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avissapiens · 3 years

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Avis' Subject Symposium

A Crash Course in Trance Pt 1: Files.

(Art by Acro @sodalite96/https://twitter.com/sodalite96 Used with their permission. Go check them out!)

So often new subjects come to me and they don’t know the first thing about trance. None of its mechanics or methods, and so it can be very daunting for them; to step into such a wide abyss without knowing what to expect and what is expected of you. Many of them, even experienced subjects, expect that 100% of the work is and should be done by the Hypnotist. In truth both parties, the hypnotist and the subject, must be willing and able. But while it’s more readily apparent what must be done in order for a tist to be successful in their endeavors, many subjects/potential subjects can have a hard time understanding what it takes to get the most out of their trance, both from pre-recorded files, and from live sessions with a hypnotist. So, I’m here to give you what is in my opinion, the essential Crash Course to Trance, starting first with trancing to files.

Location

Find yourself somewhere nice, darkened and quiet, where you know you won’t be disturbed. This is already a hard task for a lot of subjects, living with other people always increases the chance that one might barge in on you, eyes glazed over, drooling all over yourself. Or that someone’s reckless pounding from above might shake the abyss so thoroughly that it takes you out of trance. But here is the thing I will stress. While physical quiet is a good idea as it allows you to focus on the words and suggestions streaming into your head. What matters so much more is internal peace and quiet. A location where you can feel at ease and safe and secure in yourself. A locked bedroom surrounded by mountains of pillows. Your favorite plush armchair that threatens to swallow you almost as well as the Abyss of Trance. The peaceful morning route on the train whose path you know so well that you can be lulled into trance just by the rumbling vibrations of the tracks beneath your seat. Wherever you can be comfortable.

The ideal location for trance I'm sure does exist in some government facility or therapists office somewhere, where you can be dropped into an isolation tank and be brainwashed clean. But most of us will never encounter that. So what matters then is the ideal mindset for trance, which is one of peace, safety, trust and assurance.

Equipment

This is one of the reasons so many love using files. Because its barrier to entry is so low. All you really need is something to play the file on and a place to listen. This is in contrast to working directly with a tist where you need, at the very least, A good internet connection, maybe a camera, Another person who you trust and who might be wildly inconsistent. Or working in person which probably will require a whole location and time-table to get set up. No, Files are relatively simple and they are no better or worse than live sessions for certain purposes. However, like all simple things, they can be elevated by improving its ingredients. A box cake from the store and a home-made chiffon are functionally the same, but their difference comes in the ingredients and technique.

So for trance I recommend spoiling yourself a little, at the very least buy yourself some decent quality over-ear headphones. Many file-makers (myself included) add frequencies and binaural beats underneath the main track. These serve the purpose of training your own brain’s waveforms to a certain frequency, thus more easily taking you into trance. But they can only be detected and properly registered with some good headphones. Additionally, The encapsulation of headphones provides a more immersive experience, isolating you and transporting you through the trance experience like you are in your own little world. Trust me. $600 studio headphones aren’t needed, But a good quality wired $40 headset goes a long way and is multi-purpose. A decent quality chair or mattress also will serve you well, not just in trance but in life.

Focus

Trance is a very tricky state that, like all things, requires practice and patience to master. Staying in trance is like a tightrope walk, teetering gently between the realm of consciousness and awareness, and the oblivion of total subconscious and sleep. It is the liminal space between the two, that subconscious space that makes trance and hypnosis possible. It is the state where your mind is most open to total suggestion and where magical things can happen. So how does one walk the line between these two modes of being? The answer is focus. Or rather Half-focus. Focusing without focusing. With descriptions like that it can sound like some kind of Zen riddle, but that is often what it feels like sometimes. Now this is not a laser focus like you would expect in a classroom setting, no one is being tested here. It's a more gentle and subtle focus. Like focusing on the world around you. Focusing on the wind on your face, the rise and fall of your lungs; On the way your body just goes loose and slumps over. The trick is to go in and to follow along, to listen and pay attention and try to comply with the suggestions given at first. Suspend your disbelief and engage with it unironically and without pretense. If you notice yourself drifting, don’t try to force it back to focus. Simply let it explore where it wants and to carry on organically. Nothing in trance needs to be forced. Simply focused on and allowed to happen.

Many subs oscillate in trance, their minds ebbing and flowing like a Sine wave; wavering in and out of trance, one minute aware, the next minute completely blank and asleep, and then for a brief moment in bliss. But it averages out to trance at the end of it. One must also not fear dropping out of trance. Focusing too much on that eventuality makes it a self fulfilling prophecy. Just Focus-not-focus-half-focus and enjoy yourself.

Apprehension

So many subjects look at files and their mind begins to spin with endless questions and anxieties. Worries about “losing themselves” or “changing too much” or “doing things they don’t want to do.” It’s a valid set of concerns for a new subject, uninitiated in the true mechanics of trance and only knowing of hypnosis what is shown in the media. Evil villains and monsters brainwashing our heroes to do horribly enticing and arousing things. So ingrained is this idea that it even crossed over into the allure of hypnosis files. And while I won’t say it's impossible for that to happen, I have 3 comments on it to ease your mind. First, with Files, one of the best things about it is that the subject gets to control practically every single aspect of the experience. When you do it, how many times you listen, and whether you listen at all to begin with. While all files should be clearly labelled with Content and trigger warnings and given an explicit summary of what they are and what they do, we know that is not the case. The amount of “Mystery files” I've seen on various forums irks me to no end. But it appeals to some people. However, for those who are not particularly fond of surprises you have the absolute power to review the file before you trance to it. You can give it a fully aware walk through, or just jump through segments to look for anything that doesn’t suit your taste.

Once you’ve done that however you might still be conflicted about some content. Not openly averse to it, but unsure. Dumbing down and IQ reduction are probably number one on this list. People are so terrified of somehow losing everything when they learn to stop overthinking things. For these concerns my second point suggests Introspection. Ask yourself “Why do I/Don’t I want this?” “Is it really as bad as my anxiety is making it out to be?” Because if you like something a lot, and really want it, then why should you deny yourself it out of fear? Even aside from dumbing, many desires are tinged with this air of guilt or fear. Terrified to acknowledge or grab hold of what we truly want and own up to it. In my estimation Hypnosis can be one of the best ways of dabbling with those desires because in trance there is no shame or judgement. Finally, my 3rd point says you don’t have to worry. If you really don’t like a suggestion you can always leave it behind. Your mind has built in fail-safes to reject suggestions you haven’t agreed to. A file cannot make you do something unless you want it, at least subconsciously. The old cliche goes “All Hypnosis is Self-Hypnosis” and what that fundamentally means is that as a subject you are the one who decides what happens. You consent and go along with things and allow them to happen to you. It is your desire, your focus, your arousal and your own subconscious that allows hypnosis to work. Subjects have more power than they know. I really hope it assists some people in vibing better with trance and files. I’ll be putting out another version for Live hypnotists later this month.

Thanks again to Acro for letting me use their Art, definitely go and support them on twitter. And If you want to support the creation of more hypnotic experiences that might help you practice that balance of focus then you can do so by subscribing to my Patreon, or to my Youtube channel. And if you want to interact more closely with me and my supportive community you can join my Discord server.

#Hypnosis #trance #gay hypnosis #brainwashing #caption #hypnotized #hypnokink

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mittensmorgul · 3 years

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For anyone interested in long-term residence in the supernatural fandom, please have some observations I’ve made over the decade I’ve been here. Take it or leave it as you will, but I’ve found all of this info useful over the years I’ve been here.

I wrote this yesterday, and it achieved its mission of identifying the sort of folks who would react negatively to it (i.e. a lot of block lists have been updated), so now that it’s been edited for content, it’s going under a cut (because that is how we do things on tumblr in general, unless we have a deliberate purpose for annoying readers with excessively long text posts) for the sake of people who actually do care about the fandom and its history. If that’s not you or your reason for being here, then keep on keeping on with your own thing, I guess. For those who are interested, there’s a lot of fandom resources some of us have been building for years that you might enjoy knowing about.

First off, I’ve been informed by a few friends who’ve read through this for coherency’s sake that it sort of reads like a *shakes cane from porch* fandom grandma complaint, but honestly... I earned this rocking chair and goshdangit imma rock now. So apologies for any “back in my day” vibes or faint aroma of tiger balm this post might give off. Then again, it’s loosely based on a similar post from 2012 so like... time is a flat circle anyway I guess.

