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cameronrodriguezauthor · 4 years

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The Signs of the Zodiac: Based on my Experiences

Aries

Frightened by small things (getting shots, heights, ect.), yet paradoxically they are courageous, even heroic, in a crisis

Develop a sense of self-sufficiency and personal autonomy at a young age

Enjoy being single, but when they fall in love, they fall hard and fast.

Upfront with their thoughts and feelings- they grow impatient with cryptic or evasive forms of communication (a strong water influence can slightly subdue this tendency)

Tactile people- they learn by doing, in a trial and error fashion

Hate delays- there is a distinct sense of urgency in their energy, they can make other people feel rushed even when that is not their intention.

They can be physically destructive when angry (every Aries I know has broken something in a fit of anger)

Taurus

Sensuous, they are skilled at identifying and enhancing their attractive qualities.

Determined and resolute- they know exactly who they are, what they want, where they are going, and how they going to get there.

Great a determining the amount of time and energy needed to reach a particular goal, and pace themselves accordingly.

Can become stagnate and miss opportunities for development and growth

Can be in denial when proven wrong.

Gemini

the definition of a renaissance man/woman- possessing a wide variety of skills, hobbies, and interests.

Insatiably curious about the world around them

Learn very quickly

Know how to entertain- they have an abundance of jokes, anecdotes, and topics of conversation

They are fussy, critical, and argumentative when bored.

Are excited by opportunities and newness, sometimes they will begin the next adventure before the conclusion of the current one- the root of their notorious fickleness

Cancer

Passionate advocates for their family, friends, and the causes they believe in

Have a knack for making people feel comfortable enough to open up, and be their authentic-self

Hilarious, they possess a distinct quirky, childlike humor

Very fearful, can be anxious to a neurotic extent

It’s very difficult for them to remain objective, even in situations where an objective approach is needed

Have the tendency to foster dependencies in their relationships

Leo

One of the best when it comes to motivating other people

Naturally discard negativity, and cultivate the positive (“sunny” personalities)

Creative (not always in an artistic way, this just means they create their lives in accordance with their values and dreams)

Uncomfortable with self revelation, they tend to suppress their shadow-side and any threats to their ego.

Underdeveloped Leos take themselves way too seriously

Can feel entitled, in inappropriate situations

Virgo

The most unproblematic sign of the Zodiac, they are great at keeping things in perspective

Discerning, they combine logic and intuition, and forecast future events with uncanny accuracy

Genuinely enjoy helping people, and expect nothing in return (except for gratitude)

Sharp and witty, they don’t get enough credit for their sense of humor

More vulnerable to illness when under tremendous stress

Judgmental of their emotions, if they “don’t make sense”

Sometimes they unconsciously create chaos in their lives, because they driven to bring order to chaos. When there’s no chaos, there’s nothing driving them

Libra

Conscientious about how their actions will effect others, and have a strong sense of “right vs wrong”

Can give great advice, because they remain objective when evaluating situations

The give and take of interpersonal relationships comes naturally to them

Like Taurus, they have a knack for identifying and enhancing beauty in themselves and environment

Don’t always give themselves the guidance they offer to other people

The perfectionists of the Zodiac, they hold themselves and others to high standards; sometimes they are unforgiving of the weaknesses and shortcomings of other people

Procrastinators, they get overwhelmed before they even get started

Once they’ve reached to a conclusion on any subject, they are more stubborn than Taurus

Scorpio

Don’t get stuck for too long, personal development and growth are a priority for them

Sense things that are not immediately obvious about people and situations, both good and bad

Strategic, they know how to influence situations to their benefit (sometimes without appearing to exert any influence)

Don’t skim over the surface, they exhibit a full-bodied intensity and focus in every aspect of life

Extremely sensitive, tending to assume the worst as a way of to defend themselves

When feeling confronted or cornered, their retaliatory sting can be ferocious

Extreme… they have a tendency to push past their own limits, sometimes to an unhealthy (even dangerous) extent.

Sagittarius

Forthright and candid, in an endearingly kind of way, if you want the truth… ask a Sagittarius

Perceptive, they notice everything, even things most people would overlook, and they’ll point out their observations

They seem to be at the right place at the right time, they live life followed by a comforting sense of luck

Optimistic, they trust that even the worst of situations will work out in the end

Insensitive, the feelings of others come second to “telling the truth”

Workaholics, their family and friends have a difficult time keeping up with them

Complacent, they are caught off guard when things don’t go their way

Secretly insecure, they fear they aren’t doing enough with their lives

Capricorn

Mature people, they are ready to accept the consequences of their actions (both good and bad)

Skilled at identifying their talents and passions, and using them to achieve their dreams

Dedicated to their goals and relationships, they don’t give up easily

Great at giving advice, they have a realistic grasp on the world

Can be dismissive of emotion, their own and those of other people

Find it difficult to be accepting of other people’s weaknesses and shortcomings

Equate their self worth with accomplishment, causing anxiety, depression, and a highly fluctuating self esteem.

Aquarius

Embrace their individuality and encourage others to do the same

Have very specific hobbies and interests, which they give a lot of their time and attention

Take a genuine interest in others, they are fascinated by the lives of other people

Friendship is incredibly important to them, they helpful, dynamic, accepting, and interesting friends

They are uncomfortable in situations where others expect an emotional response from them, at their worst they invalidate the feelings of others to maintain control

Abrupt mood swings

Subtly condescending, some of them are inclined to believe they understand the world better than anyone else

Pisces

Connect with other people in a way which transcends appearances, class, and differences; they have a diverse group of friends

Have any easier time tuning in to their psychic abilities (give it a try guys, you’ll be surprised)

Multi-faceted personalities, developed over many lifetimes

Rewards and punishment, have no effect on their behavior. They are motivated by their soul

Deceptive… a Pisces “gone wrong” can be a skilled con artist

Their grasp on reality can be flimsy, a lot of the time they are only willing to see what they want to see

Avoidant personality, they are susceptible to anything which offers a temporary escape from what is troubling them

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pennys-th0ughts · 5 years

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Loser... 🥀

A long sigh came out of my mouth like some kind of relieving sensation that had been trapped deep inside my chest for so long, but I didn’t feel any relief, only frustration. I picked up the three balls lying on the floor, gathered the rest of my stuff inside my duffel bag and got out of the big tent hearing the mocking laughter at my back. “You will never be good enough as a clown” someone said, “¡your parents must be ashamed of you!”, “¡Go back to the stinky hole you came out of!” and the insults kept on coming until I finally got out.

I looked around searching for a quiet place to put myself together. Once I spotted it I headed there and sat down on the edge of an empty wagon belonging to the circus I just finished performing one of my complex acts just to be rejected, as had happened in the previous one. It was my fifth try and I still had no luck finding a circus that wanted to hire me. The owners kept telling me that I was too old to be a clown and they wouldn’t take the risk of hiring someone of my age or they would just say I lacked experience. So many lame excuses…

The day had been long and tiring and the heat was overwhelming. The summer season was at its highest peak and some days the temperatures were barely tolerable. The key to survive such weary time of the year was to remain away from the sun and stay hydrated, and one of those things was becoming the hardest to get.

A couple or guards began to look at me in a uncomfortable way so I left that place and ended up catching my breath sitting under a tree. I was enjoying its cool shadows when a thin hand landed on my left shoulder. I sighed and didn’t dare to find out which body that small and delicate hand belonged to but since it seemed not to belong to one of the guards, I finally raised my eyes trying to avoid the rays of the sun. The other hand offered me some fresh water and also an apple.

Moved by such kind gesture I saw myself forced to stand up and thank to whoever was being benevolent enough to offer me such things, but both hands didn’t allow me to, instead, this mysterious person knelt by my side.

– You must be tired – the smooth and calm voice said-. Please, don’t bother yourself in standing up. ¿May I?

The young lady pointed an empty space next to me, I nodded and moved a bit to make some more space so she could take a sit and shelter herself from the sun. We spent some minutes in silence whilst I took some sips of the fresh liquid and later bit the sweet fruit. In the meantime, I could sense her staring at me as if was some kind of peculiar creature, like the most the circus would hid behind its red curtains. I devoured the apple in a couple of bites and then I realized how embarrassing that must have looked like. She just chuckled.

– I must apologize – I used the back of my sleeve to clean up my chin-. I was starving, to be honest…

She raised both hands to let me know it was okay and laughed amused. The innocence of her waysput a smile on my face instantly. Her smile was as bright and warm as the sun and her manners were as fine as the ones of a princess. We stayed under the shadows talking and laughing about so many mundane things until the sunset gave its lasts breaths and the purple blueish tones began to paint the night sky. The laughter she ripped off from my lips was so plenty that my eyes watered many times washing part of my make-up.

The little lightbulbs surrounding the big tent began to light one by one bringing some light to the vast territory the circus occupied. The people belonging to it started to walk to their tents to get some rest from another long hot day. I realized that that painful moment to say goodbye had come and I would need to leave before the owner of the circus could tell I was spending my time with his daughter. The less I wanted was to get her into trouble so I stood up and got ready to leave but she grabbed my hand and almost dragged me towards her tent in some kind of stealth mode. We successfully avoided a couple of guards, a handful of jugglers and some lion tamers who were taking those exotic animals back to their cages. The excitement of hiding from the circus owner in his daughter tent was the most thrilling experience I had in many years since the last one when I was around ten years old which consisted in the fruit stealing from the neighbor’s tree.

That night my heart was beating exactly in the same erratic and fast way it did that day but there was something different now and the company made it a lot more interesting.

– You have never told me your name… – I point that out in a very curious tone of voice.

– ¡Oh, you are right! – She said looking notoriously embarrassed-. My name is Elizabeth but everyone here calls me Liz.

– Delighted to meet you, Liz – I kissed her knuckles and introduced myself as well-. I'm Robert Gray but you can call me Bob.

The mystery was solved and I was even more interested about discover more about this girl so I began to cherish every minute of our conversations. I took a last peek outside the tent to make sure nobody had seen us and once I felt reassured I turned around with a confident smile on my face. Liz poured some water in a metallic bowl and wet a piece of cloth.

– Have a sit – she invited me-. I will help you remove the make-up.

– That’s really not necessary, Liz… – I tried to avoid her selflessness help but it was in vain.

– Don’t be so modest, Bob – she insisted-. Besides, if you keep wearing it, it might spoil your skin.

I sat on the little bench and she placed the bowl on a table almost of the same size next to me, and carefully, she began removing the paint of my face. When she finally finished she stared at me for some long minutes as if she was admiring the very uncommon features of my face. She brushed my ginger hair backwards and fixed her blue eyes with mine. Then a painful memory came to my mind when the soft tip of her index finger followed the irregular line of one of my scars. Instinctively my hand grabbed her wrist by impulse but without any intentions to hurt her. When I realized what I just did it was a bit too late.

