#There’s differences between the two obviously but they share that common ground of our lovers are powerful as fuck but we love them anyway

[glitter50000]

I could talk of Luda dying unjustly thus breaking the final straw causing Aleksander to create the Fold vs Mal dying willingly in order to help Alina destroy the Fold

#i dunno i dunno #I’m just thinking of them again and the self indulgent part of me wonders what it would be like if they met like maybe after Mal died idk #There’s differences between the two obviously but they share that common ground of our lovers are powerful as fuck but we love them anyway #I dunno it’s the cruel irony in Luda looking for ways to live longer with him but then dying before she really could #and Mal CHOOSING death despite wanting to live with Alina for the rest of his days if it means he can help her #Idk I should sleep #shadow and bone netflix #shadow and bone season 2 #mal oretsev #luda shadow and bone #malina #alina x mal #lusander #darkling x luda

[13uswntimagines]

Our Song (Alyssa Naeher x Reader)

Request: alyssa naehex reader thats set during quarantine w/ “Shy” by Alexander Stewart. I just kind of think it’s cute since she’s an introvert and that it would be fitting

Author’s Note: Speical Thanks To @literaryhedgehog​

Alyssa knew she should just say it, that admitting it out loud would finally put an end to this madness. She ran a soothing hand through your hair when you sniffled loudly into her chest. 

God, she should just tell you how she felt. But, she also didn’t want to overstep. That would make being roommates really awkward. Especially since neither of you were supposed to leave the apartment right now except for essential purchases. And she didn’t want to lose her best friend. That would really suck. 

But she wasn’t afraid to say what no one else would- you had a terrible taste when it came to partners. You chose people who didn’t value you, and you always ended up hurt. 

This time was no different, well, it was slightly different considering you couldn’t leave your shared apartment to cope like you normally would. Alyssa didn’t know if that was better or worse, considering that you had adapted your breakup routine to just be endless cuddles with her and your favorite stuffed animal.  

She had already spent the last hour making comforting noises. You had stopped shedding tears 15 minutes ago, so Alyssa decided it was time to go for some humor. “Hey, so now you and Taylor Swift have something in common!”

“Hmm” You hummed in acknowledgment, your eyes never leaving where Supergirl was playing on screen. 

“Well, she was broken up with over text. You were broken up with over text. I think this is the perfect opportunity to listen to her re-recording of Fearless, and really channel those emotions!”

“No, Joe broke up with her in a 27-second phone call,” You lifted your head up off of her very comfortable chest to raise your eyebrow at the woman. 

Alyssa was a great keeper, and amazing at crosswords, but she always needed your help when it came to Taylor trivia. 

“Then Joe showed more consideration as an 18-year-old child than your 32 year old wanna be soccer star. It doesn’t change the fact that I think listening to Mr Perfectly Fine would be cathartic.” 

“It’s kinda funny that she wrote Forever and Always, Mr. Perfectly fine, Better than Revenge and Holy Ground all about the same guy, they’re all so different from each other,” You mumbled, settling back down on her chest. At least she didn’t say that you had as many breakups as she did. That was a rude joke. (One Alyssa wouldn’t dare make. She was more cultured than the media asshats that chased your team around). 

“Woman’s efficient,” Alyssa shrugged. “No reason why you can't recycle the same emotion into a different song genre.” 

“At least she could make millions off her pain. All I seem to be able to do is kick the ball harder,” You grumbled. Your landlord complained about you practicing in the street because of how hard you sent the ball careening into his precious brick wall. It wasn’t your fault Alyssa was too slow to stop the PK. 

“Darling, considering you’re one of the strongest kickers on the east coast, I’d say that pain is going to a worthwhile cause. But you do kind of have the worst taste in relationships.” 

“Hey! Savannah wasn’t a bad choice, just bad timing,” You huffed indignantly. 

“So that would be one out of…. How many bad relationships?” 

“At least one for every Taylor Swift album,” 

“Okay, here’s a fun idea, choose an ex for each album,” Alyssa said brightly. Thinking about music would definitely cheer you up. “Wannabe soccer star is obviously your Joe, so represents the Fearless album. Which relationship is your… Drew?”

“You already know the answer to that question,” you said, already picking up your phone to add Teardrops on my Guitar to the music queue. You then quickly added Forever and Always and started scrolling through Speak Now for the next song inspiration. 

Alyssa nodded. It was a well-known fact that you had a massive crush on one Hope Solo growing up, and you had been absolutely enamored with her the second you set foot into camp. But Alyssa also knew that Hope was very faithful to a certain veteran. 

The veteran keeper had tried to let you down easy, and Kelley was still one of your best friends, but it had hurt in the moment.

“Kristie was my Haunted,” you said, smiling slightly. Dating her felt like a whirlwind, one that took your breath until you never thought it would end. She made butterflies flutter in your stomach, and you were so desperate to say the right thing, to be the perfect partner, that you always felt like you were walking a tightrope. Floating on air, but desperate to keep your balance. “At least she had the decency to wait until we were in the same city to end it.” 

“Aren’t the two of you friends now?” Alyssa looked down at you, watching as you scrolled through songs from your comfortable place on her chest. 

You nodded with a small smile. “Hmm, we are much better off that way anyway.” 

“I bet you I can guess who your We are Never Ever Getting Back Together person is,” Alyssa trilled, reaching down to take the phone. 

You playfully snatched it away from her. “Who’s to say I wasn’t going to choose I knew you were trouble?” You raised your eyebrow at the woman, who simply smirked in response. 

“I can tell you who that is too if you like,” Alyssa reached for her own phone and took over control of the speakers, adding both songs to the music queue. 

“Alright, I’ll bite. Who?” 

“You definitely knew Sam Kerr was trouble, and I think it took you 4 breakups with Leah to finally call it quits,” 

“I was going to say Leah for 1989, it took me forever to realize how fucked up our relationship was after we finally broke up,” 

“I’m sure the distance didn’t help.” With her in London and you in Chicago things just kind of fell apart. 

“Maybe,” you hummed, noncommittally. 

“Okay, so for Reputation. I’m thinking Don’t Blame Me,” 

“You did go a bit crazy for Jane…” Alyssa said with a roll of her eyes. You had almost moved to Houston for that girl, thank god you didn’t. You sunburned like nobody's business. 

“Oh come on. You just didn’t like the idea of me moving. And considering how long we had been dating at that point it did make sense!” You argued. 

“It was 3 months Y/n,” She deadpanned. 

“I was in a wlw relationship. That’s like practically three years, it’s not like I brought a u-haul to our first date.” 

Alyssa quirked an eyebrow up at you. “Didn’t you have one of those the first time we met?” 

“Yeah, because I wasn’t moving into my college apartment without any furniture!”

“Whatever you say, babe. Who's your Folklore?” She rolled her eyes goodnaturedly. 

“I think you skipped an album,” you said. This was weird because Lover was one of Alyssa’s favorite albums. “But, since you asked. I think Kelley is The 1.” 

“Ah, our favorite squirrel,” Alyssa’s lips ticked up. You and Kelley had dated in college (something that should have made her jealous), but Kelley was the one pushing her to admit her feelings now. 

“We were just too young and dumb,” you said, smiling. “We had a great time together, and it would have been fun if it worked out. But at some point we just realized, we were friends, but there wasn’t anything romantic there.”

“I’m sorry it didn’t work out,” Alyssa said, like a liar. 

“I’m not. Her and Emily are like made for each other,” You snorted with the shake of your head. “And at least she wasn’t afraid of the world knowing we were together,” 

“Well, yeah,” Alyssa smiled. She had loved seeing the way being publicly out with Kelley had brought out the best of you. “ Okay moving on! Next, we need to narrow down your No body, No Crime.” 

“I take offense. Alex is still alive, so that doesn’t count,” You huffed. 

“I’m kidding! I’m kidding. I know you didn’t kill any of your significant others,” Alyssa said, laughing. “Though if you listened to the song you would know that’s my job… ”

“Alex was my Champagne Problems,” You mumbled sadly. That relationship had been the hardest for you, as had the breakup. She was terrified of the world even suspecting she wasn’t straight. 

You had everything, except the freedom to be yourself, and In the end, you couldn’t take the hiding anymore. 

“You did your best, love. But people come out at their own pace. And it was before Obergfell v. Hodges was decided. Being queer was still more likely to be presented as a scandal in the media then.”

“She cheated on me with Serv. She doesn’t get a pass,” You grumbled, crossing your arms. 

“I’m pretty sure you were on a break dear,” Alyssa said, though she was inclined to agree with you. Being on a ‘break’ but not officially breaking up didn’t seem like a reason to start dating other people. Still getting over some of the semantics might theoretically help you move on. “BUT maybe we should move on. Who is your Lover?”

Your eyes squinted thoughtfully, a light pink shading your cheeks. “The only person who hasn’t ever left me is you. You let me leave the Christmas lights up until May and dance around the kitchen when you cook.” 

Alyssa looked away, not able to meet your eyes. ”I mean, the lights can change color, so they can be thematic all year. And you’re the one who chooses the music to listen to while I cook. I can’t help it if they’re all great for dancing.”

“You can dance to anything. I’m pretty sure you turned a Hosier song into a salsa dance last week.” You giggled. 

“The only person I dance with is you, Y/n,” Alyssa said, finally meeting your eyes. She could feel her body start shaking slightly, as the adrenaline kicked in. She was going to do it. She was going to tell you. “I don’t want to dance if I’m not dancing with you.” 

“I’d dance with you in a storm in my best dress,” 

“I have tried so hard to be supportive about your last several relationships. But seeing you dancing to your favorite song with anyone else… I’ve loved you for three years now and I couldn’t bear it.” 

The air was suddenly charged between you, and you realized your faces were just inches apart. It was hard to breathe. You never dreamed your best friend would return your feelings (maybe that’s why you had so many bad relationships). 

“Kiss me,” you breathed, slowly moving around so your heads were at the same level. 

“That’s not a Taylor swift Lyric,” Alyssa said. In her brain, there was a loading sign currently whirring in little circles, as she attempted to process what you just said. Did you mean what she thought you said?

“Baby just say yes,” You said, feeling so happy that tears were coming to your eyes. You leaned forward getting inches from her face, so close you could feel her breath hitch. “Please kiss me.”

“Yes,” was all Alyssa had time to say before she closed the distance and kissed you. 

#uswnt imagine #uswnt imagines #uswnt x reader #alyssa naeher imagine #alyssa naeher x reader

[littlemisssquiggles]

how do you feel about the idea that all the oscar as the little prince and ruby as the rose allusions and whatnot are correct, but ruby/oscar aren't reunited as a romantic pairing? i totally agree with all the points about oscar being the little prince, but the idea of him and ruby being together romantically has personally never really made sense to me based on their interactions and it feels a bit icky because of the age gap. just curious about your thoughts, thanks!

“…but theidea of him and ruby being together romantically has personally never reallymade sense to me based on their interactions and it feels a bit icky because ofthe age gap…”

“…and it feels a bit icky because of the age gap…”

…It feelsicky because of the age gap? To quote CRWBY Writer: Miles Luna himself,it’s just two years? As far as theaudience are aware, Ruby Rose is roughlyabout seventeen years old (more or less) while Oscar is fourteen probably goingon fifteen years old (more or less).

Regardless, going off of what Miles once confirmed, no matter how much olderRuby gets, Oscar will always be just two years younger than her. So evenif Ruby is currently 17 years old in the main series, Oscar is probably on thecusp of turning 15 soon since as, confirmed by Miles, the age gap between Rubyand Oscar is 2 and ONLY 2 years. How big of a gap is that really?

Riddle me this anon-chan, what is so weird or to quote your own words, “icky” about a prospective relationshipbetween two kids that are only two years apart? 

Because you’re not the first person I’ve hearduse the whole age gap as a means to imply why they don’t favour Rosegarden. Asa matter of fact, the age difference thing is a common argument amongst theAnti-RG shipping community and I’m sorry but I find this reason to be rathersilly to my ears.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not trying to make you oranyone with this type of mind-set feel bad for having this opinion since you’reentitled to have it.

However, since I am giving my own opinion here, thissquiggle meister honestly finds this rationaleto be silly; to put it nicely. It’s even more ludicrous when Ihear people use it in debates against Rosegarden.

Maybe it’s because I was born in the 90s and grewup during the 2000s when times were certainly different than it is nowadays ormaybe it’s because I’m the youngest child of parents with a five year age difference or maybe it’s because I’m from a culturewhere this type of stuff is considered “smallting”---either way, I find it really ridiculous when people make a big dealover something like a measly two year age gap between two fictional characterwho are essentially both teenagers.

Realistically, two years is not that big of anage gap. Even at 17 and 14 respectively, Rubyand Oscar are still the two youngest members within our hero team whichputs them at being closer in age than any of the other characters. Not tomention that, 2 years is a common age gap used within the RWBY series. Ruby andYang are two years apart as far as siblings go. Not to mention that the twoyear age gap is shared not just by Rosegardenbut also with other more commonly known Ruby ships like Lancaster, Whiterose andNuts and Dolts.

That being said, I’m going to safely assume thatyou’re probably someone who feels uncomfortable shipping Ruby with anyone atall anon-chan, Oscar included, since if you take issue with the age gap betweenthe Rosebuds then I’m assuming youprobably don’t favour the rest of the Ruby ships for that same reason, right?

I hope you’re not one of those hypocrites whoonly find the 2 year age gap problematic for Rosegarden but not for Whiterose,Lancaster, Nuts and Dolts, etc.

But to each, their own, I suppose.

Anyways, to answer your main question---as I’ve voiced before, part of the core reason I started shipping Ruby and Oscar together was actuallybecause of their interactions from V5 and how strongly the series placedemphasis on it from the start of that season. Since their first meeting inV5, the CRWBY Writers have delivered well on showing a need to push Ruby andOscar closer together by having them naturally develop a friendship and strongsense of trust and respect in one another. On that part, all things considered,the show has down well on developing the rapport between the Rosebuds.

Oscar’s bond with Ruby gave me a much differentvibe than any of her other connections and vice versa. One thing I’ve talkedabout with Rosegarden is that I always liked how the show portrayed Ruby andOscar as showing a mutual level of interest in each other. Not necessarily inany kind of romantic way.  But it has been very evident since the firsttime they met that Oscar and Ruby do like each other.

Despite only being friends for a short space oftime, Ruby and Oscar share a comfort and sense of trust with one another moreakin to people who have known each other for years and I like that element totheir relationship.

From the get-go, the two have shown to get alongreally well and their friendship has only grown over the passing seasons.

I understand that you don’t get romance fromtheir interactions and you’re right about that---nothing regarding the pastRosegarden interactions has been all that romanticallycharged. While it’s been highlighted that Oscar and Ruby definitely care forone another and are willing to go above and beyond to protect each other, as aRosegardener, I’ll admit that nothing truly grounding has been dropped in ourlaps as yet. Like with any ship in RWBY, us Gardeners have gotten a couple ofcute and meaningful moments shared between the Rosebuds that has helped withtheir respective character development and mayeven hint at a possible futureromance between Oscar and Ruby. But nothing to really nip it in the butt asyet.

However, as I said, the potential for a future romance is there. You might not see itthat way anon-chan but for me, I can’t help but feel like the Writers have beenslowly setting something to happenbetween Ruby and Oscar for a while. Since V5. Will it be romance? I can’t really tell you for sure. Hence whyI’ve beem following the pair closely over the seasons, patiently waiting to seewhether or not the Writers will actually make that leap with these two.

As I’ve said in the past, I’m riding the Rosegarden hype train mainly because I really, really likethis ship. It’s the only Ruby and Oscar pairing that I honestly believe has thepotential to become canon and because of that, I genuinely wish to see where itgoes. If a love story is what the CRWBY Writers wish to do in the long runfor the buds then obviously I am all in for that. Oscar and Ruby are my twoall-time favourite characters in RWBY and personally, I think a romance betweenthese two kids can work and will be nothing but adorkable and sweet sincethat’s how the show has always portrayed them together.

However if romance isn’t in the cards for thesetwo then that’s fine as well. While I’d be totally lying to myself if I said Iwasn’t heavily rooting for a romantic endgame between these two smaller, more honest souls, at theend of the day, I just want to see Rubyand Oscar share a strong meaningful bond with one another that’s important tothem as part of their own individual stories and arcs since it would be thefitting payoff to the build-up between them from the past few seasons.

Why draw attention to keymoments and interactions between these two kids if the takeaway wasn’t going tobe something important like the two of them coming to terms with how much theyvalue each other in their lives or something along those lines?

Either way, I’d be happy with any kind of close bondbetween Ruby and Oscar, be it platonic (best friends/most trustedconfidantes much like their Oz counterparts) or romantic (lovers; strongly devoted to one another and responsiblefor each other; much like their Little Prince counterparts). For me, Rosegardencan go either way and still work tremendously well. Heck I’d personally love itif both were done since I’m a sucker for the strangers to close friends to lovers romance trope.

So long as Rosegarden continues to be a goodrelationship that the Writers continue to handle it with the respect that it’streated the two thus far then I’d be cool either way.

Personally I think it would be pretty sweet ifOscar and Ruby end up falling in love with one another and sharing a romancesince I’d imagine it’d be just as adorably awkward yet sweet and wholesome asthe show has always portrayed their relationship up until this point. Itdefinitely makes me excited to see how their relationship blossoms movingforward especially now that they are separated and unaware of each other’sfates, much like their Little Prince counterparts. If romance is in the cardsfor these two kids then the conclusion of V7 going into V8 presents theWriters’ with a golden opportunity to explore it if they so desire. But at theend of the day, it’s their call.

I’m just curious and of course, beyond excited tosee it all play out. To be honest with you anon-chan,I’m not quite sure what kind of answer you’re probably expecting me to givefrom this. If you were expecting me to respond like “If Rosegarden doesn’t become endgame then I will drop RWBY and I willhate the CRWBY Writers forever” then no.You’re not gonna get that type of response with me.

I do strongly believe that there is going to besomething to go down between Ruby and Oscar. I feel like the show has beenslowly building up to something significant to go down for these twokids---something that is unique to only them. A type of bond the two will sharetogether that will differentiate their bond from others within the series.

But as much as I adore Rosegarden as my favouriteRWBY pairing and even as much as I would love to see them end up together inthe end, I also firmly understand and RESPECTthe fact that by the end of the day, these characters belong to RoosterTeethand the story that I’ve been following with them and their allies are being controlledby people who have their own plans for them.

What that plan is, is what I, as the audiencemember, await to see with each passing volume; whether I end up enjoying what Isee or not.

 Will it be a love story? Will it be somethingelse? That’s the thing. I really don’t know what it will be and that’s where mycuriosity has mostly been peeked. I REALLY, REALLY want to see where theseWriters take these two.

 Hence why I jumped on the bandwagon of the LittlePrince. Through small moments that I can see were inspired by the story, I canget a small sense of where the Writers might be taking the Rosebuds. It’s whyI’m very excited for Oscar’s story for V8.

In the Little Prince story, the Prince had lefthis rose to go on a journey from which he was able to mature further and ultimatelycame to realize the true meaning behind his relationship with his one true rose.This is what I’m hoping for with Ruby and Oscar. I’m expecting this separationbetween them to force to them to see how much they truly value each other.

