#I’m back with another detailed deep dive analyzing shit

[loveyourownsmiilee]

Hints That Buddie Is Going Canon!!

Ok after last nights wonderful episode, I went back and reread every single interview Oliver and KR have given since the start of 6b and oh gosh, I think they’ve been hinting at Buddie this entire time. Here are some important takeaways from Oliver and KR!!

“This is all about Buck learning who he is and embracing that he’s enough as he is.”—literally the one person who always supports and embraces Buck for who he is has been Eddie. We saw that last night as well. We saw with the whole “I know you did” in 4.04. Now it’s about Buck learning who he is and maybe uncovering things about himself that he hasn’t before. That’s not even mentioning Eddie’s and Buck’s parallels of wanting to be enough for someone.

“I think the main thing for him is that anybody that he is to become romantically entwined with has to meet him where he is.”—Who literally met Buck at the door yesterday when he was trying to escape everyone? Oh yeah, Eddie. Not only that, but Eddie is the one person who wouldn’t have a problem in meeting Buck where he is in his life and being completely fine to start up a relationship. He’s so supportive and understanding of Buck and his decisions. It’ll be the only reasonable partner for him.

“He’s becoming very settled in himself, and if that person that he ends up partnering with isn’t ok with that, then they’re just not the right person.”— Love the gender neutral terms he always uses and we know Buck’s partner in the show is Eddie. He also was very settled on Eddie’s couch in last nights episode when he fell asleep so comfortably. Eddie opened his home to him and accepted what he needed without pushing for more. It was his own way of proving to Buck that he’s ok with everything Buck throws his way. He’s accepting of it and I think we’ll see more of that in upcoming episodes.

“He’s going to be comfortable with who he is.” —something about this seems like he’s going to come to some realizations about himself and be completely ok with that.

“The show is certainly gonna make some experimental choices going forward.” —Experimental choices?!? We all know people who are curious or questioning something about themselves, such as their sexuality, that they tend to experiment and see what results it yields. So I think it’s possible we’ll see some sort of experimental choices when it comes to Buck and Eddie and their relationship.

“But then I think following the struggle, there’s potential for peace and for him to feel a little more grounded.” —This was in midst of his character’s recovery process. We saw Buck struggle last episode but when did he feel most grounded? When he was in Eddie’s presence. Eddie grounds Buck and we even got that distinct parallel with Bobby and Athena in the same episode. Need I say more?

“He is in his early 30s, and he’s figuring things out about himself and using them as chances to upgrade who he believes he is.” —Figuring things out? About himself? If that’s not queer coded then idk what it is. The man is gonna figure out things about himself, such as possible feelings for his male best friend and use that as a chance to better himself. So that he can be a better version of himself and be ready for that potential next step with Eddie.

“So him being in a position of such peril, I think is really going to affect them, and is really going to bring out all kinds of emotions, and even the characters that we don’t necessarily get to see that emotional side of so much.” —This can only be about Eddie because we’ve seen all the other characters show their emotions when it comes to other things. The one person who really struggled with showing his emotions has been Eddie. We saw him yelling for Buck and running up to save him. We even got him struggling to keep it together while Buck was in a coma.

“I really like something that we're in the middle of right now. I think the finale is a really fantastic episode. I think it's really, really high octane but really offers a lot in terms of moving these characters forward and putting them in good places.”— There’s been a lot of talk from Oliver and KR about the finale. The fact that Oliver emphasizes the he really, really likes the finale means something great is going to come out of it. Especially considering how he mentions “moving these characters forward”. Like that’s all meant to tease that his character will be in a good enough place in the end right? And he’ll be moving forward. Now let’s look at everything else that’s been said.

“I think the finale is something that people are really going to respond to.”—Ok so he mentions how people are going to respond to the finale and I don’t think this is in a negative context whatsoever. So whatever does happen is going to get a rise (in a good way) out of us.

“I’ve seen some speculation that it might be in a romantic sense. I’m very happy to be clear on that, but it’s not and in fact, I would say it’s very much the opposite of that…He’s very much not pleased to see her.”—We know big things are happening in the finale and that Lucy will be back. He immediately and happily shuts down any “love interest” talk and implies that the reason he sees her may have something to do with someone else. We know from BTS she’s an air medic now. So whatever happens in the finale has to be connected to her reappearance. Well if a certain someone is in danger and they need Lucy’s help to get them out, it could be a reason as to why he’s not too pleased to see her.

“There will be a new couch. And spoiler alert, the new couch might be in some danger before the season is over.”—This is from KR and like sure it can be about anyone m, but let’s really look at what we already know. Buck went to Eddie’s house and safely fell asleep on Eddie’s couch. We know Buck has a new uncomfortable couch but it’s only temporary. We’ve also gotten tons of BTS for the finale and Eddie has been missing for a good chunk of it. I don’t think it makes sense to think there’ll be a new love interest who is this metaphorical couch, who will be in danger before the season ends. The only thing that makes sense is that Eddie is the couch who’ll be in danger.

“I love that the fans have picked up on the symbolism of the couch. Buck is attached to this symbolism of couches being related to relationships, and that's not something that's actually going away anytime soon. Up until Buck's very last scene of the season, we'll see that symbolism at play.”—Oliver once again being one with the fandom and recognizing what we all know. This was done after the couch scene at Eddie’s house and I don’t believe for one moment he would’ve said all of this when he knew that deliberate choice of having Buck on Eddie’s couch existed. This further confirms thet there’ll be no other love interest and that Eddie is the couch in question here. So with everything we know that’s been said about the couch, it’s easy to connect the dots and come to the same conclusion which is that Eddie will be in some kind of danger in the finale. Not only that, but according to Oliver, Buck will be thinking about what that metaphor means to him and we’ll see it all unfold as the season progresses. That last sentence tells me that the last scene we get of Buck will be him accepting who his couch has been this entire time. Which means we’re most likely gonna get a final scene of Buck on Eddie’s couch, making it very clear where their storylines are heading and that’s in a romantic direction.

“Building towards a finale we've been planning since the beginning of the season."—KR literally mentions that the finale has been something they’ve been planning since before the season. What was the very first episode we saw??? The Buckley-Diaz family dinner scene right?? And the first mention of the couch metaphor?! With everything else that’s happened since the beginning of this season, it makes sense that they’ve known from the beginning how their storylines were gonna end by the finale and that’s with us all knowing that Buck and Eddie are heading towards the romantic relationship we’ve all been waiting for year for. These next few episodes leading up to the finale will be crucial to the final outcome and I can’t wait to see how they develop their relationship towards one of romance.

“Eddie is going to start dipping his toe back in the dating waters. We just wanted to have a little bit of fun with it, and he goes out on a date or two and makes various attempts at finding the person that he wants to date seriously, and he has mixed results.”— I wanted to include this too because KR could’ve worded this in numerous ways but she chose to say “mixed results”. I’m firm in my belief that Eddie has to know, at least to some extent, that he has feelings for Buck. So maybe he tries some random dates and comes to the conclusion that he rather be at home or with Buck. And we have that damn poker scene to still look forward to so like maybe he accidentally ends up on a date with Buck and realizes how much better it went compared to the others. The word choice is so loud and compared with everything else, everything just adds up together.