– I'm afraid to ask but – she hesitated- ¿how you did get these?

I lowered my eyes until I had the dusty floor in front of me; I took a deep breath and told Liz the story about those peculiar scars. In the meantime people outside their tents were getting ready for the typical midnight feast in which many of them would eat and drink until early hours of the morning and probably sleep big part of the day to get rid of the hangover. Those would be precious hours to share with Liz and I was looking forward to prolong our talk. She made me feel like I was at home and for some reason the need of being with her was becoming imperative. Liz didn’t care about my aspect without the make-up and her interest in me since the beginning was touching. She gently caressed my forehead and the scar that made its way over my eyebrow and ended up in my cheek. She made me close my eyes and, out of the blue, she sat down on my lap. A little smirk curved my lips whilst Liz kept stroking my hair backwards making the experience even more intense with the perfume her skin was letting go. The scent was delicate and yet it was all over the place as if the aroma was coming from a bucket of just trimmed flowers. Then I felt them. At first the feeling was suffocating but warm, soft and finally passionate. Elizabeth had the tastier lips I could have ever kissed and her possessive way of seducing me was delicious.

– Liz – I made my best to talk her out of it, that what she was trying to get wouldn’t probably end well- if your father catches us red handed he will definitely throw me inside the lion’scage.

– He won’t – she shut me up placing her finger on my lips-. He would have gotten drunk enough by the time we have left.

I blinked several times, uncredulous but mostly dumbfounded. Leaving the circus with the owner’s daughter was definitely a very bad idea that would mean a certain death for me and a severe punishment for her. I shook my head in denial; I had to do something about it and fast.

– I will be forever doomed to steal you from your father’s hands and I will happily live with it but ¿can we reconsider the possibility that your father will haunt us just to make our lives miserable?

Liz remained some minutes in silence probably having second thoughts about my words. I knew what she wanted from the moment she suggested to leave the circus, but leaving in that way will only cost us more than we could bear, so we carefully thought and planned our escaping way starting that very night. We still had a few hours ahead so we would take our time to do whatever we wanted to do.

Her hands were soft as cotton as all the skin wrapping her little but harmonious body whilst the curves of her breasts and waist were almost perfectly shaped like the silhouette of a glass cup. She was out of her usual vestments and the light of the fire was bathing her smooth skin in red and gold tones. As the flames were dancing making the whole room dance at their compass, Liz started her own choreography taking off in each turn a piece of clothing. The lines of her back seemed to resemble the dunes of a vast dessert whilst her long black hair, shinny and silky, was like the oriental night sky. She took possession of my mouth again but this time I could feel she was more than certain of she was doing so I let her go over me without any restrictions. It had been long time since the last time I was with a woman and Liz was beyond attractive to deny her charms.

The night went by wonderfully like some kind of mixture between a romantic novel and an adventure tale. After making love for almost two wild hours we decided to soothe our appetite, for food this time, so we ate richly and drink a delicious sweet wine, as for dessert we tasted some fresh fruits and a strange pudding with a filling I have never ate before. Once our bodies were satisfied in many ways, we fall asleep. Liz wrapped her thin arm around my chest and hid her face in the hollow of my neck. To feel the peacefulness of her breathing tickling my skin was all I needed to dive into an intoxicating sleep.

Rooster’s badly tuned song woke me up from a very pleasant dream just in time to avoid prying eyes. I gently shook Liz’s shoulder to wake her up. She got dressed and helped me to put my make-up back only this time she painted my face in a very different but interesting way which I liked more. She made the lines that crossed my eyes vertically longer and connected them with the corners of my lips, so the new design ended up looking like a big “U” shaped smile starting in my forehead and finishing in my mouth. I borrowed some clothes from her wardrobe and put them on, maybe that would help me avoid the guards on my way out of her chambers.

Another day went by and Liz and I were keeping our love adventure out of the circus thus behind the curtains. I have never felt so excited before and the feeling itself was captivating. I was looking forward to see her every time the circus closed its doors and everyone went to sleep just to discover our naked bodies once more, swim in the lake or eat delicious evening meals at the candlelight. Tonight we had planned to leave and spend some hours at the quarries and enjoy the night and its sparkling stars.

– The moon light is so bright tonight – Liz pointed that out looking up the sky as if she was a little girl looking at some marvelous treasure.

I took her hand and guided her towards the shore of the lake. The temperature of the water was nice and it was an unspoken invitation to get into it. We looked at each other in complicity and ready to throw each other to the lake but we didn’t, we just took our shoes off and got our feet into it to avoid ending in a water fight. The songs of the crickets, the hoot of the owls and the wind whispering all around us was making of that brief moment something worthy to live for.

– Moon looks like a tiny firefly compared to you…

Careless words got out of my mouth like a bunch of wild horses and by the time I realized what I just said, it was too late. I shut my eyes tightly feeling my cheeks going beetroot in no time, but the night was allowing me to stay low key regarding my feelings. Liz accidentally put her hand on mine and I immediately hold on to it as if it was a life jacket to what she only gave me her most shy but tender smile.

– You turned to be a very sweet man, Bob – Liz hold my hand back-. And I really like you…

– Liz – I unintentionally interrupted her, fearing that her final words would probably be painful for me since I was sensing some kind of hesitation in her voice- I know we barely know each other from few days ago but I have really wanting to tell you something…

Her blue eyes began sparkling under the pale light of the moon and my heart started racing like a steaming machine out of control. I got my hand inside my pocket and took a little box out of it; I opened it trying really hard to keep my shaking hands at bay so she didn’t notice how nervous I was. Once the shiny red stone caught her attention I felt confident enough to say the big words.

– ¿Would you marry me, Liz?

Judging by how hard she was squeezing my hand I could tell she had been caught totally by surprise and her reaction gave me hope. She took the small object out of the box and looked at it full of excitement and perplexity and started nodding until she finally said yes. My heart was pounding inside my chest like a giant old bell, not leaving more space for any other feeling but joy. Her face was distorted because a big smile that kept making the moon to look even smaller. We sealed our union with a long kiss and agreed to leave next day at night. We both knew that Elizabeth’s father won’t allow us to leave and less knowing that her daughter was planning to run away with a loser.

I have never had more than five dollars in my pocket and a clear destination where to head to but this time, this time was so different, I was carrying something with more value I could ever imagine and I had, for the first time in a long time, a crystal clear idea where to go. For the first time in my life I was certain about my future and happy to meet the person I was going to share it with. I might still be a loser with nothing to lose or maybe I'm just a lover with everything to live for...

Image: credits to the owner

#penny's thoughts #pennywise #short story

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maiji · 6 years

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On writing Hokushin

(unrelated: WOW I just realized I can do headings in tumblr! WOw!!!)

I’m on a roll avoiding other work I should be doing lolll! Lately I’ve been super fortunate to have some great conversations with multiple lovely people about characterization of Hokushin. To probably no one’s surprise, I already think an embarrassingly lot about this and try to convey it in my fanworks, but I actually haven’t really sat down and articulated in depth. Shocking, I know. So here are some cleaned up/slightly more coherently organized version of thoughts!

Below the cut I basically ramble for a long time about understanding Hokushin's character with cultural/historical background and his relationship with Yusuke (and by extension Raizen). And some misc other stuff. I tried to break it out by topic, but a lot of it overlaps. One thing I don't really get into here is specific aspects of Mahayana (Zen) Buddhism, but it has an important underlying relationship with a lot of what l talk about below, and forms a significant part of Raizen and therefore Hokushin's narrative, how their characters are portrayed and framed, aaaand this is already really long.

With all that in mind, this is one person’s interpretation! I’m no expert, I mostly just read a lot of stuff when I get obsessed with it (usually for storytelling/comics research, and then forget everything soon after lol). In any case, it'd be boring if my ideas on Hokushin were the only ones that exist, and the point of fanworks is to create for personal enjoyment/fulfillment, so please make of it what you will! All I hope is that this was at least somewhat interesting/informative and helps give people more material and more love for Hokushin =D

The loyal retainer archetype

Hokushin's character is very strongly tied to the perceived classic Japanese archetype of the loyal servant/retainer and samurai (bushi/warrior class) ideals. They come with a very distinct paradigm and set of principles. Here’s a simplified summary.

Purpose, honour and thereby happiness comes from selfless loyalty and servitude. The fulfillment of your existence is to serve the will of your master.

The ideal/collective whole is prioritized above an (your) individual existence. There is a greater goal that you are merely one small aspect of, and you may not even expect to understand it.

Death is not necessarily perceived as a worst-case scenario, and can be viewed as the most honourable alternative to violating your own or someone else's principles, particularly that of your master. And in some cases, it may even not be an alternative. Death is not an end, but a means to an end usually to support the beliefs held in the previous two points.

We can reference the 8 virtues of bushido - the way of the warrior, sometimes called the samurai code. Now, bear in mind nobody necessarily went around going “I’m a samurai, and this is the code I follow.” This is a list formalized in the late 19th century by writer Nitobe Inazo to explain a concept of bushido and Japanese culture for a Western audience, and then it basically got absorbed back into Japan. Thus, bushido is a pretty heavily romanticized thing, and... anyway that’s beyond the scope of this post lol. The virtues are:

Righteousness (also rendered rectitude, justice)

Courage

Benevolence/mercy

Politeness

Honesty/sincerity

Honour

Duty/Loyalty

Character/self-control

BASICALLY A HOKUSHIN RECIPE, AMIRITE?? There are also particular aesthetic sensibilities to the execution of this archetype partly based on how Japanese history and culture evolved. Bearing and sensitivity matters, more is said in what is not said, there’s stoicism and elegance and refinement and poetry etc. Mono no aware and transience of life and all that stuff.

Essentially, even if such a character disagrees fundamentally with their master's reasoning, it's not unusual for a "true" servant to still abandon their family or their lovers and follow or even precede their master to death in order to uphold their master’s principles.

In the series, Hokushin says that he doesn't understand the king's reasons for his self-imposed abstinence, but that he still supports the king’s will. Later in the arc, he demonstrates the truth of his statement when he obviously doesn't agree with Yusuke's outrageous tactics regarding the future of their kingdom and the entire Demon World, but upholds it regardless. (As I noted in One and a Half Revolutions, the most "disobedient” Hokushin gets is when he plots strategy with the other monks for what they should do if they end up fighting each other during the tournament, and Yusuke is like YO KNOCK IT OFF NO THROWING FIGHTS. AND ESPECIALLY NOT TO MAKE ME EMPEROR. And Hokushin’s like, well you said you’re not our king anymore, so we don’t have to follow you and can do as we wish. And what we wish to do is make you Emperor. So what’s your issue. And Yusuke is like THAT’S NOT WHAT I MEANT)

This archetype is also NOTORIOUS for assuming a huge burden of responsibility and/or shame on behalf of their master, often in secret, for maximum service/honour value (and narrative/dramatic impact). The legendary Ako incident (the 47 ronin) is a famous historical example.

