the stakes he was dealing with in this situation. i don’t think that sirius wanted to kill him, just because that’s not really the sort of thing teenagers do, you know. and, as further evidenced by how he treated kreacher, sirius doesn’t always treat those he considers lesser than him with any sort of respect. maybe sirius just didn’t care that much about whether or not he died. he knew on an intellectual level that he was sending snape to his likely death, but maybe he just didn’t make that calculation in the moment? like sirius was so used to not facing consequences that maybe he thought things wouldn’t turn out that badly.

i can understand, maybe, in sirius’s version of events, in his own reckless, teenage narrative, that he thought it would be okay to hurt snape. but remus? did he seriously fail to make the calculation that he would be turning him into a murderer? what sirius did was such a major, major trespass of trust/friendship in a way that is actually sort of unforgivable.

doesn’t sirius say in PoA “i’d rather die than betray my friends!” ? well, he did : / he betrayed remus..

and i think that remus would be massively upset and i don’t think he ever really completely forgave him.

when did this happen? 5th or 6th year? i think that by this time remus would kind of be relegated to a state of melodramatic, shame-ridden misery that came along with being sort of in love with sirius. and so the prank really tore him apart, because of course it would. remus was so used to being defined by his lycanthropy, used to facing discrimination, and his friends were his one refuge from that. but then sirius who he loved used him basically as a means to an end. what sirius did was incredibly exploitative— he exploited remus’s marginalized identity for personal gain without thinking about how it would affect him. and i think that remus really did care about him enough to want to forgive him. he probably felt like he had to forgive him (his friends were too important for him to lose, and, importantly, there was probably this feeling of “i am a werewolf and therefore i need to be extraordinarily forgiving in order to be perceived as non threatening, and this is just how the world treats people like me and i can’t and shouldn’t fight back”). and those are just such deeply fucked up feelings to feel towards a friend, especially one you admire and have a major soul crushing crush on.

i think that there was a period of time after the fact when they weren’t really talking, remus was very rightfully upset, everyone was angry at sirius... i think that sirius apologized, but sort of begrudgingly. because twenty years later he still thought that snape got what he deserved.

at times i think that remus was someone who saw his relationships as very transactional. and initially he felt in debt to the other marauders because of the animagus thing and just because they were his friends. and, as dear @direwolf-summer said in this post, the prank changed the dynamic between remus and sirius: remus was no longer the one in debt, sirius was. and that is such an interesting point. remus starts demanding more from him and he finally feels that, even though sirius was really popular and closer to james or whatever, they were on even standing. this is how he was able to be more forward about his feelings— sirius stopped being this precious object who demanded endless patience in order to retain as a friend (or so he thought, this is remus’s insecurity showing). he stopped feeling so bad about having a crush on sirius. he’d be like “fuck you sirius. i’m in love with you. deal with it and you have to be nice about it in order to repay your debts.” like he wouldn’t say that out loud but it would be in his internal monologue and he would kinda hint at it.

there’s that line in eclipse and transit where remus says: “You say one thing and do another and half the time you don’t even try to say it, it’s like, I don’t know, like you’re daring me to leave. And everything—every single thing Sirius, it all comes back to January of sixth year, whether you’ll ever admit it or not. Or whether you even realize it” and i think it’s fitting. during fights remus probably would bring it up, and sirius would fail to understand why remus never got over it. like, sirius: “i apologized i was 15!!” and remus: “this is bigger than just that, what you did was emblematic of your flaws as a person and how even though you understand me more than almost anyone else you still don’t understand me completely and it frustrates me!!! and also i feel like you never fully understood that what you did was extraordinary fucked up.”

and i think that remus was so in love with sirius that he did forgive him, or otherwise allowed his love and affection to forget about it. but it was always bubbling under the surface...and that’s why their relationship was sort of volatile, that’s why he was so willing to believe that sirius was the spy (as in, “he betrayed me, why wouldn’t he have betrayed james and lily?”)

now i’m remembering when, in one of the snape’s memory /pensieve / flashback scenes in OotP, sirius says “i wish it was the full moon” and remus says, darkly, “you might.” now, we don’t know if that scene takes place before or after the Prank (before probably? idk), but i feel like it further compounds the extent to which sirius seems woefully unaware that remus is a werewolf and it’s not something he can separate from himself and that lycanthropy impacts every facet of his life. sirius came to understand it as just some fun thing to do every month. his sort of ignorance towards other people’s needs and experiences is also further evidenced by how he treated harry like he was james. sirius has a pretty good track record of taking other people’s pain and making into something for him to enjoy. and he doesn’t do so in a way that is entirely selfish either, i think he really thought he was helping harry and remus. maybe it all goes back to his family and childhood trauma or something (doesn’t everything? “it all started one afternoon in the 1960s..”)

#i have vague thoughts about other things but that's the extent to which i am capable of articulating my feelings #this is all gibberish isn't it? idk. no tldr im forcing you to read all my illegible brain soup #wolfstar #wolfstar meta #the prank #ask #meta #this is the thing i got done today i guess i'm a genius!!! if i finish my overdue econ ia i will be god!!!!!!!#op

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livia-dovehallow · 3 years

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future talks - gabrily

in honor of yours truly managing to score tickets to MARINA’s virtual concert next month with an afterparty pass and t shirt before they sold out, here is a un-related fluffy piece for our favorite shadowhunter couple to have ever existed !!!

Characters: Cecily Herondale, Gabriel Lightwood, Gideon Lightwood

Time/Place: 1882, London, England, UK

Documents scattered the library table in an unorganized shuffle of thoughts. Cecily scanned the names of each sheet of paper before her looking for the one she needed in that moment, growing more and more frustrated the longer it took her to find it.

Gabriel sat beside her searching as well. He had not made any sound of frustration as she had been doing but his face gave away that he felt the same way. Only Gideon across from them remained calm, though if a bit exasperated. “It’s not here, Gideon,” Gabriel stated for the third time in the last five minutes. He tossed the stack of papers he had in his hand back onto the table with a sharp slap. “How could it be missing? It’s the most important sheet of paper in this mess!”

“There’s no need to get cross,” Gideon said calmly, which only aggravated his brother more.

Cecily set her hands on the table, palms pressed against the solid wood, and inhaled slowly. Both boys ceased their bickering. Gabriel set his hand over hers gently. She looked at him, then at Gideon. “Is it possible to get a new one, Gideon?” she asked, tired. “If there is a fee, you can charge it to my brother.”

Gabriel let out a short puff of air meant as a laugh and squeezed her hand. Gideon began to gather his own set of papers, organized as he kept them always, and began to stand from the table. “I will go see if they can provide a new print now, that way if it will take time to arrive, we can still get it in before the ceremony.”

“Thank you,” Cecily said and smiled gratefully. Gideon nodded, and with a quick smile and wave, he left the library to the Hall of Records in Alicante. She turned to Gabriel, who still had her hand in his, and squeezed his fingers. “It’ll be all right,” she assured him.

Gabriel nodded and dropped his tense shoulders. She’d noticed how stressed and tense he had become over the last few days. Their wedding was only days away, and after years of courting and engagement, she knew he was as restless as she was to finally be married. “I know,” he answered with a small smile. “I just want everything to go smoothly. No hiccups or problems.”

Cecily laughed and threw her head back onto the backrest of her chair. “When has there ever been a no-problem event among this group of people, hm?” She turned back toward him and admired the way his cheekbones were enhanced by the witchlights in the library. “Gideon will find us a new marriage certificate and everything will be well.”

“Should you still be called Mrs. Lightwood if there is no marriage certificate?”

“I can do as I please.”

Gabriel smiled, affectionate and genuine this time, and turned back to the papers across the table. “Okay,” he said, mostly to himself, and reached for the first paper he saw. “That makes me feel better. We can work on the other documents while we wait for Gideon.”

Cecily pouted. “What else is there to do?” she lamented. “Mundane marriages do not involve nearly as much paperwork.”

“Do they?” Gabriel asked absently, shuffling through his pile. Cecily groaned. Over the course of their engagement, they’d completed a variety of forms and documents needed to make their union official in the eyes of the Clave. Providing birth certificates (which proved more difficult than Cecily would have liked. How was she supposed to know that her mundane-issued birth certificate had been stored in special forces?), filing for an officially sanctioned union, choosing wedding decorations and food, and not to mention the ages she spent finding the perfect wedding dress. And yet there was much to do—including having their marriage certificate ready for signing at the end of their ceremony.

“What is this?” Gabriel asked suddenly, pulling Cecily out of her half-asleep state. She blinked at him and took the page from his hand, reading the type as it came into focus.

“’Ensure your future husband is ready for life,’” she read aloud. Below was a list of topics one was meant to discuss with their betrothed prior to engagement. Cecily giggled. “It’s from a mundane women’s magazine,” she explained to Gabriel, who clearly had never touched a mundane magazine before. “Sophie or Tessa must have thrown it in with our files in jest. It’s meant to be taken at the time of engagement.”

Gabriel took back the page and studied it. “These are all quite important topics indeed,” he commented. “’Finances and Dowry, Size of Home, Duties, Children.’”

“I don’t have a dowry,” she said and raised an eyebrow at him. “That isn’t going to be an issue, is it?”

“Of course not,” Gabriel answered seriously. Cecily giggled again; she was only joking, but Gabriel was always serious about being a modern man. “And if you did, I would reject it.”

“Truly?” Cecily questioned, intrigued.

“Truly,” Gabriel answered. He turned to her. “Others see marriage as a business transaction. Indebted men seek plentiful dowries to pay off their debts, nothing more. I do not want any part of that.”

“My father would be pleased to hear you say that.” Cecily reached up and kissed his cheek gently, feeling his face lift with a smile beneath her lips. “Besides, I am proud of you for giving up most of your inheritance to Tatiana. Angel knows that girl is not deserving of your kindness.”

Gabriel’s eyes were sad. “She’s my sister,” he said with a heavy sigh. “And I hope she uses it to take care of Jesse. I think that is the primary reason I did what I did. She had a child and no salary.”

“You’re a very loving uncle,” she whispered to him. “I know you’d give anything for the little ones. I think you’ll make an excellent father.”

Gabriel flushed red and avoided her eyes, fidgeting with the magazine in his hands. “Speaking of children in the same building where your brother is present seems likes a death wish,” he said.

“For you,” she chirped with a shrug and fully turned in her seat so her entire body faced him. “Don’t worry. He’s all talk now.” Cecily paused then bit her lip. “Do—Do you not want children?”

Gabriel jumped in his seat and jerked his attention toward her once more, looking frazzled. “No!” he said quickly, then shook his head. “I mean, no that’s not what I meant.” He sighed. “I-I just never thought I’d have the opportunity to—you know—have children, really.”

“What do you mean?”

“I didn’t think I’d ever get married,” he answered quietly, with a pink flush to his cheeks. Cecily felt her heart squeeze at his tone. “It was always Gideon who was groomed to carry on my father’s legacy. I was just backup really. I thought I would have given my life in the field before I was ever mature enough to get married.”

Cecily brushed her fingers through his ever-toussled brown hair and admired him. He’d changed so much over the years and she only continued to fall deeper in love with him as he did. “Did I change your mind, then?”

Gabriel’s face lifted as did the corners of his mouth. “Yes,” he confirmed with a short laugh. “I may actually grow old now.”

Cecily rolled her eyes but she laughed, happy to see him in a better place in his life than he had been when she met him. “I am glad,” she said.

“I do want children,” he added, squeezing her hand once more and looking into her eyes with those comforting green ones. “Especially with you. You’re right. I love being an uncle and being around the little ones. It’d—be very nice to have some of our own.”

Her heart burst in her chest with more happiness and love than she ever thought she was capable of. Without hesitation she surged forward and took his face in her grasp, pressing her lips to his. He smiled against her and held her steady as she leaned out of her chair. “I love you,” she mumbled.

“I love you, too.”

She pulled away from him reluctantly. “I think I need to be an aunt, first,” she said.

Gabriel blinked. “You’ve been one.”

“Not officially. We are not yet married.”

“The girls call you Aunt Cecily.”

“It needs to be official.”

He laughed and nodded. “All right,” he caved, pressing another quick kiss to her before setting her back into her seat. “Anything else you wish for upon marrying me?”

“Besides children and an official Aunt title?” She teased.

“Yes, besides those.”

Cecily pretended to ponder long and hard about her answer, despite the fact she knew exactly what it was before he even asked. “I want you to stay with me.”

Gabriel raised an eyebrow. “Is that all? Seems easy enough.”

“And also tell me how wonderful I am every single day.”

“Every day?”

“Yes.”

“All right.”

“I am not expensive to please.”

“I can see that.”

Cecily grinned at him, unable to contain her excitement to spend the rest of her life with him. She wanted a love as strong as her parents’ and she had found it. “Is there something you want from me?”

Gabriel seemed surprised by this. “Anything I want?”

“Yes, you.”

He mocked her pondering expression from moments ago, prompting her to huff in faux annoyance. “I also want you to stay with me.”

“I can do that.”

His smile was sweet and vulnerable, an expression she knew only she got to see. She hoped one day he’d look at their children with that expression as well, but until that day came, she was content being the only person in the world he looked at with such love and affection. She began to imagine what their children together would look like in her mind. Whose eyes would they inherit? Would they get her black hair or his brown? Would they have all girls or all boys or a mix? Oh, Gabriel with a daughter would be so sweet—

“Cecy? What are you thinking about?”

“Our children.”

Gabriel flushed red once more and quickly looked away and back toward their documents. “One step at a time, Cecy. We need to get properly married first.”

“Details.”

#gabrily #gabriel lightwood #cecily herondale #cecily lightwood #gideon lightwood #will herondale #the infernal devices #the last hours #fluff fic #tsc #tid #tlh

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goddessdoeswitchery · 4 years

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Hellenic Polytheism 101: Pillars of Hellenic Polytheism

What follow is a transcript of all 7 episodes of my podcast Hellenic Polytheism 101, where I discussed the pillars of Hellenic Polytheism. There are more episodes to follow, but I figured it would be nice to have a place where all 7 of the episodes discussing the pillars were together. The series started on August 23rd and ended on Nov 1st, released on a bi-weekly basis at 8 am every Sunday. In total, it’s 12 pages long, so I’m placing it under a Read More because it is very, very long. In each episode, there is a list of resources, and each one is linked for you in the original post (just click the tag transcripts under this post, and it’ll take you to the transcripts for every podcast episode) to do your own follow up research. I hope that people will find this useful.

Pillars of Hellenic Polytheism: Technically, the pillars were never actually a “thing”. Unlike then 10 commandments, the pillars were never taught as a set of rules that everyone knew by the name “Pillars of Hellenic Polytheism”, or any variation thereof. What modern day practitioners of Hellenic Polytheism call “The Pillars” were essentially religious and cultural practices that were taught by family and friends via every day practices. The pillars were an essential part of the culture of Ancient Greece, taught to them the same way customs like tipping, saying “bless you” at sneezing, and the now-common practice of wearing a mask everywhere are taught to us today. In recreating Hellenic Polytheism for the modern age, the Pillars grew out of a need for a set of guidelines to help us recreate a very old religion.

KHARIS

Welcome to today’s episode of Hellenic Polytheism 101, where we will be discussing the Pillar of Hellenic Polytheism, Kharis. Kharis is the reciprocity inherent in Hellenic Polytheism, a devotional act for the Theoi with hope a return favor in kind. It is also so much more than a transactional behavior. Its not bribery, its not a quid pro quo. At the same time, it is not the Christian act of praise worship.

One of the most common actions as a Hellenic polytheist is devotional acts. Whether it be offerings, prayers, hymns, or the increasingly common Devotional Actions (like beauty routines for Aphrodite, studying for Athena, singing for Apollo, housecleaning for Hestia, etc); we worship by engaging in acts of devotion. Oftentimes, that act of devotion is also accompanied by a request. This act of devotion is not a bribe. This is an offering, and a plea. The deity in question can respond or not, it won’t change the fact that we made the offering and it shouldn’t affect how we give in the future. We give without the expectation of getting something in return, as an act of worship and of thanks for everyday blessings. We give to just give, and a lot of the times, the deity or deities in question will respond. We then give in thanks, and then they give to us. We give in thanks, they give to us and so continues the circle of praise and of blessing. This circle of reciprocity is Kharis.

And yeah, I completely understand how confusing that would be, so let’s try using some more relatable examples. I know not everyone will be able to relate to these examples, so there will be a few of them, and hopefully one of them will resonate enough that the concept of Kharis will become less confusing.

The first example I will use is of a couple. Let’s call them Kate and Ashley. They are very much in love. Kate is out grocery shopping and next to the checkout line is a display of flower bouquets. One of them has roses and lilies, Ashley’s two favorite flowers. So Kate grabs that bouquet and places it in a vase on the table for Ashley to see when she gets home. Kate isn’t getting the flowers for a birthday, or anniversary, or holiday. These aren’t apology flowers. These aren’t get well soon flowers. They’re the best kind of flowers. These are “Just Because I Love You” flowers. That night at dinner, Kate asks Ashley to take the trash can to the curb before bed and Ashley does so. The flowers weren’t payment for the favor of taking the trash to the curb. The flowers and the request may have come at the same time, but one wasn’t required for the other. The next morning, Kate makes Ashley breakfast in bed and Ashley starts Kate’s car so it’s warmed up and defrosted before Kate goes to work. Both are acts of love that aren’t reliant on each other. Now, say this cycle continues constantly. They do each other favors, they get each other small tokens, for the rest of their relationship. No one but the most cynical would say that they have a transactional relationship. Their tokens aren’t required for favors, and their favors aren’t required for tokens. Their actions are out of devotion to each other. That’s an example of how Kharis works.

Another example, this time between family members. My sister, my mom, and I have lived together for a lot of our lives. As adults, we have lived together for the last 5 years. My mom has a tendency to not eat, and there have been times when I’ve sent her a pizza while she’s at work, because I know then that she will eat. The food is an act of love, a way to show I care. When she responds in kind by cooking dinner for the house the next day, it is not a payment for the pizza. It’s a continuation of the circle. When I was off work for 3 weeks, I cleaned the whole house, reorganized their closets to be easier to navigate, and cleaned out the cabinets and cupboards. Its another way I show I care. My sister usually watches the kids all summer long, and my mom and I will get her flowers, as a way to say thank you. Every day of our lives as a family, we show love by doing favors for each other and getting things for each other. The favors are not a payment for the things and the things are not a payment for the favors.

