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crowleyellestair · 4 years

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Maybe... Injured! Geralt x freezing!soakingwet! Reader? Like reader is so focused on take care of Geralt (he's unconscious) they forget that they are in cold, wet clothes. Every inch of there skin is wet. They're so cold that they're shivering and their lips are a slight shade of blue. Hewakes up when reader is finishing taking care of his wounds. Reader is now shivering harder and Jask and Geralt kind of freak out. Angst but with a fluffy ending please (this is my last one for a while I swear)

AN//// Another amazing idea!! Keep em coming if you want, I love these <3

Kayrans. Nasty sea dwellers that can live for decades, unnoticed, sinking ships and eating livestock close enough to the coastline. They are rare, and mostly found in the Pontar or the Gulf of Praxeda. Of course, those are known habitats, not rules, and creatures are allowed to migrate. The Nimnar river sat just before the Kestrel Mountains, branching from the Buine, arching to the town of Ghelibol. It was late autumn, and being in the north had put a toll throughout the area. Frost lasted till late morning, and kids weren’t allowed outside without an extra layer.

Wind carried nothing but silence as the trio scoured the area. Jaskier had huffed, watching as his breath tumbled out of him visibly. His arms wrapped tightly around himself as he plopped onto a tall rock, trying to get a great view of their side of the river. Geralt had been trying to listen in on the movement around him, but he couldn’t distinguish anything. The river was only partially frozen, the waterfall at the end of its wake throwing down a current from its high vantagepoint. He could distinguish the heartbeats of his companions, but the life below the ice bubbled together.

It was what caught Y/n’s attention that had gave the silence a deathly tone. The frost and dirt that rolled over the top had blurred her vision to the moving thing under the surface. She carefully kneeled down, brushing her leather clad hands over the ice cap, trying to clear the debris. An orange, reflective tendril slithered just out of view. The day had an overcast, light dull and dreary, and that is what cave the creature away. Y/n didn’t know much about types and attributes of fish, but she was sure no fish could reflect as bright on this kind of day. Her hand flew to the hilt of her sword that was strapped to her hip. Her eyes remained to the ice, standing fully quickly, but careful to not lose her balance.

“Geralt. Here.” The warriors free hand pointed to the ice, and the witcher took a step towards her, away from the edge of the cap. “Tentacle looking thing. Are there any monster eels?” Jaskier was trying to make his way down safely from the top of the rock, but stopped to question her logic, his tone sassy.

“Eels that live by themselves and comes to shore, eating any animal that passes. Or is big enough to take down ships?” Y/n scoffed at his tone as she looked to the bard. Her stance had become relaxed, hand going to her hip.

“Ok, I was simply asking-.”

“Geralt!” The bards voice resonated in the dead air despite the open fields surrounding them and the river. Fear pierced the woman as she whipped her head to the witcher. Daggers flooded her veins, but not for fear of her own safety. There was an arsenal of emotions that lived in her whenever she thought of the White Wolf, and most of them pertain to love and caring. When she caught sight of what the bard had, a large orange tendril raised high and ready to strike, she knew that she would trade spots with the man in a heartbeat. Y/n’s mouth opened, but nothing would escape her tightened throat.

The wolf had easily dodged the appendage as it finally swung at him, pressing the flat face against the arm. He ran it against the scales while pushing it towards the ground, quickly cutting the bulb pulsing halfway up the length of the arm. His foot pressed it into the ice as it started to squirm, cutting into the opened bulb and severing its arm. Golden, worried eyes flew to the edges, yelling to his partners behind him.

“Kayran! Y/n, I want you off the ice.” The woman shuffling her way to the man while finally finding her voice once more.

“No chance. Go for those bulb thingies?” A low grunt could be heard, and she made another step towards him, but shattering ice could be heard immediately being her. Shards flew around her, and she heard Jaskier yell once more. She tried to steady herself, but her steadying step sent her straight through the ice. It wasn’t the first time it had happened in her life, so she didn’t flail. Her head popped back up after catching a glimpse of the creature. The body was closer to Geralt, and she knew she had to get out to warn him. Wiggling back onto the surface, trying to be quick, yet disburse her weight as much as possible, she watched as the ice became red around a kneeling Geralt.

The daggers she had felt before returned in full force. Her lung seazed, and her whole body felt hot. Her vision tunneled around Geralt, watching as he arched his sword, catching and slicing another bulb. That brought the Kayran to the brink, heaving its body onto the ice. The movement sent Y/n slightly back into the water, making her work harder to get back to her witcher. Geralt had two fend off two remaining tentacles, and by the time she had made it out ad to him, he cut another tendril. The creature shrieked, Geralt taking the opportunity of its open jaw to throw a bomb in.

Y/n threw herself under his arm, trying to help haul him off the ice, barley making it to the grass as the explosion shattered the rest of the ice cap. Y/n lowered the witch to the ground, calling to him. Her calls started to become gargled through the wetness behind her eyes. His skin was as white as now, blood splattering over his jaw. A shoulder paulron floated in the water, the tendril that hit him had ripped it off. The silver spikes and hardened leather cut through the meat that connected his neck to his shoulder, the gash deep. The bard’s hands were felt on her shoulders, but she easily shrugged him off. Furious eyes flew to him.

“Get the damn bags!” There was a response, but she couldn’t hear anything but ringing. Breathing became hard, and her whole body shook. Though, Y/n thought it was from fear.

Y/n had been a friend of Geralt’s for as long as the Bard had been, joining the two five years in. Y/n had been around to pick up the pieces burned from his heart in the aftermath of the toxic relationship he had shared with Yennefer. The only problem is that she hadn’t done anything with those pieces. She tried to glue them back to him with kind words and a caring hand, but the glue never seemed to dry. The warrior watched as he threw himself into contracts or brothels to try and forget the emotions he apparently wasn’t supposed to have. There had been multiple times where he had been on death’s door, but even then, she couldn’t bring herself to say something. While it broke her inside to be brought so close to never tell him how much she truly loved him, she was certain he didn’t feel the same. And because of that, she wanted him to be peaceful, not having to war over her confession as he passed into the afterlife.

Their medical chest was shoved into her, and her hands flew to her eyes trying to wipe away the tears. Jaskier’s lute calloused hand gently pressed a needle and surgical thread into her arm, and she leaned over Geralt brushing his hair away to get at his neck. Blood still poured, and she couldn’t wipe away much, but she could see the gash easy enough. Her fingers pinch the skin together, and she started to curse herself allowed for having a shaky hand.

“Y/n, let me.”

“No, I was backup, just-.” Her head leaned down, keeping her eyes close to the wound. It took what felt like hours, but really only minutes, to finally seal the wound. She grabbed White Honey, pouring some over the wound, and when nothing bubbled, she continued to clean in. A sharp breeze blew over the trio, and Jaskier stood between her and the brunt of it, his arms going around her again. Again, Y/n tried to shrug him off, her head snapping to look at him. “I need to focus-.”