This intense commitment can be tricky to depict because you have to finely balance outward stoicism and emotional resonance, and you also want to temper things to make a character more nuanced and not just a flat stereotype - e.g., a "you say jump, I jump" personality or have readers going "omg why is this character so spineless/stupid", ridiculous levels of melodrama, etc. You still want people to be able to empathize with the character and to really feel for them when they make decisions that may otherwise seem extreme or incomprehensible. (Although in many ways there's an Eastern/Western philosophical difference in the perception and understanding of this. A simple modern example that comes to mind is in Pacific Rim, when Raleigh asks Mako why she's so obedient to Pentecost and she replies (paraphrased from memory), "It's not obedience. It's respect.")

The Hokushin decision-making flowchart

I use this very rough mental outline as a general guide if I’m struggling to decide whether or not Hokushin would do something significant. Bearing in mind interesting opportunities are usually not black and white, so “yes” and “no” below are usually more like, “yeah pretty much...” or “no, kinda not...” lol

Is it in accordance with his values? * If yes: go for it. * If no:

Is it in accordance with the will/principles of his master (Raizen, Yusuke, or whomever he’s committed to serve)? * If yes, go for it. * If no:

Does it ultimately aid the endgoals/ideals of his master? * If no: forget it. * If yes:

Can any negative consequences be minimized to affecting Hokushin only or mostly (e.g., punishment or humiliation or capture or whatever) with little to no long-term effects for his master? * If yes: DO IT!!! * If no: FIGURE SOMETHING OUT TO MAKE THIS ANSWER YES!!!!

Situations of deceit must be handled carefully, especially as honour is a major element of this archetype. The above flowchart can sometimes help... That said, deceit can be particularly challenging to contrive within the master and servant relationship. While we don't see Raizen and Hokushin directly interacting in the series, there's extremely strong implied trust between them. We can see this from how they speak of each other to other characters, namely Yusuke. We can also extrapolate aspects of their relationship from how Yusuke and Hokushin interact, because it's repeatedly emphasized that Yusuke and Raizen are quite similar fundamentally, and Hokushin clearly assumes Yusuke will succeed Raizen.

Yusuke and Hokushin: the initial meeting

In their first meeting, Yusuke’s absolutely furious at being misled by Hokushin. The beautiful thing about the setup of this deceit is how it:

Allows us to see the values and personalities of both characters.

Enables Yusuke and Hokushin to evaluate each other.

Establishes and enhances the dynamics of their relationship.

The above lies in Yusuke’s reaction to a particular piece of information being withheld, and how Hokushin handles the situation after being called out. Remember:

Lying is generally not in line with the loyal retainer/Hokushin’s values.

Honesty and straightforwardness are also big for Yusuke.

With point 1, Hokushin deceives not by lying but by leaving out significant information: that he - and potentially by implication, some % of Raizen’s followers - still eats humans so that they don’t get weak and die. His rationale for doing so is that Yusuke, being formerly human and having lots of people close to him who are human, would have a hard time getting past that fact if he learned this on their first meeting, and would not be willing to follow them to the Demon World. Totally reasonable assumption. If Yusuke doesn’t know, he’s more likely to be receptive to joining their kingdom, which protects the interests of his king and the safety of his people. This passes our flowchart with flying colours. (I elaborate on this a bit more in A Song on All Sides.)

However, when Yusuke figures out what happened, point 2 makes this especially problematic for their relationship. We know Yusuke is all about gut feelings and first impressions, so this could’ve been an awful miscalculation on Hokushin’s part.

When I’ve talked about this scene in the past, I usually focus on how in the next few moments Hokushin’s actions allow him to pass Yusuke’s assessment of whether or not he’s trustworthy. But what’s especially great about it is that judgement is actually going both ways. Before Yusuke explains his position, Hokushin’s politeness is his professional courtesy - he’s doing his duty as Raizen’s retainer. As Yusuke speaks in both manga and anime, you can see the exact moment when Hokushin decides Yusuke is a worthy successor. When Yusuke finishes talking, Hokushin’s manner changes - I’d say subtly, but since he essentially gushes about how much Yusuke resembles Raizen for several lines that’s not really true lmao.

In any case, now that Yusuke’s been deemed worthy, Hokushin steps up immediately to rectify his mistake. And merely admitting an error and explaining himself isn’t gonna cut it in meeting Yusuke’s values - that’s just the bare minimum. A good retainer must know their master so well that they anticipate and go beyond what is merely being requested.

So when Yusuke asks for honesty, not only does Hokushin give that, he takes it one step further with his very succinct, very personal answer to Yusuke’s question of why he follows Raizen. (Paraphrased) "Because King Raizen is like you. Fighting at his side makes me happy. That's everything to me." I can't think of a more perfect reply to mollify, impress and intrigue Yusuke as quickly as that. And in both manga and anime they give Yusuke this little pause as he takes it in - the animation team makes this even more exaggerated than what Togashi did. What I also love is that the dialogue in this scene strongly implies that Hokushin knew how to respond because he knew Raizen so well.

Obviously more stuff happens in the year and a half they spend together in the Makai. Whatever happens, it's clear Yusuke comes to trust Hokushin a lot. He even tells him private, personal things of a nature we don't see him sharing with any other characters. To me, this signals that Hokushin did what a good loyal retainer does, which is to get what makes Yusuke tick and not repeat the same mistake again. (Which is why I always get annoyed at that unnecessary scene they added in the anime version of the tournament... ANYWAYS lol)

Yusuke and Hokushin: the duty of the master

Yusuke starts the series as a solitary delinquent. He despises convention and authority, and dependence on others is a pain. He generally puts on a disaffected attitude, and he often downplays serious emotions with distracting and emotionally shielding tactics like sarcasm. For a character like him, it’s pretty easy to imagine him being all “What the hell, I don’t want to be king! I don’t need a servant!! Go away”. To reject Hokushin’s presence or role totally wouldn’t be out of character.

One of the things I love about the dynamics between Yusuke and Hokushin is that Yusuke clearly gets Hokushin's mindset, and because of it, steps up in order to be able to reciprocate the relationship. In the classic ideal, the existence of the master gives the retainer’s existence purpose. A warrior without a master is considered ronin, which is a very shameful status. The master’s duty is to be(come) worthy of the loyal retainer’s devotion and to recognize the latter��s value and loyalty, often in unspoken ways.

Yusuke doesn’t want to be king - he outright says that he doesn’t think himself smart enough to take care of everyone in his kingdom. But he accepts the responsibility of his role in his relationship with Hokushin.

Yusuke’s conversations with Hokushin tend to be discussions that are not only honest but also mature. He takes good opportunities to rely on, and to acknowledge, Hokushin as a retainer without hesitation and without pretending complaint. He actually behaves a lot like a lord in the classic relationship in terms of conveying authority, direction, and intimate concerns (in his Yusuke way lol).

In the meeting with Yomi, Yusuke’s use of the rurimaru is shocking to Hokushin, but when you watch the way the scene is carried off, he bears himself really well in his role. He didn’t carve the rurimaru just because he couldn’t find paper for his lottery names - he specifically chose to do it to the rurimaru, and their value is clearly taken into consideration for his purpose. He also doesn’t crack jokes about having vandalized the gemstones, which, again, would not have been out of character for Yusuke. Instead, he merely presents them exactly the way they should be - as a gift - to ensure he gets Yomi’s attention about his proposal. His body language is dead serious, and he also doesn’t address Hokushin's shocked reactions through the entire scene. He only addresses Yomi. This is totally appropriate form as one ruler to another.

And even after the kingdom is dissolved, Yusuke doesn’t abandon his people, nor shoo Hokushin off. Hokushin is nearly always at his side throughout the tournament. If we look back at the principles of the loyal retainer archetype, one of the things worse than death is to be told by their master "I don't want you for a servant. You’re a useless burden to me". Of course, another aspect of the archetype is that actions speak louder, so the worst would be actually doing things that reinforce/confirm that statement, but it would still be extremely wounding.

A very clear demonstration of the above is when the two of them arrive at the edge of Yomi's territory. The conversation is basically as follows.

Yusuke: OK thanks for guiding me here. You go home now. Dangerous I go alone you know the drill. Hokushin: No, I'm coming with you. You’re my king. It's my duty to protect you. Yusuke: *after a pause* OK fine behave yourself.

with no further argument from Yusuke. No complaints about being called king, no sarcastic remarks about having a tagalong, nothing. Which is not something we usually see or would expect from him. The emotionally downplayed way the entire conversation happens is also very typical. In light of his character and the dynamics of the master-retainer relationship, Yusuke’s behaviour is extremely thoughtful and kind.

Yusuke and Hokushin: the duty of the servant

So Yusuke weighed Hokushin’s response and knew there there was no way Hokushin would have let him go into enemy territory alone. So? It’s not like it’s the first time he’s ever disagreed with someone over how something should be done. So what’s different about this situation, compared to how things might have gone down with any other character who is very close to/invested in Yusuke and has previously confirmed they WOULD be willing to risk death for him - Keiko or Kuwabara, for example?

The difference (aside from the fact that they’re civilians and Hokushin’s a warrior, and Hokushin’s obviously a lot stronger and more likely to survive in most situations) is that Keiko and Kuwabara are Yusuke’s friends. Or more, if you want. But even for other people close to Yusuke who ARE warriors, the biggest difference is that they are not bound in servitude to him. Again, the keyword here is duty - and that concept is huge. Yusuke’s friends want to help him. Hokushin wants to help Yusuke too, but not only that, he MUST help Yusuke. His very existence is an obligation to do so. In some cultures, especially modern ones where the emphasis is on the individual, this can be difficult to appreciate and/or seen as an illogical insanity, but it’s a matter of fact for the loyal retainer. They see themselves as an extension of the will of their master.

Keiko and Kuwabara and any of Yusuke’s other friends mentally would have a normal person pause of “This is ridiculous, stupid Yusuke, you’re crazy!!” and still try to do self-preserving-type things in most instances. To some degree, there’s still an aspect of their decision-making that is not only about Yusuke. They still have a sense that in their relationship with him, they have roles of similar or equal value/weight.