Hopefully that explains what Kharis is a little better, so we can go a little deeper into what it means as a worshipper, as someone who calls themselves a Hellenic Polytheist.

Now, remember how I said that the pillars weren’t exactly a thing, and instead were a modern invention to assist those who weren’t raised in Ancient Greece with learning the customs and cultural behaviors that were common knowledge in Ancient Greece? Let’s keep that in mind. On a historical note, Kharis required something real. Having faith and good thoughts was not a part of the reciprocal circle that is Kharis. It required something real, and in Ancient Greece that did not mean devotional acts like making playlists. It meant something solid, offerings, like libations, food, incense, coins, seashells, and other solid, real items. If you have an altar, think about what you leave on it. On mine, I’ve got an incense holder, coins left at the foot of the statue of Hermes, corn from the field next to us, a nature ball with acorns and leaves and flowers in it, devotional drawings, fortunes from fortune cookies also at the foot of Hermes’ statue, dried roses and lilies in an empty wine bottle, seashells, pins, a book of myths, and a plate and cup where bread, oil, seeds, fruit, wine, and other food offerings can be left. Some of these are permanent, some of them get removed as they go bad. When I light incense and pray, when I leave food, when I leave seashells or coins or fortunes, I’m engaging in my part of the reciprocal circle that is Kharis. That means, historically, offering something real that goes above and beyond simple faith.

Now, not everyone can do that. Not everyone has the ability to have an altar, and not everyone can afford to burn incense everyday, and not everyone has the time to bake bread everyday. Now, that doesn’t mean that someone who lacks those abilities, or doesn’t have that time can’t engage in the reciprocal relationship that is Kharis. Remember, a huge part of practicing Hellenic Polytheism is bringing ancient worship into the modern world. Devotional acts are something real. You can offer a devotional act to the Theoi as your part of the Kharis. I’ve seen some stunning works of art created in devotion to the Theoi. I’ve heard songs wrote in devotion. I’ve read some deeply moving poetry. And I’ve seen prayers, prayers written with such devotion and love that they could bring you tears. Those actions are fully capable of being classified as part of the circle that is Kharis.

Kharis is not just actions, its a relationship. Much like how Xenia was a way of life ingrained into the culture of Ancient Greece, so too was Kharis. All the rites and rituals, sacrifices, prayers, hymns, offerings, everything that was offered to the Theoi; it came from the understanding that a relationship had to be built and maintained. You couldn’t just say your prayers and call it a day, you lived with the Theoi, and dealt with them every single day. Everyday, you had the opportunity to build the relationship, and the expectation that you would was built into society. Indeed, the concept of Kharis was so built into society that offerings and sacrifices were a part of their stories. Examples can be seen in many myths, plays, and epic poems from them. The reciprocal nature of Kharis is shown in the Illiad, the Odyssey, and the writings of Aristotle.

I’ve learned that Kharis can be hard to understand, especially when you’ve grown up in a society where the love of a deity is just…..constantly there. Kharis is the idea that the love of our deities is not unconditional, and our love for them need not be unconditional as well. We don’t have that relationship with our gods that is bondless. We build a relationship with them, and they build one back. That, to me, is one of the appeals of Hellenic Polytheism. The relationship is a reciprocal one built up over time, using something that is definable, real, an offering that you can hold and see. So, we give, they give, we give, they give, until you’ve built a solid foundation for a solid relationship. That relationship, built out of Kharis, is what makes the worship we engage in so beautiful.

Thanks for listening to today’s discussion of Kharis. For today’s episode, I relied on the Illiad, the Odyssey, Kharis: Hellenic Polytheism Explored by Sarah Kate Istra Winter, The emotions of the Ancient Greeks: Studies in Aristotle and Classical Literature by David Konstan, and the Center for Hellenic Studies. You can always find a transcript of this and other episodes on my tumblr blog at goddessdoeswitchery.tumblr.com, as well as a link to the sources I used. Feel free to ask any questions, and don’t forget to tune in on September 6th, when we will be discussing Arete.

ARETE

Welcome to today’s episode of Hellenic Polytheism 101, where I will be discussing the pillar of Hellenic polytheism, Arete. For first time listeners, I want to mention that technically, the pillars were never actually a “thing”. Unlike then 10 commandments, the pillars were never taught as a set of rules that everyone knew by the name “Pillars of Hellenic Polytheism”, or any variation thereof. What modern day practitioners of Hellenic Polytheism call “The Pillars” were essentially religious and cultural practices that were taught by family and friends via every day life. The pillars were an essential part of the culture of Ancient Greece, taught to them the same way customs like tipping, saying “bless you” at sneezing, and the now-common practice of wearing a mask everywhere are taught to us today. In recreating Hellenic Polytheism for the modern age, the Pillars grew out of a need for a set of guidelines to help us recreate a very old religion. Now, on to Arete.

Arete is excellence. It’s living up to your fullest potential. It’s being the best you. Arete means doing your best to become your best and to live your best life. Arete’s end goal is a life fulfilled, and happy. Arete in Homer’s works is usually associated with the person who uses everything at their disposal to do the best work, the person who is most effective at achieving what they set out to achieve. Homer applies arete to Penelope as she fulfills her role as wife. Odysseus has arete when he uses his intelligence. In the Illiad, Achilles has arete by being the best warrior. In the Tenets of Solon, Arete is achieved by being honorable, honest, intelligent, and humble. He advised the following: Consider your honor, as a gentleman, of more weight than an oath; never speak falsely; pay attention to matters of importance; be not hasty in making friends and do not cast off those whom you have made; rule, after you have first learnt to submit to rule; advise not what is most agreeable, but what is best; make reason your guide; do not associate with the wicked; honor the gods; and respect your parents.

Arete is simply being the best version of you. One of the hardest things about Hellenic polytheism is taking those ancient concepts and applying them to the world we have now, one that doesn’t call for heroes like Achilles, and one where we can’t always take the time to better ourselves because work and life can get in the way. It is important to understand that arete doesn’t always mean being number one and winning whatever contest is at hand. One thing that should be understood is that a person can be their best, give it everything they’ve got, and still lose. There will be people who are objectively better at doing what you do than you are. Someone will get a higher grade. Someone else will get the role or solo or part you’re trying out for sometimes. Someone else can have a better idea than you. Someone else will write better, or draw better, or be better than you in whatever you are trying to achieve.

The first step of applying the concept of arete to our everyday lives is to accept that your best and the best of someone else are very different things. You are you and you can only do your own best. Now that does mean that you have to apply yourself. Doing the barest minimum to get by is not a way to achieve arete. Arete means taking control of, and responsibility for, your own life. It means challenging yourself everyday to become better than you are.

Take a moment and think about things you’ve always wanted to do. A language you wanted to learn. A hobby you wanted to pick up. A project that you’ve put to the side. Something you’ve always wanted to learn about. Arete means taking the time to do that. If you have a goal, arete means doing the work to reach it. Then it means creating another goal. Plato said that arete is the ideal form of a thing, something that you are always trying to achieve. You achieve arete by always trying to reach for it, always trying to be better. This means that you won’t always be at the top of your game. You will stumble. You will fail. You will make mistakes. Arete doesn’t mean you will never be wrong, you will never fail, and you will always be perfect. It is not expected of us to be perfect all the time. What is expected is that we will try. When we fail, we learn from that failure and try again.

Now, if you’re anything like me, you’ve probably got a busy life. Between work and taking care of a household, I rarely get time to do anything for me. It is hard to take that time that I want to use to watch Netflix, or pop on a movie, or scroll online doing nothing of any real substance and put it towards something that is actual work. But I try. I read, every day. I do research for this podcast and my own growth. I do the laundry. I clean the house. I spend time with my kids, as a parent, teaching them and guiding them and playing with them. I write. I exercise. I plan and cook meals that are good for us and aren’t the easiest options. I pray. I always strive to be better at work. I’ve given my boss ideas that we’ve implemented nationwide that have made our division look good. I reach for arete every day, by understanding that it is something that I must always strive for. By always striving for it, I hope to achieve it.

One of the things that made this episode a little bit more difficult to write than the previous ones is that arete is subjective. Xenia is a set of rules. Kharis is a reciprocal circle. But arete isn’t something that can simply be memorized and put into practice as we come across situations that could use it, like xenia is. Arete is not something built into our everyday worship, the way Kharis is. Arete is something that has to be strived for every day. It is something that is work. It takes focus. It takes energy. It takes commitment. Only you can know if you’re doing your best and so no one else can come up to you and say “You haven’t achieved arete, you’ve broken the rules, you need to do better next time.” It is up to you and you alone to strive for arete. No one can coach you one it. No one can teach it to you. So, this episode will be a lot shorter than the others, because I can’t teach you arete. I can only explain what it is, explain how it has been seen historically, and let you do he work from there. Now it’s time for you to do the work. Good luck.

Thank you for listening to today’s episode of Hellenic Polytheism 101, where we discussed Arete, one of the pillars of Hellenic polytheism. Today, I relied on the Odyssey, the Illiad, the Center for Hellenic Studies, Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, Baring the Aegis, wikipedia’s page on Arete, and The Greek Way by Edith Hamilton. A transcript of this episode and all others can be found on my tumblr, goddessdoeswitchery.tumblr.com under the tag “transcripts”. There you will also find links to the sources used today to more research on your own. You can always ask me any questions there as well. Tune in on September 20th for the next episode, which will be about the next pillar of Hellenic polytheism, Sophia.

SOPHIA

Hello, and welcome to today’s episode of Hellenic Polytheism 101, where we will be discussing one of the pillars of Hellenic Polytheism: Sophia. Sophia is wisdom, cleverness, and skill. The concept has changed and has grown over time to be more applied to wisdom and the pursuit of wisdom, especially by Plato. It might be easier to recognize Sophia in the way it was applied to Socrates and Plato and Pythagoras, as part of the term “philosophia” or, philosophy, the love of wisdom. Now, remember how I’ve said in my other podcasts about the Pillars of Hellenic polytheism being more of a way of life than a literal set of rules? Here’s another part where that really comes through. In Greek culture, wisdom and the pursuit of it were incredibly important, so much so that it was the Ancient Greeks that were considered to be the founders of philosophy; and since Greek culture and Greek religion were so intertwined with each other, we are left asking, how can we, as modern day Hellenic polytheists, apply the concept of Sophia to our everyday lives?

One thing we can be sure of is that a person doesn’t need to be a world class philosopher like Plato to be a Hellenic polytheist. What we should be aiming for is the ever-present pursuit of wisdom. We should always be trying to learn, everyday. It doesn’t have to be a huge undertaking. Read a book. Watch a documentary. Read a scholarly article. Listen to a podcast. And if you come across something you don’t quite understand, research it. One of the best ways to pursue wisdom is to fight ignorance. There will be many times in your life when you are faced with something you don’t have any experience with, something you know nothing about. Living with the pillar Sophia means taking the time to learn and battling your own ignorance. In today’s world, I know how hard that can be. You can’t do a google search without their predictive algorithm doing some serious confirmation bias. Living with Sophia means taking the time, in pursuit of wisdom, to do it right.

Now, I love learning. I’m one of those people who, if given an unlimited supply of money and an eternity, I would be a student forever. But Sophia doesn’t necessarily mean learning in a classroom environment. Think about your last week. Did you come across new information? Did you read an online article that broadened your world view? Did you learn something new? Did you gain a deeper understanding of something you thought you already understood? Did you discover something that mostly everyone you knew was aware of, even something as simple as the fact that if you roll up the deodorant, you can take the plastic cover off without having to struggle with it? If so, outstanding! You battled ignorance in some small way this week.

Battling ignorance and pursuing wisdom also means battling the ignorance of others. If you’re hearing and listening to this, or reading the transcript, then it means that you’ve entered the online world in some way. That means you’ve also come across ignorant people, who seemed perfectly gleeful to remain that way. It also means you’ve come across people who were ignorant, simply because they didn’t know any better, and they needed someone to point the way. Anecdotal story break time: I’ve got a cousin who is a senior in high school. She plays a lot of different instruments and she’s very, very good. She has practiced, a lot, and has put some serious work into it. I’ve also got an uncle who is on his 4th or 5th black belt. He has put some serious effort and a couple decades worth of time into varying forms of Martial Arts. My sister’s friend is an artist, and an incredible one. She has more followers on her Instagram and tumblr and devian art pages than I care to count, and she’s graduating college as a graphic designer with job offers from some very big names. All 3 of these people are outstanding in their field. Now, to get to the why I brought them up: All 3 of them have told me, in some way, that once they reached a certain point in their skill level, the best way to get better was to start teaching. As they taught others, their own skill increased. I believe the same applies to everyone. So, one of the ways you can apply Sophia to your life is to teach those who don’t know any better. You will come across people who are resistant to fixing their ignorance but more often than not, people are willing to learn. That means you can take the time to teach them.

Sophia also means cleverness and skill. In fact Homer applies to the term with the meaning “skillful in handicraft and in arts” towards both Athena and Hephaestus. Now, I would never suggest that we, as Hellenic polytheists, can be as skillful the Theoi in any way. We should all know why that’s a bad idea. However, we can become skilled in our own handicrafts and arts. That is another way to practice Sophia. Now, I know not all of us have something we can reasonably point to and say “That’s an art”. There are artists and musicians and weavers and seamstresses and poets among us, to be sure. But we also have writers. We have readers. We have spellcrafters. We have engineers. We have software coders. We have jewelers. We have homemakers. Sophia means cleverness and skill. That means there are many, many ways you can apply it to your daily life. Everyone has something they can do with skill. Sophia means practicing that skill and utilizing it.

To me, Sophia is one of the easiest pillars of Hellenic polytheism to bring into my every day life. Pursuing wisdom, battling ignorance, practicing a skill, these are all things that we are doing every day. And Sophia is as simple as that. Thank you for listening to today’s episode of Hellenic Polytheism, where we discussed the pillar Sophia. Today, I relied on the notes from one of my college courses, Intro to Philosophy, and the Homeric Hymns. As always, you can find links to the, well, one source that is linkable this time around, on my tumblr page at goddessdoeswitchery.tumblr.com, where I am also always free for discussions and questions. Coming on October 4th, the next pillar Sophrosune. I look forward to seeing you all then.

SOPHROSUNE

Hello and welcome to today’s episode of Hellenic Polytheism 101, where we will be moving onto to the next pillar of Hellenic Polytheism: Sophrosyne, which is, essentially, moderation, prudence, self-control, self-discipline, or temperance based upon thorough self-examination. Since we are coming up on a holiday season in the US, this seems like the perfect time to focus on Sophrosyne, and to remember it’s opposite, hubris, and how to avoid it. It is also important to remember that even in Ancient Greece, it was well understood that Sophrosyne could be taken too far, something we also understand still today.

“Earth shaker, you would not consider me sophrosyne if I were to fight with you for the sake of wretched mortals” Apollo says this to Poseidon in the Illiad, as Homer brings us a look at what Sophrosyne would mean to the same deity who brings us the Delphic Maxims, such as know know thyself, know by learning, exercise prudence, praise virtue, nothing in excess, know who is the judge, keep secret what should be kept secret, take sensible risks, be well behaved, be self disciplined, be sensible. This is not the only example in Homer’s work of Sophrosyne. In fact, there are a really a lot of them. I would definitely suggest you read both of them and look closely for examples of sophrosyne. Homer was very sensitive to the need for Sophrosyne in society and in an individual. On an individual level, sophrosyne prevented people form getting into serious trouble, both with themselves and on a religious level. After all, someone exercising sophrosyne would be very unlikely to become a spider after being cursed by Athena, right? On a modern level, someone exercising sophrosyne is less likely to face personal problems as well. You won’t wind up drinking to excess and getting into a car accident. You won’t find yourself challenging someone better than you to a fight. You won’t find yourself taking on more tasks than you can manage. You won’t find yourself spending more money than you can spare on things you don’t need. By exercising sophrosyne you can avoid a lot of trouble. On a societal level, we should try to exercise that same self control and temperance. After all, there is no reason for any country to spend more than 56 countries combined on defense spending. There is no reason for a city to cut taxes and not invest in repairing roads or assisting those who need it the most. There is no reason for a group of friends to go out in the middle of a pandemic to a bar just to have a good time. We can bring the ideals of sophrosyne to our own lives and encourage others to do the same, through voting and talking to others and being an example.

When we do not practice sophrosyne, we tend to fall victim to hubris. For someone who has spent any sort of time practicing Hellenic polytheism, we should all know exactly how bad hubris is. We’ve all probably seen it or heard it online. Recently, there was a lot of talk of witches online cursing the moon, specifically aimed at making Artemis or Apollo angry. Now, in the end, it was revealed to be some big hoax, a lie they told to make other witches start saying things about how they could tell someone had hexed the moon because their own spells weren’t as effective. Then the original hexers could say “Ha! We told you witch craft and the gods weren’t real, see? These guys said they noticed a change but we didn’t do anything, so clearly they must be faking!” The whole ordeal was a perfect example of what could happen if people fell victim to hubris, and many more sensible folks online pointed out that it was hubris, believing anyone could have an affect on a deity by cursing the moon. We’ve all seen other examples of hubris. Hellenic polytheists who say that Artemis would never let a man worship her, or a straight woman, or a woman who has had sex with a man. People who gatekeep, projecting their personal bigotry onto the Theoi. We’ve all come across. Hopefully, most have us have rolled our eyes and ignored it.

Even in mythology, hubris is painted to be among the worst things a person can be. Niobe lost her sons and daughters to Artemis and Apollo after she bragged to Leto that she was better than Leto for having more children. Arachne, turned into a spider for daring to compare herself to Athena. Antigone’s father, who lost his son and his wife for believing that his life was higher than the law of the gods. Oedipus refuses to accept his own fate and wound up falling victim to it because of his hubris. Ajax, believing he was entitled to the armor of Achilles and being driven mad and eventually killing himself. Icarus, flying to close to the sun, too prideful to listen to his father’s warnings. Orestes taking it upon himself to avenge his father by killing his mother and being driven mad. Greek stories are teeming with examples of people who have fallen victim to hubris. In many of these stories, sophrosyne is pointed to as a virtue to aspire to strictly to avoid it’s opposite, hubris.