“Y/n.” Her name was grunted from under her, and her heart skipped a beat. She turned, her hand grabbing Geralt’s cheek. Her smile was short lived as anger and worry flew over his features. Despite her small grunt of protest, Geralt shot forward. His hands clasped both of hers in one of his large ones, his other hand clamping behind her back, pulling her to his chest.

Y/n, confused, still let out a relieved sigh, feeling the heat of fear and adrenaline leave her body. Maybe too quickly. Why is she turning so cold? Once she tried to shift in his arms, she felt how tight her skin was. How even both Geralt’s and Jaskier’s hot breath felt like cold breezes. The bard left once more, stepping back to where he had been originally, picking up the discarded blanket. She looked to his angry eyes as he huffed, forcing the blanket around her shoulders, and back over Geralt. Her head fell onto the witcher’s uninjured shoulder as a wave of nausea hit. She could hear her hair crunch against his armor when her head fell, and she tried to stop the shaking that came from her body worse than ever before.

“If you throw that blanket off one more time,” Jaskier’s finger wagged as he threatened. “Geralt’s blood was already clotting at the edges, you could have used the half-second it takes to keep the blanket on.”

“Well-.”

“Y/n.” The wolf’s gruff tone rolled to her heart, tightening now not just from the cold, but from the twinge of failure. She hadn’t truly failed in anyway, but in her mind, his tone was displeased. It was, but she never wanted to hear it being presented towards her. “I would have been fine.” She tried to reply, but she had to pry her lips open, and when she had accomplished that, her voice waivered and her jaw continued to clamp close as she chattered.

“You don’t-t-t know that. I-it was ba-bad.”

“You don’t know that either.” Y/n forced her torso away from the man, regret unperceived yet as anger and worry flooded her.

“You wouldn’t-t open your…eyes, Geralt! For all I k-knew, you wouldn’t op-pen them again!” He huffed as he yanked her back against his chest. The bard’s hands were on her back, trying to rub heat back into it. The witcher tilted his head so her lips were flush against the corner of his own. When they landed there, a shiver racked through him, Y/n sighing at the heat flooding through their connected skin, feeling following and flooding her numbed parts. After a minute of the two trying to put heat back into their warrior, Y/n’s shivering was lessened immensely.

“I rather you be warm.” Geralt’s tone had softened once he felt her skin warm. She scoffed once more, her voice quiet, but finally even.

“How would you know if you had died?” She felt Jaskier’s fingers twitch on her back before they clench the blanket. The White Wolf pressing her face into his neck.

“If you had died from this. From helping me, even if I was brought to that point, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.” The breeze once again carried silence, but only for a moment. “What would I have to live for if you were gone?” The woman’s heart pounded in her chest, and she nuzzled closer.

“I..I’m sorry. I feel the same, and I will happily trade my warmth for your safety.” Geralt tilted his head again, placing a kiss to where the corners of their lips meet.

#witcher imagine #witcher x reader #geralt x reader #geralt imagine #jaskier imagine

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asterekmess · 4 years

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S3A - E2

Here we go, Episode 2 of the rewatch. Honestly, even if you guys really don’t care about these, I’m gonna write them anyway, cus I need to get my FEELINGS out.

Anyway. Read More as a symbol of my love.

Thoughts:

Your pen is dry, honey. Try a sharpie.

So Stiles has literally known Heather since he was born? Nursery school is from 0 months to 5 years old, apparently. And Scott doesn’t know who she is? How does that even happen? It’s not like Stiles hasn’t seen her in ages, she recognizes him Instantly from across the room and he recognizes her back. So, Scott just never met her or asked about her or anything? Stiles never told him?

If anyone was curious, apparently Heather’s friend is named Danielle (according to Amazon Prime’s “X-Ray” thingy). She’s the same girl from Lydia’s birthday party, I think. The one who woke Stiles up? OHmygod that would be so fucking interesting. If he invited her and Heather to Lydia’s party. Maybe Heather couldn’t go, but Danielle showed up.

Awww, was Heather Stiles’ first kiss? Did they play winery as kids? Hide and seek? did they break a stupidly expensive bottle of wine?

I have personal issues with Stiles supposed canon age. I refuse to believe he’s not 17 and a year older than the others, because of repeating a grade when he was really young. I just refuse to believe otherwise. XP

PLS STOP making fun of girls asking for guys’ consent. This show would be awesome for like ten whole seconds if they stopped RUINING the girl’s asking for consent by having the guys laugh at them or treat it like a joke.

Allison, Scott’s not gonna have a single fucking clue what you’re talking about when only you hold out your arm to show the bruise.

Also. I believe in Big Dick Stiles Stilinski, bc he’s too smart not to know that wearing too big a condom is like the worst possible idea and can render it basically useless, and he wouldn’t have grabbed one (which we see he did in the next episode or something) if it wouldn’t fit. Therefore. XXL for our boy. XP

Hold up. So no one heard Heather screaming? Was she hallucinating the wine bottles breaking? Maybe it was an illusion, cus there’s no mess when Stiles gets down there? But still, the screaming is real. Scott should’ve heard screams like that even from outside the building.

Also, I feel p fucking bad for Stiles. As far as he knows, she bailed on him. What if he thought it was a prank or a joke or something? Or, even worse actually, since he’s known her for so long and she left her shoes down there, I bet he’d be worried instantly.

*snort* I looked up Derek’s loft set for research. They had to do so much editing to make it look grudgy and out of the way. This building is in the middle of town and it’s Massive and Gleaming. It’s a place where you can rent office suites. XD

I love everything about Isaac’s little venting session over getting Peter’s help, except the part where where he mentions Scott. Fuck scott. (whoops, now I need the tag. Like you didn’t see that coming?)

I find it hilarious that Peter’s intro is Rock Music. Also. “Fair enough.” I do love this man. (took me a while though.) Like, he’s honestly pretty simple to understand most of the time. He just wants people to be honest to him, say what they wanna say to his face.

Look at Peter, giving us one of the very few hints at werewolf history. Presumably, the ability was meant to be used to share memories with pack, locations of dens or images or even scents of other packs. And though mostly Alphas do it, clearly not just Alphas do it. This is fucking Interesting, I want MORE.

Aannnd, we discover that Scott’s been lying to Allison this whole time and letting her think that Derek just randomly attacked her mother. Love it. Also, I’m still not over Allison’s behavior in the last season? Waiting on an apology, hun, and it better be good.

OH. OH NOW You can sense the werewolves, Scott? SERIOUSLY?

Why do they make every single scene with Finstock have something to do with Stiles’ sex life? Like....it’s awkward. Stop. Also, can you imagine Stiles getting a rep around school for having a big dick bc of this? Is that something that actually happens in high schools? I had no friends, I would not know.