I mean, there’s just a lot that’s being said that really does hint at Buddie going canon. Now whether we get actual love confessions or feelings realization or what, I don’t know. But I do know come the finale, we will all be left in certain terms that Buddie will be going the romantic direction come next season. I am really excited to go on this journey with them because I just know it’ll all be so worth it in the end!

#buddie #911 spoilers #911 speculation #oliver stark #jujus having thoughts #I’m back with another detailed deep dive analyzing shit #it is what it is #I can’t help it #long post #sorry y’all #911 on fox

[setsuntamew]

So, Persona 5 Royal, huh?

Full disclosure: I had gotten about halfway through November on Wednesday and finished it out Saturday night, which took uhhh about 65-70 hours? Some of that was sitting there waiting for the PS4 controller to recharge or listening to music in the Thieves Den while eating, but I still feel like I need to own up to how extremely bad I am at making good decisions with my life XD

MOVING ON, THOUGH, HOLY SHIT. P5 was a very good game, but Royal’s additions & changes made it incredible. I like the ending way more; I think it’s more emotionally fulfilling and meaningful, especially with everyone’s more defined future plans. Definitely felt like everyone had more growth in the end!! Which is something I’d always thought P5 was lacking.

Snip snip for spoilers and the fact that this post ended up being too damn long, oops! the last third is basically Akechi feels and analyzing his ending, so......yeah XD

Part of why I plowed through SO much of Royal in so little time is....Akechi XD Like okay, this is my stupid fandom blog, I can be excited about him all I want!!! I got to Sae’s Palace and just....I couldn’t put it down. @dragonofeternal​ and I ordered an embarrassing amount of takeout instead of cooking because we just had to see how everything with Maruki and the third semester was gonna go down. I’d already been dying along the way because Akechi’s confidant dates are so good, I just. Fuck!!!

Also, look, for the entirity of Shido’s boss fight and the depths of Mementos/Yaldabaoth/etc, we’d look at each other every few minutes and just be like AKECHI SHOULD BE HERE WITH US, HE DESERVES TO GET HIS VENGEANCE ON HIS SHITTY DAD AND FORCED DESTINY!!!!!

December 24th had to be the longest god damn day in Akira’s life because like. Final exam grades are posted in the morning! He goes to school and then dives into hell, crawls his way back out, briefly dies by fading from human cognition, fights an actual fucking god, and then....ends up dissociating in Shibuya until Sae shows up and is like “oh hey thanks for everything you did, please sign up for being arrested now.” And while he’s still reeling from that, Akechi walks up to take his place, like some kind of bullshit knight in shining armor schtick, and leaves no room for conversation.

AND THEN WE HAVE TO GO ON A DATE

I romanced Hifumi this time around, because I wanted Akria to bang a girl who is just so incredibly out of his league, but....it’s not necessarily that I forgot I was dating someone, more that it had been *so many hours of plot* that I was emotionally exhausted. Like, Hifumi texted me and I was just like. Right. RIGHT. It’s still Christmas Eve, somehow. I was at *school* this morning. The whole world merged with Mementos briefly in the middle of this, Akechi is somehow alive, and I guess I’m going on a date now????

I do appreciate how many “god I’m just dissociating my way through this” conversation options there were for the date, tbh. I feel bad though, I really like Hifumi, but I feel like Akira is not giving a date his full emotional attention at that specific time. It feels a bit like emotional whiplash, more so than I remember it being in P5? Maybe it’s because I played it 4 years ago and there wasn’t the added emotional weight of Akechi’s reappearance, but it was just like....a lot, in Royal.

AND THEN THE NEW YEAR HAPPENED. I’d been spoiled on large parts of the third semester, mostly because Royal’s been out for a year already and I’m too curious for my own good. I’d also somehow lied to myself, saying I didn’t have time to play another Persona game right now, and yet here I am, 171 hours of game play within exactly a month, kicking myself for not knowing how deep in Persona hell I would get XD

Which is to say, as soon as the new year started, it felt I was drowning in anxiety. I knew something was wrong, I knew they were in a false reality, but knowing that sure as fuck didn’t make it easier to go through. If anything, it was somehow worse, knowing that it was all gonna come crumbling down, but I didn’t yet know the exact details, only the broad strokes of it. Just. Every time someone talked about something that was wrong, my heart would clench.

God, I’m so fucking tired, I pulled an all-nighter on Friday so I could get through Royal before having to work on Sunday, and I am feeling it right now. Life tips: don’t do what I do XD

Every moment with Akechi felt like borrowed time, at least for me, because I knew what was coming. I spent so much time in Mementos with him; I ended up putting just him and Akira in my party and plowing through everything, including trouncing the Reaper over and over just for the hell of it. I got his ultimate weapons, I spent so many nights in the jazz club with him that he ran out of dialogue options, and I still took him back for more. I accidentally failed to EVER trigger Sumire’s Showtime because every fight was just Akira and Akechi against the world, because fuck it, I’m playing this for fun!! If I want to play with them in stupid costumes and no one else in the party, I’m gonna. Royal did such an incredible job giving Akechi more depth and development: it was all I could hope for, and it made it that much fucking worse to know what was in store for him.

Somehow, I thought it would be harder for me to make the decision to refuse Maruki’s deal, since fuck, fuck what I wouldn’t give for Akechi to be alive???? But I barely hesitated, only really stopping because I had to emotionally brace myself for it, because a reality where he can’t carve out his own fate would be a disrespect to everything their relationship is built on.

I have a whole shit ton of feelings about post-beating Maruki but they’re basically all Akechi related meta so somehow they ended up at the end of this post, I’m sorry XD

I understand that they had to keep the going to jail bit because 1) Akechi didn’t turn himself in, Akira did and 2) it leads to the final events of the game, but let me just say....the emotional roller coaster of fighting Maruki, almost failing multiple times, waking up in jail, the Phantom Thieves & friends getting Akira out of jail, celebrating that, and then getting thrown into Valentines Day was a LOT for my heart to take. Once again, didn’t forget I had a girlfriend, just got too invested in the plot to really be thinking about her. It’s less than two weeks after the fight with Maruki and somehow, everything is supposed to be okay????

The scene with everyone talking about their future plans is such good character growth, though. Everyone feels like they’ve truly grown and are making decisions that, even though they might be painful or hard at times, are ultimately very important to them. It’s a really good contrast to the “almost everyone goes to Shujin and they all stay in Tokyo forever without doing anything for themselves” Maruki’s perfect reality bad end.

Standing in the Underground Mall on White Day, being told I had to get flowers but finally being able to have control of Akira again was....so bittersweet. The fact that the location of the date is the aquarium is a low fucking blow, and I almost threw the controller across the room I was so upset. Like. THE AQUARIUM IS UNLOCKED BECAUSE AKECHI HAS TICKETS HOW FUCKING DARE SOJIRO SUGGEST IT LIKE MY HEART ISN’T STILL ACHING????? God, speaking of that: The fucking god damn Featherman video game tore my heart out because I ended up playing it WHILE WORKING ON SHIDO’S PALACE and I cried a ton about Gray Pigeon because of course they had to dig the emotional knife in even deeper!! Just fuck me up, it’s fine, I’m just dying!!!!!!!!!!!!

