#wtf is a grain report

[adhd-merlin]

thank you grain reports for always being there when Arthur needs to be kept occupied with some menial task

#wtf is a grain report #I think they were mentioned maybe once in the show? #but in fanfiction they're ubiquitous #one thing about fanon arthur is he will be checking those grain reports #and he will not like it #fandom #fanon #merlin #*

[archirdarchernar]

Milgram: Deep Cover Thoughts (Spoilers)

(some of the post written a few hours after, mainly bc deep cover released in between 2 of my mocks)

(all of this is personal opinion and interpretations, take this with a grain of salt or pepper or your choice of powdery food flavouring)

AHJDHR JUST FINISHED WATCHING DEEP COVER

its so good i thoroughly applaud the animators for their work. the colours and the design and ajdhkdhrr

i love staring at how they draw eyes like wtf??? that animation budget must be really high like the transformation and the BLOOD-

okay onto more lore-y thoughts:

(this part is me rambling at my screen trying to form a coherent theory of what happened, there are a lot of random stray thoughts here)

kotoko seems to be the 'punish > solve the systemic issue' type of person. we see that in the way she interacts with the brown-haired girl that she saved. when the girl grabbed onto her we see her conflicted eyes. to me it seemed partially out of desperation??(could just be the adrenaline high of her murder, we also see her sweaty so theres that. murder takes a lot of energy guys), or like she doesnt know what to do with herself. like she wants to push the girl away but felt like she could not (maybe knew that if she pushed her away she might harm the girl even more psychologically...). after that we see her barely acknowledging the brown haired girl in the park, seemingly more interested in the article on her phone than the girl she saved...

also, i found a post where someone translated the article!

to paraphrase, the son of a newspaper company's CEO was found dead (shocker, probably Kotoko's victim). The article goes on to talk about how a female university student had killed him in self defence due to getting into a scuffle as she caught him kidnapping a minor (so. definitely kotoko. probably). The minor agreed with the student that it was self-defence. The company's CEO then came out with an independent report all the injuries that they found on his son, which indicated that more than proportional violence was used, and then announced that the victim retracted her statement. The article then mentions all the rumors that exist about this murder...

interesting.

then that scene. that face of absolute fear on the girl and the uncaring apathy on kotoko's face. we clearly see the young girl trying to wear the cap, we see her basically modelling herself after kotoko. who can blame her? that's the person who saved her from... a life of suffering, probably. So to see kotoko ignoring her like that would absolutely destroy her.

so is kotoko just that heartless? no. or at least, i don't think so. remember the article? 'the victim retracted her statement'. this can happen for many reasons, such as being coerced, forced, bribed, etc. no matter why she did it, this would cast a lot of questions to the credibility of this case. maybe kotoko was legit mad? like 'if you don't want to be saved, i can't save you'. or she thought distancing herself from the victim would be the best thing to do, cuz otherwise people would argue that the two of them conspired together to murder a person and pass it off as a 'heroic deed'. by distancing herself, more of the 'blame' if it ever comes would fall on her. maybe she thought this was the best course of action in this scenario, so at least the girl would seem less 'co-conspirator' and more 'young child who was coerced'. either way, even without counting kotoko's bloodlust in the background, this is a fucked situation.

and yes, the prison seems to be composed of 5 direct and 5 indirect killers, kotoko being an indirect one. we know that she has actually, physically killed a person. the fact that she's in the prison for an indirect murder means that she didn't even consider that guy as a person (lol) or a being worth caring about.

so my running theory of what happened is:

(this part is just consolidation of the theory, above is rambling)

kotoko went after a the newspaper CEO's son, and found him kidnapping the child in that warehouse. then, she beat him up and possibly killed him with excessive force (i.e. the force she used was 'not proportional to the violence about to be inflicted onto her' or smth, im paraphrasing here but that's the gist. and i really mean 'possibly', ill elaborate later). after that, she reported the case to... probably the police? and claimed in court that she found CEO's son kidnapping a minor, then the interaction got violent and she had no choice but to kill him, with the help of the child's testimony. after that, she was released with no charges. (assuming that when the translation says 'the verdict...' it means that the trial has concluded, the judging body(japan doesn't have a jury. for serious criminal cases, they have a 'saiban-in'. look it up for more info abt this) has deemed kotoko free of all charges or smth, and now she walks free.)

but after THAT, the CEO got an independent investigation that reported those injuries, and they believe them to be inflicted not in self-defence but with intent to harm. this is where the idea that she might have killed him to sate her bloodlust comes from. while i do agree on some aspects, remember this is an 'independent investigation', and this is a CEO whose money speaks. also, what you're telling me is that the forensics who looked into the body did not believe the wounds were due to 'excessive force' (bc if that was the case the trial should have gone very very differently), but the group that you independently hired did. i mean, a little bit suspect about the level of validity of that claim, don't you think? (this is assuming that everyone in the trial was competent at their job and no foul play was present. if not, ignore this section.)

the CEO also claimed that the child retracted her testimony (that would be perjury, since that would be admitting that you were lying to the court. japan seems to have laws against perjury, but im not very sure how enforceable it really is, or if people actually get charged with it.). this casts doubt on the verdict and both kotoko's and the victim's credibility in the eyes of the public, you know how the public is. and in a case like this, where the one trying to get someone in jail is someone with money and influence to do private investigations and press conferences, the impact it can have on the life of the other party can get insanely negative. they could have their lives absolutely ruined by this, being publicly shamed this way, while the CEO walks away looking like a caring father 'just looking to avenge his child'. i think the following are plausible:

1st case scenario: im not a legal expert, so REALLY don't blindly believe this, but if this means the child is legally retracting her testimony that she made in front of the court, during a trial, this would require the child to reach out to the law enforcement entities to get it passed, and that might warrant a re-trial of the original trial. in other words, in this scenario kotoko is seriously fucked (probably). so kotoko avoiding the child and/or being pissed is.. personally i think there are better ways to handle this situation, one of which is get yourself a damn good lawyer and hope for the best, kotoko- but not unordinary.

2nd case scenario(more likely in my personal opinion): of course, there's always the case that all this is made up. in which case, kotoko would still have a reason to avoid the child, in that it's the most logical course of action to avoid unnecessary harm to the child. if she acts friendly to the child in public, there's a chance that the child will be seen as a co-conspirator to the 'murder'. also since its a guy with money who's speaking out, it's likely that public opinion would wholy turn against her. and the child, who helped defend kotoko in court, well... even more harrassment, probably. death threats, likely.

in both cases, her and the child would probably receive harrassment, which i think is a possible motive for the child getting killed. (i'm assuming that the child was the one who kotoko feels like she's killed, because she was put in milgram for indirect murder to complete the 5:5 ratio)

And then she becomes a furry.

yay? well, i think the wolf is supposed to be a symbolic of the monster that she now sees herself as. remember, if the version of events i described above is true then she probably faced a lot of social isolation. she has to distance herself from the victim that she helped and got close(? somewhat attached? like cmon she may be distracted with the very important life changing article but she doesn't outright ignore her, and that the chlid showed up to meet her implies that the child had an expectation that kotoko would be accepting of her company... right?) to, and many of her peers probably isolated themselves away from her (being a victim of a crime in japan can often be just as hard on a person's social life as being the perpetrator of said crime, so im not surprised if she was socially isolated by others AND herself). the lack of social support is the start of a mental downward spiral.

also, she keeps referring to herself as a tool and that she needs a next 'target'. so somewhere along the line, she stopped viewing herself as a person but merely a tool to enact justice with. because that's all she is now, she's caused the death of someone she swore to protect, the emotions are too overwhelming, please just give me something - anything - else to focus on; she's a monster, but if that's the case then so be it, she will be a monster with a purpose: eliminating the dregs of society, because that way at least she's of some use to society, otherwise-

otherwise, she's just a regular old monster.

#personal opinion #arc rubbing their last 2 brain cells together to form a thought #milgram #yuzuriha kotoko #milgram theory #? #kotoko yuzuriha #milgram project #deep cover spoilers #deep cover #inner dramatic writing kid got unleashed at the end #oops sorry #also the furry part gave me bna vibes #u know that furry show trigger studios made #on netflix #yea that one #lol

[messier-47]

A study on Ethan Winters because Resident Evil's got me in a chokehold and bruh he's so fucked? I love him?

But also this is MAJOR "taking liberty" of a fictional character cause no chill. Warning: this is....long post, a character study

RE7, RE8

So admittingly I was tempted to write RE fanfic cause brain go brrrrrr at thought of spookiness but ultimately didn't however if I don't bleed out these thoughts and feelings about RE and Ethan Winters it's gonna fester.

First off, does anyone else think RE7 and RE8 have two different versions of Ethan? Which...could be excusable seeing as how there's a three year time gap and emotional stage difference, or it could be just "Ethan was always a [blank-slate] character and thus prime for storyline manipulation". RE8 we're given the desperate father ripping apart the world to get to his daughter, scrambling for a handhold against monsters and completely out of his league of bullshit. Whereas RE7 Ethan is so much more fascinating.

RE7 Ethan is my favorite.

Okay, so I watched RE7 gameplay with the intention of taking notes about his character and personality traits and HOOBOY is he an interesting character! So in the beginning we get so much context if you really stop to think about it. First, Mia's ID is a Texas one which means by the time she went missing 3 years ago, she was registered as a Texas resident and probably alongside her husband Ethan. (which i know about the "he's a systems engineer from LA" databook thing but he could both be a systems engineer from LA and be a Texas resident)

Now this bit i think is a little more...take with a grain of salt cause it's not verified but also; Ethan has always been "the ordinary man". so what would an ordinary man do when his wife goes missing around the same time there's a fucking HURRICANE in the gulf of mexico? He'd report it! Missing person's report! cause he's not a psycho with something to hide! His wife is missing! she was babysitting some rich brat along the coastline and he'd lost all contact after the Hurricane hit Louisiana! if her body were to wash up, the boat she was found, anything having to do with her disappearance, there'd already be a papertrail of proper protocol without the question "Why didn't you report her missing?"