“No play.” The first time Scott decides that neutrality is better than actually doing something useful. I’m salty. *nods* yup. I am. I know what this scene does later on, and I hate it.

Also, can I just say that I literally hate that EVERY SINGLE time Stiles is having a good time, they make it Horrible? Stiles makes a lil joke about Derek being a Sourwolf? Derek gets claws through his lungs and spits blood. Stiles gets to play on the team? Across town Erica and Boyd are being tortured. Stiles is about to have sex? The girl he’s supposed to have sex with is being traumatized downstairs. Stiles is about to play a stupid fucking game in class? He gets taken in for questioning because his friend since birth has been kidnapped. They literally refuse to ever let Stiles be happy without making him look like an idiot or an asshole for having a single good emotion. It makes me so MAD. You can literally measure the show! If Stiles is actually smiling, then someone’s about to die.

OH MY GOD. Really? Another moment we didn’t get to see? “Derek says it’s easier to turn teenagers” WHEN DID HE SAY THAT? I‘M SO CURIOUS. Also how does Stiles know what Peter and Derek tried to do to get Isaac’s memories back? Are they reporting to Stiles? Letting him know what’s up? STILES IS HALE PACK I WILL FIGHT YOU.

I’m getting really sick of Deaton somehow knowing more about werewolves than the two born werewolves. Like, it’s really fucking annoying? They know their own species, or at least they should? It was the same with Chris helping out on the hunt. He doesn’t know werewolves better than they know themselves and I’m fucking tired of it. Let Peter and Derek have their own fucking history and knowledge about their own fucking species.

*snort* i paused at just the right time and the water effect made Derek and scott’s foreheads Really big. XD

I enjoy Stiles getting distracted now that his job is done. I feel that in my soul. The only difference between us is that he has the confidence to just Grab the shit he wants to play with, and I never did so I just zone out staring at it.

I’m not stupid. I see them suddenly throwing in the work ‘risky’ everywhere. But I still appreciate Derek reminding Isaac that he doesn’t have to do the ice tub thing.

More reflections...what’s with the reflections in this season so far?

Also, is this how people sound when they’re hypnotized. I’m on Stiles’ side actually, giving this the side-eye with Isaac’s constant “They’re here” thing. It seems really weird and overdone.

God, this scene is such fucking bullshit. Derek would never put Isaac in danger like that. Isaac’s the only Beta he’s got at the moment. He wouldn’t do that and it’s fucking Stupid to make him be so vicious and scare the shit out of Isaac. I fucking hate it.

I think it’s sweet that Isaac looks to Stiles for answers when everyone’s acting weird.

Ten hours of research, and Stiles has a little pinboard on the floor, the prototype for his big one Awwwwww.

Papa Stilinski comes through ONce Again!

If they’re supposed to meet at 5 and get to work at dark. Why is it dark when they get to Dereks??? WORK WITH ME HERE.

WHY would they patch the wall (Which is stone, so wtf did they patch it with? Concrete?) if they closed the bank down right after the robbery???

IT”S THE SCENE *heavy breathing* “Big bad wolf, yeahhh, lookatdat” Peter looks SO DONE “I’ve been dealing with this for months, make it stop”

aaaand again. “Risk” Since when does Peter care about risk? I never understood this scene. We have evidence that Peter cares about family, and according to werewolves, pack is family. He flipped shit to find Derek when Derek was missing. This is exactly the kind of thing he would do. I just...I don’t get it. Don’t like it, either.

“Yeah, if you want me to come” “NOT you” I love this scene, because it shows not just that Stiles is fucking raring to go and help, but that he didn’t offer before only because he thought Derek wouldn’t let him. We know Derek doesn’t think Stiles is useless. He put Stiles in charge of researching this entire bank. Which means it’s not that he doesn’t think Stiles could help, it’s that he doesn’t want Stiles to get hurt. And apparently Stiles knows that Derek feels that way, and knows Derek is vehement enough about it that he didn’t even bother bringing it up in the first place. That’s some serious trust and understanding, and even respect right there that Stiles is showing. Understanding what Derek would feel before he did it, trusting that Derek knew better about what was too dangerous for Stiles to involve himself in, and respecting him enough not to bug him about it anyway.

personal preference, I hate how much time is wasted just showing people walk down halls with weird lighting effects, or showing Allison trip over debris and pull her coat closed. Like...it’s really not needed?

Sup, Morrell? 20 seconds to get hidden? Is that 20 sec before the alphas get in hearing range or 20 sec before they actually get there? And how did the Alphas know that Derek was coming tonight? As far as they knew they took Isaac’s memory away and killed Braeden.

KALI WEAR SOM EFUCKING SHOES YOU NASSTY.

Smart girl with the bleach. I mean, I don’t know why the sudden scent of bleach didn’t tick kali off, but sure, whatever works.

I’m not even kidding. When I saw this scene for the first time I fucking burst into tears. Just that little glimpse of Erica and I was a mess

I really love Stiles and Peter chatting though. Like, Stiles gives no fucks, and Peter sounds just so used to it. Also, Derek’s couch looks sooooo comfy. I wanna sit on it. And Peter halfway through calling Stiles annoying is just like “Shit. He’s right. Again.” and there’s no physical distance. Peter once dragged Stiles around by his neck all night and nearly killed Lydia. But Stiles has no qualms about walking right up into his space and helping him out. PLUS, when Peter realizes Stiles is right, there’s no insults. Not even frustrated ones. When STiles describes the walls of the loft, Peter doesn’t say, “No, you idiot, the bank vault.” or make a quip. He’s immediately looking to Stiles for the information and trusting that he has it and will know where it is.

Then we have Scott just...whatever the fuck he’s saying. I don’t wanna hear it.

Okay, that is way more space behind Derek and Scott than Stiles said. And how is the moonlight even getting in? They had to shimmy through a shaft in the walls, there’s no windows in the walls. AND HOW THE FUCK would the ALpHA PACK KNOW THEY EVen KNOW WHERE THE BANK IS???

Derek should be able to hear the phone call. Just. Yes. That’s how that works. Also, Peter, now is not the time for gladiator analogies.

And the tears are back. All it takes is one fucking word. “Cora?”

IT DOESN”T MAKE SENSE. HOW WOULD THE ALPHAS KNOW??? If Marin hired Braeden and told her to get a message to Derek about the bank they were being kept at, then that means that it was all this really dumb double-double cross. Her making it look like she double-crossed the Alphas by telling Braeden to give up their location, but actually doing for the Alphas to trap Derek and Scott. What the absolute fuck?

FINALLY Someone holds Scott accountable. THANK you Derek.

Also, hello Lydia, I’m so sorry honey but you’re about to enter a whole new nightmare.

Final thoughts: I’m very long winded, and very frustrated and very fucking sad. I am just so goddamn sad and the next episode’s gonna make me feel even worse so I’m taking a break.