I ended up scrolling through his texts to find the group chats that still had Akechi in them, and fuck, it was a LOT. Like. Maybe it’s because I’m too invested in the two of them, but it was probably the worst emotional whiplash of the whole game. Like, how am I supposed to go play happy with anyone while staring at texts from a reality built of lies? It wasn’t real but the proof lives on in his phone and his heart, and I’m still fucked up over it.

HOWEVER. FUCKING. I SPENT LIKE HALF AN HOUR BEING EMOTIONALLY COMPROMISED ABOUT ALL THIS AND THEN DISCOVERED THE BASTARD STILL HAD ALL HIS EQUIPMENT, INCLUDING THE ULTIMATE MALE ARMOR!!! He returned his shit after Sae’s Palace even though he thought Akira was dead, but this time it didn’t get fucking returned to my inventory, so he must have fucking run off with all his shit!!!!!!! Why the hell did none of it get returned if he was never alive in the true reality? Like I know it'll be returned for a new game+ but I like to nitpick game mechanics for story reasons, because one of the things I love most about video games is the experience of them as another layer to the story. The texts from the third semester shouldn’t exist anymore, since they never really existed, but there they are. Akechi insisted that he has a gap in his memory after Shido’s Palace up until seeing Akira on Christmas Eve, but who can say that wasn’t related to Maruki tampering with reality or some other Persona-related reason?

I mean. I got the full and complete True Ending; I saw him in the train station. If that’s not Akechi, then who the fuck is it? Atlus made sure to put the work in to make him a part of not just the main story but also, especially, the third semester, and for what....to have his final time on screen be as the butt of the joke, squished underneath everyone in the Mona-copter? As much as it hurts, his end in Shido’s Palace matters; it fits his character and he gets to go out fighting- carving his own path, really. In Royal, barring the tiny glimpse of someone who’s probably him in the train station, the last we see of him is when he watches Joker let go of the rope to finish off Maruki. I know we got the heart to heart where Akira agrees to reject Maruki’s deal and Akechi insists that he’d rather be dead than live in a false reality, but.....no one even says goodbye to him. It’s tragic, it’s painfully lonely, but it doesn’t feel right for such a major character.

Also, as undignified as it is, for the first time ever, Akechi looks like he actually belongs in the Phantom Thieves in that final moment. He’s never been the butt of their jokes before; they always kept him at arms’ reach and he took himself too seriously to be included, but for that brief moment, it really felt like he was part of their group. He stopped lying about himself for their last month together, and so even if they don’t all like him, they can make that decision based on the truth, instead of layers of lies. His death is all the more tragic for this; a life cut short just when he’s finally finding a place he belongs. But his death was already painful; why make it so, so much worse?

Final thing: I’m gonna be spending a ton of time in the Thieves Den trying to find Akechi’s opinions on everything, but also....hey. HEY. What do those six stars that Jose (probably?) painted on the wall mean? Is it just a reference to Persona 6???? LIKE????? I HAVE QUESTIONS. SO, SO MANY QUESTIONS!!!!

Anyway, I’ve gotta go cry into my Starbucks and desperately try to focus on actually doing my job at work, but I loved Royal deeply and cannot wait to drown in it ;w;

#persona 5 royal #p5r #persona 5 royal spoilers #goro akechi #akeshu #I have just so many Akechi feels I'm sorry #long post #persona 5 royal meta

[thecinematicalgorithm]

Falcon & the Winter Soldier - Sam Wilson: Captain America?

I’m kind of late to the party, seeing that we’re now 3 episodes in to the long-awaited MCU series featuring Cap’s best buds, but as I’ve been away from Tumblr for some time I’ve decided what better way than jumping back in by analyzing a show that I’ve been looking forward to since its announcement. Also, Bucky Barnes has been one of my favorite characters in the MCU since The First Avenger, and I couldn’t pass up on breaking down his complicated psyche in the course of this show. So here goes, and be forewarned spoilers lie ahead!

When we left off with Sam Wilson in Avengers: Endgame, Steve had just handed down the Captain America shield, passing on the century-old icon and legacy. I felt this was not only a good choice on Steve’s part, but the only choice. Yes, I know it had been some debate for awhile over whether it would be Sam or Bucky to take up the mantle, but despite the comics I never really liked the idea of Bucky as the Captain, especially given his role as the Winter Soldier. He has too much dark history that, while not his fault, is too damning for the world to look at him as a symbol. Not to mention that Bucky is just far too weary and done with the world’s shit to even want to take up that role.

Sam however, is much better suited for the role and there are many reasons as to why. Firstly, Steve chose him. This is actually a critically important reason that I want to hash out now because, as I’m sure you well know, the end of this episode introduced a new character that, suffice to say, is missing that critical element. Flashback with me to 1942 when Steve sat in a recruitment center where he met Dr. Abraham Erskine, creator of the serum that gave Steve his incredible strength and abilities. It was here that Erskine saw, not a soldier or a warrior or even a hero, but simply a good man wanting to do the right thing. Throughout Steve’s basic training Erskine watched him, and when the time came he chose him for the experiment that would produce the first superhuman, telling Colonel Phillips, that Rogers was the “clear choice”.

Why is this an important detail in Steve having chosen Sam to take up the mantle of Captain America? When Erskine ‘chose’ Steve there was no Captain America mantle. No shield to hand down. Erskine was merely looking for a man who would not turn into some form of monster if injected with his serum. Right? In fact, despite there being no legacy at the time, I believe Erskine did know, or at least suspected that choosing Steve for this role wasn’t just about avoiding another Red Skull catastrophe. He knew he was creating something that would change the course of the war, the military, and history itself. He had no way of knowing what the future held for Steve, but he knew Steve would need to be the same man he saw in that recruitment center. That’s why he took the time to tell Steve to remain who he was, and why his last action before his death was to point at Steve’s heart, effectively telling him, “Stay who you are!”

Steve Rogers, from the beginning, was always the man who fought for “the little guy”. The underdog. The oppressed. The bullied. Erskine chose Steve because he was “the clear choice” even though that clarity was not evident to nearly anyone else. As he said, “...a strong man, who has known power all his life, will lose respect for that power. But a weak man knows the value of strength, and knows compassion."

Now, Sam is definitely not a weak man. Quite the opposite actually. He doesn’t even have super soldier strength and yet he’s able to tackle the “Big Three”. However, by the second episode we see exactly why Sam would be able to understand and defend the proverbial “little guy”. The Captain America films have never shied away from real-world issues that give the plot relevance and Marvel is continuing that pattern by giving voice to the oppression that the African-American community still faces to this day, and it’s about damn time. It is also diving deep into PTSD, mostly in regards to Bucky, but for now I want to focus on Sam.

The scene in which the police single out Wilson as he argues with Bucky shows us not only why the world needs a symbol to look up to, but also why Sam is the right man for the job. At the time when Steve was chosen, he was not the “ideal man” to everyone around him. He was not the alpha male. He was small, sickly, artistic, gentle and kind. He did not want to go overseas to “kill Nazis”. He was the underdog. But the world needed him. The world needed a soldier who would defy orders to do the right thing. A man who would not change his beliefs, or stoop to his enemies level. A man who uses his power to fight for others.