So Texas may be different? idk, I think I heard something somewhere "after two years, a missing person's case is closed and legally declared dead" or something. maybe that's why ETHAN WINTERS GOES TO LOUISIANA ALONE TO FIND HIS PRESUMINGLY DEAD WIFE.

the "maybe this is all a prank" comment I'm willfully ignoring cause wtf Ethan what about the relationship with your wife made it okay to disappear for three years all for an elaborate ruse? Except somehow the "it's just a prank" is probably what pushed him beyond the limits of rationality. Abandoned van outside the house with "accept her gift"? obvious a mystery treasure hunt. Weird carcass effigy? gross and wow this prank is getting fancy. dilapidated house full of rot and rank? nice movie set bro, where are the cameras? especially with all the "fabricated" evidence of twenty people having gone missing around here and oh wow a convenient VHS about "paranormal investigators" to show where the secret chambers are. but goddamn his mental fortitude is strong to be able to jump in putrid basement water to go find his wife. dead corpse rising out of the waters and he just presses on, probably thinking it was fake or something.

Okay so then we meet Mia and Ethan's slow realization that this is totally NOT A PRANK cause of evil possession or whatever (honestly RE7 in Ethan's POV is hilarious cause he probably isn't thinking how this all ties in with bioweapons, legit thinking demons are the answer) but Ethan gets more talkative in a very interesting way; upon finding Mia, he is immediately interrogative. He's not the overly worried dad friend trying to make sure Mia is fine and that they should escape, no it's Mia who takes the lead in trying to escape cause Ethan is already "you've been missing for three years what the hell is going on?"

And...when Mia claims that she doesn't remember shit (telling the truth) Ethan doesn't believe her. He pulls away to investigate the next room over. and honestly it's understandable in his POV, even if he stops believing this is all a prank; his wife has been missing for 3 years and claims to not remember why she'd ended up here (also there's a history of Mia having lied about some pretty important details in the past?)

As we go on through the story, Ethan...personal opinion here, but he reads as pretty calloused. I know the fandom jokes/remarks about Ethan's "fuck this especially" meter throughout the games but goddamn in the beginning of RE7 his meter was already damn high. He's...bitter? prickly? i don't have the word for it, but he's definitely a man who'd gone to Louisiana to finally get some fucking answers from his wife.

You know what I found super interesting? His interaction with the sheriff. So policeman shows up in front of house Ethan is trapped in and like a regular person he goes "hey there's some crazy people here you gotta help me" and sheriff is understandably wary of the whole situation. But Ethan Winters takes a risk in manipulating the policeman to get what he wants "do you want to read about me in tomorrow's obituary or do you want to be the hero?" which is so interesting to me. Why would he use this tactic? and this is something Ethan decided to do, there's no game mechanic where the player chooses his response, this is Ethan Winters using the cop's ego to try to get immediate help.

Throughout the game, Ethan is shown to be...honestly he's damn quiet. Yeah, sure he talks and shows his personality but he keeps his cards close to the chest. All his talks with Zoe make it pretty clear that he is motivated on a singular goal and he isn't persuaded by this "we" talk Zoe keeps bringing up. Looking at fandom, I honestly thought Ethan was going to be a little more chatty and while he does have some one-liners and quips, they are not at the same level as...let's say Leon Kennedy. Also, his humor is different from Leon's. I watched RE2 and 4 and whereas Leon has a love for ironic+witty humor (also can't shut up), Ethan has more of a dry wit.

Watches older woman crawling down tunnel on four legs like a bug, "That's special."

Figures out shadow operated puzzle doors "Who builds this shit?"

manages to clear out bioweapon cesspit by himself and the professionals arrive "What took you so long?"

Hmmm, and I know fandom loves to rib about his IT guy attire throughout RE7 but have y'all noticed his fucking shoes? ankle cowboy boots. Understated, completely speaks about where he's coming from, but also fits with the "i'm modern and know software engineering" typecast. And his car? A 1971 Dodge Challenger (could be a Vanishing Point reference but honestly if it's not ment to be-) it's a retro muscle car. A classic. Our boy loves his cars and did you see how nice it was in the beginning? spic-and-span paint job with the nice interior finish, it looks like it was well taken care of and Ethan was confident enough to actually drive it out to cross-state roadtrip.

Another interesting thing that only adds to what we've already seen of him was when Zoe makes two serums, she offers both probably just to show Ethan that they were made and he takes both. Why? ...I'm not sure. If he was only grabbing for Mia, he'd just taken one and let Zoe have her own syringe. But he took both. thoughtlessness? or was it an added show of his character in COMBINATION of whatever the fuck was going on during his interaction with the sheriff? In actuality, it was probably just the videogame needing Ethan to have the two so that he can use one on Jack and he'd have the "hard" choice of choosing between Mia and Zoe. It's still a pretty interesting detail if someone would want to further look into it.

then there's the "Thanks Ethan for choosing me" "Who the hell else could I choose?" "Ethan!" which only solidifies Ethan's character for me; He's a jaded man in a desperate search of answers, not really doing all this for the heroics. makes me wonder if there had been a 3rd choice, would he have made a different one. (but i digress because that's stepping into potential shipping territory)

Ethan once again tries to get answers from Mia and when she isn't able to give anything more concrete, he just lets the silence hang. Admittingly, the silence could've been the videogame setting up for the epic reveal of the boat and mold tentacles but this is also repeated behavior. Ethan asks Mia questions twice, once in the beginning and the second time right now and when Mia claims to not remember anything/have told him everything, he distances himself. No, wait, I'm dumb, Ethan pushes for Mia to try to start remembering. Which...idk maybe I'm reading too far into this, was kinda sardonic? "I honestly don't remember." "Try." and then the silence happens...before the boat comes into view.

Sardonic isn't the right word. In my opinion, Ethan is a "quiet" man, not as outspoken as the rest of the RE cast, so it's really hard to read tone when i ain't given much to compare/contrast to. All his dialogue have a different weight because he talks so little. Compare his dialogue with Chris, Leon, Jill, anyone else within the franchise and his character is immediately drowned out by the titans of other personalities. But get him by himself? reflect on his circumstances, context, and what he does say? He's a deeply complex character, alot of his reasoning and background is hidden and left to be inferred.

He's not a "heroic" character. He's not doing all of this to defeat evil or get justice or make the world a better place. Of course he's a survivor but...he's got a "get 'er done" personality. Ethan goes to Louisiana for answers. The truth as he told Mia multiple times. If he has to go fight a family with a bad case of swamp fever to get those answers then so be it.

Headcanon time: I honestly think Ethan is a born and bred Texan. He might have gone to LA to get his degree and a job as a systems engineer (which may explain how he knew how to build a flamethrower) but there is something about Ethan that is more than just "he now lives in Texas so he wears cowboy ankle boots and drives a muscle car". it's the "get 'er done" attitude. Maybe part of the reason why he's so mentally resilient when faced with horror is because of this cultural mental state of "get 'er done". Also explains how he's so adept with a wide range of guns.

And...wow this has grown awefully long and I haven't even gotten started on RE8 Ethan Winters character study yet so lemme make a second post.

#resident evil #ethan winters #leon kennedy #re7 #re7 biohazard #ethan winters re7 #character study #long post

[firstcursearchivee]

Stranger things VR game ( SPOILERS )

Anyways, hi I'm alive courtesy of the Stranger Things VR game and I need to talk about my OC Henry Creel who keeps becoming a canon character lmao like it just keeps happening, wtf. I kinda wanted to be able to talk about The First Shadow too but guess what I won't ever be able to do that because its never gonna be on netflix so yeah. Frankly, I don't even know where to start with this post so I'm just gonna ramble cause thats what I'm good at. I loved the VR game. I will never get to play it but I got to watch the full walkthrough and yeah I love it lmao. This being said I do question the canon validity of it. I'm not sure if the Duffs have claimed it to be as canon as the First Shadow but from what I DO KNOW of the First Shadow ( Taking all second hand reports with a grain of salt mind you because this fandom is not smart ) the VR game feels a little contradictory. But yeah, no, I REALLY like the VR game regardless. SO AGAIN BE WARNED if you read on there is going to be BIG SPOILERS for the game and possibly season 5 but since a lot of it is stuff I've headcanoned and theorized about many times in the past if you've read any of my other stuff : Sorry but you were already spoiled ajdjfklf.

The biggest thing I think the VR game confirmed, which I've talked about and theorized and headcanoned about 100x times is that the Upside Down is in fact a Living Organism. Its not just another dimension, its the inside of a living thing and frankly the weird-horror lover in me jumps for joy because YES thats exactly what I wanted it to be.

The mindflayer, is, also depicted as sentient and is essentially the consciousness / controller of the UD. It is an fucked up cosmic horror entity that wants to EAT EVERYTHING and it is using Vecna as a tool to unleash itself on the human dimension to satisfy this this hunger so once again I fucking nailed and I'm obsessed. Obviously Tender Claw just read my blog because yes, the Demo-creatures are also just extensions of this. They're the feral avatars of a faceless thing that only exists to consume. So again, pretty much everything I've ever theorized and headcanoned is proven completely on point by the game. And while I question the canon validity of the game I think these things are going to be shown as solid canon to canon even if I do think some other factors of the game only exist for the sake of the game and not necessarily for the fact they're unquestionable to canon. Like taking for example Vecna very hilariously trying to contact and corrupt the party and literally being unable to do so / failing miserably and the MF making fun of him the whole time causing them to bicker like an old married couple through most of the game not fucking kidding but I'LL COME BACK TO THIS. Some things that say a little more unique to my headcanons, or like, things I go a little harder on than canon is the mindflayers relation to god and the cosmic/religious horror tropes I'm feeding my shit full of. LIKE while the canon has made something that is SO, SO, SIMILAR, I kinda consider it a very watered down version of what I did if that makes sense ? Like imo, I think my version of the MF is a bit creepier cause I'm not holding anything back with the cosmic horror story aspect while it seems like Tender Claws at least has, but IDK if that makes sense to anyone.