But it’s not just the Little Prince connectionsthat made me excited for the future of Rosegarden. There’s also the connectionto the God of Light. Right now, outsideof Salem, Ruby and Oscar are the twoother known characters within the series who share in the power of the God ofLight.

With Oscar, it is the God of Light’s power thathas fuelled Ozma’s reincarnation cycle. Not to mention that like many magi duringFirst Remnant, Ozma could wield magic which was known throughout the lands asthe “gift from the Gods”. That poweralong with the knowledge to command it has now been passed down to Oscar as wesubtly saw displayed in the V7 finale.

As for Ruby, she too possesses the power of theGod of Light through her Silver Eyes as hinted back during V6. And as far as weknow, Ruby is currently the only livingSilver Eyed Warrior in existence which makes her a very unique rose.

I would count the Maidens but the Maidens were a creation of Ozma’s magic---amagic that Oscar will ultimately inherit and could potentially take back shouldhe need to challenge Salem on his own again like Ozma once did during his lifeas Diggs.

Basically what I’m trying to say here is thatRuby and Oscar both share a predicament unique to them and only them.

Oscar is Ozma’s current incarnation. Ozma was thechosen champion of humanity, selected by the God of Light himself in the hopesthat he would help repair Remnant by stopping Salem. Ruby is a Silver EyedWarrior with the God-given ability to smite the Grimm whose current master isSalem.

Ozma fought Salem in the past and failed to stopher on his own (he managed to kill her but her immortality curse resurrectedher). Summer Rose, Ruby’s own mother and the last Silver Eyed Warrior toconfront Salem faced her on her own and much like Ozma once did, lost her life.

The only thing that hasn’t been tried is an incarnation of Ozma working togetherwith a Silver Eyed Warrior with the two fighting Salem together.

During his lifetime with Norman, when Ozma first asked Jinn about how he could stop Salem,he was told disappointingly that he couldn’t stop Salem. Perhaps, this was Jinn hinting to Ozma that his role was never tostop Salem. Perhaps ultimately,Ozma’s true purpose was to survive long enough to the lifetime where he wouldbe able to protect or more or less support and fight beside the very person whois destined to stop Salem once and for all.

What would be interesting is if ultimately,maybe…just maybe---Oscar and Rubyworking together; supporting each other as one with the light of God that theyshare; might be what can turn the tides against Salem. Maybe their union will the key in some shapeor form. Then again, this is just me spouting my theories as usual.

Overall, if Rosegarden as a fated pair is a direction that the Writers (particularly Miles andKerry since they are the two seniorwriters who sparked this bond in the first place back during V5) wish totake these two kids then that’s awesome. Brilliant even.

Obviously I’m more in favour of them falling in love andending up together-together. Hand over my kingdom of hearts, this squiggle meister is definitely rootingfor Ruby and Oscar to have their own fairy-tale love story (that would have ahappier ending than the first one) and I am unapologetically biased aboutthat.

I’m not even gonna try and deny my bias. Shoot,my bias has probably been showing since I started typing this response XD Whatcan I say? I love me a good, wholesome, fluffy lovey-dovey romance and I thinka puppy love story or union between our twosmaller, more honest souls would be…well…a match made by the Gods (y’see what I did thar? 8V)

Hoooooooooooowever…, for whatever reason, shoulda romance NOT happen for Rosegarden and in the end, they just end up being two equallygod-tier characters who support each other dearly and share one of the bestestfriendships in the whole series, then… I’d be fine with that too.

Not as flamboyant as “a match made by the Gods” but still sweet because it’s these twobeans.

Disappointing, yes, but not as catastrophically devastating as I’veseen other shippers react to not seeing their favourite pairs come to fruition.

Basically what I’m trying to say here bottom-lineis that I’m not going to lose my shit ifthe CRWBY Writers don’t make Rosegarden endgame.

Yes, my Rosegardening shipping kokoro would bebrokoro buuuuuuuuuuuut….that wouldn’t really stop me from adoring RG orshipping it any less than I always have. 

In the end, I’ll respect whatever direction the Writers decide to take thisfavourite ship of mine; platonic, romantic, somewhere in between or otherwise.

I’ve been in enough fandoms to know that canon endgame DOESN’T necessarily mean THEEND OF A SHIP. There are a lot of ships that I’ve seen survive and thriveregardless of the canon (for example: Zutarafrom Avatar the Last Airbender , Sheith from Voltron: Legendary Defender and Kachaako from My HeroAcademia).

So even if Ruby and Oscar doesn’t become a couplein the canon, it won’t really change my feelings toward their ship. The most Ican say is the same that I’ve always said about RG:

I’m here to see where Ruby and Oscar go in their current relationship with each other andI’ll support it regardless of whatever happens.

I hope this answers your question anon-chan.

~LittleMissSquiggles(2020)

#squiggles answers: rwby #oscar pine #ruby rose #oscar and ruby #rwby rosegarden #rwby volume 8 theories #Anon-ninja #squiggles answers

[wanderingnork]

After much consideration, I have realized that I have three “ship types” that bring me back for more over and over. They’re not the kind of relationships I necessarily want to have, but they are certainly the kind I like to explore and write about. All of them have a lot to do with power, equality, and how those things get navigated.

1. Age gaps with a twist. While the older partner has perhaps two decades of life experience on the younger, the younger partner has significantly more concrete power. They have some kind of potent supernatural ability, political stature, or something that puts them in a concretely superior position. Power and equality have to be navigated with mutual respect. The older partner may serve as a point of stability for the tumultuous younger partner, but because said younger partner has great power, they are capable of maintaining their independence and setting boundaries. It helps to have a magical nuke embedded in your very soul.

2. Immortal falls for a mortal. There’s some of the above dynamics reflected here, but the power imbalance is often driven by sheer literal power. They might meet their paramour because said mortal is marked for a great destiny or has some kind of special ability. The mortal, though, has no time for this. They might refuse the call of destiny, be actively disdainful of the powers that be, or simply treat the immortal as just another person. That’s the key: the immortal is intrigued by a mortal who is not awed or cowed by their power. The immortal learns to treat mortals with respect, while the mortal is in the process of discovering their place in the world.

3. Rivals to friends to lovers. This requires something different: two strong-willed people who have self-respect (if not self-esteem or self-love), and are in most ways equals, or believe themselves to be. On the surface, these people are diametrically opposed. Through time (and often with external adversity), however, they push each other to grow and to better themselves (if only to spite each other!). They also learn to recognize their rival’s nobler qualities, and eventually that their apparent opposition is built on a foundation of shared values. At that point, real mutual respect can grow, even if there’s always an aspect of disagreement between the two.

There can be some overlap in these, obviously; it’s not hard to imagine 1 and 3 appearing in the same romantic relationship, and 2 carries aspects of both 1 and 3. All of the fictional relationships I’ve gotten REALLY passionate about fall into these three categories (check my AO3 if you don’t believe me). I just want to take a deep dive into them and explore all their potential.

Hilariously, though? I’d NEVER want one of these for myself! I want a relationship with a partner close to me in age who is hopefully not an immortal, and with whom I can start off on mostly common ground (bearing in mind that obviously all of us have our differences). While I obviously have fun writing about the above, the kind of thing I want in reality is so far from any of them... XD

#nork rants about writing #seriously i'm predictable #it's WILD

[residentlion]

Fantasy AU Part 7. This is a selection of scenes rather than a continuous thing since I just like the idea of them having side adventures on their journey. When I put this on Ao3 I might expand on these too.

They were walking for a while to rest their horses when a thought occurred to Chris. ‘Albert, do you know how to use a sword?’

‘Of course.’ Albert gave him an annoyed glare.

Chris gave him one back. ‘I’m asking because you were only carrying a knife when the Order captured you.’

‘Ah.’ The annoyance faded into a grimace of regret. ‘I left my sword behind when I ran. I wasn’t thinking clearly, I just knew I needed to get away, and I couldn’t wield it in the condition I was in anyway.’ His words were deceptively mild for how tense his shoulders were, his knuckles white as he gripped his horse’s reins too tightly.

Chris reached out to take Albert’s hand in his own, squeezing in reassurance.

Albert gave their interlaced fingers a bemused look, but Chris could tell that he was getting used to, and maybe even liked, the casual gestures of affection.

‘It’s important to you.’

‘It was mine.’ He hissed, the pain in his eyes telling Chris that the sword was more than a mere possession.

‘We’ll get it back for you.’ Chris promised, it seemed like an easy enough task, and it obviously meant a great deal to Albert.

‘If the Demon King hasn’t destroyed everything I owned.’ Albert laughed bitterly, his hand clutching at Chris’ so he couldn’t let go. ‘But thank you, Chris. For caring.’

They shared a quick kiss and continued holding hands as they walked.

When they reached the next town, Chris made sure to get Albert a sword as well as picking up supplies.

‘You trust me with a weapon?’ Albert asked in amusement as he tested a few out, sliding through stances with practiced fluidity.

The question was completely unnecessary considering their relationship, but Chris was never quite sure if Albert was genuinely uncertain or if he was just fishing for a compliment. ‘You’re dangerous even without one.’ Chris pointed out and Albert smirked widely at the praise. ‘But I don’t want you unarmed when we venture into hostile territory.’

‘We’re delaying our quest for this?’ Albert asked in disgust as he delicately stepped around something on the ground.

‘This morning was a delay too.’ Chris said reasonably.

Sharp teeth nipped his ear before Albert whispered throatily. ‘An extremely pleasurable delay.’

‘Stop trying to distract me.’ With effort Chris ignored how tight his trousers were getting, walking through the forest was tricky enough already.

Albert licked his neck with a hot tongue before he leaned back to glare at Chris. ‘Why? This is tedious.’

‘I’m a knight. We help people.’

A blond eyebrow raised mockingly. ‘I was under the impression that the noble order of knights defended people from demons. Not found their lost livestock for them.’

‘They need my help.’ Chris insisted.

Albert muttered something under his breath in demonic that Chris was positive was uncomplimentary towards him, the peasants, or both. He ignored it and kept walking, and surprisingly Albert kept following him.

Albert stared up at the clear sky from where they were camped at the edge of the forest. ‘The stars aren’t usually visible from Arklay.’

The thought made Chris sad. Stargazing with his parents was a good memory from his childhood, he could still hear their voices as they’d patiently told him the legends every single time he’d asked. ‘What do you call them?’

‘Stars?’ Albert hissed something short and raspy.

Chris frowned, then realised it was merely a direct translation of the word. ‘No, I mean what are their names? Their stories? You must have your own.’

It was Albert’s turn to frown. ‘I don’t understand. They’re just lights in the sky.’

He felt another wave of sorrow, and a fierce desire to share the wonder of the stars with his lover. ‘No, they’re not. Let me tell you about them.’ Chris tugged Albert over closer to lie half on top of him, their cheeks pressed together. ‘See those three there?’ He pointed, feeling Albert nod. ‘And the other one a little further out? That’s the Warrior’s Bow. He threw it into the sky after he slew the last of the giants, and if they ever return, a hero will pull it down from its resting place to be put to use again.’ It sounded silly when he said it out loud and he flushed, expecting Albert to dismiss the legend as mere human superstition, but when he glanced at his lover the orange eyes were wide in childish wonder.

‘Oh.’ Albert seemed entranced by the little story, his fingers unconsciously tracing the paths between the stars to make the shape. ‘Do they all have stories?’

‘Yeah, of course.’

‘Tell me. Please.’ He turned his head to meet Chris’ gaze with pleading eyes.

Chris kissed him and then raised his hand again, showing him another group, and another.

The sky was lightening before Chris finished all his stories, the sudden glow of the sun making them both blink in surprise. Instead of travelling when they were tired from staying up all night, they spent some of the day sleeping.

When hunger forced them to wake up, Albert hunted for their meal. He was very good at both catching animals for food and cooking them, but Chris supposed that came with an affinity for fire.

After eating, they simply sat on the hill for a while longer.

‘Your lands are so different from mine.’ Albert mused as he looked out over the field below them. ‘The colours, the sunlight, even the air. Everything is gentler here. Kinder. Have you ever been to Arklay?’ He glanced at Chris, his eyes unreadable.

‘A few times, when we broke a demon garrison and reclaimed some of the land.’ Chris remembered the horrible place, the heavy, hot air that stank like it was constantly burning and dimmed the light of the sun, the black rock formations that cut as cleanly and deeply as a dagger that surrounded pits of molten flames. It was hell, and the land would remain tainted for decades even without demons living on it.

‘The outskirts.’ Albert studied him as if reading his thoughts. ‘It gets worse the closer you get to the king’s fortress.’

‘You lived there?’ Chris asked, his hand finding Albert’s as he shuddered.

‘My entire life. It was more of a prison than that cell your Order put me in.’

‘I’m sorry, Albert.’ He brought his hand up to kiss Albert’s fingers reassuringly, the pale skin still marred by scars.

Albert watched almost curiously, then lightly brushed his claws across Chris’ cheek. ‘The king believes that the human ability to feel compassion is a weakness.’

‘And what do you think?’ Chris prompted him to continue, sensing that there was more to his thought.

‘He’s misjudged you.’ The claws slid down to his throat, but the gesture was more a caress than a threat. ‘He believes that power comes only from fear, from demanding obedience. But there are other kinds of power. And you are anything but weak.’ Orange eyes met his and Chris was astonished at the open affection in them.

‘I love you.’ He mumbled as he pulled Albert into a rough kiss.

Albert hissed something soft and gentle back at him, but Chris only had a moment to wonder what he’d said before they were lost in each other.

‘Hold it right there.’ The man raised his sword and gestured to his companions to surround them.

Albert ignored them to turn to Chris with an eerie detached calm. ‘I assume your rule about killing innocents doesn’t apply to bandits?’

Chris nodded grimly as he drew his sword.

A cruel smile curved Albert’s thin lips as his orange eyes blazed red and his glamour shattered. The three men nearest him screamed horribly as they suddenly burst into flames.

Wheeling his horse about, Chris took advantage of the confusion to ran towards two more, slashing them to the ground viciously and making sure they stayed down. The last one tried to flee, but Chris raised his hand and struck him dead with a bolt of holy magic.

Albert gave him an interested look as they rolled the bodies off the road. ‘I’m glad to see that you can be ruthless when necessary.’

‘I hate scum like this. Preying on innocent people.’ Chris snarled as he kicked one of the bandits into the ditch, the old wound feeling raw again. He flinched when the warm hand landed on his arm, vaguely realising that Albert was trying to reassure him.

‘Chris?’

‘My parents…’ The words choked him.

Albert pulled him into a hug, the sudden embrace so shocking that Chris didn’t resist. ‘I don’t understand.’ He whispered, his fingers combing through Chris’ hair as he shuddered in Albert’s arms. ‘But I’m here for you.’

Chris hugged him back tightly, grateful for the sympathy and support, and fell in love with Albert a little more.

‘I’m afraid I don’t have any rooms left. And it’s against the law to charge travellers to sleep in the common areas.’ The innkeeper said apologetically.

Chris groaned inwardly, just their luck to find the only honest innkeeper in the outskirts. As he tried to think of something else he could use to bargain with he caught sight of the lute sitting behind the bar, the bard conspicuously absent. ‘How about in exchange for some music?’

The man glanced where Chris was looking, his expression becoming delighted. ‘I’ll make you that deal. It’s been too long since we’ve had any entertainment here. You sing too?’

Chris shook his head, but another voice interjected.

‘I do.’ Albert gave him a smug smile at his startled look.

‘Then you’ve got yourself a deal.’ The innkeeper passed Chris the lute.

Settling himself by the fire, Chris plucked at the lute strings to check the tuning. ‘Do you know any human drinking songs?’ He asked Albert sceptically.

‘Yes.’ The smug smile was still firmly in place on Albert’s thin lips.

‘Ok, do you know ‘The Maid’s Two Jugs’?’

‘Yes.’

Chris shrugged and started playing, he’d find out soon enough if Albert was telling the truth.

Albert hummed the opening quietly to find his rhythm and then started singing. He had a lovely voice, his unusual accent adding an undeservedly exotic lilt to the ribald tune. It almost made Chris want to stop playing and just listen, but he hastily refocussed after a minor error made Albert glare daggers at him.

After several songs it seemed like the right time to switch to something slower and more melancholy, the other patrons starting to tire or leave for the night. Chris strummed the opening of a song before realising with regret which one he’d unconsciously chosen. A sad tale of two lovers torn apart by the war between their people. But it was too late to stop now, especially once Albert started to sing.

He wasn’t singing in Common, or even demonic, but something else, a language that sounded like nothing Chris had ever heard. The eerie longing wailing made the already sorrowful melody even more haunting and Chris’ vision blurred with tears as it continued. He struggled to keep playing, glancing up to see that Albert was staring directly at him. Their eyes met and it felt like there was no one else in the room, the song meant for them alone.

When it ended Albert looked away and the spell was broken. The innkeeper interrupted them to tell them they’d played enough, and gave them food and drink as compensation.

Chris desperately wanted to ask about the last song, but it seemed too sacred and so he chose the safer question instead. ‘Where did you learn bawdy human tavern songs?’

Albert gave him a haughty, mysterious smile and didn’t reply.

‘Ok, keep your secrets then.’ He laughed to take the edge off the words and Albert’s smile softened.

His eyes flicked between Chris’ and the night sky as Chris took him. As much as he liked to make eye contact, he knew that Albert was fascinated by the stars. And there was something reverent in the way he was staring upwards, every breathy moan like a prayer as Chris rolled his hips into him in long, slow thrusts. Everything seemed soft and dream-like, even the claws digging into his shoulders did so gently and without drawing blood. Albert arched his back with a quiet cry, more pre-come slicking their stomachs. Chris kissed him but didn’t stop moving, steadily working him towards another orgasm.

‘They’re so beautiful.’ Albert murmured, meeting Chris’ gaze. His blond hair spread out around his head like a halo, making him look more angelic than demonic and the stars were reflected in his eyes as they kissed again.

‘You’re beautiful.’

#chris x wesker #chrisker #fanfic #au august #fantasy au #albert wesker #chris redfield

[elisaenglish]

How John Stuart Mill and Harriet Taylor’s Pioneering Intimate Partnership of Equals Shaped the Building Blocks of Social Equality and Liberty for the Modern World

“They were imperfect, divided people and went on being so for the rest of their lives, with the rueful knowledge of human contradiction that good people always have.”

Half a century after the 18th-century political philosophers Mary Wollstonecraft and William Godwin pioneered the marriage of equals, and just as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Margaret Fuller were contorting themselves around the parameters of true partnership, another historic power couple modeled for the world the pinnacle of an intimate union that is also an intellectual, creative, and moral partnership nourishing not only to the couple themselves but profoundly influential to their culture, their era, and the moral and political development of the world itself.