To the world around him, Sam may not be the ideal man but as Erskine would say, “he is the clear choice”. He has all of that as well as the life experience of someone who belongs to a minority that is stereotyped and pre-judged and oppressed.The introduction of Isaiah, and his place in the MCU history (or lack of I should say), is sadly far too realistic. Sam’s horror was justified and it’s something he will not be able to let go and do nothing about.

I think as the show continues Sam will come to realize that the mantle of Captain America, or that of Steve Rogers, isn’t about the icon or the legacy. It’s simply about doing the right thing, even if against orders, and always, no matter what happens, “staying who you are”. A good man. And this is why Steve chose Sam. He saw a good man that he knew would remain true to who he was and would always fight for “the little guys”. 

Thank you for reading! Feel free to leave your comments, and keep an eye out for my next analysis on Bucky Barnes! Have a great day!

#falcon #winter soldier #sam wilson #bucky barnes #anthony mackie #sebastian stan #marvel #mcu #disney plus #steve rogers #chris evans #abraham erskine #stanley tucci #captain america #the first avenger #colonel phillips

[masterthespianduchovny]

Hey! I don't remember if you've covered this already, but do you think Roman and Gerri will revisit Roman's proposal from Dundee, or is it something that Gerri will probably not bring up again?

I haven’t, but thank you for giving me something to dig my teeth into! :)

It’s really complicated to say because for a show of Succession’s caliber, they make a lot of creative decisions that are sometimes hard decisions and/or some that we won’t like.

For a little background on me, I’m a writer and I’ve studied film, so my opinions tend to be informed by my usual over analyzing self, but also my own creative background.

A rule in both disciplines is to never introduce anything that doesn’t serve the plot, character, theme, etc OR that won’t come up later.

And that’s why I feel it will be revisited in some capacity, if not directly.

There are so many details and callbacks in this series for something like a fucking proposal to be brushed over. Which is why GOT received the backlash it did: foreshadowed stuff that they later dropped, and then picked up again without putting in actual work in it.

Where as Jesse cares about the devil in the details. He likes how J plays Gerri and how she and Kieran play off of each other. He loved their improv flirtation and seriously considers feedback from his actors. They have actual input, at times, as to who their characters are and how they will react.

This is the same man who told J to stand closer to Kieran for foreshadowing. We saw that they stood unusually close and people remarked about this, especially Roman having a crush. That’s what they wanted us to pick up in the subtext. And that’s why me pointing out in another post, the one about Tabitha, that editing and other filming techniques are important when considering their (and Gerri’s) fate. Careful thought and consideration is being put into every detail in this show including interpersonal relationships.

Okay, okay...I’ll get back to the question at hand.

With that in mind, the proposal will definitely come up again. Like I stated earlier, it may not be directly. But, consider this: when we first meet Gerri and they’re discussing her being temporary CEO, Roman compliments her how well she does her job in two different ways. The first was his failed attempt at corporate flirting saying she’s a “do gooder” or whatever at her job. He sanitized it and tries to make it pretty. The second time, he says, “no offense, you’re a stone cold bitch.” This is a legitimate compliment this time. In the sixth episode of the second season, once again, he’s complimenting how well Gerri does her job; so well she’s invisible, but he sees her—he notices her and realizes how much value she has.

When Roman takes offense at his screen time with the satellites, he says later on in the conversation, “maybe I’ll be a normie and have phone sex with my girlfriend.” Lo and behold, in the same ep, he’s having phone sex with Gerri.

But, most importantly, marriage has come up twice in some capacity regarding Roman’s feelings towards Gerri. Upon first look, the “marry, fuck, kill” game is dismissed, but again (again), why is the series calling this to our attention? Why is Roman “grossed” out by Laird saying he’d marry Gerri, not fuck, but marry her, and then says “Ugh. Hot. Ugh.” He gave laird so much shit for wanting marry Gerri, despite him being the phone having kink shaming masturbating sessions with her and literally asking her to marry him the episode before I believe.

And you’ve most likely have read my deep dive on what Roman believes the “equivalence” to marriage says about him.

He wants to “abduct” Gerri and force her to live with him??? He wants her to kill him, cut off his dick, and they eat each other? Besides asking yourself what the fuck Roman is saying, you should be asking yourself, what the series is saying.

Then, when he asks his siblings has their dad slept with Gerri, he’s expecting no and when Connor says yes or whatever, Roman’s a hybrid of very bothered and confused by the answer.

The series is constantly showing us how Roman feels about Gerri in direct and indirect ways. Hell, as Roman left the room, he told Gerri to “think on it.” This is important to him.

For all we know, the proposal was addressed on the yacht.

But, it feels like something that will be addressed due to the history of the show when it comes to the finer details. They definitely built on this relationship and the clues as to how they feel about one another. Whether or not they actually get married is another story.

It does appear that Gerri and Roman’s relationship, however the fuck they define it, strengthened on the yacht. They seemed to have crossed a line that both are fine with. Maybe the line isn’t physical, maybe it is. They’ve definitely talked about their business partnership.

But, I wonder if Gerri will be the one to bring it up just like she took Roman up on his offer for a partnership. IMO, Roman putting the work into better business partner, defending her at the blood sacrifice, and his shift in maturity. I think that if she seriously did consider marriage, she knows it would be way different from Baird, but fulfilling in its own way.

#roman roy #gerri kellman #roman x gerri #gerri x roman #succession

[marshmallow-phd]

The Experiments

Genre: Sci-Fi, Thriller, experiment au

Pairing: Fem!Reader x Exo (????)

Summary: You were a med school graduate who just wanted to help research cures for the world. Instead, what you got was a dream job at EXO Applied Sciences. That is, until you discover the secrets of Level Sixty-Six and the nine inhabitants that inhabit there….

Part: 1 I 2 I 3 I 4 I 5 I 6 I 7 I 8 I 9 I 10 I 11 I 12 I 13 I 14 I 15 I 16 I 17 I 18 I 19 I 20 I 21 I 22 I 23 I Final

Another six months had gone by and you still hadn’t seen a single face of any of the subjects. By now you had memorized all the facts of their lives, you could rattle off their heights in centimeters and their different weights and cell conditions, but you didn’t know details like what even their hair color was. It drove you a bit crazy. You preferred to operate on a more personal level.

Dr. Wang loved your progress and suggestions as you analyzed their blood. However, after that first day, you thought you were going to be fired.

Deciding to look over the blood cell slides before diving into the technical language of the files, you were surprised by what you saw. No one was lying when they said your suggestion on molding human and animal DNA together would fit right in here. But what you found scared you. The way the cells moved on the slide was not how you expected. Your research had been focused on mixing the DNA with that of those who fit in the same class, i.e. mammals. And that seemed to be their main staple for the foundation. Each subject had wolf DNA as the basis for the fusion, but that was where things changed between them.