And yet, we can also take sophrosyne too far. For example, in the Bacchae, Pentheus holds himself as a champion of sophrosyne, as fails to understand that by being overly self-controlled and self-discplined and holding himself up as the model of sophrosyne, he ignores the moderation and temperance part. He tried to force everyone listen to him, to oppose the Bacchic rites, and, in the end, his obsession with only a part of sophrosyne causes his own death. The Ancient Greeks understood that there was such a thing as being too controlled. There was such a thing as a fatal exaggeration of one side of the many-sided virtue of sophrosyne. Thus one of the biggest keys to sophrosyne is moderation. Nothing in excess says one of the Delphic Maxims, not even self-control and self-discipline.

As we go through this holiday there a lot of ways you can apply sophrosyne to your life. One of the dangers of the holidays is becoming over-extended. For example, I have a large family. Like…..over 100 people kind of large. So large that we could probably fill a high school basketball stadium kind of large. It’s also got a lot of different branches. Mom’s side, which has dad and mom in separate houses. My ex-stepdad, whose family we still see. My dad and his family. My dad’s ex wife and her daughter and her kids, who I’m also close to. My girlfriend. My kids’ dad and his family. I always joke that we’ve got our own little 12 days of Christmas skit between grandpa jones, grandpa long, Uncle Cody, Uncle Andrew, my dad, his ex wife’s house, my girlfriend, the kids’ dad, his family, and we’ve still got to squeeze out time for our own holiday celebration too. Factor in the fact that, like most customer service based companies in the US, my job doesn’t allow us to take more than half of Christmas Eve and all of Christmas day off. Sure, we’ve got the Sunday before and after when I’m off as well, but that’s barely 3 days for 4 states and 10 places to visit. Factor in the budget for all those places and all those gifts, not to mention the drama that comes around when we decide where we’re having Thanksgiving at and you can understand why I bring up being overextended as a danger of the holiday season. Now, maybe that isn’t a problem for you. Maybe you become over extended by volunteering to work too many hours to help your more Christian friends have time off. Maybe you offer to do too much during Thanksgiving and wind up having to wake up at 5 am to get started on a meal that you can’t believe you promised to cook. Maybe during Halloween, you spend too much time focused on parties or trick-or-treating and realize that you would have had a much better time sitting at home, watching Halloweentown with a bowl of candy and some friends. Either way, we all tend to push ourselves too hard, especially once the holidays roll around and we start wanting to do everything so we can get every experience. We need to remember sophrosyne during this time. Exercise self-control and stay home when it’s something you want to do. Exercise self-discipline and avoid getting gifts when you can’t afford it, there is no shame in saying “Look, finances are strapped and I can’t manage more than X”. Exercise moderation and remember that you can’t actually do everything. Be prudent and accept the reality of whatever situation you are facing. Practice sophrosyne.

Thank you for listening to today’s episode of Hellenic Polytheism 101 where we discussed another one of the Pillars of Hellenic polytheism, Sophrosyne. Today, I relied on the Odyssey, The Illiad, Sophrosyne: Self Knowledge and Self-Restraint in Greek Literature by Helen North, A Period of Opposition to Sophrosyne In Greek Thought also by Helen North, Mythology of the Greeks by George Grote, and the Wikipedia entry for Sophrosyne. Remember, all links to the resources I used can be found on my tumblr at goddessdoeswitchery.tumblr.com, along with a transcript of today’s episode under the tag “Transcripts”. I look forward to speaking with you all again on October 18th, where we will be discussing Eusebia.

EUSEBIA

Hello and welcome to today’s episode of Hellenic Polytheism 101, where we will be discussing, Eusebia, or reverence and duty towards the gods. Now, keep in mind that Eusebia was so revered, so vital to the worship and religion of the ancient greeks that she became a personified spirit, who was married to Nomos, the Law, and had a child, Dike. This already sets aside this particular pillar from the others. As a being, Eusebia was the personified spirit of piety, loyalty, duty and filial respect. However, we are not yet at the point for deities or personifications, so mostly all of today will be focused on talking about what Eusebia is as a concept and how we can practice it as a modern worshipper. Now, so far we’ve talked a lot about our relationships with the many deities we worship. We’ve talked about offerings and Kharis, we’ve talked about the humility we should approach them with, and we’ve talked about the respect we should bring with us whenever we approach them. All of that goes into Eusebia.

Eusebia is about reverence towards the Theoi. That reverence is where, I’ve noticed, a lot of modern worshippers tend to falter. There is nothing wrong with making a joke about some of the Theoi. I don’t know if all of you have heard the one about Hermes being the only god to pay his worshippers for their worship. It’s fun to joke about that. I always like using Hermes as an example of a deity that a lot of worshippers are fairly causal with. He is, in my experience, one of the most easy going deities. He’s the type of god that puts a train on every track between your home and work on the only morning you’re running late for the last 6 months, just to get a message to you. He’s a prankster, a jokester….and still deserves the same degree of reverence as every other deity. Just because you can laugh with him doesn’t mean he is not revered by you. After all, he is also the shepherd of the dead, the one who guides their souls. He is the god of travel, of languages, of luck, of communication, and like 1000 other things.

It is not reverent to attempt to speak for the Theoi. It is not reverent to make up bullshit facts about a specific goddess to say that she would be on your side of an online discourse. It is not reverent to leave a deity out of your worship because you don’t like how one interpretation of one of the myths portray the deity. It is not reverent to drag the Theoi down to the level of an online personality. They are gods and goddesses and they deserve to revered as such. By virtue of what they are, they deserve the worship, offerings, and the rituals that we engage in. Impiety was frowned upon by the ancient greeks and should continue to be frowned upon today. It has never been acceptable to treat the Theoi like accessories, to be tried on and discarded whenever you don’t have enough time to engage with them. You find time, you make time, in whatever you can. And it doesn’t have to be a big thing. A prayer. A lit candle. Some incense. A quick offering. The Theoi deserve worship.

But, just like with some of the other pillars, the people of ancient Greece knew that there was such a thing as being too pious. There were people who spent too much time praying, too much time fearing the Theoi, and were constantly sure they had something to offend the Theoi and so spent even more time praying and offering and attending to the temples. This excessive fear, or deisidaimonia, was a sign of taking Eusebia too far. It was understood that a person should be mindful of the Theoi, and take an appropriate amount of time and give the appropriate offerings. This also included attending and participating in the appropriate rituals and festivals.

Eusebia also means understanding why we do the things we do. Why do we give these particular offerings? Why are offerings for Chthonic and Ouranic deities different? What are the reasons behind certain rituals? What are the reasons behind traditional offerings? Eusebia means understanding these things, having the answers to these questions and not just blindly following a traditional path. It’s important to understand the reason why. And so, Eusebia means taking the time to research your beliefs. If you have questions, put in the work to answer them. This can also definitely include asking others. We are a community. So, if you have questions, reach out. Ask people, “Why are coins such a common offering to Hermes?” Find a book in the library about the life of people of ancient Greece. Put in the effort to research and create your own calendar with your own rituals and holidays. Take the time to understand why, to research your deities and understand what they might ask of you, and why they would ask it. All too often, I’ve seen popular bloggers and popular authors in the community asked the same question a 100 times because the idea of taking the time to do your own research is apparently distasteful to some people.

It is important to remember, as a part of Eusebia, that the Theoi are not room mates or friends or accessories. They are deities. They are gods and goddesses and titans and by virtue of what they are, they deserve our devotion. I’ve always seen Hellenic polytheism as a simpler path than Christianity. We do not have a single, omniscient, all powerful god that offers a set of rules that must be followed or else we will suffer for all eternity. That’s not how Hellenic polytheism works. We worship our gods in our own way, at our own pace. Hellenic polytheism is a very personable religion. Everything about it, from hymns to holidays to rituals to altars to offerings, everything is unique to each individual practitioner. But, on the flip side, that means that we don’t have a holy book to draw from. That means that we don’t have a set of authority figures we have to listen to. We are responsible for our own piety. We are responsible for our own worship. We are responsible for our own research. We are responsible for our own devoutness. We are responsible for ourselves.

And that’s what Eusebia is, that’s why it is gets set up as a pillar of Hellenic polytheism. It is a vital component of our religious practice, to take the time to not only worship, but to know how and why we worship the way we do. It is necessary to show the Theoi the respect they are due, by virtue of their very being. It is necessary to speak about them with reverence, to be loyal, to not use them as talking points or spell ingredients. It is necessary to take the time, to do the research, to understand the whys, to understand the rituals we take part in when we light incense and offer up a prayer and use an epithet and recite a Homeric hymn. This isn’t a religion where we can just go through the motions. We have to put the proper amount of reverence into our actions. We have to be devout, and loyal, and have a healthy amount of respect and fear towards these beings who we worship and who take the time to guide us on our way. It is necessary to be humble, to understand that what we are doing is worshipping the Theoi. I don’t know about anyone else, but when I pray, when I let incense or a candle or wrap my hands around a set of prayer beads, when I take that time…..I’ve never felt so at peace. That feeling, that love and devotion and serenity…..that’s the feeling of Eusebia. Next time you get to that point, when you feel that, take the time to focus on that feeling and harness it. Meditate on it. That’s what you should draw on when you think of Eusebia and how to interact with the Theoi, those beings that we worship as Hellenic polytheists.

Thank you for listening to today’s episode of Hellenic Polytheism 101, where we discussed Eusebia. For my sources today, I used the book Greek Religion by Walter Burkett, found on the Internet Archive. I also used The Greek Way by Edith Hamilton. I used Baring the Aegis’ and Elanion’s posting on Eusebia as well. Remember, you can find links to the sources, as well as a transcript of today’s episode, on my tumblr at goddessdoeswitchery.tumblr.com. You can also always reach me there as well with any questions. Don’t forget to tune in to the next episode, on November 1st, which will be the last one discussing the pillars the Hellenic polytheism. I will be discussing the final pillar, hagneia. I look forward to seeing you all then!

HAGNEIA

Hello and welcome to today’s episode of Hellenic polytheism 101 where we will be discussing the final pillar, Hangeia. Now, anyone who is able to look at this word might note it bears a striking similarity to the word “hygienic” and then, you would be on to something. Hagneia is more of a ritual purity, an avoidance of miasma and cleansing oneself before you go before the Theoi, before you engage in rituals. Now, does this mean you can’t shoot off a quick prayer before you wash your hands while gardening? No, of course not, thus the “ritual” part of the “ritual purity”. Now, there is actually a lot of disagreement regarding miasma and cleansing in the Hellenic polytheism community. There are those that claim that for the most part, the average person won’t be contaminated with miasma throughout the course of an average life. There are those that believe that we collect miasma throughout the course of our everyday life. There are those that believe that we must fully cleanse ourselves before an offering. There are those that believe that a simple washing of the hands will suffice. There are those that believe the cleansing must be done with khernips, or lustral water. There are those that believe the cleansing can be done with any clean water. And there are those believe any variation of those beliefs combined. Remember one of the best part of Hellenic polytheism is that it is so personable. Therefore, most of this is going to be looking at it from how I work. As always, I urge you to do your own research on the matter.

Now, the first thing to keep in mind is that Hagneia was used to mostly mean ritually pure, spiritually pure, and was understood to mean whether or not someone was fit to approach the gods. There were things you could come into contact with that would create a buildup of miasma and it was best to avoid those things when you could. However, you can’t always do so. Some of those things are death in the family, giving birth, illness (not chronic illness, but like the flu), are all examples of something that can be considered miasmic. The real question we face today is how to cleanse that miasma? Most of the time, the biggest cure for miasma was time. There was a period of time you had to wait to no longer be considered miasmic after having given birth, or after losing a loved one. You were supposed to wait until after an illness has passed. And, you were supposed to cleanse yourself. Mostly that meant washing up, getting physically clean. For today, that means wash your hands, wash your face, take a shower or a bath (especially if you’d been sick, take a shower and change into clean clothes). So that part is really simple.

Now, historically, there was also another thing that rendered you miasmic. It very likely won’t apply to anyone hearing this or reading the transcript, but it is an issue that is covered in pretty much every source I read regarding miasma and Hagneia so I am going to mention it as well. Murdering someone was very much a cause of miasma. There were very special midnight rituals one was supposed to engage in in order to cleanse oneself of the miasma caused by murder. I would say that in today’s society that if you commit murder, you’re likely to get caught and so won’t have much use of said ritual, but that’s statistically unlikely so I’m just gonna say, don’t commit murder and you won’t have to worry about what that midnight ritual is. Mostly I just figured the fact that it’s mentioned so often is an interesting historical side note.

Time to move on the things that are more likely to affect you, such as how to practice Hagneia as a modern worshipper. While I would love it if the average Hellenic polytheist could go to a temple and worship with others on a regular basis, the fact is that most of us worship and prayer and do rituals on our own, or with a very tight knit group in a personal, private space. I myself am mostly a solitary practitioner. Sure, I have my mom and my sister and my kids, and I have a community of people online; but in my daily practice, it’s me, by myself doing the offering and praying and general worshipping. That’s probably true of most of you all as well. So how does a mostly solitary practitioner who isn’t going attending a ritual hosted by or attended by a large amount of people deal with the community based concepts like miasma and Hagneia? Well, in my case it means that I tend to put holiday rituals and offerings on hold when I would be considered miasmic. It means that when a close family member died, I prayed at the funeral for her safe passage and otherwise avoided rituals for a month. It means that when I gave birth to my kids, rituals and offerings were on hold for 10 days, which was about how long it took for me to even be in the mindset to get back to daily worship and prayers. It means that when I am sick, I wait until I am recovered to engage in practice and worship. When I got the flu a few years back, (three times that year, which is what I get for not getting the flu shot, I’m telling you, I’ll never miss it again and if you haven’t yet gotten your flu shot this year, please do) I stayed in bed and rested until I was better. I may have said a few informal prayers, like something along the lines of “please let this stop, I feel like I’m dying here”, but I waited until I was well. I then cleaned my bed and my room and myself and my clothes and changed my toothbrush and brushed my teeth with the clean toothbrush and got clean again before I went back to a regular worship schedule. So, for about 5 weeks that winter, I didn’t do very much in the way or practicing. And that’s okay. That’s what practicing Hagneia and avoiding bringing miasma to the Theoi is.

So, as a modern worshipper, the best way to practice Hagneia is to stay clean. Cleanse yourself of miasma as you come across it, make sure that you are fit to approach the Theoi before you do so. It’s a very simple pillar to follow because for the most, most of us already do. The next time you feel guilty about not being able to worship because you’re sick, or have a death in the family, or a newborn at home, remember that the break you’re taking is required, and important. It’ll be okay. The Theoi will understand.

Thank you for listening to today’s episode of Hellenic Polytheism 101. This is the last one that will be spent discussing the Pillars of Hellenic Polytheism. Remember, you can always find a transcript of the podcast on my blog at goddessdoeswitchery.tumblr.com, as well as a link to the sources I used today, which were: Inner Purity and Pollution by Andrej Petrov; Shame and Purity in Euripides' Hippolytus by Charles Segal; Shame in Ancient Greece by David Konstan, The Pillars of Hellenismos and What is and Is Not Miasmic by BaringTheAegis; and finally, A Beginner’s Guide to Hellenismos by Timothy Jay Alexander. You can also always ask me any questions at any time there as well. Finally, I will also have on there a complete transcript of all 7 episodes about the Pillars in a single post as well. Right now, we’re looking at 12 pages, and 8637 words, so it’ll be a very long post, set under a read more. The post will contain links to all the sources used for these last 7 episodes as well, so please fell free to check it out and continue your own research. For the next episode, I’m going to be discussing the Delphic maxims. There are 147 of them, so don’t worry, I’m not about to go fully in depth with each one the way I did the pillars. It’ll be just a simple discussion on the maxims themselves. I look forward to seeing you all then on Nov 15th!

#transcripts #transcript #hellenic polytheism 101 #pillars of hellenic polytheism #sophia #hagneia #kharis #arete #sophrosyne #eusebia #xenia

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cristinablackthornkingson · 4 years

Text

Arc of a Scythe Short Story- What Might Have Been.

It is a cold day late in the year of the Capybara, when an announcement is made by Supreme Blade Kahlo that rocks the Scythedom to its core.

Broadcasting her speech from Endura, to every region across the world, Supreme Blade Kahlo announces that after much deliberation, it has been decided amongst herself and the 6 other Grandslayers, that the ninth commandment is outdated and unnecessary and will therefore be removed, with immediate affect. Scythes are now free to marry and have children, though at this time they may only do so with other scythes, though that is not to say that this rule will never change.

Supreme Blade Kahlo also announces that in 2 weeks time, whoever is chosen as High Blade of Midmerica, between Scythe Curie and Scythe Goddard, will be the first High Blade who will pass the title down to any child they have, when they feel ready to step down. If they have no children, a vote will be held in Conclave, as it has always been up until now.

Two weeks later the scythedom and the world as a whole, is rocked to it’s very core once again, when it is finally determined who will be High Blade of Midmerica.

The 7 Grandslayers deliberated and discussed the topic of Scythe Goddard not being a fully trained Scythe since Tyger Salazar’s body was repurposed so Goddard could be revived, before calling the 4 scythes back into the room.

“We have decided, after much discussion and debate.” Supreme Blade Kahlo begins right away “That Honorable Scythe Robert Goddard does in fact qualify as a fully trained and ordained Scythe, the repurposed body was efficiently trained as any Scythe would be, and though it may not have been in the traditional and formal way, Scythe Rand did an exceptional job with her training of the donor.”

Goddard smirks and gives Curie and Anastasia a smug look, while Scythe Rand stands there looking very pleased with herself.

It takes everything Anastasia has not to scream at The Grandslayers that they have made the wrong choice, a dreadful and awful choice, perhaps a year ago she would have, but Marie has taught her to calm her temper and keep her cool.