Basically, I feel like the Duffs and everyone else hold back with their concepts because they're aware Stranger Things is consumed by the "general pop" and not just incredibly insane autistic people and horror lovers so they still want to have some 'appeal' to the normies and they sacrifice or water down some of horror concepts to achieve that if that makes sense.

Anyway, in the game, the mindflayer takes the from of Brenner when it engages with Henry. It claims it does this because it knows Henry views Benner as an "authority " figure and obviously its seeking to control him ( This it does admit outright ). This backfires however because Henry's had enough and starts fighting back. He wants to control the MF instead and we're given the impression he succeeded in the end. Except for the fact that the MF is still its own consciousness and continues to coach Henry to do what it wants ( Even mocking and belittling him when it feels like it ) everything the mindflayer stated it wanted happens ( it "grows" together with Henry, transforming him into "Vecna", and it continually guides him on what to do and he helps and agrees to this, despite the bickering, and pretending he's doing his own thing. Henry desperately wants to think he has control over it but I'm pretty sure this is an illusion Henry has made for himself to cope. ) So we end up left with the implication that Vecna THINKS he controls it and he "THINKS" he tamed the upside down but he probably doesn't given, again, it keeps coaching him and he does wind up doing exactly what it wants regardless to all his attempts at resistance and asserting control. Some other interesting little things are the fact the game seems to both confirm and deny that Henry was the one who kidnapped Will ( popular fanon ). We're shown Henry is there, unable to connect with Will, much to his frustration and the mindflayer's torment but we're also shown that the "UD" that Henry thought he "tamed" has gotten wild again and is doing what IT wants to do independent of him because for reasons unknown and unexplained, Henry went inactive ( though the mindflayer remains, which is another heavy suggestion that Henry never beat it like he thinks he did ) The game starts with the mindflayer waking Henry up (who has now become Vecna) at an unknown time to "re-tame" the upside down and mock him about how far out of his control its gotten and the way he remains "trapped" in the past. Presumably, Henry was woken up only AFTER the mindflayer captured Will, which is my headcanon but the game makes this a little hard to follow. I think what we did see is very reminiscent of my own theories about Will/henry/the mf and thats that yeah, Henry was always "there" and had a psychic sense of what was going on because of his connection to the "Hive mind" but he wasn't "active" as himself until later, around the season 3 mark after the MF flayed Billy, but again, it makes it a little tricky to understand how and when.

But we'll have to see if any of this lines up with canon in s5 because again there are some things in the game that don't fit with other pieces of the game, like it has a very heavy psychological horror aspect that keeps you thinking/wondering. Which is pretty fitting, imo, so over all I really enjoyed it.

Personally, however, I'm going for a way more uniformed story and a way more horror-fueled take on the mindflayer so I'm going to be keeping my hcs a little different. In my HCs, when the MF engages with Henry it USUALLY does so as Alice or his mother. Brenner has appeared but only on occasion. the MF chooses to take the "form" of Alice because it instead plays on Henrys desire to be loved by his mother and sister and the sibling bond Henry had or wanted to have with Alice. It doesn't necessarily fashion itself as an authority figure over Henry but more as a "equal". If it really wants to hurt / torment him thats when Virginia comes into it. Benner is very context sensitive because while Henry and Benner have a long, complex history and there are aspects of this it can play on, it knows better than to try to become Henry's Brenner because Henry never worked with Brenner willingly. I also don't portray Henry as necessarily rebelling against the MF as a result. He still has his own sense of consciousness but he's aware its more than that and he wouldn't think he's the one in complete charge. My Henry is a little more resigned to the fact that he's the right hand. I'm more direct with the fact that Henrys not the one in control and this is a collaboration with some deeply malevolent and unfathomable puppeteer. Regardless to whats going on in The First Shadow I also keep it as Henry began having his first encounters with UD when he moved to Hawkins and I don't care much for "dimension X" or whatever its suppose to be if it isn't the Upside Down. ( Again its REALLY HARD to talk about this because the fandom is sooooooo dense and bias against canon so not being able to see the First Shadow myself and having to rely on second hand accounts that I know are deeply skewed is the biggest pain in the ass. ) So pretty much its stupidly similar to what I had going on, so much that without the distinctions I'm making here you probably wouldn't really notice it but yeah, I'm excited for season 5 and to see how much of this we get to see in the actual show.

#⊰ ° ‧: ｡* 𝐈 🕷️ ━◞ 𝑻𝒂𝒈 ↝ From The Mun ⊱ #⊰ ° ‧: ｡* 𝐈 🕷️ ━◞ 𝑻𝒂𝒈 ↝ Headcanons ⊱ #Headcanons

[longsightmyth]

was going through your fba tag and I'm not a published author or anything so, grain of salt, but I had better language than jla at 12. and I'm not even a native speaker

also wtf is up with the tongue in cheek tone? do you write fantasy like that? (genuine)

I think the tongue in cheek tone can work for fantasy and have enjoyed it in the past (Rogues of the Old Republic, for instance) but I think the variance in tone without variance in PoV makes it stand out more and feel disjointed and out of place, especially when Poppy only on occasion sounds like she should be in Clueless without the depth.

HOWEVER. Yes I think JLA apparently didn't have an editor for the first one?! (Reports differ but I'm starting to believe it) That doesn't help. Another set of eyes is important when writing something, because sometimes you are ABSOLUTELY POSITIVE you put something in. You know you did. You have thought about it so much that you can envision the scene. You know the words. You can recite the words!

"what are you talking about that never happened"

Me: ... *searches frantically through document and realizes it was so solid to me I had convinced myself it was already in the work and was not*

So that was embarrassing.

But yeah anyway reading your own work over and over and over is beneficial but you will miss things because you know how it is SUPPOSED to be and your brain just. Makes it happen.

All of this to say, it's hard to set other people's writing against each other when one has had an editor and one has not... but since we're pretty sure JLA didn't, you're probably totally right lol.

#myth rags on fba #other people rag on fba

[csmeaner]

once upon a time i was in howls (not anymore tho, and a long time ago) and i remember being interested in the species bc of the cute anatomy but i quickly got turned off when i entered the server and saw how disorganized and messy the species was run. staff (a good chunk of which are composed of minors btw) are dismissive or otherwise rude as hell when answering questions in the discord. the species' page on instagram said that you could dm the account for questions/concerns/masterlist updates, but when i did i got left on read and then ghosted (wtf).

my first (and last, for obvious reasons) howl wasn't even on the fucking masterlist (which oh-so-professionally comprised of about 3 or 4 google docs that were extremely laggy and difficult to navigate. nor was it clear anywhere of any trading and selling rules on the species page at the time. it took me an hour of combing through this bullshit species' server and combing through a massive load of laggy google docs to figure all of this out and at that point i was fed up of the species and wanted out, but after making me wait about a week getting my stupid howl an ml# as well to log the trade that gave me the howl in the first place, they made me wait another 2 days before i can take offers on it (ownership cooldown or whatever the fuck) even though i had owned it for a lot longer than 2 days. not my fault you fuckers ghosted me in dms and couldn't be assed maintaining the masterlist, but whatever.

also, one of the staff (or a friend of the staff, idk) was like 11 or 12 years old at the time of me joining the server, and talking about it in that server. naturally i went ahead and reported them to TH and discord, and the former got closed down (the kid deleted their message before discord staff could get at it, and discord staff is a bigass bag of dicks lol). and idk if this is true or not (I left the server shortly after trading my howl) but bc of that kid's TH getting banned, there's now a rule in the howls server that you're not allowed to share ur age. lol

take with a grain of salt but from what howltars has shown it's definitely not capable of being run well atm

#howltars

[saltminerising]

I just stumbled upon something that was so much worse than I thought. A from Plague was doing an interest check for one of those gacha collectable projects and I was curious about it and their style; I went to check their commissions thread and the art examples they showed really put me off, with the obviously different styles and the poor image quality, I just had that gut feeling that it was either traced or stolen. I tried to search up their username and strangely the few places where it popped up, theirs and any other accounts associated were locked. The only other thing I found was a blacklist post with MULTIPLE usernames they've used in the past.

Holy shit. This person.

Not only has this person been tracing, they have been stealing, scamming and selling other artists content since AT least 2018, under multiple names and boy can you add a lot of transphobia, racism and suicide baiting to the mix. There's actually multiple PSAs and artist beware made against them (I've found at least 8 under 2 of their usernames).

The problem I cannot for the life of me find the originals of the art they have on their website as their "examples" and so I don't think I can actually report them?? And it's stressing me the fuck out because people are commissioning them and they even have a thread where they're selling designs (which I assume are also stolen) and I literally cannot do anything about it because I don't know if I can use any of this as proof for the staff wtf do I do.

Mod note: Take this with a grain of salt! Anon did not attach proof and we can't verify who they're talking about. If anyone has sources for this, please feel free to share them.

#forums #suicide mention

[just-the-hiddles]

You Did What? | A Luke Windsor Reaction Fic

A/N: An anon request:  So, since I’m completely hooked up in the Luke's Diary, i wonder what would be his reaction to the events of "Unexpected Delivery", with the press going crazy and he just wake up in the cold morning, look at his phone and being like "WTF", regretting not pursuing medicine like his mom dreamed, and then going out to defuse another one of Tom's mess... Or Luke telling Evelyn's about it, since Tom have no idea of how to tell her how he delivered her... And yeah, this is a request... 

Here is the link to original story:  Unexpected Delivery  and here is the tag for the side blog @luke-windsors-diary​ which is me pretending to be Luke is a daily “​diary” entry.  But it is mostly me ribbing on Tom and being ridiculous as Luke. 

Pairing: Luke Winsdor gen fic

Summary: Luke tells Evelyn Hiddleston his take on the day she was born.

Warnings: Just copious amount of fluff.