Subject Zero-One had a donation from an unknown fish species while Subject Ten had a diverse range of reptiles in him. This mixture of classes was dangerous and unstable as their entire makeup was completely different and non-compatible. You voiced your opinion to Dr. Wang, who just patronized you.

“I know you haven’t been here long, Dr. (l/n), but trust me. We’ve been running these tests for years.” The way her tone was sent down on you made you feel like a child being scolded for not knowing how the TV worked. “The subjects we have here are the ones who stabilized and have shown wonderful progress. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if we expanded the results to start more trials on average humans.”

That expansion never came. Part of you wondered if that little piece of information about moving on with the trials was really just something she made up to pacify you. As the months went on, your rose tinted glasses that you’d been staring at EXO Applied Sciences with all these years were starting to fade to a less extravagant gray. 

One shining light, however, was your ever growing friendship with Nada. Although she was technically your senior, she always treated you as an equal. Every Friday after work, the two of you would grab drinks at a bar, complaining about some of the nurses that worked down in your ward and gossip about the attractive security guards that checked in on the two of you every so often.

“I especially think that Marcus is totally into you,” Nada giggled about three cocktails in.

You waved her compliment away. “No way. He’s just nice. I wouldn’t be surprised if some lucky girl had already snatched him up.”

Marcus was anyone attracted to the male sex’s dream. He was handsome, with a chiseled chin and well tone body and a tender personality to match. In fact, you weren’t entirely sure how he ever made it as a security guard. He was of about average height and a slim build and you couldn’t quite believe that man had a mean or aggressive bone in his body. But somehow he stuck around. And while all that he possessed was like a perfect check list from a catalog, you just couldn’t quite bring yourself to stray that way with him.

Nada was only a little put out about that. “Well, if you don’t want him, than you wouldn’t mind if I tried to jump his bones?”

You clinked your glass against hers in a cheeky cheer. “You have at it.”

The playfulness of your friendship is what really made you excited to go to work every day. While the research was exactly you had been dreaming about doing, something still felt wrong deep down. Just a year into your dream company and you were losing your way.

“Have you ran those tests on Subject Sixty-One yet?” Nada asked, not looking up from her microscope.

Crap. “No,” you whined. This day had just been overly frazzling to you.

Nothing seemed to go right and now you had almost forgotten to do your main project for the day. While writing down your planned process for the test, you reached over with your other hand to grab your drink. Apparently that was too much of a multitask as you managed to knock over your thermal cup, which in turn pushed the exact vial of blood from Sixty-One that you needed, sending it crashing to the hard tile floor, shattering it in the process.

“Shit!”

Nada looked up to see what the commotion was about and saw you close to tears. You started cleaning up the mess, releasing a string of curses under your breath.

“Wow, now that was a klutz move,” she laughed. You simply sent her an evil glare. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve done it a dozen times. Just get a new vial out of the fridge.”

“I can’t,” you groaned. “I have to use the latest sample and the next one in there is at least three months old.” And on top of that, Dr. Wang was in meetings all day and not available to get a new sample.

“What happened?”

You shot up to your feet at the sudden appearance of your boss, now terrified of the consequences.

“I’m sorry,” you murmured, tossing the glass from the dustbin into the hazard can. “I spilled the vial for Sixty-One’s test. I don’t have another fresh tester for the trial.”

Dr. Wang frowned, but she didn’t yell like you’d expected. “Well, that’s unfortunate. I don’t have time to fetch it myself.” She walked over to a desk in the far corner, pulling out a sheet of paper and filling in a few blank spaces. “You’ll just have to go get it yourself. I’ll sign off on it. Just show them this paper if they question you.” Dr. Wang handed you the slip and you attached it to your clipboard after gathering up a sterilized needle and clean vial.

“Was there anything you needed, Dr. Kher?” Dr. Wang asked. Nada simply shook her head. “Okay, I just wanted to come check on you two before my next meeting. Don’t be afraid to let me know if you do.”

Nada stared at you wide mouthed as Dr. Wang left.

“What?” you shrugged. You were just thankful you didn’t get a verbal beating.

“She’s never done that before. Usually, she’d make me put it off until she could fetch a new vial.”

You picked up your supplies and head towards the door. “Well, first time for everything.”

The door to Sixty-One’s room was right in the middle of the first hallway. You’d never gone passed the first set of doors, too scared of getting in trouble to carelessly walk down there. It was never explicitly said that you weren’t allowed in this area, but since you’d never been given outright permission before now either, you hadn’t wanted to risk it. Unsure of what the protocol was now that you’d made it this far, you simply swiped your badge and pulled open the door.

Instead of a bedroom set up, you entered a viewing area. A large glass window gave you full sight of the white room beyond. Just below that was a control board that stretch across the whole length of the window. Sitting front and center was an orderly in black scrubs, leaning back in his office chair, feet resting up on the board.

He immediately sat up when he saw you over his shoulder. “Can I help you?”

“Yeah,” you breathed, your entire body going into overdrive. You were about to come face to face with one of level sixty-six’s biggest secrets and you weren’t sure how to handle it. “I need to get a sample of the subject’s blood.” You handed over the slip with Dr. Wang’s signature. “Dr. Wang has signed off on it.”

The orderly’s eyes flickered from the paper in his hand to you and back again. “All right. He’s been sedated, so you shouldn’t have any problems. But I’d make it fast. It usually doesn’t last too long on him.”

A loud buzz rang through the viewing room as the locks on the thick metal door clicked back. The door slid open in front of you and closed with a loud bang as soon as you were in the room. You bit back a gasp at the state of the room. It really was a jail cell.

In one corner was a porcelain sink and matching toilet. Shoved in the other corner and pushed back into an indention was a metal bed with a too thin mattress. The bed was welded into the walls, making it immovable. But what really broke your heart was the man who was strapped to the bed with thick leather restraints holding down his wrists and ankles.

The bed was just barely long enough to hold his tall frame. Thick, dark brown hair stuck to his forehead from the sweat dripping down his temples. His face was soft, save for the pinched skin in between his eyebrows. The sight of his large ears that stuck out from his head almost made you grin, but you couldn’t go through with it due to his current condition.

Grabbing the chair from the other side of the room, you tried not to dwell on the swelling sympathy in your heart for this person. You sat down by his side and started sterilizing the inside of his arm, right at the crease of his elbow. He thrashed a bit at your touch, obviously familiar with the feeling of the rubber gloves against his skin. Making quick work of getting the sample, you put the vial safely in your pocket and removed your gloves.

The amount of sweat that covered the subject’s skin worried you. Placing the back of your hand on his forehead, you flinch back at the contact. He was burning up.

Scared at what was going on with the subject and thinking he might need immediate care, you went straight into doctor mode. Thankful that you thought to bring it along, you poured over his file trying to find the right way to treat his fever. Until you reached the third page. You’d never read that far into his file, all the main information you needed being on the first two. Near the bottom of the page was a note from Dr. Wang dated four months ago.

As of day 768, Subject 61 still maintains his internal body temperature at 40 degrees Celsius.

It didn’t make any sense. With a core temperature that high, he should have been dead. But there he was in front of you, breathing. Reaching out one more time, the moment your skin made contact with his, his eyes flickered open, making you jump back and out of the chair.