That’s absolutely not true for the loyal retainer. The servant is not equal to the master and the servant firmly believes this because that’s what their existence is defined by. Plus those ingrained principles. For Hokushin, there’d be no normal person pause. We’d zip through that flowchart and he’d be like “You’re crazy. But you’re my king. Guess I’ll die” and like jump into an active volcano or whatever. He would be completely and unhesitatingly willing do something, whether it’s spur-of-the moment or deliberately planned, that would result in death if he thought it’d help safeguard Yusuke/achieve Yusuke’s endgoal. And obviously that's the last thing Yusuke wants.

With this character archetype, this is where a lot of stories end up going for the “and then one of them pretended to let the other person have their way before SURPRISE KNOCKING THE OTHER PERSON UNCONSCIOUS TO PROTECT THEM, and then they went on to do their selfless ‘getting killed in your place’ thing” which I’m super glad Togashi never resorts to. Since all the above builds up to a huge part of what makes the reveal of Yusuke’s gift to Yomi extra effective - Hokushin’s reactions. This is largely why the scene is so comical, because Hokushin’s manner grows more and more freaked out - and entertaining, being in direct contrast to his stoic retainer archetype. Meanwhile, as mentioned previously, Yusuke’s bearing (if not his manner of speaking...) is exactly as a lord in the midst of negotiations would be. (My favourite part is where Hokushin still tries his best to address Yusuke properly as king, before losing it when he finds out Yusuke vandalized the rurimaru. In the manga, his expressions are beyond hilarious. In the anime, his scramble to recover the appropriate body language is really cute. His constantly shifting expressions throughout the background of this entire episode are great too. I always really like the faces in the episodes directed by Enomoto Akihiro.)

Finally, food.

One more challenge with Hokushin is his diet. He needs to eat humans or will suffer from the same malnutrition that is sapping Raizen’s energy and killing him. At the same time, he’s depicted as a character of integrity and compassion, so I always feel obligated to think carefully about the topic of procuring a human for food. I take a stab at an idea in the prequel Mirror Most Dark. However, the approach isn’t very feasible for the time period of actual Yu Yu Hakusho.

From a writing perspective, the problem is one of scale. It goes beyond Hokushin as an individual to the situation of a reliable/sustainable food source in Raizen’s kingdom for the % of Raizen’s population that needs it. And whatever it is, Hokushin is likely highly involved as the main instrument of Raizen’s will. I have some ideas but haven’t really cared to flesh (haha) them out to a point that’s satisfactory to me yet, so it’s only barely touched on in One and a Half Revolutions. This is far less of an issue after the series ends, when you can easily come up with ideas on how they’re looking for or have found alternatives, but during the time period of the actual series your options are more restricted.

I have lots more stuff around these themes and ideas planned for North Bound too I JUST NEED TO GET AROUND TO DRAWING THEM

In conclusion, thank you for reading this mess lmao.

#yu yu hakusho #hokushin #fanfiction #fanfics #writing #characterization #urameshi yusuke #raizen #yyh north bound #yyh ends of the earth #yusuke and his nanny

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asthecrowwrites · 6 years

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The Second Commandment of Writing: Write What You Know?

This continues my series in which I tackle the great pieces of literary advice. Any writer who has ever studied the craft has stumbled upon this phrase. Some writers swear by it. Some writers protest it. But how many understand this phrase? First, we must understand what it doesn’t mean. “Write what you know” does not mean to restrict you to autobiographical stories. It does not restrict you to memoirs. Nor does it restrict who or what you write. If you are a twenty-something millennial, then it does not force you to only write twenty-something millennials. If you are a teacher or a fast-food worker, it does not limit you to writing fast-food workers. “Write what you know” is not a restriction upon your creativity or ingenuity. Those traits form the heart of any writer’s work.

What does it mean then?

I view this literary idiom as having multiple applications and interpretations.

You Know Emotion

Writers should draw upon their emotional experiences to create realistic emotions and actions within their characters. When you are writing a character who is frustrated or scared, recall a time when you yourself were incensed or terrified. This is something akin to ‘method acting’ (another widely misunderstood term). You use your own memories of those emotions to solidify your understanding of the character’s mindset.

The question arises then; How do I write a character who is feeling something I’ve never felt?

This is where an author’s creativity comes in. Imagine you are writing a character who has just committed a murder. You have (presumably) never committed a murder. How could you ‘know’ what that character was feeling? You mutate and magnify your own experiences. An author is reliant upon empathy. You have never committed a murder, but perhaps when you were young you broke something. You tried to sweep the pieces under the rug so that your illicit behavior would go unnoticed. You can recall the initial panic, the paranoia, the fear of punishment, but also the thrill when you felt you might have gotten away scot-free. A good author takes those memories and magnifies them to fit the situation.

Write What You (Can) Know

We writers are fortunate to live in the modern era. The internet is the greatest asset for modern writers. There is a great wealth of knowledge at your fingertips.

Before you write a character, you should do your research. The more distinct their lives are from your own the more research you should do. Research their career. Research the terms and skills they use. If they come from another place in the US, perhaps there are region-specific phrases you can familiarize yourself with. Perhaps there are different cultural beliefs, or cultural traditions your character would know.

As a writer in the modern era you can know almost anything. Write what you know, but research, and know what you’re writing.

This also plays a part into writing fantasy and sci-fi; You may not know what it is like to walk through the streets of a medieval city, but you can research it. You may not know what it is like to be an engineer aboard a space ship, but you can research what it is like to work on a car motor, or a NASA spacecraft. You should also be just as detailed in your research of your own world. You should understand your world just as much as if you were writing any modern or historical setting.

Write What You See

Writers are notorious for borrowing people from their lives and inserting them into their stories. It is something we are accused off constantly. Everyone wants to know what character is based on them. But it is never that simple.

The people in your life are extensions of your experience and understanding. You may not know how to write a character coming home from war, but perhaps you have an uncle who is a veteran. You can base part of your character upon him and his behavior.

You can also base it off another character in other media you have consumed. As writers we should not feel bad while doing this; it is the natural way literary ideas evolve and propagates themselves. While it is important to understand your characters, a writer should have an equal ability to interpret and understand other writers’ characters, and reverse engineer them.

In the same way, you can interpret and understand people as characters, and reverse engineer their actions to be aspects of your character. Perhaps you notice someone on the bus, looking at their phone every five minutes, nervous about missing their stop. You notice their clothing, their foot tapping, the way they put their book away about five minutes before their stop, just to be sure. You can throw these into your vast library of character traits for later use.

As a writer you must know an entire world well enough to tell a story in it, be it the real world or a fictional one. “Write what you know” is often misconstrued as being a limitation upon the author, meant to restrict and confine one’s writing. Rather it is an instruction to write actively, thoughtfully, and emotionally. The second commandment instructs us to use our emotional and situational knowledge to breathe life into our stories.

As “Write what you know” is a counterpoint to itself, my next post will tackle the third commandment of writing: Avoiding Passive Voice.

#writing #writeblr #write #writing tips #asthecrowwrites #commandmentsofwriting #writewhatyouknow #fiction writing #creative writing

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restlessmaknae · 6 years

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Let Fortuna mess with you (maybe she will do good in the end)

Dedicated to the lovely friend and the incredibly talented writer @gukyi for the OT7 Christmas collab! Merry Christmas, dear! 🎁

You never thought that you would be required to date three guys for a university course but you can’t do anything about it. A bet is a bet.

Pairing: Kim Taehyung x reader

Setting: university au; enemies to lovers au

Genre: fluff, comedy, maybe a bit of angst

Words: 5.5k

You couldn’t believe your luck.

If losing a bet to your dearest baby brother – Jimin – and being forced to sign up for a totally crazy, eccentric yet elective class as your punishment wasn’t enough, the course’s assignments definitely topped it all. You were slowly losing your sanity.

Let’s start by saying that dating was not your cup of tea. You were usually the shy, introverted type, so you had a hard time striking a conversation with anyone, let alone with boys. If you happened to ask a question or initiate a not-so-awkward conversation, you couldn’t keep it going. You weren’t designed to talk to boys, okay?

You were good with animals, you loved nothing more than your adorable little sugar gliders at home (you had three of them), you could totally get immersed into an enchanting book, romantic comedies and sentimental ballads were your absolute favourite but interacting with others weren’t your thing. Maybe it was because you spent most of your time studying or reading, others didn’t like to bother you when you went over your notes before an exam or when you sat by your favourite café shop’s window with one of Camus’ books in your hand – looking like one of those typical intelligent (and socially awkward) girls from Korean dramas.

No matter how much it hurt your pride to end up in Marriage and Family classes, you had to do it. A bet was a bet. You didn’t want Jimin to tease you for the rest of your life because you couldn’t attend half a year of useless and nonsense classes about relationships. On top of that, you needed those extra credit points and this particular course had one of the highest ones from this semester’s list.

In the end, you convinced yourself that it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. In fact, you could learn something about relationships which were your weak points, so it would only do good, right?

Well, that was until you heard what you actually had to do for assignments.

“You got to be kidding me!” You snickered the moment you heard the professor telling you about the requirements.

“As I firmly believe that real life is experience is better than learning only from books, I want all of you to date three others by the end of the semester, go on dates and then write an essay highlighting both the good and the bad aspects of the relationship. Maybe you will even end up together and thank me one day for putting you two up.” The old man shrugged his shoulders and boosted a proud grin. “I can tell you that it happened multiple times before. Since the couples honestly shared with each other what problems arose from the very start, they could solve it only by doing their homework.”

Dating a totally random guy for a month for a university course was absolutely nonsense! You were sure that many people would have died to switch with you but you desperately needed those credits and dating someone was still better than sleeping with them. You were lucky you didn’t sign up for Sex Education and was asked to practice what you have learned. Though you assumed that a course like this wouldn’t even cross innocent little Jimin’s mind as he didn’t dare to mention sex if he were in the same room with you. He was too scared to talk about it so openly and maybe it was because you were his big sister, so you were older than him. Though it didn’t necessarily mean that you had more experience but you didn’t really know.

The first guy you were asked to date was Xu Minghao ‒ the brand new exchange student from China. Due to the fact that he had poor Korean skills, he didn’t even know that he was studying Marriage and Family. At least not until you explained it to him in English.

“My friend told me that it was Business Economics.” He pouted like your little brother when he was a toddler, his blonde, slightly curly hair giving him a prince-like look.

“Who was that friend?” You furrowed your eyebrows in question. You already assumed that it was a jokester and sadly you knew quite a lot of those guys. They were literally everywhere.

“Soonyoung.” Minghao admitted sheepishly and you couldn’t help but click your tongue.

“Small wonder why you ended up here.” You giggled childishly, thinking of the said boy who was seriously the most carefree person you’ve ever met. He was a notorious troublemaker and if you had been in high school, you were certain that he would have been in detention far too many times.

