#and obviously i’ll be supportive whether it’s /r or /p

[shubblelive]

im sorry but is this “girlfriend /p” or “girlfriend /r” because society has brainwashed me

#em needs to shush sometimes #aimsey <3 #guqqie <3 #like i know first hand what it’s like to flirt w a girl and have her be like “aww thanks bestie” #and obviously i’ll be supportive whether it’s /r or /p

[dootdootwriting]

AHHH CONGRATS ON 600!!! I hope you're doing well heehoo and if its okay can i ask for the whole alphabet with scaramouche?:3 (also pls don't overwork yourself jdjajdkdlfmmeis)

600+ event!!

this is my first time writing for scara so i hope i did okay aha,, under the cut for length!

fluff alphabet with scaramouche, gn reader, warning for inazuma quest/scaramouche backstory spoilers!!

why is his name so long

A-Activities (what do they like to do with their s/o? How do they spend their free time with them?)

- scaramouche isn't super knowledgeable about relationships, so he'll just sort of tentatively ask what you want to do and go along with it (though he might act like it's a stupid idea the whole time). really he doesn't care what he spends his free time on as long as you're a part of it.

B-Beauty (what do they admire about their s/o? what do they think is beautiful about them?)

- well first of all, he admires the courage you've got to have to be with him in the first place. other than that, he also loves your smile (but you won't hear him tell you that out loud, unless you're not really asleep when he thinks you are)

C-Comfort (how would they help their s/o when they feel down/have a panic attack etc.?)

- another thing he's alien to. at first just starts telling you to calm down and is pretty harsh about it. when he realizes this isn't working, he'll reluctantly take you into his arms and start awkwardly patting your head. it's funny how awkward it is and you end up laughing at him about it, which makes him annoyed, but at least now you feel better.

D-Dreams (how do they picture the future with their s/o?)

- scaramouche... either wants you to be by his side as he conquers everything and shows the world just how strong he is, or he wants to do it alone. though it would be much better if you were with him and it makes him sad to think about you not being there in the end.

E-Equal (are they the dominant one in the relationship or rather passive?)

- surprisingly passive, actually. he doesn't really know what he's doing so he lets you make most of the decisions about dates and spending time together. other than that though, he likes to drag you around to do whatever he wants.

F-Fun (what do they do for fun with their s/o? what’s their idea of a fun day out?)

- what's fun? on a day off, scaramouche will wander around and ponder his own existence. you'll have to take him to a market or a park or something so he can actually experience things first - once you do, you'll find he enjoys being alone with you somewhere quiet, where he doesn't have to listen to other people.

G-Gratitude (how grateful are they in general? Are they aware of what their s/o is doing for them?)

- doesn't show it, but is definitely grateful, though he also doesn't know just how much of a hassle he can be. scaramouche just sort of assumed love was supposed to be unconditional... but he can tell when he's crossed a line, and he's grateful for you sticking by him despite everything.

H-Honesty (do they have secrets they hide from their s/o? Or do they share everything?)

- obviously the one big secret is how he came into being in the first place, but once he trusts you enough to tell you about his being a puppet and a test, he's in all the way. he hides little things from you before that but once he's told you, you're in it with him forever whether you like it or not, and that means he doesn't keep anything else from you.

I-Inspiration (did their s/o change them somehow, or the other way around? Like trying out new things or helped them overcome personal problems?)

- he's a lot more tolerable around you! you've been approached by fatui officers asking you "how do you do it?" and saying things like "thank you so much i totally thought i was gonna be yelled at today!" somehow you cool off his temper a bit.

J-Jealousy (do they get jealous easily? How do they deal with it?)

- JEALOUS JEALOUS JEALOUS man. he gets jealous so so easily and WILL confront you about it. after a while and once he knows he can trust you he gets jealous less frequently, because he knows you're with him for the long run.

K-Kisses (are they a good kisser? What was the first kiss like?).

- bad kisser at first because he's probably never been in love before. he gets the hang of it quickly though! your first kiss was because he had to shut you up and he couldn't figure out another way how so he just kissed you. you yelled at him after that.

L-Love confession (how would they confess to their s/o?)

- scaramouche confesses on purpose but in a really weird way. he plans it and everything - he takes you out to see the sunset and brings food (almost like a picnic) but then once he gets to the actual confession it's just like "how dare you do this to me? i stay awake at night thinking of you and somehow you're the most tolerable person i've ever met. childe had the audacity to call it love and to laugh at me so he got what he deserved. if you don't feel the same way i'll punch you too." but he doesn't end up having to punch you, which you're both very glad about.

M-Mornings (what’s it like waking up with them? do they sleep late or wake up before the sun rises?)

- he didn't have a reason to sleep in late until he started sleeping next to you. now he's stuck in his ridiculous sleep schedule so he always wakes up before you. but hey! bonus! now he gets to look at you while you sleep, which for some reason makes him extremely flustered (which is really cute to wake up to).

N-Nicknames (what do they call their s/o?)

- just calls you your name 🧍

O-On cloud nine (what are they like when they are in love? Is it obvious for others? How do they express their feelings?)

- when he discovered he was in love he got angry at you. then he realized it wasn't your fault, and, actually, this wasn't such a bad thing. man were you confused though. for a solid week he just yelled at you for no reason. childe guessed correctly when he realized scaramouche's more-unusual-than-usual behavior, but he had the decency to hold his tongue around you.

P-PDA (how are they with PDA? is it fun to them or are they more reserved with their affection?)

- hates pda. will hold your hand and that's it if you try to kiss him in public his face will scrunch up and his ears will pull back instinctively. then he'll avoid you for the rest of the day.

Q-Quirk (some random thing they do when they’re with you for no reason in particular)

- gently taps you at random moments, almost as if he's trying to remind himself that you're here with him.

R-Romance (how romantic are they? What would they do to make their s/o happy? Cliché or rather creative?)

- scaramouche tries to be romantic? he's doing his best. he tries all the gooey stuff to make you happy like buying you chocolate and giving you stuffed animals but in reality he has little to no tolerance for this kind of thing and you have to reassure him you love him, not the classic romantic things he forces himself to do. after that he stops, which is a huge relief.

S-Support (are they helping their s/o achieve their goals do they believe in them?)

- he's more focused on his own goals and climbing the fatui ladder, but he's also very invested in anything you're attempting to do. wholeheartedly believes in you, whether he outwardly expresses it or not.

T-Thrill (do they need to try out new things to spice out your relationship or do they prefer certain routine?)

- scaramouche likes the security of his routine and the place your relationship is at. he gets embarrassed at pretty much any new milestone and needs some time to get to them, and he gets cranky when things change suddenly, so uh. no, he likes it better the way it is with little to no changes.

U-Understanding (how good do they know their partner? Are they empathetic?)

- not very empathetic, but is very understanding. scaramouche lacks the ability to feel how you're feeling (is it because he isn't quite human?), but he does understand how you work and function, and the best ways to treat you depending on your mood.

V-Value (how important is the relationship to them? What is its worth in comparison to other things in their life?).

- since you're so important to him, you're about number two on his list of priorities, maybe almost tied with his work in the fatui. he can't stand people, but you've wormed your way into his heart, so he's not letting you go anytime soon.

W-Wild card (a random fluff headcanon?)

- any time you give him affection he's a little startled at first, but he comes to love it and eventually will ask you for hugs.

X-XOXO (Are they very affectionate? Do they love to kiss and cuddle?)

- yes but ONLY behind closed doors. he's afraid if he so much as looks at you lovingly his underlings will laugh at him, and he definitely can't have that. when you two are alone, however, he absolutely cannot get enough of your touch.

Y- Yearning (how will they cope when they are missing their partner?)

- angry angry angry and makes it everyone's problem. when you get back from your trip the mood is dark and agents are running up to you like you're their savior "OH GOD YOU'RE BACK THANK EVERYTHING PLEASE SAVE US."

Z-Zeal (are they willing to go to great lengths for the relationship? If so, what kind?)

- he would literally kill for you (please tell him not to)

#scaramouche x reader #GOD THIS TOOK SO LONG DONT FLOP PLEASE #scaramouche #genshin impact #genshin x reader #genshin impact x reader #the balladeer #scaramouche hcs #doot's 600 event! #fluff alphabet #scaramouche fluff alphabet #gi scaramouche #fluff #scaramouche fluff #gn! reader #archon quest spoilers #2.1 spoilers

[zhansww]

I’ve been wondering how exactly the misunderstanding of my last rambling post came to be and I think it’s cuz of one of two things; cuz I didn’t make it clear what I consider the word “queer” to mean or cuz I didn’t make it clear that the post itself was my own, subjective opinion. I’m not sure how consistent I’ve been with tagging it but I kinda differentiate between (what I think are) rational opinions I have vs emotional ones. The latter ones are obviously subjective and should not be taken as me, lecturing anyone or implying that everyone should feel the same. You either share the same sentiment or you don’t, there’s nothing wrong with it either way. And if my words in those posts seem hostile/condescending, it’s cuz I don’t feel the need to censor any of my subjective views/feelings. What I do think is important and what I try to pay attention to is not to let the negative emotions that certain things evoke in me control my actions. When I see something that I disapprove of in any way, I don’t hijack that post or report it. If my emotional reaction is particular strong, I’ll vent about it in my own post, not theirs. I considered this to be the decent thing to do but I’ve been told by at least one kind, respectful and open-minded person that I am actively making people’s lives worse with those posts, that my words are violent and that my behavior is that of an “unhinged monster” (the irony here is not lost on me). So I’ve been reflecting and I think the next time I feel a particular strong, negative emotion that makes me want to vent, I’ll put a disclaimer beforehand. And now, let me just actually clarify what my point was of that post. I believe that yz is real so I obviously do not assume they are straight. If they are indeed together, then they are queer - i.e. not straight - but that’s literally it. I have no theories or thoughts about what their specific orientation might be and I won’t ever speculate about that either. I wouldn’t mind knowing but unfortunately, they can’t be openly together right now but when they someday are, they’ll hopefully also feel safe and loved enough to share something like that with us. I know for a fact that figuring out your sexuality is a confusing and intimate process which is why I am opposed to speculating about it. I consider it to be too intrusive. But again; that is my subjective opinion based on my own experiences. I do not expect everyone to share this sentiment. One person said that I should expect such speculation and that might be true, maybe I should expect it but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. Seeing certain bxg get mad at solos for assuming yz are straight but then turn around and assume they are [insert any specific sexuality except het] is hypocritical and disappointing in my opinion. I think it’s perfectly fine to have such emotional opinions as long as you don’t let those emotions cloud your judgement and lead to you, reacting in a way that is unreasonable and possibly harmful. I also think that everyone should be willing to have their rational opinions questioned but when it comes to an emotional opinion, it doesn’t have to make sense and it’s probably not gonna change either. To give another example; I hk disapprove of yz r/p/f. And that’s not me, saying it is inherently wrong and that no one should do it. In fact, you could try to make a case about how I should like it and approve of it but it wouldn’t make me change my mind precisely because this opinion is not based on logic but just on emotion. And again, as long my emotional reaction to something doesn’t lead to unreasonable actions, then the emotion itself is alright to have. And like I already said, I thought it was okay to vent those emotions in my safe space but apparently, it isn’t. No one should take those posts personally or like I’m talking to them or lecturing them. I thought that this was all obvious but since I got told otherwise, I will be more concise from now on.

You know, when someone starts a “discussion” by insulting you (implicitly or not), that’s usually a clear sign that they’re not even trying to understand you. I’ve seen at least one person reblog the reblogs and seemingly take some kind of vicious pleasure in seeing someone else sh-t on me. Something like that leads me to think that they already had a negative impression of me to begin with which is why their minds gladly misunderstood me and jumped to the worst possible conclusion. They also all seemed to either ignore my explanations or seemed intent on misunderstanding me, no matter what. To be clear, I don’t blame them entirely for it because I could have expressed my point better but for them to immediately think their misunderstanding is the right one - instead of asking me to explain myself perhaps - is also wrong. Mind you, I don’t expect those people to see or care about this post. The main reason I’m trying to clarify myself is for myself. I said I’ll try to be more concise in expressing my views (regardless of whether it’s a subjective one or not) from now on and I thought I should let this be the start of that. There was one reply in particular that ... affected me a lot harder than I thought anything could. I think it’s cuz my depression already makes me feel like I’m a waste of space 24/7. One thing I take comfort in, though, is the fact that, at the very least, the only one who’s hurting because of it is me, no one else. At least I don’t hurt others. But I got told otherwise. I got called an unhinged monster. The unhinged part is true but also being a monster... it made me feel like I’m less than a waste of space. Like, let’s say if normal people always feel like a 1, I always feel like a 0. Getting insulted like that made me feel like a -1. Instead of feeling like a read newspaper, that’s just waiting to get thrown in the trash, that insult made me feel like I’m the asbestos in the house, something that is actively harmful and you need to get rid of. Does that make sense? Anyway... I engaged in “discussions” despite my better judgement and now, I have to pay the price for it so I also decided that I won’t do that again. Hopefully, there won’t even be any more misunderstandings but if there are and someone hijacks my posts and insults and/or willfully misunderstands me, I will just block them. For my own sanity. And for the record, if there’s something in this or any of my subjective/emotional posts that can be misunderstood, that I didn’t make clear enough; please feel free to ask me about it. Please don’t immediately think the worst of me. And when it comes to my more objective/rational opinions, I am always open for discussions as long as we can remain respectful throughout.

I would also like to express my gratitude to anyone who reached out. I’m not sure if the damage can be undone to be honest (it doesn’t feel like it right now) but anyone who offered words of advice, understanding, support or kindness helped soften it. I cannot express how grateful and appreciative I am for it all, any replies or private messages. You helped make me feel less shitty and I thank you so so much. I’m definitely gonna save all the mental health advice cuz I really did not know how to deal with that overwhelming desire to... stop existing in that moment and I want to keep it in mind if (or when) I get affected this badly by something again. I intend to also reply to the messages privately ofc but for now, please accept all of my love and gratitude~

I’m gonna put the rest - which is more personal - under a cut and also tw cuz I’ll elaborate on my mental health/depression. This isn’t exactly something I want to share tbh but I think I shouldn’t shy away from it either. And I feel like I need to explain myself, just for anyone who cares to know.

—

If you compare life to walking on a path, then I at some point - I don’t even remember when - stopped walking and starting digging a hole for myself. It musta been years ago. Right now, that hole is so deep that I have no idea how to get out of it on my own, much less how to move forward. I think I always knew that there must be something wrong with me mentally. This isn’t something that is being talked about in my family, though, so I never extensively thought about it. Not until earlier this year, when my sister told me that she thinks I’m sick and I should see a therapist. My immediate reaction was to reject the idea but I really couldn’t do that for long. As of right now, I have been tentatively diagnosed (not sure if that’s what you call it in English) with depression but I haven’t actually found a permanent therapist and therefore also not started therapy yet. I have no idea what exactly is wrong with me and this not-knowing makes it somehow worse. I haven’t been properly functioning for the past two days - ever since I got called unhinged monster - cuz those words are burned into my brain by now and keep repeating themselves. It feels like my mind was given another weapon to slowly k-ll me with. It keeps reminding me that that’s what I am and then I start trembling and my breathing gets weird and it’s harder than usual for me to distract myself. And this is all so overwhelming for me, I have truly no idea how to deal with any of it. I don’t even know if I named it right, if it really is called a “depressive episode”. I’m hoping I’ll get to find out what exactly is wrong with me and how I can cope with it once I find a therapist. My lack of knowledge regarding what I myself am going through makes it all very confusing and difficult. Another reason why I kind of organized my thoughts and wrote them all down here is cuz I hope it will help me somehow, make my mind stop letting those really bad thoughts in. But in that moment when I felt especially f-cked up, any words of advice or kindness helped. I hope everyone who reached out knows that. Just... thank you. So damn much.