#personal #TeenWolf-Rewatch #anti-scott mccall

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flatheadsforever · 5 years

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MOPAR FLATHEADS

(taken from ‘49plymouth.com)

Valves

The valve train is lubricated entirely by the splash effect of the camshaft and valve train. The only pressure feed to the system is to the cam bearings. The oil that escapes the camshaft journals and any splash resulting inside the crankcase from the reciprocating crank mass are the sole source of lubrication for cam followers, springs and valve guides.

Common sensed says that exhaust valves and guides run at a higher temperature than intake valves and guides. Coupled with this temperature differential is the fact that intake guides are subjected to manifold vacuum, (meaning that they tend to suck oil into the guide), while exhaust guides work in the environment of exhaust pressure and heat. These two facts, temperature and pressure, mean that exhaust guides get virtually no lubrication. As a result of this fact, they are one of the more likely components in the valve train to wear out first.

Having said this, a quick look at these engines shows that they, like most automotive engines, sit high in the front. This means that in a splash lubricated valve train, the highest component is also the farthest from the source of splash lubrication – the cam bearings and followers.

Happenstance (and perhaps MoPar engineering) have dictated that the frontmost engine valve in MoPar flathead engines is an exhaust valve – the ones that wears first, anyhow. All this combines to mean that the front valve guide is the hottest, least lubricated and most prone to wear out. Disassembly and inspection of many of these engines have led this writer to believe the front valve guide nearly always exhibits the greatest amount of wear of all the engine guides. Second in likelihood of wear are the remaining exhaust guides, while intake guides rarely if ever show wear. If intake guides do leak, they tend to draw oil into the guide, which tends to aid lubrication. No valve seals are used on flathead engines

MoPar engines use hardened valves and seats as standard equipment. In this area, these engines are truly overbuilt. When valves show wear, they are invariably exhaust valves. Experience has proven that worn exhaust valves are nearly always caused by worn valve guides. Exceptions to this rule can be a piece of carbon or other debris causing a valve to hang open and burn.

Lubrication Systems

Mopar flathead engines were manufactured at a time when the technology of engine oil was still primitive, by today’s standards. Much of the wear restorers encounter upon disassembly is the result of the poor state of available lubricants. The oil we buy and use today is light years ahead of that available fifty years ago.

Bypass oil filtration systems were never very helpful, but happened to be the only thing available in the forties and early fifties for these engines. The nature of bypass filtration is that likely ten percent or less of the total oil circulated by the oil pump ever gets to pass through the filter. The line that feeds these filters is the smallest diameter steel line used in automotive manufacturing. Even this meager amount of volume allowed to pass through the filter system is shut off during periods of low oil pressure, and only opened for circulation when oil pressure rises above a given pressure point. These bypass filters were optional, for many engines were produced without them.

Full-flow oil filter systems, by comparison, filter ALL oil that is picked up by the pump and circulated inside the engine. Several restorers have performed work-around adaptations for these engines to adapt full-flow filtration to them. This improvement, in this writer’s estimation, goes a long way toward extending engine life. Full-flow oil filtration coupled with modern high detergent oil technology, will allow these already-well-built engines to last much longer between overhauls.

Engine Blocks

Do not be fooled by the small (218/230) cubic displacement of these engines. They are heavy block castings that warm up slowly due to their large mass. The water jacket inside the block is only present in the top several inches of the casting, where the heat of combustion is greatest. On the passengers’ side is the valve chamber, and there is no coolant flow below the level of the water distribution tube, well above the camshaft level. On the driver’s side, the water jacket extends down to the block core plugs and thingy, but the flow is mainly limited to the upper section. The area on the thingy side is typically where sediment and dirt settle inside the block. I have seen these blocks filled with sediment above the tops of the core plugs at the rear. This of course must all be cleaned out as part of any overhaul. Remove all block core plugs and use whatever method you have at hand to make sure everything is clean and free of sediment and dirt.

It is logical to believe that these fifty-plus year old engines may have several hundred thousands of miles on them, in spite of what you want to believe. Logic further dictates that cylinder heads have been removed several times for valve and piston work during the life of the engine. While the head is off, it is a good thing to check the deck with a straight edge, both for warppage and for distortion. It is not likely that an engine has been overheated sufficiently to warp the entire block casting, but close inspection usually shows some heaving or mushrooming of the deck surfaces around each head bolt hole. I have been successful in removing these distortions with a sharp flat file. Just start at one end and swipe crossways over the deck area. This will reveal high spots around each head bolt hole. These can be filed down to a true flat area with a little diligence. The result is a more precise deck surface against which the head gasket can seat. Most folks know that heads can be safely milled sixty or seventy thousandths to improve compression ratios. Even if this is not important to you, a resurfacing of the head is recommended, just to be sure of a flat surface for the gasket. If you can afford it and your block is at the machine shop for cleaning anyhow, have them resurface the deck a few thousandths to get a true surface. The same advice would not hurt a bit for the manifold gasket surface on the block.

Crankcase Ventilation

Another element of engine technology that has gained vastly from modern engineering understanding is crankcase ventilation. Originally designed only to ventilate the crankcase of fumes and condensation, this system is forced into double duty when an engine begins to wear excessively, for now it also has to handle blow-by products of combustion that have escaped past worn pistons and rings..

Positive crankcase ventilation (PCV) systems were originally mandated with a view toward limiting crankcase emissions. A secondary benefit of the PCV system is its ability to remove much more of the condensation and moisture from the crankcase than was originally possible with the primitive road draft tube that was always open to the atmosphere. Yet another advantage of the PCV system is its ability to disperse any blow-by from the crankcase by returning it in the engine.

It is easy to modify these flathead six engines from the original road draft system to the newer, superior PCV system. This is true mainly due to Chrysler’s involvement in military vehicle production during WWII. Many of these military vehicles were equipped from the factory with engines designed to ford streams and run in semi-submerged conditions for short periods of time. One part of these engine sealing systems was the PCV system designed to keep water OUT of the crankcase.

A direct result of this fact is that most military vehicle parts suppliers are equipped to offer the PCV adapter necessary for this conversion. This writer found one at Vintage Power Wagons. The adapter is a round, cast metal piece that bolts to the rear of the block in the same spot as the original road draft tube. From this adapter, 3/8-inch tubing is routed forward and up to the intake manifold. A pipe plug in the center of the intake on the outboard side can be removed and this line connected to it as a vacuum source. In series in this line must be a PCV valve, of the type typically used on any engine of equivalent cubic inch displacement. Because of the closeness of this vacuum line to the hot exhaust manifold, this writer chose to use an all-brass PCV valve, available from the same military source. A PCV system on these engines, coupled with modern oil and a by-pass filter, offer a recipe for extended engine life.