“And of the matter of who will be High blade? Will we have to wait until next Conclave to see the results of the vote cast last Conclave?” Goddard asks calmly. Supreme Blade Kahlo shakes her head.

“No I do not see a need to wait. We will open the results here and now, and let the winner return to Midmerica as the new High-Blade.”

An attendant quietly steps up to Grandslayer Kahlo’s side and wordlessly hands her a plain black tablet.

There is a tense silence in the few seconds it takes Supreme Blade Kahlo to open and look at the results of the vote. When she looks up from the tablet her face gives nothing away. She turns to look at Goddard and in a clam and toneless voice, says

“Congratulations Honorable Scythe Goddard, you have been voted in as Mid-Mercia's new High blade.” Goddard grins proudly and smugly, bowing dramatically as if he has just won some sort of competition.

“Thank you, Your Exalted Excellency.” He says. “It will be my honor to oversee Mid-Merica.”

“Yes I’m sure it will be.” Supreme Blade Kahlo sighs, for the first time showing any sort of emotion or bias toward the situation. “All four of you may leave now, our business here is done.”

Scythe Curie sighs softly and quietly and surprises Anastasia when she puts an arm around her shoulders in a very motherly gesture of affection.

“Come along dear, lets go for a walk and take some time to process this.” She can tell how upset and angry Anastasia is, and of course she does not blame her one bit, she is also feeling devastated and full of anger, but at somewhere around 220, she is much better equipped to deal with her emotions than Anastasia is at hardly 19.

Anastasia rests her head against Scythe Curie’s shoulder and lets a single tear run down her face.

“I’m sorry you lost.” She quietly says. Scythe Curie squeezes her arm and brushes back a lock of Anastasia’s dark and curly hair.

“Me too dear, me too.”

In just a matter of hours Scythe Curie and Anastasia decide that neither of them can stand to stay in a region overseen by Goddard, and make the decision to move to Amazonia with Scythe Faraday, to help him find the founding scythe’s fail safe, and hopefully defeat Goddard.

All 4 Scythes return to Mid-Merica two days later, though Anastasia and Marie only return to collect what little they left behind in Falling Water and to say goodbye to their friends, before boarding a train to Amazonia, where Scythe Faraday is waiting for them.

While Marie and Anastasia make some life changing decisions, so do Scythe Goddard and Scythe Rand.

A week after returning from Endura, Scythe Rand steps into the kitchen of Goddard’s Fulcrum City Chalet where the two of them along with Goddard’s other undersycthes live, to see Goddard sitting at the kitchen table looking stressed and flustered, while looking through a stack of papers in front of him.

“What are you doing?” Rand asks curiously, peering at the papers over Goddard’s shoulder, they seem to be profiles of some sort, perhaps his next gleaning victims?

“I am looking for a surrogate.” He replies in a neutral tone, giving Rand a bit of a shock. A surrogate? To get pregnant and have a child? For Goddard?

“A surrogate?” Rand repeats in a shocked tone.

“Yes Ayn, a surrogate. You know the new laws about High-blades, it will be an inherited position from now on. I need a child, multiple children actually, to pass my leadership onto once I desire a more simple life, I cannot chance someone like Anastasia getting their hands on the title of High-Blade, so therefore I need a child, and in order to have a child I need eggs and a uterus, and since I have no time or want for romantic or sexual relations, a surrogate is my best option.” Goddard explains to her in an irritated tone, as is she is an idiot for not realizing this.

“Oh.” Is all Rand can manage to say, still quiet shocked.

“The trouble is, I cannot seem to find a suitable candidate, I have looked through thousands of profiles of potential surrogates over the last week, and have not found one that I am pleased with.” Goddard sighs in a tone of frustration. Just then, in idea comes to mind for Ayn, perhaps a crazy one but one worth giving a shot, nonetheless.

“I’ll do it.” She says, before she can stop herself. “I’ll be your surrogate.” This gets a bitter laugh out of Goddard.

“Nice try Ayn but I have already told you I am not interested in sleeping with you.” He tells her.

“We don’t have to have sex, we can do artificial insemination. Think about it Robert, I’m the perfect candidate. You’ve known me since I was 17, you mentored and trained me and made me into the Scythe I am today. You know I share and hold the same beliefs and values as you, we could make a strong and healthy child together, a perfect heir.” Ayn can hardly believe she’s saying this, she has never wanted children before, nor had a desire to be pregnant, but how could she turn down the chance to be connected to Goddard forever? To carry his child and no doubt become an even more important part of his life.

Goddard is quiet and pensive for a moment, before speaking again.

“If I agree to this, you understand that is simply a transaction, and nothing else? You will of course be welcome to be in the child’s life but you understand that this will not change my feelings about you?” He asks. Rand nods.

“Yes absolutely”

“Alright then.” Goddard sweeps the stack of papers in front of him, into the bin. “Lets find you a doctor and get this process started.”

Two months later, Ayn finds herself nervously standing in one of the many bathrooms in the chalet, in regular street clothes with her hair swept up into a ponytail, staring down at a pregnancy test lying in the sink, or to be more precise a positive pregnancy test.

It has only been a few weeks since she and Goddard made their attempt at conceiving a child, and it has been hell waiting the recommended two weeks to take a pregnancy test, Ayn had wanted to test before now but Goddard insisted they wait.

Ayn isn’t exactly sure how to feel about the fact that she is now pregnant, on one hand she is of course thrilled and delighted, this is what she wanted after all, but on the other hand she can’t help but feel nervous and frightened, she’s never been around a pregnant person before and has no idea how pregnancy is going to affect her.

Brushing her concerns and worries away, Any picks the test up and steps out into the hallway, where Goddard is waiting. His head immediately snaps up from his tablet when he hears the door open, and he looks at his undersycthe questioningly.

“Well?” He asks. Ayn smiles and holds the test up.

“Told you I was your best choice, pregnant on the first try.” She tells him in a breathy, excited tone.

Goddard grins and sets his tablet down, before pulling Ayn closer to him. He looks down at her stomach in awe for a moment, before placing his hand on her stomach.

“My child, my heir, you will change the world.”

______________________________________________________________

Meanwhile in Amazonia, things are also dramatically changing. Just weeks after arriving in the country, Marie decided it was time to turn a corner, and decided that if she were to spend the next god knows how many years fighting Goddard, she would need to be younger and fitter than 40, so chose to reset to 32. When Marie turned a corner, so did Michael, also setting back down into his 30s, 35 to be exact.

Almost immediately he and Marie had rekindled their relationship, now it was no longer illegal and forbidden. They may have claimed to be nothing but friends over the last 70 years but truthfully neither of them has stopped loving the other for one single second.

Having already been in love with and having already known Marie for a very, very long time, Michael wasted no time in proposing to her. It was one of the happiest moments of his life when Marie agreed to marry him, only comparable to the moment in a small registry office with only Anastasia to witness, that they became husband and wife at long last.

It’s been a few weeks now since their wedding, and they now have the small bungalow beach house to themselves, since Anastasia found a place of her own only 10 minutes away.

On this particular day Marie has noticed how odd she’s been feeling lately, this morning she was nauseous for hours and even threw up once, which is very unlike her, she’s also consistently been very tired over the last few days, and has been having extremely odd food cravings, things she would never usually dream of having are suddenly the greatest delicacy on earth. Perhaps she’s just adjusting to being so young again, for the first time in a long time.

It is not until later in the day, that Marie realizes the most obvious answer to her ailments, was the only one she never thought of.

It has just gone 2 P.M. and Michael has gone out for a walk. Marie is getting ready to go to the store to get some ingredients for dinner tonight. She decides that while she’s there she might as well pick up any other things they need, so heads to the bathroom to check if they have enough toothpaste.

When she opens the cupboard in the bathroom, one of the first things Marie notice is an unopened packet of pads siting at the front of the cupboard. ‘That’s odd’ She thinks to herself. ‘I don’t usually have a whole packet left over.’ she then realizes that she actually doesn’t know when her last period was, she knows she’s had one since turning the corner, they always return immediately, for her, and she’s almost certain she should have had at least two more by now.

With a frown Marie pulls her phone from her pocket and quickly pulls up her calendar app, her heart sinking and her face paling when she realizes that she missed her period altogether last month, and is 5 days late this month.

She immediately flashes back to her wedding night, how she and Michael were so happy to finally be together again, without having to sneak around, that caution and safety were the very last things on their minds. When they were together in secret all those years ago, they were also so very careful to use protection, but this time they never even mentioned it.

Quickly Marie shoves her phone back into her pocket and hastily makes her way to the store, where she quickly grabs all the ingredients for dinner, before picking up a pack of 2 pregnancy tests.

Marie hurriedly pays for her things and rushes back home, hoping to make it there before Michael gets back from his walk.

She decides to take just one test for now, and if it’s hard to read then she can take the other. However, the second test isn’t needed at all, as Marie watches the second pink line gradually appear, dark and definite. Shit.

She and Michael had discussed having children before, but now was not the right time, they needed to find the land of Nod, and the founding Scythes fail safe, in order to take down Goddard, they couldn’t do that with a baby or while Marie was heavily pregnant.

Just then she hears the front door open and close, and hears Michael calling out to tell her he’s home. Marie takes a deep breath, grabs the pregnancy test from the sink, hiding it in her sleeve and walks out into the living room, her heart skipping a beat at the sight of Michael, as it always does.

“Have a nice walk?” She asks, trying to keep the fear from her voice.

“I suppose you could say that, I was very caught up in my thoughts, mainly about Nod and finding the fail safe. You know I love finally spending time with you like this and living this domesticated life we always wanted, but I think we ought to set out for Nod soon, we can’t let Goddard stay in power for too long.” Michael tells her, a hint of guilt in his tone, guilt at dragging her from this peaceful and happy life she always wanted, to take down Goddard.

“Actually Michael, I think that’s going to have to wait, quiet a while.” Marie nervously begins. Michael gives her a confused look.

“Why?” He asks. Marie lets out a sigh and holds up the pregnancy test for him to see.

“I’m pregnant.” Michael is silent for a moment, making Marie worry that he is upset and doesn’t want this baby, but instead he breaks out into a wide grin and embraces Marie tightly.

“This is amazing.” He softly says, kissing the top of her head. “That is the best thing I’ve ever heard, I love you, I love you both so much.”

“Really? Are you really happy?” Marie asks in a tight tone, wiping at her tears when Michael pulls back from the embrace.

“Of course I am, there is nothing I’ve wanted more for so very long.” Michael tells her, taking her hands in his and squeezing them lovingly.

“What about Nod? We can hardly set out for an unknown destination with a baby or while I’m pregnant.” Marie asks, worried that maybe Michael will set out for Nod without her, and their child could end up never knowing their father.

“We’ll figure it out, we always do. One thing is for certain Marie, I’m not leaving you or our baby, ever.” He leans his forehead against hers and places his hand over her stomach. Marie smiles and lets the tears of joy flow, placing her hand over Michael’s.

“I love you.”

“And I you.”

***4 months later****

It is a cool Autumn day in Mid-Merica when Scythe Rand and Scythe Goddard find themselves standing in a darkened ultrasound suite at the best hospital Mid-Merica has to offer, waiting for Ayn’s 4 month ultrasound to begin.

She has had a few ultrasounds before, but non that Goddard attended, he was not interested in being present for an ultrasound until he could see the baby clearly and hear a heartbeat, which is now possible at 4 months.

Lying there on the medical exam bed with her shirt (she had worn street clothes instead of her robes, for simplicity sake.) hiked up to the top of her rib-cage, Robert at her side while the doctor sets up for the ultrasound, Ayn almost wants to reach out and grab Robert’s hand, let herself believe they are an actual couple seeing their child together for the first time, but she knows he will reject her.

Instead she turns to look at Robert, to gauge his reaction to the situation, and notices him staring at her swollen stomach. It gives her the sensation of butterflies in her stomach.

“Like what you see?” She teases, hoping that perhaps he will give into his physical attraction to her, now she’s carrying his child.

“Just interesting is all, to know that my child is in there.” He calmly replies. Before Ayn can respond, the doctor speaks up.

“Alright, ready to begin?” She asks. Both Scythes nod, and Ayn turns her gaze away from Robert at this moment, feeling a twinge of nervousness for some reason, it’s not like anything could be wrong with the baby, the worst that happens in pregnancy these days is an early birth, but even then a premature baby can immediately be helped by the Thunderhead.

As the doctor squirts the cold gel onto Ayn’s stomach and presses the wand into her stomach and begins to move it around, Ayn keeps her gaze on the ceiling, waiting for the nervous feeling to pass.

“Everything looks good, baby is measuring right on track and the heartbeat looks good and healthy.” The doctor declares a few moments later, which is when Ayn’s nerves seem to settle.

“Can I see? And hear the heartbeat?” Goddard asks. The doctor nods and clicks a few buttons. Within seconds an image is projected onto the second screen next to the exam bed, and the room is filled with a loud and steady thumping sound, like that of horses hooves running.

“Amazing.” Goddard says in a tone of awe. “That’s my child, my son or daughter.”

Suddenly, Ayn can’t keep her gaze away and turns to look at the screen, immediately feeling her heart warm when she is met with the black and white image of a small but clearly outlined baby. She can see their hands and feet, can see them moving around inside of her.

“Oh.” Ayn softly says, suddenly feeling an overwhelming rush of love for the tiny baby inside her, a love like she has never known before.

“Boy or girl?” Goddard asks.

“Boy.” The doctor tells him with a smile.

At this, Ayn can’t help but suddenly feel a connection to this baby growing inside her, suddenly it_no, he, does not just feel like a far off thought, but a real live person inside of her, someone who is going to rely on her for love and comfort and safety.

Almost as soon as those thoughts enter her mind, Ayn brushes them off. She cannot become attached to this child, he is not hers, not really, he’s Robert’s, she’s just the egg donor and the carrier. This is not the making of a family, it is a transaction ,a favor to the man who made her into the woman she is today, nothing more.

Later that day, back in Goddard’s Chalet, Scythe Rand is sitting in a chair in her room, reading a book, when she suddenly feels a gentle thudding/tapping sensation in her stomach. It catches her completely off guard, and she freezes trying to figure out what it was, when it happens again, and she realizes it was the baby kicking, the first kick.

Rand sets her book down and slowly smooths her t-shirt down, her hand resting across her stomach. She feels another kick just then, and can’t help but let out a light and breathy laugh.

“Hello there.” She quietly says to her stomach. As if responding, the baby gives another kick, a stronger one this time. “That was a big one, are you saying hello back to me? Do you know who I am? Do you recognize my voice?” Ayn runs a hand down her stomach, feeling that same rush of love and strong sense of attachment, that she felt earlier in the day at the hospital. She starts to wonder if she’s doing the right thing, if Goddard will be a good father to this child, will he love their son, as a father should, or only view him as a weapon, a means to an end? A way to carry on his legacy? She doesn’t want this baby to suffer, ever, even if it is for their own good.

Ayn quickly snaps out of this odd mood, shaking these odd thoughts and feelings away and taking her hands off her stomach, reminding herself that how this baby is raised is non of her concern.

The next morning, just a short while after Ayn wakes up and gets out of bed, the door to her room flies open and Goddard strides in, his blue robes billowing behind him.

“Ayn, get dressed quickly, I’ve decided that we are going to announce the pregnancy to the world today, let them know that even after I step down, The New Order is not going anywhere.” Goddard hurriedly tells her, picking her robes up and shoving them into her arms.

“I...why do I need to be there?” Ayn asks, a little hesitant to share the news with the whole world, these past 4 months the only ones who have known about her pregnancy are she, Robert, Nietzsche, Constantine and the doctors who helped Ayn and Robert conceive the baby, and the doctors who have been providing medical care for Ayn and the baby the last 5 months.

“The speech is being televised and I want the world to see this, the proof that my child is on the way, my heir.” Goddard tells her, splaying his hand across her bump. She can’t help but a feel a little weak at his touch, her feelings for him have only intensified through the pregnancy, even if she knows he will never feel the same for her.

She thinks about telling him about the baby kicking for the first time yesterday, but decides she wants to keep that to herself, for now at least.

She quickly dresses in her robes and follows Robert out onto the balcony of the chalet, where a microphone has been set up, along with 4 cameras, 2 trained on the microphone where Goddard will stand, and two trained to the spot beside him, where Ayn will stand. On the streets below, massive crowds have gathered to hear The High-Blades speech.

“Ready when you are, Your Honors.” One of the camera men say. Robert turns to Ayn and flashes her a smile, before gesturing for her to step up to her spot, as he steps up to the microphone.

“My good people of Midmerica, and of the world. Today, Underscythe Rand and I bring you some wonderful news, news that will change the world and the Scythedom. Several months ago, I decided I needed an heir, and I was not looking forward to having to try and find someone worthy enough to bear my child, to carry the heir to the Mid-Merican Scythedom. But then, then I found the most perfect person for the job, and she is standing here beside me today. Ayn, show them.” Robert says in a booming tone, turning to look at Ayn at the end.

Instantly knowing what he means, Ayn smooths her robes down around her stomach so that her bump is clear to see.

“As you can see, Scythe Rand and I are expecting a child. At this moment Ayn is 5 months along and the pregnancy has been a breeze for her, she and our child are doing very well, and in 4 short months she will give birth to the first in line to take over as High Blade of Mid-Merica.. We have recently learned that we are expecting a boy, and we will be making a formal and public appearance when he is born, much like this one. Scythe Rand, is there anything you would like to add?” Goddard asks, turning to look at Ayn, who in this moment has never felt more important or proud.

“Just that I am honored and thrilled to be carrying this child, who will change the world, Robert and I are starting a new generation of Scythes who will uphold The New Order and the honor of being a Scythe.” Robert grins and nods approvingly.

“Any gifts for the heir are more than welcome and should be left with the guards at the entrance to this very chalet. We will put out a formal statement when the child is born, so you know when to return for his first appearance. Oh, and anybody who even looks at Ayn or my child the wrong way, can be promised a slow and painful gleaning.” With that, Robert steps back and ushers Rand inside.