In 1851, after a twenty-one-year bond traversing friendship, collaboration, romance, and shared idealism, John Stuart Mill (May 20, 1806–May 8, 1873) and Harriet Taylor (October 8, 1807–November 3, 1858) were married. Mill would come to celebrate Taylor, like Emerson did Fuller, as the most intelligent person he ever knew and his greatest influence. In her titanic mind, he found both a mirror and a whetstone for his own. They co-authored the first serious philosophical and political case against domestic violence. Taylor’s ideas came to shape Mill’s advocacy of women’s rights and the ideological tenor of his landmark book-length essay On Liberty, composed with steady input from her, published shortly after her untimely death, and dedicated lovingly to “the friend and wife whose exalted sense of truth and right was my strongest incitement.”

In his autobiography, Mill painted a stunning portrait of Taylor:

In general spiritual characteristics, as well as in temperament and organisation, I have often compared her, as she was at this time, to Shelley: but in thought and intellect, Shelley, so far as his powers were developed in his short life, was but a child compared with what she ultimately became. Alike in the highest regions of speculation and in the smaller practical concerns of daily life, her mind was the same perfect instrument, piercing to the very heart and marrow of the matter; always seizing the essential idea or principle. The same exactness and rapidity of operation, pervading as it did her sensitive as her mental faculties, would, with her gifts of feeling and imagination, have fitted her to be a consummate artist, as her fiery and tender soul and her vigorous eloquence would certainly have made her a great orator, and her profound knowledge of human nature and discernment and sagacity in practical life, would, in times when such a career was open to women, have made her eminent among the rulers of mankind. Her intellectual gifts did but minister to a moral character at once the noblest and the best balanced which I have ever met with in life. Her unselfishness was not that of a taught system of duties, but of a heart which thoroughly identified itself with the feelings of others, and often went to excess in consideration for them by imaginatively investing their feelings with the intensity of its own.

In A Thousand Small Sanities: The Moral Adventure of Liberalism (public library) — an elegant, impassioned, and rigorously reasoned effort to re-humanise the most humanistic moral and political philosophy our civilisation has produced — Adam Gopnik argues that Mill and Taylor pioneered something even greater than a true marriage of equals on the intimate plane of personal partnership: a vision for the building blocks of equality on the grandest human scale.

Gopnik — a Canadian by birth, a New Yorker (and longtime New Yorker staff writer) by belonging, and one of the most lyrical, lucid thinkers in language I have ever read — recounts trying, and failing, to comfort his intelligent, politically engaged, disconsolate teenage daughter in the wake of the 2016 U.S. Presidential election. For consolation and clarity, as much hers as his own, he turns to Taylor and Mill:

My idea of liberalism, while having much to do with individuals and their liberties, has even more to do with couples and communities. We can’t have an idea of individual liberty without an idea of shared values that include it.

A vision of liberalism that doesn’t concentrate too narrowly on individuals and their contracts but instead on loving relationships and living values can give us a better picture of liberal thought as it’s actually evolved than the orthodox picture can.

[…]

Images illuminate ideas, and pictures of people are usually clearer than statements of principle. When I think about the liberal tradition I wanted to show my daughter, my inner vision kept returning to a simple scene, one that had delighted me for a long time. It’s of the nineteenth-century philosopher John Stuart Mill and his lover, collaborator, and (as he always insisted) his most important teacher, the writer Harriet Taylor. Desperately in love, they were courting clandestinely, and they would meet secretly at the rhino’s cage at the London Zoo. “Our old friend Rhino,” Taylor called him in a note. It was a place where they could safely meet and talk without fear of being seen by too many people, everyone’s attention being engaged by the enormous exotic animal.

They were pained, uncertain, contemplating adultery, if not yet having committed it — opinions vary; they had been to Paris together — and yet in those conversations began the material of “On Liberty,” one of the greatest books of political theory ever written, and “On the Subjection of Women,” one of the first great feminist manifestos and one of the most explosive books ever written. (One of the most successful, too, inasmuch as almost all of its dreams for female equality have been achieved, at least legally, in our lifetime.)

With an eye to the perilous erasures with which history is often rewritten — history, I continue to insist, is not what happened, but what survives the shipwrecks of judgment and chance — Gopnik points to the curious disconnect between Mill’s own repeated affirmations of Taylor’s supreme influence on his ideas, and subsequent warpings and appropriations of their story:

After [Mill’s] life, generations of commentators — including Friedrich Hayek, who unfortunately edited their letters — aggressively Yoko-ed [Taylor], insisting that poor Mill, wildly intelligent in all but this, was so blinded and besotted by love that he vastly exaggerated the woman’s role, which obviously couldn’t have been as significant as his own. Fortunately, newer generations of scholars, less blinded by prejudice, have begun to “recover” Harriet Taylor for us, and her role in the making of modern liberalism seems just as large and her mind as fine as her husband always asserted that it was.

Gopnik reflects on the intellectual and ideological resonance at the heart of Mill and Taylor’s love, which in turn became the pulse-beat of our modern notions of political progress:

What they were was realists — radicals of the real, determined to live in the world even as they altered it. Not reluctant realists, but romantic realists. They were shocked and delighted at how quickly women and men began to meet and organise on the theme of women’s emancipation, but they accepted that progress would be slow and uncertain and sometimes backward facing. They did more than accept this necessity. They rejoiced in it because they understood that without a process of public argument and debate, of social action moved from below, the ground of women’s emancipation would never be fully owned by women nor accepted, even grudgingly, by men.

They had no illusions about their own perfection — they were imperfect, divided people and went on being so for the rest of their lives, with the rueful knowledge of human contradiction that good people always have.

In that singular Gopnik fashion, he then inverts the telescope, turning from the cultural perspective back to the intimate microscopy of this uncommon bond between two uncommon visionaries. Between their ideals and the their vulnerabilities, he locates one of the largest truths about love:

Theirs is one of the most lyrical love stories ever told, for being so tenderly irresolute. Recognising that intimate life is an accommodation of contradictions, they understood that political and social life must be an accommodation of contradictions too. The accommodation was their romance. That meant that social accommodation could be romantic, too. Love, like liberty, tugs us in different directions as much as it leads us in one. Love, like liberty, asks us to be only ourselves, and it also asks us to find our self in others’ eyes. Compromise is not a sign of the collapse of one’s moral conscience. It is a sign of its strength, for there is nothing more necessary to a moral conscience than the recognition that other people have one, too. A compromise is a knot tied tight between competing decencies.

[…]

The great relationship of [Mill’s] life would be proof of his confidence that true liberty meant love — relationship and connection, not isolation and self-seeking. What we want liberty for is the power to connect with others as we choose. Liberalism is our common practice of connection turned into a principle of pluralism.

When Taylor died of a mysterious malady only seven years into their marriage, and nearly thirty years into their partnership, the devastated Mill erected a monument to her, made of the same Carrara marble as Michelangelo’s David and inscribed with these words:

HER GREAT AND LOVING HEART

HER NOBLE SOUL

HER CLEAR POWERFUL ORIGINAL AND COMPREHENSIVE INTELLECT

MADE HER THE GUIDE AND SUPPORT

THE INSTRUCTOR IN WISDOM

AND THE EXAMPLE IN GOODNESS

AS SHE WAS THE SOLE EARTHLY DELIGHT

OF THOSE WHO HAD THE HAPPINESS TO BELONG TO HER

AS EARNEST FOR THE PUBLIC GOOD

AS SHE WAS GENEROUS AND DEVOTED

TO ALL WHO SURROUNDED HER

HER INFLUENCE HAS BEEN FELT

IN MANY OF THE GREATEST

IMPROVEMENTS OF THE AGE

AND WILL BE IN THOSE STILL TO COME

WERE THERE BUT A FEW HEARTS AND INTELLECTS

LIKE HERS

THIS EARTH WOULD ALREADY BECOME

THE HOPED-FOR HEAVEN

Gopnik’s A Thousand Small Sanities is a worthy read in its entirety, drawing on the personal to illuminate the political, clearing the clouded lens of the past to magnify the most pressing questions of the present in order to answer them with equal parts reasoned realism and largehearted idealism. Couple this particular fragment with Jill Lepore on how Eleanor Roosevelt revolutionized politics, then revisit Henry David Thoreau, writing in Taylor and Mill’s era, on the long cycles of social change and the importance of not mistaking politics for progress and Thomas Mann, writing in humanity’s darkest hour, on justice, human dignity, and the need to continually renew our ideals.

Source: Maria Popova, brainpickings.org (18th June 2019)

#quote #women writers #love #freedom #equality #all eternal things #love in a time of... #intelligence quotients #progressive thinking #depth perception #the marriage of true minds #stands on its own #elisa english #elisaenglish

[dinahevans]

Triumphs part 1

Jake Gyllenhaal x OFC

Summary: Azelia is the basic stereotypical rich girl. She only wants to be involved with things with rich people and there businesses. But what happens when She gets impregnated by a down to earth celebrity Jake Gyllenhaal? Will she stay as her bitchy self our will she become a less self centred person?

Warning: Swearing and just a tiny bit of dirty talk.

Word count: 1.6k

A/N: First of I suck at summarizing stuff so there’s that. Another thing is I know some people feel a bit iffy about OC fics so I tried to keep the name calling to the minimum. I hope you guys enjoy this fic, it’s actually my first story on this site 🥰!!! Also side not my baby fever has SKYROCKETED. Idk what’s up with me. Also I take requests sooo hit me up🤙

“Ok repeat what you just told me but slower this time.” My best friend Delilah stated while sitting on my bed right beside me.

My voice was extremely shaky and I was on the verge of crying, so it’s understandable as to why Delilah can’t understand me. I’m a mess I couldn’t articulate any actually words everything I was saying sounded like Gibberish. Delilah handed me a tissue and patted my back telling me that things are going to be alright and she will always be there for me.

I took a deep breath and finally calmed myself down before saying defeatedly “I’m pregnant”

Delilah’s eyes grew wide. She had a lot of questions. This is something that she would never expect to happen to me, getting pregnant on accident. This is something she expected from her self. Delilah was always the wild one she always had different men in her bed each night and could survive 6 drinks of vodka before blacking out. Don’t get me wrong I could be just as wild, but typically this is the type of thing that would be expected from Delilah.

Ever since my mother and father split things have been very different. Despite the fact that they separated when my twin sister and I were 2. It still had a major effect on us both. My mother was a supermodel but after she gave birth to my sister and I she slowly stop taking gigs. She later got married to a Jewish Billionaire who raised us both as if we where is own. The problem came in with our father Robert Downey Jr. He didn’t like the fact that we were being raised with a lavish lifestyle and He didn’t want us to end up growing up being narcissistic and thinking we were better than anybody. He wanted us to be grounded and somewhat down to earth. Which causes issues between My mother and him. With my mother just wanting to give us what she couldn’t have as a child and my father thinking that spoiling kids isn’t the right way to earn there love. Sometimes There fight would get so bad that my mother wouldn’t let me see my father for months on end.

So spending most of my time with people like Delilah and some of my other rich friends have really took an effect on me. The idea of hanging out with commoners was somewhat weird. I had put the expectation on myself that I would also marry another rich man and we would have many children together who would be able to inherit our fortunes. So when my stepdad told me about a boy named Nathan I was extremely intrigued. My Step Dad told me about how his father is an very important figure in the investment businesses. My twin sister Amiliah says I should stop being materialistic and it doesn’t matter how much money my lover would have, it’s about how who they are as a person.

Sure she isn’t wrong but this world is ruthless and you need to be on the top if you want to survive. But now all of this is going down the drain after finding out what I had just found out.

“Who is the Father? Is it Nathan’s? OMG imagine a baby boy with your hair and Nathan’s eyes gosh that be sooo cute.” Delilah always got ahead of herself with just about anything but right now it felt like she was doing it too lighten the mood.

I sigh heavily I felt like a disappointment, and I hated it. “The baby isn’t Nathan’s… Nate and I haven’t sleep with each other yet, cause if we did I would have told you already.”

Delilah was getting annoyed with me at this point but she tried to keep cool.

“Okay then whose child are you pregnant with? Is it some commoners? Is that why you're too ashamed to tell me?” I gave her a weird look, she should know better than too think I would stoop down low. Despite the fact that Amiliah and I are Twins we don’t share the same ideology and thinking. Sleeping with a commoner is something that Amiliah would do.

“Oh gosh no lilah he’s and actor we’ve seen a few of his movies before, his name is Jake Gyllenhaal.” Delilah sighed in relief knowing that if I did get pregnant by a commoner it was cause a whole lotta trouble for me and my parents (mostly my stepdad).

“Have you told him yet?”

“No it was a one time thing I don’t even have his number so I wouldn’t be able even if I wanted too.”

Delilah looked at me for a few seconds before proceeding to say “And you're sure it’s his baby? And are you just basing this off of one pregnancy test or did you go to the doctors as well?”

“YES Lilah I’m sure it’s his baby he’s the last person I’d sleep with in a while. And YES I went to the doctors as well I’m not that dense.” I sighed this is not how I planned things to go yeah sure she Jake isn’t some commoner he is an A list celebrity but Jake isn’t no investor, he isn’t worth almost a billions dollars.

“Well we are going to need to talk to him he can’t be in the dark. Lucky for you I have his number based off of mutual friends, I mean we’ve never had any proper conversation but that’s aside the point.” Delilah Handed me over her phone, with jakes number on the screen.

“How fucking convenient of you to just so happen to have his phone number.” I mean that is strange. Out of all the things she just so happens to have my soon to be baby daddy’s phone number.

“You shouldn’t be surprised I literally have everyone’s phone number. Now call him and put the phone on speaker.”

“Alright”

As I was about to click on the call button I had a wave of anxiety rush up on my skin and I started to get slightly nervous but I let it all slip down and tried to gain somewhat of confidence. I hit the call buttons and waited

The phone soon answered

“Hey… Delilah why are you calling me this early in the morning? It’s like 3:27 am”

“Umm it’s Azealia I’m using Delilah’s phone to talk to you.” I sounded extremely nervous and I hated myself for it I wanted to play it cool but it didn’t seem to be working for me.

“Oh… umm… ok sorry but who exactly are you I don’t know an Azealia?”

“I’m the girl you slept with from the Bay Blue club about two months ago.” God this felt awkward

“Oh yeah I remember… ah yeah but what is it that you had to call me for.” He was slightly impatient probably due to the fact that he wanted to go back to bed since he had to get up early and discus the latest script he received. There were so many faults and errors it was almost embarrassing.

I took a huge deep breath and Delilah took her hand into mine. “Well I just called to tell you that I’m pregnant and the baby is yours.”

Oh dear lord all hell broke loose. Jake jumped out of his bed and started pacing around asking questions each millisecond.

“What do you mean your pregnant? I always use protection it can’t be.”

“How do you even know it’s mine? You better not be lying trying to get some sort of 5 minutes of fames.”

“Is this some kind of sick joke to you?You don’t just lie to people like that.”

“How do I even know your telling the truth?”

Jake has every right to be skeptic. I shouldn’t have been surprised too think that he wouldn’t believe me and think I was some sort of attention whore. But at last I was shocked and was taking back by his questions.

“You think I would lie about something like this? How low do you think I’d stoop? Why would I try and steal any of your money when I have millions in my bank account and my Father own a billion fucking dollar oil industry! I just thought I should have been a decent person and inform you on what I had found out but obviously you have a stick way too up your ass. Delilah look proud of me, she too did not like that he’d assume that you where some attention whore.

I went too hard on him I will admit it but in the moment I was extremely defensive.

“Ya well… I remember putting on a fucking condom so it must be some other guy you threw yourself too.” Jake didn’t really mean what he said but he wasn’t going to let his pride down.

Jake was getting on my nerves at this point but I wasn’t going to let him win this fight. “Oh yeah so you don’t remember telling me how you can’t wait to cum in my inside my pussy, and how you can’t wait to see me dripping in your juices? Or was that all a figment of my imagination?”

Jake felt defeated it does sound like something he would say but he just couldn’t believe it, I had to be lying to him… Jake was getting old he’s 37 years old not married and no children maybe there is something too this. Maybe if she isn’t lying to him he could try to find and make something out of this.

Jake sighed while rubbing his hands over his face.

“So how when’s the baby due?”

A/N: I wanted to keep the first chapter straight to the point and short just so people get the gyps of it. Also there will be a lot more characters (and drama) in the future.

#Jake Gyllenhaal x OFC #jake gyllenhaal x reader #Jake Gyllenhaal #Dad!Robert Downy Jr #jake gyllenhaal imagine

[travllingbunny]

The 100 rewatch: 2x11 Coup de Grâce

This episode may be called Coup de Grâce (death blow?) but it would probably make more sense if it was called Coup d'état – because two leadership changes happen in this episode, pretty different ones, but in both cases, it’s someone taking power from their less radical parent who should be in charge due to their title, because they have the de facto power due to their support bases. It also has Bellamy start his mission as the action hero of season 2, and Jasper and Maya becoming on their own and saving some important characters. It’s an excellent episode that starts the uninterrupted series of great episodes until the end of season 2.

Rating: 9/10

This episode has a very effective but very unpleasant beginning, following the cliffhanger from the previous one, with scenes of Bellamy being tortured in the Mount Weather harvest chamber and put in the cage. (Oddly enough, in spite of that, it then goes on to be lighter than the upcoming episodes, in retrospect –I’d say, the last episode of this season that isn’t too dark, with too many moral compromises.)

Torture hasn’t broken Bellamy’s spirit in the slightest, and he is determined to get out of the cage so he could try to get free and start his mission. He has a little talk with an unknown Grounder woman – who we now know as Echo (her name is not mentioned until season 3) from the next cage, after she makes a comment and he says in English he doesn’t understand, and she reacts by spitting in his face. OMG that’s so romantic! It totally justifies the line “We found each other in cages, we’ll find each other anywhere”. LOL He tells her that the Sky people and Grounders are allies now, which she obviously wasn’t aware of, and they start talking in a more neutral/almost friendly way. Bellamy manages to get out of the cage (and saves Echo’s life in the process) by yelling and shaking his cage, having been told by Echo that the Mountain Men take the most unruly ones first. He achieved half of his goal, but he would have still died if Maya hadn’t saved his life, after noticing how quick the treatment was (Arker blood heals stronger than Grounder blood, as we’ve learned before). She sets him free, but then danger comes in form of a guard called Lovejoy. Bellamy, in spite of still being not at full strength, manages to kill him, with some help from Maya and Echo. I wonder how many other people were turned on watching shirtless Bellamy choke a guy to death? :-/ I’m guessing Echo may have been.

Bellamy tells Echo he’ll come back for her before leaving… And let’s say something about this interaction. Watching this episode for the first time, I was thinking that the character is likely to be seen again, and I thought show may or may not be setting up a future love interest for Bellamy – but that’s just because setting up a future relationship through a “meet-cute” first meeting that starts off as antagonistic but then people start working each other is a very obvious and common writing device – for future romance or future friendship. However, to claim that these scenes were “setting up the romantic relationship”, as if no other setup was necessary, is utterly ridiculous. (Not to mention how amusing it is to see some of the same people who claim that fans see romance in the Bellamy/Clarke interaction because they supposedly can’t see a man and a woman in a platonic relationship, go on to treat 2 minutes of Bellamy’s interaction with a random new female character, which were all about trying to survive, as practically an established romance.) This was nothing more than the bare bones of introducing a new character and setting up possible future development. It wasn’t a romantic moment in itself, it didn’t establish romantic interest, and it certainly didn’t offer much development, since we barely learned anything about Echo in the 5 minutes or so she was on screen. But it could have been the start of developing a romance… if the show didn’t then take a complete left turn and bring back Echo in season 3 at first apparently as an ally, then revealing that she was a villain using her connection to Bellamy and the fact he thought saving each other’s lives meant something, to manipulate him and facilitate a mass murder of his people, if it didn’t have Bellamy and Echo as bitter enemies throughout most of season 4… If those 2 seasons had instead been about making them friends or at least allies, then using a time jump to put them in a romantic relationship that was totally developed off-screen would not have been so jarring. That’s not how you do an Enemies to Lovers story. That’s not how you do a love story, period.