#long post #personal #about me #depression tw #text

[oofchris]

⌠ MADISON BAILEY, 19, CISFEMALE, SHE/HER ⌡ welcome back to gallagher academy, CHRISTINA ' CHRIS ' ANDERSON! according to their records, they’re a FIRST year, specializing in MACGYVER SURVIVAL SKILLS & NAVIGATION + PROTECTION & ENFORCEMENT; and they DID NOT go to a spy prep high school. when i see them walking around in the halls, i usually see a flash of ( speckles of dried paint on fingers, cruising round on a longboard, joints tucked behind ears wrapped in colourful papers ). when it’s the ( sagittarius )’s birthday on 12/27/2001, they always request their PHO from the school’s chefs. looks like they’re well on their way to graduation. ⌿ mochi, 24, she/her, gmt ⍀

@gallagherintro​

hi uwu, here is a new baby who is not very baby but still a lil baby

 . . . it got quite long so tldr; she’s a stubborn art hoe from california who’s dad died so she’s come to gallagher bc her mom is a professor in the p+e major <3 

parallels

wyldstyle  — the lego movie: 85%

mulan — mulan: 84%

nymphadora tonks — harry potter: 83%

princess fiona — shrek: 83%

robin buckley — stranger things: 82%

here is a full list

HISTORY

potential triggers — car accident, parental death, divorce

so she’s grown up on on the west coast p much ??? her whole life. her mom worked as a bodyguard for sum famous peeps, dad was doctor but occasionally also a medic in the field — they didn’t always see eye to eye and divorced when chris was around nine. it was mostly to do with chris’ future like whether she’d go to spy prep school and follow in their footsteps and her dad didn’t want that for her so they disagreed, and she lived with him instead, living a more or less normal life. her mom then moved away when the opportunity to become a professor at gallagher presented itself, so they’ve really not been close at all since then

lived fairly comfortably, either way her dad had money and her mom sent support too. her father definitely earns less from no longer being in the spy world but he vowed to leave that behind when he divorced his wife and other than a few people from his past popping up unannounced, he kept that vow. they moved around a couple times in order to keep chris safe, and especially when someone did find them ( even if it was friendly ) but mostly grew up in california, and a lot of it is to do with the fact chris loves it there so much

but chris knows about the spy world, what her mom does and the type of school she works at, but it never interested her enough to try and reach out or fight her dad on it as she enjoyed her life 

she remembers her mom as someone stubborn, argumentative, volatile which is the opposite of her dad who was patient, loving and endearing — so it’s a no brainer for her, she loves her dad a lot and he gave up a lot for her while her mom gave chris up for that world, her job, etc aka nada

BUT her dad died in a car accident recently that she was also in but was only a bit beaten up at most ( has some cuts / new scars, learn more below ) leaving her mother to swiftly pick her up and enrol her into gallagher, more to keep an eye on her than anything. 

her mom chose her majors and some of her classes for her, which chris is mad about, but mainly bc looking at what ones were offered she’d def pick macgyver anyway, and her mom argued p+e was a step into the physical and combat side of thing without being too heavy on it ( tho it’s the major she teaches so she’s biased and chris just thinks she wants to be closer ) but tbh ? chris just doesn’t want her mom to be right whatsoever or have the satisfaction of thinking she knows her daughter in anyway at all but she knows if she went undecided she’d probably pick those up again in her second year so she’s just ‘ going with it ‘ begrudgingly as if she has no choice

PERSONALITY

extremely stubborn, which she gets from her mom, would rather ruin her life than go back on something or admit she was wrong, if she apologises for something she'll find a way to do it where she's not actually ever saying the words ' im sorry ' or ' i was wrong ' and would rather start another argument than do that — but obviously she loves other people apologising to her

she is generally nice ??? i just think she can be irritated easy ?????? like a bit of a hot head tho she'd argue she's chill, she is mostly chill but likes to debate, be right, and can be very my way or the high way at times — i’ll figure her out more as i play her bc i can’t tell if she’s mean or not but i don’t think so, just a bit tougher than she needs to be 

in my head she’s like a seb/luc hybrid so . . . take that as you will 

doesn’t dislike gallagher ( mostly ) but thinks all the legacies — even tho she technically is one, she doesn’t identify as one — are entitled spoiled brats and should get their heads out of their ass, doesn't like that being a legacy is even a thing though a lot of it definitely comes from her bitter resentment towards her mom and how she'd have rather leave her and her dad than leave the spy life hbsjhbsjhb also i think bc of her mom she has level 5 clearance which . . . she’s not complaining about but definitely complaining that clearance levels are even a thing, she’s gonna contradict herself a lot, i feel it

MISC

i THINK she’s only arrived, like, at the start of spring semester tbh, she wasn’t here for fall so she is new new

halfway through her first year at stanford studying art alongside film and media as a minor before her mom brought her to gallagher — which she's kind of not happy about like she understands her dad didn't want it for her, she also wanted to just stay in california but the only family she has now is on her mom's side.

she's still enrolled at stanford, though dropped her minor, and is studying online for her major as she's made it clear to her mom she doesn't want to be a spy so she pulled a few strings with the stanford admission board to allow her studying to continue ( idek if this is allowed i'm just pretending her mom is powerful enough to do it ) — it was a big reason chris agreed to come to gallagher, not that she had much of a choice, bc she wants her ‘ normal ‘ life and her ‘ normal ‘ degree regardless of being at a spy school

only her mom calls her christina and she actually hates it so pls dont unless you are trying to get on her bad side — also she probs avoids her mom like the plague so don’t bring that up either

often covered in little cuts and bruises from her skating but she’s got two fresh / soon to be scars on the left side of her face on the top of her cheek bone and on her jaw from a shards of glass when she was in the car accident — she is the type to pick her scabs until they bleed again, too, so i picture her with loads of little scars especially on her hands, elbows and knees

she did learn self defense from her dad growing up and she has studied jiujitsu and akido since she was around thirteen, she also boxes but it's more casual like for stress and stuff rather than something she takes overly seriously

she likes surfing, diving, enjoys the kind of world that exists underwater where it's just peaceful and calm so she will be around the lake a lot / at the pool if you need to find her

she’s 5’3 and never wears heels

pansexual and while it might change i wanna say she's not overly sexual, like wouldn't have hookups for no reason ?? but potentially some one night stands or drunken mistakes or whatever. doesn't look down on sluts but i think she doesn't have the most confidence in that area, or in self esteem in general, so she'll ??? only really have a frequent thing if she feels Hella comfortable

the type to have crushes tho, but not act on them at all bc again self esteem issues 

bit of a tomboy, skater, stoner — though she wouldn't identify as one — really loves movies and can be a proper filmophile, probably has more film soundtracks on her spotify unwrapped than she does actual artists and don't get her started on Women— in film bc she won't stop 

very active, sporty, probs trying to parkour around campus

enjoys painting, sketching, simply creating things — often is filming, riding a longboard, working on some kind of little project she'll take too seriously but won't show people until it's perfect

is a little pretentious at times ??? doesn't necessarily mean to be but if it's a debate on a topic she's passionate about ( such as art, film, etc ) then she will try to ensure you know just how knowledgeable she is on it, she's not afraid to flex but she wouldn't outwardly flex for no reason if that makes sense 

she also . . . feels p dumb at gallagher tbh, a lot of her strengths lie in her creativity and art and now she’s very ??? wtf am i doing ?? but she will continue to act like she knows !

can speak english, french, german and spanish all pretty fluently, italian well enough to get by, knows a bit of japanese bc she’s . . . a weeb sometimes but also bc of her martial arts

CONNECTIONS

FAMILY / CHILDHOOD FRIENDS ( SPY ) — so this would more than likely be before her parents divorce, but she’s not against keeping in contact a little if she liked you, it could have also been a family who reached out to her dad afterwards because while he’d move away / hide his location promptly after, he would still help them if they needed it ( 1 / ? )

FAMILY / CHILDHOOD FRIENDS ( NON SPY ) — same thing, but would have probably been after the divorce, just normal families that her and her dad knew, neighbours, work colleagues, school friends, would more than likely have also needed to be west coast sorta area but if your muse was there briefly, they could have kept in contact once they’d left ( 0 / ? )

LEGACIES — she potentially . . . won’t like you if you’re a legacy and you are egotistical / assholey even a tiny bit, bc that basically proves her argument that they’re ALL like that jshbjsbjs but i wud like her to have legacies that she . . . hates that she likes as well, i think she’ll realise p quickly most are fine lmao

ART HOES — whether they’re into painting as well and they do it together or they let her paint them !

SMOKE / SKATE BUDS — one or the other, both, whatever !! 

A HOOK UP THAT’S EITHER ALREADY HAPPENED OR GOING TO — in my head she’s a bit ??? w sex tbh so maybe plot this out a bit more but can be a ?? positive relationship or a negative one idm

CRUSHES !!!!!!!!! — she’s not even been at the school long but im certain she probs has some already

i’m not good w wanted connections so pls just hmu if u have ideas and as usual like dis for plots / jus message me, i’ll be on discord !! if you don’t have/use discord just message me first on tumblr bc otherwise i wont realise jhbsjhbjhbsj

#GOD ITS SO LONG #gallagher:intro

[dailyaudiobible]

12/21/2020 DAB Transcript

Zechariah 1:1-21, Revelation 12:1-17, Psalms 140:1-13, Proverbs 30:17

Today is the 21st day of December welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian. Today would've been my parent’s anniversary. It’s funny how you remember all these things when they come up. But I obviously have lost both of my parents, but I am grateful that they had a wedding day or none of us would be here doing this right now. So, grateful today for my parents but also grateful every single day for you, that we can come around the Global Campfire together no matter what's going on and relax, exhale, come into a safe space where all the things that are going on, they…they can wait, they can wait a few minutes, they'll still be there. But we may need a change of perspective before we come unglued about them. And maybe with a change of perspective we go back out into the day energized, restored, oriented to God as we take the next steps forward in our lives. And, so, let's take the next step forward in the Bible. And it has been a custom to read a book a day. That custom is gonna end here basically. We have arrived at the 11th of the 12 minor prophets. And this book is called Zechariah and we’re gonna camp out in Zechariah for a few days. In fact, all the way up into we only have two days left in this year. So, we’re gonna settle in here for a minute and catch our breath before we end the year.

Introduction to the book of Zechariah:

What we know of Zechariah is that he and Haggai, which we…we read the entire prophecy of Haggai yesterday. Haggai and Zechariah were contemporaries. Zechariah would've been maybe a little younger. His ministry continued long after Haggai and they were actually prophets in the same place prophesying about the same thing at the same time for the same reason, which is all centered around the rebuilding of the temple. So, Zechariah’s grandpa, his name was Iddo, he's named in the Scriptures among the first leaders of the priestly families to come back from exile with Zerubbabel. So, from that we can surmise then Zechariah was probably a priest or at least from a priestly family. And the name Zechariah means “God remembers”. And it’s the remembering of the covenant and the restoration from the remembering of the covenant that is central in this book. Si, I said, Zechariah and Haghai prophesying at the same time for the same reason about the same kind of thing, but Zechariah’s way longer than Haggai. So, there's more context, more scope, more material. Like Zechariah talks about eight different night visions that he experienced that sound an awful lot like what we’re reading in Revelation. They’re apocalyptic in nature which makes them highly symbolic. And what we begin to see is that God wants the centerpiece of the Temple rebuilt to be the centerpiece of the people because He has plans for moving things forward, plans of restoration, plans of good and not harm. But the people have to collaborate, they have to respond. And what they have to respond to is essentially what God says through His prophets, “come home to me, return to me. Don’t stay in rebellion.” And we’ll see that as we read through that Zachariah also talks about the coming of a Messiah. Zechariah is one of the texts that are used in the New Testament in reference to Jesus. In fact, we find quotations from Zechariah in Matthew, Mark, John and the book of Revelation as they refer specifically to Jesus. And, so, ultimately what we receive in Zechariah is prophetic encouragement and once again reminds us that God is the most-high. There is none higher. There is no competitor to His sovereignty, not even close. And if we will remain in a covenantal relationship with God well…well then, we are going somewhere good. And, so, we begin Zechariah chapter.

Prayer:

Father we thank You for Your word. We thank You for bringing us into this week of rejoicing. We thank You for the comfort of community. And Father as we move through these days, leading right up to Christmas as we move toward the end of the Advent season, help us Holy Spirit to put ourselves in the position of…of the ancient ones, longing, waiting, expecting a Redeemer, a Savior to come. And You came and we rejoice in that, but we put ourselves in that position because…O Jesus we long for Your restoration, for Your return, for all things to be made new again. And, so, Holy Spirit some of these things are mysteries that are beyond us and some of our life is pulled in all kinds of directions during this week because of all the festivities but we want to stay rooted and grounded in deep intimacy with You almost as if it's our little secret, not that we’re keeping You a secret, but that no matter what we face, no matter what room we walk into and the conversation is going south in a hurry or no matter what situation we are pulled into whether that be envy or jealousy or pride or arrogance, no matter what we get pulled toward we want to have been walking with You, speaking with You, being led by Your spirit so that when we face those things and we see the little triggers that we usually get pulled into we can just smile, we can just smile at each other knowing that we didn't fall for the bait this time, we stayed connected in a covenantal intimacy with each other and we brought light and good news into any darkness that we face. Come Holy Spirit we pray. We can't do this without You. We need You. But we can do this with You. Come Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, it’s the website, it’s where you find out what's going on around here.

And it's Christmas time and that's pretty much what is going on around here, as we…I mean…this is it…this is Christmas week friends. I can't believe it. And it is our intention to be releasing our annual Christmas party, our virtual get together from all over the world. And that's literally the truth. We have voices coming in from all over the world, and we plan to release that this evening. So, watch for that. And the other thing that’s going on right now is the Family Christmas album, just reminding you of that. You can stream it wherever you stream music. You can download it wherever you buy music. If you want a physical CD copy you can get that from the Daily Audio Bible Shop. But that is what we have created to be the backdrop, the soundtrack for Christmas around the Global Campfire. So, check that out.

And also reminding you that we released a new vocal single with Jill, my wife, singing “O Holy Night.” So, check that, you can stream that anywhere or download that anywhere as well. So, just look for Jill Parr, that’s P A R R, since that my wife’s…well…that’s her maiden name. That's what she was known as before she got herself all entangled with somebody like me. And thank God that she did or none of us would be here because I don't know how I could…I don’t know How I could just exist now without her and her support and…and her love. And, so, yeah check that out at iTunes, Google play, YouTube music, Spotify, wherever you get your music. Just look for her or “O Holy Night” and you'll find it.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com as well. There is a link on the homepage. And I thank you. I thank you deeply and profoundly as we near the end of the year. I appreciate all of…all of you who have clicked that link. That is why we continue to be able to throw logs on the Global Campfire and to keep moving forward day by day. So, thank you for your partnership. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address, if you prefer, is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can it the Hotline button in the app or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that's it for today. I’m Brian. I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Father God thank You for our grandparents and our parents, those…those loved ones who are struggling in their…in their everyday life, whether that be from dementia or Alzheimer’s or something else or aches and pains, whatever it is Lord we entrust them to You. We pray that You would be soothing those aches and pains, You’d be relieving them, You’d be healing them. We pray Lord that You would remove any confusion in their life, that You’d be protecting them from harm, that You would be helping them to enjoy their everyday. Father God we thank You for those that do know and love You and we pray that they would be comforted by You and rely on You during this time and all time. But Father God for those who don’t know You, we pray that…that You would be revealing Yourself to them, that there would be those in their lives that would be able to share the gospel with them and they would be able to understand and respond, that they might know the joy of knowing You, of knowing Your son, of knowing that they are saved and knowing Your love. Father God, thank You for those who are caring for our loved ones. I pray that You’d be supporting them and encouraging them and refreshing them and replenishing them, that You’d be giving them wisdom on how best to offer care. Please be at work Lord in Jesus holy and precious name. Amen. Hi guys it’s Michaela from…

Hey DAB family its Nick just asking for prayers. It’s been a long tough season of ministry and I’m just deflated, I’m just done, and I just covet your prayers, the hugs of God’s people that just will surround me and help me, give me the strength to put one foot in front of the other and keep moving forward. Thank you so much for your prayers. I know that…that God will bless it.

I just wanted to say good morning to everybody and thank you for Daily Audio Bible. My family, my wife and I and my older kids have been pulled away from the Lord and we got…we got off the rails of our…our life with the Lord and we just thank you Daily Audio Bible family for being that beacon in the dark. I recently downloaded the app and became…listening to the Lord became slowly back to the line with my Christian faith and it’s helped me tremendously. I’m overwhelmed by the things going on in this world, but this beacon of light has helped me put back on the path and give me faith back in the Lord. I just want to say thank you. It’s…it’s helping me greatly. And thank you for being there and being that beacon of light for us who get lost in this world. It’s…it’s a dark world and it’s helping me build my…build my faith back up and helped me in life to pursue and to continue on searching the Lord and given me strength to help me deal with these issues in life and bring me closer to my family. And I thank you. God bless everybody.