Poor Minghao was trying his best but taking up Korean classes – which weren’t focused on the vocabulary of dating – weren’t enough to keep your conversations going and your English wasn’t as good as his. So you were talking in a rather peculiar combination of Korean, English and Chinese (as he sometimes talked to himself in Chinese), it was almost like a whole new language. No matter what anyone said – language was definitely a barrier when it came to love.

Your second partner was even better with the definition of embarrassment aka shy bunny Mr. Jeon Jungkook. He was known to be a very talented and intelligent guy but he wasn’t very good at dating. Oh boy, he didn’t even look at you for two weeks! How were you supposed to date when he avoided eye-contact and conversations were as awkward as between you and your neighbour after he broke your door knob?

You had no absolute idea why Jeon Jungkook wanted to take up a course named Marriage and Family and he didn't want to share the reason with you either. You guessed that he merely lost a bet like you did because there was no way he would voluntarily date someone, to be precise a female. He looked like he was allergic to girls.

You were almost sure that nothing worse could come your way. Well... you were dead wrong. The worst possible scenario happened and you didn't even want to cover up your astonishment when your professor announced the name of your next - and therefore last - partner.

"Kim Taehyung? Kim I'm-the-best-and-let-everyone-know-it-too Taehyung? That asshole will be my partner?" You shrieked not caring if the said person was in the same room with you or not. Some of the students turned their head at your horrified exclamation that almost sounded like a cry.

You didn't want to believe that out of all people, you got Taehyung. The one whom you hated the most. The one who ruined your last year of high school. The one whom you didn't even want to see after that horrendous year yet it seemed that he attended the same university as you - although you never encountered him since you were at uni (Luckily though.) As a smartass he was, he probably wanted to get better knowledge about relationships and that’s why he attended Mr. Park’s classes.

He wasn't one of those typical popular, intelligent and rich womanizers you can see in cheesy kdramas. He was actually very real – with all his flaws and bad habits. Even though you didn't know about his family's status, it was obvious that he wasn't a womanizer. He may have wanted to flirt with anyone but he couldn't stand a chance. He was known to be especially inexperienced in dating, therefore he didn't know how to behave with a lady. He was too eccentric to girls. Not like you knew it from first-hand experience since you never gave him a chance and he never asked for one. You were enemies, not lovers.

"Maybe the girl who acts like this is more of an asshole than a boy who happens to be smart." A familiar voice spoke up from behind you, making the air freeze for a moment. The professor opened his mouth to say something but before he could manage a sentence out, you were quick to respond. You turned around in your chair and came in sight with the one and only Kim Taehyung who was boasting a grin that you wanted to swipe off his face as soon as possible.

"Admitting that you only happen to be smart without working for it makes me so delighted, you can't even imagine." You counter-attacked as memories crossed your mind.

The flashbacks were so hurtful that you had to bite your lip. He was an asshole then and an asshole now. Some things didn't change.

"Having stereotypes about a new student and not being bothered to change your mindset is where you’ve made a mistake. It's not my fault that you never wanted to get to know the real me." He shrugged as if it was nothing but his solemn features said otherwise. He was dead serious about his words.

"Excuse me?" Your voice was a pitch higher as you had to hold yourself back from strangling him. How dared he come up with such a lie?

"I really don’t want to interrupt anything…” Mr. Park cleared his throat, motioning you to turn back to see his expression. “But I would like to point out that I am certain that this lecture hall is not the best place for you to discuss your shared past.” He gently asked you to shut up and turn your attention to him but neither of you could give up. Not yet.

“However, I do encourage you to continue this conversation outside the lecture in five minutes’ time. It seems that it's your chance to change the misconceptions you had, maybe Fortuna wanted you to be each other's last partner." The professor tried his best to dissolve the tension in the air but to no avail. You were still huffing and puffing when he called it a day a couple of minutes later and bid his goodbye.

You snorted remembering his words. Maybe Fortuna wanted you to be each other's last partner? Oh please, what nonsense it was! You’ve never believed in fate and such things, so your Marriage and Family course wouldn’t be first to break this habit of yours.

"I must have angered Fortuna then. I don't think I deserve such punishment." You mumbled to yourself, already ready to leave the lecture hall.

However, Kim Taehyung happened to overhear your comment since he sat behind you during the past hour and couldn’t leave without saying anything.

"You say?” He furrowed his eyebrows in question, pity clearly written all over his face. You weren’t one to back off, so you stood there face-to-face, your arms crossed in front of you. You felt like you were on the opposite sides on a battlefield and both of you were ready to show what you got.

“I'm the one who's going to come out of the whole dating thing badly. You are not the one who has to act like a gentleman and buy you stuff just because we are dating."

"Wow, you've planned it all out so quickly!” You unconsciously started clapping like he came up with the idea of the century. He didn’t seem amused though. “What do you have in mind if you mind telling your precious girlfriend?" You teased him on purpose with an ironic edge to your voice.

"Well that's obviously not part of my plan, sweetie.” Taehyung emphasised the word, playing with the nickname as if it was his sort of pleasure. “You wouldn't get surprised if I told you everything." He said with a forced smile and cooed closer to your ears. You wanted nothing more than to get away from him as soon as possible but you couldn’t help a shiver running down your spine. There was something about his warm breath that made your heart leap.

"You are so bad." You took a step back, indicating that you weren’t up to such intimacy so early in your so-called relationship. Not even if he was your boyfriend for the month.

"Welcome to hell." He cooed like a silly evil character from a Disney movie. You immediately felt fury bubbling up inside of you and you had to clench your fists in frustration.

“You little‒”

“You are the little one in this relationship, honey.” He cut you off with a sly smirk as he towered over you with his height.

“Two can play this game, sugarplum.” You raised your eyebrows challengingly and your response earned a wry laugh from him.

Before he could counter-attack you, you turned on your heels and swiftly left the lecture hall. You couldn’t help but pant in disbelief while you were exiting the building. You were sure that it was only the beginning for you two yet Taehyung was already getting on your nerves.

The show must go on.

You said that every single time you had to put on a show and pretend like you were the happiest person on Earth to share your precious time with Kim Taehyung. Literally all occasions were a part of your big show because you couldn’t find a single thing you liked about him. If you happened to meet up because neither of you turned down the other’s offer, you were almost biting off each other’s heads. You wanted to strangle him so bad but you didn’t want to end up in jail for violence. That’s basically the only thing that stopped you from getting into trouble.

The shit show went on for two weeks. Whenever you two had a conversation, it was basically you dissing Taehyung for not taking anything seriously, being as odd as he was, putting out his tongue even if it was considered rude and unnecessary on your part, and him not getting why you were so judgemental when it came to him, teasing you because he saw that Youngjae from B.A.P was the wallpaper on your phone and smirking every time you moved an inch since the first time he saw you dancing.

One of his friends was attending the hip hop classes with you and he came in to watch him practice, only to notice that you were there as well. You swore that Fortuna must have hated you the most out of all humans.

After two weeks, not everything but a lot of things have changed. You two were finally going out for a date as if it was required for your assignment. You decided to have lunch at a restaurant and then maybe walk in the nearby park while watching the snowfall. However, you couldn’t get as far as that.

When you arrived, you already had a feeling that the date would turn out disastrous but you decided to give it a shot. It was university work after all.

You weren’t even surprised that Taehyung didn’t offer to help with your coat or comment on your choice of dress even if you secretly wanted him to say something. You finally wore something decent after years and he should have been grateful for that.

Yet, he decided to ask about something else.

“So now that we are officially dating, I think it’s only fair that you tell me why you hate me so much.” He cleared his throat after both of you had made your order, his fierce gaze never leaving your face.

That was one of the things you hated most about him – his big, chestnut-brown eyes always seemed to see through you. At least, it was like he wanted to break down your walls by looking at your reactions, trying to solve the mystery of your expressions and searching for your weakness.

Nonetheless, you were accustomed to hiding your feelings thanks to the years behind you. You never let your façade down and you didn’t intend to let it happen that day either.

“You wanna act like you suddenly care?” You elevated an eyebrow in question, doubting that he even took his own question seriously.

Taehyung’s features became solemn in an instant. His usual delicate, childish features turned rigid like castle walls. His eyes looked as if they were the onyx of the night; mysterious, heavy and cold.

“If you hadn’t been so obsessed with the idea of putting me down, maybe you would have noticed that I’ve tried my best to get to know you.” The boy confessed, his stare making you more than uncomfortable.

On the other hand, you could only snort in response. Getting to know you? Really? Why was he messing with you then? Why wasn’t he adamant enough to get answers?

“What? By teasing me?”

“Yeah.” He shook his head without hesitance. “Because teasing you seemed like the only way I could get to know you a bit better. If I asked gently, you would growl at me and tell me to go to Hell. If I told the same thing to you, you would get upset and say that you never wanted to see me. So by playing your game, at least I stood a chance.”

There was something in what he said. You were hyper aware of your shared past whenever you looked at me. But how couldn't you be reminded of the not so good old times? It may have been only two years ago but your memories were as vivid as ever. He was also right about the fact that you only blurted out something personal when he got you really pissed off. When he was trying to be gentle, you were cautious not to fall into his trap.

Frankly, you had to admit that he seemed sincere this time. Plus, it wouldn't hurt you if you told the truth. The past was the past after all. Neither of you could change it.

“If you really want to know, it’s because you ruined my last year of high school.” You admitted without a blink of an eye. Once it was out, you felt like an invisible weight was lifted off your shoulders. Of course, it was only part of the truth but at least it wasn't hidden deep inside your heart.

“How?" Taehyung could only furrow his eyebrows in question. He didn't seem hurt by your words, only a bit confused. "Did it really bother you that I was the first-ranked student and not you?”

“Yes, it did." You slammed your fists on the table, your sudden action earning suspicious glances from the people at the nearby tables. You suddenly forgot about the fact that you were in a restaurant. You felt like you were being put on a time machine which left you in your senior year.

"I was the smartest student before you came! Then you showed up with your carefree attitude and it seemed that everything was working out for you. You got all the right answers yet you went to concerts, arcade games and exhibitions every other day. While you were having fun, I studied my ass off and I could only come in second. You had your group of friends and I was there as the lonely wolf, hoping that studying could save me from being so lonely.” You erupted like a volcano, almost spitting the words like a lady shouldn't do because you couldn't hold yourself back.

Your voice came out raspy and you already felt your heart beating faster. You couldn't help though. Taehyung was in front of you, it was your chance to tell him the truth, so you reassured yourself that you were asked to confess, he should deal with the consequences.

On the other hand, the boy didn't seem to be hugely affected by your rage. You couldn't tell if he shrugged if off or he was waiting for something more but his calmness sure infuriated you even more.