1. There is no such thing as “tumblr famous,” unless you’re referring to the hilarious and delightful fic of the same name (please go read it, you will cackle). Posting Hot Takes for imaginary Clout™ on this site is kind of pointless in the long run. Sure you can post solely for the sake of stirring shit and getting notes, but the majority of the folks who do aren’t long term residents of the fandom. They’re just tourists moving through our little beach town for spring break. If you’re actually intent on moving to this corner of the fandom for an extended stay, please bother to really feel out the permanent residents and understand the culture and general mood of the neighborhood. It bears no resemblance to whatever’s going on across town where all the bars and beach parities are happening, and those loud, drunken revelers are, again, gonna disappear back to their regular lives or on to the next party eventually. That doesn’t mean the fandom is dying, it’s just evolving.

(funny how I had several comments implying that I’m just trying to keep the fandom from evolving with this post, because I sincerely do want the fandom to continue on for years to come, and that is impossible without evolution. We can evolve without self-immolating, though. mostly i included point 1 for an excuse to push ancient but hilarious fanfic on you.)

2. Once you post something here, it’s been unleashed to the fandom winds. You never know where it will end up, or who will comment on it or add to it. Remember that time Misha tweeted the link to the Epic Cockles Love Story post? No? It was wild. That was 2012. They all know we’re here, and how to find us if they want to. Please don’t take it to their doorsteps.

Obviously if someone is being a dick on your posts, please feel free to block them, but the whole entire point of this site is to engage people with your posts. Being big mad that someone reblogged your post with comments or supporting evidence, or happy headcanons or “HECK THIS IS GREAT BECAUSE (insert personal story about their experience or whatever else made them Feel Things about your post)” is frankly ridiculous. If your goal is to avoid any sort of engagement with your posts, then maybe try instagram instead. From what I understand, there is a SPN fandom presence there, and nobody can tarnish your original posts with unwanted commentary. But the ability to reblog with additional commentary is a FEATURE of tumblr that builds community through conversation. Otherwise we’re all just talking to ourselves in a vacuum, and that’s what actually kills fandoms.

(and for the folks who just want to blog how they want to blog and don’t want people to engage on their posts at all, please feel free to block anyone you want, as well... nobody wants to step on your toes, but most of us also don’t want to walk on eggshells wondering if this post is one of the “do not add comments for any reason” sorts of posts, either. This is a huge fandom and most people can’t even begin to keep track of every creator and their url du jour, and what their personal rules might be regarding interaction with their content. Including a “please don’t add comments” note at the bottom of your posts-- and not in your tags that won’t even show up on reblogs, but in the actual body of the post-- would sincerely help avoid any awkward or unwanted interactions, too. At the end of the day, you are in control of your own fandom experience and the block button exists.

For the record, I block zero fandom blogs (which is why I posted this, I wanted it to reach a wide scope... refer to the opening paragraphs as to why).

3. Since this post was partly inspired by a tag I left on that post going around about how “previous tags” mean fuckall on this site (which you can read here), just a reminder that if you like someone’s tags or feel they add value to the post, part of the Peer Review structure of tumblr encourages you to PASTE THEM INTO A REBLOG. If you do this, then at least credit the person who actually wrote the tags! Don’t just copy someone else’s tags into your tags on your reblog of the post without credit either. They were not YOUR tags. (I have had this happen to tag rambles I wrote and someone else got credited with them on a subsequent reblog and it is FRUSTRATING). Just... don’t even bother to write “previous tags” because WHAT PREVIOUS TAGS?! Nobody is gonna bother to chase back the chain of reblogs trying to find where the mystery tags came from, friendos. That way lies madness.

(for the record, since some folks seemed to focus on this point solely, writing “previous tags” on a post isn’t inherently a BAD thing, but for anyone who actually is here for more than one-off shitposting, then it’s sort of a pointless thing in the long run. This wasn’t intended to suggest people who ARE here for one-off shitposting are bad or “doing it wrong,” but for people who might actually want to preserve that hilarious joke or insightful comment. People delete posts and entire blogs all the time around here. Links break. I get that the upcoming generation just shrugs at that and moves on with their lives, but heck... you don’t have to accept that all entertainment is disposable if you don’t want to. There’s a bizarre sort of nihilism plaguing us all about the impermanence of pretty much everything that feels like something we should be fighting against rather than buying into wholesale, even in our escapist entertainment. I’m just exhausted by the complete loss of joy in community.

*shouts from the peanut gallery* IT AIN’T THAT DEEP, JUST GET SOME FRESH AIR AND LOOK AT A PUPPY OR SOMETHING

Yes... yes it isn’t really that deep, but bigger picture in the state of reality we’re all entirely disillusioned with, are we supposed to just give up on everything, including the things we cling to because they bring us a tiny spark of hope that we’re not all just trapped in this dystopian nightmare and things might actually be worth living for?

*peanut gallery clinging to burnt husks of peanuts in a barren peanut field* but this is how we have chosen to cope

Okay... you do you... I feel bad for you but if that’s the case then this post is NOT FOR YOU. AND THAT’S FINE. I honestly do not care if you don’t care! I mean, I’m sorry anyone has to live in a world that drives them to that mindset, but I understand. This post is for anyone who might look at their lives and their choices and think “no wait, I unironically enjoy this and want more from the experience of that enjoyment than I’m currently feeling.” Everyone else can continue with their lives as usual.)

4. CONTENT THEFT IS NEVER OKAY. PERIOD. Things like “credit to the artist” or tagging gifs or images you found on pinterest as “not mine” isn’t actually credit. If you can’t source an image or gif set, DO NOT POST IT! We don’t REPOST (i.e. save an image and then create a new post with it as if it was our own creation). We REBLOG (click the little square arrows and reblog from the actual creator). That goes for gif sets, fanvids, screencaps, meta, fic... everything.

(hopefully everyone here already understands this one, but I felt compelled to include some “these are stupidly obvious” reminders anyway, since this is ostensibly some sort of advice column. This is the equivalent of the warning label on your toaster reminding you not to use it in the bath. Like... duh...)

5. Close kin of item 4 is SOURCE YOUR SHIT.

(for 100% disclosure purposes, I specifically discussed this one in this specific way because of an influx of anon ask messages I received in the wake of the finale. Literally the inciting incident for creating this entire post was what I can only assume was a joking ask about a comment Misha made at a con years ago. Someone actually bothered to take the time to type out those sentences to me. I have no idea what they were expecting in reply, or what could possibly motivate them to send this comment about something so entirely random from, again, several years ago. Just a joke? No idea, but whatever... it got me thinking that there might actually be people who are new to the fandom who MIGHT actually care about the fandom history, and maybe they just don’t know where to go for that info, or how to even begin searching through 16 years of history for things they might actually find enjoyment in, rather than just hauling random out of context garbage out on main and pointing and laughing about it now. People are actually allowed to care about things. It’s not cringeworthy to actually care about things, and you are not alone in actually caring, and there’s this whole big room over here full of people who are thrilled to share in that with you. This post is intended FOR THOSE PEOPLE SPECIFICALLY, so if that is not you, please just continue walking by.)

Yes, I know lots of y’all are new around here right now, but dredging up stuff from years ago that fandom has completely debunked and presenting it as TRU FAX again is just exhausting. We’re not trying to be party poopers, but seriously, we have seen it all and are mostly done with extinguishing bags of flaming dog poop on our front porches for the umpteenth year in a row. I’ve seen a lot of posts that have the same tone as “I saw Goody Proctor dancing with the devil” or “I heard kylo ren has an eight pack” and just... the information is there for anyone who cares enough to find it.

This goes double for “why is nobody talking about this thing I just discovered while watching the show for the first time?!” And, oh hon, we have talked it all into the ground over the last fifteen years. We’re happy you’re discovering it again, but I promise we talked about it plenty when the episodes originally aired. We have such a rich meta history that lots of us have worked really hard to preserve. I encourage you to seek it out, if nothing else than as historical artifacts. The way we have discussed the show has been a 16-year evolution. People have written literal doctoral dissertations on this show. Your shitposts are fun! We love reliving our own experience through fresh eyes, and seeing your wonder at experiencing it all again for the first time! But y’all didn’t invent this fandom in the last six months, either.

Meta Sources and Minerals provided by our friendly neighborhood fandom archivist, @lets-steal-an-archive

Academic books and articles about SPN

A collection of Meta Essays going back to s1 and organized by topic (all of this has happened before, all of it will happen again)

SPN Heavy Meta Archive (s1-3)

Mel’s Dreamwidth archive of meta (s1-12)

Oranges8hands Dreamwidth archive of meta (s1-15, with many similar entries to Mel’s... though ymmv on viewpoint in a lot of these too)

Anyone remember Fandom Wank? Not the concept but the actual LJ... No? Okay have a link to SPN topics that ended up there. Through 2013. We have seen so much... including several fandom containment breaches.

for all your art sourcing needs, please see @theroadsofararchive, the repository for so much fandom art.

need to find a gif of something? canonspngifs is a vast repository of gifsets of the entire series. If the gif you want to use in your post happens to be the first gif in the gifset, in the tumblr gif finder thingy just paste the permalink to that post from canonspngifs (which is easily searchable by episode, character, location, situation, quotes, and sometimes even color and clothing items the actors are wearing... it’s really well organized, especially for tumblr >.>) and the first gif will be automatically linked with credit to the gif creator attached. It makes life easy that way. It’s also convenient when trying to remember something specific but can’t remember what episode it’s from. I’ve used the site to jog my memory before going to the superwiki armed with more specific search results to find episode quotes and references. Or sometimes I just scroll through all the nice gifs for fun, too.