Thermostats

It is impossible to operate an internal combustion engine without generating condensation in the crankcase. It is just a fact of life. If the moisture is removed, it presents no problem. If it is not removed, the result is an eventual buildup of sludge.

The only way by which the moisture of condensation can be removed from a crankcase is evaporation. This evaporation can only take place in the presence of heat and air movement. If the crankcase and engine block heat is not high enough for evaporation to occur, the condensation moisture will remain inside the block. Since this is water, which is heavier than oil, it will go to the bottom of the crankcase or valve chamber. It is for this reason that these are the areas where sludge is typically found in greatest quantity on tear-down. This writer has disassembled many of these engines were more than one pint of sludge was present in the valve chambers alone.

The best remedy for condensation removal is a high temperature thermostat. Vehicles built in the forties and fifties (and before) were designed to use alcohol based antifreeze. This required the use of low temp thermostats. Today we use glycol based antifreezes with much higher boiling points. Actually, the use of a 50/50 mixture of permanent antifreeze and water RAISES the boiling point of the coolant. All this is in aid of explaining why higher, rather than lower temperature thermostats are beneficial to longer engine life. The use of a 160 or 170 degree thermostat today with permanent antifreeze is an invitation for sludge to form in the crankcase. You are doing your engine no favor at all by keeping it running cool, in spite of how it may seem to your own sensitivities.

Not only do higher temp stats cause higher engine operating temperatures which aid in condensation removal, but they also help to raise the temperature more quickly, resulting in less cold engine operating time. Once stat temperature is reached, normal cooling will take place, but at a little higher temperature. Yet another reason why these flatheads need more heat than some engines is that they are heavy castings. A flathead six cylinder 218 cid engine weighs several hundred pounds more than a small block Chevy 350. This casting mass takes TIME to heat up and get up to operating temperature.

Many owners believe that when their dash gauge shows normal temperature, the engine is truly warmed up. Nothing could be further from the truth. Remember this one idea: an engine may warm up and the thermostat open to full circulation long before the block casting around the valve chambers has come up to full operating temperatures. It is this writer’s estimate that it takes nearly thirty minutes of engine operation for a typical flathead block to reach normal operating temperature in cool weather.

Please remember, I’m not talking about the thermostat or the top radiator tank, but the block casting, itself. This is where the condensation occurs and must evaporate from. In order to keep these block casting spots free of sludge, they must get up to full operating temperature. Proof that many of these engines have spent much of their lives running too cold is the sludge found inside the blocks. Granted, engine oils and filtration were of poor quality by comparison to today’s technology, but those engines that are run warmer are always cleaner. An example of this is the fact that larger truck engines are usually found to have less sludge than small trucks and automobiles. Check it out.

Consider a newly restored vehicle with a completely new and clean engine assembly. To keep this engine clean, it should not be started and driven short distances, again because the block will not have an opportunity to achieve operating temperatures. When I use my old stuff, I start it, let it run at idle for a while, then drive it, hopefully at least thirty minutes. I will jack up a car and push it in or of a stall to avoid starting a cold engine for only a few minutes, for this very reason.

It goes without saying that all this talk about getting engines up to temperature is doubly true for the exhaust systems. Exhausts live linger in an atmosphere where they warm up completely each time they are used. Why do you think tail pipes rot off three or four times before head pipes and mufflers? They are always cooler and warm up slower, since they are farther from the source of heat.

Cooling Systems

Cooling systems seem to be one of the more misunderstood components of older engines. In order to understand them, it is necessary to understand the combustion process. A typical gasoline engine running at 2000 rpm under no load will generate a certain amount of heat, but this will soon be realized and stabilized.

Add to this engine now an increased load on the crankshaft, and many things happen at once. First, in order to maintain rpm, the throttle plates must be opened further. This is done automatically if the engine is governed, or manually in an automotive application. The amount of fuel entering the engine increases, the result of which is an immediate increase in combustion chamber pressures and temperatures. It is this sort of use that cooling systems must handle in order to protect an engine. Normal driving under light load barely works the cooling system at all. It is at higher engine loads that the cooling system must be able to function well.

From the engine’s perspective and from a combustion standpoint, the hotter an engine temperature, the better and more efficiently the engine will. Fuel atomizes more freely and the combustion process thrives in an atmosphere of heat. This is difficult for many older vehicle owners to comprehend, yet it is fundamentally true . . . . . . Up TO THE POINT where the engine will begin to suffer metallurgical from the heat. Therefore, the job of the cooling system is to allow the engine to run as hot as safely possible in order to aid the combustion process, yet keep it cool enough to protect it.

Engines are designed to withstand lots of heat safely. Unfortunately, the margin for safety between “hot enough to run well” and “too hot for engine safety” is not a very wide one. When metal parts are heated, they expand. When they cool again, they contract. This cycle can happen over and over with complete safety, as long as the extremes of the heat range are not reached. If metal parts are heated so much that they do not contract to their normal tolerance after cool-down, the metal is said to have warped. This action is most often noticed on cylinder heads and manifold castings that have been subjected to hundreds of heat/cool cycles.. Typically, the remedy for a warped casting is resurfacing.

An example of this action is the typical small block Chevy cylinder head, where the valve arrangement is such that two exhaust valves sit adjacently in the middle of the cylinder head. This is nearly always the point of failure with these castings, for this is the hottest spot on the component.

How does this all relate to MoPar flatheads? The design of these engines is such that a water distribution tube is used in the cooling system to aid in dispersing coolant to the bottom of the exhaust valve seat castings. In this sense, these engines are truly overbuilt, for this is a feature not used by very many other manufacturers of the time. An analogy to this feature would be oil nozzles directed to piston crowns in modern diesel engines – a feature that goes far to extend engine life. Flathead radiators are also overbuilt from a size standpoint, and are truly impressive in their ability to transfer heat from the engine and transfer it to the air. When these engines are warmed up to 180 – 200 degrees F, they run happily all day, run more efficiently and stay cleaner. They live linger, as well.

Having said all this, the water distribution tube is a critical link in the cooling system. Never pull a water pump without at least pulling and checking the distribution tube. It goes without saying that no engine overhaul should ever be contemplated without inspection of this part as well. The tubes are reproduced by several vendors and are available.

Bottom Line

If you truly want to do the best you can for your MoPar flathead, here’s my recipe:

• Modern high detergent motor oil in a clean engine

• Full-flow oil filtration system in place of the part time bypass system

• PCV system instead of the primitive road draft tube

• High temperature (180 or higher) thermostat

• Good quality paper air filter instead of an oil bath system

Rear Main Bearing Seals

Engines built before 1951 used a rear main seal that incorporated a flat metal flange with three screw holes in it. These seals required removal of the flywheel to allow replacement of the top half. Later flathead engines used a different neoprene seal design that could be rolled into place in the top half by loosening the crankshaft, much as you would in replacing a top rear main bearing. The two types of seal are not compatible reciprocally, due to block casting differences.