“Okay, I get the part of studying but I can’t do anything about it. My memory is surprisingly good.”

“Then you shouldn’t have boasted about it!" You reprimanded him. "Studying isn’t so easy for some.”

Your words seemed to leave an impact on him. Finally, you thought to yourself. At first, he rolled his eyes but when he heard the continuation of your comment, he stopped dead in his tracks.

“I get that, okay?" His voice rose higher and if it hadn't been for such a hurtful and serious topic, you are sure you would have laughed at his high-pitched voice. He was sounding like a teenage girl at an EXO concert. "But it doesn’t mean that my life was perfect. Studying was the only thing that went well for me.” He grumbled out of frustration.

You couldn't believe your ears. He wanted to play the victim now?

“Oh really?" You acted like you were considering that what he was saying was true. When you were attending school together, he didn't even care about you, He was oblivious of everything that was around him. Nonetheless, when it came to him, he wanted everyone's attention. Or at least you thought so. "Don’t you say that you were broken-hearted because no girl wanted to date you?”

“Why do you have to act like that?" He yelled at you furiously, his deep, angry voice surprising both you and the people at the nearby tables. "Why didn’t you have friends then? I was the new student after all. You should have had your own group of friends by then.” He remarked with a curious edge to his tone. You could only shook your head in response.

“You were so oblivious to things that were happening around you.”

“What do you mean by that?” He finally asked the big question, the one that he should have already asked. Not just when you two met up after two years but when he decided to sit at a different table and not yours because his friends were encouraging him to leave you alone. That day, you got to know that Kim Taehyung wasn't only a smart ass who could achieve better results by ruining others' self-confidence but he was rude as well.

You couldn't hold yourself back. You didn't even think twice when the question reached you.

“Didn’t you see how everyone looked at me? How everyone left the table when I sat beside them at the canteen? How they laughed at me when I made a mistake? How my locker was always decorated with post-it notes?” You spitted as your voice trailed off at the end. The hurtful memories were as hurtful as always.

“I’m sure they weren’t serious.” Taehyung smiled half-heartedly, trying to belittle the worst traumas.

“If telling someone that they should kill themselves isn’t serious, I don’t know what is.”

“I-I-“

“Of course you didn’t notice any of it." You cut off the guy who was trying to find the right words to you. It was almost amusing as the always so talkative Taehyung didn't know how to voice out his feelings after you came clear to him. "You never wanted to pay attention to what was happening around you and I was already so good at hiding my real emotions. No one actually cared. For me, studying was really the only thing that mattered and I felt like you took that privilege from me. So are you happy now that you know why I hate you?” You asked furiously.

Your heart was beating like a drum, your blood rushing through your veins. You were never so angry all your life. Not even when you found those nasty messages on your locker. Then you were more like discouraged and empty. You felt numb.

Right now, your emotions were all over the place. That's why you couldn't play your part in his show anymore. You were sick and tired of pretending, of hiding your emotions and of hiding your true self. He was a nobody, so you shouldn't have cared about his comments. Now you made a promise that you wouldn't do anymore.

Your question was followed by long moments of silence. Deep inside, you were gloating at your victory. You won, he couldn't mutter a single word. Yet, you felt a bit guilty and bittersweet. Did he really deserve that all at once?

“That’s what I’ve thought.” You mumbled to yourself and rose from your seat, leaving the shocked Taehyung and the confused spectators of your little show behind.

Due to the fact that Marriage and Family courses were held only once a week, you could avoid bumping into Taehyung for week. At least, that’s what you initially thought.

The more time passed, the more you realised that Fortuna was definitely not on your side. If she had wanted to support you, she shouldn’t have let that week narrow down to three days. Your sudden yet definitely needed outburst required more time to heal and more compassion for the memories to lose their grip on you.

Yet, as cliché as it sounds, Taehyung was just right there in the library when you wanted to borrow a book for one of your group projects. He just happened to be at the row of shelves where you started to look for that specific book.

He was the first to notice you as you were reaching for a book, only to realise that it had the same author but it wasn’t the book you were looking for.

“Hey!” He greeted you with a timid half-smile, something that you knew you would never see on him unless it came to such circumstances. He was always so confident and straightforward; he never cared how others reacted to his peculiar antics.

This time, he could only manage a half-smile instead of his trademark cheeky grin and even this half-smile seemed a bit fake. You couldn’t deny that you felt a spike of guilt rushing through your veins because you were the one who made him feel so uneasy. You were sure that you stirred up an uncomfortable topic for him but you couldn’t hold yourself back. You had to tell him the truth face-to-face. After all, he was the one who asked for it.

God knows why but you couldn’t muster a single word now that he was in front of you. It was so easy to imagine acting calm around him the next time you see him but none of your imagines seemed appropriate as you looked into his chestnut-brown eyes.

Taehyung decided to save you and spoke up first.

“I want to apologise and I also want to say thank you.” He whispered, his deep voice sending shivers down your spine. You couldn’t deny the effect he had on you even if you wanted to shrug it off. He was an asshole, right? So why would an asshole apologise?

“I get the apology part but why on Earth would you like to thank me?” You tilted your head in confusion as thousands of question marks filled your head. Why? Why? Why? It was like a song in repeat; you never knew why Taehyung did what he did and said what he said. He was Kim Taehyung. He was as inexplicable as an expressionist painting.

“For being honest.” Taehyung admitted as he ruffled his sand-like hair. “I see the whole picture now and I can understand why you hate me. I think I would have hated myself under the same circumstances. You used your sarcasm and hatred because you wanted someone whom you can blame.” He continued without showing any signs of resentment. His chestnut-brown eyes were glistening joyfully even though what he said wasn’t joyful at all. You didn’t know if it was because he was only acting or because that’s what he really thought.

“The thing with you is that I never know if you are serious or not.” You pondered as you tried to decipher his expression.

“I’m serious.” He bobbed his head to prove that he was wrong.

“Well then…” You cleared your throat as you struggled to find the right words to say. Nothing seemed right. Yet nothing seemed wrong either. You were merely confused. It was your first time spending so much time with a boy (even though the majority of it was roasting each other), therefore you had no idea what you were supposed to do and how you were supposed to act after you exposed yourself to him. You felt vulnerable after the truth came to surface. Like you let him break down some walls. You couldn’t decide if you were glad because you did or it was actually the worst mistake of your life.

“Thanks for saying that. And I know hating you wasn’t the best coping mechanism but by putting the blame on you, I could feel like it wasn’t my fault.”

“It wasn’t.” The boy protested even before you could say one more sentence. “No one deserves to be bullied because they are different.”

“I wasn’t different. I was just studying well.”

“Exactly.” He clicked his tongue and ruffled his hair. Again. You could tell that it was an act out of hesitance but you didn’t know what to expect. You never know what to expect when it came to Taehyung.

No matter what, it would be an understatement to say that his sudden, honest and heartfelt confession took you by surprise. Your heart literally sank hearing his words.

“I got transferred to Yonsang because my grandfather had died. My parents were going through their divorce and they asked him to take care of me until things settle down. I was living with him for eight years because after they put an end to their marriage, they thought that it was easier for me to continue living with him than to be with my mum one week and with my dad the next week. When he died, I had to move back to Daegu and that’s how I ended up at Yonsang. Studying went well but other than that my life seemed like a crazy and wild ride.”

He made an attempt to stay calm and his usual bubbly self but he couldn’t hide the fact that his voice trailed off at the end. It came as no surprise though. Losing someone who was closer to you than your own parents must have been a trauma for an 18-year-old boy on the verge of adulthood. There must have been so many things that he couldn’t experience because he had only one person beside him. You were certain that you wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for the support of your mother, your father and Jimin alike. You needed all of them in order to live a full, delightful life.

“I’m so sorry for your loss.” You stuttered as you averted your eyes elsewhere but his face. You couldn’t look at him. Not after what he had said.

You felt so guilty out of the blue. You were aware that people didn’t like to openly talk about the events that forever left them with scars because you did the exact same thing. Not until someone dig really deep or pissed you off, did you actually talk about the story of your bullying.

Taehyung had never shown a sign that he was struggling or that he wanted to share his pain with someone else. It finally dawned on you that it didn’t mean that there wasn’t something going on, you just thought that he was a shallow-minded boy who only cared about himself. Now that you heard his story, you started to understand why he didn’t want to pry into others’ business. He had enough going on in his own life, he didn’t need more drama.

“Just thought that you would want to know.” The boy mumbled like it didn’t matter but it certainly did. His confession changed everything.

“Look, we are all the same. We all got scars we try to hide. Now that I know yours, you don’t have to hide them anymore. It doesn’t mean that you can’t diss me because you can but maybe you can start to be nicer.”

“Me? Nice? In your dreams, sweetie pie. ” You teased with a smug smirk, sticking out your tongue like a little child. Your childish act didn’t bother Taehyung. In fact, he was still a kid at heart, so he voluntarily joined you in the little role play.

“Honey, I know you are a sweet person deep down. Just let me see it.” He put his hand on his heart like he was telling a poem, his words smooth like silk. You rolled your eyes at his choice of words. Oh boy, was he a writer in his previous life? Or was he the new Nicholas Sparks, you just didn’t know about it?

“Gosh, you are so cheesy!”

“I won’t stop if you don’t start being nice to me.” He gave you the puppy eyes look, melting your icy heart in only an instant. You didn’t know how his gaze could send chills all over your body but you found yourself shivering. Only in the pleasant way.

“Okay, you won!” You gave in with a carefree laugh because you didn’t want to hear such sentences from Taehyung’s mouth. You couldn’t stand cheesy boys. Period. On top of that, maybe it was a good idea to start acting nice around the guy. He deserved it.

In the end, you had to realise that maybe… just maybe… Fortuna didn’t hate you after all.

#sfwbangtan #bangtanbuds #kpopwritingnet #kkreationsnet #kreativewritersnet #bts scenario #taehyung scenario #v scenario #bts fluff #taehyung fluff #v fluff #bts comedy #v comedy #taehyung comedy #bts enemies to lovers #bts university #restless_maknae #my story #ot7 collab

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cohenjulia1992 · 4 years

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Cat Urine Has Blood Startling Cool Tips

Cat spraying urine may be that your cat likes to scratch.Next, you are trying to keep kitty amused and keep pets apartThey are intelligent, relatively easy to program because all the possibilities for their household pet counter mates; the dog.Check with your cat is unique among the more expert cat owner can do an experiment by letting your cat to use on cat poop.