Need a screencap of something and know exactly which episode it’s from? Try Home of the Nutty. You might not find the exact screencap you’re looking for, but they have a complete set of caps of every episode, and it’s an incredibly useful resource for quick reference checks and the like. Just give pages a chance to fully load before clicking on the next one. The site is easily overloaded, but it’s still free to use (and again, with credit... Pretty much every screencap on my entire blog is from HotN unless otherwise credited).

As you can see, this is a fandom built on preserving our history. You absolutely are not required to engage with any of this if that’s not of interest to you, but I can only assume that there are people who would be interested in it if only they knew it existed and how to find it. Well, now they do.

6. A few more notes on tags, and how they work on tumblr. The first 20 tags on your ORIGINAL posts are searchable sitewide, so if you want to be able to find something again, tag that thing first before going on general tag rambles. The only place tags on reblogs are searchable is on your own blog. So you don’t have to put 50 tags trying to get a post seen if it’s a reblog. You’re just spitting into the wind at that point. If you have a filing system for finding things again, then by all means add those tags (again, in the first 20, so they’re searchable), but you don’t need to tag a reblog “destiel” and “deancas” and “dean” and “cas” and “dean x cas” or whatever. Pick one for your personal blog’s filing system, that’s all you need.

(this was only added because tagging and searching on this site is so very broken... I get that a lot of folks don’t care about ever searching their own blogs again for anything, so this one only really applies if you do often find yourself trying to find old posts. If not, then it’s not really relevant. It took me years to work out a decent tagging system, and at the beginning of my time here I never thought I’d end up camping out here for a decade and falling this deep into the fandom, and I regretted my lack of consistent tags only years later when I realized I actually wanted to be able to go back and find specific old posts again. So... for anyone who wants to err on the side of caution, working out a sensible tagging system really helps if you’re here for the long term. I personally tag content by episode, because some of my other general tags are so large as to be practically useless as a search term. But whatever system you choose to file stuff on your own blog, it really only has to make sense to you. And again, if this is pointless advice for someone who has no intention of settling here for the long term. Please feel free to ignore it. I just wish someone had explained it this way to me ten years ago and saved me the hassle of retroactively tagging something like 30k posts... especially now that using the mass tag replacer is the fastest way to get your entire blog deleted... oops? so yeah, don’t use the mass tag replacer either >.>)

7. Tags on Tumblr DO NOT WORK LIKE TAGS ON TWITTER. If you @ someone in the body of the post, it will show up in their notifications (if they’re the sort of person who even checks their notifications... not all of us do. For the record, I generally don’t...), but putting actor or ship names in the tags on a tumblr post does absolutely nothing. It’s not the same as tagging the actor’s twitter account in a tweet. Nobody’s getting notifications about you tagging a post about Jensen here as “Jensen Ackles.” There is a difference. Please learn it. (and don’t take headcanons and ESPECIALLY RPF or otherwise explicit art or fic from tumblr to twitter and tag the actors in it. That’s just... not okay.)

(I have seen the pearl clutchers getting all in a huff about the mere existence of RPF or even explicit content of fictional characters if it doesn’t meet their purity standards, but tagging those things allows people who don’t want to see it to actively avoid that content here. Nobody has a right to tell people their fictional content shouldn’t exist at all, or that creators of that fictional content somehow deserve harassment or threats for having dared to create such “immoral” content, won’t somebody PLEASE think of the children... and no... you do not do that here. Don’t be the problematic behavior you wish to ban from the world. Learn to use tags to protect yourself from, as i have attempted to emphasize here, fictional content you are personally upset by. That’s a you problem, not a problem for the creators of potentially upsetting content that they tag appropriately for.)

8. General formatting stuff: If you’re writing long text posts, visually break them up so people aren’t faced with one long wall of text. The enter key is your friend. Also, if you put long text posts under a Read More break and send people to your blog to finish reading, please ensure that your blog is actually visually accessible (tiny text, or light grey text on a dark grey background, or a visually busy background might be aesthetically pleasing to you but nobody can actually read it. Loads of folks won’t even try. Which is great if you don’t actually care whether people are able to appreciate your content or not, but something to at least consider if you *do* actively want to encourage engagement with your work. Confirm how your blog looks on both mobile and desktop and make sure it’s actually functional in both, too).

And since I mentioned that most of my experience on fandom tumblr has been in the SPN fandom, here’s a bit of a reminder for folks who are new around here. With the reminder that I have been here more than a decade and still feel like a newbie myself sometimes...

This is an OLD FANDOM. There are many, many people who have been at this longer than some of you have been alive. The average age for creators in this fandom is older than you think (I think of my friends in their 30′s as young’ins okay? okay). With that understood, you are responsible for the content you consume and are exposed to. Curate your experience. Ship and let ship. YKINMKATOK. Don’t deliberately expose yourself to content you find upsetting for whatever reason. Tags and warnings are your friends, not targets for you to attack in some sort of purity war. People will ship things you do not like (or in specific ways you do not like), will say things you do not agree with, and will find their happiness in things you abhor. That is not your concern. Find what you do like, and support and engage with it, and ignore (or block, or unfollow) the rest. Tumblr has a feature that lets you blacklist tags so the content you’re trying to avoid won’t appear on your dash.

Remember the paradox of tolerance.

It is not your job in fandom to police how other people enjoy the fandom. It’s not *my* job to police how *you* enjoy the fandom, UNLESS your enjoyment is in actively harming other real human beings in the fandom. If you don’t like their take on the character or the show or the plotlines or their ships or anything else, you don’t need to engage with their posts at all! The necessary corollary to this is that clarifying misunderstandings or correcting factual misinformation is not “policing.”

(this is where the peanut gallery reminds me it ain’t that deep, and I plead with them to put down the social media and find just one (1) thing to actually believe in in this godforsaken life, find something other than disdain and cynicism and spite to live for. If those things motivate you to find a larger cause for yourself, then great, use them to your advantage, but use them to find something that makes you a better person or brings you a modicum of joy and connection to your fellow human beings despite living in a dystopian hellscape of a world)

I have seen a lot of posts lately that are founded on the sort of authority that comes with “I watched through tumblr for a few months and then watched the last three episodes of the series” and as such are just... missing the larger context of the entire show, and are unfounded entirely in canon. I 100% appreciate the new enthusiasm for the fandom that we’ve been living in here for years, and it’s wonderful to see new people enjoying the thing we love. Your headcanons are valid, you are valid, but recognize that your headcanons aren’t canon. All of us finale denialists have accepted this in some measure, so we feel you. We truly, truly feel you. But regarding actual canon, we have a resource for that: the Superwiki. Learn it, live it, love it, as Metatron would say.

(which you could discover he said in 10.17 Inside Man, thanks to the superwiki! accept no substitutes!)

(and again, there have been people who have been involved in fandom for years who haven’t engaged with canon in years, either! You can play in this universe however you choose, BUT FOR PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY CARE ABOUT CANON AT ALL, WHICH I AM AGAIN POINTEDLY SAYING MIGHT NOT BE YOU, READER, AND I’M NOT SUGGESTING YOU ARE WRONG FOR NOT WANTING TO ACTUALLY ENGAGE WITH CANON, but if you DO want to engage with canon, please have some useful resources. Why do people feel personally attacked by being presented a list of helpful resources? Absolutely baffling.)

(also: words have definitions. “Canon” is a specific thing, meaning in this case “the finished media product that aired on television.” Anything beyond those limits is secondary canon (think: john’s journal, which is not canon but canon adjacent at best...), word of god (i.e stuff said by the writers and showrunners), or headcanon (which includes actor commentary-- they may have helped create the show with their acting choices and whatever, but they are not in control of the story overall). If there’s something you dislike about actual canon, you can reject it and supplement it with your own theories or preferred outcomes-- that’s basically what fanfic is-- but that doesn’t make your theories canon (much to all our dismay, that’s just not how any of this works. This is not to invalidate how anyone engages with the show or the fandom, just trying to clarify what seems to have been a source of unintentional misunderstandings. Your theories do not have to be “canon” to be legitimate interpretations.)