This news, unsurprisingly, comes as a huge shock to the world, and the scythedom in specific.

In Amazonia, Michael and Marie are trying to work through their shock, having just finished listening to the broadcast.

“And here I thought we were the ones making history again, thinking we were the first to have a child after the removal of the 9th Commandment.” Marie quietly says, running a hand down her stomach.

“Yes, so did I.” Michael quietly says, seeming pensive. “It’s more important than ever that we find the fail safe now, before Goddard can raise that child to be a mini him.” Marie nods her agreement.

“I agree but it’s still going to have to wait a while, I’ve done a lot of things in my life but giving birth in the middle of nowhere is not going to be one of them, and we can’t take a brand new baby out into the middle of nowhere, with no revival centers or anything.” Marie says, already worried for the little life growing inside of her.

“We could go when the baby is older, around 1, perhaps? I know it’s not ideal but it’s so vital we find the fail safe, and we will both do everything we possibly can to keep the baby safe.” Michael suggests. Marie thinks about if for a minute, before nodding in agreement. As he said, it’s not ideal, but it will have to do, Goddard must be stopped.

______________________________________________________________

Over the next number of months, Ayn finds herself growing more and more attached to the baby she is carrying, unable to help herself from talking to him, and thinking what it will be like when he’s born. She hates nothing more than to hear Robert talking about how he will raise his son to be the best Scythe that ever walked the earth, and how his son will not only one day rule Mid-Merica, but the rest of the world too.

To her, he is far more than a prodigy and an heir, the baby she carries is an innocent life who deserves a chance to be whatever he wants, not forced into Scythehood. She often has to remind herself that is exactly why this baby was conceived, and exactly why Goddard chose her to carry his child, they share the same ideals and thoughts and beliefs, they have the same goals, the child will thank them for everything, when one day he is the most powerful Scythe in the world.

When Ayn is 8 months along, just 3 weeks from her due-date, as a gift to her for all she has done the last 8 months, Goddard takes her to a mass-gleaning, at a tonist cloister.

Usually Ayn loves to glean, especially pesky and irritating tonists, but today for some reason, her heart just isn’t in it and she has decided to step back and watch Robert do what he’s best at, gleaning.

A few minutes in and he starts spouting his usual crap about being the tonists completion, a master of all and someone to give thanks to. Then things change a little, he seems to be going mad with power.

“My legacy will not stop with me!” Goddard bellows at the tonists. “For when it is my time to step down, my son will take my place, my heir and prodigy and he will show you no mercy either, he will be the greatest Scythe the Scythedom will have ever seen, he will uphold the New Order and my ideals and continue to rid the world of pathetic menaces to society like you! I_” But before Goddard can continue his rant, he is suddenly cut off, and the blade of a knife pierces through his chest, in the very same spot as his heart.

As Goddard’s face grows slack with shock and he buckles to his knees, the life seeping out of him, the tonists are met with the sight of Rand standing there, a bloody knife clutched in her hand, her chest rising and falling and a hand resting on her stomach.

She couldn’t listen to him anymore, could not take hearing him talk about their child as if he is nothing but a weapon for Goddard to use, nothing but an insurance policy. Ayn could not take it anymore, she can’t deny it now, she loves her child, has grown attached to him and formed a bond with him, she never meant to but she has, and she will not let anyone harm a single hair on his head or force him to do anything he does not want.

“If you wish to be spared.” Rand grinds out through gritted teeth. “Then you will go and spread the word that Scythe Goddard has been killed by unsavories who have burned his body, you will not mention that I was here, and if you do I will glean you and your entire family, is that clear?” The tonists immediately nod, agreeing readily.

Ayn quickly makes arrangements to have Goddard’s body hidden off-grid and preserved until she can decide what to do with him. Once that is done, she makes her way to the nearest public car, intent on getting as far away from here as possible.

Just as Ayn pulls the car door shut after her, she is hit with a wave of pain in her stomach, that has turned rock-hard under her hand. Seconds later the pain is followed by a gush of water from between her legs, soaking the car seat and her robes.

“Oh no.” Ayn quietly says to herself. She wasn’t prepared to go into labor today, she isn’t due for another month, but the stress of the day must have sent her into labor.

“What is your destination?” The car asks in it’s emotionless and robotic voice.

“The nearest hospital.”

Thankfully, Ayn’s robe and ring get her a lot of attention straight away and she is quickly escorted to a large and comfortable room on the labor ward, where she is able to change out of her wet robes and into a dry hospital gown.

Her labor is long and painful, and quiet honestly terrifying. She has no idea what’s going to happen once the baby is born, now that Goddard is dead and their arrangement is obviously over, how is she going to fare as a mother? A single mother no less? It had never been in her plan to have children, yet here she is, hours away from giving birth to her mentor’s child, her mentor who she killed.

The pushing is the worst part, undoubtedly, it lasts for hours and takes every ounce of energy Ayn has, not to mention it hurts like hell since she has her pain-nanites turned off, has done since she was 17 and first apprenticed with Goddard.

After 3 hours of pushing, Ayn is feeling ready to give up, for the first time in her life, unsure of how much more she can take.

“Baby’s out up to his shoulders, Your Honor, the worst part is over, just one, maybe two more pushes now and he should be here.” The doctor tells Ayn in an encouraging tone. 2 more pushes, she can do 2 more pushes.

Gripping the back of her legs for support, Ayn leans forward into the push, groaning at the pain, her face turning red from the strain and effort of pushing.

“That’s it Your Honor, keep going baby’s out up to his tummy now, just a few more seconds!” The doctor tells her in an excited tone. Scrunching her face up, Ayn pushes down even harder than before and lets out a loud yell of pain, before she feels a weight lift from her and hears a baby start to cry. She sighs in relief and relaxes back into the pillows.

Seconds later the baby is placed on her chest, and the nurse by her side starts to rub and wipe the white vernix and blood off of the baby.

Ayn immediately puts her arms around her baby, pulling him closer to her and peering down into his little face. He is so utterly perfect, and before she knows it tears of joy start to spill down her face.

“Hello.” She says through the tears. “Hello little one, oh my god you’re so perfect, I can’t believe I made you! I love you, I love you so much.” She presses a kiss to his little head full of thick dark brown hair, inhaling his sweet scent and never wanting to let him go.

“Do you have a name for him, Your Honor?” The nurse asks.

“Alex.” Ayn immediately says, not even having to think about it. “Alexander James, but I’ll call him Alex for short.”

“Shall I put Rand as his last name?” The nurse asks. Ayn shakes her head.

“No, put Kwon, my birth surname, and put his mother’s name down as Olivia Kwon.” From the second little Alex was placed on her chest, Ayn knew she could never return to being Scythe Ayn Rand, this little boy has already changed her so completely and she is going to devote her life to loving him, raising him and supporting him.

“And the father’s name?” The nurse asks. This, Ayn has to think about for a second. While she is thinking, she looks back down at little Alex and really takes in his features for the first time, he has light brown skin, her eye shape and bone structure, and long elegant fingers like Goddard. No, not like Goddard, like Tyger. In that moment she knows what she has to do.

________________________________________________________________

When words of Goddard’s death soon reaches the rest of the Scythedom, Marie is called back to Endura, by The Grandslayers.

Michael, of course goes with her, seeing as she is 7 months pregnant, he is extremely concerned for her and worried at all times.

He is by her side when she stands by the 7 Grandslayers once again, waiting to hear why the have called her back here.

“As I am sure you are aware.” Supreme Blade Kahlo begins, not one to waste time with small talk. “High Blade Goddard has met an untimely end at the hands of unsavories, and we are unable to find Scythe Rand who when last seen, was pregnant with Goddard’s child, heir to the position of High Blade. She cannot be traced by her ring nor has she been seen since before High Blade Goddard’s death.

In this case, we need a new High Blade, and not just a stand in until Goddard’s child comes of age.

Honorable Scythe Curie, you were only 1 vote away from winning the election against Goddard, and I fully believe you would and will do an excellent job as High Blade. Therefore the 6 other Grandslayers and I have decided that we will not hold another election, rather that you, Honorable Scythe Marie Curie, will be our next High Blade.”

Marie can’t say she’s surprised, she had suspected this may be the reason The Grandslayers wished to speak with her again, but she had not wanted to accept it. High Blade is not a position she desires, especially when she is just about to become a mother.

“Do you accept your appointment as High Blade, Scythe Curie?” Kahlo asks. Marie nods, knowing that though she does not want to be High Blade, she needs to be.

“Yes, Your Exalted Excellency, I accept the position.” Marie says in a confident tone, straightening her posture and holding her head high.

“Very good, then you shall return to Mid-Merica and begins your duties as High Blade by cleaning up the mess Goddard has left behind.”

That is exactly what they do, Marie, Michael and Anastasia all return to Fulcrum City, and spend the next 2 months restoring order and justice to The Scythedom.

2 months after being appointed High Blade, Marie wakes up one morning to a damp feeling beneath her and strange, surge like pains in her stomach.

‘I think my water broke.’ Marie thinks to herself, pulling the blankets back and (with some effort due to the sizable bump in her way) pushes herself off the bed. Just when she gets to her feet, there is a trickle of water from between her legs, quickly soaking the floor beneath her.

“Michael!” Marie calls, lowering herself back down onto the edge of the bed. Michael appears in the doorway just seconds later, a look of panic and worry on his face.

“Is everything alright?” He anxiously asks.

“My water broke, the baby’s coming.”

Michael’s jaw drops and his eyes widen in shock. He quickly turns on his heel to grab his phone and call the midwife, seeing as Marie decided to have a home birth.

The next few hours pass by quickly and peacefully, with Marie able to handle the pain very well, and both she and Michael feeling more eager than ever to meet their child.

Thankfully Marie’s labor isn’t too long, only 4 hours in total, and only 1 of those is spent pushing.

At 1:03 P.M. on the 23rd of March, Year of The Cobra, Marie grips Michael’s hand, takes a deep breath and gives one final push, before seconds later feeling a weight lift from her and a sharp and loud wail pierce the air.

“It’s a girl!” The midwife happily announces, quickly passing the baby up to Marie, who pulls her daughter close to her chest and lets the tears of joy fall.

“Hello baby girl.” Marie quietly says, looking down at her daughter. “You are simply the most beautiful and perfect baby ever, I love you so much.”

Michael quickly wipes at his own tears, before stroking his daughter’s cheek and looking at her in awe, hardly able to believe he made her, he and Marie, and that he gets the honor of loving and raising her for the rest of his life.

“Hello little one, little Sophie, Sophie Amelia Faraday-Curie, I’ve waited over 200 hundred years to meet you and every second was worth it.” Michael softly says, his heart beyond full of love for his beautiful daughter.

“You have no idea Sophie, how very wanted you were, and how very loved you are. You are the most precious thing in the world, Sophie, and I promise I will be the best mother you could ask for, you’re my priority and I will always love and support you.” Michael puts his arms around his wife and daughter, and leans down to kiss Sophie’s forehead.

“As will I, you are so loved Sophie. I have been given many an honor in my life, but being your dad is without a doubt, the single best thing ever to happen to me.”

________________________________________________________________

When Tyger wakes up, he’s not so sure where he is. The room he is in is completely unfamiliar to him, and the last thing he remembers is boarding a train to Texas, to go work for that Scythe who contacted him. Did that happen? Did he splat? Is that what this is, a revival center in Texas? It makes sense, it seems similar to other revival centers he’s been in, and if he went deadish in way that messed with his brain, his memories would only be backed up to when he left for Texas.

Tyger runs his hands across his face in an attempt to shake off the groggy feeling he has, but something doesn’t feel right. His nose isn’t the same shape and there’s stubble on his chin and jawline, which he never had before.

“Good to see you’re awake, Tyger.” a vaguely familiar feminine voice says. Tyger turns his head in the direction the sound came from, and sees a tall woman sitting in a chair by his bed, she has straight black hair that stops just at the top of her neck, she is wearing an emerald green blouse paired with dark blue jeans and black boots. Tyger vaguely recognizes her, from a party he attended once, Scythe Rand is her name, she flirted with him a bit at the party and he can’t deny he felt something between them. She looks a bit different now, her hair use to tumble past her shoulders, now it is much shorter, and she looks different out of her robes.

Then Tyger notices the most surprising thing of all. In her arms, Scythe Rand is carefully cradling a baby, who looks to be no more than a month old at most. The baby is dressed in an emerald green onsie and is suckling contentedly on a pacifier, looking all around him with big curious eyes. His little head is covered in a mop of dark brown hair and he seems very content and at peace in Scythe Rand’s arms, holding tightly onto her thumb as he takes in his surroundings. Actually, he kind of looks like Scythe Rand.

“I... Uh... why do you have a baby?” Tyger asks in a confused tone, still trying to get his bearings together.

Rand smiles and shifts closer to Tyger so he can get a better look at the baby.

“This is Alex, our son, your son.”

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strangebedfellows-blog · 5 years

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💕 ravioli

Leans in too close to the mic: this is definitely the only one I’m gonna get for him so instead of giving one thing I’m gonna just….ramble.

Things relating to ships he’s got: I got NoneThings relating to ships I’d want: I’m sitting in this fandom dropping hints he and Mipha are endgame like literally anyone on the street or online could come up to me and ask for a my reasoning in list format and I’d have one printed in advance …. everyone in the world is just afraid of their combined powerThings relating to him re: relationships on the whole: Ahem.

- Slow burn and only slow burn. It’s basically enforced by his lifestyle and personality, honestly. He doesn’t do spontaneous romance, feels Nothing at first sight, and could only form a lasting bond of that nature with someone after getting to know them – which isn’t just a discussion of family history and favorite color, ‘know them’ means their actions, their thought processes, a working theory as to what makes them Them. It’s relative of course, and there’s instances it could be a shorter process than others, but on the whole - yeah! Slow burn.

- The tricky mindset of his that absolutely everything has to be demonstrable and tangible is a double edged sword in these matters. On one hand, it means he isn’t going to be all talk or empty words: if he says something he means it, and if he chooses to be involved with someone he’s going to take it incredibly seriously, all the time. This means he’s always set to 100% sincerity and takes genuine joy in making your life a little easier when he can ( like in easy terms he would absolutely be the boyfriend you call over to help you rearrange your heavy furniture and even though it’s his one day off he’ll do it, and do it without hesitation ), it also means he’s going to be largely insecure about anything he can’t assist with, or with himself as a whole if he feels like he has nothing to offer. On the off chance he forgot something important you do deserve to be mad and he does suck and you deserve Better, Clearly. I can’t really call it a positive trait or a flaw because it has qualities of both, and also it’s just….his personality, but in an ideal relationship the person could nudge him out of thinking he has to be constantly demonstrating, that nothing has to be transactional or earned to deserve affection.

- Beaks are not lips and Rito, therefore, can’t kiss! Just facts. Instead they just…….nuzzle, more or less, and Hold. The single most trusting, tender, intimate physical gesture possible would be angry birdman taking a second to rest his forehead to the other person’s chest. That’s Maximum soft and he’d die before admitting it. The lack of ability also means that being kissed throws him for a pathetically noticeable loop – like….the feathers puff up, there’s an out loud ‘HUH’, and the gears in his head are all but audible. Got the drop on him. Again - he’d die before admitting it.

- He would also rather die before living like a pack animal; dating or no, the whole ride-on-back thing is a hard no, he’s too proud and he has very legitimate concerns about the safety of the notion. ( Bear in mind the options are, like…the person clinging awkwardly to his back or him holding something in talons, and neither option is exactly five star safety – and this is before we remember that his specific method of flying involves AGGRESSIVELY vaulting himself Several Hundred Feet Into The Air, and no, he’s not – no, no, not even a conversation. ) That said, in the instance of a fellow Rito, he could be persuaded to take it easy on the aerial showboating for a more relaxed flit around.

- He loves! People! He can respect!!! Any partner needs a strong work ethic, strong morals, a particular skill or area of knowledge ( they don’t necessarily have to be the Best, just something…noteworthy and personal, to make conversation about and perhaps maintain individual hobbies ), enough presence to keep up with him as he does tend to swallow a room, ability to own their successes, so on. He doesn’t need someone to necessarily spoil him with attention ( he’d dislike it, actually ), but as with all socialization he does demand respect enough for his abilities, and the positive traits he knows he has.

- He’s actually garbage at wooing because he’s just never done anything goddamn like it before, and it’s. Embarrassing. He alternates between ‘I will calmly demonstrate my worth and wait for them to clearly signal interest’ and ‘I will do Every stupid and amazing feat I can invent on the spot whenever they’re within four miles of me because then they’ll Have To Love Me’. Bless him, he tries. Interestingly, unless the partner indicates a clear preference, the big gestures or anything particularly flowery dies down once it’s an established relationship. He defaults to more reliable, practical daily things; preserves the colorful for special occasions. ( The exception would be letters, which are….given the way he talks and how much worse it would be with the time for forethought, invariably flowery as ALL HELL. )

- You know that ‘being liked by a person who hates everyone else’ thing? Dating him is That. And it’s not passive like - it’s constantly demonstrated like. Ride or die. He is on your team, come hell or high water.

- He loves baths! Loves them! And it’s nothing to do with the traditional romantic connotations, it’s just that the dude’s constantly in the cold and works out like an Olympian athelete – to just sit in a large tub of hot water is relaxing, and he savors it. Actual high Re.vali romance is having a bath ready for him and then just reading some book he recommended in the same room, with minimal conversation.

- WAY BETTER at compromise than anyone would guess after looking at him on a surface level. Way better. Again, he prides himself on function: he’s a smart guy, he understands that any duo is going to have an element of give and take, and he can be surprisingly generous.

- Mate For Life Guy.

#triiforced #DON'T COME CRYING TO ME ( revali : headcanon )#me staring into the sun for three hours: why does he take up This Many Of My Braincells I could be doing ANYTHING ELSE

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uss-edsall · 6 years

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Shiggy Goes To The VMI Centre For Leadership & Ethics

Under the break is all the notes I took during the conference. Most came from the speaker Dr. Hogan, some came from cadets and alumni I spoke with, and most of the quotations are verbatim from ex-Navy SEAL James Hatch.