Timing Chain/Gear Lubrication

Engines built before 1951 use a pressurized oil nozzle of about 1/16-inch diameter to lubricate the timing chain and components. This tube protrudes from the block above the center of the crankshaft gear and points downward, and has a small bracket attached by one screw to the front of the block. The oil is sourced from the front oil passage leading from the main galley on the left side of the block to the front camshaft bearing.

This system provides positive lubrication to timing components and is very nice . . . . . . as long as it stays clean and free from sludge. It was abandoned in later production in favor of an oil slinger disc placed behind the crankshaft timing gear that supposedly slung oil up and onto the chain. Since the slinger lives above the normal oil level in the oil pan, it can operate only when the engine is running. In this writer’s humble opinion, the earlier pressurized system was far superior, and was discontinued only because of the poor quality oil available at the time and the difficulty in getting the block hot enough for this oil component to get warm enough to keep sludge from forming. It would be interesting to compare timing chain wear between two otherwise identical engines, to observe which of the two systems really provides best lubrication and least wear.

Connecting Rods/Caps

Somewhere around 1951 again, a change was made in connecting rod and cap design on the 218/230 engines. Earlier engine design used a special very thin-wall lock washer that sat in a relief on the cap to retain the rod nut. Later engines dispensed with this relief area and used a flat boss on the cap and instead of the thin lock washer used a split lock nut with several small perforations in the top half. What is interesting is that both rod types carry the identical casting number.

The two rod cap types each require use of the correct fastener, and cannot be mixed or matched. If you have the earlier type rods, you must use the lock washers and nuts. This writer has been unsuccessful in finding a vendor source for these washers. They are quite easy to loose on disassembly, especially if you don’t know they are even there. When installed, they are not visible due to the recess in which they sit. And they are hard to find when they are dropped. Ask me how I know. It goes without saying that rod caps can never be interchanged on connecting rods.

Oil Pans – Oil Leaks

The front of the oil pan area on these engines presents a small challenge for first time restorers. There are several places from which oil can leak, all of which will show up at the front pan area. In order to understand the nature of the situation, it is necessary for the reader to have seen the individual parts.

The front of the oil pan has a wide cork gasket which rides against an aluminum saddle, designed just for this purpose. The aluminum saddle is held in place by two machine screws, and must be removed before access can be had to the front main bearing bolts, for they are partially covered by the saddle.

The engine timing cover gasket must seal the cover itself, the front of the block and this aluminum saddle on which rides the oil pan gasket. It is at the juncture of these three pieces of metal – block, timing cover and aluminum saddle, that oil leaks can easily arise if proper assembly is not observed. This might be a good place to mention that the timing cover has one bolt on the passenger’s side that enters the cover from the rear of the block flange, in direct opposition to all the other cover bolts.

In addition to this area of potential leakage is the front main oil seal that sits in the timing cover and rides on the crankshaft pulley. Always check the seal area on these pulleys for wear. It is not unusual to find a definite groove worn into the pulley seal area from seal lip and dirt wear at this point. A worn pulley will cause a new seal to leak. Speedy sleeves are available, as are “trick” seals that ride on a new and different spot on the pulley to avoid the worn groove spot.

This writer also likes to incorporate a good sized magnet inside the oil pan on reassembly for attracting any wear metal pieces that may get into the crankcase. Old flat speaker magnets are perfect for this purpose. Never throw one away. An ounce of prevention . . . . . .

Miscellany

Engine assembly involves using many bolts that thread into water jacket passages. This is true for head bolts, manifold bolts and a few of the upper timing cover bolts as well as the three water pump bolts. It is important that these bolt threads have some form of waterproof sealer used on them. Clean, tight threads can still leak fluid past them if not sealed. There are no shortcuts to cleanliness that work here. Never use or hang a dirty part on a rebuilt engine.

Engine reassembly is fairly critical work. It cannot he done in a less than clean environment. With all the engines I have ever overhauled, I spent about two hours of parts cleaning time for every half hour of assembly. Fasteners and related block thread holes must be completely clean. The only way this writer has been successful at this task is to use thread taps and dies on each individual part. I have cleaned head bolts on a wire wheel grinder to the point that they shined, yet when the threads were chased with a die, a pile of dirt and carbon showed up on the vise. Do not worry about removing metal with a tap or die. If you are using the correct size, the threads will not be damaged.

MoPar flathead engines were manufactured with very low compression ratios, even for their day. This engineering was based much on the octane levels of fuel available to the public. Flatheads respond very nicely to an increase in compression ratio. This can be accomplished quickly and cheaply by milling material from the bottom of the cylinder head. Doing this will also assure that the head surface is true and free from warpage, as well as offering an opportunity to increase compression and engine performance.

Unleaded fuel offers no problems to these engines, in this writer’s opinion. They certainly do NOT need high octane fuel. Using it in flathead engines will not be beneficial in any way, contrary to the opinions of many. Valves and seats are already of superior quality from the original manufacturer. Just make sure when you set initial engine timing that the engine does not ping or preignite under load.

On the subject of engine timing, here is one often ignored area of performance – the distributor. Distributors have two timing advance mechanisms incorporated in their design – vacuum and centrifugal. The vacuum advance is visible on the outside of the distributor and can easily be tested by mouth or vacuum pump. If it doesn’t leak it will be okay, as long as the distributor breaker plate moves freely inside the cap.

Centrifugal advance units are harder to see, for they are underneath the breaker plate that holds the contact points and condenser. These mechanisms are usually trouble free, but may wear over time. Short of removing the distributor and having it tested on a stand, the only way to test a centrifugal advance unit is with an advance-type timing light and a knowledgeable mechanic. Specs for both vacuum and centrifugal advance units are available with other tune-up data, and of course are a requirement before checking either advance unit. Suffice to say that lots of flatheads are weak in these areas. When one performs well, it is usually a sign that both systems are functioning correctly.

This still leaves the issue of initial timing, which refers to the relationship of the engine to the distributor, and is adjusted by turning the distributor in the block while the engine is running, with the use of a timing light. Power timing, advocated by a few, aids little with these engines, unless you are a performance buff. If such is the case, have at it . . . .

__________________

5 notes · View notes

restatebrk24219 · 5 years

Text

How To Write A Great Product Description Page

Every web-browsing human being reads a product description, almost every day. Most product descriptions are eye-bleeding horrors of lousy copy and unclear information. That means some of the most-read digital content is some of the worst.

We can do better.

This is my sort-of-system for better product descriptions. Use as you see fit.

Two Kinds Of Descriptions

You’re writing two product descriptions:

The SERP snippet, to improve rankings and generate clicks

The product description page, to generate sales

Both impact rankings. But writing just for rankings will kill sales, and vice-versa. You have to find the right balance.

I beg of you, please don’t go and rewrite 10,000 product descriptions to the exact formula I outline here. It’s a starting point. Be creative.