***I am setting this section apart, and did make a separate post of just this following information, because this is where we go from being relatively chill about different parts of fandom choosing to interact in different ways and you do you and blog however you want, to “hey can everybody please understand that the way you are interacting with this specific material might be harmful for specific legal reasons, and stating that you do not care about the consequences of your actions does actively make you the asshole here...” Okay, now that we have that understood:

The spnscripthunt collective has been steadily acquiring new scripts (which are posted in full on the superwiki for everyone to enjoy, for free). The language around how some folks are talking about these scripts is... concerning. For very real legal reasons, actually, and not because we’re feeling precious about the collection and don’t wike it when meanies use them in shitposts.

-First off, these scripts are not “leaks.” They are all verified and legally purchased (or gifted, in some cases, but still acquired entirely above board. we didn’t whack anyone over the head in a back alley for these scripts, or swipe them out of someone’s trailer on set).

(in case anyone was unaware, these scripts are the copywritten protected property of Warner Brothers. So yes, how we use them and share them with the fandom could have legal repercussions. We present them as a collected resource of fandom history which SHOULD fall under Fair Use doctrine, but this is untested legal water. Insinuating that the scripts are somehow not entirely legally obtained, or that posting them for public access involved less than 100% transparent and entirely legal transactions is incredibly concerning.

Once again for the peanut gallery, if you don’t care about any of that and are just having a good time with it, at least be mindful of the work and expense a large group of people have gone through to acquire and present the content you’re all too eager to exploit for cheap thrills. Some of us do actually care and are not exactly comfortable with the fact that others don’t seem to care about burning it all to the ground. We can’t force you to listen or behave as we’d hope you might, but at least be aware of the potential consequences of your actions. All we’re asking is for you to not be the douchebag who sets the whole neighborhood on fire with your illegal fireworks display. Is that too much to ask for? more on that in a second, first... a psa)

-If you see a script for sale and are unsure if it’s legit (or believe it might already be freely available in our collection), please feel free to ask us for advice. Our goal is to make as much of our fandom history available to the entire fandom, and we absolutely do not want anyone shelling out money for stuff you can already find for free.

(seriously, we’ve seen a bunch of resellers cropping up selling printed versions of the scripts we bought and uploaded for everyone to enjoy free of charge, or scripts that are otherwise of dubious origin. We’ve been at this for years now and know what’s actually out there. We don’t want anyone to fall for a scam if we can help it)

-Also, the usual reminder that the scripts we acquire ARE NOT NECESSARILY THE FINAL SHOOTING DRAFTS. In fact, the majority of scripts in our collection are NOT. Changes are made daily to scripts, even during filming. Comparing a Production Draft (white pages, effectively the first “final draft” of what usually becomes a series of drafts before filming wraps) to a much later revision (say... green or goldenrod revisions, several of which we DO have in our collection for comparison) and how those earlier drafts often differ wildly from the aired version versus how similar a much later green draft is to the aired version, for example, can teach you a lot about the television writing process. The link above to the superwiki scripts page has a nice little explainer about how this process works.

Differences between our posted scripts (many of which are white drafts, aka FIRST complete drafts, which will likely go through multiple rounds of revisions before filming even begins) and the aired version of the show are not all “acting choices” or a director or editor just cutting whole scenes on a whim. It’s insulting to everyone involved in production to suggest that’s the case.

(and yeah, fine... whatever, make any sort of posts you like regarding how those changes came about, but at the very least understand that it’s not actually the truth about how any of this works. Don’t care that that’s not the truth and want to make the posts anyway because shitposting is fun and that’s the extent of your sense of humor? FINE! You’re entitled to do that! But at least you DO know the truth now, and hopefully so do the people who engage with your posts. Deliberate ignorance isn’t cute, smooth lions notwithstanding)

There’s probably a whole other post to be made on fandom tagging etiquette, but again I don’t really use the tags enough to know what’s going on with that whole situation. I’ve also probably left a lot of stuff out, so please feel free to add things I’ve overlooked.

Thanks also to @trisscar368 and @thayerkerbasy for help compiling this, too. They were kind enough to escort me through the park to feed these pigeons. Now I need to take them out for ice cream. :’D

So I guess welcome to the neighborhood. Make yourself at home, but like... try not to trash the place while you’re here. Some of us live here by choice, lol.

#this blue hellsite (affectionate)#fandom problems #kinda wish i'd made this post six months ago but here we are i guess lol #long post #now edited for the people who are actually personally invested in the fandom #thanks for participating in this little experiment and I hope this version is actually informative to those who are interested #meaning there's a lot more links to stuff and explainers and whatnot...#and one last reminder that for folks just swinging through for laughs absolutely none of this applies to you #if you are legit interested in fandom history and preservation as we move to the post-canon world then hopefully this is useful to you

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curiouskrp · 5 years

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“WELCOMING APT 4B TENANT, OH JIEUN !

INFORMATION

age – 24 pronouns – she/her occupation – law student moved into treehouse – 2 years ago

PERSONALITY: ESTJ, THE EXECUTIVE

positive –

Dedicated: Jieun grew up understanding dedication at a young age. Dedication is what bought food on the table and a roof over her head. It was a difficult time as a child living with a single mother, but because they both worked hard and dedicated their time and energy on their small fruit stand in the market, there would be no way to ever earn what they now have. Keeping that notion in the back of her head, Jieun’s dedication towards school, work, and people is either always 100% or nothing. She’s learned that if something is worth obtaining, then why not go the full mile to get to it.

Organized: From working with an erratic mother. Jieun strove to be the opposite. She needed to know what had to be done first before doing anything, and she needed to know where things are for the work to be fast and efficient. This always made her seem anal about almost everything, but in truth, she just wants her life to work for her not the other way around. Jieun wants things to be organized for the sake of efficiency, and if her floor mates find a board with rules and chores to do, they can most likely assume it’s her doing.

negative –

Inflexible: Jieun was taught to be adamant of her decisions because people are unpredictable. Once she is set on her decision, she will follow that decision unless changes (that makes sense) are required. She’s fixated on her words only because she doesn’t make decisions lightly. When she makes a decision, it is because she has pondered it thoroughly and even thought of the next step if enough resources were there. Under stressful situations, Jieun becomes more stern and if others aren’t complying, she will most likely snap at the other person. She understands it’s a problem and she’s working on it- promise.

Self-Conscious: As independent as she seems, deep down she depends on the validation from others. Jieun has an image in her mind of being a great and respected person and to have this image means she needs to start now to obtain it. She will help others in reasonable tasks when they ask and sometimes will go above and beyond in order for them to see her as a good person despite needing to be one just for herself. Because of this, she had been labeled as fake and it makes her feel uneasy and down in the dumps on the inside, bottles it up, and will stand up for herself for the sake of image.

HAUNT

Murmurs surrounded her. Eyes locked onto her from every direction while she hears clicks of her teacher’s heels finding their way towards her. Nobody needed to let her know what was about to happen. Word goes around and whispers are loud from the mouths of people that hate her. Jieun was being accused of stealing and that fact makes her blood boil. How could someone make such an accusation when she’s the most trusted student out of them all. Jieun’s the to-go person whenever they need assistance with tutoring or grading exams. Hence, she was hopeful. Even more sure that they will take her side than those accusing her just because she’s always been pristine with anything she does. She’s been praised by her achievements; little or small, so for someone like Jieun, there really was no chance in getting the blame for the lost or stolen money.

“Jieun… More than two people said they saw you behind my desk, taking the money for the field trip.” Jieun looked at her teacher in disbelief, letting her hands drop to her sides in defeat. “I told you it wasn’t me! Why would I take something that I helped raise?!” Her ears turned red from anger as the volume of her voice raised by the second. The accusations made no sense and she couldn’t help believe that her teacher could be so dense. “It’s just, we heard of your situation at home- a-and there’s nothing to be ashamed of, but if you do need help, you can let the school know. Stealing isn’t the way.” Her gaze fell below to her feet, unknowingly making herself look guilty at the moment. In truth, Jieun couldn’t believe that the one person she confined in betrayed her.

“Jieun, follow me to the principal’s office.” She didn’t know why she couldn’t speak up. It was her first time being accused of something against her morals that the anger and fear bundled up on her throat, disabling her. She only followed, understanding that no matter what she said, it was their word against hers. Her reality against the misshapen truth. The murmurs grew quiet, but Jieun didn’t need to hear their voices when she’s already filling in the blanks. ‘It isn’t true…’ But who would believe a poor girl with a scholarship when girls whose parents paid their schooling are against her. From then on she was branded a thief. Branded something completely less than who she is. Her perfect image, shattered just like that.