Word Count: 1302 

Whole Enchilada Tag List: @winterisakiller @nonsensicalobsessions @hopelessromanticspoonie  @yespolkadotkitty​ @pinkzz123 @jessiejunebug @cherrygeek86 @littleredstarfish @rjohnson1280 @the-minus-four @wiczer @lotus-eyedindiangoddess @catsladen @coppercorn-and-cauldron @gerli49 @lovesmesomehiddles @devilbat @he-is-chaotic-she-is-psychotic @tinchentitri @theheartofpenelope @noplacelikehome77​ @otakumultimuse-hiddlewhore​ @snoopy3000​ @voila-tout​​

Hiddles Tag List (if you don’t want to be tagged on Luke fics, let me know): @hiddlesbitch1​ @drakesfiance​ @obtain-this-grain​ @unfortunatelyymuggle​ @theoneanna​ @too-cold-for-youhere​ @brucestephenbucky​ @vodka-and-some-sass​ @ladyblablabla​ @lokixme​ @mishaandthebrits​ @blackcherry26-blog​ @jade10077​ @snoopy3000​ @disconnectedswift​ @myraiswack​ @bluefrenchfries604​ @otakumultimuse-hiddlewhore​​

Untaggables: @sterwild @jumpxjess

TAGLISTS ARE OPEN, PLEASE CONTACT TO BE ADDED OR REMOVED VIA MESSAGE, ASK OR COMMENT!

-

The little girl tugged on Luke’s pant leg. He smiled and reached down to pull the girl onto his lap.

“Who is this little ninja, sneaking around after her bedtime?” Luke ruffled her messy ginger curls.

“I still have ten minutes!” she announced as she leaned against Luke’s chest.

“You sound like your father.” Luke chuckled. 

Evelyn Hiddleston was the spitting image of her dad. Her hair in impossible curls, sparkling blue eyes filled with mischief. And the fiery personality of both her parents. At only six years old, she was already a force to be reckoned with. Luke prayed that if she chose to be an actor, he would be retired from the business.

“Tell me a story!’ her voice squeaked, and she bounced on her knees in his lap.

“Which story would you like to hear? Cinderella? Or the Three Little Bears?”

Evelyn, or Evie as most called her, wrinkled her nose. “Not fairytales! A story. A real story!” 

Luke smiled. “Have your Mum and Dad ever told you the story about when you were born?”

Her eyes grew as big as saucers. “No!” she whispered. “Please tell me Uncle Luke! Please!” 

“Sure, Evie. Get comfortable.” Evelyn snuggled into the crook of Luke’s arm and Luke grabbed the blanket off the back of the chair to cover her.

“Well, it started right before Christmas about six years ago…”

-

Six Years Earlier

Luke woke that chilly December refreshed.  While most stressed out during the holidays, it was one of the few times Luke had peace and quiet. Because Tom Hiddleston was on vacation. 

And this year, not just any vacation, but a babymoon in the secluded mountains of the Scottish countryside. No paparazzi, no journalists, no scandals. And no chance for Tom to get himself into trouble.

The last several days Luke found himself smiling for no reason. And then he got the call. 

“What is the official statement regarding Tom delivering his own daughter?” the voice asked. 

“I beg your pardon?” Luke questioned. “Tom did no such thing.”

“There is a report from a hospital in Scotland that due to the snow Tom delivered his daughter on the floor of his private cabin.” The journalist continued.

“No comment.” Luke snapped before ending the call. 

He rang the office. “Don’t answer questions about Tom. Get the number of the closest hospital to the cabin!” He bellowed. 

He could hear the scrambling and scraping in the background before hanging up. Next he dialed up Tom. 

“Luke!” Tom cheered into the phone. 

“You wanker.” he responded cooly.

-

“Language, Uncle Luke!” Evelyn yelled. “Daddy says cursing is the sign of a feeble mind.” She wagged her little finger at him.

“He would, the tit.” Luke muttered under his breath.

“What’s that Uncle Luke?”

“I said your Daddy is quite right.”

She smiled, her toothy grin warming his heart.

-

“You stupid man!” Luke yelled into the phone. 

- 

He glanced down to see Evie giggling at the thought of her dad being called stupid.

-

“What are you going on about—oh,” Tom’s voice dropped. “Y/N had the baby!”

Tom hoped the good news would diffuse any anger directed towards him. 

“Congratulations, Tom. Anything else?” 

“A girl! Evelyn Rose.”

-

“That’s me!” Evie popped up.

“Am I telling the story or you?” Luke said with a wink.  He booped her nose.

“You!”

“Right. So enough from the peanut gallery.” Luke cleared his throat and opened his mouth. “Now—”

“What’s a peanut gallery?”

“A peanut gallery is…” Luke commented. “You know when your Mum is doing something and your Dad comments on how to do it better?”

“Oh, Mum calls that being a backseat driver.”

Luke pressed his forehead against hers. “Your mum is a wise woman. May I continue?”

Evie snuggled back into your spot.

-

“Anything else?” 

“Errr….” Tom stalled.

“Something special about the delivery?”

“Healthy mom and baby?” Tom tested.

“Where was the baby born?”

“Scotland.”

Luke pinched his brow.

“Was this baby born on the floor of your cabin? Delivered by you of all people?”

“Ehehehe.” Tom laughed nervously. “No comment.”

-

“I was born on the floor?!” Her eyes wide again.

“You were.” he said with a no nonsense tone. “And your dad helped bring you into the world.”

“Wow…” she whispered. “What about Mummy?”

Luke giggled. “He worried your Mummy he might mess it up.”

“But Dad is the smartest guy there is. He told me so!”

“True right. And your Mummy is rather smart too.”

Evie leaned in with a glint in her eye. “Mum is smarter than Dad.” she whispered with a smile.

Luke bopped her nose. “Yes she is.”

She giggled.

-

“No comment is my line. Which I have had to in abundance over the last hour when a journalist called to confirm the story.”

“I’m truly sorry, mate. With everything going, you were last person I thought to call.”

“Which is precisely the wrong thing to say. I am your publicist and I should be the first call. Put Y/N on the phone.”

“Is that necessary? She just gave birth.”

“Put Y/N on the phone!” Luke insisted. “I need the reasonable one on the phone.”

-

“OOOOO!” Evie said. “Is Daddy in trouble?”

“Why would say that?” Luke furrowed his brow.

“Whenever I have to talk to Mum like that, I’m usually getting in trouble.”

Luke’s eyebrows raised in mock surprise. “What do you get trouble for? You are…” his kissed her forehead. “… an angel.”

“Talking in class.” her eyes dropped.

“Ah. I see. Well…” Luke started in. “… you should talk to Grandma Diana about your dad when he was in school.”

“Dad got in trouble for talking in school?!”

“Your dad still gets in trouble for talking.”

“With who?”

Luke pointed at his own chest. 

“With you?!? What does he do?”

Luke chuckled. “I will tell you when you are older.”

Evelyn pouted. “Mum always say that.”

“Your mum is right, Now may I continue?”

She nodded.

-

“Y/N!” Luke chirped. “How are you? How’s the baby?”

“Fine.” you commented in a tired voice. “What do you want to know?”

“You know me so well. Did Tom actually deliver this baby?”

“Yes.”

“Did you yell at him?”

“A lot.”

“Did he make any stupid remarks, such as ‘don’t worry I’m a doctor?’”

“Yes.” you groaned.

“And you set him straight?”

“Of course. I told him that was for a movie and Dr. Laing would not be delivering this child.”

“Good girl.”

“You taught me well.”

“When will you back in town?”

“A few days. Luke? Sorry about this.”

“No need to apologize. I’m just glad that everyone is happy and healthy.”

-

“And that is all about the day you were born.” Luke finished.

He spied Evelyn curled in a tight ball underneath the blanket, softly snoring.

“I distinctly remember a lot more cursing that day.” a voice boomed from the doorway.

Tom strolled over to look at Luke and Evie on the chair.

“Well, I can’t use that sort of language in front of your daughter. She’ll tell Y/N and then I will really be in hot water.”

“True enough. We can’t have both of us in the doghouse.”

The two men laughed.

“Now if you will excuse me.” Tom lifted Evie from her spot next to Luke. “It is way past this one’s bedtime.”

Evelyn’s eyes fluttered as she curled against Tom’s chest. 

“Was I really born on the floor?” her sleepy voice muttered against Tom’s sweater.

He leaned down to kiss her ginger curls. “Yes, my love.”

She giggled in her sleep as Tom carried her up to bed. 

#tom hiddleston #tom hiddleston fanfic #tom hiddleston fanfiction #hiddlesfic #luke windsor #luke Windsor fic #luke Windsor fanfiction #luke windsor imagine #tom hiddleston imagine #tom hiddleston fluff #luke and tom friendship #HIDDLESTONERS

[olivedoesmagic]

Journal 24: Twilight

Note: this journal contains some context that might not make sense if you haven’t read journals, 19, and 21. For a quick recap. Past reality shifts I as a 12 year old (IDK why that age I’m 23 irl) shifted to the universe of the twilight saga. As a 12 year old I slit my wrist and Alice Cullen unable to control herself fed off of me and turned me into a vampire there. Uncomfortable with this Carlisle adopted me after an interrogation with a human lie detector noting we would have to fake my death and keep me a secret less the Deltori come and kill me. If you are just a run of the mill Twilight fan who stumbled upon this post and are going “WTF is this?”

 Click here for explanations. 

Journal 24: Twilight

I visited the Twilight universe again. Little me was talking with Alice as always. At first I was just anaxious with little me. The 12 year old vampire. The Cullens mentioned a wake for my death and how since my human family was Jewish you were supposed to bring food. They didn’t use the term wake they used the Jewish term but I forget it. Regarding Alice, my child self was really fond of her. Eventually I fully shifted which is when you take your whole person and astral project there. I rarely do this with reality shifting but reasoning with an 11 year old is hard work.

The Cullens (The vampire family of the books and this reality) had quite a few questions about magick and reality shifting. I answered them as best I could apparently there had been "other travelers" aka reality shifters that had made themselves known to them. Bella didn't look like in the movie but similar. The Cullens told me magick was more of a physical thing there and I talked. I told them about the book series they were from and they kept asking if little me was from a different reality. I told them no she was from theirs. 