Big, round brown eyes stared up at you in desperation. He only gave the restraints a few tugs before giving up. Without breaking his gaze, he parted his lips and let two little words escape before he drifted back to sleep.

“Help… us….”

You put the chair back against the wall, and walked briskly up to the metal door, pounding on the glass to get the orderly’s attention. He opened the door for you and you ran back to the lab. Barely acknowledging Nada when she asked you how it went, you got straight to work on the blood sample, wondering what the hell you had gotten yourself into.

#exo #exo fanfic #exo hybrid #exo hybrid!au #exo x reader #exo scenarios #exo fanfiction #experiments #the experiments #exo x fem reader #suho #junmyeon #kim junmyeon #xiumin #minseok #kim minseok #lay #yixing #zhang yixing #baekhyun #byun baekhyun #chen #jongdae #kim jongdae #chanyeol #park chanyeol #D.O. #do kyungsoo #kyungsoo #kai

[themarchblessing]

YES, LONG TALK

COREY

“What you still doing out here Corey? It’s damn near three in the morning?” Looking to my left I saw my dad standing in the doorway staring at me with partially shut eyes.

“Can’t sleep.” I said. I even tried going to bed early knowing damn well I never do that. I thought it would help to stop me from thinking so much but it hasn’t. Not even a little.

Coming to stand out here with me he slid the door closed behind him. “You’re still thinking about that picture aren’t you? The one Sabrina sent you?”

“Mhm..” I mumbled. “Why does he look like me?” Turning to face my dad I watched his eyes become clouded with as much as curiosity as I have in my own brain.

“Well,” he exhaled. “There’s only one reason I can think of but you’re not gonna like what I have to say. It’s the only reason any of this makes sense. Have you ever considered the possibility that he may be yours?” The question played over again in my head like a broken record.

“I don’t want to say that shit aloud. You of all people know I’m not into superstitions but I can’t even bring myself to say that.” Shaking my head at the big question that’s now sitting at the forefront of my brain I took a step back to look at the view from my balcony entirely. Every time I come out here I feel so far from everything and everyone. I feel so far from my responsibilities and life itself.

“Ok so let me ask you this. What are you going to do if he is your son? What’s next for you? What’s next for Corey and Sabrina? What’s next for all three of you?” Hassan hit me with a quadruple threat that I was not prepared for.

“One question my ass.” I stated sarcastically.

“And they each deserve an answer. Quit stalling boy.” His tone shifted from joking to serious in a flash. Taking a deep breath I thought over what he asked carefully.

“The only thing I could do would be to take responsibility. Full responsibility of the role of being his father.” I left out an important step for a very good reason.

“And how would you do that? What steps would you take differently than the ones you take now..if that were to become your reality? Corey, I’m not trying to scare you or psyche you out. But I want you to be prepared for anything. I’ve always taught you the value in being ready for the unthinkable. That’s what happens in this life. And although God will never put more on your plate than you could handle, life is very sporadic. Life doesn’t care what you’re going through. If the universe thinks that it’s your time to have a son than you will have one.” He explained in such a heartfelt way that I had to pull out the picture again.

I opened up my photos since I saved the two pictures and looked at them carefully with my old man. We went back and forth analyzing every facet of these pictures. Only then did I see so much more of myself than I could ever bargain for.

“Pop, I’m scared. I believe in your plate statement too, I do. But I’m scared. How do I begin to be a father to a child I hardly know? All I have to go on is a few similarities in our face, our habits, and some other things we share.” I confessed.

“It’s natural to be scared of a path you’ve never ventured down before. Perfectly normal. In time, if that’s your path will you become comfortable with the truth. Trust God to guide you, trust in Sabrina to assist you in this transition, but most importantly trust yourself. Speaking of Sabrina…” he nudged my ribs causing me to laugh.

“Yeah there’s another thing I’ve been meaning to talk about..” hesitating for a moment I swiped my thumb to the last picture seeing Bri and Izaiah asleep on my couch. “I kissed her and I’ve been all over the place ever since. We’ve talked about it but not the way we should’ve. The whole situation made me think of and see her in a different light. A light I’m not used to seeing her in..” Revealing aloud what happened between us made my head and conscience feel so much better.

Although I don’t want Bri know how much I’ve been thinking about “the incident” I have. I’ve been really wanting to tell someone about it too. And who better than my dad? Who is he gonna tell? Other than my mom.

When I saw the smirk and look of pride of my fathers face I couldn’t even fight the urge to match his expression. “Stop man, don’t do that.” I put my phone back in my pocket and walked inside without another word.

He followed behind me, locking the door back. “Don’t get all shy on me now Howard. Come back and tell me how it happened.” After Hassan teasingly bullied me into opening up this can of worms even more I felt relaxed. I haven’t felt this at ease since the last time I got some ass from Nikole. But this level of peace tops that by a thousand. “It’s about time. Your mom and I have been talking about when something would happen between the two of you.” He revealed proudly.

“You and mama been talking about what? Me and Bri?”

“Precisely.” He shrugged. “So..what now? Why don’t you just be honest with her about how you’re feeling? Maybe it’s time you two ought to give it a shot. What can go wrong?”

“She’s my best friend. I don’t want to lose everything that we’ve built. This is a friendship I never want to see tarnish. Don’t get me wrong I care about her deeply and I’d do anything for her but a relationship? I think that might be pushing the envelope a little too far.” Throwing my hood over my head I stared out the window.

“Oh come on! You really expect me to believe that?” Standing up my dad stretched beside me. “I’m gonna ask you questions, ok? All you have to do is answer yes or no.” Pacing in front of the table he then stopped to stare at the spot on the floor where Izaiah was sitting in yesterday morning. “Do you feel happy when Sabrina and Izaiah are here with you?” He began.

“Yeah.” I answered simply.

“Do you feel sad when you’re not with them?”

“Yeah, I’m starting to.”

Cupping his hand over his mouth, Hassan sat down in front me. “Do you have any feelings for Sabrina?”

I hesitated to answer because truthfully I’m not sure what I feel for Bri. I care about her, I will always look out for her, I have love for her. But ever since I crossed that line with her, I’ve been struggling with whether to dive deeper into the mystery of where I stand with her or leaving the topic alone altogether.

“Corey?” Looking at my dad I could only muster up the courage to shrug. Sabrina helps me not to stress in a way but when it comes to how I feel about her I panic. “What’s going through your head? You wanna talk about it?”

“I don’t know how I feel about her. But I know I don’t want ruin our friendship. She’s the only friend that has known me for as long as she has. I already overstepped my boundaries once. I’d hate to do that again and not be able to come back from it. What do you think I should do?”

“As a man and as your father, I’m telling you to do what’s best for you. Follow your heart Corey. It’s okay to be confused and unsure. No one is putting pressure on you to figure out how you feel about her. Only you can do that. How was it? If I may ask.” He poked.

“Are you talking about the kiss?”

“What else would I be talking about?” He snapped with sarcasm.

“I’m not talking about that.” I affirmed.

“Oh boy, I’m not asking you for details. I just mean..how did it make you feel?” His clarification on the question had me thinking long and hard.