The Product Description Page

This is the classic “product description.” Folks read it when they’re making their buying decision. They’re looking at two things that your writing can impact:

Value

Features

If UX is solid and the product is good, a great description will explain features and establish value so well that the customer clicks buy.

I focus on three elements of the product description page:

The on-page title

The blurb

The bullets

The Product Description Page

If you don’t have bullets, may I suggest adding them?

There’s lots of other stuff: Images, call to action, price, for example. I’m not writing about those here. I know my limitations.

Check For Duplication

If you’re rewriting an existing description, check for duplication.

Copy two sentences from the blurb

Put them in quotes

Paste them into Google

Do these sentences appear on other sites? That might be OK. But for SEO, duplicate content is a problem. Also, ask yourself: If your product description matches one or more other sites, what reason do folks have to buy from you, instead of them? If you can’t answer, you need to rewrite.

Gahhh! Duplicates. This is a problem.

If you need to rewrite the description, don’t worry. Follow the rest of these recommendations, and it’ll happen naturally.

The On-Page Title

Note: Writing titles for Amazon is an entirely different discipline. Start with these recommendations, but you’ll need to include more product detail. It’s annoying, I know.

Your on-page product title starts as the product name:

Fast Roller TX 1000

But it must pass the Blank Sheet of Paper Test: The title, written on a blank sheet of paper, should make sense to a knowledgeable stranger. The Fast Roller is a road bicycle tire. Try this:

Fast Roller TX 1000 Road Bicycle Tire

That sounds like an SEO wrote it. When you’re wearing your SEO hat, though, you don’t write copy. You optimize it. Never optimize while you write.

I want something tighter. Remember, the blank sheet of paper test says a knowledgeable stranger. So this will work:

Fast Roller TX 1000 Road Tire

Maybe there are two TX 1000s, though: One for each valve type. Then I end up with:

Fast Roller TX 1000 Road Tire: Presta; and Fast Roller TX 1000 Road Tire: Schrader

You want higher rankings, though, so you’re tempted to write a fifty-word title. Use your judgment. An overweight title won’t pass the blank sheet of paper test:

Fast Roller TX 1000 Road Bicycle Tire Flat Proof Presta 700C 150TPI Bike Rolling Thingie With A Valve And Tube And Stuff

The knowledgeable stranger will give up. Think before you start keyword stuffing.

The Blurb: Write An Appeal

Fill the blanks:

If [thing or need] then this is a perfect [product].

Example:

"If you [want puncture-resistance] then this is a perfect [road bike tire].”

That’s your appeal. It’s not the only way, but it’s a robust introduction.

You can combine multiple appeals:

“If you want puncture resistance and great handling, then this road bike tire is perfect.”

Or even:

“The TX 1000 provides puncture resistance without sacrificing weight, for a tire that delivers great handling and low rolling resistance.”

Again, I plead. I beg. I implore. Don’t use this as a formula.

The Blurb: Point Out Results

Something about this product makes it uniquely valuable. I hope.

Tell me how you outperform:

“In testing, the TX 1000 showed greater flat-resistance than all major competitors.”

Describe unique features. Get specific!!!

“The TX 1000 is the only tire with an unobtainium valve for greater durability and easier inflation.”

I won’t call this the USP because the term’s so overused it makes me ill.

The Blurb: Find The Unnoticed Obvious

Find one important unnoticed feature related to the appeal. For example threads per inch (TPI) affect a road cycling tire’s puncture-resistance and handling. If no competitors talk about TPI, we should:

“150 TPI means a supple, flat-resistant sidewall.”

Now, I have:

“If you want to balance puncture resistance and performance, then this is a perfect road bike tire. 150 TPI means a really supple, flat-resistant sidewall that doesn’t sacrifice handling or increase rolling resistance. The TX 1000 is also the only tire with an unobtanium valve for greater durability and easier inflation.”

Progress.

The Blurb: Remove Words That Should Never Be Spoken

Plague words. Ew. Additionally, really, indeed, obviously. Shudder. Dump them all.

I’ve got a whole list of plague words right here. If you use ’em, delete ’em.

“If you want puncture resistance, then this is a perfect road bike tire. 150 TPI means a really supple, flat-resistant sidewall that doesn’t sacrifice handling or increase rolling resistance. The TX 1000 is also the only tire with an unobtanium valve for greater durability and easier inflation.”

I also dislike overuse of unrivaled, unmatched, best, fantastic, or any other phrase that doesn’t apply to your product or your category of product. If you’re Rolex, maybe you can say unrivaled. If you sell shoelaces, stop it.

The Blurb: Remove The Breathless

Avoid the painfully obvious. Without bicycle tires, I get sparks and hemorrhoids. And only an idiot wants a tire that combines high rolling resistance with vulnerability to sharp objects. I get it.

Don’t tell me I’ll love this product, either. You’re already implying that. Saying it out loud seems needy and pushes me away.

“In cycling, tires are important. Performance and flat resistance matter. If you want to balance puncture resistance and performance, then this is a perfect road bike tire. 150 TPI means a really supple, flat-resistant sidewall that doesn’t sacrifice handling or increase rolling resistance. The TX 1000 is also the only tire with an unobtanium valve for greater durability and easier inflation. You’ll love this tire!”

I know I need a bicycle tire. Tell me why I need this bicycle tire.

The Blurb, Resplendent

Here’s what we’ve got:

“If you want to balance puncture resistance and performance, then this is a perfect road bike tire. 150 TPI means a supple, flat-resistant sidewall that doesn’t sacrifice handling or increase rolling resistance. The TX 1000 is also the only tire with an unobtanium valve for greater durability and easier inflation.”

On to the bullets.

The Bullets: Find The Questions (And Answer Them)

Bullets are punchy little bits of information. Readers scan for them. Use them to dispel concerns and answer questions. Finding good bullet content is easy:

Go to Amazon.com. Search for your product, or a relevant one. Scroll down to “questions.”

Answers to questions make great bullets

If there are any, find the five most-read and most-asked. Write a brief response to each one. Keep those answers handy.

Do the same on other sites: Walmart, Jet, and vertical-specific sellers all have “questions” sections.

Those will become bullets in your product description. You might even repeat items from the blurb, like “150 TPI.” Use your judgment.

I found many questions about tire weight, tube versus tubeless, and sidewall color. So my bullets could be:

10 grams (a guy can wish)

Requires a tube

Black sidewalls

You can skip bullets if you want. Maybe you don’t need them. That’s fine. I mean, who needs to answer all those pesky customer questions, right? That’s my over annoying parental way of saying you need bullets. Bribe the developer. Get the branding team drunk and ask for written approval. Whatever you have to do.

Destroy the FAQ

The FAQ is where copywriters go to die. If there are frequently asked questions about a product, write brief answers for those, too. Add them to your bullets, or the product description. Or add a separate section for related FAQ.