Apparently they met when her family had been vacationing in forks. Alice told me she foresaw my death and later godhood where the gods will revive me after I die but that's all for my other journal. Take it with a grain of salt I know its a weird thing to be mentioning here. She told me she has a vision of it and I have a few months to live. I've been told over and over again by other spirits that I'd be dying soon. Last time I talked to the Cullens Alice said she foresaw my death so this isn't exactly news to me. Anyone familiar with the series knows that Alice has visions of the future. Overall it was a very interesting reality shift and I'm glad I made note of it.

Lately I’ve been answering questions in regards to shifting on my tumblr blog. I’m debating putting them in this pdf/book. I’m also debating putting this journal in the public domain. It could live on after I die that way. But I’m not sure about that. I digress. Anyways, that’s all to really report for now. Goodnight.

-Olive Brimstone 

8:25 PM

11/1/2020

#twilight #pop cutlure magick #reality shifting #alice cullen #self harm tw #journal 24 #24

[onisionisacanceronthisearth]

Onision vs Alleged Ex-Classmate Part 1: Intro

So, recently Greg responded to an interview an alleged ex-classmate did around three years ago. He had already discussed some of the claims a few years ago in a tumblr post but this video is much longer and covers more. The interview was done by Someguy who confirmed that Michael was telling the truth about going to school with Greg. The proof was not made public however so take that with a grain of salt. What I am going to focus on is Greg’s rebuttals as he tends to self-incriminate which I think is the real thing that will prove any legitimacy to the claims. This is going to be split into parts because otherwise, this post will be too long. Greg’s video is BvS levels of too long for its own good. Btw, Greg, next time don’t interrupt the interview during random points because it doesn’t prove any points, and your nervous, forced laughter isn’t fooling anyone. It’s just more suspicious

False argument 1: this is totally fake because it’s known Greg was a loner and didn’t talk to most people.

This is a bad rebuttal cause you can still know things about the “loner kid” in high school, and there was a reason why people didn’t talk to him much. Plus this guy said he knew about Greg cause his bff slept with Greg as well as by being mutual friends with Skye. Greg has also documented his many ex-girlfriends in his blogs so even by his own admission he’s talked to many people. Also Michael could have been one of the few people to talk to him. Things like this make me feel like there is truth to Michael’s claim because Greg doesn’t really refute his claims

False argument 2: the interviewer didn’t identify the school Michael and Greg went to

If the interviewer had mentioned your school by name you would have freaked out about “privacy”. Michael also clearly didn’t want to be identified because he has a life outside of this. Also saying the school name also doesn’t prove anything cause finding your school is a quick google search away. No way was a guy trying to protect his identity going to submit photos of himself as a kid at school or his report card publicly. Either bring up actual contradictions or just focus on defending your character Greg. You’re digging a hole for yourself here

Meh argument 1: Gregory Jackson is not my name, I went by G Daniel in HS (his middle name)

That was your name Greg, and the guy likely didn’t remember your last name because in normal highschool life you don’t know your classmates’ last names so he went with the legal name he found online of you. Though this isn’t a horrible argument to make so I’ll give you that. Though side note, how was this guy supposed to know Daniel is on your birth certificate?

False argument 2: no consistent high school

This contradicts his blog, how long he apparently knew Skye, and his family’s whereabouts. So one of these is the lie and I’m going to assume it’s now when it’s a defence vs when it was an innocent blog

Storytime with Onision 1: Kicked out of class + vandalism + accidentally confirms M is legit

So M said "he was always the quiet, somewhat awkward kid who would have the occasional loud outburst in class over something he thought was funny” and mentioned he was kicked out of class for this multiple times. Greg says it only happened one time FOR LAUGHING AT EVERYTHING THE TEACHER WAS SAYING. Tell me Greg, if M is lying, how could he have perfectly described one time you were kicked out of class? Greg doesn’t seem to realise this for the rest of the video

Also Greg went into the aftermath of this story and holy shit, after getting kicked out of class for his rude and childish behaviour he took a quarter and used it to fiddle with the school lights and shut off the hallways lights and laughed cause this resulted in scaring some kid in the hallway. This is him apparently “laughing at the crazy people in this world”. YOU TURNED YOUR SCHOOL LIGHTS OFF AND YOU’RE ACTING LIKE THIS WAS A TOTALLY FINE AND GOOD THING. wtf???

Also “I was never reprimanded for laughing”, but you were kicked out of class for it... Also, you admit you laughed before, after, and while the teacher was mad but “it was just laughing”. Clearly you were being rude and disrespectful so the laughter wasn’t innocent, especially after the teacher got mad

This is the end of part one, next part is on the cheating allegations which will be long enough on its own. Stay tuned :)

#onision #anti onision #Onision vs alleged ex-classmate

[kmp78]

Just one more thing: if a blind item comes from CDAN, don’t believe a word of it. I don’t know who this blogger is (or if it’s a group of people), but it is almost always complete and utter crap, usually gleaned from whoever appears on the Daily Mail’s sidebar of shame that day. CDAN has it in for J. If you like the blinds, Blind Gossip is usually a bit more reliable (if prone to planting paid p.r.) and Lainey is quite entertaining, but take most of them with a grain of salt. And if I read one more article about CF’s endless apology tour (I used to be a bad boy, but I swear that I’m completely sorry and a changed person now) I’m going to puke. The midget has been on this schtick for five years now. Yes, “Alexander” was a disaster (although JL looked beautiful in it) and you almost committed suicide. Sure you did, you poor sensitive thing, you. Oh, and since I’m on the subject: WTF is this story about JL and the “actress” who decided to play Olympias as Countess Chocula? I only wish it was true. I’d love to see JL playing stepdaddy to Chex and Pox or whatever her kids’ names are. OK, enough! Stepping away from the keyboard except to say that the endless Valery jealousy is getting very, very dull. Whatever she is to JL, I don’t blame him for not wanting her to be subject to his fans’ viciousness.

***

Haha yeah that “journo” really took some liberties with her reporting...

“JARED PRACTICALLY MOVED INTO ANGIE´S HOUSE”

Right, guys?

DISCLAIMER AND RULES

[all-kin-hate-blog]

Hello everyone! This is the actual creator of all-kin-hate here. So basically, I created this blog as a social experiment to see what tumblr would do to toxic blogs and how the public would react. 

Long story short: Tumblr does jack shit and the public is too gullible.

You denied the existence of more than one mod and yet accepted Nick’s existence as fact despite this being tumblr, where half the shit here is made up. I’m not saying you should trust anything, but take things with a grain of salt.

And tumblr, get your act together. I’m sure people reported this blog and you never did anything about it. Seriously wtf.

I know I was a major asshole when I first started this blog and although it was on purpose I still apologize.

-The AKH Creator and Mod

#all kin hate #kin #antikin

[lilnasxvevo]

Richard Ellman, Wilde’s most prominent biographer, makes the unsubstantiated claim that Wilde died of syphilis, and here’s my amazing counter-argument:

At no point in his life did he display any symptoms of syphilis

Literally Ellman’s only “proof” is that Wilde held his hand in front of his mouth a lot, which he claims is because Wilde was self-conscious about the fact that his teeth were greenish-black from a mercury treatment for syphilis. I have seen one or two contemporaries say that Wilde had this habit because his teeth were gross, but there are plenty of reasons to hold your hand in front of your mouth (I do it for no damn reason, my teeth are adequate, run-of-the-mill teeth) and plenty of reasons to have gross death. Like, that’s the reach of the century, Ellman.

None of the people whose lives were well-documented who we are pretty sure had sexual relationships with Oscar Wilde that were months or years long (Constance Wilde, Robert Ross, Lord Alfred Douglas) are reported to have ever contracted syphilis or displayed any symptoms of syphilis 

...However, I do have one argument IN FAVOR of Oscar Wilde having had syphilis that I have never ever ever seen someone else argue:

Frank Miles, a painter, lived with Oscar Wilde for a while when they were young men. We don’t have any evidence he wasn’t straight outside of “he was Oscar Wilde’s roommate,” but there are still many historians who think that they were living together because they were a couple.  His Wikipedia page reports that he died of “general paralysis of the insane.” I have wondered for a long time wtf that means, and found out today when poking around on Wikipedia for more information about syphilis (EASILY the grossest and worst time I have had on the internet) found out that it is also called general paresis of the insane and is apparently a disorder that only occurs when one has late-stage syphilis. It takes 10 to 30 years for syphilis to progress to this stage, Miles died in 1891, and the 1881 census lists Wilde and Miles as housemates. You do the math. 

Of course, there are also some historians who think Frank Miles is a possible Jack the Ripper suspect, despite the fact that he fits no part of the Jack the Ripper profile and was in an asylum 120 miles away from Whitechapel at the time of the murders. So...you know what, this entire post should be taken with a grain of salt. 

[jerrytackettca]

Why the Media Went Crazy for Keto Crotch

"Your Meat-Heavy Diet Might Be Giving You 'Keto Crotch,'" an article1 on munchies.vice.com announces, claiming "Doctors have confirmed that changing your diet can create new and interesting smells … down there." "'Keto Crotch' Might Be the Strongest Argument for Eating Carbs Yet," Emily Alford reports on Jezebel.com.2

"'Keto Crotch Is the Seriously Smelly Side Effect of the Popular Diet," the New York Post declares,3 and then goes on to confuse diabetic ketoacidosis — which causes bad breath — with nutritional ketosis achieved through a ketogenic diet. (The two have absolutely nothing to do with each other, as explained in my interview with Dorian Greenow and on ketogenic-diet-resource.com.4) 

Countless other mainstream and not-so-mainstream news sources suddenly carry similar headlines, warning people that going keto can cause stinky discharges that will render you a social outcast — and that eating high-sugar foods like fruit juices and whole grains is the answer to these offensive odors.

Remarkably, an online search for the term "keto crotch" on the day of this writing produces an astounding 2,060,000 results. The question is, where's the proof to support this nonsense?

The Rise of 'Keto Crotch'

From what I can tell, the term "keto crotch" initially appeared on a reddit discussion board back in 2014,5 and again in 2016,6 and many of the articles now discussing this issue appear to be referring back to these brief anecdotes.