One moment in this episode that feels harsh and ironic in retrospect is Bellamy saying that he wants to get out of the cage and then "I'm gonna kill everyone in this mountain". It’s not the only time this season that one of the main characters says something like that in anger that sounded cool at the time, but that came true way too literally in the season finale. Bellamy would have been very unhappy if he had known how literally this would come true.

I love the fact Bellamy realized who Maya was right from the start, because Clarke told him about the girl that Jasper had a thing for. Clarke and Bellamy exchanging important info but at the same time gossiping about Jasper’s love life is such a great image.

Watching Maya and Bellamy working together was great, but so sad now, knowing how the season ends. It’s why Bellamy took it particularly hard that he and Clarke were forced to kill everyone, including “people who trusted me” – the Mount Weather rebels, most of all Maya.

I’m sure he also felt particularly horrible because he actually got to see the children in Mount Weather (killing children is awful by itself, but it must be worse when you have seen these concrete children), and even talk to one of them. Here he felt very bad just because he realized the sweet child he was talking to was Lovejoy's son, due to the nametag. (BTW, why do they all wear name tags when everyone knows each other in Mount Weather?) It’s easy to hate groups of people when you think of them in abstract terms, as an evil collective, but meeting actual people changes that.

Meanwhile, Jasper decides to go against Maya’s advice to not do anything stupid – because he is worried about his best friend, Monty, and there’s nothing that’s more certain to make Jasper brave and determined. He confronts Dante and even pulls a sword from Dante’s own office at him – which doesn’t work out well since Dante is better at sword-fighting. But Jasper manages to enlist Dante to help and save Monty and Harper, who were being drilled. The friendship between Jasper and Monty is certainly one of the most important and strongest relationships in the show, and it’s touching seeing Jasper get Monty out of the cage and hug him. Whatever else happened in Mount Weather after this point, Jasper did manage to save Monty and Harper, which will have huge consequences for the rest of the show. Not just because those two are lovable characters who will be on the show for a while after, or because they’ll have a son who will also become an important character, but also because Monty will eventually save everyone by finding the new planet.

Dante is genuinely against killing the kids, and confronts Cage, appealing to moral concerns, and calling Cage “a stain in our legacy”. Cage replies: "We've been bleeding people for decades to survive   that's out legacy" – and much as I hate him, he has a point there. Things don’t exactly do as planned when Dante tries to arrest him, but it turns out that the guard is loyal to Cage now . (it’s quite similar to the Jaha/Abby scene from 2x07), because they all want to go to the ground. And it’s not just that they want it – they feel entitled to it (Tsing says: “The ground is our birthright".) Cage does a coup and makes himself the new leader/President, while Cage ends up locked up in Clarke’s old room. The 47 meanwhile get locked up in their room, everyone finally learning what’s going on. Before that, it seems that only Jasper, Monty, Harper and Miller were in the know. (How come others hadn’t noticed Monty and Harper missing for 2 days, or Clarke missing for much longer than that?) Noticing little moments between Monty and Harper is one of those things that’s fun on rewatch. Here we saw Monty worrying while Harper was being drilled, and later he is comforting her after they’ve been saved.

Meanwhile, outside of Mount Weather:

This is the episode where the ambiguous leadership status among the Arkers gets resolved by Clarke wrestling power from her mother and becoming the de facto leader of the Arkers.

Another big development is that the Arkers now have a way of preventing the Mountain Men from controlling Reapers through the tone generator – since one was found on captive Emerson.

But it all starts with an assassination attempt on Clarke’s life. We see Clarke riding a horse… (Wait, when did Clarke learn horse riding? Can you do that in a couple of days? I’ve never tried, so I have no idea)…Clarke nearly escapes death, as the mission by Emerson and another guard fails. The shooter is killed, while Emerson’s hazmat suit gets a bullet hole, so the little party made of both Arkers and Grounders take him back to Camp Jaha and put him in quarantine, in order to question him. The photo they find shows that Clarke and Lexa are both targets. Lexa doesn’t otherwise appear in this episode, but her support is very important– the fact she told the Grounders to listen to Clarke, seeing her as the leader of the Arkers, is what gives Clarke a lot more power and allows her to win the power struggle with Abby.

But being the sole leader of the Sky people for the first time may not be the best thing for Clarke’s emotional well-being. (Being the sole leader generally isn’t a good idea, it’s always better to share power.) She and Bellamy balanced each other well in season 1, but they are separated through most of season 2. Even though their connection is no weaker for that. Fans, writers and even the characters on the show itself like to say that “Clarke is the Head, Bellamy is the Heart”, but that doesn’t mean that Clarke is not driven by emotion. If anything, in season 2, she is acting in a very impulsive way, and her concern for her friends, desire to save them, and her anger and determination and despair are driving her most of S2. At this point, she’s obviously on the edge. Now she’s not just worrying about the 47, but about Bellamy’s life, too. She’s worrying and walking around like a lion in a cage, and started to snap at people. Or rather, she and Raven start snapping at each other under the pressure, while waiting for Bellamy’s call. Clarke’s instinct is to try to control the situation and try to find a way to resolve it – by figuring things out and by telling others what to do. Which irritates Raven, who tells her to stop giving her orders. This is the second time (after Bellamy in 2x09) one of Clarke’s friends has made a remark about Clarke giving people orders – though I don’t think Clarke would see it as “giving orders”, but she can’t help herself. When Raven mentions the possibility of Bellamy not succeeding (i.e. dying or already being dead, though none of them are able to say it aloud), Clarke does the typical Clarke thing – insists that Bellamy will succeed. It’s in her character to cling to faith and hope no matter what, because she can’t bring herself to think of the alternative. The same way she insisted that Finn and Bellamy were alive in 2x01, while Jasper thought it unlikely but didn’t want to tell her that (Raven and even Octavia have the same “she’s probably wrong but we can’t tell her” look that Jasper did), the same way that she will talk to Bellamy for 2199 days, without answer, refusing to think he may never return.

At one point, she starts losing hope, which makes Raven get angry for her, telling her that she can’t give up now – “You killed Finn and I didn’t give up!” It feels like this is always going to be a point of contention somewhere at the back of Raven’s mind.

Raven: “Do your job!”

Clarke: “What is my job???”

Raven: “I don’t know, to come up with something!”

This encapsulates Raven’s contradictory attitude to Clarke: both resenting her for being a leader and the hard decisions she makes, and expecting her to be just that and do just that.

When Bellamy’s voice is heard on the radio, it’s a huge relief to everyone, and Clarke’s and Bellamy’s body language when they hear each other’s voices makes for one of the cutest moments of season 2 and maybe the show overall. “Bellamy… you came through. I knew you would.” Bellamy tells her he needs a distraction so he wouldn’t get discovered, that Maya saved his life, and that they need a plan that doesn’t kill innocents, such as the Mountain Men children. “We need a plan that doesn’t kill everyone” – the opposite thing of what he said in the cage before. (In 2x16, he will be telling her the same, and she’ll desperately be asking him to give her another plan, but no one will have one.)

This gives Clarke the push to take the power from her mother. Abby is still trying to hold on to the same ideas about morality Clarke believed in during season 1: she doesn’t allow Emerson to be tortured, for instance. (Clarke agrees, but only because she now knows that torture doesn’t work as an interrogation tactic. It’s the exact opposite of her attitude in 1x07 – back then she thought it would work, but had moral concerns about it, and felt bad when she participated in it.) And at moments, Abby sounds really naïve (“Maybe he will talk because we saved his life” – which, of course, does not turn out to be the case.) But Clarke is at a point where she’s desperate and ready to start crossing more lines, if it means saving her people who are in grave danger. After Abby has told her she’s not in charge, Clarke uses the fact that Grounders all listen to her and makes it clear to her mother “You may be the Chancellor, but I’m in charge”. (Callback to 2x01 when the adult Ark leaders came and took over – and Kane told Bellamy “You’re not in charge anymore.”)

She decides to distract the Mountain Men from Bellamy by telling Emerson to give them a message that the Grounder army is much bigger than they think and that acid fog won’t be able to hurt them, which was technically true but also a red herring. The part that is less rational is where she intentionally gives Emerson oxygen for only 6 hours to get to Mount Weather, though the walk takes 8 hours. Yes, Emerson can get there by running like crazy, but it’s a risk – her distraction plan won’t work if he dies. It seems that this is just Clarke enjoying taunting and tormenting one of the guilty Mountain Men who have been keeping her friends captive, simply to take out her anger. A little before, she even wanted to kill him, something that she never wanted to do before without a good reason (self-defense, protecting her people, mercy kill…).  

The REIGN song used in the last scene makes it looks triumphant, but things will quickly turn dark in the next episode, Rubicon, and Clarke will start crossing lines that will damage her emotionally and make her slowly lose all her moral certainty.

Background info: The Arkers were genetically engineered. I wish we had more details on that

Timeline:  At the beginning of the episode, it has been 2 days since Monty has been missing – which means, 2 days since the end of episode 2x09.

Body count:

Mount Weather guard Lovejoy, killed by Bellamy.

Another Mount Weather guard/assassin (which means that there are 380 Mountain Men remaining),

1 Grounder who died of injuries after being shot in the fight with the two Mountain Men.

#the 100 #the 100 rewatch #the 100 season 2 #the 100 2x11 #coup de grace #clarke griffin #bellamy blake #raven reyes #abby griffin #maya vie #jasper jordan #monty green #harper mcintyre #dante wallace #cage wallace #carl emerson #mountain men #mount weather

[noiseartists]

Italian Shoegaze and Dream Pop quick guide, Vol. 1

This time we'd like to introduce you to the Italian multi-colored panorama with a selection of recommended bands orbiting the shoegaze planet. Better known for its classical music tradition, nowadays Italy holds surprises for noise lovers. Shoegaze, dream pop and noise pop are no longer sort of 90s memorabilia nor rare birds here: with Slowdive, MBV and Ride reuniting in recent years Italian tour dates were always included. And while this resulted in increased fan bases and attention from independent media - with new specialized webzines and web radios coming to light, the truth is Italy has been speaking the language of loud guitars and bleached vocals for some time now. While in the last decade a few notable veterans have already been making their way in the alternative world, especially over the border, newbies have come to light and settled a real Italogaze scene.

For both, the drive to fit in the international music scene means staying unique, contemporary and somehow having sharp, recognizable roots at the same time. Drawing inspiration from different genres such as new wave, psych, electronic, grunge, each artist tends to blend their common ground - shoegaze classics and noise essentials - with original tastes.

What they all share is the need to communicate (with no actual words, like any shoegaze singer would) at high volumes, both vertically and horizontally. That is, the listener might find an emotional connection with an ambiguous time-line that ranges from vintage sound scapes to modern arrangements, or he could even find himself in another place.

Lost in a metaphysical space, you can't just tell if you're floating under the surface of a rough sea, if you just ended up in a desolate valley with no-one but a cello, if you're looking for your answers in a remote galaxy or maybe you just got caught in a powerful, colourful vortex. Either way, you'd probably forget to be in your room and, we're sure, never guess to be under the warm sun of Italy. 

You might have already taken a look at our articles on the talented Clustersun and Stella Diana, now let’s continue our journey with a short overview of recommended Italogaze bands. More bands and more steps in this sonic trip are coming soon!

 STELLA DIANA

Arguably one of the most long-lived bands in the Italian shoegaze scene, Stella Diana is a multifaceted project founded in 1998 by guitarist Dario Torre, who has been making a big name for himself in Italogaze and international alternative circles as a gifted composer as well as an enthusiastic supporter of shoegaze and alternative genres made in Italy.

Along with his musical career he currently runs the web radio Shoegazin’ your waves, through which he is promoting popular and emerging Italian artists.

Stella Diana has released 5 albums in total showing dramatical changes in terms of line-up, sound shaping, inspirations and even lyrics language.

Their early works were characterised by sharp compositions, echoing vocals and a post-punk texture of sound and song structures. The very choice of Italian language was not obstructive, as is shown by a long-time fan base from all over the world.

Actually the band collected hundreds of European tour dates, which has made them better known abroad than in their homeland.

However, 2015 was the turning point in Stella Diana’s history. Their fifth release, titled Nitocris and produced by renowned sound-engineer Marc Joy, marked a decisive shift towards modern shoegaze tones. Thanks to its richness obtained by skilfully combining walls of sound with dark moods, the album has been widely acclaimed.

Stella Diana’s upcoming work will be titled 57, due out May 25. Its launching single Der Sandmann suggests new patterns and evolution: it is a dreamy, minimalist track featuring a cello that evokes a sense of isolation.

Despite such variety, what has been unchanged throughout Stella Diana discography insofar is an obvious passion for 80s and 90s sounds, their taste in creating melodies, hazy atmospheres and hypnotic bass and drums.

Take your time to read our interview and in-depth collaboration with the band to learn more about them.

Stella Diana’s line-up is:

Dario Torre - vocals & guitar

Giacomo Salzano - bass

Giulio Grasso - drums  

Stella Diana’s music work is:

Supporto colore, album, released 2007

Gemini, album, released 2011

41 61 93, album, released February 2014

Alhena, EP, released December 2015

Nitocris, album, released April 2016

Non-original, yet great material include:

Leave them all behind (Ride cover), digital single, from VA - Leave Them All Behind - A Tribute To Ride, released March 16, 2015 by The Blog That Celebrates Itself Records

Lazarus (Boo Radleys cover), digital single, from VA - We Are All BOO´s, released April 14, 2016 by The Blog That Celebrates Itself Records

Mild Confusion (Tamaryn acoustic cover), digital single, released April 2017

Nothing Natural (Lush cover), digital single, from VA - Lovelife, A Homage To Lush, released March 1, 2018 by The Blog That Celebrates Itself

HUMAN COLONIES

Blurred dreamy cloudy fuzzy something, and that’s all. Despite such a brief self-introduction on social media, it seems that a little more has been written on Human Colonies since their debut in 2013.

With their last release, Midnight screamer, the band has gained popularity and after some premieres circulating on webzines and specialized blogs, the album has been welcomed by Rolling Stone Italia as a groovy-yet-shoegazey job well done.

Human Colonies music is all about directness and simplicity, tons of fuzz, gentle vocals and a powerful rythmic section. Their favourite artists include Dinosaur Jr., My Bloody Valentine, The Pixies, And you will know us by the trail of dead, Melvins, Sparklehorse.

Their sound is constantly moving through noise, dream pop, psychedelic, all mixed with a genuine lo-fi / punk attitude.

Human Colonies are currently touring Italy, if you happen to be around we recommend you not to miss one of their energetic gigs.

If you’re curious about the history behind this shy and bubbly power trio, we invite you to read more on our dedicated article coming soon.

Human Colonies’ line-up is:

Giuseppe Mazzoni - guitar, vocals

Sara Telesca - bass, backing vocals

Riccardo Cotti - drums and percussions

Human Colonies’ music work is:

Demo/EP, demo, released August 2013

Calvary, album, released 2015

Big Domino Vortex, EP, released January 2017

Midnight Screamer, album, released April 2018

Non-original, yet great material include:

Breather (Chapterhouse cover), single, released March 2016. The song is off Treasures, A Tribute to Chapterhouse, a compilation of tracks by various artists appearing on The Blog that Celebrates Itself

Porcelain (Ulrika Spacek cover), single, released July 2017. The track is included in La Femme Noir, A Tribute Compilation to Zanne 2017.

REV REV REV

Rev Rev Rev is an outstanding example of Italogaze bands that have become famous internationally. Since 2013 they have been touring across continental Europe and UK, as we can read in their detailed self-introduction on the web.

In their own words, Rev Rev Rev’s sound is influenced by first-wave shoegaze, as well as psychedelic rock, re-metabolizing these elements into a loud, woozy, fuzz-driven context. Their live sets comprise kaleidoscopic video projections waving with music, and the use of self-constructed stomp boxes, producing weird sounds.

Positive feedback so far include national and international recognition from national and international press and web zines (Clash music, Sounds better with reverb, Drowned in sound). Various singles were included in shoegaze compilations and sometimes crossed the border of alternative circles – notably, their 2014 song “Catching a buzz” was featured on Steve Lamacq's show on BBC 6 Radio.

The band took part in important events such as Cosmosis Festival 2016 in Manchester (headlined by The Jesus and Mary Chain, Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Raveonettes, just to name a few), followed by a nearly one-year tour of Europe.

The latter was a promotional tour for their last album, titled Des fleurs magiques bourdonnaient, a mesmerising work in which classical dreamy atmospheres blend with echoes of 70s psychedelia, desert rock and noise.

Rev Rev Rev’s line-up is:

Laura Iacuzio – vocals, bass, guitar

Sebastian Lugli – guitar

Andrea Dall'Omo – bass

Greta Benatti – drums

Rev Rev Rev’s music work is:

Rev Rev Rev, album, released October 2013

Catching a buzz, digital single EP, released October 2014

Des fleurs magiques bourdonnaient, album, released February 2016. The album went shortly sold-out and a repress was released in July.

Non-original, yet great material include:

Polar bear (Ride cover), released March 2015. The song is included in the tribute compilation to Ride Leave them all behind, appearing on The Blog That Blog That Celebrates Itself

TIGER! SHIT! TIGER! TIGER!

Punk-ish vocal melodies, guitars playing loud and straight, catchy rhythms: you can meet this power trio halfway between central Italy and USA.

Since their foundation in 2007 Tiger! Shit! Tiger! Tiger! has racked up hundreds of live dates in and out of Italy, bringing along their mighty sound.

USA has in fact become a second home-country as the band showcased its sharp first album (titled Be Yr Own Shit) in several successful performances overseas. They participated in New York CMJ Festival in 2008 and 2009, then reached Austin to take part in famous South By Southwest (SXSW) Festival (2010-2011).

Critical and public acclaim was so great that two tracks have been featured in Anglo-American movie soundtracks.

While TSTT have obviously lived and breathed American indie rock, noise and post-punk legends (Sonic Youth, Fugazi, Dinosaur jr., Sebadoh, Eric's Trip, Built to Spill, Modest Mouse, Pavement, Polvo, No Age, Thee Oh Sees are all quoted as their faves), an evolution in sound and arrangements can be seen in their last releases. Although their rebel heart has been kept, Forever Young and later Corners display slightly different sensibility, various approaches to song structure and a refined attitude towards harmony and vocals that won’t disappoint old and new noisy fans.