Hi Daily Audio Bible family my name is Ben I am calling from Salem Virginia and just wanted to thank all of you guys for being a part of this. I can’t make up my mind whether it’s a holiday greeting or an encouragement or a prayer request. I got it all. You guys have it all. So, Brian thank you so much. I love this program. I just started tuning in this year, but I’ve been so ministered to by you all and this program, the prayer requests, the encouragements, moving through the Bible like we do. I’ve heard God’s spoken word on the inside of me and He has confirmed things as Brian reads and as you guys talk. It’s amazing. I…I…I love it. It is definitely a part of my daily routine and I am so thankful for each and every one of you all and I just pray that this ministry would continue and grow and that this is, you know, it’s eternal, we’re together forever. And I’m thankful and I love each and every one of you. I know that sounds silly, but I don’t know how. I love God’s word and I am…oh man my time is running out. I'm like Jonah I'm in the belly of the whale. I’m looking forward to being spit out. Not sure how much longer I have to stay and pray but I thank you all…

Hi this is Victoria Soldier just calling tonight to pray for some of DABbers who are…who are having the challenges. I'm trying to find the ladies name who her husband and her were planning on moving to be around family and you kept getting discouragement. I wanted to tell you to keep on being encouraged and keep on looking and God wants to see do we really want it and He's…just continue to pray and I continue to encourage him. I continue to encourage the lady who said her son went away to…went away to travel over overseas and his car and somebody had taken his passport. I'm praying for that young man. Lord in the name of Jesus you have your way Lord. Let him be somewhere protected. Let him be somewhere safe. O father in the name of Jesus you touch the heart of that young man. He's only 23 years old. Lord you bless him, you bless him wherever he is. You open doors even in the worst places. In the name of Jesus. I thank you Lord. I want to thank…I want to thank God for China and Ben, pray for their precious little…little…little brown and her are continuing on in the ministry and I pray for Jill and her coming and thanking her for…for the heart and for the love of God enough to come and…and just looking forward to enjoying her. I want to just say thank you to all the people and encourage those who are going through, those who are going through jobs because of this pandemic, those who are going through challenges because of this pandemic as…as Paul said when they were on the ship he said anybody who was whaled onto this ship that they would have a safe landing. And let's hold onto the ship because God is ready to bring us through out of this 2020 into…

Good morning DABber family this is Walta the Burning Bush that will not be Devoured for the Glory of Our God and Our King. I just heard Daniel Johnson Junior's call in with his praise report about the echocardiogram results from last year this time and where God has brought him close to normal. And my brother, I just want you to know that God's got you. God's got you. And thank you for sharing your life with us. Your job, your family, everything, God's got you. And I'm looking back at 2020 myself and I'm just thinking, not just 2020, the last…gosh…the last 13+ years of my life that I've spent with DAB and looking at what…what you guys have brought me through. There's some days that I would turn on DAB and I’d be so desperate to hear the word of God and so desperate for…for some sort of comfort or insight and then some other days it’s, you know, business as usual just listening to it. But you guys, my father's death, my sons drug addiction and recovery, my mother's death, you know, job losses, Ebola, now coronavirus, marital problems, divorce, marriage. God thank you for DAB. Thank you for this ministry. And I know that those of you who are listening, some of you guys in the same situation, know that we’re here for you. God is here for you. And, you know, as Daniel Johnson Junior always says, make it a great day. I love you all. God bless.

[mogaifriendly]

Blog Info!

So before you follow, here’s a couple of things you need to know:

Please, do NOT interact if you’re any of the following (or support/defend any of the following):

Racist

N*zi / Neo-N*zi

Islamophobic

P*dophilie / ”MAP”

Z**phile

N*crophile (i think thats what its called)

Inc*st

T*RF

LGBTQ+ phobic

Ace and / or Aro exclusionist

Sexual assault / harassment / r*pe

Abuse (including child abuse obviously)

Ableist

Flop accounts/joke accounts (you’re a part of the problem)

I’ll add more if need be but for now, the basic DNI list will be this. 

Note on fiction

I don't particularly mind if you like fiction considered problematic as long as you know to not support/defend those problematic bits. I know that people have their comfort shows/media/characters and there's nothing wrong with that.

But in saying that, please dont support those behind the fiction if you know it's bad and they're questionable people and please don't excuse any bad things they've done in the past.

Fiction does affect reality, but don't forget that you can be the change you want to see in the world.

(problematic fiction/media will very likely not touch this blog but if it does it will be tagged with the appropriate content and trigger warnings!)

Note on discourse

I’m open to discussing things with truscum/transmeds/anti-mogai but don't expect me to answer right away, if at all. I made this blog out of support for mogai folk and i don't want to bog it down with discourse whether friendly or otherwise.

I will try to tag all discourse that does come onto this blog, as well as other standard trigger warnings but if i forget, please don't hesitate to let me know. I'm always open to friendly criticism.

Now here's some info on me!

This is a side blog of @novatwoast67!

My name is Oliver!

I'm a dysphoric trans guy and I consider myself genderqueer/non-binary but I prefer only he/him pronouns

I'm mlm/queer + greyace and i'm a greyaro panromantic

I'm 19 years old

I'm neurodivergent (diagnosed anxiety, depression and ptsd, self diagnosed autism and adhd which i intend on getting professionally diagnosed in the near future when i have the time and money)

I live in Australia

I wish to be more publicly GNC once I've begun to pass more cis male.

I support all acespec and arospec, i support all gender identities, neopronouns, sexualities and romantic orientations, and kins (within reason, see below)!

My personal philosophy is that as long as you aren't one of (or in support/defence of) any of those in my DNI, who cares! If your identity makes you happy and you aren't hurting anybody (again, see DNI) then people should respect it and you should be free to explore to your hearts content!

Alright that should be all for now, thanks for reading!

#bloginfo #byf

[aviewfromtheclouds25]

Tell me your other theories on his return. I’m intrigued if you say it all fits together.

What’s you feelings on a reunion in the future? How would it happen?

Oh don’t be intrigued haha! That was really just in terms of the Luke aspect (because he has to have a bigger purpose, because otherwise his introduction and role in this storyline is such an utterly perplexing choice even for the current state of ED) and the timeframe, in that I expect Luke to have some knowledge which he’ll reveal eventually - not any time soon, because Aaron needs to spiral (and breakdown please) and he can’t even start that until he stops suppressing his feelings and distracting himself with Cain’s drama etc (all the while Vic and Luke will be progressing I imagine) - and this could help to change Robert’s sentence from murder to manslaughter, or even the original GBH with intent, and therefore shorten his sentence. So with time served, Robert could be out a fair bit sooner (how much, I don’t know) than the 14 years he was given… Which just helps me reaffirm to myself that half the reason they gave Robert the longer sentence in the first place (aside from the plot of tearing him away from Aaron obviously) is because ED are prepared to wait a few years to see if Ryan wants to return. With the potential of being able to change the charge and sentence, it means their options are relatively open for the time being to see how things develop both on and off screen. (If I’m wrong, just let me stay here please.)

I don’t have any fully-fledged theories yet, it’s a bit too soon for that! All I have at the mo are vague thoughts which aren’t that exciting… I’ve seen quite a bit of talk about “affair 2.0” but I have to admit I’m personally not interested in seeing that. Because 1) The drama and angst and intensity of the original affair just could never be emulated again, even by the very same and always amazing Ryan and Danny! 2) How would nobody pick up on it this time? 3) The whole point of everything that happened in 2017 and the creation of “Robron 2.0” was that their marriage has been built on far more solid foundations than those forged during their affair, and I would hate for all the progress they made together to be taken backwards. 4) It is madness to me that anyone could even contemplate that if Aaron is with another dude (if ahem), that he wouldn’t just drop him as quick as Alex the incompetent doc in that club. Regardless of whether he was prepared to take Robert back or not, if the love of his life has returned, I just don’t see any potential new guy sticking around. (Unless there’s a plot.) (I also say all of this in the hope that no new guy becomes serious or long-term.)

I’d like the reunion 3.0 to be dramatic and angsty, but at the same time I want it to be true to Robron and where they were in their life together before they were torn apart. I don’t know that I can really form any theories on what I expect to happen so soon after Robert’s gone (I love that he’s been gone a week and all we can all talk about is when he comes back haha), but I can offer you a vision of what I personally would quite like..? :P

So I have no clue on the timescale - I guess that depends on Ryan! :P I always thought Vic would be the natural choice (for the show, not me haha) to bring Robert home, but then @nooneelsecomesclose17’s post put the image of Jimmy greeting Robert outside that prison in my head and now I can’t unsee it (nor would I want to, it’s genius). So I’ve decided to tie that image to a long-held dream of mine…

So in this dream Aaron will have signed the divorce papers once he’s finished spiralling because we need wedding 3.0 obviously, but in his heart he still won’t have given up on being reunited with Robert some day. So I’d like him to spend much of the time Robert’s locked up doing things which remind him of Robert and help him feel closer to him - things like ripping people off, scamming them and trying to get his hands on Home Farm. Because my old dream which I think I’ve covered before (although probably just in my tags haha) was for Robron and the Kings to own Home Farm together; for it to become the hub of Home James once more, for the sheer comedy of having these two power couples and their chaotic families getting under each others’ feet, making it more relevant to the rest of the village than the house on the hill with its panto villains, and for it to actually become a home. So in terms of this new dream, I would have Aaron and Jimmy team up on this endeavour - and they’re actually the only ones left from that original portacabin quartet! So Aaron because he needs a goal and a focus and if it’s one in which he feels more connected to Robert then even better, and Jimmy because Nicola is always going to be up for improving their lot. I also quite like the idea of Aaron being able to do what Robert never could, and I have no idea who will be at Home Farm x amount of years down the line but if it was still the Tates (although could we at least get rid of Kim + co. and bring back Joe instead?) then I would be delighted to see the Kings take it all from them once more! :P

So I would have Aaron and Jimmy very close to achieving their goal by the time Robert is about to be released. And because Robert still hasn’t had any contact with his family and is nervous about how they’ll feel towards him, who does he contact? Jimmy! And Jimmy of course is a great oaf and would immediately let it slip to Aaron. And regardless of what’s passed, I think Aaron would have some understanding and empathy of how daunting and overwhelming it would be for Robert to return to the village after so long of complete isolation, from the world and from the people who are his world… So he and Jimmy would hatch a plan…

Cue Jimmy driving Robert back to the village, chewing his ear off or “pecking his head”, when they suddenly happen to “break down” in the lay-by… Robert would get out of the car to get away from Jimmy’s incessant talking and because it’s obviously a small confined space, but then he would realise where they actually were and become overwhelmed by that too - and since this is my dream world, they would treat us to another little montage of memories to come full circle from that too! :P Meanwhile, Jimmy would be “phoning for a mechanic” before joining Robert outside because he might be an oaf, but he cares… And then much quicker than it should be, Aaron of course turns up. So then he would step out of the car and we would get the delightful combination of intense Robron eye contact and a very obviously awkward Jimmy… And because it’s still my favourite thing, I would like a wordless embrace with alllll the emotions similar to when Aaron was released. At which point Jimmy would clumsily make himself scarce and drive off (in the vehicle which very obviously had not broken down, bless).

So then we’d be left with an awkward, tense Robron because neither of them know what happens next, only how good it feels to be even breathing the same air again… Perhaps at this stage Aaron would be in some kind of relationship (because he tried to convince himself he had to “move on” and because I might be able to accept it for a few weeks if I have the guarantee that Robert’s on his way home already :P), so we’d obviously get a conversation with a lot of callbacks and then Aaron would just dump that chestnut in there and we’d get something along the lines of; R: So why are you still here? A: You know. [But Robert doesn’t respond. Unsure of what Aaron is saying, he waits.] A: Because I love you, that’s why. I never stopped. And they can both be emotional, not knowing the next step, so Aaron could fill the silence with some quip about also needing to give Robert a lift home now Jimmy’s gone which Rob, bless him, wouldn’t even have noticed. And then Robert and I would both be left pondering what exactly Aaron means by “home”. But on the journey home, Robert will find his watch in the car (yeah, I’m really going with that old theme and sentiment of the cars here!)…

Beyond that I would have Aaron finish with this new dude and then for him to have a proper conversation with Robert about where they stand, once Robert’s started adjusting to the outside world again. And in this conversation we’d see that they’ve both been hardened by everything that’s happened since Robert went away, that Robert in particular has some issues he needs to work through before they even contemplate what the future might look like for them, but I’d want Aaron to tell Robert that line “I’ll wait for you. ‘Til you’re ready.“  And then I’d like them to embark on friendship…3.0?…with Aaron being supportive to Robert and helping him through the process of adjusting back into normality after x years of total isolation on that island. (The phrase "no man is an island” would definitely come into play with all of this, especially with Robert having cut all lines of communication.) And gradually they’d grow closer, and I’d be reliving the good old days of “It’s going to happen soon! It has to happen soon!” :P Meanwhile, Aaron and Jimmy would have one last big job to do to have the means to get Home Farm and naturally Aaron would have told Robert all about the scheme. So Robert would want in on this last stretch but Aaron would put his foot down, reminding Robert that if it all went wrong he’d end up back inside. But if Aaron’s getting mixed up with dodgy people and risking his life, there is absolutely no way Robert is going to listen to that of course. So he gets involved and the two of them help Jimmy escape before they themselves get stuck in some life-and-death situation and acknowledge that they absolutely cannot live without each other ever again. They both live, the dodgy people either get carted off to jail or die by their own ends (I have no specifics on the deadly situation, you know), and we get settled for wedding 3.0 and years more of Robron…

This is a ramble which serves absolutely no purpose except to distract me from the current Robert-less situation, so if you actually committed to reading all of this, I’m sorry haha!

#the fictional village now Robertless #this isn't what you asked for but it's all I have right now haha #I'm not sure this would be anyone else's cup of tea #but I'm a simple girl all I need are emotional scenes to pull at my heartstrings + solid foundations + a life-and-death situation :P #no theory tag because this isn't really a theory..? #this really is just a very long ramble apologies haha

[citizengame]

July ‘19: Game Announcement, Development Progress, Feature Showcase

Hello, world!

I’m working on a new game! I’ve been thinking about a nebulous collection of systems, mechanics, and concepts for a game called Citizen since my last year of high school. I started working on it during my summer before university started, but I gassed out after a couple of months due to technical obstacles and abandoned it. It was the latest in a long line of indie projects that I didn’t finish. Here I am two years later with two years of a world-class undergraduate computer science education under my belt thus far, and I think it’s time to revisit the idea with what I have learned since my last attempt. I decided to write a game development blog, 1) because I love sharing milestones and features that I find cool, and 2) in order to keep myself accountable to the project. Anyway, that aside, let me get to the good stuff!

Test walk cycle animation (colors used to discern limbs)

What is Citizen?

I would describe Citizen as a 2D top-down simulation-RPG.

The picture above isn’t the game interface, it’s a test rendering of a game world. The core concept that inspired Citizen was born of my frustration with a lot of games that I otherwise love. To me, there is nothing more immersion-breaking in games than the idea that NPCs (non-player characters) exist and act only in relation to the player. So, I set out to make a game where “the NPCs’ potential to impact the world is the same as the player.”

I also wanted to combine some of my peripheral academic interests into a game and create rich systems to support them, chiefly linguistics, anthropology, psychology, history, genealogy, politics, and philosophy.

Simply put, Citizen is about people. You, the player, are merely one person in a world. You are born into a country which has its own rich culture, language, traditions, attire, and native populations. Practically everything in the game is simulated. The physical geography of the world, the states, the ruling structure of each state (whether feudalism, despotism, or a parliamentary democracy, or a myriad of others), the skin color of the world’s races, the fauna, the weaponry each culture has developed, etc. Even writing systems are randomly generated (I’ll show off some screenshots later in this post). In addition, all of these features are dynamic. A vassal settlement of the capital in a state can rebel due to heavy taxation or famine and secede from the state it belonged to. An animal can be hunted to extinction. A state can be conquered and their language can be transliterated into the script of the colonizers’ native language. Features like this are inspired by real-world events in areas of academia that I find interesting. (An example would be the Hindi-Urdu split as standard registers of the Hindustani language).

Development Progress

This is the first blog milestone, and I have started the blog quite early in the development process. So far, I have only developed a handful of skeletal systems for world generation, culture generation, language, writing system generation, and vexillology (flags). I am currently working on the basics of spriting, animating, and rendering entities.

Feature Showcase

LANGUAGES

Currently, languages in Citizen have four components: phonology (the sounds used), writing system, vocabulary, and grammar, which is currently a stub. Words are represented as an array of syllables, and a syllable is an optional prefix consonant, a vowel, and an optional suffix consonant. The game has a semantic dictionary of “meanings,” and for each language, a word is generated and mapped to one of the meanings. Each meaning has a complexity, starting from 0 and increasing. An atomic idea, one that cannot be divided further, has a complexity of 0. Words that have higher complexities and contain ideas with lower complexities then have a chance of being generated as compound words. For example, boy has a complexity of 1. It contains the ideas of youth, male, and human, all complexity 0. Thus, in a given language, if young is zelkra, male is tro, and human is hefri, there is a chance that boy is zelkratrohefri, or some other permutation of its components. Additionally, there is also a chance that it is assigned to an original word.