HISTORY

It was only Jieun and her mother. The dynamic duo that hand their own small fruit stand in a small town in the outskirts of Seoul. She didn’t have a normal childhood like the rest of the children in her hometown. Not only did she not have a father, but she also didn’t really have much time to have a childhood. Sure her mother gave her time to play with the neighborhood kids, but when it was time to go and work, it was time to work. Still, it built character within the young girl working with her mother. Jieun gained confidence in interacting with various types of people and rarely did she ever feel shy around others. She learned how to be quick with her words yet careful as to not push away customers. She became a joy in the marketplace that their business was booming for sometime. During that time, it was difficult for her to deal with that and school. The beginning years weren’t bad. She was still a little girl and homework was easy enough for her mother to help with so they could complete it faster. It was when Jieun continued to grow up and was required to do a lot more than just homework alone.

She kept a smile on her face in front of others regardless of the hardships. She would go to school, go to work, do homework, and repeat. It’s a cycle she grew up in and the praising that came from it built up her ego that wasn’t there before. Growing in a different home environment always came with baggage. Parents around her would pity her along with her mother and children would follow in suit. She would try and defend her mother countless times, yet winning seemed almost impossible. They all hit the right spots to anger her that she was unable to counter them. After countless frustrations, Jieun learned that if she couldn’t defeat them with words, she could defeat them with the same perfect image they so proudly carry themselves in. She planned to become the perfect daughter and watch as their pity turns into jealousy. To have a helpful daughter to not only to her mother, but to others as well. To have others feel envious of this single mother having the top ranked student in their hometown as her daughter.

All she wanted it was to stop and change how others see her and her mother. When it all did change, she realized she enjoyed this feeling of being praised and seen as someone of importance in the community. From jealousy to gaining a liking to positive social status, Jieun gained a good reputation all throughout her middle school years, but it was until her second year of high school where Jieun’s reputation crashed. By being accused as a thief (and finding out they found the real culprit later on), she found out that being kind wasn’t enough to win others over. She needed status, money, and a title to back her up in order to not become the joke of her peers. She needed to learn how to become better with protecting herself because killing them with kindness just wasn’t cutting it anymore. After weeks of searching, Jieun decided on building her career as a lawyer. To protect those who can’t protect themselves- Be the person she wished to have had in her life. She set off to a near by university to finish up her 4 years and decided to move to Seoul to complete her law degree. It wasn’t an easy decision, but with much luck, she found a cheap sharehouse not too far from her university. It was a strange one, but for that price- she’d be dumb not to take it.

#cu bio #cu kim jisoo #cu estj

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bulgariansumo · 5 years

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Taken from this

How did you choose your name?

I didn’t. Oddly enough, my birth name was given to me because it was supposedly androgynous, so that works. I used to wish I had a more ‘normal’ name, but now I’m pretty indifferent to it.

What gives you the most dysphoria? (Acknowledging that not all trans people experience dysphoria)

I don’t experience physical dysphoria. I don’t know if I experience social dysphoria, but if so, it’s not too intense.

Do you have more physical dysphoria or more social dysphoria?

Social, if I have it. I don’t like being called certain pronouns, but I’m kind of resigned to it. Only on the internet would it really get to me, but thankfully I’ve never had that happen after coming out.

What do you do to perform self-care when you’re feeling dysphoric?

I don’t need self-care when I have loving and accepting friends!

What was the first time you suspected you were transgender?

It was kind of hard. In my preteens, I would think to myself that I didn’t want to be my assigned gender, but I didn’t quite want to be the other binary gender either. I kind of resigned myself to being my assigned gender until finding out nonbinary genders were a thing.

When did you realize you were transgender?

5-6 years ago?

What is your favorite part of being transgender?

I feel like there’s a certain freedom to it. When you grow up, you’re fed a lot of messages about gender (boys don’t cry, girls are more nurturing), and I never really liked when people tried to justify my personality with stuff like that. Now that I know I’m not cis, I can ignore it.

How would you explain your gender identity to others?

My gender = No

How did you come out? If you didn’t come out, why do you stay in the closet? Or what happened when you were outed?

It’s much easier for me to stay in the closet.

What have your experiences with packing or wearing breast forms been?

None.

What are your experiences with binding or tucking?

None.

Do you pass?

Technically yes, since having no gender means (ideally) having no gender expectations. I’d like to look androgynous, but I can’t do that socially without tipping people off, and physically, with my body type, it would be a challenge anyway.

What (if any) steps do you want to take to medically transition?

Maybe hormones? But that’s hard to do while staying closeted. I don’t necessarily need them for myself.

How long have you been out?

5-6 years online

What labels have you used before you’ve settled on your current set?

None other than my assigned gender

Have you ever experienced transphobia?

Not directly, but I did have the misfortune of hearing the Apache helicopter joke irl

What do you do when you have to go to the bathroom in public?

Public bathrooms are a den of filth. I would never step foot in one willingly unless it was an emergency.

How does your family feel about your trans identity?

I don’t know, but given how they talk about trans people, I don’t want to

Would you ever go stealth, and if you are stealth, why do you choose to be stealth?

I literally can’t; that is not a luxury I have. There’s not really a way to be ‘stealth’ when you’re nonbinary. You either have to tell people upfront or let them assume what gender you are.

What do you wish you could have shared with your younger self about being trans?

I probably would’ve told myself what a transmed was so that didn’t affect my entire stance on whether or not I’m trans. But I also would tell myself that being nonbinary doesn’t necessarily mean I have to ID as trans either.

Why do you use the pronouns you use?

I like them! And they too!

Do your neurodivergencies affect your gender?

I don’t know if I’m neurodivergent or not.

What’s your biggest trans-related fear?

Being outed to my family. That would not be ideal.

What medical, social, or personal steps have you already taken to start your transition?

I came out online.

What do you wish cis people understood?

Respecting trans and other non-cis people isn’t impossible. I’ve met a decent amount of cis people who are really cool about it, and I appreciate them a lot.

The sanctity of the English language is not and never will be a hill to die on. Using singular they/them will not kill anyone.

What impact has being trans affected your life?

Things make a lot more sense now! I’m really glad I found out I’m nonbinary.

What do you do to validate yourself?

Write! Creating the representation I want to see, and seeing other people enjoy it, is really helpful!

How do you feel about trans representation in media?

It’s improving, but could be better.

Who is your favorite trans celebrity?

I don’t really know all that much about trans celebrities. I think there’s like 5 I can name total? Asia Kate Dillon interested me in particular, because before hearing about them, I never knew there was a nonbinary character on US television that wasn’t a robot or an alien, let alone a celebrity that publicly identified as nonbinary, and got to play said character! It’s really cool, and I really appreciate them for being out there.

Who is the transgender person who has influenced you the most?

@rontufox. He was the first person I ever knew to mention the word ‘genderqueer’ and was the guy that reblogged the post that made me realize my identity. Great dude, great friend, really understanding and an inspiration for how to treat other people in general! I love you, bro!

How are you involved with the trans community, IRL or online?

Other than having trans friends and reblogging an occassional post… not much. I have little idea what the nonbinary community is like, what problems they have or face. Does an organized nonbinary community even exist? I’ve seen and heard a lot more discussion about and by trans men and women, but can’t really say I ‘know’ their communities, because I’m not either of those identities.

How do you see yourself identifying and presenting in 5 years?

The same.

What trans issue are you most passionate about?

Representation in media. There’s a lot of trans stories to tell, but not many are being told, and the ones that are are often by cis people which creates… issues, to say the least.

What advice would you give to other trans people, or what message would you like to share with them?

No one is immune to misogyny. Please examine how you treat/behave toward women. On the other hand, ragging on men just for the sake of ragging on men doesn’t really do any good for anyone and can easily reinforce harmful beliefs. People who choose to belittle or ignore the struggles of specific men (cis LGB+ men, trans men, men of color, etc.) are especially suspicious when it comes to this.

NEVER INTERACT WITH TERFs. Period. They are not a joke. Transphobes in general are bad of course, but TERFs are especially manipulative. They can and will turn someone completely inside out in order to get someone to believe their ideology and have a lot of sneaky tactics to get otherwise anti-TERF people to agree with them. No matter how secure you think you are in your identity, it’s not worth it. The same goes for transmeds. I don’t know the full extent of their tactics, but based on personal experience, they’re pretty damaging too.

How do you feel your gender interacts with your race, disability, class, weight, etc. from the perspective of intersectionality?

I’d much rather be read as a guy online than in real life.

What, if any, is the difference between your gender identity and your gender expression?

I don’t really get to ‘express’ my gender irl. I’d like to have more ‘plain’ clothes that aren’t obviously tailored for one gender. Online, my gender expression is... just being me! I used to put a little more thought into trying to come off as completely androgynous, but what’s the point of being nonbinary if I can’t be myself?

Do you feel more masculine, feminine, or neither?

Neither

What is your sexual and romantic orientation, and what are your thoughts on it?