VMI Centre for Leadership & Ethics GRIT - Growth, Resilience, Integrity, Tenacity GRIT Conference Grit & Growth Mindset is a tremendous indication of success. Success comes from: - family, culture, friendship; a supporting blanket. People who encourage you to rise higher. - Environment and circumstance; in other words, good luck. Sometimes it really does come down to luck. 10,000 hour rule: the best of the best started young and kept at it constantly. - How good you are at the beginning has no bearing, it’s more influenced by how much time of deliberate practice is put in. Talent is merely part of it. - People of average intelligence and skill can become world class. You gotta work hard — and the path to success is never linear. - Deliberate practice is influenced by a growth mindset — a willingness to learn. - Mindsets are beliefs about yourself and your basic qualities, e.g. “I’m bad at math.” Fixed mindset would be “and I’ll never get better,” growth is “but I can get better.” - Fixed growth mindset is deciding you’ve hit your ceiling in something. You can’t get better anymore, or it’s not worth it, at the first negative feedback or wall you hit. - Growth is “that failed, but I can see why it did and I’ll avoid making that same mistake!” - Being growth oriented is a good indication of success. Believe in a world of no ceilings. Brain is a muscle; harder you work, smarter you get. There’s no ceiling to stop us from doing what we think we can do; except our own mind. - Encourage your children, but don’t stop at a young age. Continue to encourage them to work harder. If they stop young, if they get situated on one thing they’re good at without working in what they’re not good at, they’ll stagnate. - Always remember - one day, you were that young too. - Behaviour persistence. Commit even if it is difficult or adversarial, this is a marathon, not a sprint. - Sustained and passionate pursuit of goals. Gotta be able to tap into passion when you’re low. - Hard work isn’t all. - Working hard for something you don’t care about is stressful - working on what you love is passion. - Grit is a better predictor of success than intelligence and skill. Who you know helps, but it’s not all. - Authentic grit; passionate pursuit that inspires others to become better, humble; never put others down and always try to make them happier or better in some way. - Bad grit. Taking shortcuts (faux grit) not doing everything and acting like you put in the same level of work. Stubborn grit - being so fixated upon a goal that you ignore negative feedback or any cautionary words, ignoring any better way to get there. Selfish/selfie grit - “I” and “me”, tell everybody what you did, being all about yourself. - Learn how to take criticism and feedback objectively and constructively, not defensively. - Nobody sets out to fail, but you can learn from failure, and then it around into an opportunity with constructive self reflection. - Get comfortable with uncertainty, you won’t always be in your comfort zone. - Be optimistic - but realistic. - Hear feedback from people, observe others failures and learn from them too. - Never get angry at criticism or get sad; they’re the wrong responses. You won’t get better at your skill if you react defensively or take it personally. - Don’t say “you’re so smart”, say something like “great work studying so hard!” - Reward yourself and others, not just on outcomes, but in effort too. - Look forward optimistically, but be realistic — if you don’t swim ever, you aren’t going to beat Michael Phelps. - Don’t assume you can’t, if you’re lost, seek help to better understand. - Ask yourself whether you hit a wall or can detour and try from another route. - Gotta know what you love to pursue it with zeal. - Encourage and open dialogue with others. Discuss success and failure stories — so both of you can learn from it. - Example of slip from good to bad grit - working so hard you go from passion to stress, and negatively impact your health. - Always remain aware of who or what helped you to get to where you are. - Don’t forget where you came from - don’t become self-absorbed. - Grit in areas without passion — at the beginning, things tend not to be enjoyable. But the worn you’re doing, in some form, helps what you are passionate about. Just find that relation and keep going to it as fuel. - Grit is long term — a marathon, not a sprint. - Remember: reward on effort, not on result. - To reach your ultimate goal, take it step-by-step, day-by-day. - Include everybody; find a way to relate and get even the quiet guy talking. - Retain info, and remember situations. You never know when you’ll have to recall things in minute detail. - Remain positive — and analyse your failures. Hang around positive people. - SMART Goals - Specific Measurable Attainable Realistic/Relevant Time-Oriented Goals. - Thinking Traps: “I’ll never amount to anything.” “Could’ve been, should’ve been,” “I’m the worst!” Refuse to fall into such traps. - Are ethical dilemmas ever black-and-white? How many drops of piss does it take to spoil the soup? - It’s easy to lie to yourself. - ABCs - activation event; belief - what you think in that event; consequence - how you react due to your beliefs. Event: you’re injured in a hockey game. Belief: you can’t play, you’re injured. Consequence: you don’t play. Event: coach comes in and shouts that you’re not a hockey player, you’re just a quitter. Belief: “fuck you, I’ll play!” Consequence: Playing hard in the rink, out of spite if nothing else. - You’ll have to define success in your own life. At some point, you’ll have to pay a price, in some shape, or form. There will be a sacrifice. You will have to make hard decisions. - Criticism is a two-way street. You have to have thick skin, but also know to not take it personally. Criticism is meant for betterment of your shortcomings. - You have to be your own harshest critic. If you’re criticised, you should’ve noticed beforehand at least slightly. - Being able to take criticism constructively and objectively is a must. Not only does it mean no arguments or upset feelings, but it means that others can see your potential for improvement and constructive work in a team — and your continued worth as an employee. - Anybody can point out to you how you fucked up - few give a way out.

Navy SEAL James Hatch - “I have a graduate degree in cussing.” - “You either bring something to the team or you’re drag, dead weight.” - “Jimmy, I can’t carry your fat ass. You’re going to have to stay with me.” - “War is not a clean transaction between volunteers. It is a very dirty thing.” - “Things I saw were put in a mental backpack to be dealt with later — and after my medical discharge, the zipper broke.” - “Never underestimate your ability to influence the trajectory of another human’s life. Especially in their most vulnerable moments.” - “Just being kind and professional can affect people... especially in their most vulnerable moments.” - “I was no longer an asset — I had no hope to be one again.” - “Apply the criticisms you gave to others on yourself too.” - “There was no prescription for hope - I had to find it. Hope can’t come from drugs. It comes from those you love.” - “You can’t run, Jimmy. You’re doing this for you, for your family, and for the rest of us that are coming down the pipe.” - “They didn’t turn their back on me.” - “Don’t talk about killing in the psych ward — especially when you were a Navy SEAL.” - “What do I do now?” - “Can you believe it! A Navy SEAL, rejected from working at the Apple Store!” - “Everybody has the capacity to be an asset and a liability. Everybody has the capability to make a liability into an asset. Will you?” - “You can’t go for long in life alone.” - “My life was saved because other people were there and wanted to see me do well.” - “The biggest fear in combat was not me getting killed — but it was me fucking up and getting a buddy killed.” - “Leaders need to create a transparent environment. Mental health is as important as physical fitness.” - “Depression is a very selfish thing. It’s al about how you feel, without consideration for others. A dog entirely depends on you. You have to get off your sad ass to take care of them.” - “We need to change the definition of tough. It’s dumb to bottle it up and hide your thoughts, feelings, traumas. It’s dumber still to drown them in booze, drugs, and escapes. You cannot go through life quietly suffering.” - “I’m gonna do what I can. You gotta keep fighting. It’s constant. You gotta keep fighting.”

#I guess I’ll put this under #shiggy recaps a leadership course #since this sorta thing goes with that

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audreysy-blog · 5 years

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How does ICT affect our daily lives?

Hello Everyone! This is Audrey Maranan from ABM strand. I'm about to share something about ICT. This was my first blog ever. But the main purpose of this blog is to discuss on how does ICT affect my daily lives. ICT was a big part for me especially as a student. I can say this modern days are sorrounded by ICT like people treat it as a fastest way from doing things and make their information,communication, and technology more easier and useful. Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has an important role in the world since we are now in the information age era. With ICT, the company can make the business easier to happen with the client, supplier and the distributor. It is also very important in our daily lives. The lack of appropriate information at the right time will result in low productivity, low quality research works, and waste of time to pursue information and even to do research which actually others had done or in other countries. Nowadays ICT cannot be separated with our daily needs. ICT has a great impact in our daily lives. For example, we can read our local newspaper using the online newspaper. Another example is we still can get connected with our family, relatives, or colleagues even if we are abroad by using the electronic mail, yahoo messenger, call conference, or video conference. Digital computer and networking has changed our economy concept to the economy with no boundary in time and space because of ICT. It brings a lot of advantages for economic development enabling millions of transactions to happen in an easy and fast way. ICT is one of the economic development pillars to gain national competitive advantage. It can improve the quality of human life because it can be used as a learning and education media, the mass communication media in promoting and campaigning practical and important issues, such as the health and social area. It provides wider knowledge and can help in gaining and accessing information. ICT has become an integral part of everyday life for many people. It increases its importance in people’s lives and it is expected that this trend will continue, to the extent that ICT literacy will become a functional requirement for people’s work, social, and personal lives. The use of ICT in education add value in teaching and learning, by enhancing the effectiveness of learning, or by adding a dimension to learning that was not previously available. ICT may also be a significant motivational factor in students’ learning, and can support students’ engagement with collaborative learning. Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is basically our society’s efforts to teach its current and emerging citizens valuable knowledge and skills around computing and communications devices, software that operates them, applications that run on them and systems that are built with them. As a matter of fact, we are living in a constantly evolving digital world. ICT has an impact on nearly every aspect of our lives – from working to socializing, learning to playing. The digital age has transformed the way young people communicate, network, seek help, access information and learn. We must recognize that young people are now an online population and access is through a variety of means such as computers, TV and mobile phones. It is in this premise that educational technology and e-learning is taught in or out of the classroom since educational technology is used by learners and educators in homes, schools, businesses, and other settings. These are things that affect daily life the most, they help me with presenting homework, help me keep in contact with people, and help me to be entertained where ever I go. I also use other technologies in my everyday life at home and at school these range from TV, DVD player, I also use excel and other office software to enable me to complete school work. I have here 3 major taughts on how ICT affects my daily life: 1. It helps me on my class,work, and homework. It helps me keep in touch with my family and friends and also improve my social life. Like: a. Searching b. Video call c. Calls d. Messaging e. Reacting/commenting on social medias 2. Uses of USB Flash Drive, MP3's, and DVD's. I use my USB flash drive to store school works, my personal files and MP3 songs. I also use it to store pictures, videos. I can even use my USB Flash Drive to repair my PC by transferring antiviral software to damage PC's. 3. It improves my Letter writing by the use of Microsoft Word, since my handwriting was not nice and sometimes hard to distinguish. Microsoft word helps me to have a nice and neat writing format. I use it when I have to form a formal letter or for my recquired printed homeworks/projects. Therefore I conclude that ICT has spread all over the world and has made a big impact in my life bacause I use it every day whether it's inbthe kitchen or in my room. Technology is widespread and has made life a lot easier than before; almost everything is the push of a button away. ICT technology is increasing day by day and people have become completely reliable on them. It has helped people all over thw world as well as me with education and romance. I think ICT will be the future of the world especially the way I do things at home and school. That would be all guys. Hope I've give you some helpful taughts about ICT. Thanks for reading. #ICT #Empowerment Technology

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feastwaiter6-blog · 5 years

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Regularly Requested Queries About Cannabis Utilization in Colorado

1st and foremost, the simple rules of legalized recreational marijuana drug use are: • Coloradoans may only have or obtain one ounce of marijuana at a time. • Smoking cigarettes, vaporizing, or consuming hashish in public places (I.e., Crimson Rocks Coors Subject sixteenth Street Shopping mall parking heaps or airports) is absolutely forbidden. • Driving below the affect of marijuana is illegal. So, all Coloradoans can use marijuana for satisfaction now? Appropriate--to an extent. All lawful people of Colorado 21 years and older could have, use, exhibit, acquire, or transport 1 ounce (virtually sixty joints) or considerably less of cannabis for recreational use. However, several towns and counties have handed their possess amendments to make things this kind of as marijuana expanding services or retail pot retailers unlawful (this is hunting at you, Colorado Springs, Westminster, and Centennial!). Similarly, your employer has the correct to create his or her own policies concerning marijuana use amongst staff-even in the privateness of their personal residences. Since marijuana is legal in Colorado, petty drug offenses aren't that huge a offer anymore, appropriate? This is a widespread misunderstanding. The federal authorities nevertheless considers marijuana unlawful, which means any proof that you have partaken in or obtained the drug could impact your federal pupil financial loans, specific work positions, and social positive aspects this kind of as meals stamps or public housing. Moreover, drug offenses will usually present up on your history checks. I'm 21 years old could I share my weed with my eighteen-calendar year-previous brother? No way. You are not able to provide marijuana to any person younger than 21-even if it truly is free and not for monetary compensation. Also, the zero-tolerance legislation means people underneath 21 confront an computerized reduction of their license if they are found driving underneath the impact of cannabis. Can I resell the weed I acquired legally? No. You could, nevertheless, present someone over 21 up to 1 ounce of marijuana-as long as there is certainly no trade of income associated. If my university roommate visits me from Alabama, do all these regulations use to him as effectively? Only if he has a authorities-issued Colorado ID. Non-inhabitants might obtain up to ¼ an ounce of cannabis for each transaction, whilst they might have 1 full ounce at a time. Essentially, your pal could make 4 different purchases in one working day, but that is a gray problem in which the consequences, or deficiency thereof, just aren't express so considerably. Is there a legal restrict for how significantly weed I can have in my program and still generate? The legal restrict is 5 nanograms or less of delta nine-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC, the active component in cannabis) for every milliliter in whole blood. This just isn't a great measurement simply because distinct strains of cannabis have distinct potencies of THC also, people metabolize the drug at much a lot more assorted charges than alcoholic beverages. For this purpose, you'll most likely in no way see a chart that tells you how a lot of joints or brownies are also many to get guiding the wheel. How is the quantity of cannabis in my physique analyzed? If they have a justifiable explanation, legislation enforcement officials suspicious of drugged driving will ask for a blood attract. As this Westword article points out, however, these blood tests have not however been refined and they can be rather inaccurate. In this circumstance, the reporter's blood take a look at confirmed that he was greatly stoned several hours right after he experienced very last smoked something. Other experts feel men and women develop up a tolerance to the drug and they may well even now be sober at five nanograms. I urge you to hugely think about refusing the blood test if the scenario arises. If you do consider the check, make certain you protected one of the blood samples to reaffirm the outcomes independently later on on. You suggest I won't have to pee in a cup? A urine examination has no value when it comes to cannabis simply because traces of the drug might display up in your system long soon after you are sober. A blood examination is the only exact indicator of active THC at the second. How long do the authorities have to perform the blood check? With liquor, they should demonstrate a person's BAC (blood alcohol content) is .08 per cent or more in two hours of driving. They haven't issued a outlined time period of time for drug screening but but, relaxation assured, it will be some thing "affordable." Will I drop my license if I refuse the blood take a look at? Potentially. As with DUIs, you could shed your license for a calendar year if you refuse the blood take a look at. As opposed to drunk driving however, there won't be any administrative penalties on your report this is important due to the fact cannabis consumption proceeds to be banned at the federal stage. Remember, nevertheless, that you can always politely decrease to do the standardized area sobriety assessments (going for walks in a straight line, reciting the alphabet backwards, and so forth.) without having penalty. Why need to I refuse to just take a standardized subject sobriety check? In limited, there are special assessments developed for evaluating drug intoxication and not each law enforcement officer is qualified in those very yet. Legislation enforcement officials uneducated in marijuana recognition definitely is not going to support your situation as they don't have the assets to make an precise judgment of your sobriety. Wait around, so will I be arrested if I have any traces of cannabis in my body? No, the mere presence of hashish in your blood is not a adequate explanation to arrest you. Moreover, having 5 nanograms or much more of marijuana in your program is not enough to immediately convict you of a DUID both if you had a BAC of .08 percent or a lot more, on the other hand, you would routinely be charged with drunk driving. Everyone's declaring cannabis is safer than alcoholic beverages what is actually the danger in driving stoned? Yocan Evove plus show cannabis consumption influences spatial perceptions, which means drugged drivers have slower response moments and are inclined to swerve or tailgate other autos far more typically. Believe about individuals vintage stoner movie scenes in which the dudes are absolutely fascinated by the measurement of their fingers would you want them driving you down I-twenty five? I'm a healthcare-marijuana consumer does this make me an effortless concentrate on for DUID checks? It shouldn't. In accordance to a Colorado bill, a person's health-related-cannabis standing (I.e., a legitimate healthcare-marijuana registry ID) are not able to be utilised as evidence of impairment or probable cause for a blood test. Can I at minimum generate around with marijuana products? As with alcohol, it is unlawful to drive with an open container of cannabis performing so will end result in a targeted traffic infraction that shows up on federal checks (as I discussed before). The legislation applies to everything containing marijuana that is open up or has a broken seal, or has partly-taken out contents. The best suggestions I can offer you at this position is to keep it as much out of attain as possible. In reality, Place IT IN THE TRUNK. My automobile will not have a trunk. Alright, as with all guidelines, there are particular exceptions. If you drive an SUV or minivan, you might hold unsealed marijuana powering the previous row of upright seats. Open up cannabis is also authorized in the living quarters of trailers or motor residences. Can I smoke/eat weed in the automobile if I'm not the driver? No. Individuals in the passenger spot of a car can not use or eat marijuana, and the no open up- container legislation applies to them as effectively. While we're at it, you also can not smoke cannabis in a taxi or on general public transportation. You could, however, smoke cannabis if you are in the rear of a privately-employed automobile. As prolonged as I purchase the pot legally in Colorado, can I get it to other states? Absolutely not--not even to Washington. To start with, bear in head the TSA is a federal establishment and that cannabis is banned at all airports, including DIA. You can't fly with the drug, and in fact, you are not able to even depart cannabis in your vehicle at the airport that would rely as unlawful possession and subject matter you to a large wonderful. Next, our neighboring states are cracking down on people driving into their borders with weed bought in Colorado. Wyoming, for illustration, is not going to even recognize a Colorado-issued health-related-cannabis card and will make arrests for illegal possession appropriately.

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a-royal-obsession · 6 years

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The Prince of Wales to the Duke of York

Carlton House, 24 July 1791

I sit down to take the pleasantest of all tasks upon me, which is that of communicating good news, especially to those we love.