WRITING SYSTEMS

Four words written in example script 1; handwriting.

Four words written in example script 2; handwriting.

Four words written in example script 3; handwriting.

This handwriting is just an aesthetic test, it was produced by an algorithm I designed based on the properties of each glyph. The three writing systems featured here are all simple non-featural alphabets.

Without getting into too much technical detail, the writing system generator currently supports non-featural alphabets, block alphabets (think Hangul), and syllabaries. I would like to add featural ones and abugidas and abjads as well, but it’s not a priority.

The primary goals in designing this system were that a writing system should be distinct and have its own character, as well as each glyph being distinct and legible within a given writing system.

A writing system is produced with a randomized series of variables, including:

Average line curvature

Maximum curvature deviation

Curvature deviation probability

Average line length

Next line in glyph connected to previous probability

Common element set (think left stem in D P B R H ...)

Start point set

Glyph start from start point probability

...

This extensive list of constants that are uniquely generated to each writing system as it generates its glyphs give each writing system a unique aesthetic and the glyphs a consistent look while retaining distinction.

Vexillography

Flags, nothing complicated here!

These flags are separated into three chunks. Flags in Citizen are generated by passing a culture into the generator. Each culture has its own heraldic devices and colors. They can generate flags with patterns and colors not endemic to their culture, but oftentimes, flags will feature cultural heritage. This is why the three flag sections look markedly unique. Flags have a configuration, whether simple, halved horizontally or vertically, tricolor, or quartered. Each section of the flag has a pattern, whether simple, striped, or lozenges at the moment. Then, the flag has a symbol layer. There can either be a symbol for the whole flag that is imposed on the center, or a symbol or each pattern in the flag’s configuration. There can also be no symbol at all. 

Right now, there are three placeholder symbols, with more to be added later. Obviously, animals feature heavily in heraldry. Since animals in the game are planned to be randomly generated, (ambitious, but possible) I want to randomly generate heraldic symbols based on the animals in that world instance as well.

The vexillography system was inspired by Catalan-speaking regions of Spain: Catalonia, Valencia Community, and the Balearic Islands. Each of these features the flag Crown of Aragon in their own flag. The Crown of Aragon flag has become a symbol of the Catalan language as a result.

What’s next?

I plan to spend the next few weeks on efficiently implementing sprites, animations, and tilemaps for people in an extensible way that works beautifully with the variety of people’s appearances in the game.

Let me know what you think and stay posted for more!

- Jordan 

#gamedev #game #rpg #simulation #civilization #language #devblog #game dev blog #dev blog #in development

[forever-rogue]

Res Nullius

Request: Can I request a Natasha Romanoff x Fem!R fic? Like an AU where Nat is a socialite wife in an unhappy marriage and R is her daughter’s Nanny? Nat is obviously unhappy and R tries to comfort her. Nat eventually falls in love with R and kisses her in her room, in the apartment they both live in. The affair continues for months until Nat finally gets sick of her husband and leaves with R and her daughter to live a happy life together?

A/N: I took this and tweaked it a little to make it a little more my own. I hope you all enjoy! I just want to throw a note out there that I don’t condone adultery at all, and this is merely a story, okay? Okay. Requests and Taglists are open! xx

Pairing: Natasha x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 2.2k

Warnings: Adultery (technically), implied verbal abuse, language

MASTERLIST

“Natasha! Get back in here now!” Nat cringed at the sound of her husband’s grating voice. The harsh and demanding tone shook her to her very core, and at this point she didn’t know how much more she could take.

Letting out a heavy sigh to herself, she quickly made her way to the kitchen were Ronald was sitting at the table looking through the newspaper. She plastered a fake smile on her face before addressing him, “yes, Ronald? What can I do for you?”

“Get me my breakfast,” he said without even looking up at her, “I have to leave soon, it should have been ready by now. Are you that incompetent?”

“No, Ronald. I’ll get it right now,” she frowned as she made her way to the refrigerator to prepare his meal.

“It’s about time,” he sighed at her as he turned the page and continued reading, “some of us have to go out and make money. You know, in order to support this family and all your luxurious needs.”

Natasha didn’t say but carried on, fighting back her words, not wanting to start a fight right now. She wouldn’t deny that they were extremely well off, being one of the more prominent families in New York City, but she would give it all up for even a slice of happiness. She felt like she didn’t even know what that was anymore. The only time she felt anything was when she was with her daughter whom she loved and wanted to protect more than anything in this world.

She closed her eyes for a moment and imagined herself somewhere else when a throat clear interrupted her thoughts, “hello? Can you hurry up?”

“Yes, Ronald.”

“I want you to make sure the house is spotless before I return tonight. And make sure the brat behaves herself today.”

She cringed at the sound of their daughter being called a brat when she was anything but - she was a sweet, quiet child. Nonetheless she contained her grimace, “yes, Ronald.”

Y/N smiled at the small girl holding her hand. It was a chilly morning at the bus stop, but Y/N always went with Berenike - she knew how much she loved it and Y/N loved her charge just as much.

“Y/N?” Berenike turned her little face up at her and a shy smile playing on her features.

“Yes, my little Berry?” she asked as she spied the school bus approaching in the distance. She beckoned for her to step up the curb to make sure she would be seen.

“Where Mamma and Dad fighting this morning?” Y/N cringed slightly at the young girl’s question. Things were often tense in the Romanoff household, to the point were even their young daughter had started to catch on. It made her her heart hurt; she was such a sweet girl and Natasha was such a kind soul. She wished things were different, and had thought about leaving her job, but something always compelled her to stay.

“No, sweetheart,” she lied and was sure even Berenike could see through it, “there was just a misunderstanding. Nothing for you to worry about. You just need to worry about having a great day at school!”

“Thanks, Y/N! I’ll see you later!” she gave her a hug as the bus stopped and opened its’ doors. She ran into it and gave Y/N a wave from the window before settling down and chatting with her friends. Y/N let out a small sigh as she turned around to head back into the house.

Y/N walked back into the beautiful house, hoping that Ronald would be gone by now. He was never inherently rude to her, but he created a tense atmosphere and she liked to avoid him as much as possible. She usually got lucky and ended her day at the Romanoff household before he got home.

She closed the door behind her and set about her daily routine. Although it wasn’t technically part of her job to help do laundry, dishes, and cleaning, she often did so anyway while Berenike was at school. There wasn’t much else to do, and she figured if she was getting paid, she might as well earn it.

Y/N was into the master bedroom, heading for the hamper to start about her chores. She stopped in her tracks when she heard some sniffling coming from the en suite bathroom. Debating whether or not to announce herself, Y/N bit her lip before raising her hand and rapping her knuckles lightly against the door, “Natasha?”

There was a beat of silence before the door was slowly opened and Nat’s tear stained face appeared, “I’m sorry you have to see me like this. I just couldn’t hold back today.”

“Please, there’s no need to apologize,” Y/N reassured her, “he was never harsher than normal today. Berry noticed too, but I told her it was nothing.”

“Thank you, Y/N,” she gave her a small smile as she opened the door completely and stepped inside the bedroom. Y/N’s breath caught in her throat as she noticed that Nat was only wearing her bra and panties, a luxurious robe draped loosely around her shoulders, “Berry loves you so much. I don’t know what she’d do without you. Or me.”

“I love her too, she’s an amazing little girl,” Y/N said softly as she tried to stop her eyes from raking all over her exposed body. She cleared her throat before turning back to the hamper and gathering all the clothes, “if you need any help with anything please let me know.”

“Y/N?”

“Hmm?”

“Do you think I should leave him?” Nat asked as she went and sat down on the edge of the bed, her shoulders slumping forward.

“I-I can’t help you make that decision,” Y/N sighed lightly, “but I do think the way he treats you and Berry is very wrong. I don’t know what happens when I’m not here, but I hate seeing how he interacts with you when I am here. I think you deserves someone that truly loves you.”

“I know,” she agreed as Y/N slowly took a seat next to her, trying to keep a respectable amount of distance between their bodies, “I just don’t know if I’m strong enough.”

“I’m think you’re much stronger than you know,” Y/N smiled at her, causing Nat to finally let a smile cross her features as well.

She felt the air of tension rising between them as Nat slowly closed the distance between. The hair on the back of Y/N’s stood up as Nat placed her hand on Y/N’s thigh. She sucked in her breath as she wondered how far Nat would go.

“Y/N,” she said softly as she leaned closer to where she was almost whispering in her ear, “you’re so beautiful. I’ve been watching you for a while now. I know you watch me too. You think I don’t see you sneaking looks, but I’ve noticed.”

“I-I’m sorry, I never meant-” Y/N couldn’t think of the words. She had never realized she was so obvious in her lusting after boss. Apparently she couldn’t hide everything.

“I’m not upset at all,” Nat promised her. Y/N stiffened as she realized what Nat was said, putting two and two together, “I’ve been wondering what it’d be like to kiss you.”

Y/N didn’t say anything but waited for Natasha to make a move. She took her hand and slowly pulled Y/N’s face towards hers. Y/N subconsciously angled her body closer to hers, and leaned forward, making the first move and placing her lips on hers. Nat took no time to respond, deepening the kiss, and pulling Y/N into her lap. Shocked at first, Y/N pulled away, taking a breath, before looking into Nat’s eyes. She saw the desire there and wasted no time in carrying on.

Y/N’s eyes fluttered open as the sun shining through the curtains warmed her up. She yawned and and rolled over, only to see Natasha smiling lazily back her. A small blush crept onto her face as memories of their day entangled in sheets washed over her.

“What are you thinking?” Nat asked softly as she reached over and stroked Y/N’s cheek, “I hope you don’t think we made a mistake.”

“No,” Y/N responded with a small smile, “not at all. I was just wondering what time it was. I’ll need to pick up Berry soon.”

“Oh, my goodness,” Natasha giggled, “we got so caught up I almost forgot. But yes, let’s make sure we don’t forget her.”

“Never,” Y/N promised as she quickly pecked Nat’s lips before getting out of the large, comfy bed as she hurried to get ready to pick up her charge. Natasha watched her go sadly, hoping this wouldn’t remain a one time thing were they never mentioned it again.

But luckily for her, it was not. For months the two of them carried on in secret, Ronald none the wiser. They grew closer and closer, discovering everything they could about one another, both of them slowly falling harder and harder for the other. While it may not have been the right thing to do, it didn’t feel particularly wrong either. Y/N quickly realized that not everything was always back and white.

“Natasha!” Ronald’s deep growl emitted from the kitchen. Nat gave Y/N, who was busy helping Berenike with her homework, a wary look before proceeding into the kitchen. Y/N tried to keep her focus on the small girl, but kept an ear out for any signs of altercation.

“Yes, Ronald?” she asked as she gritted her teeth.

“What the fuck is this?” he asked as pointed to the casserole she had just finished. It looked like an ordinary dish and she hadn’t seen a problem with it.

“What do you mean?” she asked as she tried to read his face, “it’s dinner. I just made it.”

“A casserole? I work my ass off all day and then come home to a fucking casserole?” he asked, his anger level rising with each word. He paused for a moment before hastily grabbing the dish and slamming it on the floor, causing the dish to shatter into a million small pieces and the food to splatter everywhere, “there, now it’s garbage. Clean it up and start making something new.”

Natasha stared at the giant mess, her tolerance level completely gone now. She looked him square in the face before sharply stating, “no.”

“What do you mean no?”

“I meant no,” she repeated, “now get out of my house. How dare you do this. I am done with you treating me and our daughter like garbage. I want you to get out and never come back.”

“I’m not leaving my own home!” he insisted as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“This is not your home. In case you forgot, I had this home, that I bought with my own money before we were married. Now, get the fuck out of my house.”

“You’re going to be so sorry,” he hissed at her as he headed for the door, “you’ll rue this day.”

“Try me, asshole!” Natasha swiftly locked the door after him, her heart beating so fast she thought it might burst. But she had done it, she had finally stood up the man who had tormented her for years.

“Nat,” Y/N said as she walked into the hallway where Natasha stood quietly, a few silent tears sliding down her cheeks, “hey, you did it.”

“I know,” she said quietly, “I finally stood up for myself and Berenike.”

“I’m so proud of you,” she whispered into her ear as she stood behind her, wrapping her arms around her waist, resting her chin her shoulder, “he had no right to ever treat you like that.”

“It was a long time coming. I’m just so sorry Berry had to experience that for so long,” she sighed lightly, resting her head against Y/Ns, “now we can all start fresh. Maybe we could even try being a family.”

“I’d like that,” Y/N smiled in content, “I’d like that a lot. I love Berenike so much...and you.”

“I love you too,” Natasha sighed wistfully, closing her eyes, “a fresh start for all of us.”

 Permanent Taglist: @ruinerofcheese @courtneychicken  @santa-crew @supernatural508 @ssweet-empowerment @buckybarnesappreciationsociety @wearegoldeninthenight @mannatgalhotra @prxttybirdz @piensa-bonito @mightyhemsworthy @shewalksinanotherworld @jems8241 @bookaddic @fairyxxfighter @asguardiansoftheavengers @esoltis280 @the-bright-lights @artisticlales @loislp @dixonsbugaboo

#natasha romanoff #natasha romanova #natalia romanova #natasha romanoff x reader #natasha romanoff x fem!reader #black widow #black widow x reader #reader insert #au #request #one shot #imagine #marvel #mcu #avengers

[lunaehymn]

a wishlist of plots !!

ideas for just about  every character… i just rlly love chara development —— let me live.

noctis—

book interactions !!

secrets being shared

‘these are my friends, they’re lame but great.’

luna including loose pages of notes she wanted to write to him while the book was with him.

kid interactions

luna takING HIM TO THE FIELDS OF SYLLEBLOSSOMS.

her with him during his healing sessions.

teaching each other how to do dumb ( cool ) things?? flower crowns, simple knots, origami, card houses??

nyx—

this post :’)))

shopping shOPPING PLS LET HER BRING HIM SHOPPING.

‘i’ll be married soon, so i’d like to know something about masculine attire’

‘boots with a slight platform are not the same as heels.’

‘spin around, please— 360 view.’

this post too tbh ??? it’s somewhat part of my big au verse with luna surviving and all that good  j a z  z.

ravus—

boi h owdy

their mother’s passing. give me them grieving.

HONESTLY JUST ANYTHING

GIVE ME !!!! FLEURET INTERACTIONS !!!!

crowe—

I WILL MAKE A VERSE ON THIS BLOG WHERE CROWE PICKS HER UP OK. 

THE TWO GETTING DISGUISES

cute coffee dates for in between the chaos.

late night chats.  ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

‘have you ever been in love?’

‘no.’

‘why do you feel the need to lie to me?’

S AYING GOOD BYE GONNa HURT ME OKAYYYYYY

libertus—

ok but…. what if she let him take her to altissia.

new bodyguARD AND HE DOES GREAT O K

‘you’ll have to forgive me, princess. can’t say i’ve ever attended such a fancy meeting.’

‘you’re doing perfectly fine, for it being your first, sir ostium’

n y x  and  c r o w e  talk.

‘. .do you think it was quick?’

‘well. . he definitely didn’t go out without a fight.’

‘what was she like?’

‘indescribable. . and she deserved so much better.’

LIBERTUS !!!!!!!! MOURNING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

for crowe ( with luna’s support )

for nyx ( with luna’s support )

for luna ( by himself )

let my son be happy, ,,

prompto—

this video is all i have to offer. 

hey hey hey that au where luna LIVES happily married and GLAIVE PROMPTO TELLING HER STORIES OF THEIR ADVENTURES !!!!

luna knowing that prompto loves photography, and she asks him about his work.

prom showing up the next day with all his photo albums and telling her the context and story behind each photo.

AU WHERE LUNA JOINS THE BOYS AND PROM SHOWS HER HOW TO S H O O T !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i want lunafreya to fucking kiss prompto’s barcode, i fuckin stan luna accepting and loving prompto unconditionally.

remember when prompto catches noct on that nif-ship??? yeah??? get him to fly off and save luna too.

gladiolus—

teach her how to fight, oml

TEACH HER !! THE WAY OF CUP NOODLES !!!!!

:)))))))) angst

‘your father was a wonderful man.’

‘mhm.. he sure was.’

‘he spoke very highly of you and iris both.’

‘mm…’

‘the eve of the signing, he told me he was looking forward to spending more time with you two. that he was proud to see you’d gotten so far with him so busy.’