“It was different. I felt surprised at first because even though I initiated it, I didn’t see myself going through with it. It just kind of happened. At the time, I was going through a dry spell so I was thinking with the wrong head.”

“Son..you’re avoiding the question. How did it make you feel? Forget the fact that you “crossed the line” and just think about how the kiss itself made you feel. You don’t have to tell me. But giving yourself the opportunity to really think about how you’re feeling about this situation will help you to understand your feelings for Sabrina. I’m gonna go back to bed. I gotta fly out early. Don’t stay up too late. Love you kid.” Standing up again, my dad made me hug him before he walked back into the other room. When he shut the door I turned around to stare at the spot that it happened. I’ll never be able to take that moment back. So because of that I owe it to myself to try and figure out what Bri means to me outside of our friendship.

#the march blessing #short story

[bruh-fics]

Come back to me  (Part 1)

Pairing: Bucky x reader

Warnings: language, angst, mentions of alcohol

Word count: 1549

Request: by a lovely anon, “Hi ! Could you write a Bucky x Reader based on Tell Her You Love Her by Echosmith please ? Like he broke her heart in the past because of HYDRA and a few years later, when he's finally free and a new man, they cross path again ? That'd be lovely ! And your writing is sooo good ! Keep up the good work :)”

A/N: oops this ended up way more angsty than I originally intended. There will be a second part out soon! Feedback, as always is welcome. Requests will be open again soon. Enjoy!

Your POV

The day that Bucky left was the most painful you had ever endured. Just the night before he had been holding you in your shared bed. When you woke the next morning he was gone. All of his clothes were missing and your bed was cold and painfully empty.

You tore the apartment apart, searching for any hint that he had even been real. The only thing you found was a note scribbled in his handwriting on a small scrap of paper. It rested on the wooden kitchen table that you had picked out together. You lifted the paper with shaking hands.

I’m sorry. Please don’t look for me -B

You were so confused. How could he do this to you? Just yesterday, everything was perfect. Just yesterday he had made you breakfast and the two of you were dancing around the small kitchen that you shared. You sank to your knees with the note still clutched in your trembling hands.

You read it to yourself until your legs were numb and the paper was soaked through with your tears. You folded it twice and clutched it to your chest. It was the only proof that your Bucky was real.

You were aware that Bucky had a rough past, but he never went into too much detail. He said that you wouldn’t love him if he shared all of the messy details with you. You knew that wasn’t possible. All you knew was that he got caught up with some bad people a while back, which somehow resulted in his metal arm. Even though he had secrets, you trusted him and you thought that he loved you; until the day he left.

If he loved you, he would’ve told you what happened to him in his past. He would’ve tried to deal with whatever was bothering him, rather than leaving in the middle of the night. He also would’ve left more than a short, impersonal note for you to remember him by.

The anger bubbled up inside of you until you were sobbing yet again and pulling at your hair. You stood up abruptly and stomped over to the trashcan. You went to throw the note away but you couldn’t bring yourself to do so. Even the anger you felt was not enough to overcome your love for Bucky. You went into your room where Bucky had slept next to you just last night. There was a small jewelry box on the dresser. You tried your best the flatten out the paper and then you placed it inside for safekeeping.

For the next 2 weeks, you scoured the city, looking for any sign of Bucky. You figured that he wouldn’t have left the city. You were wrong.

As more days turned into nights and back into days again, you grew tired of sitting in the living room of your once shared apartment waiting for a man to come home, who never would. Your hope that he would come back to you had faded and you couldn’t bare living in the apartment where you had been so happy with him anymore. So you moved; not out of the city but far enough away that every street corner no longer held a memory of you and him.

After 7 months of living by yourself and wallowing in your loneliness you finally accepted the advances of your co-worker, not because you liked him, but because you missed Bucky so much. His name was Anthony and he was sweet enough, but throughout the whole date all you could think about were Bucky’s topaz eyes. After that you never went on another date.

Your heart was completely shattered by someone who seems to have not given two shits about you the whole time you were together. You were convinced all of his I love you’s were a lie. You analyzed every conversation that you could remember between the two of you, and you felt foolish for being so quick to believe whatever he told you. Even knowing all this, you still loved him with every piece of your soul. So much so that you feared it would never be fixed.

This was all a year ago and yet not a single day went by when you didn't think about Bucky. You dreamed about him coming back to you, telling you that he was stupid for leaving, promising never to leave again. You imagined him in front of you and in your dreams you always ran towards him, to be closer. You imagined that you'd always run to him, that was until he was standing before you at the entrance to the bar where you first met.

You came here during your darkest times. The stuffy little dive bar seemed to be the only piece of Bucky that you had left, besides the small note that still sat in your jewelry box.

As soon as your eyes met his, you did what you thought you'd never do. You ran away from him.

You ran as fast as you could, shoving people to get out of your way as you went. You had no idea where you were going except for away from him. You found yourself on an unfamiliar street and decided to duck into a small cafe on the corner.

You saw Bucky jog in front of the cafe and look around. You weren't quick enough to turn your back and he spotted you through the window.

As he opened the door you were frozen where you stood, wanting nothing more to just run away again. He slowly approached you. You almost shrunk back from his closeness. Almost. There was still that electric pull between the two of you that you had remembered so fondly.

“Y/N, I-” he began but you cut him off. The anger from all the pain he had caused you radiated from your stomach and found its way to your mouth.

“James please don't” you snapped. His eyes went wide. You had never called him James. Your body started cooperating with your mind again and you went to brush past Bucky. You had new plans of going to get so hammered that this night was long forgotten. Before you could walk past him, his fingers curled around your wrist. They were gentle and scared, just like you and you turned to look at him. His eyes held a look that you had never seen from him. It shook you to your core.

“Please I need to explain everything. I need you to understand” he begged. His eyes were glossy and his hair was a mess. He was still as handsome as the day you met him.

“Fine” you stated simply and started to walk towards the exit. You felt his presence trailing a fair distance behind you. You hailed a cab and he climbed inside after you.

On the ride to your apartment you tried to keep reminding yourself of all the wrong he has done you. You knew if your anger ran out then you would cry and you needed to actually hear what he was going to say to you, if you were ever to get the closure you so desperately craved.

You tried your best to convince yourself that you were doing this for your peace of mind, and not because you loved him. You were never good at lying, especially to yourself.

Bucky was silent and the only noise that filled the space was his nervous breathing. The cab driver stopped in front of your building, you paid him and then got out. Bucky followed you inside and into the elevator. It dinged once you arrived to the 3rd floor and you both exited. You pushed the door to your apartment open and turned on the lights.

Leading Bucky to the small kitchen table, you sat down. He sat across from you.

“Go ahead” you said and readied yourself to listen to the painful details of why he left you.

“Well okay um- I'm not sure where to start. You look good by the way” his cheeks flushed red. “Shit um I shouldn't have said that I'm sorry. But the thing is well- that I still love you. Never stopped and never will.”  

Your mouth went dry and you stared at him with wide eyes. You could feel your angry resolve fading and your heart fluttered from hearing him say the words that you were sure you'd never hear again. Tears began to well in your eyes and you were sure that he noticed. You did not let them fall. After you were silent for a few seconds he began to speak again.