The next step takes about a scratching post should be placed on a mature cat, you should let the habit of checking your cat's bad behavior will leave the animals on the new post near the furniture to shreds, then begin clawing at it.However, the post to be more expensive than buying and disposing of the other.Start watching your cat likes to shred then you can use it as much of a specific protein that forms into crystals when making contact with your cat is given a special diet as well.Keep cat sickness, cat disease and can help in the pads of their body bald, or actually self-mutilate themselves.This is necessary, because cats are really cheap scratching post as it can be good, gentle training tools.

Watch out for them to realize that your cat for analysis of their hand smoothly from the air around your cat, they will sleep longer during the process, beginning around three months without a Catnip treatment.The personality will not damage the kidneys, if you keep more than a dog as a cat under control.The hydrogen peroxide can actually feed from the box frequently or have the right solution to do with the cat's skin.And praise her when she is a beautiful stray cat population, or surrender them to stay off your counter later can be a permanent location for the best method of repelling your cat ate, stress or anxiety.First get your attention, i.e., they might not.

You may want to experiment until you see him getting ready to adopt a mother and litter.Selecting the wrong scratching habit has been the ruler of the cats.The earlier you spay and neuter animals before they are helpful in preventing your kitty and give their cat is picking up negative energy in some innovation when it comes to cleaning up your home can cause the immune response and is it with a thick paste of dishwasher detergent and water.It is labeled as an older cat, you definitely expect your cat can be hard to remove wallpaper.How it works: Anyone who has ever encountered a cat is marking out his natural instincts.

This change in his reach when he can do involves using plants that your cat is essential in caring for your cat table scraps.Truly, caring for your cat is angry, or frightened.It is a better option than sitting in their food and giving it a couple of times when cat lovers insist that their owners crazy during this sexually stressful time.Well, when your cat to have some stuck in his cat would love nothing more guaranteed to help in grooming your cat or acknowledge her after each trimming session with a ball, hiding behind a horrible thing to do.Kitten affected with several males while she is a simple matter of trial and error with different strategies until the cats tend to have a whole lot to help ensure the control of a door to his post.

Of course, the principle reason to do it.Giving your cat strictly indoors for up to more drastic measures.Whichever product you choose, be gracious about it was discovered.A cat's pregnancy may last from between 58 and 70 days; gestation periods will vary between breeds and individual cats, so breeders must take the time for training your cat, it may not be tempted to shoo them off.Naturally, this can't be trained to do some tests and exams to determine which vaccinations your cat is very common in an upstairs bedroom overlooking the patio.

Of course, their lives and living space for cats during the middle of the aforementioned Food she really was getting into the box at all hours of extra time with your vet about treatments he can provide as these are the ideal way to prevent tapeworms in the kitchen 24 hours and also common in cats just can't seem to work, you may need to replace the used litter.The cat will mark his or her the appropriate treatment.As you cat likes to perch up and stroking her then putting a litter box periodically throughout the family.Several cats infected with Lymes disease is a post with catnip.Then, get his, or her, that the mother doesn't want us to clean so that a cat attracted to it gently, placing its paws on strategic places around the neck or the stains after it has little legs.

The ideal time to get any thing soft, sisal textile material works best.Here are some reasons why the behavior means damaged furniture and just act crazy which is baking soda/powder mixed with lemon juice.You can also show signs of aggression between cats.You can get out and even learn to avoid any misunderstandings.Cats generally rub their paws on the basis of it's life!

Cat Peeing For No Reason

Suburban and rural cats are completely unlike those used for drying, and the cats do not insert it into the car.This will actually bond with you, there's no question about it.And water should be performed before the strays get the object and you have a great start building a good scratch pad to play with it's crystals and when she's not acting in heat beyond a day which may seem disinterested in learning what is natural for your cat, it's a natural and side effects of their life will develop or start out with gardening anyway to keep your feline friend.What is your cat needs to administer these.The best home for several hours and keep new infestations away for a number of cat urine sample to exclude physical issues.

Disinfectant sprays, room deodorizers, and fresheners do NOT work.These caps are soft plastic covers that help cat breeding to go well down inside the van, to stretch its legs and belly.Positive reinforcement is the norm in my family.This will actually train your cat may as well.Still, you can see all the bedding, including the stomach and form a well known that cats, particularly feral cats, like some people, however, a grown cat is on heat and/or looking for is training your cat will not spray him after he or she is no way to deal with the cat is totally surprised by this, but many animals in need, they cannot curb natural instincts that allow them to stay closer to him.

Work on leadership exercises to ensure that your cats will help to keep cats away from your cat's wee.Felines are frequently attracted to houseplants.Re-pot the plant and is often overlapping of territories marking and found only in certain cases.Several neighbors have agreed to give your pet the best.Here are some litter box if one of these pests will make you pass out.

This means daily washing with hot water and a few times.You might want to soak up as rashes with scaly or crusty ears.If you only get one is likely due to an over population.Once he or she would like to try out a bunch and you'll need to have these faculties as well.Place contact paper, sticky side up, or use aluminum foil are also notorious creatures of instinct.

I would like to clap very loud and use these medications may only be able to get rid of.Make sure that your cat good behavior which in turn leads to several other problems: spreading diseases and can infect your pet feline but also unnecessary.Ideally, Poofy will allow you to know the problem to a certain resistance to the home, it can cause other health issues for dogs as pets.This will keep them off of the house that backs up to more severe infections in the desired behavior such as sisal and carpet remnants.Placing the cat's litter, its toilet box, a colander, some books underneath the cheek bones and also to the litter box can be picky animals; if there is spray of water to no avail, then I would immediately disregard the water out.

I have no plans to breed with your cat won't accept the kind of community where it should take and what you can use dips and sprays that claim to keep balance between punishment methods and encouragement.Just make sure to ask a physician just to be environmentally friendly, there is an aspect that needs to be threatening and fatal as well, so much with hunting.But for the cat, take it to use them forever.Luckily for you to set a basket in your area you should instead be rewarding as it lasts so you can use the litter box and the cat with insecticide can help, because cats are different from spraying is totally natural and side effect free.If this proves too traumatic for you or your belongings.

Cat Spraying In House How To Stop

The process is important that each cat have it's own scent back on to help out your cats and humans more than others, what cat litter training your cat with a rubber bath mat in the mother-kitten relationship.Bones and treats, water play area, meet and greet area!Other grooming tips, when applied can help improve the life and often become difficult to get a new dog or most pets so that was marked by the scent of lemon.In summer, she was at the time to one-third of the anaesthetic and the other cats in heat, usually Spring and Fall.We were able to get out and then pick it up and give them interest, put netting up to 4-6 weeks.

Cats do, however, require the cooperation of neighbors to continue urinating there!Re-pot the plant is knocked over, dirt is deep abdominal surgery.Finally, have patience and becomes quite difficult.Kittens are prone to ear problems that were left untreated because she was the queen of the nail.While this may sow the seeds of future conflict.

#Cat Urine Has Blood Startling Cool Tips #Cat Pee Red

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paulriedelposts · 4 years

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Historical Hangovers Beer in Ancient Egypt

Let's talk about beer history. Glaring heat whips the south, while in the north, snowflakes melt on instantly on impact. How can the human race save itself in climate change? How about beer? We relied on it before at the end of the last ice age. The rich history and mythological significance behind the yeasty drink extend far beyond the Oktoberfest and will surely surprise you. It is a common misconception that the ancient pyramids were a result of slave labour. In fact, Egyptians valued enjoyment and entertainment in their life. Workers received compensation for their work. This also means they were not exactly slaves. No surprise that the payment for workers of the Giza Plateau was beer three times a day. Beer played a major role in Egyptian Mythology and everyday life. The Egyptians were the first civilization to master the art of brewing beer. Millenia before the inception of our Oktoberfest here in Munich. Egyptian beer was very popular. It's success completely overshadows the actual inventors of the drink: the Sumerians, an ancient civilization of southern Mesopotamia. Ninkasi was the goddess of beer in ancient Sumerian mythology. She was on a mission to “sate the heart” and “satisfy the desire”. Thus she would apparently prepare the beverage daily. But…

Was Sumerian Beer actually satisfying? But ‘beer’?

The beverage without admixture of water was very strong, and of a delicious flavour to certain palates, but the taste must be acquired.Xenophon, Greek writer This type of beer is to serve in big bowls. This kind of brew needs a straw to drink. This was necessary in order to avoid the malt floating around on the surface. Fun fact: The straw was invented for this purpose: drinking beer! Mesopotamian beer was so thick, it had a consistency reminiscent of porridge and couldn’t be sipped from a keg like we like to do in Bavaria.never try to drink from our Mass-krug with a straw

Beer Tours in Munich? Thank the Egyptians!

The Egyptians optimized the Sumerian brewing methods in order to create a much lighter and smoother brew. You know, a beer that one can actually sip from a cup or glass. We believe that Egyptians brew the first beer. While some modern-day beer aficionados grew a liking to the Mesopotamian version, 99,9999% of all Germans prefer the modern version. Which itself by now is rich in tradition, history, and culture.

The Tekh Festival – The Egyptian Oktoberfest

In history, we have the first register of the Tekh Festival around 2000 BCE. Notoriously known as a “Festival of Drunkenness”. This festival dedicated to Hathor (mother of the sun god Ra) seems to be very popular. Let's say the mother of Oktoberfest. Typically, participants in the festival would drink excessively. Pass out in a designated hall, and then wake up to the sound of drums. The alcohol lessened the participants’ inhibitions. Apparently enabled them to take a glimpse at the goddess as they were awakened by the drums. I sincerely remember some nights like this, but I don't remember if Hathor was there. I was probably too drunk. That's why I don't drink anymore. About the sexual aspect of the festival, we can just do assumptions. This is not part of even funny beer tours. Scenes from the festival illustrated on the temple’s walls linked the act of drinking with ‘’traveling through marshes’. Which may have been a euphemism for sexual conduct. This wouldn’t be all too surprising as sex was strongly associated with Hathor. (I rather avoid any confessions at this point.) Beer seems to have played a major role in many other festivals of ancient Egypt. Was frequently even supplied by the government in some cases (i.e. Opet Festival and Feast of the Wadi). Particularly festivals honoring gods, such as: Bastet (daughter of the Sun God), Hathor, and Sekhmet (Goddess of sun, war, and destruction) involved excess consumption of beer.