‘…’

‘he loved you both.’

‘yeah.’

ignis—

TEACH HER TO DRIVE HOLY HE CK.

‘here’s a list of the only things noctis will eat.’

them??? planning thE WEDDING TOGETHER PL S.

‘i believe this course featuring this wine will complement it all nicely.’

‘will noctis like it?’

‘when has noctis liked anything having to do with fruit?’

‘..cake.’

‘he claims they’re ‘two different things’.’

they share tricks for healing / fixing up their friends !!

iris— 

MMMMMM OK.

i have a rlly angsty idea that i won’t post here…. but if u want it…. i got it..

TEACH HER HOW TO SEW.

let her weave flowers into ur hair

TEACHIN EACH OTHER HOW TO KI C K ASS TOOO !!!!!!!!

cidney—  

teach her a few things about cars ( obviously ).

pls…. i beg of you… let luna put some damn clothes on her.

shopping !! dates !!!!

cute girls defending / saving each other from weirdos.

s p a  d a y

LUNA TAKING SHELTER AT HAMMERHEAD A LITTLE AFTER KINGSGLAIVE OK.

regis—  

AU IN WHICH EVERYONE LIVES AND SHE TELLS HIM SHE’S PREGNANT.

pls let her.. take him from insomnia.

let regis live 2kforever.

idk how b ut p l  ease.

GRANDDADDY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! REGIS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PLEASE I’M C RYIN GHHERE

cute interactions when she was younger.

‘does mother do well guiding you?’

‘she does. i don’t know where i would be without her. and you, young lady, will do just as well for noctis. i know it.’

s creams bc regis holding his grandchild for the first time pls.

cor—

him as her bodyguard post kingsglaive.

that’s all i got.

just think about it…… honestly….. its so good.

COR AT THE SIGNING TREATY PARTY, LUNA AND HIM TALKING AND THE TWO OF THEM BEING ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS IN THE SAME SPACE THAT EVERYONE ELSE IS JUST.... ABSOLUTELY  B L I N D E D.

what beauty, what grace... he will absolutely beat your face if you so much as breathe a bad word in the oracle’s general direction.

ardyn—

interactions with him and her as a child.

him  ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) lowkey missing being able to help people out.

him?? escorting her places bc jokes on u bitch, she’s ur problem today.

‘must you really try on every dress in the store?’

‘must you comment on everything i try on?’

‘yes, bc ur style is shit.’

luna: -fifty shades of offended bc what is your scarf buddy-

aranea—

sharing secrets about her brother.

the two gossiping in general.

‘are there any cuties in ur fleet?’

‘nah.’

‘really??’

ARANEA TEACHING NIFLHEIM SOME MANNERS.

‘listen, i get she’s your prisoner and all— but i catch you layin’ a hand on the lady again, and i’ll have your head thrown into the bay.. ya’ hear?’

loqi—

congrats, welcome to the BABY SITTER’S CLUB, loqi. we have jackets.

like adryn, you get to escort her to places.

whether it be an orphanage, a park, town square— you get to follow her to make sure she doesn’t get kidnapped.

WHICH HAPPENS MORE OFTEN THAN YOU’D THINK.

lunafreya, an a1 manipulator for information: you’ll never catch noct off guard.

loqi, a determined, but foolish, man: -spills niflheim’s entire plan to prove that they can catch noct off guard-

luna being soft and healing him when he gets hurt while protecting her :3c

“its not your duty to fix me.”

“nor is it my duty to stay in tenebrae, while niflheim ruins what home i have left.”

“...then why do you?”

“because my duty is to my people, and to my king.”

drautos—

mmmmmmmmm god i hate dorito man.

honestly just??? i couldn’t tell you.

but this shady asshole.

luna just?? feeling on edge around him all the time.

she couldn’t tell you why, but there’s a familiar tension in the air whenever he’s around.

she can never put her finger on it, but tHIS ASSHOLE.

nyx dying, libertus not being able to help her — drautos succeeding in getting her and the ring back.

it’s rlly angsty i can tell you that now.

she has zero Z E R O  respect for him after

clarus—

in regards to the one plot for gladio———

clarus finding a moment to talk to luna.

regis ain’t that far away, don’t worry.

but he just… introduces himself, obviously, but.. just begins asking if she’s had contact with noctis?

and if he’s mentioned gladio??? at all?????

pls just let clarus do that dad thing where they talk about how PROUD they are of their children, like s h i t!!!!! i love !!!!! familial relationships !!!!! and i love hearing characters tALK ABOUT OTHER CHARACTERS LIKE FU CK !!!!!

LET HIM TALK ABOUT IRIS TOO GOD !!!!! I LOVE HER TOO !!!!!!! 

GODDAMN I LOVE THIS FAMILY !!!!!!!!!!

luche—

he’s a glaive  ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

have her meet him at the party ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

her praising him for protecting lucis.

her thanking him for protecting lucis.

her hoping to hear more about / from him later on.

have the betrayal be really hard on her  ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

gentiana—

really morbid, but deep conversations.

if gentiana knows when she’ll die.

if she knows HOW she’ll die…

…i swear i love her ok

just… astral talk??

we could make up but also build off of the lore we already know for this universe?? but also jump into other things not yet touched in canon…

idk i like these girls sm i need more interaction

where the FUCK is gentiana in kingsglaive

what the fuck

WHY the fuck

WHO the fuck was in charge of not putting gentiana in that damn film.

the short period of time outside of insomnia, after kingsglaive, where they meet up.

do they walk and talk for a bit??

does gentiana escort her to a city??

to HAMMERHEAD, maybe??

like i hope and pray she does.

who knows :’))

pryna—

ok sO I HC THAT LUNA HAS.... chronic pain just from the amount of scourge she’s harboring in her body. and she has mornings where it is v hard for her to leave bed, and pryna keeps her company.

THE PUPS AND LUNA HAVING A TELEPATHY SORTA DEAL, seeing as how luna could be.... considered..... divine herself. but yeah, love my!!! beautiful girls!!!!

angst: pryna and luna inner dialog while dying next to each other. bye.

umbra—

this can go for pryna too, but luna giving him a BATH in ( most likely ) her ginormous bathtub in tenebrae. bubbles. rubber duckies. BUBBLES.

umbra actually picking luna up items ( ones he finds neat ), and luna thinks they’re from noct every time... but they’re like... really odd... items...

a keychain of a chocobo.

a feather.

he has brought her an empty wallet before.

a small plastic shovel you use at the beach.

probably halves of other things too ( half a roll of tape ).

#screams into the void #i'm out buying groceries rn so i'm on mobile posting this——— #but hi enjoy my trash

[toxinwing]

Yo, I saw that @theianitor did a tag thing and it looked interesting and I’m bored so, hey, why not? Let’s do this.

A-Age: 20 years old, turning 21 this year.

B-Biggest fear: Well, there’s a lot of stuff I’m anxious about, but if we’re talking straight up fears or phobias...bees (or bee-like insects...or anything that makes a loud buzzing sound) and their hives/nests, mushrooms, deep water/oceans, and the unknown in general.

...Yes, I said mushrooms. They’re just...guh. They look...I mean they’re really just...yuck. Especially the ones with the long stalks or the spherical ones. Mold, as well. Any fungus, really. I don’t like it. It’s too...alien, I suppose.

C-Current time: 1:55 am

D-Drink you last had: Coffee. Obviously.

E-Every day starts with: 20 to 30 sit-ups, a trip to the bathroom, and breakfast (typically either a bagel or yogurt) while catching up on whatever I missed on social media while I was asleep.

F-Favorite song: No idea. Too many I like. I’ve been listening to a lot of Arlo Guthrie recently. Alice’s Restaurant and City of New Orleans and the like.

G-Ghosts are they real: I don’t think so. Not enough evidence to support their existence. They are a cool concept, though, I’ll give ‘em that.

I-In love with: ...Uh...motorsports? Sure, good enough.

K-Killed someone: I have never and would like to never do so. Unless someone hurts a friend or family member. In that case, I am not responsible for my own actions.

L-Last time you cried: A week ago, maybe? Can’t remember why, but I do remember being a bit upset at...something?

M-Middle name: Ellis. It was my late great-grandmother’s first name. I feel honored to be named after such an amazing woman.

N-Number of siblings: Zero.

O-One wish: For things to go well for everyone. Whatever those things happen to be.

P-Person you last called/texted: Probably my dad. Probably about groceries. Probably about out dwindling supply of coffee.

Q-Questions you are always asked: Nothing, really. I don’t go out enough to have people ask me too many questions. Just how I like it (at least in the real world. I love being asked questions here, just FYI). If anything, my parents ask me how my day was just about every other day. My day was fine. As always. Boring usually, but fine.

R-Reasons to smile: Getting a good idea for a picture, liking how a picture turned out, people reblogging or leaving nice comments and likes on said pictures, the fact that I have enough know-how and skill to make a cake, pictures of baby animals, pictures of cool swords, pictures of cute guys.

S-Song last sang: Alice’s Restaurant by Arlo Guthrie. Give it a listen. It’s long, yes, but it’s a mighty fun song to sing along to.

T-Time you woke up: ...uh, I can’t quite remember. Around noon, I think?

U-Underwear color: Grey. I’m a bit boring as far as my underwear selection is concerned. Not like anyone is going to see it, right?

V-Vacation destination: Maybe the Adirondacks. They’re nice in the summer. I’d love to go to Europe someday, too. Not sure where exactly. Somewhere nice, not too hot, hopefully with a lot of history museums. Also somewhere with good bakeries.

W-Worst habit: Pacing. I have worn an actual rut in the carpet in my house from my pacing. At least I’m getting exercise, but my feet do get really tired after a while.

X-X-Rays you’ve had: Just x-rays for my teeth. My last one I got done just before I got my wisdom teeth out. That was a...fun weekend. The Vicodin I got for the pain knocked me on my ass, though. I did nothing but sleep for two whole days.

Y-Your favorite food: Either baked ziti or pizza. Unless we’re talking about sweets, in which case it’d be apple pie.

Z-Zodiac sign: Cancer, the crab.

Like the lovely person I got this tag thing from, I’ll leave it to anyone who sees this to decide whether or not they want to do this. Please do, though. It was fun and a good way to spend half an hour I would otherwise have been bored and had nothing to do.

#Nick does a tag thing #Nick rambles #Mushrooms are horrible #They're the most alien-like thing we have on this planet #And they're horribly nasty #And I don't like 'em #They're way freaky #Also the only kind of bees I like #Are honeybees and bumblebees #Bumblebees are nice and soft and chill creatures #Honeybees are also pretty chill and make honey and I respect them for that #Any other kind of buzzing insect can f**k right off #Including flies #Screw flies in particular

[riichardwilson]

Transcript of Embracing Individuality to Grow Your Community

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John Jantsch: This episode of the Duct Tape marketing agency Podcast is brought to you by Zephyr CMS. It’s a modern cloud based CMS system that’s licensed only to agencies. You can find them at zephyrcms.com, more about this later in the show.

John Jantsch: Hello and welcome to another episode of The Duct Tape marketing agency podcast. This is John Jantsch. My guest today is Bryan Wish. He’s the founder of BW Missions, and organization that helps clients globally build communities and develop their voices. So Brian, thanks for joining us.

Bryan Wish: Well John, thanks for having me. It’s been a long time in the making and it’s been great following your work over the last couple of years.

John Jantsch: So I’m very intrigued by what you’re doing with BW Missions. But before we really get into that, I guess I’d love to hear, I think a lot of people like to hear entrepreneur’s journey story. How did you get to here? What led you to here? Why did you decide to do what you’re doing?

Bryan Wish: Yeah, John, that’s a good question. I think understanding the roots of how someone came to be is very smart, very important. So I’ll take you back to my earliest memories as a kid. For me, I think I was the person who, I don’t think I was born an entrepreneur or born actually going out on my own to do this life. I think what happened for me is the more I tried to fit into very specific boxes, sports teams, colleges, programs or groups, the more I didn’t fit in and the more I was forced to stand out, whether I wasn’t good enough to make the cut line, whether I was bullied by the group cool kids. It was always the things I tried to fit into that said, okay, you’re a little different and you’re not meant to be here.

Bryan Wish: So when I got to college, I took all that weight and chip on my shoulder mentality and I said, I’m just going to figure out who I am. I’m going to go balls to the wall and I’m going to just do a bunch of things. The more I started applying myself to different groups, picking initiatives, starting things on my own with organizations, the more I started to realize, you know what, I can do anything I set my mind to. And it was this completely new perspective. It was the most liberating perspective for me as an individual where I started building confidence for the first time in my life. And from there I look at that as this pathfinding journey of self discovery, of who am I, and where do I fit in in the world. And as soon as I started taking charge and ownership of my own life, I started finding the people who are more like me.

Bryan Wish: Then I started getting involved in some very incredible projects with different brands where I led sports programs for the Hawks and the Braves. And then I started a digital media platform after college where I spent my entire savings and went bankrupt on it. But it’s okay, it was the most fulfilling thing ever. And then I spent two years really learning the craft and digital media with Allen Gannett, I built a global communities of investment fund for a year and a half, and kind of took all this experience in the last four or five years, and I said, I know two things, I love building and sharing voices. I love building communities. How do I do that for a group of people who’s already standing out with their own voice, or has a message. I’ve really doubled down on the same things I’ve been passionate about my whole life and things that have led me find my own path.

John Jantsch: So the word mission is actually in the name of your business. So help me and listeners understand why that’s part of the name of your company.

Bryan Wish: Yeah, absolutely, John, it’s a good question. So I think to be a fulfilled entrepreneur or someone who is aligned with the money they’re making and the way they’re making money, I think they really need to connect to what they’re doing. And so I’ve always looked at how we take on clients. If we’re pushing their message forward, if we’re building a community around their message and what they want to be known for, what’s the impact on other people if we do that really well? And how does our work with them scale to help other people in a very mission driven way?

Bryan Wish: So working with various clients who are doing really good work and have strong messages, I look at us, the more we amplify their voice and touch lives of other people, the more we transcend our own impact as a company. So it’s very in line with doing positive work, not just taking a six figure contract from our brand. I think that’s why we’ve really identified working with individuals in building those brands out because it’s a much more fulfilling and connective experience.

John Jantsch: So when, especially with the folks you’re mentioning, I’ve often said that I think entrepreneurship is one of the greatest self development programs ever created. You either you either evolve or you get run over and you go back and get a job somewhere. So how do you relate that idea of constantly working on yourself as actually personal branding?

Bryan Wish: Yeah, I think, hmm. So, let me start a little outwards and I’ll come back into the question. So one of the points I reached out to you on, I think six months ago, was when a client and very close mentor, in a way, actually their coach now, Mark Green, said, “You should check out John’s stuff.” And I said, “Oh, I’m already familiar with John’s stuff, but he’s great and I’m glad you were able to connect in San Diego or in California for an event.” And Mark always says, which I really love, he says, “To scale your business professionally, you have to scale yourself personally faster.” And he says that much more eloquently and punchier as he always does. So I think we get to a point in the business as we grow, if we haven’t developed personally at the level that can support that growth professionally, and we don’t have the right foundation for our own lives, we’re going to fall on our feet professionally. And I learned that actually the hard way with the first company. And so with this company now, at BW Missions, I have had to put very hard and clear boundaries and pieces in place from a foundational level to support the growth of the company, which has happened fast. So it’s for soft development to happen on a personal level to sustain the growth of the business professionally.

John Jantsch: So give us a little bit of a roadmap of how you actually work with people. What’s unique about your approach, and not just the mission driven component, but how does that actually play out from a tactical standpoint?

Bryan Wish: Yeah, that’s a good question. So typically somebody approaches us who wants to be known for a particular topic, that might be focused on productivity, that might be leadership in business coaching, that might be mindset, that could be e-sports and gaming. But they have something they want to say so they reach out to us. If we start working together, what that looks like is we do self-discovery work as part of the onboarding session. We have an a very intricate and deep onboarding process where we really get to know everything about them, from their childhood roots to who they are now and where they’re trying to go in their future. And we do a full process where we get all that information, and that’s ongoing throughout the entire process. That never stops. Then we start figuring out, okay, who is this person trying to connect to?

Bryan Wish: What does that person look like? How do we get in front of them? And why would their work be valuable to the people that we want to build that around? And then we take the channels in front of us, we take some of their vision for their own brand and we kind of put all the pieces together, developing regular posting, building out different digital assets, whatever it might be. It’s almost like a dressed up idea inspired marketing agency agency. But I think what we’re selling is pathfinding. We’re going to build them the best strategy and plan forward for them and we’re going to do it in an extremely tailor made way.