I’m ace and aro. I feel like it’s made a lot easier for me to be my identity than if I were attracted to people. I don’t often see unaligned nonbinary people in discussions of attraction, but then again, I rarely see nonbinary discussions at all. It’s already hard enough for binary trans and aligned nonbinary people to get taken seriously as their in a relationship or in other parts of the LGBT+ community.

There’s people who don’t believe nonbinary people exist or should be a part of the LGBT+ community, and then there are others who don’t believe asexual or aromantic people should be a part of the community either. But there are many more cis+heterosexual+heteromantic people, who would not accept nonbinary, ace, aro people at all. It’s hard to interact with the LGBT+ community beyond support if you have to second-guess whether you belong at all. But, the more I learn about other people’s experiences in the online LGBT+ community, the more I learn that no group feels completely safe, and all of them are either being persecuted or ignored by each other. I don’t really know what to say other than it’s really sad.

Is your ideal partner also trans, or do you not have a preference?

I have no ideal partner.

How did/do you manage waiting to transition?

I came out online. That’s it to me. It was pretty easy for me in particular because there were very few people who I told my assigned gender beforehand.

What is the place (blog, website, forum, IRL space) you get most of your info on being trans or on trans related things?

Tumblr.

Do you interact with other trans people IRL?

I don’t know if I’ve ever met a trans person IRL

Are you involved in any trans-related activism?

Not really.

Free space! Answer any question you want, or make up your own question to answer.

Thanks, I might make a few!

What do you hope for in the future?

Trans rights! Safer discussions of LGBT+ topics in public!

What are you thankful for?

My amazing friends for supporting me! I wouldn’t have gotten this far without you, and I’m thankful for the people who are there for me!

What do you wish to achieve?

I wish to be able to understand and respect other parts of the LGBT+ community better. I know I won’t be able to understand other groups 100%, but I like learning! And more than anything, I don’t want to make it any harder than it already is to be LGBT+ online. I want to help my friends!!

Why didn’t you write “as a trans person” after those last three questions, when that’s what you meant?

I’m not sure if I see myself as trans to begin with. I’ve only heard one other person share this sentiment with me, but I feel like being trans is a little more involved what I am, and I don’t feel comfortable co-opting on that experience (even though...taking this questionnaire meant for trans people… might be doing just that.) I do want to clarify that I’m not saying that nonbinary people who share my experiences CAN’T be trans. I’m just saying that I’m not sure if I see myself personally as trans. I’m not cis though. That I know for sure.

Did you like taking this questionnaire?

Heck yeah! Nice job, OP!

What’s a way you can end this on a happy note?

I know a lot of these answers have been downers, but I think if people pull together, a better future is possible for all of us. I’m thankful for where I am in life now, and I want other people to get to a similar spot in life, if not better! Also, let me know if I stepped out of line in any of these answers so I can edit them!

#questionnaire #mogai #trans #nonbinary #me

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shakib-posts · 4 years

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Expert Advice That Will Help You Shop For Toys Smarter

https://rideontoys.org/spare-parts/

How easy is it for you to find the right toy? Do you worry about the play value? Are you looking for a learning or fun toy? These are questions you need answers to, in order to make the right decision. Read this article to get some clarity through expert advice.

Want a toy that really engages your child? Look to toys that really challenge the senses. There are all sorts of multi-sensory toys on the market that play with sound, movement, and even scents. They truly give your child a lot to engage with all in one toy. This can mean a lot less purchases for you!

Look at the age limits of any toy you are considering purchasing. These age limits aren't there just for show. Real research has been put into it for your child's safety. Toys marked for use above your child's current age could contain small pieces and sharper edges that can really hurt a young one.

If you are looking to get your child more socialized, choose toys that allow for interaction. This could be interactive toys that communicate directly with your child, or they could be toys that are meant to be played with among a group. Either way, your child will learn important socialization skills.

Don't be swayed by a toy's popularity. Sure, there may be wisdom in crowds, but it's more important to consider your child's likes and dislikes, along with their age and learning needs. Just because a toy is popular doesn't mean it's a good fit in your home. Think things through first.

Games and toys that allow children to interact with pretend versions of adult objects are both informative and entertaining. For example, toy ovens can teach a child basic food preparation skills and how to follow a recipe, and toy cash registers can teach children math skills and how to use and make change with money.

To make sure you get something great, ask your child what interests them. Perhaps you believe you already know, but you might be surprised. Before buying a lot of toys, find out for sure what the child wants.

Consider donating older toys to your local preschool or Kindergarten. Often times, schools are low on supplies. Toys, especially education toys, can be a real boon to their ability to engage and educate kids all across your community. If not to your school, look to other family members to see if there may be needs for toys coming up in the family.

A toy that seems too good to be true probably is. Of course, saving a dollar every now and then is a fabulous thing. But when it comes to toys, you get what you pay for. Toys that are cheaply made not only tend to break easier, but they also may have sharp edges or small parts.

Take your children along when shopping for their toys. Unless you already know what they want, guessing at which toys they will enjoy will be hit and miss. This will ensure they get something they are sure to enjoy. Additionally, it ensures you're not wasting your money on any toys that won't be used.

If you are buying toys for a young child, try selecting things that are labeled as being non-toxic. There are many toys out there that look fun, ye many of them pose a risk to your child. Being mindful of the toxicity of the things you purchase can keep your child safe.

Your kids should have a variety of different toys. Some toys facilitate motor skills, while others inspire creativity. Regardless of your child's age, playtime is an opportunity for the two of you to bond, and for you to teach.

Wait a little while before buying a popular new toy. Every so often a toy comes along that is both expensive and almost impossible to get your hands on. The child you're buying it for might want it now, but it's probably in your best interest to wait a few months for the hype to die down. It will be both easier to find and cheaper.

visit the site for There are a few simple things to keep in mind when selecting a toy for your child. Ask yourself if the toy is safe first and foremost. Then try to imagine how your child will interact with the toy. Ask whether or not it will help develop their motor skills or creativity to determine if the toy is a worthwhile purchase.

cars for kids

Does your child enjoying making a fort by placing sheets across furniture? Why not buy them the latest in camping gear? There are many options when it comes to camping gear, including sleeping bags, tents and battery operated lanterns. Purchase all of these for a truly unique experience for your child.

There are a few simple things to keep in mind when selecting a toy for your child. Ask yourself if the toy is safe first and foremost. Then try to imagine how your child will interact with the toy. Ask whether or not it will help develop their motor skills or creativity to determine if the toy is a worthwhile purchase.

Don't buy toys that are going to annoy everyone other than the child playing with them. Try to avoid buying toys that make a ton of loud noise or create huge messes. You'll likely regret buying such a toy if you're buying the toy for your own child. Similarly, if you are giving the toy as a gift, the child's parents probably won't be appreciative.

Looking at Internet sites can be of great assistance when toy shopping. You will be able to find lots of valuable reviews and information about the toys you are considering. It is a waste of money to purchase a toy that disappoints the child who receives it.

It is common for people to buy the wrong toy. Whether the child doesn't gain anything from it, or if the expense was unjustified, you want to make a smarter purchase. Take what you have learned here, do your proper research about the toys you buy and be happier with money well spent.

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prosperopedia · 4 years

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Pros and Cons of Owning an Amazon Business

Over 200 million people visit Amazon.com each month. Amazon’s web traffic is unique in that most of the people on that ecommerce are there with the intention of purchasing. Amazon has over 100 million Prime members, meaning they purchase a high percentage of the things they buy on a regular basis from Amazon.

For anyone who’s connected with the world of ecommerce, you’ve learned one way or another about Amazon’s rise to dominance in online shopping, especially in the United States. As of 2018, Amazon had captured almost half of the ecommerce market in the United States, surpassing $250 billion in annual sales.

My Own Amazon Seller Story

When I first started selling products in 1999, I was using mostly eBay (which is now a very distant second to Amazon) and selling through the revolutionary auction style interface they presented to the world. Soon after I started selling on eBay, I opened my first ecommerce store and learned how to drive traffic to the products there (mostly ones that I drop-shipped from suppliers) using Google. This was prior to the existence of social media, so I relied mostly on writing unique product descriptions, optimizing titles, image names, etc., and doing link building. Later, my strategy evolved past old school SEO stuff to also use the various social media platforms that emerged, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram.

Sometime around 2010, I started getting regular solicitations from Amazon reps, asking me to start selling my products on their up and coming ecommerce platform as a 3rd party seller. Looking at their commission structure, and knowing that as a middleman drop-shipper, I couldn’t afford the Amazon fees and still make a profit (also, I’ll admit, lacking some creativity), I passed on several of their invitations to open a store on Amazon.