Tiger! Shit! Tiger! Tiger! line-up is:

Diego Masciotti - guitar, vocals

Giovanna Vedovati - bass

Nicola Vedovati - drums

Tiger! Shit! Tiger! Tiger! music work is:

Be Yr Own Shit, album, released 2008. The song The Architects of Despaired has been featured in Lee Madsen’s “Hated” OST (2010)

Whispers, EP, released 2010. The title-track is included in Richard Naylon’s “Music Land World” OST (2013)

Forever Young, album, released 2013

Corners, album, released 2017

MY INVISIBLE FRIEND

On the dreamy side of Italogaze we find this promising band formed in 2014 by four guys who grew up with Spiritualized, My Bloody Valentine and Cocteau Twins.

Started off with quite psychedelic, round, dark atmospheres, in 2016 My Invisible Friend have been shifting into a more mellow, classical dream pop attitude while maintaining their beloved psych-vibes alive.

As a result, their last release is nothing short of an elegant ode to entrancing sounds – that means fuzzy bass lines, liquid, bite guitar tones and a female/male voice taking us on a cathartic trip to harmony.

After touring Italy and France, in September 2017 the band left a cryptic message on their Facebook page. Their future is unclear, as we understand. We just hope this won’t mean a split – Italogaze needs more of their livid colours and dreaming voice.

My Invisible Friend’s line-up is:

Annalisa Rizzardi - bass, vocals

Cristian Macchia - guitars, vocals

Joe - guitars, vocals

Valentina Baldrighi - drums

My Invisible Friend’s music work is:

S/T EP, released September 2016

Green Sight, digital single, released 2015

My Invisible Friend, EP, released 2015

 ELECTRIC FLOOR

Electric Floor is an Italian duo formed in 2013. After experimenting with different alt-rock genres, the band settled as a shoegaze/new-synthwave project.

Their EP Fader is highly recommended to those who are longing for 80s tones and moods. With upfront dramatic voice, dance-y rhythm section and tons of dark synths, it clearly shows the duo’s love for new wave and electronic classics – both vintage and modern.

At the same time, however, typical distortion and reverb make the guitar sound closer to post-punk and shoegaze, creating a particular feature.

Actually for a year now Electric Floor’s release has been going well within the Italogaze world, as it received positive feedback from national and international reviewers, singles were featured in compilations and broadcast by various web radios.

The duo has recently launched their new single "I made it up" (out May 2018), which confirms their post-punk attitude to song-crafting combined with a deep interest in dance beats and atmospheres.

Electric Floor’s line-up is:

Emanuele Chiarelli – vocals, guitars, programming

Simone Costantino De Luca – programming, synth

Their music work is:

Fader, EP, released March 2017

I made it up, digital single, included in Chiaroscuro. Italogaze 2018, a compilation by various artists released May 2018 on Seashell Records and Vipchoyo Sound Factory.

 OUTRO

We hope you enjoyed this first volume of our quick guide to Italogaze. Look at the blog for the next ones.

#italogaze #Shoegaze #Dream pop #Guide

[eryiss]

During The Storm

Summary: During a week away from Fairy Tail, Laxus finds himself enraptured by a storm. After Freed mentions his previous opinions of storms, Laxus begins to make comparisons between the mage and his element. Soon, the couple find themselves making love during the storm. [NSFW Fraxus One Shot]

This one shot was inspired by the art by tumblr user @peoniespoppiesandowlsohmy which was commissioned by @furidojasutin. You can look at it here (its NSFW, so be warned).

You can read this on Fanfiction, Archive Of Our Own or under the cut. I hope you enjoy ^.^ 

During the Storm

Freed closed the bedroom softly, turning around and walking carefully down the hallway. Wearing only a pair of brown sweat-pants, he was on the hunt for his fiancé who had snuck out of their bedroom while he brushed his teeth. He didn’t know the reason for his lover’s behaviours, and didn’t particularly care. He was getting tired and the pair had decided to spend as much time as they could together this week, including sleeping at the same time.

The pair weren’t in their shared home in Magnolia. They’d decided to take a week’s break from missions and the guild, so were at the Raijinshuu’s other home in Hargeon. It was a modern, cliffside house that Laxus had brought during his exile. He had got it cheap because it was a wreck, but the dragon slayer had used his newly found spare time to fix it up and make it a luxury holiday home. Freed had later found out that Laxus also used the construction work as a way to distract himself from the issues of his exile.

Bare feet gently tapping on the hardwood floors, Freed soon found Laxus. He was in the open plan kitchen, wearing only black sweat pants and leaning on the wooden table, looking out the windows that oversaw the coast.

“Hey,” Freed spoke softly, walking over to the table.

Laxus seemed to snap out of a trance, obviously not having heard or smelt the other man approach. It made sense, of course. Outside, the rain was slamming down to the ground, wind attacking the leaves on every tree, thunder roaring loudly and lighting illuminating the sky. Because of this, the large expanse of see beside the house was thrashing and churning, creating a beautifully chaotic scene that had the dragon-slayer enraptured.

“Hey,” Laxus said quietly, looking towards Freed as he leant on the table beside him. “Sorry, we can go back to bed if you wanna.”

“No, I just wondered where you were.”

Freed looked out and watched the storm unfold beside Laxus, silently wondering if this view of the storm was partly responsible for Laxus buying this house. The rune mage wasn’t sure if it had any correlation with his magic, but Laxus had always liked storms and loved watching them. Since meeting the other man, Freed had grown to appreciate them more also. Hargeon was known for its storm season and this house would give anyone a front row seat to them.

He also had to wonder if Laxus’ mental state at time of exile had caused him to buy the house. He had brought somewhere broken and can could be dominated by destruction and chaos at any moment, but was working to make it something better than anyone thought it could be. Freed suspected that, perhaps subconsciously, Laxus saw aspects of himself in the house and wanted to improve them both at the same time. Or maybe Freed was overthinking thigs.

“You never get to see a good storm in Magnolia,” Laxus mused aloud. “You only really get rain, not something good like this. Looks beautiful, doesn’t it.”

“It does.” Freed said as lightning struck the sea, illuminating the dark room with its light. “More so with the sea.”

“Yeah, really does,” Laxus grinned slightly, looking to the side. His grin widened when he caught his handsome fiancé being lit up by the lightning. “That’s why I came out here, can’t see the ocean from the bedroom and I didn’t wanna miss the opportunity.”

“I assumed as much.”

Freed pulled out a cushioned stool, sitting beside Laxus to show he both didn’t want to rush Laxus and also wanted to enjoy the view without him. He smiled when he noticed Laxus shuffle closer to him, the blondes bare arm lightly touching his own. He smiled, enjoying the sound of thunder cracking the sky and the waves slamming against the cliffside.

The two men remained silent, appreciating the natural chaos of the storm. Occasionally, under the brightness of the lightning, they would glance at each other and appreciate the sight of their lovers as they were illuminated by the natural light. It bounced off their muscular forms, highlighting their beauty. Neither knew why, but the sight of their partners in the lightning seemed different than normal, the brightness seemingly emphasizing every positive part of each other’s appearance more than anything else.

“I used to hate thunderstorms,” Freed spoke after a moment, Laxus looking down at him with curiosity. “I wasn’t scared of them. I just saw them as a distraction and an inconvenience.”

“What changed your mind?”

“You, I suppose,” Freed smiled slightly. “It’s hard to see something as beautiful as lightning on such a regular basis and not realise the appeal. And given that, at least most of the time, lightning won’t occur without a storm, you begin to appreciate the entire thing. I suppose I should thank you.”

Laxus chuckled slightly and wrapped his arm around Freed’s bare shoulders, planting a kiss on the side of his head before looking back to the storm harassing the sea. He kept his arm around Freed, knowing that the rune mage would have removed it if he was uncomfortable. They fell into silence again, Laxus allowing his mind to wonder as three strikes of lightning slammed down in quick succession.

“Kinda shocks me,” Laxus mumbled. “I think you have a lot in common with lightning. You’re pretty similar.”

Pulling out the stool beside Freed, Laxus sat down and turned partially towards the other man so he could look at him but also continue to watch the storm. Freed did the same, slightly raising his eyebrow in confusion as to how he and Laxus’ signature element were similar.

“There’s quite a few ways, really.” Laxus began, smiling softly. “Like, there’s all the physical stuff. You’re both pretty damn powerful when you wanna be, ruthless when you need to be as well. You can both be quick as hell, as well. And you’re both damn beautiful, ‘specially when its dark out.”

“I doubt I look as good as lightning in the nights sky.” Freed chuckled.

“Agree to disagree.” Laxus grinned, before smiling softly again. “But, there’s this emotional stuff you both do as well.”

“Emotional stuff?

With a small sigh at realising what he had said, Laxus turned fully to face Freed. He grabbed the smaller man’s hand gently, sitting in silence as he thought through what he was going to say. The sound of the thunder soothed him and let him clear his thoughts.

"Okay, this might sound insane, so don’t judge me if it does,” Laxus warned, Freed smiling softly to comfort him. “So, there’s this kinda feeling I get when there’s a lightning storm like this and, since we got, y'know, intimate, it happens around you. I don’t really know how to explain what it is though, it’s like an emotion, only it’s not. Like, its physical, I can feel it not just experience it, I guess. I don’t know how to explain this to someone who doesn’t have it.

"Like, you know when see something really disgusting or shockin’ and you get that weird thing in your stomach. Like there’s a ball of pain there, but its sad pain. It’s kinda like that, but it’s not a bad feeling. It’s a positive feeling and it’s all around my body, not just in my stomach.”

Freed smiled at Laxus, soothed by the rumbling thunder and the gently stroking of Laxus thumb whipping up and down the palm of his hand. The rune mage didn’t speak yet, knowing Laxus had more to say.

“The feelings kinda like- so you know when you’re reading a novel or whatever and it says some place 'feels like home’ and you don’t actually know what home feels like, but you do. You know they’re talking about something safe and loyal and familiar and just, y'know, nice. I really get that, only its physical, like a warmth in my blood or something. I get that when I’m in a thunderstorm. And you, I guess.” Laxus blushed slightly.

“And this has happened since we started dating?” Freed questioned.

Laxus rubbed the back of his neck slightly. “Kinda. I got it before with you, but I had that with everyone in Fairy Tail. Before, it was like a tingly thing, only soft. But now, when I’m around you, it’s warmer and, well, feels more like home.”

Again, a cascade of lightning lit up the darkness of the sky and the kitchen both men were sitting in. In the elongated brightness, Freed could clearly see the small flush of red on the other man’s cheeks. The yellow light illuminated the dragon slayers angular jawline, sharp blue eyes and jagged scar. To Freed, Laxus looked the most handsome in the lightning. And after what he had just admitted to Freed, he couldn’t help but lean forward and tilt down the man’s sharp chin.

The kiss was slow, Laxus standing up from the stool to get closer to his fiancé. The soft sounds of their lips clasping were undercut by the low grumbling of the thunder. Both men had their eyes open, occasionally seeing each other when another bolt of lightning struck the stormy sea.

Freed stood up soon after Laxus, bringing his hand up and placing it on the back of Laxus’ neck, carefully bringing his dragon slayer closer. He introduces his tongue into the kiss, Laxus following suit as he wrapped his own arms around Freed’s waist. The rune mage allowed himself to press his bare torso against Laxus’, his hand sliding down the man’s neck and onto his strong upper bicep. He left it there, closing his eyes and allowing himself to fully enjoy the sensual experience.

Carefully, Laxus began to nibble on Freed’s lower lip as the kiss deepened. The larger man pulled Freed closer, also closing his own eyes and enjoying the feeling of the muscular man against his body.

At the sudden biting, Freed smiled further into the kiss. The hand resting on Laxus’ bicep slid further down the blonde’s body, resting on his lower back and gently pushing their hips together. Fighting back a grin by focusing on the kiss, Freed slowly began to gyrate his hips slightly, knowing that Laxus would soon begin to feel the effect through his thin, black sweat-pants.

A soon moan of appreciation left the blonde’s lips as the kiss became more heated. Much to Laxus’ displeasure, Freed didn’t speed up either the kiss or the rocking of his hips. He moaned again, not amused when he could feel Freed smirk into the kiss.

Slowly, Freed slid both hands onto Laxus’ hips. He carefully manoeuvred Laxus so he was pushed up against the table, keeping him in place as Freed deepened the kiss but stopped the slow moving of his hips. Laxus moaned in need, trying to pull Freed closer than he already was to get more contact with his fiancé.

Apparently, this wasn’t enough for the dragon slayer. He removed his hands from around Freed’s waist and slowly began to run them over the muscular mages chest, the kiss getting more erratic and hungry. When another strike of lightning struck again, Laxus could see Freed’s eyes were just as lust filled as his own. Encouraged by this, Laxus slid one hand down to Freed’s ass and began to squeeze it hungrily. His eyes widened slightly when Freed’s hand grabbed his wrist and pulled it away.

“I believe it was I who was leading this.” Freed spoke in a deep, slightly croaky voice. It sent a shiver down Laux’ spine, which only worsened when Freed leant forward and whispered into his ear. “And I intend to keep it that way.”

Frozen in place, Laxus could do nothing as Freed began to roam his hands over the muscular blondes chest and stomach, still pinning him with his hips. Slowly, Freed’s hands trailed further and further down until they reached the hem of Laxus’ sweatpants. The rune mage looked up at Laxus, smirking at him to further torment him.

The blonde looked down at his fiancé in desperation. The tent in his sweatpants were a testament to the effect Freed’s actions had on him. the fact his lover’s hands were so close to his throbbing erection and yet showed no sign of touching it was torture. He considered voicing his complaints to Freed, but knew that would just spur Freed on to further torment. Laxus’ breath hitched in his throat when Freed’s fingertips slipped beneath the waistband, only to retreat a moment later and slide up his body and back up to his neck.

To think, after so long this man could still affect him so easily.

Freed had now brought Laxus’ face down towards his again, this time kissing along his jawline quickly before placing his lips on the man’s neck. He began to slowly suck and bite on the sensitive skin, knowing not to leave a mark but wanting to get Laxus wondering if he had. It worked.

Despite this, Laxus gave Freed full access to his neck to do as he pleased. If Freed left a mark, they had a full week for it to disappear, Laxus was too caught up in the moment to care. He had moved his hands back to Freed’s waist’ pulling him as close as he could. He groaned loudly, feeling Freed’s own erection gently pushed up against his leg.

The rune mage’s smirk grew when he heard his fiancé’s groan, deciding to place his hand on the mans toned stomach and push him further against the table while also feeling the other man’s strong abs. With a small chuckle, he scratched the man’s stomach and relished in the sharp hiss that slipped through Laxus’ clenched teeth.

Deciding that he had played with his fiancé for too long, Freed’s hand quickly slid downwards and slipped beneath the waistband and took hold of the man’s throbbing erection. Lightning struck the ground the moment Freed began to pump his cock, granting the rune-mage the sight of the blonde half lidded with split lips of appreciation. He was breathing slowly, supporting himself up on the table behind him with both hands.

Freed continued his treatment on the other man’s collar bone, pressing his thumb down at the head of his cock as he carefully pumped it. He made sure to keep each pump of his hand at a slow, consistent pace. He relished in the needy groans Laxus was trying to hide.

“Hurry up.” Laxus practically moaned.

“Oh, we both know that won’t work.” Freed grinned, removing his hand from Laxus’ sweatpants. “Although, after what you said, perhaps I should treat you.”

Laxus groaned loudly at the sudden loss of contact, eyes widening when Freed quickly pulled down his pants and quickly dropped to his knees. He looked down at his fiancé with baited breath as he grabbed the base of his dick gently and carefully licked the underside, shying just short of the quivering, sensitive head that had begun to leak with pre-cum.

The thunder god’s eyes closed in pleasure and he let out a low grumble of pleasure, matching pitch with the thunderous weather. His eyes shot open and pupils dilated when Freed leant forward took his member into his mouth, teasingly flicking at the head with his tongue. To further torture his fiancé, he looked directly at him and forced eye contact; knowing that Laxus enjoyed it when he did this.

Seemingly reflecting the feelings of the mage, a barrage of lightning slammed down into the ocean and tore apart the clouds, illuminating the sky and brightening up the room. Laxus gulped when he saw Freed looking up at him, the light bouncing off his angular face as he toyed with his cock. He brought his hand down and placed them on his cheeks gently.

“Damn you’re good,” He groaned again, mouth dropping slightly when he felt his lovers tongue swirl around the slit of his member.

Slowly pulling Freed off of his cock, Laxus leant down and initiated another hungry kiss, pulling Freed upwards by his waist. The kiss was passionate, fast paced and reflected the lust between both men. It was Laxus’ turn to slide his hand into the other man’s nightwear, pumping his cock with the same vigour and urgency as their kiss. He felt Freed’s groan vibrating into his mouth. The rune mage gasped when Laxus pulled back his foreskin and kept it there, the feeling of his unprotected cock sliding against his fiancé’s palm driving him insane.

Continuing the rough treatment on Freed’s cock, Laxus broke the kiss and placed their foreheads together, a thin layer of sweat clinging to both men. They were both panting as they caught their breath, Laxus grinning at the look of pleasure on Freed’s face. He chuckled at the needy expression that formed when Laxus removed his hand.

“Fuck me.” The slayer panted, grinning. “Right now.”

A moment later, Laxus found himself turned around with his hips pressed against the table. He could feel Freed’s hard dick pressing against his leg as the other man kissed the back of his neck. Lightning struck again, giving Freed the sight of his fiancé supporting himself on the table with his forearms. In the reflection on the window, he could see his lover’s jaw clenched in anticipation.

Without waiting another second, Freed pulled down his sweatpants slight and slowly placed his throbbing cock between Laxus’ toned ass cheeks to tease him. when Laxus grunted in annoyance, Freed adjusted himself and slowly pushed his dick into the warm hole presented to him.

He moved slow and carefully, knowing that Laxus neither needed nor wanted him to wait. His thrusting was as slow as he could handle, intending to draw out protests from his fiancé for the lack of speed.

Bringing his lips back to his lover’s neck, he began to suck and bite at a particularly delicious looking part of the other man’s skin. He kept his pace even and controlled, though the temptation to speed up and fuck his fiancé as fast as possible was rising. When another crackle of lightning lit up the room, the sight of Laxus’ clenched jaw but satisfied smile was enough to remind him of why he was moving as slow as he was.

Still, the need for pleasure was too high for him not to act. The rune mage grabbed Laxus by the hips and pulled hum closer, purposefully aiming for his prostate. The tightness of his ass was fantastic, every thrust driving both men insane. But Freed refused to break before Laxus, who he knew was moments away from giving in.

“Dammit, move!” Laxus groaned, eyes clenching shut as Freed slammed against his sweet-spot.

“You know I like bringing us both to the brink of insanity.”

In protest, Laxus pushed back on Freed’s cock as hard as he could; it seemed to take Freed by surprise if the loud moan was anything to go by. Seemingly having made his fiancé realise his own need, Laxus grinned slightly as Freed began to speed up in his thrusts and began to put more power behind them.

The room was filled with the sound of thunder, moaning and a gentle clapping whenever Freed’s hips pressed against Laxus’ ass. The rune mage bent over his fiancé, groaning when the other man moaned loudly and his insides clenched around Freed’s cock. The rune mage pulled him closer as his thrusting got faster and faster.