John Jantsch: Today content is everything. So our websites are really content management systems, but they’ve got to work like one check out Zephyr. It is a modern cloud-based CMS system that’s licensed only to agencies. It’s really easy to use. It’s very fast, won’t mess with your SEO Company. It really reduces the time and effort to launch your client’s websites. Beautiful themes, just really fast profitable way to go. They include an agency services to really make them your plug and play dev shop. Check out Zephyr.com. That Z-E-P-H-Y-R CMS.com.

John Jantsch: So obviously with all of the things online, the Facebook advertising, webinars, all the stuff that people are doing to kind of get that message out. I think people are getting really tired of the fact that people are just blasting stuff out because they can, showing up everywhere. I think we’re all exhausted really from what just feels very spammy. It started I supposed with email, but now it’s everywhere, because marketers always ruin everything.

John Jantsch: So, how do you bring … Ultimately what you’re saying is the best marketing agency is relationship building. I think we’ve all … But people have sort of bastardized what relationship building is even today. So how do we stay authentic? How do we just say, “Hey, here’s me. Take it or leave it,” but at the same time, realize that if we don’t get ourselves in front of enough people, we’re not going to be able to have the impact we want.

Bryan Wish: Yeah, absolutely. So let me answer this, before I talk about relationships in a way of self discovery. I shared an article this morning and there’s a graph in the article and it said, the better we know who we are as individuals, the deeper that we can connect with the people around us. And I think it’s a really powerful way to look at relationship building, because we need to know first like who we are so when we talk to people who like us or understand us, we know how to connect back to them, and as they’ve done that work themselves too, the connectivity of the relationship is going to be even stronger. With that said, when of understand that, you can be a little more vulnerable in those conversations, and being able to be vulnerable in a way that is tactful and not in your face, like, here’s my sob story, you can really build a emotional connection with someone and that will drive a longterm relationship.

Bryan Wish: Now to go back to, okay, how do we show up online, John, there is a lot of spam out there. There’s a ton of noise and it seems like everyone is doing it. The approach that we take with clients, that I take with my own branding or try to take is I really focus on the pillars of the storytelling aspect of really sharing a message that, yes, I might be able to promote something, but how do I 90% of the time share a story that’s going to be insightful to my audience, that might be able to get across a couple of different messages, that really encapsulate who I am as a person. And if that speaks for my business too, I think that means you’re doing it right because you don’t have to hardcore promote what you’re doing for people that want to work with you. I think those are the best, just show up authentically online as you would in person. I think that’s a really hard skill to master, and I think so few people understand, but I think what people do need to understand is it starts with understanding who you are within first so you can connect with people deeply and you then you can show up online and stand out with things that you really care about.

John Jantsch: So with all the various forms and platforms, I think that’s the thing a lot of people struggle with, is that are there very specific forms of content, very specific places in which that context for that content can happen that is more effective. If you’re that professional who is trying to create a personal brand, is there a roadmap to say, well, here’s how I’m going to get my message and my story in front of the right people?

Bryan Wish: Yeah, that’s a good question, John. I think it really comes down to the person that you’re talking to or who wants to build a brand. If it’s a 14 year old who is an epic scooter rider, they’re probably … Not that they’re thinking about their personal brand, but okay, probably tik-tok is going to be great for them. Because it’s going to entertain a bunch of teenagers across the world and why not. I like to think about, okay, what is the person trying to do? What message are they trying to tell and what platform best supports that message? To go a little deeper, I was speaking of the email founder of a certain company a year ago and we had a really big conversation around email. It’s the only place you can own your own distribution. So yes, there’s certain platforms business, if you’re a business CEO, you’re probably going to be on LinkedIn, you probably should have Twitter. But at the end of the day, if you’re trying to stand out and have a personal brand or if you’re on an author, I think having email distribution lists that you own and can build upon is the best long term strategy using these platforms as vehicles to continue to build that audience and make sure you have a centralized tone to bring everyone back to, which I know you understand in your work.

John Jantsch: A lot of authors have over the years taken the extension of their books and turned them into courses and things of that nature. I’m seeing a tremendous amount of burnout on things like that, because the Udemy’s of the world that you can go find out any course for $19. So how do particularly authors or personal brands, what’s the best way that you’ve seen for them to extend their work? It used to be just one-on-one. You’d write a book and then you’d create a course and then you’d do consulting. It was like the ladder was very natural. I think that that ladder has gotten very disrupted. So how does that model work today?

Bryan Wish: Sure. So yes, I do think courses are still relevant. I think you can go to Udemy to get your course out there. I think it, what kind of brand that you’re trying to build? How are you architecting the brand? Are you building a quality brand from the start? Because if you are, do you really need to go to a platform like Udemy is just providing an audience for you?

John Jantsch: I guess what I was saying is that it’s gotten harder just to build the $900 course because the $19 course seem to offer the same thing.

Bryan Wish: Totally. So I think again though it comes down to if you’re architecting a brand that’s perceived in a very high way, if you’re an author, you might be able to get away not going on Udemy and also offering an $800 course. Is that the right thing to do? It depends. What’s the value being given? Is there a model though where they can go on Udemy and maybe create a shorter course that can take you to a bigger course? I’ve seen that be done multiple times and then just to build on this concept, the digital is a great way to do it, but the way I’m seeing a lot of … Where we’re even transitioning as a company and evolving is, okay, the digital is great. How do we create a whole speaking side to the business? Because it’s one thing to have an in person message. How do we build a product line around being able to get people voices in front of real audiences in real time.

Bryan Wish: And I think that creates even deeper connection. So creating vehicles that extend the message for authors or CEOs to share something, it doesn’t always have to be to make money through a course or from book sales or consulting. I think there’s a whole speaking model and then there’s a whole content partnership model as well that are [inaudible 00:16:23] that can be done very tastefully. So it just depends on what are the end goals of the person and what fits to them as a brand.

John Jantsch: So give us your, if somebody came to you who feels like, hey, I want to take it up a notch and I just want you to tell me what would it be one thing I could do to actually do a better job of relationship building? I know that’s hard question.

Bryan Wish: No, I think that’s great. I would say go deeper with the ones right in front of you that you really value already. Because I think that we’re very lucky in this world to have very close relationships and if we have three, four or five really good relationships instead of just trying to add to the stockpile, why don’t you just go even deeper on the ones that are right in front of you? Because if you do, and that works really well, I’m sure they know other people just like you, and their friends become your friends and your network multiplies over and over again with people who are just like you. So your trial evolves and compounds because you’ve actually taken the time to invest really hard and in ones that feel just right to you, or that feel more like 100% as opposed to 70%.

John Jantsch: Awesome. So Brian, tell people where they can find out more about you and the work you’re doing at BW Missions.

Bryan Wish: Yes, absolutely. You can find me, my email is Bryan, B-R-Y-A-N, @bryanwish.com. My website is BWMissions.com and you can reach out to me on LinkedIn. I’m on Twitter and Instagram, but I think email, LinkedIn would be the best.

John Jantsch: Awesome. Well, thanks for taking time today, Bryan, and hopefully we’ll run into you soon someday out there on the road.

Bryan Wish: Thanks, John. Thanks for having me. I’m excited to see what you do next.

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Transcript of Embracing Individuality to Grow Your Community

Back to Podcast

John Jantsch: This episode of the Duct Tape marketing agency Podcast is brought to you by Zephyr CMS. It’s a modern cloud based CMS system that’s licensed only to agencies. You can find them at zephyrcms.com, more about this later in the show.

John Jantsch: Hello and welcome to another episode of The Duct Tape marketing agency podcast. This is John Jantsch. My guest today is Bryan Wish. He’s the founder of BW Missions, and organization that helps clients globally build communities and develop their voices. So Brian, thanks for joining us.

Bryan Wish: Well John, thanks for having me. It’s been a long time in the making and it’s been great following your work over the last couple of years.

John Jantsch: So I’m very intrigued by what you’re doing with BW Missions. But before we really get into that, I guess I’d love to hear, I think a lot of people like to hear entrepreneur’s journey story. How did you get to here? What led you to here? Why did you decide to do what you’re doing?

Bryan Wish: Yeah, John, that’s a good question. I think understanding the roots of how someone came to be is very smart, very important. So I’ll take you back to my earliest memories as a kid. For me, I think I was the person who, I don’t think I was born an entrepreneur or born actually going out on my own to do this life. I think what happened for me is the more I tried to fit into very specific boxes, sports teams, colleges, programs or groups, the more I didn’t fit in and the more I was forced to stand out, whether I wasn’t good enough to make the cut line, whether I was bullied by the group cool kids. It was always the things I tried to fit into that said, okay, you’re a little different and you’re not meant to be here.

Bryan Wish: So when I got to college, I took all that weight and chip on my shoulder mentality and I said, I’m just going to figure out who I am. I’m going to go balls to the wall and I’m going to just do a bunch of things. The more I started applying myself to different groups, picking initiatives, starting things on my own with organizations, the more I started to realize, you know what, I can do anything I set my mind to. And it was this completely new perspective. It was the most liberating perspective for me as an individual where I started building confidence for the first time in my life. And from there I look at that as this pathfinding journey of self discovery, of who am I, and where do I fit in in the world. And as soon as I started taking charge and ownership of my own life, I started finding the people who are more like me.

Bryan Wish: Then I started getting involved in some very incredible projects with different brands where I led sports programs for the Hawks and the Braves. And then I started a digital media platform after college where I spent my entire savings and went bankrupt on it. But it’s okay, it was the most fulfilling thing ever. And then I spent two years really learning the craft and digital media with Allen Gannett, I built a global communities of investment fund for a year and a half, and kind of took all this experience in the last four or five years, and I said, I know two things, I love building and sharing voices. I love building communities. How do I do that for a group of people who’s already standing out with their own voice, or has a message. I’ve really doubled down on the same things I’ve been passionate about my whole life and things that have led me find my own path.

John Jantsch: So the word mission is actually in the name of your business. So help me and listeners understand why that’s part of the name of your company.

Bryan Wish: Yeah, absolutely, John, it’s a good question. So I think to be a fulfilled entrepreneur or someone who is aligned with the money they’re making and the way they’re making money, I think they really need to connect to what they’re doing. And so I’ve always looked at how we take on clients. If we’re pushing their message forward, if we’re building a community around their message and what they want to be known for, what’s the impact on other people if we do that really well? And how does our work with them scale to help other people in a very mission driven way?

Bryan Wish: So working with various clients who are doing really good work and have strong messages, I look at us, the more we amplify their voice and touch lives of other people, the more we transcend our own impact as a company. So it’s very in line with doing positive work, not just taking a six figure contract from our brand. I think that’s why we’ve really identified working with individuals in building those brands out because it’s a much more fulfilling and connective experience.

John Jantsch: So when, especially with the folks you’re mentioning, I’ve often said that I think entrepreneurship is one of the greatest self development programs ever created. You either you either evolve or you get run over and you go back and get a job somewhere. So how do you relate that idea of constantly working on yourself as actually personal branding?

Bryan Wish: Yeah, I think, hmm. So, let me start a little outwards and I’ll come back into the question. So one of the points I reached out to you on, I think six months ago, was when a client and very close mentor, in a way, actually their coach now, Mark Green, said, “You should check out John’s stuff.” And I said, “Oh, I’m already familiar with John’s stuff, but he’s great and I’m glad you were able to connect in San Diego or in California for an event.” And Mark always says, which I really love, he says, “To scale your business professionally, you have to scale yourself personally faster.” And he says that much more eloquently and punchier as he always does. So I think we get to a point in the business as we grow, if we haven’t developed personally at the level that can support that growth professionally, and we don’t have the right foundation for our own lives, we’re going to fall on our feet professionally. And I learned that actually the hard way with the first company. And so with this company now, at BW Missions, I have had to put very hard and clear boundaries and pieces in place from a foundational level to support the growth of the company, which has happened fast. So it’s for soft development to happen on a personal level to sustain the growth of the business professionally.

John Jantsch: So give us a little bit of a roadmap of how you actually work with people. What’s unique about your approach, and not just the mission driven component, but how does that actually play out from a tactical standpoint?

Bryan Wish: Yeah, that’s a good question. So typically somebody approaches us who wants to be known for a particular topic, that might be focused on productivity, that might be leadership in business coaching, that might be mindset, that could be e-sports and gaming. But they have something they want to say so they reach out to us. If we start working together, what that looks like is we do self-discovery work as part of the onboarding session. We have an a very intricate and deep onboarding process where we really get to know everything about them, from their childhood roots to who they are now and where they’re trying to go in their future. And we do a full process where we get all that information, and that’s ongoing throughout the entire process. That never stops. Then we start figuring out, okay, who is this person trying to connect to?

Bryan Wish: What does that person look like? How do we get in front of them? And why would their work be valuable to the people that we want to build that around? And then we take the channels in front of us, we take some of their vision for their own brand and we kind of put all the pieces together, developing regular posting, building out different digital assets, whatever it might be. It’s almost like a dressed up idea inspired marketing agency agency. But I think what we’re selling is pathfinding. We’re going to build them the best strategy and plan forward for them and we’re going to do it in an extremely tailor made way.

John Jantsch: Today content is everything. So our websites are really content management systems, but they’ve got to work like one check out Zephyr. It is a modern cloud-based CMS system that’s licensed only to agencies. It’s really easy to use. It’s very fast, won’t mess with your SEO Company. It really reduces the time and effort to launch your client’s websites. Beautiful themes, just really fast profitable way to go. They include an agency services to really make them your plug and play dev shop. Check out Zephyr.com. That Z-E-P-H-Y-R CMS.com.

John Jantsch: So obviously with all of the things online, the Facebook advertising, webinars, all the stuff that people are doing to kind of get that message out. I think people are getting really tired of the fact that people are just blasting stuff out because they can, showing up everywhere. I think we’re all exhausted really from what just feels very spammy. It started I supposed with email, but now it’s everywhere, because marketers always ruin everything.

John Jantsch: So, how do you bring … Ultimately what you’re saying is the best marketing agency is relationship building. I think we’ve all … But people have sort of bastardized what relationship building is even today. So how do we stay authentic? How do we just say, “Hey, here’s me. Take it or leave it,” but at the same time, realize that if we don’t get ourselves in front of enough people, we’re not going to be able to have the impact we want.

Bryan Wish: Yeah, absolutely. So let me answer this, before I talk about relationships in a way of self discovery. I shared an article this morning and there’s a graph in the article and it said, the better we know who we are as individuals, the deeper that we can connect with the people around us. And I think it’s a really powerful way to look at relationship building, because we need to know first like who we are so when we talk to people who like us or understand us, we know how to connect back to them, and as they’ve done that work themselves too, the connectivity of the relationship is going to be even stronger. With that said, when of understand that, you can be a little more vulnerable in those conversations, and being able to be vulnerable in a way that is tactful and not in your face, like, here’s my sob story, you can really build a emotional connection with someone and that will drive a longterm relationship.

Bryan Wish: Now to go back to, okay, how do we show up online, John, there is a lot of spam out there. There’s a ton of noise and it seems like everyone is doing it. The approach that we take with clients, that I take with my own branding or try to take is I really focus on the pillars of the storytelling aspect of really sharing a message that, yes, I might be able to promote something, but how do I 90% of the time share a story that’s going to be insightful to my audience, that might be able to get across a couple of different messages, that really encapsulate who I am as a person. And if that speaks for my business too, I think that means you’re doing it right because you don’t have to hardcore promote what you’re doing for people that want to work with you. I think those are the best, just show up authentically online as you would in person. I think that’s a really hard skill to master, and I think so few people understand, but I think what people do need to understand is it starts with understanding who you are within first so you can connect with people deeply and you then you can show up online and stand out with things that you really care about.

John Jantsch: So with all the various forms and platforms, I think that’s the thing a lot of people struggle with, is that are there very specific forms of content, very specific places in which that context for that content can happen that is more effective. If you’re that professional who is trying to create a personal brand, is there a roadmap to say, well, here’s how I’m going to get my message and my story in front of the right people?

Bryan Wish: Yeah, that’s a good question, John. I think it really comes down to the person that you’re talking to or who wants to build a brand. If it’s a 14 year old who is an epic scooter rider, they’re probably … Not that they’re thinking about their personal brand, but okay, probably tik-tok is going to be great for them. Because it’s going to entertain a bunch of teenagers across the world and why not. I like to think about, okay, what is the person trying to do? What message are they trying to tell and what platform best supports that message? To go a little deeper, I was speaking of the email founder of a certain company a year ago and we had a really big conversation around email. It’s the only place you can own your own distribution. So yes, there’s certain platforms business, if you’re a business CEO, you’re probably going to be on LinkedIn, you probably should have Twitter. But at the end of the day, if you’re trying to stand out and have a personal brand or if you’re on an author, I think having email distribution lists that you own and can build upon is the best long term strategy using these platforms as vehicles to continue to build that audience and make sure you have a centralized tone to bring everyone back to, which I know you understand in your work.