Since then, and up until February 24, 2019 — when Delish.com published Korin Miller's article,7 "'Keto Crotch' Might Be a Surprising Side Effect of a Low-Carb Diet," republished that same day on Yahoo Finance with the more eye-catching headline, "'Keto Crotch' Is the Most WTF Side Effect of Going on the Diet"8 — the term "keto crotch" was virtually nonexistent as far as I can tell, after digging through about a dozen search pages.

Miller, who appears to be one of the first journalists to use the catchphrase "keto crotch," is a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in a number of health and women's magazines.

She's also an SEO consultant and founder of the SEO company keepUP Marketing9 that helps websites optimize their search results, and is the managing editor of the StyleCaster Media Group,10,11 a "leading digital media and technology platform for fashion, beauty and lifestyle."12 With these qualifications, it would seem reasonable to assume she has the know-how to make a story go viral. The reason why is a question that has yet to be answered.

The story started spreading the very next day, and by February 28, keto crotch articles were "everywhere." Yet not a single scientific study is brought forth in these articles, and a search of the medical literature turns up nothing. In fact, Miller's February 24 article specifies there's no medical evidence linking nutritional ketosis to foul-smelling private parts.

Who Are Some of the Health Experts Commenting on 'Keto Crotch'?

Articles do, however, cite several health care providers, among them registered dietitian and nutritionist Lisa DeFazio13 — whose commentary appeared in multiple news stories within 48 hours14 — gynecologist Dr. Lauren Streicher and dietitian Andrea Hardy.15

DeFazio offered a link to a 2009 study16 in the Journal of Nutrition when questioned by a Twitter follower about the basis for her concerns, which found bacterial vaginosis was most prevalent among women who had the highest dietary fat intakes.

Streicher's comments, on the other hand, have been far more neutral, noting that dietary changes will temporarily alter the pH in the vaginal area in general, and that there's no medical evidence linking the ketogenic diet with infections or other odor-causing vaginal ailments. Huffington Post writes:17

"'When I got the first call asking about this, I asked if they were making this up to write a story,' Lauren Streicher, medical director of the Northwestern Medicine Center for Sexual Medicine and Menopause and clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, told HuffPost with a laugh.

Streicher said that while it's certainly possible that diet can have an impact on vaginal health, there is no scientific evidence to prove it, and myriad of potential causes for odor to exist."

The problem with the study18 cited by DeFazio is that the women also had high carb intakes, and carbs are primary drivers of infection and yeast. According to the authors of the study:

"[T]he mean [energy intake] exceeded the recommended daily allowance for adult women. Also, the energy, fat, and carbohydrate intakes of the women were considerably higher than those reported in NHANES (1999–2000) for women of comparable age."

In other words, it appears these women were eating a standard American diet high in both fats and carbs, so the results cannot be attributed to a high-fat, low-carb diet such as the ketogenic diet. Not surprisingly, DeFazio recommends eating carbs to lose weight and keep it off, saying "low carb diets don't work long term."19

DeFazio also welcomes media inquiries, stating she's "available for all magazine, newspaper, radio, television and website interviews," and "will accommodate you ASAP, even on short notice."20 She's also a talent with Taylor Talent Services,21 which specializes in "Helping brands, producers and marketers find the face of their products."22

Ketogenic Experts Have Never Heard of 'Keto Crotch'

Ketogenic experts, on the other hand, myself included, have never heard of this complaint before now. In the video above, Dr. Ken Berry,23 a self-proclaimed "keto friendly" medical doctor, shares his views on the topic.

As noted by Berry, carbs are in fact the primary driver of yeast infections, vaginosis, bladder infections and similar ailments, and women who struggle with these conditions who switch to a low-carb diet universally improve. "There's nothing about the ketogenic diet that's going to make you have vaginitis or vaginosis," he says. "It just makes no sense whatsoever."

Kristie Sullivan, Ph.D.,24 who has been on a ketogenic diet since 2013, and has spent years coaching people on the ketogenic diet, shared similar views:25

"In nearly six years of following a strict low-carb diet, and interacting with literally hundreds of thousands via social media and my Facebook groups (over 250,000 people … ), I have interacted in nearly every discussion imaginable regarding personal health and low carb or keto. 

Not once has the issue of foul vaginal odor been part of that conversation. Bad breath or changes in body odor are not uncommon concerns, but those tend to be experienced early in the adaptation phase and are not long term or ongoing issues."

Another ketogenic expert, Megan Ramos, CEO of Intensive Dietary Management in Toronto, Canada, said in an interview:26

"We've treated over 10,000 patients at this point. Approximately 65 percent of them are females. Not once did I have a woman bring up this issue with me.

As a matter of fact, we're seeing the opposite: women have less and less yeast infections and bladder infections, in particular our diabetic patients who normalize their blood sugars, and who stop taking their SGLT2 inhibitors (which is a drug that makes people pee out sugar)."

Where Did Keto Crotch Story Come From?

Considering the complete lack of scientific evidence to support claims that nutritional ketosis can cause vaginal infections, one has to wonder where this story originated from. After all, some arbitrary anecdote simply won't spread like wildfire for no reason, being picked up by major media simultaneously. Yet here are dozens of near-identical stories being featured in different magazines and news outlets on the same day.

Two individuals have stepped forward with an answer. In the video above, Berry explains how, when browsing through several women's magazines in a bookstore that carried the keto crotch story, he noted a curious pattern. Each of them had full-page ads for Weight Watchers, whose stock prices, incidentally, have plummeted by 80 percent since July 2018 — a drop attributed by Weight Watchers to the mass adoption of the ketogenic diet.27 In his video commentary, Berry says:

"Rest assured … we see less and less things that could give you changes in odorous discharge when you eat keto. You don't get more of that, you get much, much less …

So, I think keto crotch is just the latest myth [pushed by] the big publishing houses who get a lot of their ad dollars from Weight Watchers and Biggest Loser and Jenny Craig. They would love for you to stop eating keto …

[I]f they can scare you with the latest scare tactic, which is 'keto crotch,' then they're successful and they're going to get more ad dollars from the big, carbohydrate pushing weight loss programs."

John Zahorik, a self-described "nutrition explorer,"28 has taken his investigation a step further. In a series of Twitter posts (this thread reader29 offers the easiest to read view), Zahorik shows the links between Weight Watchers, its PR company Edelman,30 some of the primary health experts interviewed about keto crotch, as well as some of the authors of these nonsense articles, Shireen Khalil31 among them.

'Keto Crotch' — A Secret Weight Watcher's PR Stunt?

September, 2018, PR Week announced "Weight Watchers turns to Edelman to handle global consumer PR."32 According to PR Week, "Weight Watchers wants to strengthen its reputation, better define and grow 'the Weight Watchers impact,' and increase revenue to more than $2 billion by the end of 2020 …" Other clients of Edelman include pasta giant Barilla,33 and The Coca-Cola Company.34

According to screenshots taken by Zahorik, Khalil, Streicher and DeFazio are all Edelman PR followers on Twitter.35 While that certainly doesn't prove they're working together, it suggests collaboration is a possibility. He also reminds people about the reality that is "native advertising" — marketing designed to look like news.36 As reported by Conently.com in 2015:37

"Native advertising — articles paid for and/or written by a brand that live on a publisher's site — has emerged as a powerful and popular new advertising tool over the past few years.

Media companies like BuzzFeed, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Atlantic have all invested heavily in the creation and distribution of native advertisements on behalf of brands, with many charging over $100,000 for a native advertising campaign."

Indeed, PR companies not only create recognizable ads and native advertising (ads not recognized as such), they also do news placement on behalf of their clients. In many cases, such news stories will feature actual science that happens to benefit the client's position.

In this case, however, the "news" is anything but. It's pure fabrication, and appears to be aimed at implanting a highly memorable mnemonic device38 into the public consciousness. After seeing the term "keto crotch" hundreds of times, you'd be hard-pressed to not instantaneously think of a stinky crotch every time you hear "ketogenic diet."

Already, people have made comments on social media saying the mere possibility of this malodorous condition has dissuaded them from going keto, and there's little doubt this is the exact aim of this fake news campaign.

Zahorik points out the Edelman firm is in fact a master at creating these kinds of viral campaigns, a key part of which is "Leveraging top-tier influencers to integrate a brand's key messaging directly into the content target audiences are consuming" (per tweet from Edelman39).

"The thing that made this campaign different from typical 'branding' efforts is that this was a SECRET effort to DESTROY the brand of the COMPETITION," Zahorik writes.40"What was the source of this alliterative affliction in these 'articles'? Answer: People on the internet were talking!"

Big Business Is Clearly Afraid of Keto Success

While the evidence implicating Edelman and Weight Watchers in the creation of this "keto crotch" myth is still circumstantial, the timing sure seems suspiciously convenient. The very same day the keto crotch myth exploded on the internet (February 28), CNN Business reported on Weight Watchers' financial demise, stating:41

 "CEO Mindy Grossman attributed the problem to the keto diet, a popular eating regimen that makes bread and other carbs taboo. She said during a call with analysts … that keto is 'becoming a cultural meme' and she even called it a 'keto surge.'"

Let's face it, the media is owned by industry, and leveraging of social media influencers can make fake news and unsubstantiated claims like this spread like wildfire. While there's no evidence to support this obnoxious story, there's an incredible amount of published literature showing the health benefits of a ketogenic diet.

For example, ketones have a biological impact similar to that of fasting,42 including accelerated autophagy and mitophagy, improved glucose metabolism, reduced inflammation, clearing out malfunctioning immune cells,43 and reduced IGF-1 (one of the factors that regulate growth pathways and growth genes and is a major player in accelerated aging and cellular/intracellular regeneration and rejuvenation).

Ketogenic Diet Basics

I strongly believe adopting a cyclical ketogenic diet — which means after you have achieved metabolic flexibility, you cycle in and out of eating foods high in healthy fats, with moderate protein and low net carbs (think nonfiber carbs) — can benefit most people. It's very effective for weight loss, and as discussed earlier, works with your body in such a way as to improve regeneration and renewal.