Their moans got louder and louder, the power behind each thrust growing. Laxus tried to keep his sounds of pleasure at bay, clenching his teeth as he felt the rising orgasm grow in his dick. Freed noticed the clenched jaw when the room was lit up by the lightning again, not happy with anything less than hearing his fiancé’s full enjoyment. With a small smirk, he removed one hand from Laxus’ hips and wrapped it around the spasming member between the slayer’s large thighs, which seemed to be shaking slightly from pleasure.

“AH! Shit! F-fuuck.” Laxus moaned, eyes flittering shut in the pleasure brought by Freed’s expert hand work. “Gonna cum. Shit!”

“Not long, see if we can do it together.” Freed breathed huskily into Laxus’ ears.

“Trying to. Hurry up.”

Lightning danced across the storming ocean again, illuminating both men in their act of intimacy. Freed continued jerking his fiancé off, making sure that the blonde was feeling as much pleasure as he possibly could. Laxus was pushing back and meeting Freed at every thrust, both men driven insane with pleasure by the actions.

Without warning, the pleasure became too much for Laxus. He shuddered, roared out in ecstasy and clenched his fists as an orgasm overtook his body. Spurt after spurt of cum erupted from the head of his cock, the slayer shivering slightly.

As Laxus’ body was rocked by his orgasm, his insides clenched and tightened around Freed’s dick as he thrusted forward again. The rune mages eyes widened at the sudden tightness, a moan sliding out of his lips as he matched the orgasm. He collapsed downwards, his strong body failing under the pleasure as he allowed himself to fall onto his fiancé’s large back.

“Shit.” Laxus panted again when his orgasm subsided. He looked over his shoulder and grabbed Freed’s head gently, bringing it closer so he could plant a quick kiss on the side of his face. “Guess you liked what I said, then?”

“I suppose I did.” Freed panted with a small yawn. “It was romantic, even if unintentional.”

“Well, I am a charmer. So’s my biology I guess.” Laxus chuckled. “We made a bit of a mess in 'ere, didn’t we?”

“That we did. But we can clean it tomorrow morning. I don’t want to do it tonight.” Freed laughed slightly. “So, do you want to go to sleep now, or watch the storm for a little while longer.”

“Give me a couple minutes, you can go now if you want.” Laxus smiled.

He felt Freed push himself off his back, Laxus doing the same and standing up straight. Both men adjusted their sweatpants, Laxus wrapping his arms around the smaller man’s waist. They shared a short, sweet kiss. They stood in each other’s arms for a few moments longer, before Freed pulled away with a large yawn. He patted the larger man’s bicep, stepping back and towards their bedroom.

“Goodnight, Laxus.” He smiled.

“Night Freed.”

The thunder god was left alone, leaning on the table again as he watched the storm. A warmth was spread through his body as he watched the spectacle, only growing when he stood up again and looked towards the bedroom his fiancé was now in. When another streak of lightning hit the ocean and a growl of thunder filled the room, Laxus found himself smiling.

Freed really was just as good, if not better, than lightning.

#fraxus #freed justine #Laxus Dreyar #fanfic #inspired by art #Reupload as it didn't appear in the tags

[furederiko]

What does a Policeman, Sheriff, and Rebellion have in common? Space. ...Because I'm talking about a Super Sentai multiverse crossover!

- Our episode begins right away with Madako SUCCESSFULLY stealing the Pyxis Kyu Globe! Don't know how this new sultry version was able to do that, it just sort of... happened. Off screen. Oh, in case you forgot why, we get a quick flashback of Scorpio commanding her to obtain the Carina Kyu Globe. How Madako even had the knowledge that Pyxis is the radar to locate the item is beyond me, but the most important thing is... she now accidentally gets sucked into a black hole. Yikes! - Since Pyxis is vital to their mission (though I'd argue they didn't really use it to locate Vela before), Leo Red simply ignores the factual threat of said black hole, and jumps in. Totally dragging his away team along with him. Speaking of team, this current away team consists of Lucky, Garu, Hammy, Naga and Commander Xiao this time. Why this particular combination, one wonders? Well, because aside from Hammy, the others are necessary to service the story. I'll get to this soon. - For some reason, our heroes pop out of the... MOON? Which means, yes, they are returning to Earth. But why does this one look... different? Is this even the same planet? NOPE, because a certain someone who witnesses their entrance kindly explains that arriving through a wormhole means... these illegal trespassers must have arrived from 'ANOTHER UNIVERSE'. Wait, WHAT? And this observer is none other than... Banban 'Ban' Akaza (Ryuji Sainei) of "Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger"! - Yeah, this brief moment of clarity firmly establishes that Kyuranger is NOT taking place in the same universe to previous, 40 Sentai seasons. So to those out there hoping for them to bump into everyone's favorite Gokaiger anytime soon (who have been established to be canon with Dekaranger, hence that crossover episode), don't get your hopes up too high. Unless the team stumbles upon another black hole once more. This also clears up the confusion to why no trace of Zyuland can be found on Kyuranger's Earth, meaning there's no continuity issue like I pointed out 17 weeks ago. Wait a sec, then how did they show up in "Doubutsu Sentai Zyuohger vs Shuriken Sentai Ninninger" then? Hmmmm... - Oh, and Deka Red isn't alone, because Geki Juumonji (Yuma Ishigaki) a.k.a Space Sheriff Gavan Type-G is present as well. Yep, not the original metal hero series Gavan, but the 2nd generation who debuted in "Uchuu Keiji Gavan: The Movie" a few years back. Is this a coincidence, then? Absolutely NOT. Considering "SPACE SQUAD: Space Sheriff Gavan vs Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger", the crossover movie between Dekaranger and Gavan Type-G is arriving on Japanese theatres tomorrow. Specifically Saturday, June 17th, 2017! Yes folks, that means you're not wrong if you see this as shameless marketing. LOL. - Lucky and Naga are confusedly admiring a Consumarz-free Earth, when they notice Geki is escorting Madako like the dumb-heroic gentleman he's always been. Cue the misunderstanding! Aaaah, Gavan Type-G is so metalic... and SHINY ("PIKA... PIKA...", says Naga), my eyes hurts. Oh, and Ophiucus Silver kindly explains why he's being paired up with Leo Red this time, because obviously Deka Red is going to pair up with Gavan Type-G. Don't sweat it, it's a kids show after all. Just your daily Red and Silver situation! LOL. - Adding further insult to the injury, two more Dekaranger members arrive to... arrest Garu, Hammy, and Xiao. Just as our poor Kyurangers are being dumbfounded to see an Earth with so much PEACE, smiles, and laughters. On what reason? Due to the lack of proper 'interplanetary visa', complete with a nice joke that works as a follow up to last week's ending. Officers in charge are none other than our brainy Senichi 'Sen' Enari (Yousuke Itou), and bathtub-enthusiast Koume 'Umeko' Kodou (Mika Kikuchi). They are Deka Green and Pink respectively, in case you're not familiar with Space Police Dekaranger. For the record, the timeline of this universe chronologically takes place after their "Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger 10 YEARS AFTER" V-Cinema. We're getting some development regarding this pair later in the closing scene, as a prove to that. One that also explains why Umeko still hasn't changed her family name into Enari... (^^) - Hold on, make that THREE members. Considering our 'trespassers' are immediately taken to the Neo Deka Base, where they get to meet... Chief Doggie Kruger (VA: Tetsu Inada). Obviously he's present to become direct comparison to Garu, or vice versa. The wolfman even calls him... "ANIKI!!!". LOL. It works the same with Xiao, because both are non-human anthropomorphic leaders of their respective teams. So yeah, it's one of that small dream-sequence that only Super Sentai fans would understand and appreciate... *grins*. It's genuine hillarious though, and easily my favorite part of the episode. NOTE: Too bad fan favorite Marika 'Jasmine' Reimon (Ayumi Kinoshita) is a no-show. Her actress had recently announced her 2nd pregnancy via her blog. So likely that's the reason behind her absence. - Hot-headed hot-blooded loud-mouthed Gavan and Leo Red are busy fighting, they practically let Madako go unscathed. Ophiucus Silver senses that something feels off, and stops the fight by... getting punched in the face. By BOTH. OOWWWW!! Naga also nails this next joke, thanks to his naive curiosity about 'Policeman'. A term that apparently does NOT exist in their "Star Wars"-inspired Jark Matter-infested universe. But seriously though, it's really these character moments that makes crossover stories so great. Hey, even Sharivan, Shaider, and the original Gavan are making quick flashback-cameo! - The whole comparison between 'Policeman' and 'Universe Saviors' needs to be put on hold though, because Madako is running away using Geki's Dolgiran. She's using the spaceshuttle as her escape route to return home, because as Doggie had stated before, the dimensional rift is closing soon. Thankfully, hitching a ride on Leo Voyager (with siren! LOL), Geki jumps into the ship to regain control. Simply by crashlanding it to the ground. YIKES! Call me weird... but I haven't seen the Gavan series yet, nor any of those Space Sheriff title. But on the other hand, I've always dig the Akira Kushida's theme song. It just sounds so cool, catchy and... addictive to listen to, eventhough it could be regarded as an old tune. Speaking of old, I also just noticed that aside from looking older and darker-skinned than the last I saw him (in that 2013 "Super Hero Taisen Z" movie, assuming my memory is sound), Geki seems to be more buffed than usual as well. In a country whose people are mostly skinny as a stick, that's... NICE! *grins* - Ban arrives on scene and saves the day! I guess Lucky and Geki are too good of a combi (they practically share the exact personality, even their names rhyme! LOL), the equally hyperactive hot-blooded Ban doesn't have a place, eh? Similar to Gavan Type-G, I didn't actually see Dekaranger because of this... thing with police-themed shows. But dang it, the Dekaranger BGM sounds cool as well, particularly that high-spirited theme song by PSYCHIC LOVER. Anyway, Ban's the Fire Squad Captain now? I didn't remember that from the 10 YEARS AFTER movie. Perhaps he has gotten promotion ever since? He explains that the other Kyurangers, as well as Dekarangers (appearing via stock footage only. Old footage is OLD!) are using Ryutei-Oh and Deka Wing to stall the wormhole from shrinking. So it's up to the Red-Silver Team to tidy up their side of the table then. - Deka Red and Leo Red team up to take on Madako (who is equally Red...), while Gavan and Ophiucus Silver deal with the Deathworm she brought. Their joint-finishers are amazing, particularly that last one with the galactic backdrop. Truly fan-service delight, after all... these ARE Space Heroes. I guess Madako is gone for good this time, huh? Rather unceremoniously too. But since every Super Sentai episode needs a giant mecha fight, of course the Deathworm grows large. How to deal with this situation, when the other Kyurangers are busy with the wormhole? Time for Gavan's Electronic Star-Beast Dol (it's the blue lower part of Dolgiran, by the way) to steal the show. But hold that thought, because Draco Voyager comes rushing in for a SWEET double dragon-mecha combi. I have had an inking suspicion that this episode is going to pull this off, ever since I read the headline that Gavan Type-G would be guest starring in Kyuranger. But I sure didn't expect Leo Red to jump towards to Voyager's head, in order to mimic Gavan's movement. Now THAT is what I call pleasant surprise! - Lucky and the others make it back safely to the Orion, where Spada, maid-Raptor and maid-Balance (seriously, he's Sentai official queer character, guys! At least... IMO) greet them with some piping hot Takoyaki. A rather cruel way to celebrate the absence of Madako, huh? Nah... likely because takoyaki are ball-shaped. Pyxis Kyu Globe is back in their possession, so now they can proceed to locate the final piece of Argo Navis. All's well ends well. Or is it? We see Stinger removing his Constellation Blaster and Rebellion jacket, replaces them with his desert cape, and walks away from the Rebellion HQ. This is the appearances of when he debuted in the show, serving as a rogue spy. Does this mean Stinger officially walks out from being a Kyuranger? Hence that solo V-Cinema? We'll see...

Overall: Naruhisa Arakawa, the same guy who wrote Dekaranger was in charge of this episode. And he's truly the man when it comes to crossovers. As proven by "Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger", Arakawa has a strong sense of what makes each separate series and their characters shine, hence why this episode came equipped with a good amount of fan-service moments for our genuine pleasure. It wasn't perfect, nope, because one mere episode was a bit too short and brief to be considered a full-on crossover. Especially one that involves three different series! Hence why the opening started off rather rough and rushed, and the absence of the remaining Dekarangers/Gavan supporting cast. Which honestly felt a little disappointing somehow. Plus, the non Red-Silver team was easily sidelined, to the point we didn't even see them transform nor fight together on screen. IMHO, this would've been way better as a 2-parter, to allow more character interactions and bonding, which is easily the gem of any crossovers. Minor nitpickings aside, this was obviously still MUCH better than that bland Ex-Aid episode. Thanks to that whole multiverse angle, I'm now crossing my fingers, in the hope that one day the Kyuranger eventually runs into Gokaiger, or other Sentai team that is not Zyuohger (because they WILL have a Versus movie next year). Here's hoping if such wishful thinking comes to life, Arakawa will be given the privilege to write one. At the very least, he needs to do another episode in this show! Next week: Battle for Carina! And forest...Elves? PS: There's no episode on June 18th due to annual Golf championship. Kyuranger will return on June 25th...

Episode 18 Score: 8 out of 10

Visit THIS LINK to view a continuously updated listing of the Kyutama / Kyu Globes. Last Updated: June 11th, 2017 - Version 2.04. (WARNING: It might contain spoilers for future episodes)

All images are screencaptured from the series, provided by the FanSubber Over-Time. "Uchu Sentai Kyuranger" is produced by TOEI, and airs every Sunday on TV-Asahi. Credits and copyrights belong to their respective owners.

#tokusatsu #SuperSentai #kyuranger #uchu sentai kyuranger #uchuu sentai kyuranger #review #Just for Fun #tokusou sentai dekaranger #Uchuu Keiji Gavan

[rosierora]

The Sorting Hat || WDPA Challenge 001

Personal Questions

What is your real, birth name? When and where were you born? Aurora Katherine Rose. I was born in Los Angeles on May 18th, 1998.

What is your Myers-Briggs Personality Type? (If you don’t know go here, this question is optional.) INFP

Do you have a nickname? What is it, and where did you get it? Most commonly I’m called Rory or Rora. My mom calls me Beastie, and Caleb has started calling me Princess. My aunts call me Briar or Briar Rose. I like Rory or Rory-Kate the best.

What do you look like? (Include height, weight, hair, eyes, skin, apparent age, and distinguishing features) I’m 5′6″ an about 118 pounds. I have blonde hair and blue eyes. I look about 20, but I turn 19 in a couple weeks. 

How do you dress most of the time? Do you wear any jewelry? I usually like soft tee shirts and skinny jeans. I have a few really nice dresses for going out, but a lot of my clothes are comfortable enough for me to rehearse in. I wear thin silver bracelet that my aunts gave me the day I started at WDPA.

What don’t you like about yourself? What kind of things embarrass you? Why? I’m actually pretty self conscious about my appearance. I could tell you a lot of things about myself I wish I could change. Sometimes my aunts can be a little embarrassing when they come to visit. 

In your opinion, what is your best feature? I think my legs are pretty cool. They’re very toned, thanks to dance and cheer.

Where do you live? Describe it: Is it messy, neat, avant-garde, sparse, etc.? I live with my mom in Santa Monica. Our house is beautiful, with indoor gardens and open spaces. My room is my favorite part of the house. It’s large compared to my old dorm, and I don’t share it with anyone, except my cat. I keep it extremely clean. Messy rooms freak me out. It’s mostly pastel blue and stark white, with the occasional gold and rose pink accents.

What is your most prized mundane possession? Why do you value it so much? My pointe shoes, because they represent the hard work I’ve put into my passion.

What one word best describes you? Graceful.

Familial Questions

What is/was your family structure like? (i.e. are you adopted, how many siblings, pets, etc.) I was born to Stefan and Leah Rose. From age 6-12 I bounced back and fourth between living with my father and with my “aunts”, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather. They were actually my neighbors and family friends, we’re not technically related. I moved in with my aunts permanently when my dad died at age 13. They sent me to WDPA when I was 14, in the middle of my freshman year, which is when I met my adoptive mother, Mal. I live with her now. 

Who was your father, and what was he like? Who was your mother, and what was she like? What was your parents marriage like? Were they married? Did they remain married? Stefan was... indecisive. He was a surgeon in LA until we relocated to Denver after my mother died. He could be warm and he could be cold. He often forgot me in stores and at school, and he used to throw things at me, like books and hair dyers. I think Leah’s death started to get to him as I got older. He became more dependent on narcotics and less concerned with me. They loved each other, but I know he could be untrue, and I’m sure he cheated on her more than once. The government found out he had been doing unnecessary surgeries to get rich, so he went to prison for a bit when I was six and again when I was 11 for over prescribing pain meds. After he was let out on good behavior, he OD’ed on oxycodone. My mother was a model. She was killed in a car accident. 

What are/were your siblings names? What are/were they like? (If you have siblings) I don’t have any siblings.

What’s the worst thing one of your siblings ever did to you? What’s the worst thing you’ve done to one of your siblings? (If you have siblings)

When’s the last time you saw any member of your family? Where are they now? I saw my aunts over the summer, I stayed with them in Denver for a few weeks while Mal went to a conference out of the country.

Who is your closest friend(s)? Describe them and how you relate to them. Merida is my best friend. We met when we were roomates our freshmen year and have been inseperable ever since. I love how even though our interests and hobbies are different, we still get along like two peas in a pod. She keeps me grounded, and I help her see the bright side in tough situations.

Childhood Questions

What is your first memory? My dad taking me to a baseball game when I was super small. I have a picture of me and him together that I keep in my room.

What was your favorite toy? A little doll that I named Rosie.

What was your favorite game? My dad and I had quite a few tea parties. He was pretty good at playing along until he got a call from work.

Who was your best friend when you were growing up? I had a friend named Ellie in Denver who was in ballet with me, but when I moved way we lost touch. I think she lives in Kansas now.

What is your fondest childhood memory? The day I moved in with my aunts. It was my 6th birthday. Although they aren’t really homemakers, they attempted to sew me a dress and make me a cake. It was really sweet of them.

What is your worst childhood memory? I was with my dad when he died. He told me not to call 911. It was painful to watch without being able to do anything about it.

Adolescent Questions

It is common for one’s view of authority to develop in their adolescent years. What is your view of authority, and what event most affected it? I’ve never had a problem with authority. Ballet teaches you to have a lot of respect for your teachers, so I guess I kind of got used to doing that. Having a dragon lady for a mom can sometimes scare you into behaving, too.

What “clique” did/do you best fit in with? (Royals, Dark Royals, Wallflowers, Bookworms, Punks, Hipsters, Rejects, etc.) I would consider myself a Royal.

What were/are your high school goals? What were/are your uni goals? In high school my goal was to star in Swan Lake, which I did as a senior. Now that I’ve graduated, my main goal is to find a main goal. I’m not really sure what I want to do for the rest of my life.