John Jantsch: A lot of authors have over the years taken the extension of their books and turned them into courses and things of that nature. I’m seeing a tremendous amount of burnout on things like that, because the Udemy’s of the world that you can go find out any course for $19. So how do particularly authors or personal brands, what’s the best way that you’ve seen for them to extend their work? It used to be just one-on-one. You’d write a book and then you’d create a course and then you’d do consulting. It was like the ladder was very natural. I think that that ladder has gotten very disrupted. So how does that model work today?

Bryan Wish: Sure. So yes, I do think courses are still relevant. I think you can go to Udemy to get your course out there. I think it, what kind of brand that you’re trying to build? How are you architecting the brand? Are you building a quality brand from the start? Because if you are, do you really need to go to a platform like Udemy is just providing an audience for you?

John Jantsch: I guess what I was saying is that it’s gotten harder just to build the $900 course because the $19 course seem to offer the same thing.

Bryan Wish: Totally. So I think again though it comes down to if you’re architecting a brand that’s perceived in a very high way, if you’re an author, you might be able to get away not going on Udemy and also offering an $800 course. Is that the right thing to do? It depends. What’s the value being given? Is there a model though where they can go on Udemy and maybe create a shorter course that can take you to a bigger course? I’ve seen that be done multiple times and then just to build on this concept, the digital is a great way to do it, but the way I’m seeing a lot of … Where we’re even transitioning as a company and evolving is, okay, the digital is great. How do we create a whole speaking side to the business? Because it’s one thing to have an in person message. How do we build a product line around being able to get people voices in front of real audiences in real time.

Bryan Wish: And I think that creates even deeper connection. So creating vehicles that extend the message for authors or CEOs to share something, it doesn’t always have to be to make money through a course or from book sales or consulting. I think there’s a whole speaking model and then there’s a whole content partnership model as well that are [inaudible 00:16:23] that can be done very tastefully. So it just depends on what are the end goals of the person and what fits to them as a brand.

John Jantsch: So give us your, if somebody came to you who feels like, hey, I want to take it up a notch and I just want you to tell me what would it be one thing I could do to actually do a better job of relationship building? I know that’s hard question.

Bryan Wish: No, I think that’s great. I would say go deeper with the ones right in front of you that you really value already. Because I think that we’re very lucky in this world to have very close relationships and if we have three, four or five really good relationships instead of just trying to add to the stockpile, why don’t you just go even deeper on the ones that are right in front of you? Because if you do, and that works really well, I’m sure they know other people just like you, and their friends become your friends and your network multiplies over and over again with people who are just like you. So your trial evolves and compounds because you’ve actually taken the time to invest really hard and in ones that feel just right to you, or that feel more like 100% as opposed to 70%.

John Jantsch: Awesome. So Brian, tell people where they can find out more about you and the work you’re doing at BW Missions.

Bryan Wish: Yes, absolutely. You can find me, my email is Bryan, B-R-Y-A-N, @bryanwish.com. My website is BWMissions.com and you can reach out to me on LinkedIn. I’m on Twitter and Instagram, but I think email, LinkedIn would be the best.

John Jantsch: Awesome. Well, thanks for taking time today, Bryan, and hopefully we’ll run into you soon someday out there on the road.

Bryan Wish: Thanks, John. Thanks for having me. I’m excited to see what you do next.

Order your copy of The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur

by John Jantsch

“A book that deserves a spot in every entrepreneur’s morning routine.” —Ryan Holiday, #1 Bestselling Author of The Daily Stoic and The Obstacle is the Way

Website Design & SEO Delray Beach by DBL07.co

Delray Beach SEO

source http://www.scpie.org/transcript-of-embracing-individuality-to-grow-your-community/ source https://scpie1.blogspot.com/2020/03/transcript-of-embracing-individuality.html

[scpie]

Transcript of Embracing Individuality to Grow Your Community

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John Jantsch: This episode of the Duct Tape marketing agency Podcast is brought to you by Zephyr CMS. It’s a modern cloud based CMS system that’s licensed only to agencies. You can find them at zephyrcms.com, more about this later in the show.

John Jantsch: Hello and welcome to another episode of The Duct Tape marketing agency podcast. This is John Jantsch. My guest today is Bryan Wish. He’s the founder of BW Missions, and organization that helps clients globally build communities and develop their voices. So Brian, thanks for joining us.

Bryan Wish: Well John, thanks for having me. It’s been a long time in the making and it’s been great following your work over the last couple of years.

John Jantsch: So I’m very intrigued by what you’re doing with BW Missions. But before we really get into that, I guess I’d love to hear, I think a lot of people like to hear entrepreneur’s journey story. How did you get to here? What led you to here? Why did you decide to do what you’re doing?

Bryan Wish: Yeah, John, that’s a good question. I think understanding the roots of how someone came to be is very smart, very important. So I’ll take you back to my earliest memories as a kid. For me, I think I was the person who, I don’t think I was born an entrepreneur or born actually going out on my own to do this life. I think what happened for me is the more I tried to fit into very specific boxes, sports teams, colleges, programs or groups, the more I didn’t fit in and the more I was forced to stand out, whether I wasn’t good enough to make the cut line, whether I was bullied by the group cool kids. It was always the things I tried to fit into that said, okay, you’re a little different and you’re not meant to be here.

Bryan Wish: So when I got to college, I took all that weight and chip on my shoulder mentality and I said, I’m just going to figure out who I am. I’m going to go balls to the wall and I’m going to just do a bunch of things. The more I started applying myself to different groups, picking initiatives, starting things on my own with organizations, the more I started to realize, you know what, I can do anything I set my mind to. And it was this completely new perspective. It was the most liberating perspective for me as an individual where I started building confidence for the first time in my life. And from there I look at that as this pathfinding journey of self discovery, of who am I, and where do I fit in in the world. And as soon as I started taking charge and ownership of my own life, I started finding the people who are more like me.

Bryan Wish: Then I started getting involved in some very incredible projects with different brands where I led sports programs for the Hawks and the Braves. And then I started a digital media platform after college where I spent my entire savings and went bankrupt on it. But it’s okay, it was the most fulfilling thing ever. And then I spent two years really learning the craft and digital media with Allen Gannett, I built a global communities of investment fund for a year and a half, and kind of took all this experience in the last four or five years, and I said, I know two things, I love building and sharing voices. I love building communities. How do I do that for a group of people who’s already standing out with their own voice, or has a message. I’ve really doubled down on the same things I’ve been passionate about my whole life and things that have led me find my own path.

John Jantsch: So the word mission is actually in the name of your business. So help me and listeners understand why that’s part of the name of your company.

Bryan Wish: Yeah, absolutely, John, it’s a good question. So I think to be a fulfilled entrepreneur or someone who is aligned with the money they’re making and the way they’re making money, I think they really need to connect to what they’re doing. And so I’ve always looked at how we take on clients. If we’re pushing their message forward, if we’re building a community around their message and what they want to be known for, what’s the impact on other people if we do that really well? And how does our work with them scale to help other people in a very mission driven way?

Bryan Wish: So working with various clients who are doing really good work and have strong messages, I look at us, the more we amplify their voice and touch lives of other people, the more we transcend our own impact as a company. So it’s very in line with doing positive work, not just taking a six figure contract from our brand. I think that’s why we’ve really identified working with individuals in building those brands out because it’s a much more fulfilling and connective experience.

John Jantsch: So when, especially with the folks you’re mentioning, I’ve often said that I think entrepreneurship is one of the greatest self development programs ever created. You either you either evolve or you get run over and you go back and get a job somewhere. So how do you relate that idea of constantly working on yourself as actually personal branding?

Bryan Wish: Yeah, I think, hmm. So, let me start a little outwards and I’ll come back into the question. So one of the points I reached out to you on, I think six months ago, was when a client and very close mentor, in a way, actually their coach now, Mark Green, said, “You should check out John’s stuff.” And I said, “Oh, I’m already familiar with John’s stuff, but he’s great and I’m glad you were able to connect in San Diego or in California for an event.” And Mark always says, which I really love, he says, “To scale your business professionally, you have to scale yourself personally faster.” And he says that much more eloquently and punchier as he always does. So I think we get to a point in the business as we grow, if we haven’t developed personally at the level that can support that growth professionally, and we don’t have the right foundation for our own lives, we’re going to fall on our feet professionally. And I learned that actually the hard way with the first company. And so with this company now, at BW Missions, I have had to put very hard and clear boundaries and pieces in place from a foundational level to support the growth of the company, which has happened fast. So it’s for soft development to happen on a personal level to sustain the growth of the business professionally.

John Jantsch: So give us a little bit of a roadmap of how you actually work with people. What’s unique about your approach, and not just the mission driven component, but how does that actually play out from a tactical standpoint?

Bryan Wish: Yeah, that’s a good question. So typically somebody approaches us who wants to be known for a particular topic, that might be focused on productivity, that might be leadership in business coaching, that might be mindset, that could be e-sports and gaming. But they have something they want to say so they reach out to us. If we start working together, what that looks like is we do self-discovery work as part of the onboarding session. We have an a very intricate and deep onboarding process where we really get to know everything about them, from their childhood roots to who they are now and where they’re trying to go in their future. And we do a full process where we get all that information, and that’s ongoing throughout the entire process. That never stops. Then we start figuring out, okay, who is this person trying to connect to?

Bryan Wish: What does that person look like? How do we get in front of them? And why would their work be valuable to the people that we want to build that around? And then we take the channels in front of us, we take some of their vision for their own brand and we kind of put all the pieces together, developing regular posting, building out different digital assets, whatever it might be. It’s almost like a dressed up idea inspired marketing agency agency. But I think what we’re selling is pathfinding. We’re going to build them the best strategy and plan forward for them and we’re going to do it in an extremely tailor made way.

John Jantsch: Today content is everything. So our websites are really content management systems, but they’ve got to work like one check out Zephyr. It is a modern cloud-based CMS system that’s licensed only to agencies. It’s really easy to use. It’s very fast, won’t mess with your SEO Company. It really reduces the time and effort to launch your client’s websites. Beautiful themes, just really fast profitable way to go. They include an agency services to really make them your plug and play dev shop. Check out Zephyr.com. That Z-E-P-H-Y-R CMS.com.

John Jantsch: So obviously with all of the things online, the Facebook advertising, webinars, all the stuff that people are doing to kind of get that message out. I think people are getting really tired of the fact that people are just blasting stuff out because they can, showing up everywhere. I think we’re all exhausted really from what just feels very spammy. It started I supposed with email, but now it’s everywhere, because marketers always ruin everything.

John Jantsch: So, how do you bring … Ultimately what you’re saying is the best marketing agency is relationship building. I think we’ve all … But people have sort of bastardized what relationship building is even today. So how do we stay authentic? How do we just say, “Hey, here’s me. Take it or leave it,” but at the same time, realize that if we don’t get ourselves in front of enough people, we’re not going to be able to have the impact we want.

Bryan Wish: Yeah, absolutely. So let me answer this, before I talk about relationships in a way of self discovery. I shared an article this morning and there’s a graph in the article and it said, the better we know who we are as individuals, the deeper that we can connect with the people around us. And I think it’s a really powerful way to look at relationship building, because we need to know first like who we are so when we talk to people who like us or understand us, we know how to connect back to them, and as they’ve done that work themselves too, the connectivity of the relationship is going to be even stronger. With that said, when of understand that, you can be a little more vulnerable in those conversations, and being able to be vulnerable in a way that is tactful and not in your face, like, here’s my sob story, you can really build a emotional connection with someone and that will drive a longterm relationship.

Bryan Wish: Now to go back to, okay, how do we show up online, John, there is a lot of spam out there. There’s a ton of noise and it seems like everyone is doing it. The approach that we take with clients, that I take with my own branding or try to take is I really focus on the pillars of the storytelling aspect of really sharing a message that, yes, I might be able to promote something, but how do I 90% of the time share a story that’s going to be insightful to my audience, that might be able to get across a couple of different messages, that really encapsulate who I am as a person. And if that speaks for my business too, I think that means you’re doing it right because you don’t have to hardcore promote what you’re doing for people that want to work with you. I think those are the best, just show up authentically online as you would in person. I think that’s a really hard skill to master, and I think so few people understand, but I think what people do need to understand is it starts with understanding who you are within first so you can connect with people deeply and you then you can show up online and stand out with things that you really care about.

John Jantsch: So with all the various forms and platforms, I think that’s the thing a lot of people struggle with, is that are there very specific forms of content, very specific places in which that context for that content can happen that is more effective. If you’re that professional who is trying to create a personal brand, is there a roadmap to say, well, here’s how I’m going to get my message and my story in front of the right people?

Bryan Wish: Yeah, that’s a good question, John. I think it really comes down to the person that you’re talking to or who wants to build a brand. If it’s a 14 year old who is an epic scooter rider, they’re probably … Not that they’re thinking about their personal brand, but okay, probably tik-tok is going to be great for them. Because it’s going to entertain a bunch of teenagers across the world and why not. I like to think about, okay, what is the person trying to do? What message are they trying to tell and what platform best supports that message? To go a little deeper, I was speaking of the email founder of a certain company a year ago and we had a really big conversation around email. It’s the only place you can own your own distribution. So yes, there’s certain platforms business, if you’re a business CEO, you’re probably going to be on LinkedIn, you probably should have Twitter. But at the end of the day, if you’re trying to stand out and have a personal brand or if you’re on an author, I think having email distribution lists that you own and can build upon is the best long term strategy using these platforms as vehicles to continue to build that audience and make sure you have a centralized tone to bring everyone back to, which I know you understand in your work.

John Jantsch: A lot of authors have over the years taken the extension of their books and turned them into courses and things of that nature. I’m seeing a tremendous amount of burnout on things like that, because the Udemy’s of the world that you can go find out any course for $19. So how do particularly authors or personal brands, what’s the best way that you’ve seen for them to extend their work? It used to be just one-on-one. You’d write a book and then you’d create a course and then you’d do consulting. It was like the ladder was very natural. I think that that ladder has gotten very disrupted. So how does that model work today?

Bryan Wish: Sure. So yes, I do think courses are still relevant. I think you can go to Udemy to get your course out there. I think it, what kind of brand that you’re trying to build? How are you architecting the brand? Are you building a quality brand from the start? Because if you are, do you really need to go to a platform like Udemy is just providing an audience for you?

John Jantsch: I guess what I was saying is that it’s gotten harder just to build the $900 course because the $19 course seem to offer the same thing.

Bryan Wish: Totally. So I think again though it comes down to if you’re architecting a brand that’s perceived in a very high way, if you’re an author, you might be able to get away not going on Udemy and also offering an $800 course. Is that the right thing to do? It depends. What’s the value being given? Is there a model though where they can go on Udemy and maybe create a shorter course that can take you to a bigger course? I’ve seen that be done multiple times and then just to build on this concept, the digital is a great way to do it, but the way I’m seeing a lot of … Where we’re even transitioning as a company and evolving is, okay, the digital is great. How do we create a whole speaking side to the business? Because it’s one thing to have an in person message. How do we build a product line around being able to get people voices in front of real audiences in real time.

Bryan Wish: And I think that creates even deeper connection. So creating vehicles that extend the message for authors or CEOs to share something, it doesn’t always have to be to make money through a course or from book sales or consulting. I think there’s a whole speaking model and then there’s a whole content partnership model as well that are [inaudible 00:16:23] that can be done very tastefully. So it just depends on what are the end goals of the person and what fits to them as a brand.

John Jantsch: So give us your, if somebody came to you who feels like, hey, I want to take it up a notch and I just want you to tell me what would it be one thing I could do to actually do a better job of relationship building? I know that’s hard question.

Bryan Wish: No, I think that’s great. I would say go deeper with the ones right in front of you that you really value already. Because I think that we’re very lucky in this world to have very close relationships and if we have three, four or five really good relationships instead of just trying to add to the stockpile, why don’t you just go even deeper on the ones that are right in front of you? Because if you do, and that works really well, I’m sure they know other people just like you, and their friends become your friends and your network multiplies over and over again with people who are just like you. So your trial evolves and compounds because you’ve actually taken the time to invest really hard and in ones that feel just right to you, or that feel more like 100% as opposed to 70%.

John Jantsch: Awesome. So Brian, tell people where they can find out more about you and the work you’re doing at BW Missions.