Maintaining net carb (total carbs minus fiber) intake at or below 50 grams allows you to enter into nutritional ketosis (the metabolic state associated with an increased production of ketones in your liver, which is the biological reflection of being able to burn fat). However, we are all different in how we respond to foods, so expect this amount to vary from person to person.

Some people can be in a full fat-burning state with full ketosis at a level of nonfiber carbs that's higher than 50 grams, sometimes even as high as 70 or 80 grams. However, if you're insulin resistant or have Type 2 diabetes, you may need to limit your net carbs to as little as 20 or 30 grams per day.

To find your personal carb target, it's important to measure not just your blood glucose but also your ketones. One of the most accurate and least expensive ketone measuring devices on the market right now is Keto Mojo. This will give you an objective measure of whether or not you're truly in ketosis, rather than just relying on counting the grams of carbohydrates you consume.

Using a nutrient tracker will radically improve your ability to understand your ketogenic diet nutrient targets and assess the nutrient value of your food choices. There are a number of trackers available, but my first choice is Cronometer.com/Mercola. That's my revision of the basic Cronometer tracker, and it's already set to default to macronutrient levels that will support nutritional ketosis.

Once you've confirmed that you're in ketosis, start the cycling procedure described earlier, where you add in higher net carbs and protein once or twice a week, ideally on days you're strength training. Intermittent fasting works very well with a ketogenic diet as well, and can further speed up and optimize your results. You can learn more about the benefits of a ketogenic diet from my books, "Fat for Fuel," and "Ketofast."

>>>>> Click Here <<<<<

from http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2019/03/18/keto-crotch.aspx

source http://niapurenaturecom.weebly.com/blog/why-the-media-went-crazy-for-keto-crotch

[paullassiterca]

Why the Media Went Crazy for Keto Crotch

“Your Meat-Heavy Diet Might Be Giving You ‘Keto Crotch,’” an article1 on munchies.vice.com announces, claiming “Doctors have confirmed that changing your diet can create new and interesting smells … down there.” “'Keto Crotch’ Might Be the Strongest Argument for Eating Carbs Yet,” Emily Alford reports on Jezebel.com.2

“'Keto Crotch Is the Seriously Smelly Side Effect of the Popular Diet,” the New York Post declares,3 and then goes on to confuse diabetic ketoacidosis — which causes bad breath — with nutritional ketosis achieved through a ketogenic diet. (The two have absolutely nothing to do with each other, as explained in my interview with Dorian Greenow and on ketogenic-diet-resource.com.4) 

Countless other mainstream and not-so-mainstream news sources suddenly carry similar headlines, warning people that going keto can cause stinky discharges that will render you a social outcast — and that eating high-sugar foods like fruit juices and whole grains is the answer to these offensive odors.

Remarkably, an online search for the term “keto crotch” on the day of this writing produces an astounding 2,060,000 results. The question is, where’s the proof to support this nonsense?

The Rise of 'Keto Crotch’

From what I can tell, the term “keto crotch” initially appeared on a reddit discussion board back in 2014,5 and again in 2016,6 and many of the articles now discussing this issue appear to be referring back to these brief anecdotes.

Since then, and up until February 24, 2019 — when Delish.com published Korin Miller’s article,7 “'Keto Crotch’ Might Be a Surprising Side Effect of a Low-Carb Diet,” republished that same day on Yahoo Finance with the more eye-catching headline, “'Keto Crotch’ Is the Most WTF Side Effect of Going on the Diet”8 — the term “keto crotch” was virtually nonexistent as far as I can tell, after digging through about a dozen search pages.

Miller, who appears to be one of the first journalists to use the catchphrase “keto crotch,” is a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in a number of health and women’s magazines.

She’s also an SEO consultant and founder of the SEO company keepUP Marketing9 that helps websites optimize their search results, and is the managing editor of the StyleCaster Media Group,10,11 a “leading digital media and technology platform for fashion, beauty and lifestyle.”12 With these qualifications, it would seem reasonable to assume she has the know-how to make a story go viral. The reason why is a question that has yet to be answered.

The story started spreading the very next day, and by February 28, keto crotch articles were “everywhere.” Yet not a single scientific study is brought forth in these articles, and a search of the medical literature turns up nothing. In fact, Miller’s February 24 article specifies there’s no medical evidence linking nutritional ketosis to foul-smelling private parts.

Who Are Some of the Health Experts Commenting on 'Keto Crotch’?

Articles do, however, cite several health care providers, among them registered dietitian and nutritionist Lisa DeFazio13 — whose commentary appeared in multiple news stories within 48 hours14 — gynecologist Dr. Lauren Streicher and dietitian Andrea Hardy.15

DeFazio offered a link to a 2009 study16 in the Journal of Nutrition when questioned by a Twitter follower about the basis for her concerns, which found bacterial vaginosis was most prevalent among women who had the highest dietary fat intakes.

Streicher’s comments, on the other hand, have been far more neutral, noting that dietary changes will temporarily alter the pH in the vaginal area in general, and that there’s no medical evidence linking the ketogenic diet with infections or other odor-causing vaginal ailments. Huffington Post writes:17

“'When I got the first call asking about this, I asked if they were making this up to write a story,' Lauren Streicher, medical director of the Northwestern Medicine Center for Sexual Medicine and Menopause and clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, told HuffPost with a laugh.

Streicher said that while it’s certainly possible that diet can have an impact on vaginal health, there is no scientific evidence to prove it, and myriad of potential causes for odor to exist.”

The problem with the study18 cited by DeFazio is that the women also had high carb intakes, and carbs are primary drivers of infection and yeast. According to the authors of the study:

“[T]he mean [energy intake] exceeded the recommended daily allowance for adult women. Also, the energy, fat, and carbohydrate intakes of the women were considerably higher than those reported in NHANES (1999–2000) for women of comparable age.”

In other words, it appears these women were eating a standard American diet high in both fats and carbs, so the results cannot be attributed to a high-fat, low-carb diet such as the ketogenic diet. Not surprisingly, DeFazio recommends eating carbs to lose weight and keep it off, saying “low carb diets don’t work long term.”19

DeFazio also welcomes media inquiries, stating she’s “available for all magazine, newspaper, radio, television and website interviews,” and “will accommodate you ASAP, even on short notice.”20 She’s also a talent with Taylor Talent Services,21 which specializes in “Helping brands, producers and marketers find the face of their products.”22

Ketogenic Experts Have Never Heard of 'Keto Crotch’

Ketogenic experts, on the other hand, myself included, have never heard of this complaint before now. In the video above, Dr. Ken Berry,23 a self-proclaimed “keto friendly” medical doctor, shares his views on the topic.

As noted by Berry, carbs are in fact the primary driver of yeast infections, vaginosis, bladder infections and similar ailments, and women who struggle with these conditions who switch to a low-carb diet universally improve. “There’s nothing about the ketogenic diet that’s going to make you have vaginitis or vaginosis,” he says. “It just makes no sense whatsoever.”

Kristie Sullivan, Ph.D.,24 who has been on a ketogenic diet since 2013, and has spent years coaching people on the ketogenic diet, shared similar views:25

“In nearly six years of following a strict low-carb diet, and interacting with literally hundreds of thousands via social media and my Facebook groups (over 250,000 people … ), I have interacted in nearly every discussion imaginable regarding personal health and low carb or keto. 

Not once has the issue of foul vaginal odor been part of that conversation. Bad breath or changes in body odor are not uncommon concerns, but those tend to be experienced early in the adaptation phase and are not long term or ongoing issues.”

Another ketogenic expert, Megan Ramos, CEO of Intensive Dietary Management in Toronto, Canada, said in an interview:26

“We’ve treated over 10,000 patients at this point. Approximately 65 percent of them are females. Not once did I have a woman bring up this issue with me.

As a matter of fact, we’re seeing the opposite: women have less and less yeast infections and bladder infections, in particular our diabetic patients who normalize their blood sugars, and who stop taking their SGLT2 inhibitors (which is a drug that makes people pee out sugar).”

Where Did Keto Crotch Story Come From?

Considering the complete lack of scientific evidence to support claims that nutritional ketosis can cause vaginal infections, one has to wonder where this story originated from. After all, some arbitrary anecdote simply won’t spread like wildfire for no reason, being picked up by major media simultaneously. Yet here are dozens of near-identical stories being featured in different magazines and news outlets on the same day.

Two individuals have stepped forward with an answer. In the video above, Berry explains how, when browsing through several women’s magazines in a bookstore that carried the keto crotch story, he noted a curious pattern. Each of them had full-page ads for Weight Watchers, whose stock prices, incidentally, have plummeted by 80 percent since July 2018 — a drop attributed by Weight Watchers to the mass adoption of the ketogenic diet.27 In his video commentary, Berry says:

“Rest assured … we see less and less things that could give you changes in odorous discharge when you eat keto. You don’t get more of that, you get much, much less …

So, I think keto crotch is just the latest myth [pushed by] the big publishing houses who get a lot of their ad dollars from Weight Watchers and Biggest Loser and Jenny Craig. They would love for you to stop eating keto …

[I]f they can scare you with the latest scare tactic, which is 'keto crotch,’ then they’re successful and they’re going to get more ad dollars from the big, carbohydrate pushing weight loss programs.”

John Zahorik, a self-described “nutrition explorer,”28 has taken his investigation a step further. In a series of Twitter posts (this thread reader29 offers the easiest to read view), Zahorik shows the links between Weight Watchers, its PR company Edelman,30 some of the primary health experts interviewed about keto crotch, as well as some of the authors of these nonsense articles, Shireen Khalil31 among them.

'Keto Crotch’ — A Secret Weight Watcher’s PR Stunt?

September, 2018, PR Week announced “Weight Watchers turns to Edelman to handle global consumer PR.”32 According to PR Week, “Weight Watchers wants to strengthen its reputation, better define and grow 'the Weight Watchers impact,’ and increase revenue to more than $2 billion by the end of 2020 …” Other clients of Edelman include pasta giant Barilla,33 and The Coca-Cola Company.34

According to screenshots taken by Zahorik, Khalil, Streicher and DeFazio are all Edelman PR followers on Twitter.35 While that certainly doesn’t prove they’re working together, it suggests collaboration is a possibility. He also reminds people about the reality that is “native advertising” — marketing designed to look like news.36 As reported by Conently.com in 2015:37

“Native advertising — articles paid for and/or written by a brand that live on a publisher’s site — has emerged as a powerful and popular new advertising tool over the past few years.