However, in 2015, I decided to finally take the plunge when I decided to take a small vinyl decor business, open an Amazon seller account, and put some of our products in the new Handmade category. I was surprised to see that we started getting orders almost immediately. With Amazon leading the charge, my wife and I were able to build the business into one that sold nearly $700,000 on Amazon in 2018, with much smaller amounts (very small fractions that amount) sold on my website, Etsy, and eBay.

To consistently grow the business over those few years, we mostly spent our time consistently adding new designs to our catalog. When someone ordered one our design, we’d make the product, ship it, and collect our profit. It was great.

Until that point, my Amazon experience was a great run to say the least. This past year, however, has been much different.

In June of 2019, Amazon flipped a switch on our main product category and essentially cut our sales in half. That’s not a great thing to ever experience, but it hurts much worse when you’re employing people who expect to have work to do. We’re still making efforts to overcome that sudden, crippling drop in sales. We learned a huge lesson: Amazon has the power to give, but it also has the power to take away just as quickly.

With that background, I’m going to explain to you what I’ve experienced as the pros and cons of owning and operating an Amazon business.

For some more context, I’ve also done other varieties of Amazon business, including doing private label product launches, retail arbitrage, and consulting for other business owners. At this point, five years after getting started with Amazon, I have enough experience to have witnessed most of the good and the bad that comes along with being an Amazon seller.

Pros of Owning an Amazon Business

As with my experience, there are lots of pros associated with owning a business that sells completely or mostly on Amazon. Here are some of the positives I’ve seen.

Access to Lots of Customers

Amazon has such a large number of users that you can sell almost anything on their platform. I have been surprised at the things that people are interested in purchasing. Some of our vinyl designs were so random and not very well thought out, including obscure quotes and other things, but people bought them.

Having access to millions of customers gives you a much higher chance that you can find a sweet spot on Amazon than with pretty much any other ecommerce venue.

Sales Start Coming in Quickly

Whenever I’ve started a new drop-shipping store that relied on traffic from Google, I’ve seen it take at least several weeks if not months to start getting enough legitimate traffic that I got orders. With Amazon, I learned that if you optimize your listing well and have a solid offer, you can start getting sales pretty much from day one.

Amazon gives newly listed products a “honeymoon” period (usually about 10-30 page sessions) to try them out. Often this will translate into quick sales that can beget more quick sales for your product if it converts well enough.

Much of the Marketing For Your Product Is Done For You

With other types of ecommerce businesses, selling off of Amazon, you have to spend a lot of time building your own traffic streams. With Amazon, those traffic streams are already there. Your responsibility is simply to harness that traffic for your benefit.

Lots of Selling Tools and Training Available

Because of how big Amazon is, there are lots of tools that have been created to help you understand where there are voids in the Amazon ecosystem that you can fill with new products. Some of the tools I use include the following:

Merchant Words: keyword research

Helium 10: several different tools including product rank tracking, competitor research, keyword research, product niche finders

Jungle Scout: similar to Helium 10, but the tools are slightly different

Lots of Support From Communities

Again, because there are so many Amazon sellers, there are lots of opportunities to interact with other sellers and trade suggestions, get help, and otherwise become part of a community of like-minded small business owners.

Cons of Owning an Amazon Business

With the good things about Amazon, there are also lots of negative aspects of building a business focused there. Here are the major ones I know of.

It’s Not Easy, Takes Persistence and Iteration

Many of the Amazon training programs will tell you that it’s easy, that anyone can do it.

That’s not true. Just because there are lots of customers on Amazon willing to buy a range of random things doesn’t mean you will succeed without being persistent, observing what’s working and what’s not, and making changes whenever and wherever necessary. This principle goes for doing everything from retail arbitrage (which involves buying underpriced or liquidated products locally and sending them into Amazon for them to sell and fulfill) to private label, in which you create your own branded products and sell them on Amazon.

Amazon’s Platform Is Unpredictable

As with my experience running a thriving vinyl decor business that suddenly dropped in sales based on an algorithm change, it’s impossible to predict what Amazon is doing to do. Your business is never secure on Amazon. You could be rolling in the dough one day and then see your sales drop dramatically based on a random internal decision made in an Amazon strategy meeting you didn’t even know was taking place.

Also, speaking of Amazon’s formula, they automate a lot of the policing of their marketplace. That means that there are very often products and seller accounts that are terminated, suspended, or otherwise thrown out like babies with the bathwater. It’s almost impossible to anticipate when that might happen. The Amazon seller forums are full of stories of people who have decided to quit selling on Amazon because of what they believe is mistreatment by the ecommerce giant.

Your Customers Are Actually Amazon’s Customers

In the past, with all of my businesses, I’ve considered them my customers, people that I had a relationship with, that I could email when appropriate, call when necessary, and otherwise treat like a part of my community.

That relationship doesn’t exist on Amazon. They are careful to ensure that you know that it’s against their policy for you to use their phone number. As much as possible, they abstract customer information so as to avoid tempting you to even think about communicating with people who they consider to be their customers, and who have purchased your product only through the paradigm of your being a hidden, nearly silent guest on Amazon.

There are ways of overcoming this negative about Amazon selling, but you have to be creative to do so while remaining within Amazon’s terms of service.

Amazon Has Created a Culture Where Customer’s Cheat

Amazon’s commitment to the customer always being in the right has created an environment where many of the Amazon users know that they can get away with abusing sellers. All they have to do is complain, and they often get your product for free with no repercussions from Amazon.

Ask anyone who has been selling on Amazon for any significant amount of time, and you’ll likely be told several stories about customers abusing them without any recourse through Amazon, who considers its users much more important than 3rd party sellers.

Competition Is Fierce

Especially as Amazon has reached a critical mass in popularity, the competition has become fierce. The same tools I discussed above are used to find out which of your products are selling well (after you’ve put a lot of effort into making it that way), and competitors can rip off exactly what you’re selling. Often these are Chinese manufacturers, who undercut you in price and take away business.

In addition, there are getting to be so many sellers on Amazon that it really seems like there’s not much space available to share sales unless you have a product that is truly differentiated from the others, and that is not easy to imitate.

Competitors Can Often Sabotage Your Business

There are lots of instances I’ve read about, and some that I’ve experienced, where competitors find a way to sabotage your products, and where they can come after your entire seller account.

Fake negative reviews, falsely reporting supposed violations your account is doing to Amazon, and other tactics are used very commonly by competitors to try to tank your account and/or your products. Because Amazon is so big and doesn’t care about any particular seller, they’re not so much interested in justice and what’s correct. Instead, they often simply respond to a complaint by handing out a guilty verdict. The account owner is then left, often while his business is offline, to try to redeem himself on a timeline that is much different for Amazon than it is for any eager business owner.

Alternatives to Running An Amazon-Based Business

Although Amazon is a great place to sell and a great resource for selling products, it’s obviously best to diversify where your sales come from. It’s also a very good idea to put yourself in a situation where you “own” you customers, meaning that you have access to communicate with them through email addresses and phone numbers that you’ve collected outside of Amazon.

Ecommerce Website

Having your own website is always a good idea for ecommerce business owners. Your domain name and the website that resides there act as a solid home base for your customers. You have full control over the experience there, including sending out offers, collecting email addresses, keeping fees much lower than Amazon, and several other benefits.

Building an Audience

You can use any combination of several different social media platforms in addition to publishing content and optimizing for referrals from search engines to your website. Building a loyal following on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest and in other places allows you to have access to an audience that you can consistently sell to without the blockading practices done by Amazon.

Other Selling Platforms

Besides your ecommerce web store and your social media presence, there are other ecommerce platforms, all of them much smaller than Amazon, but many of them safer in one way or another.

eBay

Selling on eBay used to be the big thing. It’s much smaller proportionally now, but still has a crowd that includes tens of millions of people ready to buy. Selling on eBay requires a different approach than selling on Amazon, but it can be a great source of revenue if you’re willing to learn how the system works.

Etsy

Etsy is for handmade items, and sometimes for other items that can pass as being like handmade. Etsy had nearly 40 million users in 2018. That’s much smaller than Amazon, but still worth pursuing. Etsy is much easier to use than Amazon in many ways, with a clear and straight forward product listing interface.

Walmart Marketplace

The Walmart.com marketplace is the third largest in the US, behind Amazon and eBay. Putting your products on Walmart.com is a little tricky, but once they’re on, you have access to millions of people, and the competition is nowhere near as fierce as it is on Amazon.

Conclusion

Hopefully this article has a given you a pretty good idea of what to expect when selling on Amazon. In all reality, there are still good opportunities to make a living through Amazon alone, but it’s best to not rely entirely on Amazon if possible.

The post Pros and Cons of Owning an Amazon Business appeared first on The Handbook for Happiness, and Success, and Prosperity Prosperopedia.