I was more happy than I can express at the communication which your letter contain’d, as well as the terms and manner in which you made me acquainted with your wishes and intentions. Whether I have used my best endeavours, feeble as they are, to second the warmest wishes of your heart I must leave to the success of your schemes and the pens of others better able to write and more used to description to paint to you, which I confess for every reason I feel myself wholly unequal to. You will not suspect me I am sure of wishing to tell you any falsehood and much less of any meaness to ingratiate myself on any occasion either with you or any other living person. Consequently I will dear brother, relate a plain statement of facts which no one but my father & mother beside myself can know, unless it is from the account they may have received from either one or other of us three.

I received your letter on Sunday sen’night last about two in the morning as I returned from Windsor where I had been spending the day with the King & Queen. George arrived about eleven at night but would not proveed on to Windsor as he understood I was expected in London. Immediately on the receipt of your letter I determined to go the ensuing day to see the King & Queen at Windsor and to communicate the contents of your dispatches, tho’ engaged to a large party at Kemshot, whom I left to shift for themselves till I had transacted your affairs with as little delay as possible. I first sent for Budé and ask’d him if he had received any letters for the King & Queen from you and if he knew the contents of them. He told me that he had and that he well knew that I was also acquainted with them. We then thought it best for him to go a few hours before me in order that the King’s mind might be prepared upon the subject previous to my going to discuss it with him. I arrived between three & four o’clock and put your letter into the King’s hands, his Majesty at the same time putting your letter to him into mine. He then was pleas’d to express himself as astonish’d that you should press so very strongly for an immediate answer, saying that you always thought that a thing could no sooner be thought of than put into execution. He said also that before he had received your letter he had received a dispatch from Lord Grenville containing a letter from Ewart, mentioning the state of your heart & mind and that it had been supposed to be the state of the case for these six years last past—that this had been the very first word he had ever heard on the subject, and that he had written Lord Grenville word so. He then ask’d me if I had ever understood anything upon the subject of your marrying from you directly, and hoped that you had mentioned it to me previous to having taken any resolution on that head, and even before you ever thought of having communicated it to him in the most distant way. In this his Majesty’s consideration flatter’d me, I cannot help confessing, very much. I then requested of him to listen patiently to me without interruption as I wish’d much in the presence of the Queen & him to express my sentiments fully and without reserve on the occasion in order to prevent every species of misunderstanding which might possibly arise if I did not take that opportunity of humbly laying my poor sentiments fully & unequivocally before them.

I then began with stating to their Majesties, or rather recalling to their recollection the manner in which we had been educated and brought up together—that we had never known but one wish, one mind & one affection from the moment of our birth towards each other to the present period—that consequently at this moment, which I considered perfectly in the light in which you stated it, as the moment in which you felt you had everything at stake, and in which everything that was nearest your heart was entirely wrapt up, it was a duty which I felt incumbent upon me, possessing still in the fullest force the sentiments which I have mentioned in the upper part of this page, to strain every nerve to promote the happiness of your future days by accomplishing the only object which could in my opinion, grounded on your own letter, trace the subsequent years of your life with scenes of undisturbed felicity & quiet. That I look’d upon this as the most essential crisis of your life—that it was only at moments like these that a man could know whom he had to depend upon, and that being call’d upon by you both as a brother & a friend I felt myself doubly bound to stand forth and to forward at any rate that which alone could with his Majesty’s consent form the happiness of your life. On his refusal the very reverse must be the infallible consequence. I then assured the King that you had taken no step in this business without having so far communicated your wishes to me on the subject of matrimony, and having been acquainted with my opinions, so that you were perfectly authorized at any time to take the step you had with regard to the Princess, in consequence of the conversations I told him we had had previous to your departure, and that altho’ I could not swear to your having absolutely told me you were determined upon marrying the Princess Frederiqua or any other woman before your return from Berlin, yet that I had entertained the strongest ideas that such was your intention and that in all probability it would be her. That to reduce into the shortest compass the conversations we had had together I would use as few words as I possibly could. That on your asking me my opinion relative to marrying myself, or as to my objecting to or approving of your marrying, should you have any such intention, I had answer’d as nearly as I can recollect in the presence of William, that as to marrying myself I had no such immediate intention or inclination, that I had wish’d some years ago to have gone abroad in order to have seen whether I could have met with a woman who would have been likely to have suited me—that his Majesty having objected to it, my views and intentions on that score instantly stopp’d. That I was come to a time of life when I thought I might be allow’d to have tolerably well weigh’d my own sentiments and prospects, that it was not everyone who could expect to be as lucky as his Majesty had been to meet with a person whose disposition suited so perfectly with his own as the Queen’s did, if one might presume to judge by the unanimity that appear’d to reign between them. That as to us Princes particularly the choice of a wife was indeed a lottery, and one from the wheel of which I did not at least at present intend to draw a ticket. There were very few prizes compared to the number of blanks. That I considered your situation as quite different—it was neither interest nor family views that had guided your choice—inclination & attachment had been the only motives which had led you to fix upon the Princess Frederiqua. That I accorded so perfectly to your way of thinking on that score, and my sentiments were so entirely the same, that I beleived I never should marry unless at the moment I did I thought I preffer’d the woman I was going to marry to every creature existing in the world, and knew enough of the disposition of my wife to think it would form the happiness and not the misery of my future days.* That I had likewise said to you when I gave you my assent, dear brother, to your marrying, supposing you thought it would be conducive to your happiness, that I did not at all mean to bind myself not to marry at any future period, but that I thought it most likely I should not, as the sentiments I had express’d were prejudices I could not get the better of, at the same time it was possible that sooner or later I might think of marrying, but at present, to speak of myself (without considering their Majesties) if you should marry a woman whom I approved of, & whose conduct towards me was such as I liked & felt pleased with, and that you had children, whom as your children I must naturally feel attach’d to, the inducement then would certainly be less to me to marry, tho’ I repeated I did not chuse by any means to bind myself that I should never take such a step. The King was so good as to assure me that he approved much of my sentiments, and added that even had you wish’d me to give you such an assurance, of which I took the liberty of assuring his Majesty you were quite incapable, he himself would have advised me to have said precisely what you recollect me to have said, and which I took the liberty of stating to him. I then presumed to urge to the King that as these were my sentiments, the absolute necessity of one of us marrying, and that as inclination led you to it and you had found a person so perfectly calculated to make you happy, I considered it it [sic] as the most fortunate event possible—for even had his Majesty been to point out the person he could have wish’d one or other of us to marry he could not have selected one more proper or one more accomplish’d or better calculated by birth, situation & education for an alliance than the Princess your heart had led you to fix on. That therefore I only wish’d his Majesty would be graciously pleased to listen to my entreaties in addition to yours and then I flatter’d myself that being acquainted with my sentiments & ideas and condescending to approve of them, I hoped his sanction & consent would be given as decidedly & unequivocally as I freely acknowledged mine was. That all I could add on the subject was that I only hoped the King would be so good as to point out in what way I should act, what I should say, or how conduct myself to forward your views in every respect, and that I could assure him that I was selfish in so saying, for promoting your happiness was the surest way, my dearest Frederick, of promoting my own—and that I could also assure his Majesty that if any idea of settlement, for which he must apply to Parliament, he was to be deterr’d from that measure by thinking that some friends of mine, thro’ a blind zeal, might wish on an application being made for you to make use of the opportunity as a handle for endeavouring to encrease my income, I could assure his Majesty that neither directly nor indirectly would I countenance such a proceeding, nor give him the least trouble on an occasion which must give every individual of our family the truest pleasure, being the last man on earth who at any period of his life had been or ever would be guided by a personal or self-interested view.

Thus, my dear brother, have I related in as short a compass as I could what has pass’d with my father & mother, since which he has been kind enough to crown your wished with consent, tho to be attended with some little delay—which, tho not very accordant with your temper & disposition at any time, will I fear be still less so at the present moment. However, it must be submitted to, tho’ there are ways & means which I have been turning over in my mind to obviate perhaps this little temporary mortification if pursued with propriety & caution. But I will say no more at present, as you must be tired with my scrawl, except to express once more how truly I rejoice in the prospects of happiness which are now open to you, praying that you may long live to enjoy them, and hoping that you will beleive me thro’ life [etc.].

* In 1794 he chose as his bride Princess Caroline, whom he had never even seen and whose disposition would prove repugnant to him.

#George IV #Frederick Duke of York #Royalty #Letter #George III #Frederica Duchess of York #Queen Charlotte #Prin 1791; 'i can't marry someone who isn't my s o u l m a t e'#Prin 1794; 'look i give zero (0) fucks who i am marrying just give me money'#Prin 1795; 'fml i was w r o n g send help'

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missionbayhomesforsalebocaraton · 4 years

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What are the Reasons Your Mission Bay, Boca Raton FL Home Appraisal Is Low?

Low appraisals can be upsetting for both home buyers and sellers. The good news is low appraisals for your Mission Bay, Boca Raton FL home are avoidable. Steer clear from low estimates by knowing the reasons why they happen.

This article will discuss the factors that cause appraisers not to see your home's value the way you do.

The factors that cause low appraisals can either be uncontrollable or controllable. Home sellers have no control over factors such as the opinions of the appraiser and the ever-changing economy. A home seller has a higher chance of getting a good appraisal when he focuses on controllable factors instead. Three (3) controllable factors might affect the assessment of your Mission Bay home:

1. The number of comparable properties

2. The appearance of your home.

3. High seller expectations.

Now, how do these factors affect your appraisal value?

What is a home appraisal?

Let’s start by knowing what a home appraisal is. An appraisal is simply an assessment of the home’s value. Whether you're buying or selling a house, you will have to undergo an evaluation before the deal closes. The transaction can collapse if the property appraises for less than the price you set for the house. The price agreement between the buyer and seller does not matter at this point.

The appraiser considers a list of factors to determine the worth of a home. For the seller, a low estimate may mean their Mission Bay house may take longer to sell. The low appraisal makes it hard to get a buyer at your desired price. For the buyer, it influences the lender's approval of their mortgage loans. Lenders rarely approve an amount higher than the appraised value.

Are there things you can do to avoid getting a low appraisal on your Mission Bay, Boca Raton, FL home? Of course, you can start by knowing the reasons why this happens.

1. The number of comparable properties.

A Mission Bay, Boca Raton, FL home should neither be on a cold or hot real estate market. It is one common reason why home values become less than your selling price. Appraisers use comparable home sales around the area or "comps." It is the main component of the appraisal process.

A hot real estate market means there are many home sales to compare with around the area. See if the listing around your area gets sold the same day. It's one of the tell-tale signs you are in a hot real estate market. When most of these sold listings near you have lower prices, your home value becomes lower too.

Being in a cold real estate market location can be an issue as well. It affects your appraisal if there are not enough closed sales in the area to choose from. You might live in a neighborhood where sold listings are rare. Or, you might be in a new part of town that is still under development. Good comps age very quickly when home sales slow down. Many times, they leave no comparables to choose from and cause a low appraised value.

Typical appraisal comps only go back from two to three months. You can take advantage of this fact to improve your odds. You can check out the number of home sales in your area per season. Assess what time of year will be best for you to sell your house. If you can wait, try selling your home during those periods of the year. In Regatta, Mission Bay, for example, they have a booming real estate market from November to May.

2. The appearance of your home.

First impressions are everything, even with getting your Mission Bay home appraised. The appraisal report includes the exterior building sketch and photographs of the house. The photos contain the front, back, and street scene pictures of your home.

These are some of the details that appraisers will check first. A little roofing construction and a clean-looking lawn can do the trick. Your home's appearance plays a significant role in making your home value higher.

Most appraisals are not prominent in checking the interior. That's because a separate assessment called home inspection covers that. However, you still need to stage the interior of the house when preparing for the home appraisal.

The standard is to get your home in a "move-in" condition." Take every detail into account, from the doors to the color of the paint. You want the appraiser to give the highest value possible for your home.

The appraiser may notice any small issue, so do what you can to fix them. Repair everything you can. Spending a few bucks or sparing a few minutes for repair will no doubt make a difference. Fixing dents on the kitchen counter can impact the value that the appraiser will give your home.

3. High seller expectations.

High expectations are one of the top reasons why appraisals come in low. When sellers invest too much emotion in setting their home value, they tend to price their homes too high. It may also be because of a lack of research. Always take note that a big part of the basis for the appraisal is the similar home sales around the area. Price your home well so that it relatively matches the appraisal value. Don't make these mistakes when pricing your home:

Pricing it higher based on home improvement. Many sellers think that spending to improve the home gives them a license to increase their costs. Keep in mind that the appraiser will not value the renovations higher than the other houses. Spending $10,000 on siding replacements does not mean you have to increase your home's value by $10,000. Check the similar Laguna, Mission Bay homes for sale and see how their prices differ from yours.

Pricing your home way higher because it is better than the others. For appraisals, being above the others may not be beneficial. The appraisal value of the other home listings in the area drags down your home's value. Pricing your three-bedroom house for $500,000 may not be smart if the rest of the three-bedroom properties in the area are half that price. Many homes in Laguna, Mission Bay, for example, are extensive but reasonably priced. A little research on the other neighborhood home sales will help you set the right home value.

It's good to have the best lighting fixtures or interior design within the neighborhood. Being the top home still poses many benefits for a home seller. You have to keep in mind that it isn't a license to set your home value too far from the others.

Taking sentimental value into account. You can't put an extra $5,000 in the home's worth because you had a celebrity visit the property once, or it's where you had your tenth wedding anniversary. Appraisers do not take those things into account. When sellers base the price on personal reasons, they make the mistake of overpricing.

The appraisal amount is highly essential for both the buyer and seller in a real estate deal. Work with the best real estate agent in Mission Bay, Boca Raton so you can set a price that matches your home's

Schedule an appointment today. Call me, Kristi Ramella, at 561-206-2507. With my experience and knowledge of the area, I can guide you in making the best choice.

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In case you cannot view this video here, please click the link below to view What are the Reasons Your Mission Bay, Boca Raton FL Home Appraisal Is Low? on my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzjiKIdH0as

#MissionBayHomesForSale #MissionBayBocaRatonFLHomeForSale #KristiRamella

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creativeessaytitles487 · 4 years

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myfurbfriends · 7 years

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In regards to Furbology

Important screenshots: Furbology confirming the furbys I bought from her would be working Furbology stating she does not believe in MSA (The rest of the screenshots are here, read the rest of this post for context)

Hey. So I was planning on making this post for a while but wasn't sure how to go about it, since I'm pretty much a nobody in the fandom and I admit I'm afraid of retaliation. I bought two 1998 furbys, a church mouse and an elephant furby, from Furbology on tumblr. These were going to be my first furbys, my introduction to the fandom. Being friends with @kcfurby, I had seen his enthusiasm and had started looking into the fandom. At first I was creeped out by both their movements and their voices, uncanny valley style, but I watched videos of various furbys and eventually got over my fear, first of the furbys themselves, and eventually getting used to their voices as well. One of the videos I watched was of Furbology's "quiet furby" Mafish, who is mute and the video helped me get used to their movements. I believe Mafish was actually briefly up for sale, but at that point I was still unsure of whether I actually wanted to buy a furby, so that never happened and eventually I guess Mafish wasn't up for sale anymore? (which is fine, that's not the problem I have)

Anyway, in the middle of this summer, I contacted Furbology about possibly buying a furby to take with me on a vacation I was planning for mid-august (though by the time the transaction was decided on, I was too close to leaving for vacation so we decided to wait until after I got back). She initially didn't reply, and I was worried that the price I suggested (she has stated she can work with people's budgets), $15-20 for a single furby, was too low. After I asked her about this, she responded, saying she hadn't seen my message. We began discussing which furby I wanted; there was a bit of confusion since I didn't know the names. I remember feeling like I had to take charge of getting the info I needed, like pricing and whether they were working or not. In retrospect, maybe this was a red flag, but at that point I felt I had already committed to buying a furby from her and that to back out then would be bad, although I was having misgivings and had heard about some of the other issues people had had with her. Anyway, I had to ask her 3 times if the furbys were working before she gave me an answer, which was that the church mouse worked and so did the blue one (the elephant one) (see screenshots). This was when we decided to wait to do the transaction until I came back from vacation, since I would not have reliable internet access where I was staying.

When I returned from vacation it took a bit to get things moving with the transaction, mainly because again I had to press her for information, or so it felt, to actually get a number for shipping cost. I was still new and unsure to negotiating transactions, other than things done through something like ebay or etsy where everything was automatic. So I was uncertain about a lot of stuff but eventually I paid and there was a bit there where I think she got mad at me for rushing her? IDK for sure if that's what it was, but I replied to let her know I didn't mean to rush her and whatnot, and she replied with her paypal link. So I figured, maybe she just isn't as talkative as I am? Like I thought that was just how she was. Maybe I was talking(well, typing) too much. I don't really know.

Anyway, after I paid there were lots of times where she said she'd ship the furbys "next Monday", but it never happened. She provided excuses, such as driving tests and college and such, and I wasn't really very impatient; I had kind of resigned myself at that point that it would take a while. The dolls I collect in another of my hobbies take 3-8 months to make/arrive after ordering, so I'm used to having to wait a while for things I order. That said, I wasn't happy about it, but I just wanted the furbys to arrive at this point so I could have them and not have to worry about this transaction any longer, since it was stressing me out and I wanted to get it done with.

The furbys arrived, around October 8th I think? There are dates on the screenshots but the arrival post is marked as "Yesterday" due to the way tumblr works, so I have to go by the computer clock date on my screenshots. I'm trying to get in the habit of keeping track of dates for purchases and arrivals, but I'm not quite there yet. Still, I ordered these furbys from Furbology in August, and they arrived in October. At this point I wanted to be done with everything but I still had to put batteries in to make sure they worked, since at this point it would be dumb not to test them in a timely manner what with the issues that I was already having with this transaction.