Media companies like BuzzFeed, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Atlantic have all invested heavily in the creation and distribution of native advertisements on behalf of brands, with many charging over $100,000 for a native advertising campaign.”

Indeed, PR companies not only create recognizable ads and native advertising (ads not recognized as such), they also do news placement on behalf of their clients. In many cases, such news stories will feature actual science that happens to benefit the client’s position.

In this case, however, the “news” is anything but. It’s pure fabrication, and appears to be aimed at implanting a highly memorable mnemonic device38 into the public consciousness. After seeing the term “keto crotch” hundreds of times, you’d be hard-pressed to not instantaneously think of a stinky crotch every time you hear “ketogenic diet.”

Already, people have made comments on social media saying the mere possibility of this malodorous condition has dissuaded them from going keto, and there’s little doubt this is the exact aim of this fake news campaign.

Zahorik points out the Edelman firm is in fact a master at creating these kinds of viral campaigns, a key part of which is “Leveraging top-tier influencers to integrate a brand’s key messaging directly into the content target audiences are consuming” (per tweet from Edelman39).

“The thing that made this campaign different from typical 'branding’ efforts is that this was a SECRET effort to DESTROY the brand of the COMPETITION,” Zahorik writes.40“What was the source of this alliterative affliction in these 'articles’? Answer: People on the internet were talking!”

Big Business Is Clearly Afraid of Keto Success

While the evidence implicating Edelman and Weight Watchers in the creation of this “keto crotch” myth is still circumstantial, the timing sure seems suspiciously convenient. The very same day the keto crotch myth exploded on the internet (February 28), CNN Business reported on Weight Watchers’ financial demise, stating:41

 "CEO Mindy Grossman attributed the problem to the keto diet, a popular eating regimen that makes bread and other carbs taboo. She said during a call with analysts … that keto is 'becoming a cultural meme’ and she even called it a 'keto surge.’“

Let’s face it, the media is owned by industry, and leveraging of social media influencers can make fake news and unsubstantiated claims like this spread like wildfire. While there’s no evidence to support this obnoxious story, there’s an incredible amount of published literature showing the health benefits of a ketogenic diet.

For example, ketones have a biological impact similar to that of fasting,42 including accelerated autophagy and mitophagy, improved glucose metabolism, reduced inflammation, clearing out malfunctioning immune cells,43 and reduced IGF-1 (one of the factors that regulate growth pathways and growth genes and is a major player in accelerated aging and cellular/intracellular regeneration and rejuvenation).

Ketogenic Diet Basics

I strongly believe adopting a cyclical ketogenic diet — which means after you have achieved metabolic flexibility, you cycle in and out of eating foods high in healthy fats, with moderate protein and low net carbs (think nonfiber carbs) — can benefit most people. It’s very effective for weight loss, and as discussed earlier, works with your body in such a way as to improve regeneration and renewal.

Maintaining net carb (total carbs minus fiber) intake at or below 50 grams allows you to enter into nutritional ketosis (the metabolic state associated with an increased production of ketones in your liver, which is the biological reflection of being able to burn fat). However, we are all different in how we respond to foods, so expect this amount to vary from person to person.

Some people can be in a full fat-burning state with full ketosis at a level of nonfiber carbs that’s higher than 50 grams, sometimes even as high as 70 or 80 grams. However, if you’re insulin resistant or have Type 2 diabetes, you may need to limit your net carbs to as little as 20 or 30 grams per day.

To find your personal carb target, it’s important to measure not just your blood glucose but also your ketones. One of the most accurate and least expensive ketone measuring devices on the market right now is Keto Mojo. This will give you an objective measure of whether or not you’re truly in ketosis, rather than just relying on counting the grams of carbohydrates you consume.

Using a nutrient tracker will radically improve your ability to understand your ketogenic diet nutrient targets and assess the nutrient value of your food choices. There are a number of trackers available, but my first choice is Cronometer.com/Mercola. That’s my revision of the basic Cronometer tracker, and it’s already set to default to macronutrient levels that will support nutritional ketosis.

Once you’ve confirmed that you’re in ketosis, start the cycling procedure described earlier, where you add in higher net carbs and protein once or twice a week, ideally on days you’re strength training. Intermittent fasting works very well with a ketogenic diet as well, and can further speed up and optimize your results. You can learn more about the benefits of a ketogenic diet from my books, ”Fat for Fuel,“ and ”Ketofast.“

>>>>> Click Here <<<<<

from Articles http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2019/03/18/keto-crotch.aspx source https://niapurenaturecom.tumblr.com/post/183534844866

[saltzshaker]

A year after Serial, where do podcasts stand?

Pop Up Archive newsletter, Dec 15, 2015

On December 7, The Tow Center of Digital Journalism released the first ever Guide to Podcasting. The Guide, written by Vanessa Quirk, integrated perspectives from a group of 29 industry leaders that ranged from Steve Wilson from the Podcasts team at Apple to indie podcasters like Aaron Mahnke, creator of Lore Podcast.

Coming in at over 15,000 words (plus a glossary and citations), the guide offers much to sift through when it comes to the still nascent business of podcasting. Read what struck us as the most compelling takeaways from the report.

The unique promise of podcasts within media and advertising 

Quirk points out the ways in which podcasting is not just an awkward cousin to radio, but taps into key trends relevant to the future of all media. As publishers scramble to adapt their content for mobile consumption, the majority of podcast listening already occurs on mobile devices — a full 63% of Libsyn podcast listening occurred on smartphones in 2014, with room to grow as Android makes podcasts more accessible by including them in an upcoming release of Google Play.

The other trend is audio advertising. Between traffic-skewing bots and ad-blocker technology, the display ads that publishers of written content depend on are vulnerable sources of revenue in today's media landscape. In contrast, since podcast ads are heard, not seen, those same ad-blockers don't (yet?) apply. Further, since many ads — most notably Gimlet Media's — are host-read, and produced in-house, they're often perceived as being more engaging and persuasive to audiences, and thus more valuable to advertisers.

Different shows operate with different business philosophies

Quirk identifies three different "operating philosophies" of podcast shows, each with different goals:  

"Those that follow a 'universal' philosophy hope to get their podcasts heard by as many people as possible (and thus logically rely on advertising as an important revenue stream). Examples include: This American Life, New York Public Radio, Intelligence Squared

Those that follow a 'premium' model attempt to convert listeners into recurring, loyal patrons via bonus offerings. Examples include: Gimlet Media, Earwolf (Howl), Slate (Slate Plus), 99% Invisible

Those that follow a 'value-added' model use their podcasts as a means of enhancing both the consumer experience and the brand (and so revenue is not the primary goal). Examples include: BuzzFeed, Audible, Panoply (podcasts add value to publishing partners). "

Podcasts are still experimenting with different revenue streams

The report also identifies a number of sources of revenue for podcasts. These sources include direct support — i.e. listener donations and pledge drive engagement — and foundation support, such as the Knight Foundation's investment in the Radiotopia network. Some shows, like The Heart and Welcome to Night Vale (pictured left), are also turning to live events for extra revenue.

Podcasting companies like Midroll and Gimlet are also experimenting with membership models that offer extra content under paid subscription plans. Quirk points to the audiobook platform Audible as the one company that is entirely subscription-based. The biggest money-makers for podcasts are still advertising and sponsorship. Podcasts from 99% Invisible to WTF with Marc Maron read direct-response ads during their podcasts, encouraging users to enter promo codes. There's more business to be had attracting big brand advertisers to podcasting, such as the Ford ads on Gimlet show StartUp. However, these kinds of advertisers tend to want fine-grained metrics on who their ad is reaching: metrics that podcasting arguably can't yet provide.

Podcast metrics: good enough or woefully limited?

This question matters because the key revenue stream supporting podcasts is advertising. Can better data help make podcasts a better sell to advertisers? According to Quirk, two camps have emerged:

"One maintains that the tools of radio (surveys, extrapolations, etc.) are sufficient for podcasting measurement. The other wishes to push podcasting technology far enough to exploit the medium’s full digital potential—to the point that everything is “point to point measured,” in the words of Sarah van Mosel." Others, like Matt Lieber of Gimlet Media, think that what podcasting needs is a third party to oversee podcast data. Similar to how Nielsen ratings are used to measure television viewership, this would provide an industry standard that would have more legitimacy to advertisers.

Does podcasting have a branding problem?

More than 10 years after its creation, why do some still think of podcasting as being in an "early adopter phase?" Clea Conner Chang, the director of marketing for Intelligence Squared, suggests that it's not just the technology that people are slow to adopt, but the podcast brand:

People say, 'What’s a podcast? How do I get a podcast?' It has an inherent branding problem. … It’s just radio on demand. You can hear your favorite show any time, and they just don’t realize how it works yet, how convenient it is. It wasn’t until a couple of years ago that streaming video became something with mass appeal, and this is streaming audio. It still hasn’t made that association. … Podcasting is on this precipice of being something understood by the masses—it’s not there yet.

Reaching the masses means reaching all age groups, which is still a struggle for podcasting: "A Midroll white paper shows that 67 percent of podcast listeners are 18–34 (to compare, only 30.2 percent of radio listeners fall in this demographic).The podcasting audience skews toward the under-40s, a generation for whom the concept of on-demand content makes sense."

The growth of podcasts remains slow and steady

For all of the podcast buzz of the last year, it turns out that the wildly popular Serial podcast wasn't a magic bullet to podcast adoption, which continues to grow slowly and steadily — with the percent of the US population who've listened to a podcast rising from 30% in 2014 to 33% in 2015.

As Quirk writes: "While Serial generated much media attention, it did not prompt a spike in podcast audience growth, which has remained steady for years. However, Serial did result in increased interest from advertisers and publishers looking to enter this space."

Read the full Guide to Podcasting from the Tow Center