“I'm going to tell you everything. Everything that I never told you before because I thought I was protecting you. I'm going to tell you why I left without so much as a goodbye, but before I start, I need you to know that you never once did anything wrong. You were and still are my angel and I did whatever it took to keep you safe” he finished and took a deep breath. You nodded your head slowly. You weren't sure if you believed him yet. He lost most of your trust after he abandoned you, but you loved him, so you would listen.

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[sublimedeal]

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“These 9 Tools Form The Dashboard Of My Business!” I’m giving you access to my private ecommerce “calculator” and spreadsheet collection. These are the 9 tools I use every single day to track performance, calculate metrics & KPI’s, evaluate product and profit potential and a ton of other critical aspects of our businesses. Including: ADVERTISING SPEND CALCULATOR – This calculator will help you determine how much you can actually afford to spend on your advertising based on the product(s) you are selling and whether or not you are using a sales funnel. Enter your data and it will calculate the Max CPC, CPM and CPA you can afford. CONVERSION METRICS CALCULATOR -When you enter your information into this calculator it will tell you what your actual conversion metrics are through your entire funnel as well as calculating lead costs, earnings per click and your average customer value at each step of your sales process. FREE+SHIPPING CALCULATOR – Free+Shipping is a tricky type of offer to dial in and run profitably. This calculator does all the heavy lifting and gives you all the numbers, metrics and ratios you need to determine how best to optimize your free+shipping offer. LEAD GENERATION BREAK EVEN CALCULATOR – This calculator takes the guesswork out of using paid media to build your prospect list. Enter your list details and your offer details and the calculator will tell you exactly how much you can afford to spend to acquire a prospect lead. PRODUCT EVALUATION & PROFITABILITY CALCULATOR – This calculator will help you weed out the products that are not worth it. After filling out the requested fields with the products information you will be able to immediately determine if a prospective product is worth your money and time. PRODUCT PRICING CALCULATOR – This calculator will help you ensure that your products are always priced correctly in the marketplace and that with that pricing you also know exactly what your gross, working and net profit margins are. BUSINESS SCALING CALCULATOR – Exponential growth can be very exciting, but it can also potentially put you out of business if you aren’t aware of all the additional costs. This calculator will help you avoid the hidden costs that you need to be aware of and have a plan for dealing with. PRODUCT RE-ORDER CALCULATOR – This calculator will determine your product run rate, and production lead times to tell you when you need to place your product re-orders to avoid running out of stock. WAREHOUSE INVENTORY TRACKER – This tool will keep track of all the product you currently have in inventory (you should track this even if you use 3rd party or FBA fulfillment) as well as when you need to re-order, the inventory valuation and how much money you have tied up in inventory. I shared these calculators with my Black Label Mastermind Members and I was blown away by how many of these 7 and 8 figure businesses were not tracking this data. I don’t want you to make the same mistake, which is why I’m giving them to you free inside your Ecom Insider membership.

$100 Build Grow Scale Live Event Gift Certificate

I’m giving you a $100.00 Gift Certificate (with no expiration date) that can be used for any Build Grow Scale Live workshop or Event. I want to meet you and I’m going to incentivize you to make it happen! Let’s be real for a second. Thousands of people are going to buy Ecommerce Evolved, but only a tiny percentage will ever do anything with it. By joining Ecom Insider, you are signaling to me that you are serious about business and that you are one of those action takers who make things happen. And because you are that kind of person. I want to meet you! There’s not enough people like you and I out there and we need to stick together. And for that reason I’m going to incentivize you with a $100 discount to make that happen and the best place to do that is at one of our live events or workshops where you can not only meet me, but also talk shop with your fellow ecom insider members. All That Is JUST What You Get TODAY To “Kick Off” Your Ecom Insider Membership! And Then… Each Month Like Clockwork, You Will Also Receive: Ecom Insider Monthly Print Magazine Every month I’m going to send you the newest issue of the Ecom Insider Magazine. Each full color issue, is packed to the gills with cutting edge, tutorial based training you can use to build grow and scale your ecommerce store. Before I say any more, let me address what you are probably thinking… I know there are other monthly magazines or newsletters out there, that “promise the world” but under-deliver when you get them in the mail. They are either too generic, try to cover too many topics, or worse they use huge images and big fonts to pad out the page counts. Plus most of them look like shit in the presentation department. That is NOT the case with Ecom Insider. Each issue focuses on one strategy or topic so we can dive in deep and give you the actionable info you need. And I can’t cover everything you need inside the magazine, I’ll include additional training videos or supporting PDF’s to make sure you are never left wondering what to do or how to implement.

And EVERYTHING shared with you inside each monthly issue is 100% backed up by real world results generated by me and my companies. If we don’t do it, I won’t teach it. EVER. You will be blown away by the value & insights you’ll receive from each and every issue.

PLUS, Each Issue Also Includes “Ecommerce Gold” From The Black Label Mastermind… The Black Label Mastermind is comprised of some of the most talented 7, 8 and 9 figure per year ecommerce business owners on the planet. And each month a different Black Label member contributes a “Insider’s Only” interview/training on what is working the best for them in their ecommerce businesses. This is high level insight you won’t find anywhere else!

Monthly “Ecom Anatomy” Breakdowns

Every month, myself and the BGS team search out and dissect the most successful ecommerce stores and funnels we can find. And if there is a specific site or brand, you’d like to see dissected, you can request it! Much like an iceberg, which only has a small portion of its mass visible above the surface, The same is true for a business, over two thirds of what makes it successful is not visible at the surface level. And that’s exactly what we show you inside these Ecom anatomy breakdowns. We deep dive into the inner workings of successful ecommerce business and show you the good…the bad and the awesome.

Not only do we analyze the inner functions of the site, we also show you what they are doing right and what they are doing wrong. And then we buy their products and go through the entire sales process from beginning to end AS a customer and show you what they are doing right and wrong at each step of the customer journey. We spend thousands of dollars a month reverse engineering successful ecommerce stores with the goal of learning one or two things from each that we can implement into our businesses to help them grow. As an Ecom Insider you now get to do the same.

“Live” What’s Working Now Call’s

During our Insider’s Only “Live” What’s Working Now call, myself and the BGS team will show you exactly what we’re currently having success with and what is no longer working or has lost effectiveness in our Ecom businesses. As well as any new or upcoming changes or you need to be aware of in the world of Ecommerce. We’ll also show you any new methods or tricks we’re currently testing out. All in all this means that everything we know, you will also know with nothing held back. During this live monthly call you will also be able to ask questions and get them answered live as well as have the opportunity for myself and the BGS team to critique your business to make sure you are on the right track. Ecommerce is all myself and my team do 24/7. So it’s easy for us to keep our finger on the pulse of the industry. But that’s not the case for most people. And if you still work a job or are only doing ecommerce part time then access to these calls could be the catalyst to helping you turn your part time biz into a full time profit pulling machine. These calls are worth their weight in gold, because all it takes is one little tip or getting one question answered to give you the “ah ha” moment you need in order to create massive growth in your business.

Tanner Larssen – Ecom Insider 1 Year Membership published first on http://ift.tt/2qxBbOD