Bryan Wish: Yes, absolutely. You can find me, my email is Bryan, B-R-Y-A-N, @bryanwish.com. My website is BWMissions.com and you can reach out to me on LinkedIn. I’m on Twitter and Instagram, but I think email, LinkedIn would be the best.

John Jantsch: Awesome. Well, thanks for taking time today, Bryan, and hopefully we’ll run into you soon someday out there on the road.

Bryan Wish: Thanks, John. Thanks for having me. I’m excited to see what you do next.

Order your copy of The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur

by John Jantsch

“A book that deserves a spot in every entrepreneur’s morning routine.” —Ryan Holiday, #1 Bestselling Author of The Daily Stoic and The Obstacle is the Way

Website Design & SEO Delray Beach by DBL07.co

Delray Beach SEO

source http://www.scpie.org/transcript-of-embracing-individuality-to-grow-your-community/

[goodra-king]

Transcript of Embracing Individuality to Grow Your Community

Transcript of Embracing Individuality to Grow Your Community written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

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Transcript

John Jantsch: This episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast is brought to you by Zephyr CMS. It’s a modern cloud based CMS system that’s licensed only to agencies. You can find them at zephyrcms.com, more about this later in the show.

John Jantsch: Hello and welcome to another episode of The Duct Tape Marketing podcast. This is John Jantsch. My guest today is Bryan Wish. He’s the founder of BW Missions, and organization that helps clients globally build communities and develop their voices. So Brian, thanks for joining us.

Bryan Wish: Well John, thanks for having me. It’s been a long time in the making and it’s been great following your work over the last couple of years.

John Jantsch: So I’m very intrigued by what you’re doing with BW Missions. But before we really get into that, I guess I’d love to hear, I think a lot of people like to hear entrepreneur’s journey story. How did you get to here? What led you to here? Why did you decide to do what you’re doing?

Bryan Wish: Yeah, John, that’s a good question. I think understanding the roots of how someone came to be is very smart, very important. So I’ll take you back to my earliest memories as a kid. For me, I think I was the person who, I don’t think I was born an entrepreneur or born actually going out on my own to do this life. I think what happened for me is the more I tried to fit into very specific boxes, sports teams, colleges, programs or groups, the more I didn’t fit in and the more I was forced to stand out, whether I wasn’t good enough to make the cut line, whether I was bullied by the group cool kids. It was always the things I tried to fit into that said, okay, you’re a little different and you’re not meant to be here.

Bryan Wish: So when I got to college, I took all that weight and chip on my shoulder mentality and I said, I’m just going to figure out who I am. I’m going to go balls to the wall and I’m going to just do a bunch of things. The more I started applying myself to different groups, picking initiatives, starting things on my own with organizations, the more I started to realize, you know what, I can do anything I set my mind to. And it was this completely new perspective. It was the most liberating perspective for me as an individual where I started building confidence for the first time in my life. And from there I look at that as this pathfinding journey of self discovery, of who am I, and where do I fit in in the world. And as soon as I started taking charge and ownership of my own life, I started finding the people who are more like me.

Bryan Wish: Then I started getting involved in some very incredible projects with different brands where I led sports programs for the Hawks and the Braves. And then I started a digital media platform after college where I spent my entire savings and went bankrupt on it. But it’s okay, it was the most fulfilling thing ever. And then I spent two years really learning the craft and digital media with Allen Gannett, I built a global communities of investment fund for a year and a half, and kind of took all this experience in the last four or five years, and I said, I know two things, I love building and sharing voices. I love building communities. How do I do that for a group of people who’s already standing out with their own voice, or has a message. I’ve really doubled down on the same things I’ve been passionate about my whole life and things that have led me find my own path.

John Jantsch: So the word mission is actually in the name of your business. So help me and listeners understand why that’s part of the name of your company.

Bryan Wish: Yeah, absolutely, John, it’s a good question. So I think to be a fulfilled entrepreneur or someone who is aligned with the money they’re making and the way they’re making money, I think they really need to connect to what they’re doing. And so I’ve always looked at how we take on clients. If we’re pushing their message forward, if we’re building a community around their message and what they want to be known for, what’s the impact on other people if we do that really well? And how does our work with them scale to help other people in a very mission driven way?

Bryan Wish: So working with various clients who are doing really good work and have strong messages, I look at us, the more we amplify their voice and touch lives of other people, the more we transcend our own impact as a company. So it’s very in line with doing positive work, not just taking a six figure contract from our brand. I think that’s why we’ve really identified working with individuals in building those brands out because it’s a much more fulfilling and connective experience.

John Jantsch: So when, especially with the folks you’re mentioning, I’ve often said that I think entrepreneurship is one of the greatest self development programs ever created. You either you either evolve or you get run over and you go back and get a job somewhere. So how do you relate that idea of constantly working on yourself as actually personal branding?

Bryan Wish: Yeah, I think, hmm. So, let me start a little outwards and I’ll come back into the question. So one of the points I reached out to you on, I think six months ago, was when a client and very close mentor, in a way, actually their coach now, Mark Green, said, “You should check out John’s stuff.” And I said, “Oh, I’m already familiar with John’s stuff, but he’s great and I’m glad you were able to connect in San Diego or in California for an event.” And Mark always says, which I really love, he says, “To scale your business professionally, you have to scale yourself personally faster.” And he says that much more eloquently and punchier as he always does. So I think we get to a point in the business as we grow, if we haven’t developed personally at the level that can support that growth professionally, and we don’t have the right foundation for our own lives, we’re going to fall on our feet professionally. And I learned that actually the hard way with the first company. And so with this company now, at BW Missions, I have had to put very hard and clear boundaries and pieces in place from a foundational level to support the growth of the company, which has happened fast. So it’s for soft development to happen on a personal level to sustain the growth of the business professionally.

John Jantsch: So give us a little bit of a roadmap of how you actually work with people. What’s unique about your approach, and not just the mission driven component, but how does that actually play out from a tactical standpoint?

Bryan Wish: Yeah, that’s a good question. So typically somebody approaches us who wants to be known for a particular topic, that might be focused on productivity, that might be leadership in business coaching, that might be mindset, that could be e-sports and gaming. But they have something they want to say so they reach out to us. If we start working together, what that looks like is we do self-discovery work as part of the onboarding session. We have an a very intricate and deep onboarding process where we really get to know everything about them, from their childhood roots to who they are now and where they’re trying to go in their future. And we do a full process where we get all that information, and that’s ongoing throughout the entire process. That never stops. Then we start figuring out, okay, who is this person trying to connect to?

Bryan Wish: What does that person look like? How do we get in front of them? And why would their work be valuable to the people that we want to build that around? And then we take the channels in front of us, we take some of their vision for their own brand and we kind of put all the pieces together, developing regular posting, building out different digital assets, whatever it might be. It’s almost like a dressed up idea inspired marketing agency. But I think what we’re selling is pathfinding. We’re going to build them the best strategy and plan forward for them and we’re going to do it in an extremely tailor made way.

John Jantsch: Today content is everything. So our websites are really content management systems, but they’ve got to work like one check out Zephyr. It is a modern cloud-based CMS system that’s licensed only to agencies. It’s really easy to use. It’s very fast, won’t mess with your SEO. It really reduces the time and effort to launch your client’s websites. Beautiful themes, just really fast profitable way to go. They include an agency services to really make them your plug and play dev shop. Check out Zephyr.com. That Z-E-P-H-Y-R CMS.com.

John Jantsch: So obviously with all of the things online, the Facebook advertising, webinars, all the stuff that people are doing to kind of get that message out. I think people are getting really tired of the fact that people are just blasting stuff out because they can, showing up everywhere. I think we’re all exhausted really from what just feels very spammy. It started I supposed with email, but now it’s everywhere, because marketers always ruin everything.

John Jantsch: So, how do you bring … Ultimately what you’re saying is the best marketing is relationship building. I think we’ve all … But people have sort of bastardized what relationship building is even today. So how do we stay authentic? How do we just say, “Hey, here’s me. Take it or leave it,” but at the same time, realize that if we don’t get ourselves in front of enough people, we’re not going to be able to have the impact we want.

Bryan Wish: Yeah, absolutely. So let me answer this, before I talk about relationships in a way of self discovery. I shared an article this morning and there’s a graph in the article and it said, the better we know who we are as individuals, the deeper that we can connect with the people around us. And I think it’s a really powerful way to look at relationship building, because we need to know first like who we are so when we talk to people who like us or understand us, we know how to connect back to them, and as they’ve done that work themselves too, the connectivity of the relationship is going to be even stronger. With that said, when of understand that, you can be a little more vulnerable in those conversations, and being able to be vulnerable in a way that is tactful and not in your face, like, here’s my sob story, you can really build a emotional connection with someone and that will drive a longterm relationship.

Bryan Wish: Now to go back to, okay, how do we show up online, John, there is a lot of spam out there. There’s a ton of noise and it seems like everyone is doing it. The approach that we take with clients, that I take with my own branding or try to take is I really focus on the pillars of the storytelling aspect of really sharing a message that, yes, I might be able to promote something, but how do I 90% of the time share a story that’s going to be insightful to my audience, that might be able to get across a couple of different messages, that really encapsulate who I am as a person. And if that speaks for my business too, I think that means you’re doing it right because you don’t have to hardcore promote what you’re doing for people that want to work with you. I think those are the best, just show up authentically online as you would in person. I think that’s a really hard skill to master, and I think so few people understand, but I think what people do need to understand is it starts with understanding who you are within first so you can connect with people deeply and you then you can show up online and stand out with things that you really care about.

John Jantsch: So with all the various forms and platforms, I think that’s the thing a lot of people struggle with, is that are there very specific forms of content, very specific places in which that context for that content can happen that is more effective. If you’re that professional who is trying to create a personal brand, is there a roadmap to say, well, here’s how I’m going to get my message and my story in front of the right people?

Bryan Wish: Yeah, that’s a good question, John. I think it really comes down to the person that you’re talking to or who wants to build a brand. If it’s a 14 year old who is an epic scooter rider, they’re probably … Not that they’re thinking about their personal brand, but okay, probably tik-tok is going to be great for them. Because it’s going to entertain a bunch of teenagers across the world and why not. I like to think about, okay, what is the person trying to do? What message are they trying to tell and what platform best supports that message? To go a little deeper, I was speaking of the email founder of a certain company a year ago and we had a really big conversation around email. It’s the only place you can own your own distribution. So yes, there’s certain platforms business, if you’re a business CEO, you’re probably going to be on LinkedIn, you probably should have Twitter. But at the end of the day, if you’re trying to stand out and have a personal brand or if you’re on an author, I think having email distribution lists that you own and can build upon is the best long term strategy using these platforms as vehicles to continue to build that audience and make sure you have a centralized tone to bring everyone back to, which I know you understand in your work.

John Jantsch: A lot of authors have over the years taken the extension of their books and turned them into courses and things of that nature. I’m seeing a tremendous amount of burnout on things like that, because the Udemy’s of the world that you can go find out any course for $19. So how do particularly authors or personal brands, what’s the best way that you’ve seen for them to extend their work? It used to be just one-on-one. You’d write a book and then you’d create a course and then you’d do consulting. It was like the ladder was very natural. I think that that ladder has gotten very disrupted. So how does that model work today?

Bryan Wish: Sure. So yes, I do think courses are still relevant. I think you can go to Udemy to get your course out there. I think it, what kind of brand that you’re trying to build? How are you architecting the brand? Are you building a quality brand from the start? Because if you are, do you really need to go to a platform like Udemy is just providing an audience for you?

John Jantsch: I guess what I was saying is that it’s gotten harder just to build the $900 course because the $19 course seem to offer the same thing.

Bryan Wish: Totally. So I think again though it comes down to if you’re architecting a brand that’s perceived in a very high way, if you’re an author, you might be able to get away not going on Udemy and also offering an $800 course. Is that the right thing to do? It depends. What’s the value being given? Is there a model though where they can go on Udemy and maybe create a shorter course that can take you to a bigger course? I’ve seen that be done multiple times and then just to build on this concept, the digital is a great way to do it, but the way I’m seeing a lot of … Where we’re even transitioning as a company and evolving is, okay, the digital is great. How do we create a whole speaking side to the business? Because it’s one thing to have an in person message. How do we build a product line around being able to get people voices in front of real audiences in real time.

Bryan Wish: And I think that creates even deeper connection. So creating vehicles that extend the message for authors or CEOs to share something, it doesn’t always have to be to make money through a course or from book sales or consulting. I think there’s a whole speaking model and then there’s a whole content partnership model as well that are [inaudible 00:16:23] that can be done very tastefully. So it just depends on what are the end goals of the person and what fits to them as a brand.

John Jantsch: So give us your, if somebody came to you who feels like, hey, I want to take it up a notch and I just want you to tell me what would it be one thing I could do to actually do a better job of relationship building? I know that’s hard question.

Bryan Wish: No, I think that’s great. I would say go deeper with the ones right in front of you that you really value already. Because I think that we’re very lucky in this world to have very close relationships and if we have three, four or five really good relationships instead of just trying to add to the stockpile, why don’t you just go even deeper on the ones that are right in front of you? Because if you do, and that works really well, I’m sure they know other people just like you, and their friends become your friends and your network multiplies over and over again with people who are just like you. So your trial evolves and compounds because you’ve actually taken the time to invest really hard and in ones that feel just right to you, or that feel more like 100% as opposed to 70%.

John Jantsch: Awesome. So Brian, tell people where they can find out more about you and the work you’re doing at BW Missions.

Bryan Wish: Yes, absolutely. You can find me, my email is Bryan, B-R-Y-A-N, @bryanwish.com. My website is BWMissions.com and you can reach out to me on LinkedIn. I’m on Twitter and Instagram, but I think email, LinkedIn would be the best.

John Jantsch: Awesome. Well, thanks for taking time today, Bryan, and hopefully we’ll run into you soon someday out there on the road.

Bryan Wish: Thanks, John. Thanks for having me. I’m excited to see what you do next.

from http://bit.ly/2TuWPSM

#Marketing Plan

[marymosley]

Duty to Submit Supplemental Evidence

Polygroup Limited MCO v. Willis Electric Co., LTD (Fed. Cir. 2019)

In a rare split decision, the PTAB upheld the patentability of Polygroup’s U.S. Patent No. 8,974,072 (2-1 decision).  On appeal, however, the Federal Circuit has vacated that decision with an oddly written double-negative conclusion: “substantial evidence does not support the Board’s finding that Polygroup failed to establish a rationale to combine the prior art.”

This case is part of ongoing litigation between these makers of pre-lit artificial trees. The appeal here was already pending when the Federal Circuit decided a separate set of IPR appeals – holding that the PTAB had been unduly narrow in its claim construction on the claim term “tree portion” and had also failed to address a single-reference obviousness argument.  [prior decision] The patent at issue here is a child of that at issue in the prior case. On appeal here, those same issues were raised and – in a conclusory statement – the appellate panel found them resolved for the child as a matter of collateral estoppel (issue preclusion):

[B]ecause we have already decided [these issues] in Polygroup’s favor in a previous appeal concerning U.S. Patent No. 8,454,186, a parent of the ’072 patent, [these arguments have] been resolved against Willis as a matter of collateral estoppel.

The court here does not explain its view of whether claim construction associated with a parent patent always decides the issue for a child patent.  In the case, we apparently had a lack of good briefing.  Apparently neither party provided supplemental authority to this panel regarding the intervening decision, and the court provided a little chastising footnote:

Although Polygroup notified us that it anticipated an earlier decision … would control the “tree portion” construction issue in this appeal, see Appellant’s Br. 1, we expected more. Pertinent and significant authority came to the parties’ attention after the briefing in this appeal concluded, yet both parties failed to notify the Panel about this occurrence. Rule 28(j) contemplates the submission of such supplemental authority. Fed. R. App. P. 28(j).

To be clear, 28(j) does not require supplemental submissions, but only states that “a party may promptly advise” the court of “pertinent and significant authorities” identified after briefing or oral arguments. At oral arguments, the Judges went further to state that the failure to submit supplemental authority “is no small matter; its your duty to ensure to ensure to the best you can, that the court doesn’t go down blind alleys.” “Both [counsel] had an obligation to advise us of these cases.”  The court’s upset here is a bit odd since the parties had designated these cases as related and one of the judges (Judge Dyk) was on both sets of panels.

Regarding the actual underlying obviousness decision: The big question was whether someone of skill in the art would alter “snap-fitting” electrical connectors with the claimed tapered compression-fitted electrical connectors. In its decision, the Board found that these were not known alternatives.  On appeal, the Federal Circuit vacated that conclusion — finding that the board made several errors in its reasoning that were not supported by substantial evidence. On that portion, I’ll just say that it appears to be a poorly written decision.

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