What is/was your favorite memory from adolescence? What is/was your worst memory from adolescence? The day I met Mal was a good one. She tried not to like me at first, but I won her over. She invited me to her house for dinner that night, and well, the rest is history. I’d say my worst memory would be snapping my ankle junior year as I came out of a stunt in cheer. I was in a cast for months.

Do you own a car? Describe it. If not, describe your dream car. I drive a blue 2014 Honda Civic.

Occupational Questions

Do you have a job? What is it? Do you like it? If no job, where does your money come from? I teach ballet and lyrical classes at a studio in LA. My dad also left all of his money to me in his will, so I get a check from that every month.

What is your boss or employer like? (Or publisher, or agent, or whatever.) My boss is a stubborn old Russian lady with a quick temper. She scares me.

What are your co-workers like? Do you get along with them? Any in particular? Which ones don’t you get along with? I dance with a lot of my coworkers in the city ballet. They’re performers, so they can be temperamental, but I love them anyways.

What is something you had to learn that you hated? The day I saw what pointe shoes do to your toes I thought about quitting ballet.

Do you tend to save or spend your money? Why? I save it for the most part. My mom pays for my food and stuff, so I don’t worry about money too often.

Likes & Dislikes Questions

What hobbies do you have? I am an excellent ballerina and I cheer for WDPA. Other than that, I’m in student government and on the welcome committee. Dance takes up a lot of my life. When I’m not rehearsing, I’m watching performances or helping out with makeup and hair backstage.

What bands/artists do you like? What song is “your song?” Why? I like a lot of easy listening stuff, like Ben Howard, John Mayer... just soft guitar music. That, and classical compositions.

When it comes to politics, do you care? If so, which way do you tend to vote? If not, why don’t you care? I'm a registered democrat. I also have a passion for animal rights.

What time of day is your favorite? What kind of weather is your favorite? I like mid afternoon, because that’s when I have dance. My favorite weather is sunny and warm, but not hot.

What is your favorite food? What is your least favorite food? I love fruit salad. I’m a vegan, so I don’t like meat, or anything made from animals.

What is your favorite drink? (Coffee, Coke, Juice, Beer, Wine, etc.) Hmm... probably smoothies.

What’s your favorite animal? Why? My favorite animals are birds. They’re so pretty and sing beautifully. I like owls the best.

Do you have any pets? Do you want any pets? What kind? I have a pet cat named Dreamsicle, but we call her Dreamy for short.

What do you find most relaxing? (Not as in stress relief, but as something that actually calms you down.) You know in Footloose when Ren is really mad and he goes to that warehouse and angrily dances? That.

What’s a pet peeve of yours? People who aren’t willing to try new things.

Sex & Intimacy Questions

Would you consider yourself straight, gay, bi, pan, or something else? Why? I guess straight. I’ve never had romantic feelings for women.

Who was the first person you had sex with? When did it happen? What was it like? How well did it go? (If your character is sexually active, if not, skip this question) I’ve never had sex.

Do you currently have a lover/crush? What is their name, and what is your relationship like? What are they like? Why are you attracted to them? I think I have a crush on Caleb Stirling, but my mom would kill me if she found out. He’s actually really sweet and smart. He’s not as much of a bad boy as I expected him to be. At least, I don’t think he is. I’m attracted to him physically, obviously. Have you seen that boy’s hair? Besides that, though, Caleb is really interesting. We have a little bit in common, too. I feel like I want to know everything about him.

Describe the perfect romantic partner for you and describe your perfect date with them. I just want someone to love me. I hope they’d be open to dancing with me. I’d want to go out to a fancy dinner, like at a jazz club or somewhere else where we could dance. Then after we could go look at the stars and have ice cream.

Do you ever want to get married and have children? When do you see this happening? I would love to! I don’t see it happening in the next few years, as I’m still pretty young. Maybe when I’m in my late twenties.

What is more important – sex or intimacy? Why? I really wouldn’t know. I assume it’s intimacy.

What was your most recent relationship like? Who was it with? (Does not need to be sexual, merely romantic.) I dated my dad’s friend’s son Phillip for a little bit sophomore and junior year. He drank too much. We realized we were just too different and broke up the night after junior prom.

What’s the worst thing you’ve done to someone you loved? I let my father die.

Drug & Alcohol Questions (if your character’s a drinker/does drugs, if not, skip to numbers 5 & 6)

How old were you when you first got drunk? What was the experience like? On my 16th birthday I got a little crazy, that was he first time. It was fine until Mal found out the next day.

Did anything good come out of it? Did anything bad come out of it? I found out what drinking is like and what my limits are, but I was grounded for two weeks because I puked in the living room.

Do you drink on any kind of regular basis? No, not really. I will when I go out, but not much.

What kind of alcohol do you prefer? Margaritas. 

Have you ever tried any other kind of “mood altering” substance? Which one(s)? What did you think of each?

What do you think of drugs and alcohol? Are there any people should not do? Why or why not? I’m alright with recreational use as long as it doesn’t get in the way of someone’s goals in life. I’m not into the hard stuff, and I don’t think anyone else should be, either. It’s bad for your body. I should know.

Post-Powers Awareness Questions (For those who have powers)

When did you go through when you gained your powers? What was it like (in your opinion)?

What do you think now of being magical? Is it cool, or have you been screwed?

Do you have a mentor? Who are they? How did you become their student?

Do you have any magical items? Where did you get them?

Think of a major event that happened during your training/initiation. What was it?

What is something you had to learn during your training that you hated? Why did you hate it?

Thoughtful Questions

What about you is heroic? My drive to work for what I love makes me heroic. 

What about you is social? What do you like about people? I’m generally social, but I have problems with talking to strangers. I love that everyone has something to offer, their own story. It’s like every person is a mystery just waiting to be solved.

If a magical being, describe the color of what magic you use, is it of a light color, bold and bright, pastel and sparkly, etc.

Are you a better leader or follower? Why do you think that? If you think the whole leader-follower archetype is a crock of shit, say so, and explain why? I’m somewhere inbetween. I think I’m a soft example? Does that even make sense?

#lots of triggers in this one guys #tw abuse #tw neglect #tw death #tw overdose #hc #wdpa challenge #wdpa challenge 1

[3ezentrum3-blog]

Synthetic Vitamins: Are They Right For An Alternative Cancer Treatment? (Part 1 of 2)

Intense to put the pen down on a theme this way. Vitamins should be beneficial for us... isn't that so? Here's a smidgen of a knowledge into vitamins. All the more unequivocally, the distinction between artificially produced and normally happening vitamins from nature. It takes a couple of minutes to peruse so get yourself some green tea and appreciate the read.

Science is an awesome thing. It has been at the premise of essentially all specialized and medicinal advances the planet has seen. We put a man on the moon. We found power. We can talk and see somebody around the globe progressively. We can quantify extremely exact changes in a star a few cosmic systems away. We can quantify how far that star is away in light of the fact that we know how quick light ventures. We can outline parts at the hereditary level. Also, obviously we've restored numerous infections. However there is one thing that we've been informed that science can't do yet. Also, that is, fix growth.

There are a wide range of science and cash going into finding that subtle disease fix. Truth be told, it's one of the biggest drivers in the worldwide therapeutic economy. Science has built up a wide range of malignancy medications, both in the customary and elective universes. We as a whole realize that the standard way to deal with treating tumor by the ordinary western restorative network is typically situated in chemotherapy, radiation, or medical procedure. Truth be told I simply got notification from a companion that sounds all energized on the grounds that tomorrow is her last round of chemotherapy and afterward she's set for Las Vegas for a couple of days before beginning on medical procedure. Honestly, I speculate it is the Vegas trip that is winning the energy race with her at the present time. Yet, these, and a few other regular malignancy medicines exist today in light of advances in science. Indeed, even most parts of the elective malignancy treatment exist due to some type of science.

A few elective malignancy medications are situated in sustenance. One extremely normal topic all through this approach is that tumor is a lack sickness, and that it can be dealt with by supplementing the eating regimen either with common sustenance sources or potentially utilizing vitamins. Indeed, the one thing that the customary and elective tumor treatment universes can presumably concur on is that individuals ought to practice good eating habits. Numerous individuals trust that common adjusted natural veggie lover weight control plans situated in foods grown from the ground can in certainty fix growth, however that claim is quickly expelled by most of the regular therapeutic world. However one thing that you will discover in a significant number of the ordinary and elective tumor medications is the utilization of vitamins and dietary supplements.

Science is a brilliant thing. It has enabled us to make nourishment in a lab. In any case, here's the kicker; no living thing, regardless of whether it be human, creature or plant has been effectively made from synthetic mixes. It simply hasn't happened yet. There have are some intriguing things that have been done around cloning and undeveloped cell explore. Almost certainly about it. Be that as it may, those advances have been situated in existing living or safeguarded cells. Nobody has been capable effectively make life from blending a pack of synthetic mixes together. They've possessed the capacity to copy the develop of something precisely, yet not give it life. A straightforward illustration is that of salt water where researchers can copy precisely the substance creation of a sea yet no fish have possessed the capacity to make due in it. So how can it be that we would assume that vitamins and nutritious supplements made in a lab would give us precisely the same as those found in nature? Those extremely same vitamins and supplements that the human body has advanced over a large number of years to rely upon for its exceptionally survival, or enable our brains to think and comprehend things, or keep our safe framework working appropriately so we remain solid. Be that as it may, the human body can't produce the greater part of the vitamins it needs itself, so it takes them from different sources. How about we investigate what the contrasts amongst manufactured and normal source sustenance may be. How about we speak profanely.

Most land construct animals have developed with respect to an eating routine situated in plants, and from different animals that eat plants. The plants require water to survive, however they additionally require supplements which they take in from the dirt. At the point when those plants are eaten, the supplements are passed on to the animals that eat them. At all levels of the evolved way of life, supplements are passed on correspondingly. Our bodies have built up a profoundly proficient method for taking in and using vitamins from regular sustenances, principally plant sources. So we've come to rely upon organic products, nuts and vegetables as a pillar in our weight control plans. Once upon a time, before huge scale business cultivating, a great many people had a type of garden that they relied upon. They realized that on the off chance that they presented regular source compost, regardless of whether it be plants or the excrement from creatures that had eaten the plants, at that point they would have more beneficial soil. This converted into more beneficial vitamin rich sustenance crops and, subsequently, more advantageous individuals. Be that as it may, at that point something happened.

As medicinal science developed, the survival rates of individuals likewise expanded. We were finding new remedies for pretty much everything. So as individuals lived longer, and survival rates expanded, the populace started to develop thus making more interest for nourishment. So our rural practices changed from littler scale, limited ranches into enormous economies-of-terrific scale modern tasks. Customary cultivating strategies were work escalated, generally. The more current modern activities, be that as it may, used hardware and cultivating turned into a productive business to be in. The populace was developing. Interest for agrarian items was developing so more individuals got in to it. Be that as it may, at that point something changed.

Science conveyed to us that rural friend in need, the concoction compost. Ranchers adored it since they could collect more noteworthy yields on a section of land of land than they at any point had previously. So the populace kept on developing and individuals required more sustenance. The agriculturists required more manure to develop more nourishment. The cycle proceeded for quite a long time. It really was ideal. In any case, science had made an agrarian compost that didn't have the regular source supplements that nature had once given from the dirts. So the prepared sustenance trims that individuals were eating were extremely lacking in the supplements that our bodies required. It's been found that the present current agrarian practices have drained the dirts from more than 70 of their follow components (supplements) to something like 6 to 8. Along these lines, individuals have not been getting the supplements that they require and their resistant frameworks have been working extra minutes to endeavor to fend off ailment. Any disease treatment needs a solid resistant framework.

Creator Steven R. Newton in his book of a similar title engages you to answer these inquiries; "growth, what is it, how would you get malignancy, and what is the best disease treatment?" He is a consistent person who has had a few people near him influenced by tumor. He has nothing to do with any mechanical or restorative associations, nor does he advance any "enchantment remedy for tumor".

In his book he shares his comprehension about what tumor is, its counteractive action and medications, and how to oversee when somebody has it.

Steve's book "Growth What Is It? How Do You Get Cancer? also, What Is The Best Cancer Cure?" can be found at http://www.cancerwhatisit.com

Imagine a scenario in which only one thing in this book drives you to find something that could spare your life or the life of somebody you cherish. Imagine a scenario where only one thing in this book drives you to carrying on with a full, cheerful, life free of disease. Think about the option. Take control of your life.

Steve's site is at http://www.cancerwhatisit.com and he welcomes you to drop by the two destinations for a visit or remark.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/master/Steven_R_Newton/873477

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5876706

[samuelpboswell]

CMWorld Interview: Path to 1M Monthly Readers Has No Shortcuts, Says J.P. Medved

In her introduction to The Ultimate Guide to Conquering Content Marketing, Content Marketing Institute’s Cathy McPhillips draws several commonalities between content marketing and video games: the interactivity, the trial-and-error learnings, the camradery.

But, while many marketers have their own personal “cheat codes” that help them gain an edge, there are no true hacks in content. Certain video games allow you to tap in a series of commands and gain invincibility, or jump ahead to the next level. Content marketers, however, cannot magically produce an audience or monetization out of thin air.

As the Content Director for Capterra, and also an avowed lover of gaming, J.P. Medved understands this reality. His company’s industry-specific blogs have grown to 1 million monthly readers, and it wasn’t because of any secret elixir.

Instead, Capterra’s success owes to a proven, adoptable strategy tethered to the fundamentals of organization, goals, promotion, and experimentation. Medved will explain this formula in-depth during his Content Marketing World session, Better Than Hacks and Schemes: A Proven Approach to Building Your Audience, and was also kind enough to share some insights with us ahead of the September event.    

Medved has a reputation for being sharply honest and entertaining, and those traits definitely came through during our interview with him. Keep reading to find his thoughts on silent content, scalability, documenting strategies, and content marketing lessons learned from his experience writing fiction.

  What does your role as Content Marketing Director at Capterra entail? What are your main areas of focus and key priorities?

My day-to-day as a Content Director involves a lot of email and meetings, at this point. We’ve grown to a team of nine writers, six of whom I manage directly, so a lot of my time is devoted to supporting them. I join monthly topic planning meetings with all of them, as well as frequent check-ins with the editors and the marketing folks that support the content we produce. I also now spend a fair amount of time in our analytics and various content management systems just checking in and tracking things.

As we’ve grown—and I suspect this is common in most roles—I’ve transitioned away from being a content producer, to being a content manager. I no longer write content myself, and we centralized editing early last year so I no longer edit individual pieces either. Instead I spend more time coordinating long-term content plans and calendars with other teams in the business, managing content experiments or helping new projects get off the ground, and working with the folks on my team to help advance their career goals.

  Why should content marketers beware of “hacks” and shortcuts when it comes to growing their audience and impact?

The content marketing world, and the digital marketing space more generally, loves the idea of the Cinderella story. That blog that hits everything just right and experiences exponential, “hockey stick” growth and also there’s a royal wedding involved somehow. But our experience, and that of the vast majority of successful content marketing operations I’m aware of, is actually a lot more boring.

Jimmy Daley of the great animalz.co blog calls it “silent content;” that company that has just been plugging away and producing and refining great content for years, and grown a consistent, large audience and strong search position.  

With Capterra’s content, we’ve grown to a million readers a month, writing in an ostensibly boring, B2B software space, and we never had a breakout “viral” hit, or flashy media coverage, or exponential traffic growth (it’s all been linear). We’ve just been working away at it since 2013, publishing consistently and getting a little bit better each month.

I think if you waste all your time and energy chasing new “hacks” and shortcuts sold to you by whatever case study is making the rounds on YouMoz that week, you never get really good at the fundamentals of content marketing; the block-and-tackle of creating and promoting really great, helpful—if unassuming—content. As a result your growth, though it may experience the occasional spike, will actually slow and it’ll take you more time to build a sustainable traffic base in the long-run.

If you waste all your time and energy chasing new “hacks” & shortcuts, you never get really good at the fundamentals of content marketing. @rizzleJPizzle #CMWorld Click To Tweet

What are the most pivotal roles in developing an effective and scalable content strategy?

Scalability is still something we struggle with, having grown the team 6X in the last four years. The biggest lesson I’ve learned is actually to bring on/promote other managers earlier than you think you need it. Assuming an average writer production schedule of two, 1,500 word articles a week, a full-time manager can effectively manage and edit 3-4 writers. If they’re not editing (you bring in a centralized editing team, or use a round-robin method, or delegate to senior writers), that number goes up to 6-7.  

But you should have someone in place to help you well before you hit that number, not only to give them time to ramp-up and learn management skills, but also to allow you to plan effectively for new hires and content coverage growth.

The biggest lesson content I’ve learned is actually to bring on/promote other managers earlier than you think you need it. @rizzleJPizzle #CMWorld Click To Tweet

Why is experimentation so critical in the content creation process?

Most of our content fails. Like, over 90% of it. And that’s not at all uncommon in the content marketing world. If everyone knew the exact ingredients to a “viral” content piece, that’s all anyone would produce. But we don’t know. Pieces I think will do really well, more-often-than-not sink without a trace, and pieces that seem like throwaways can take off because they’ve tapped into some pent-up need in the marketplace of ideas.

So we try to test a lot. 50% or more of our content is trying out new topics or channels or formats, and the other 50% is either updating successful past content, or scaling up a content type that our previous testing has discovered works.

I differ here from the current received-wisdom in the content marketing industry. Right now it’s hip to say content marketers need to produce fewer pieces of longer, higher quality content. But I actually argue you should produce a higher volume of content (at least early on) to discover what “hits” with your particular audience, so you can scale that later.

Brian Dean of Backlinko is often the poster-child of the “publish less, publish higher-quality” model, and I love his content and he’s obviously been very successful. But might he have been more successful publishing weekly instead of monthly? Could he have sacrificed a little bit of length to experiment with a broader range of topic ideas earlier on before scaling the ones that worked? I think it’s possible.

You should produce a higher volume of content (at least early on) to discover what “hits” with your particular audience, so you can scale that later. @rizzleJPizzle #CMWorld Click To Tweet

What are the most common mistakes you see individuals and companies make when developing and launching a blog?

The biggest one is not taking content marketing seriously. That manifests itself in two major tactical mistakes: not hiring someone to do content full-time, and trying to squeeze direct revenue out of content in the first year.

If no one’s doing content full-time, then content just becomes a side project for someone at your company who may-or-may-not get to it once they finish their “real work” for the day. We tried this model for years and never got any traction with our content until someone owned it full-time and could devote themselves to thinking about it strategically and producing content consistently.

And you should not try to monetize your content in the first year. It will distort your writing, even if you think you can guard against it, and result in lower-quality, less helpful, more salesy content. Focus on creating content that is genuinely helpful for your audience first, and you will build reader trust for any kind of monetization scheme you want to implement later down the road.

If no one’s doing content full-time, then content just becomes a side project for someone at your company who may-or-may-not get to it once they finish their real work for the day. @rizzleJPizzle #CMWorld Click To Tweet

Why is it important for businesses to have a documented content strategy, as opposed to an intangible framework?