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josephkitchen0 · 5 years

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Selling Homemade Food: Laws and Considerations

Cottage food law is the legal permission or ban on selling homemade food. And it’s gotten a lot of attention lately. Within the past few years, states have either tightened or loosened their laws concerning who can sell their breads, pickles, and jellies; and the ways they can go about doing it.

Fundraisers and farmers markets abound. Talented people with little funding consider small craft business ideas to bring in extra money. Items such as potholders, crocheted baby afghans, paintings and jewelry beckon from portable tables. But the booths selling homemade food draw the most attention. Customers return often to purchase bread from a homemaker who stayed up until 3 a.m. the night before.

Home cooks develop incredible recipes. Friends claim they should sell their products, but the cooks have small children, other jobs, or lack the funds to pay for licensing and commercial kitchens. Some don’t want to run large operations or leave children with babysitters. They just want enough money to help with the bills.

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Making and selling homemade food used to be easy. Roadside stands even offered freshly made pies and pastries. But laws tightened up, either outlawing the sale of home-crafted food completely, mandating that it come from a commercial kitchen, or restricting it to nonprofit fundraisers. Thankfully, laws have recently loosened. If you plan on selling homemade food, it’s important to know why the laws exist and what they mean for your specific area and kitchen.

Heartaches and Good Intentions

Just before Lent, in 2009, St. Cecilia Catholic Church in Pennsylvania held a fish-fry fundraiser. Pie slices sold for $1 apiece: Mary Pratte’s famous coconut cream pie, Louise Humbert’s raisin pie, and Marge Murtha’s “farm apple” pie. Then a state health inspector came in and declared the pies could not be sold. Everyone was devastated. These fish fries were a highly anticipated tradition. According to the inspector, the pies would be fine if they had come from the church’s kitchen because that establishment had been inspected. But the bakers were all elderly and some were disabled. Making it to the church kitchen to prepare enough for the fish fry would be impossible. All the bakers had donated materials and time for a good cause, to be turned down because they didn’t have inspected appliances.

When other parishes heard the news, they circulated the instruction: “Don’t tell anyone.” Fish fries provided revenue to fix leaky roofs and subsidize tuition for parochial schools. They depended on their baked goods for cafeterias to keep costs down.

Many claimed that the ladies’ kitchens were probably cleaner than most commercial operations. Others felt it was unfair to make Grandma’s pies illegal. The incident became known as “Pie Gate” and it sparked new considerations regarding Pennsylvania’s cottage food laws. Around that time, other states reconsidered laws that banned selling homemade food.

Definition of Cottage Food Law

Cottage food is the bread, pickles, candy, syrups, and other delicious items homesteaders can craft in their kitchens. The “cottage” part denotes that it comes from an individual or family whose operation is too small to afford licensing. Cottage food law defines exactly how they can sell it for profit. The rules apply to low-risk foods, such as jams or baked goods, which carry little risk of botulism or listeria. Foods with higher risks must follow strict licensing procedures.

Why Laws on Selling Homemade Food Exist

Public health is a huge concern. Regional departments conduct surprise inspections within restaurants to avoid poisoning unassuming customers. They control what type of appliances can cook the food, specific times and temperatures, and overall cleanliness of kitchens, bathrooms, and dining areas. Food created within home kitchens has no such supervision. And as cooks familiar with food preservation methods know, tragedy can strike from mistakes as simple as not adding acid to tomatoes. Acidic foods preserved in the best canning jars may be fine while those improperly bottled can cause illness.

If local health codes apply to all kitchens, cooks selling homemade food have no chance. Inspections and food handlers’ licenses would take all the money that selling homemade food would even generate.

But there’s a line of mercy within the legal system. Cottage food laws give small producers a chance. They don’t give freedom to sell all types of homemade food, and cooks can only sell at certain venues. But the laws make it possible to sell something.

What Can You Sell and Where

Selling homemade food is not legal everywhere. New Jersey bans it completely, but the legislature has been trying to get laws passed for a while. Idaho has no cottage food law so rules vary by health district to allow baked goods, honey, jams, and jellies. Wisconsin only allows sales at events and farmers markets, and it’s one of the few states banning baked goods.

Items sold under cottage food laws are exempt from local licensing and codes. Because of this, only certain sales are legal. The best indication of what food is allowed under a cottage food law is safety. Foods susceptible to botulism, such as low-acid vegetables, are outlawed pretty much everywhere. The most acceptable foods include jams and jellies, pickles canned in vinegar, and baked goods. Though that can vary state by state.

Meat is generally not allowed because of widespread health concerns. Most farmers wanting to sell meat to the public must have it USDA-inspected or offer programs where consumers purchase animals and pay for butchering costs. Some foods such as cheeses fall beneath both cottage food laws and state bans on the sale of raw milk, if the cheese has been produced from a farmer’s own dairy animals. Even dairy products made from store-purchased pasteurized milk require special licensing.

Fruits and vegetables grown in a home garden do not require special licensing as long as they have not been cut or altered in any way. Some states allow cooks to include home-grown produce in cottage food but not all do. Still, other states do not allow home-canned products, such as fruits or vegetables, within cottage food.

To check out your cottage food laws, see the Forrager website or look up your state’s individual health code. Forrager and health department sites detail where selling homemade food is allowed and what types of food you may sell. They will also detail the maximum revenue you can make per year. Forrager includes an FAQ page which details how labels must be written, whether foods can be sold across state lines, or whether maximum sales include gross or net profits.

Photo by Shelley DeDauw

How Cottage Food Laws Benefit You

These laws are made for individuals, not businesses, though some states allow for farm operations to open up stores beneath the same regulations. Individuals tend to oversee their products better. E. coli and salmonella within large meat-processing plants proves that the larger an operation becomes, the higher chance for food-borne illness, though those operations are well licensed and inspected. When millions of cookies roll down a conveyor belt per hour, handled by dozens of employees, it’s easy to make mistakes such as unwashed hands or unsanitized counters. Each employee hired increases the risks.

Cottage food laws also protect sales between individuals and strangers. If your best friend purchases from you, she probably already knows the condition of your kitchen. By following labeling rules and listing every ingredient, consumers feel more comfortable purchasing from you. Consumer-to-producer interactions build community relationships. Soon customers return to at-home bakers they trust.

The best places for selling homemade food are farmers markets, farm stands, and places such as craft fairs where consumers purchase directly from whoever cooks the food. Items baked at home generally cannot sell within stores or restaurants unless the home kitchen has been certified. Some states allow the sale of food via the internet, such as candies and jellies. Others allow customers to purchase directly from your home.

Money earned by selling homemade food varies state by state. Wisconsin’s sales cap is $5,000 per year but Virginia has no sales limit and allows distribution within retail stores and restaurants.

Encouraging New Laws

Questions and decisions still exist, even among states that have enacted the laws. How big is too big to fit within a cottage food law? Facilities which hire employees are large enough to pay for additional licensing and commercial kitchens. Income caps ensure that cottage operations indeed need financial leeway. Alternative considerations for in-between kitchens may be fee waivers or discounted commercial space. This brings the larger operations into compliance without harming the very small venues.

The movement for changing cottage food laws has been on the upswing since 2010. Most changes have taken place in the past five years. This means there is hope for states that do not allow selling homemade food.

Addressing your local lawmakers encourages them to change matters for the better. Tell your legislature how most new laws mandate labels specifying that food was made in an unlicensed kitchen. Labels detailing exactly which ingredients compose the food allow consumers to make wise choices at farmer’s markets. Make the claim that larger food operations, such as meat-processing plants, have a much higher rate of food-borne illness because of the increased volume and lack of oversight.

Find stories and information about how these small sales affect nonprofit organizations, school fundraisers, or family farms creating value-added products. St. Cecilia Catholic Church isn’t the only one losing revenue when Grandma’s pies are illegal.

By encouraging and utilizing cottage food laws, small-scale suppliers or homesteaders can generate modest revenue by selling homemade food or donate to fundraisers without legal repercussions.

Selling Homemade Food: Laws and Considerations was originally posted by All About Chickens

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josephkitchen0 · 6 years

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Selling Homemade Food: Laws and Considerations

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Heartaches and Good Intentions

Definition of Cottage Food Law

Why Laws on Selling Homemade Food Exist

What Can You Sell and Where

Photo by Shelley DeDauw

How Cottage Food Laws Benefit You

Money earned by selling homemade food varies state by state. Wisconsin’s sales cap is $5,000 per year but Virginia has no sales limit and allows distribution within retail stores and restaurants.

Encouraging New Laws

By encouraging and utilizing cottage food laws, small-scale suppliers or homesteaders can generate modest revenue by selling homemade food or donate to fundraisers without legal repercussions.

Selling Homemade Food: Laws and Considerations was originally posted by All About Chickens

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