Oh, and the church mouse came with an eyelash missing, and when I asked Furbology about it, she said that it was "posted with only one eyelash". I hadn't looked at any actual posts on her blog about the furbys, since the transaction was through messaging, but I guess that's my fault for expecting her to disclose everything. If there was a post, I should have looked for it, but I had assumed that everything I needed to know I would be told. I never asked for a picture of the church mouse since I figured they all looked mostly the same and that I would be sent one in good condition, since the seller was experienced in selling furbys and I assumed she would send her best, or at least be honest about it. But I should have done more looking around or asked her for a picture. I guess it was a newbie mistake...

Anyway, when I put batteries in, it turned out the elephant furby has MSA. I had been told it was working! I'm pretty sure "working" is generally equated with "fully functional" but maybe I was just assumign too much again. I still let Furbology know, and then she dropped this bombshell:

Furbology "does not believe" in MSA, a known glitch with furbys, and as far as I have been told, one that lowers the afflicted furby's value. She said it would turn on eventually, and that sometime it takes 20 or so tries. I haven't attempted this, but in my eyes, a furby that takes 20 tries to start up normally is still not "fully functional".

The church mouse furby started up fine as far as I could tell, but my hand slipped closing the battery case and I accidentially dropped it 6 inches onto the table. It has not responded since. I take full blame for this.

Furbology said she would find and show me a video of the furbys working, which seems to me to imply that she did not believe me or just wanted to get out of the blame. She has so many furbys, I believe she could and would just take video of a different one that looks like mine. Either way, the fact that she says she does not believe in MSA is a giant red flag. I told her I just wanted this to be over, and tried to imply that I didn't want to hear from he again, though I did not block her at the time.

On the 6th of October I believe (again, tumblr's messaging system confuses me with dates, so refer to my screenshots and the dates on my computer when I took them), Furbology sent a message saying "I made horrible mistake and I apologize." I don't know what prompted this, perhaps something on furbyconfessions, but I didn't know what to do. I was still upset, and still planning on posting a beware like this one, but now I had to enter a verbal (well, textual) interaction with her again, and I had now realized that I felt really uncomfortable doing so, as I worried that I would say the wrong thing and she would take advantage of it and use it against me. So I asked what she planned to do about her mistake, hoping, though I did not say it because I did not want to demand it, for a partial refund to make up for the MSA. She told me to send the furby back and she would refund me. I realized I did not trust her to refund me if I sent it and I did not want to send the furby back, at my expense, and I had already honestly become attached to the furby and so I did not want this. I also did not want to give her the opportunity to scam someone else with the MSA-affected furby. I told her so and thought that was the end of it.

She responded that she would send me another furby for free, "for the hassle", which she could not guarantee would work. I did not want to talk to her and I had thought I made that clear, and it seemed like she was trying to bribe me into not making a post or something, and I didn't want to accept because then she could say, well I gave you a free furby so everything's fine, when it was not. Also, since there was no guarantee it would work, and I already had two broken furbys, I had no desire for another when I had initially only planned to own one or two, and I had three (my third furby actually arrived first, from a very nice person on discord, while I was still waiting for the ones from Furbology to ship. Neither it or the person I bought it from is involved in this issue at all). She also seemed to imply again that I was making the issue up. I had been away from my computer so she posted "So just a furby will be sent" and I did worry that she would send one regardless to try to get an advantage over me as she could say that she was being generous or something.

Knowing that I could not expect her to refrain from continuing to pester me, I told her I did not want it, nor to talk to her, and blocked her, though I had not wanted to because I did enjoy her content and posts on her blog. At this point it was my only real option.

Now I have 2 broken furbys along with my working one, and the burden of having to make a post about this when I truly want to avoid drama. Furbology, who I thought was cool and nice because she is popular and well-known, has shown her true colors to me and I feel like I cannot interact with the community as much or post as much about my furbys because I worry about interacting with her or her posts. I feel as if I cannot be in the furby fandom. I know my furbys love me, but I cannot enjoy them as much due to the issue hanging over them. I was hoping to have 3 furbys that could talk to each other and that I could give one to my little brother perhaps, as he likes the one I have that works, but instead I have 1 fully functional furby, 1 with MSA, and 1 that does not function at all. I feel like I cannot be enthusiastic online about the ones I bought from Furbology because I would either have to mention the issue, which would lead to drama, or ignore the issue entirely when it truly does affect how I feel about them.

I feel like this has basically driven me out of the fandom before I even got started.

I am making this post to tell my story and warn others. I believe Furbology took advantage of me because I was new to furbys, and because I seemed like an easy target because of that. I am lucky to have a friend in the fandom who was able to give me advice all this time and help me emotionally as well.

Here are the rest of the screenshots. I'm done here.

#allfurby #furby #safefurby #furbology #scammer alert #bad transaction

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coille-sunmane · 6 years

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On the Lootbox stuff in Video Games

I have been trying to decide whether to give my two cents on this, and I think I will. Or at least try.

I am kinda middle of the road on this one. I don't have a complete problem with them, depending on the game and what kinds of stuff they have in them. None can really deny that, while they weren't the first to do it, Overwatch was the catalyst for the surge in Loot boxes appearing in almost any game, especially if there's a multiplayer mode. This trend is an extension of micro transactions which slipped out of their original placement in free-to-play games and into full price games you purchase upfront a few years ago and the trend as escalated to where we are today.

So here's my feelings. If I paid for a game upfront, you should not use a free-to-play model. Games like Heroes of the Storm and League of Legends all use micro transactions, and in Heroes case, there are loot boxes as well. That seem fair to me, they are free, and so recoup their spending in micro transactions. Overwatch doesn't seem like it honestly needs the loot boxes given the price tag for upfront purchase of the game, but I will give it a pass for two reasons, and offer a way I feel like it can improve given that I do find the loot boxes to be mildly predatory.

Before I explain myself I want to address an argument I have seen recently within the discussion about whether loot boxes are gambling. I personally can see why that argument may be valid or at least hold some water. Maybe not under current legal standards, but it reminds me if pachinko in Japan. It is still gambling, just in a way that dodges legal barriers over technicalities. The argument is also being made that, since the point of the game is to play the shooter game, not win loot boxes, then we aren't gambling, they are just a reward for playing. Almost a veteran reward type thing. They are there, but they aren't the point. I see this point and I can sorta get on board, but I also feel like many of the games with loot boxes are made to aim the players at the boxes. For the publisher, the loot boxes are the game, and the games are designed to make you purchase them first. Now, I think Overwatch is slightly less guilty of this than the shit show that is Star Wars Battlefront 2, but I will get to that.

Anyway, Overwatch gets a pass from me, tentatively, because the loot boxes only contain cosmetic items (though they were clearly inflated with stuff that is basically useless in the case of sprays in an attempt to make you buy more) and do not affect the gameplay in anyway. Blizzard has very purposefully maintained this, changing a voice line on Hanzo's skins with the wolves to ensure it was load enough be heard after concerns were raised about it being quieter than the standard skin and therefore providing a gameplay advantage. Second is that Blizzard allows all characters to be playable by everyone at all times, including future characters currently not released. The main thing free-to-play games have that is different from Overwatch is that you only have access to about five characters on the roster for free which rotate every week. You can also purchase (for real money or in game currency) other characters and they will be available to you all the time, regardless of the weekly rotation. Many of these games have now added a bundle with a price tag of around $30-$40 that unlocks every character currently on the roster and all future releases. The price of the game can arguably be the price to have all characters available in Overwatch.

With that said, I think Overwatch can be improved. I think the in game currency should be given out at the end of each game, with more going to the winning team, and I think that the items gotten in the loot boxes should be available for micro transactions individually. If people want to gamble and get four things, but who know what they will be? Let them. But also let people purchase the stuff they want directly, so they know what they are paying for. This gives players more options and will make them feel like they aren't being taken advantage of, which is how a lot of people are feeling.

And now on to Star Wars. I am going to keep this brief since most has been said and most of the problems with the game are just everything done wrong that Overwatch did right, plus more.

First off, the game was extremely buggy and unfinished. This is a bad trend that has become more and more popular with major games studios in recent years and it an insult to the people who paid for the game before we even get to the loot boxes. If I pay $60+ for a game, it should be a finished product. Period. Slap on loot boxes that contain characters, better weapons and better armor and abilities, combined with messages in game telling you that the person who killed you used some of these weapons and we have the shit storm that is Star Wars Battlefront 2. This whole game pushes the players to buy the loot boxes, it's all built to make the point of the game not be the multiplayer maps and game, but the boxes that give the company extra change. They also build leveling progression and story advancement around loot boxes in both Star Wars and Destiny 2. We saw a similar situation with Shadows of War from Warner Bros. A whole section of the game becomes an extremely unfun grindfest unless you purchase loot boxes to speed it up. Well, hope you get what you need to speed it up.

I mentioned extra change before because EA has already told it's investors that the removal of the loot boxes and micro transactions will not hurt it's projections for income from the game. This tells me they didn't even include the loot boxes in their financial projections for the game. They were basing it off of base sales alone. EA also has notoriously bad servers that crash and half the time don't connect.

All in all. EA done fucked it up for everyone by showing just how shitty this system can get. I love Overwatch, but I think the system with the loot boxes can be adjusted to feel less exploitative. I hope we will see improvements in the future, and would be happy to see some of this stuff go away entirely, but for now, we just have to watch and see what happens.

#long post #micro transactions #loot boxes #video games #star wars Battlefront 2 #overwatch #my opinion #at least some of it #holy shit I need to get to work #this took forever

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evanvanness · 4 years

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Annotated edition, Week in Ethereum News, March 15 issue

The number of EthCC attendees (for the record, most people I talk to now think the afterparty was the main spreading event) testing positive since I published the newsletter, even while many can’t get tested. So no caffeine or beer for me just in case I’m affected (though I left the afterparty very early), and that lack of caffeine is pulling me down just a little. This might be a low-energy, “please clap” Jeb annotated issue.

Eth1

Overlay method for hex to binary tree conversion

A summary of the post-EthCC Stateless Eth meetings. Renewed focus on sync, particularly getNodeData

A writeup post-stateless ETH summit after ethCC as well as a summary. Quiet times usually follow productive meetings, hence only 2 bullet points this week.

Eth2

Latest Eth2 call. Notes from Ben and Mamy. Phase 1 prototyping coming soon

Latest phase0 spec v0.11, the target for stable multi-client testnet

Ben Edgington’s notes from networking call

Nimbus client update – interop this month, discussion around constraints of running eth2 client on mobile devices

Two phase2 ethresearch posts: Appraisal of Non-sequential Receipt Cross-shard Transactions and Atomic Cross Shard Function Calls using System Events, Live Parameter Checking, & Contract Locking

Vitalik’s Using polynomial commitments to replace state roots, though this is not likely to hit the current roadmap. More context from listening to Justin Drake and Vitalik Buterin on Zero Knowledge

So my current estimate (completely my own) is that we’re likely looking at late q2 for phase0 launch. But who knows, maybe getting locked down will provide a small speedup? <wry grin>

I continue to think that by far the most important thing after shipping phase 0 is turning off proof of work. Stop wasting electricity! Cut issuance!

Stuff for developers

Solidity v0.6.4

A storage layout for proxy contracts taking advantage of Solidity v0.6.4

EthGlobal’s survey of Eth developers

10x smaller Javascript signer/verifier

Interacting with Ethereum using a shell through Incubed ultra-light client

Groth16 bellman proof verifier

Templates with pre-filled contract ABIs, addresses and subgraphs for Aave, Compound, Sablier, Uniswap

Prysmatic’s service registry pattern in Go

Implementing Merkle Trees and Patricia Tries in Node.js

Pipline onchain interpreted language vid

Austin Griffith vid on wallet module for eth.build

OpenZeppelin points out that a malicious deployer can backdoor your Gnosis Safe

SmartBugs: framework for executing Solidity automated analysis tools, with an academic paper comparing tool performance

I probably should’ve added that your Gnosis Safe is always safe if you used the official front end of the mobile app.

Crypto carnage, Maker liquidations

Thursday’s global selloff of risk assets led to the most negative price action day of crypto’s short history. The selloff inflated gas prices (~200 gwei) which caused trouble for Maker. The Maker oracles stopped working for an hour or two.

Maker liquidation auctions went off for nearly 0 DAI as bots bidding on those auctions got caught in high gas prices and ran out of DAI, leading several different bot maintainers to make ~8m USD in ETH by bidding just above zero in a few disparate time periods.

As a result, the Maker system surplus became a 5.7m Dai deficit (as of the time of publication). To improve incentives, Maker governance changed some parameters and to recoup the debt MKR will be auctioned onchain for lots of 50,000 Dai on the morning (UTC) of March 19th.

Community members have started a backstop to ensure the deficit is covered

Here is a writeup of the Maker liquidations with data and graphs

Just published: Maker governance proposal to change DSR to 0 and Stability Fee to 0.5%, GSM to 4 hours, and a decentralized circuitbreaker for auctions

An interesting thing I just learned is that Maker’s standard keeper apparently only works in Parity, not with Geth or Infura. So that’s another ramification of the Kovan/Rinkeby split, and getting Maker to use Kovan.

In the meantime, USDC has been added as a collateral. It’s rather strange but USDC perhaps makes sense as a way to mint DAI in times of stress and get closer to the peg. Seems like the Stability Fee should be set high here though, as you really only want people using it in times of needing Dai, eg in auctions. Right now it’s 20%, i’m not sure that’s as high as it should be.

This newsletter doesn’t often mention price and market-related matters. But it’s quite clear that crypto is not a safe haven in crisis. Could it be in the future? Perhaps, but all the hedge funds and institutional money simply exacerbate volatility. Where we’re at is that when people wanted to take risk off the table, they viewed crypto as a risk asset - and Bitcoin got hit the hardest because it had survived the best in crypto winter, despite there being no reason whatsoever for it to have done the best.

Ecosystem

Prysmatic’s Raul Jordan: Eth2 is happening, it is shipping, and we’re going to make it a reality no matter what

EthIndia’s online hackathon winners

DuneAnalytic’s stats for smart contract wallets

4GB DAG size and potential hashrate impact

So far, 9 attendees of EthCC have tested positive for COVID-19

A fun parlor game: what will be the next big ETH event? Devcon? Or something before, or something after? I think we’re going to see a lot more online hackathons - and probably more sponsorship dollars for them. Perhaps more sponsorship fiat for newsletter subscriptions too?

Raul’s post on eth2 was the most clicked of the week.

Enterprise

End to end transport layer security with Hyperledger Besu v1.4

DAML now available on Besu

Paul Brody talks Baseline Protocol on Into the Ether

How Citi and ConsenSys use Ethereum for commodities trade finance

Nice komgo writeup. Also interesting to see that the bet of Besu seems to be paying off with enterprise privatechain stuff like DAML even on Besu.

Governance, DAOs, and standards

Livepeer’s proposed governance roadmap

SingularDTV announces snglsDAO Foundation for their media protocol press release

Aragon removes AGP voting for ANT holders

What DAOs can learn from the Swedish Pirate Party

How to quickly create your own DAOstack DAO

FakerDAO – pool your MKR to sell votes to highest bidder

Governance as a whole has probably been one of Ethereum’s weak points. Not as bad as governance-by-Blockstream, but still not great. People don’t turn out to vote so direct voting doesn’t work (to wit, Aragon removing voting which was the only use for ANT) - and yet one of the solutions for people not voting actually penalizes people for voting, as I’ve found out in DxDAO. I’m hopeful for some of the solutions but to date long-term governance of everything is mostly an unsolved issue.

Application layer

Numerai’s ErasureBay live on mainnet. A marketplace for any kind of information, where the buyer can slash the seller if they don’t like the information

DeFiSaver’s 1click transaction CDP closing using flashloans

Gnosis’ Gibraltar-regulated Sight political markets are live

Update on Augur v2. tldr: it’s close

Balancer’s code is open source

bZx’s mea culpa post mortem of the attacks. They also paid 1inch the full bug bounty two weeks ago.

Bluestone fixed rate loans and deposits, live on Rinkeby testnet

Maker’s Dai Gaming Initiative

VirtuePoker’s final beta launches March 16th

HavenSocial, a web3 alternative to Facebook where you own your own data

Nice to see people are still trying to build social media alternatives. The idea of building a better Facebook is definitely an enthralling one - yet not one that Ethereum has even come close to delivering.

Same with games - we’ve been talking about tokens/NFTs on ETH being a big thing in games for awhile. Nothing has quite hit it (let’s be honest, CryptoKitties was just a different flavor of ICO mania) but I think Skyweaver might.

My usual ex-post metric of seeing how much of this section is DeFi: 10 bullet points, depending on how you count you could say it’s 4 to ~8.

Tokens/Business/Regulation

David Hoffman: Ethereum as emergent structure

USDC: programmable dollars with business accounts and APIs

Uniswap volume is now tracked on Coinmarketcap

wBTC passes Lightning Network in value locked up

Matthew Green: US congressional bill EARN IT is a direct attack on e2e encryption

Mass panic like with Corona is always a perfect moment to add bills on as riders to must-pass bills, so look for anti-encryption hawks to try to do this in the name of “safety.” Maybe even to bailout bills.

Kinda interesting to see CMC finally add Uniswap volume. They’ve been quite slow to add dexes generally; it seems like Bitcoiners often have a hard time adjusting to decentralization when they’ve been used to all the centralized BTC tradeoffs.

And Circle is now all-in on USDC. From Santander prototype at Devcon2 to $600m now printed, and this doesn’t even count Tether belatedly realizing that BTC was a terrible choice to secure Tether.

General

Contribute computing cycles to fight COVID-19

Stay private in DeFi with email

Brave’s nightly release features random browser fingerprints per session

Load Value Injection attack on Intel SGX

Jacobians of hyperelliptic curves explainer from Alan Szepieniec

Ryan Sean Adams’ “how to” on using ProtonMail or equivalent is the 2nd most clicked, showing how he’s one of the most important people in Ethereum right now. He takes concepts them and popularizes them.

The random browser fingerprints is huge, and a big step up in privacy.

Meanwhile if you have 2gb or 3gb GPUs, you can fold some proteins which may have an impact on COVID-19. I’m always skeptical, but it seems likely to be worth the cost. Especially if you’re like me and get super cheap electricity in Texas through GridPlus! Crypto is not cancelled in Texas.

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