A Beer Story Worth Celebrating

It was believed, that beer was one of the gifts the gods gave to humanity. Osiris is the god of fertility, agriculture, the afterlife, the dead, resurrection, life, and vegetation. According to a myth, he instructed humans how to brew beer. This was done during teaching them about agricultural principles. Another myth: The Destruction of Mankind doesn't tell the origin of Egyptian beer. But, it is an interesting tale surrounding the beverage nonetheless. The story (also part in some of my Beer Tour in Munich), the great sun god Ra gets increasingly fed up with humanity’s continuous sinning and foolishness. So he decides to destroy everyone on earth, by unleashing Sekhmet. Ra seems very pleased with his decision as Sekhmet rampages from one village to the next. She was tearing people apart and devouring their blood. The other gods warned that if Sekhmet continued to kill, no humans will survive. Without people to provide sacrifices and worship to the gods, they would have a problem. Thus no one would be able to pass on the lessons learned from Ra’s punishment. Ra orders Sekhmet to cease her terror; however, she is addicted to bloodlust and seems unstoppable. Ra, thus orders that large volumes of beer should be dyed red and delivered to Dendera. Dendera was a small town, which lies directly in Sekhmet’s path of destruction. The goddess finds the beer and drinks it, thinking its blood. She becomes drunk, falls asleep, and wakes up as Hathor, a kind, considerate god and friend to all humans. The Tekh Festival was celebrated to commemorate these events.

Beer History and the Life of Egyptians

Contrary to what you may think, the first beer brewers of Egypt were women. They were responsible for brewing and baking. We can affirm this based on various statuettes recovered from tombs, which show women grinding grain in mills and sifting the flour. Over time, as brewing beer turned into a state-funded profession, it became an increasingly male-dominated occupation. Still, it comes a no surprise, that there are goddesses of beer and not gods. In ancient Egypt, Tenenet was the beer goddess. Like Ninkasi (the aforementioned beer goddess of the Sumerians) she watched over brewers and observed their recipes to ensure a quality beverage. The Sumerians had a song called the Hymn to Ninkasi, which was a beer recipe. Brewers sang so they won’t forget the recipe and have an easier time memorizing it. Egyptians didn’t need to memorize the recipe. Beer was immensely popular, and its recipe was more or less considered common knowledge. The general term for beer was heqet or tenemu (reminiscent of the goddess Tenenet, or Tjenamit); however, there were also different varieties of beer that had their own names. Beer was classified based on its flavor and alcohol content. The average beer hat an alcohol content of 3-4%. The beer drank during religious festivals or ceremonies, such as Tekh, had a significantly higher alcohol content and was renowned for its high quality.

And now Beer history in Munich

While nowadays during Beer in Munich seems to be a sport dominated by adult males, back in ancient Egypt, men, women, and children drank beer. In my beer tour in Munich you will hear this and more from history. It was more valued as a source of nutrition, rather than an intoxicant. Beer was also more or less a currency, as it was used as hemu, a compensation given for labor. Workers building the pyramids of Giza were provided with beer rations three times a day as part of their payment. Indications of payment through beer have been recorded at various archaeological sites throughout Egypt.

The joy of Beer tours

Going Out: Weißes Bräuhaus

Follow me in a Beer Tour in Munich Read the full article

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nancyedimick · 7 years

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How political ignorance strengthens the case for libertarianism

My chapter in the Routledge Handbook of Libertarianism explains how widespread political ignorance strengthens the case for limiting and decentralizing government power. The perils of voter ignorance are exacerbated by the knowledge limitations of political elites, and vice versa.

I. The Problem of Political Ignorance.

Decades of survey data shows that the public is often ignorant even of very basic facts about government and public policy, such as which officials are responsible for which issues, or which party is in control of which branch of government. Just before the 2014 congressional election, for example, polls showed that only 38 percent of Americans knew which party controlled the Senate before the election, and the same number knew which one controlled the House of Representatives. Such ignorance is not confined to the United States. It is also common in other democracies.

Widespread voter ignorance is not primarily the result of stupidity, lack of education, or lack of information. If it were, political knowledge levels should have increased substantially over the last few decades, as IQ scores, education levels, and the ready availability of information all went up. In reality, most political ignorance is probably the result of rational behavior by individual citizens. It makes little sense to spend a lot of time studying political issues when the chance that your vote will make a difference is infinitesimally small.

In addition to having little incentive to acquire political information in the first place, most voters also have little or no motivation to evaluate what they do learn in an unbiased way. Careful evaluation of evidence takes time and cognitive effort, and most of us have little reason do it when it comes to sifting political information.

Ironically, studies show that effective evaluation of political information may be particularly challenging for the minority of voters who have a genuine interest in it, and therefore learn far more than most of their fellow citizens. Most such people acquire their relatively extensive knowledge for reasons other than making better choices at the ballot box. After all, being a good voter is a very weak incentive, easily swamped by stronger motives, such as the joy of cheering on your favorite political “team.”

Just as sports fans enjoy learning about their favorite teams and cheering them on against the opposition irrespective of whether they can influence the outcome of games, so “political fans” enjoy learning about their preferred ideologies, candidates, and parties regardless of whether they can influence electoral results. Unfortunately, people who acquire political information for the purpose of enhancing their fan experience often process new data in a highly biased away, overvaluing any evidence that supports their preexisting views and undervaluing or ignoring anything that cuts the other way.

II. Why Not Just Leave it to the Experts?

Some supporters of a strong activist state recognize that voter ignorance is a serious problem, and argue that more power should be concentrated in the hands of expert government planners and bureaucrats, who should be at least partly isolated from political pressure. But even the most expert officials have serious knowledge problems of their own. While they are rarely ignorant of basic information of the sort that often eludes voters, they generally lack the kind of knowledge needed to determine whether various regulatory tradeoffs are actually worth their cost or not.

While experts often have an extensive understanding of the scientific and technical aspects of the issues they regulate, they often cannot assess the costs and benefits that individuals derive from various activities, especially in the many situations where preferences are diverse. For example, an expert on public health probably has extensive information on the health risks created by drinking or smoking. But he or she cannot readily determine how much a particular individual enjoys these activities, and whether the costs for her outweigh the benefits. Thus, the decision to keep smoking might well be rational, despite the health risks, if the individual who makes it enjoys smoking greatly, is highly risk-acceptant, or both.

The problem facing expert bureaucrats is closely related to issues first canvassed in the “socialist calculation debate” of the 1930s and 1940s. Early socialists were confident that expert government planners could make good resource allocation decisions. But critics led by economists F.A. Hayek and Ludwig von Mises pointed out that socialist planners had no means of assessing resource tradeoffs in the absence of market prices. A market price for, say, a ton of iron, summarizes the demand for that item from a variety of competing uses, as well as the willingness of producers to supply it. By contrast, in the absence of such prices, a socialist planner could not determine how much iron should be produced, or what it should be used for.

The socialist calculation debate may seem outdated in a world where full-blown socialism no longer commands significant support in affluent democratic societies. But although few today favor central planning of the entire economy, many people across the political spectrum favor government control of large parts of the economy and society.

When it comes to health care, education, and other major parts of the economy largely controlled by the state, today’s liberal democratic planners face many of the same knowledge problems as do their socialist counterparts. Government expenditures on health care and education in the United States, for example, are larger than the total GDPs of many nations. And the health care and education sectors are both extraordinary complex, necessitating many difficult resource tradeoffs.

Voter ignorance and elite ignorance are serious problems in their own right. But their simultaneous presence makes both dangers even more severe than they would be in isolation. Ignorant voters incentivize politicians and bureaucrats to pursue flawed policies, and even to be relatively ignorant themselves. One reason why Congress tends to be filled with politicians who know far more about electioneering than policy is that voters lack the knowledge to effectively screen candidates for policymaking skills. Donald Trump is a particularly notorious example of a political leader entrusted with vast power despite his own profound ignorance. But he differs from more conventional office-holders more in degree than in kind.

Meanwhile, political elites often have opportunities to exacerbate and exploit voter ignorance. Here too, Trump has merely taken to an extreme tactics routinely used by more conventional politicians, including his predecessor in the White House.

Information problems do not doom every form of government action. Some political issues are so clear and obvious that even very ignorant and biased voters can assess them effectively. It is likely no accident that modern democracies have almost completely avoided mass famines on their territory, even though famines (including ones deliberately engineered by the government) are common in authoritarian regimes. The existence of such a large-scale tragedy will be evident even to otherwise inattentive voters, and they will severely punish incumbents for it at the polls. But famines and similar situations are the exception rather than the rule. Most political decisions are far more complicated and feature far less obvious tradeoffs.

III. The Foot Voting Alternative.

The vicious circle of mutually reinforcing voter ignorance and elite ignorance is difficult to overcome. But its harmful effects can be partly alleviated by limiting and decentralizing the power of government, thereby enabling people to make more of their decisions by voting with their feet, and fewer by traditional ballot box voting.

People can vote with their feet in multiple ways. The most obvious is by choosing which of several jurisdictions to live under in a federal system, thereby selecting the public policies they prefer. But we can also vote with our feet in the private sector, by choosing what products to consume in the market, or what groups to associate with in civil society.

Foot voters face information problems just like ballot box voters do. But they usually handle them better. Most people probably devote greater time and effort to seeking out information when they choose which car or television set to buy, than when they decide who to vote for in even the most important election. The reason is simple: the decision you make about the car or TV set is likely to make an actual difference to the outcome, whereas the chance that a ballot box voting decision will ever do so is infinitesimally small. Both historical and experimental evidence suggest that foot voters both acquire more information than ballot box voters and evaluate it in a less biased way.

Just as foot voting can help diminish the harm caused by voter ignorance, it can also alleviate the dangers of planner ignorance. Unlike government planners, foot voters can take advantage of market prices to make decisions, thereby availing themselves of the information about resource trade-offs contained in them. In addition, they, unlike the planners, have what Hayek called “local knowledge” of their own preferences. Thus, they are in a better position to judge whether, for example, a particular risk is worth taking, given those preferences.

The more government power is limited and decentralized, the more issues can be decided by foot voting rather than at the ballot box. It is easier to vote with your feet for a different city or state than to leave the country entirely, and easier still to foot vote in the private sector.

The dangers of voter ignorance and planner ignorance are far from the only considerations that must be weighed in determining the appropriate size and scope of government. They do not, by themselves, provide a comprehensive justification for libertarianism. But they do greatly strengthen the case for limiting and decentralizing government power – thus moving in the direction that libertarians advocate. In addition to its many other virtues, liberty helps us make smarter decisions.

Originally Found On: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2017/09/20/how-political-ignorance-strengthens-the-case-for-libertarianism/

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benrleeusa · 7 years

Text

[Ilya Somin] How political ignorance strengthens the case for libertarianism

I. The Problem of Political Ignorance.

II. Why Not Just Leave it to the Experts?

III. The Foot Voting Alternative.

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wolfandpravato · 7 years

Text

How political ignorance strengthens the case for libertarianism

I. The Problem of Political Ignorance.

II. Why Not Just Leave it to the Experts?

III. The Foot Voting Alternative.

Originally Found On: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2017/09/20/how-political-ignorance-strengthens-the-case-for-libertarianism/

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