I think people get intimidated when you say, “You need to have a documented content strategy” because they envision this 30-page document written in corporate buzzwords that will take a month to create. But we literally started with nothing more than a two-page Word doc with some bullet points listing our short and long-term goals/metrics, the type of content we wanted to create, and who was responsible for what aspects.

The benefits to us of even something that basic have been huge. Actually writing it down forced us to think through the specifics and showed us where the gaps in our plan were, having agreed-upon goals and timelines upfront made for easier team and executive buy-in, and it gave us something to refer back to when we had questions about whether a new content idea fit our overall goals.

  What have you learned in your ‘side hustle’ as a fiction novelist that applies to your day job as a content marketer?

For writing fiction I spent a lot of time studying story structure, and plot architecture, and all the elements that make a story really “flow” and feel effortless to people reading it. What struck me is how many of the same principles apply to a content piece.

You want to start off with a strong “hook” that introduces an element of mystery and makes the reader want to know more, your “climax” needs to deliver a memorable experience or information, and the dénouement has to be satisfying. A novel that doesn’t tie up loose ends in the last few chapters is as unsatisfying as a blog post that doesn’t include a concrete next step or call to action in the last few paragraphs.

  Which speaker presentations are you looking forward to most at Content Marketing World 2018?

I love video games, so I’m excited to hear Jane Weedon of Twitch give her talk. I’ve also always been fascinated by the science behind online behavior, so Brian Massey’s talk on Behavioral Science for Content Marketers is high on my list as well.

Find Your Path to Content Marketing Greatness

Consistency, experimentation, and getting better each month: They might not be the stuff of Cinderella stories, but in the real world these techniques work and Medved’s team serves as living proof.

He is one of many CMWorld speakers who contributed to The Ultimate Guide to Conquering Content Marketing, so as we look forward to seeing them on stage in Cleveland, make sure to soak in all their awesome advice by clicking through the slides below:

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[unixcommerce]

CMWorld Interview: Path to 1M Monthly Readers Has No Shortcuts, Says J.P. Medved

In her introduction to The Ultimate Guide to Conquering Content Marketing, Content Marketing Institute’s Cathy McPhillips draws several commonalities between content marketing and video games: the interactivity, the trial-and-error learnings, the camradery.

But, while many marketers have their own personal “cheat codes” that help them gain an edge, there are no true hacks in content. Certain video games allow you to tap in a series of commands and gain invincibility, or jump ahead to the next level. Content marketers, however, cannot magically produce an audience or monetization out of thin air.

As the Content Director for Capterra, and also an avowed lover of gaming, J.P. Medved understands this reality. His company’s industry-specific blogs have grown to 1 million monthly readers, and it wasn’t because of any secret elixir.

Instead, Capterra’s success owes to a proven, adoptable strategy tethered to the fundamentals of organization, goals, promotion, and experimentation. Medved will explain this formula in-depth during his Content Marketing World session, Better Than Hacks and Schemes: A Proven Approach to Building Your Audience, and was also kind enough to share some insights with us ahead of the September event.    

Medved has a reputation for being sharply honest and entertaining, and those traits definitely came through during our interview with him. Keep reading to find his thoughts on silent content, scalability, documenting strategies, and content marketing lessons learned from his experience writing fiction.

  What does your role as Content Marketing Director at Capterra entail? What are your main areas of focus and key priorities?

My day-to-day as a Content Director involves a lot of email and meetings, at this point. We’ve grown to a team of nine writers, six of whom I manage directly, so a lot of my time is devoted to supporting them. I join monthly topic planning meetings with all of them, as well as frequent check-ins with the editors and the marketing folks that support the content we produce. I also now spend a fair amount of time in our analytics and various content management systems just checking in and tracking things.

As we’ve grown—and I suspect this is common in most roles—I’ve transitioned away from being a content producer, to being a content manager. I no longer write content myself, and we centralized editing early last year so I no longer edit individual pieces either. Instead I spend more time coordinating long-term content plans and calendars with other teams in the business, managing content experiments or helping new projects get off the ground, and working with the folks on my team to help advance their career goals.

  Why should content marketers beware of “hacks” and shortcuts when it comes to growing their audience and impact?

The content marketing world, and the digital marketing space more generally, loves the idea of the Cinderella story. That blog that hits everything just right and experiences exponential, “hockey stick” growth and also there’s a royal wedding involved somehow. But our experience, and that of the vast majority of successful content marketing operations I’m aware of, is actually a lot more boring.

Jimmy Daley of the great animalz.co blog calls it “silent content;” that company that has just been plugging away and producing and refining great content for years, and grown a consistent, large audience and strong search position.  

With Capterra’s content, we’ve grown to a million readers a month, writing in an ostensibly boring, B2B software space, and we never had a breakout “viral” hit, or flashy media coverage, or exponential traffic growth (it’s all been linear). We’ve just been working away at it since 2013, publishing consistently and getting a little bit better each month.

I think if you waste all your time and energy chasing new “hacks” and shortcuts sold to you by whatever case study is making the rounds on YouMoz that week, you never get really good at the fundamentals of content marketing; the block-and-tackle of creating and promoting really great, helpful—if unassuming—content. As a result your growth, though it may experience the occasional spike, will actually slow and it’ll take you more time to build a sustainable traffic base in the long-run.

If you waste all your time and energy chasing new “hacks” & shortcuts, you never get really good at the fundamentals of content marketing. @rizzleJPizzle #CMWorld Click To Tweet

What are the most pivotal roles in developing an effective and scalable content strategy?

Scalability is still something we struggle with, having grown the team 6X in the last four years. The biggest lesson I’ve learned is actually to bring on/promote other managers earlier than you think you need it. Assuming an average writer production schedule of two, 1,500 word articles a week, a full-time manager can effectively manage and edit 3-4 writers. If they’re not editing (you bring in a centralized editing team, or use a round-robin method, or delegate to senior writers), that number goes up to 6-7.  

But you should have someone in place to help you well before you hit that number, not only to give them time to ramp-up and learn management skills, but also to allow you to plan effectively for new hires and content coverage growth.

The biggest lesson content I’ve learned is actually to bring on/promote other managers earlier than you think you need it. @rizzleJPizzle #CMWorld Click To Tweet

Why is experimentation so critical in the content creation process?

Most of our content fails. Like, over 90% of it. And that’s not at all uncommon in the content marketing world. If everyone knew the exact ingredients to a “viral” content piece, that’s all anyone would produce. But we don’t know. Pieces I think will do really well, more-often-than-not sink without a trace, and pieces that seem like throwaways can take off because they’ve tapped into some pent-up need in the marketplace of ideas.

So we try to test a lot. 50% or more of our content is trying out new topics or channels or formats, and the other 50% is either updating successful past content, or scaling up a content type that our previous testing has discovered works.

I differ here from the current received-wisdom in the content marketing industry. Right now it’s hip to say content marketers need to produce fewer pieces of longer, higher quality content. But I actually argue you should produce a higher volume of content (at least early on) to discover what “hits” with your particular audience, so you can scale that later.

Brian Dean of Backlinko is often the poster-child of the “publish less, publish higher-quality” model, and I love his content and he’s obviously been very successful. But might he have been more successful publishing weekly instead of monthly? Could he have sacrificed a little bit of length to experiment with a broader range of topic ideas earlier on before scaling the ones that worked? I think it’s possible.

You should produce a higher volume of content (at least early on) to discover what “hits” with your particular audience, so you can scale that later. @rizzleJPizzle #CMWorld Click To Tweet

What are the most common mistakes you see individuals and companies make when developing and launching a blog?

The biggest one is not taking content marketing seriously. That manifests itself in two major tactical mistakes: not hiring someone to do content full-time, and trying to squeeze direct revenue out of content in the first year.

If no one’s doing content full-time, then content just becomes a side project for someone at your company who may-or-may-not get to it once they finish their “real work” for the day. We tried this model for years and never got any traction with our content until someone owned it full-time and could devote themselves to thinking about it strategically and producing content consistently.

And you should not try to monetize your content in the first year. It will distort your writing, even if you think you can guard against it, and result in lower-quality, less helpful, more salesy content. Focus on creating content that is genuinely helpful for your audience first, and you will build reader trust for any kind of monetization scheme you want to implement later down the road.

If no one’s doing content full-time, then content just becomes a side project for someone at your company who may-or-may-not get to it once they finish their real work for the day. @rizzleJPizzle #CMWorld Click To Tweet

Why is it important for businesses to have a documented content strategy, as opposed to an intangible framework?

I think people get intimidated when you say, “You need to have a documented content strategy” because they envision this 30-page document written in corporate buzzwords that will take a month to create. But we literally started with nothing more than a two-page Word doc with some bullet points listing our short and long-term goals/metrics, the type of content we wanted to create, and who was responsible for what aspects.

The benefits to us of even something that basic have been huge. Actually writing it down forced us to think through the specifics and showed us where the gaps in our plan were, having agreed-upon goals and timelines upfront made for easier team and executive buy-in, and it gave us something to refer back to when we had questions about whether a new content idea fit our overall goals.

  What have you learned in your ‘side hustle’ as a fiction novelist that applies to your day job as a content marketer?

For writing fiction I spent a lot of time studying story structure, and plot architecture, and all the elements that make a story really “flow” and feel effortless to people reading it. What struck me is how many of the same principles apply to a content piece.

You want to start off with a strong “hook” that introduces an element of mystery and makes the reader want to know more, your “climax” needs to deliver a memorable experience or information, and the dénouement has to be satisfying. A novel that doesn’t tie up loose ends in the last few chapters is as unsatisfying as a blog post that doesn’t include a concrete next step or call to action in the last few paragraphs.

  Which speaker presentations are you looking forward to most at Content Marketing World 2018?

I love video games, so I’m excited to hear Jane Weedon of Twitch give her talk. I’ve also always been fascinated by the science behind online behavior, so Brian Massey’s talk on Behavioral Science for Content Marketers is high on my list as well.

Find Your Path to Content Marketing Greatness

Consistency, experimentation, and getting better each month: They might not be the stuff of Cinderella stories, but in the real world these techniques work and Medved’s team serves as living proof.

He is one of many CMWorld speakers who contributed to The Ultimate Guide to Conquering Content Marketing, so as we look forward to seeing them on stage in Cleveland, make sure to soak in all their awesome advice by clicking through the slides below:

Gain a competitive advantage by subscribing to the TopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter.

© Online Marketing Blog – TopRank®, 2018. | CMWorld Interview: Path to 1M Monthly Readers Has No Shortcuts, Says J.P. Medved | https://ift.tt/faSbAI

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CMWorld Interview: Path to 1M Monthly Readers Has No Shortcuts, Says J.P. Medved

In her introduction to The Ultimate Guide to Conquering Content Marketing, Content Marketing Institute’s Cathy McPhillips draws several commonalities between content marketing and video games: the interactivity, the trial-and-error learnings, the camradery.

But, while many marketers have their own personal “cheat codes” that help them gain an edge, there are no true hacks in content. Certain video games allow you to tap in a series of commands and gain invincibility, or jump ahead to the next level. Content marketers, however, cannot magically produce an audience or monetization out of thin air.

As the Content Director for Capterra, and also an avowed lover of gaming, J.P. Medved understands this reality. His company’s industry-specific blogs have grown to 1 million monthly readers, and it wasn’t because of any secret elixir.

Instead, Capterra’s success owes to a proven, adoptable strategy tethered to the fundamentals of organization, goals, promotion, and experimentation. Medved will explain this formula in-depth during his Content Marketing World session, Better Than Hacks and Schemes: A Proven Approach to Building Your Audience, and was also kind enough to share some insights with us ahead of the September event.    

Medved has a reputation for being sharply honest and entertaining, and those traits definitely came through during our interview with him. Keep reading to find his thoughts on silent content, scalability, documenting strategies, and content marketing lessons learned from his experience writing fiction.

 What does your role as Content Marketing Director at Capterra entail? What are your main areas of focus and key priorities?

My day-to-day as a Content Director involves a lot of email and meetings, at this point. We’ve grown to a team of nine writers, six of whom I manage directly, so a lot of my time is devoted to supporting them. I join monthly topic planning meetings with all of them, as well as frequent check-ins with the editors and the marketing folks that support the content we produce. I also now spend a fair amount of time in our analytics and various content management systems just checking in and tracking things.

As we’ve grown—and I suspect this is common in most roles—I’ve transitioned away from being a content producer, to being a content manager. I no longer write content myself, and we centralized editing early last year so I no longer edit individual pieces either. Instead I spend more time coordinating long-term content plans and calendars with other teams in the business, managing content experiments or helping new projects get off the ground, and working with the folks on my team to help advance their career goals.

 Why should content marketers beware of “hacks” and shortcuts when it comes to growing their audience and impact?

The content marketing world, and the digital marketing space more generally, loves the idea of the Cinderella story. That blog that hits everything just right and experiences exponential, “hockey stick” growth and also there’s a royal wedding involved somehow. But our experience, and that of the vast majority of successful content marketing operations I’m aware of, is actually a lot more boring.

Jimmy Daley of the great animalz.co blog calls it “silent content;” that company that has just been plugging away and producing and refining great content for years, and grown a consistent, large audience and strong search position.  

With Capterra’s content, we’ve grown to a million readers a month, writing in an ostensibly boring, B2B software space, and we never had a breakout “viral” hit, or flashy media coverage, or exponential traffic growth (it’s all been linear). We’ve just been working away at it since 2013, publishing consistently and getting a little bit better each month.

I think if you waste all your time and energy chasing new “hacks” and shortcuts sold to you by whatever case study is making the rounds on YouMoz that week, you never get really good at the fundamentals of content marketing; the block-and-tackle of creating and promoting really great, helpful—if unassuming—content. As a result your growth, though it may experience the occasional spike, will actually slow and it’ll take you more time to build a sustainable traffic base in the long-run.

If you waste all your time and energy chasing new “hacks” & shortcuts, you never get really good at the fundamentals of content marketing. @rizzleJPizzle #CMWorld Click To Tweet

What are the most pivotal roles in developing an effective and scalable content strategy?

Scalability is still something we struggle with, having grown the team 6X in the last four years. The biggest lesson I’ve learned is actually to bring on/promote other managers earlier than you think you need it. Assuming an average writer production schedule of two, 1,500 word articles a week, a full-time manager can effectively manage and edit 3-4 writers. If they’re not editing (you bring in a centralized editing team, or use a round-robin method, or delegate to senior writers), that number goes up to 6-7.  

But you should have someone in place to help you well before you hit that number, not only to give them time to ramp-up and learn management skills, but also to allow you to plan effectively for new hires and content coverage growth.

The biggest lesson content I’ve learned is actually to bring on/promote other managers earlier than you think you need it. @rizzleJPizzle #CMWorld Click To Tweet

Why is experimentation so critical in the content creation process?

Most of our content fails. Like, over 90% of it. And that’s not at all uncommon in the content marketing world. If everyone knew the exact ingredients to a “viral” content piece, that’s all anyone would produce. But we don’t know. Pieces I think will do really well, more-often-than-not sink without a trace, and pieces that seem like throwaways can take off because they’ve tapped into some pent-up need in the marketplace of ideas.

So we try to test a lot. 50% or more of our content is trying out new topics or channels or formats, and the other 50% is either updating successful past content, or scaling up a content type that our previous testing has discovered works.

I differ here from the current received-wisdom in the content marketing industry. Right now it’s hip to say content marketers need to produce fewer pieces of longer, higher quality content. But I actually argue you should produce a higher volume of content (at least early on) to discover what “hits” with your particular audience, so you can scale that later.

Brian Dean of Backlinko is often the poster-child of the “publish less, publish higher-quality” model, and I love his content and he’s obviously been very successful. But might he have been more successful publishing weekly instead of monthly? Could he have sacrificed a little bit of length to experiment with a broader range of topic ideas earlier on before scaling the ones that worked? I think it’s possible.

You should produce a higher volume of content (at least early on) to discover what “hits” with your particular audience, so you can scale that later. @rizzleJPizzle #CMWorld Click To Tweet

What are the most common mistakes you see individuals and companies make when developing and launching a blog?

The biggest one is not taking content marketing seriously. That manifests itself in two major tactical mistakes: not hiring someone to do content full-time, and trying to squeeze direct revenue out of content in the first year.

If no one’s doing content full-time, then content just becomes a side project for someone at your company who may-or-may-not get to it once they finish their “real work” for the day. We tried this model for years and never got any traction with our content until someone owned it full-time and could devote themselves to thinking about it strategically and producing content consistently.

And you should not try to monetize your content in the first year. It will distort your writing, even if you think you can guard against it, and result in lower-quality, less helpful, more salesy content. Focus on creating content that is genuinely helpful for your audience first, and you will build reader trust for any kind of monetization scheme you want to implement later down the road.

If no one’s doing content full-time, then content just becomes a side project for someone at your company who may-or-may-not get to it once they finish their real work for the day. @rizzleJPizzle #CMWorld Click To Tweet

Why is it important for businesses to have a documented content strategy, as opposed to an intangible framework?

I think people get intimidated when you say, “You need to have a documented content strategy” because they envision this 30-page document written in corporate buzzwords that will take a month to create. But we literally started with nothing more than a two-page Word doc with some bullet points listing our short and long-term goals/metrics, the type of content we wanted to create, and who was responsible for what aspects.

The benefits to us of even something that basic have been huge. Actually writing it down forced us to think through the specifics and showed us where the gaps in our plan were, having agreed-upon goals and timelines upfront made for easier team and executive buy-in, and it gave us something to refer back to when we had questions about whether a new content idea fit our overall goals.

 What have you learned in your ‘side hustle’ as a fiction novelist that applies to your day job as a content marketer?

For writing fiction I spent a lot of time studying story structure, and plot architecture, and all the elements that make a story really “flow” and feel effortless to people reading it. What struck me is how many of the same principles apply to a content piece.

You want to start off with a strong “hook” that introduces an element of mystery and makes the reader want to know more, your “climax” needs to deliver a memorable experience or information, and the dénouement has to be satisfying. A novel that doesn’t tie up loose ends in the last few chapters is as unsatisfying as a blog post that doesn’t include a concrete next step or call to action in the last few paragraphs.

 Which speaker presentations are you looking forward to most at Content Marketing World 2018?

I love video games, so I’m excited to hear Jane Weedon of Twitch give her talk. I’ve also always been fascinated by the science behind online behavior, so Brian Massey’s talk on Behavioral Science for Content Marketers is high on my list as well.

Find Your Path to Content Marketing Greatness

Consistency, experimentation, and getting better each month: They might not be the stuff of Cinderella stories, but in the real world these techniques work and Medved’s team serves as living proof.

He is one of many CMWorld speakers who contributed to The Ultimate Guide to Conquering Content Marketing, so as we look forward to seeing them on stage in Cleveland, make sure to soak in all their awesome advice by clicking through the slides below:

Gain a competitive advantage by subscribing to the TopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter.

© Online Marketing Blog - TopRank®, 2018. | CMWorld Interview: Path to 1M Monthly Readers Has No Shortcuts, Says J.P. Medved | https://ift.tt/faSbAI

The post CMWorld Interview: Path to 1M Monthly Readers Has No Shortcuts, Says J.P. Medved appeared first on Online Marketing Blog - TopRank®.

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