If you’re reselling someone else’s product, look at the manufacturer’s FAQ.

Those can become more bullets or part of the blurb.

Everyone wants to know if we guarantee this tire. We provided this answer, so I turned it into a bullet:

10 grams (a guy can wish)

Requires a tube

Black sidewalls

Guaranteed rim fit and flat resistance against normal debris. No rampaging hippos

What About…?

Product specifications? Your call. I don’t think you need specs for a capybara plushie. You might if you sell roofing shingles.

Product ingredients? I like to put them after the bullets, but it depends on the product. A bag of popsicle sticks doesn’t need a list of ingredients. I hope.

Just Get To The SEO, Ian

If you did all of the above, you’ve got an optimized product description page. If you want to take it further:

Make sure you don’t avoid your keyword. You sell bicycle tires, not inflatable wheel support.

Start with the important stuff. Ingredients rarely belong in the first paragraph. Your appeal does.

Do some smart internal linking.

And, you need to work on your SERP snippet:

The SERP Snippet

The product description page is your pitch. The snippet is about search visibility and clickthru.

I’m going to focus on the title element and meta description. They’re usually the bulk of the snippet:

Title element and meta description tag, in a SERP

It may include reviews and other bits, too. That’ll be another post.

The Title Element

If you don’t know what a title element/tag (same thing, different names) is, here’s a primer.

First, follow the Blank Sheet Of Paper Test. I like to start with the product description page title:

Fast Roller TX 1000 Road Tire: Presta

But I probably need to include “bike” or “bicycle” to separate me from motorcycles and cars:

Fast Roller TX 1000 Road Bicycle Tire: Presta

Now, use a keyword research tool like Moz, SEMRush or Merchantwords to find the most-researched product features. I found these:

Flat-resistant bicycle tires

Fast bicycle tires

Bicycle tires weight

Road tire vs. mountain bike tire

I also found a lot of folks search for quantitative features:

Size (700c)

Inflation pressure (110psi)

I might add these to my description:

Fast Roller TX 1000 Road Bicycle Tire – Presta – 700c – 110psi

Remember to check the current maximum title element length. We have a nifty SERP preview tool that can help.

Turns out my title is too long, so I have to get ruthless. I remove the less-important feature:

Fast Roller TX 1000 Road Bicycle Tire – Presta – 700c – 110psi

OK. Title complete.

The Meta Description

If you’re not sure what a meta description tag is, read this.

The meta description has zero direct impact on rankings. It does, however, impact clickthru. These are a few things I try to do:

First: Include the features for which you believe people will search. Those get bolded. Their presence will reinforce that this is the right product. If someone searches for “rolling resistance,” “presta,” and “schrader,” and I have that word in my meta description, the search snippet will look like this:

A SERP snippet with bolded words

The searcher is more likely to click.

Second: Use the highest-performing ad text. A few years ago, Wil Reynolds made this recommendation. It blew my mind: Use the highest-performing PPC ad text as your description tag. You’ve already tested that text. You know it gets high clickthru from a SERP. Blew. My. Mind.

I don’t recommend doing this for the on-page, visible product description. Ad text is optimized for search results, not a product page.

Finally: If it’s relevant, include differentiators: Shipping time, available colors/sizes, genuine original, etc. Anything that matters to your audience. On the other hand, don’t tell me you have genuine original socks. I care exactly not at all.

Try to use all available characters. As I write this, the accepted maximum is 300 characters. It changes all the time. Do your research.

Done! Or Not.

You’ve written a great product description page. You’ve got a great SERP snippet. Nice!

Keep an eye on page performance. Look at clickthru rates. Revise. Keep trying to..

http://bit.ly/2N7uZrZ

#How To Write A Great Product Description Page

0 notes

seoprovider2110 · 5 years

Text

How To Write A Great Product Description Page

We can do better.

This is my sort-of-system for better product descriptions. Use as you see fit.

Two Kinds Of Descriptions

You’re writing two product descriptions:

The SERP snippet, to improve rankings and generate clicks

The product description page, to generate sales

Both impact rankings. But writing just for rankings will kill sales, and vice-versa. You have to find the right balance.

I beg of you, please don’t go and rewrite 10,000 product descriptions to the exact formula I outline here. It’s a starting point. Be creative.

The Product Description Page

This is the classic “product description.” Folks read it when they’re making their buying decision. They’re looking at two things that your writing can impact:

Value

Features

If UX is solid and the product is good, a great description will explain features and establish value so well that the customer clicks buy.

I focus on three elements of the product description page:

The on-page title

The blurb

The bullets

The Product Description Page

If you don’t have bullets, may I suggest adding them?

There’s lots of other stuff: Images, call to action, price, for example. I’m not writing about those here. I know my limitations.

Check For Duplication

If you’re rewriting an existing description, check for duplication.

Copy two sentences from the blurb

Put them in quotes

Paste them into Google

Gahhh! Duplicates. This is a problem.

If you need to rewrite the description, don’t worry. Follow the rest of these recommendations, and it’ll happen naturally.

The On-Page Title

Note: Writing titles for Amazon is an entirely different discipline. Start with these recommendations, but you’ll need to include more product detail. It’s annoying, I know.

Your on-page product title starts as the product name:

Fast Roller TX 1000

But it must pass the Blank Sheet of Paper Test: The title, written on a blank sheet of paper, should make sense to a knowledgeable stranger. The Fast Roller is a road bicycle tire. Try this:

Fast Roller TX 1000 Road Bicycle Tire

That sounds like an SEO wrote it. When you’re wearing your SEO hat, though, you don’t write copy. You optimize it. Never optimize while you write.

I want something tighter. Remember, the blank sheet of paper test says a knowledgeable stranger. So this will work:

Fast Roller TX 1000 Road Tire

Maybe there are two TX 1000s, though: One for each valve type. Then I end up with:

Fast Roller TX 1000 Road Tire: Presta; and Fast Roller TX 1000 Road Tire: Schrader

You want higher rankings, though, so you’re tempted to write a fifty-word title. Use your judgment. An overweight title won’t pass the blank sheet of paper test:

Fast Roller TX 1000 Road Bicycle Tire Flat Proof Presta 700C 150TPI Bike Rolling Thingie With A Valve And Tube And Stuff

The knowledgeable stranger will give up. Think before you start keyword stuffing.

The Blurb: Write An Appeal

Fill the blanks:

If [thing or need] then this is a perfect [product].

Example:

"If you [want puncture-resistance] then this is a perfect [road bike tire].”

That’s your appeal. It’s not the only way, but it’s a robust introduction.

You can combine multiple appeals:

“If you want puncture resistance and great handling, then this road bike tire is perfect.”

Or even:

“The TX 1000 provides puncture resistance without sacrificing weight, for a tire that delivers great handling and low rolling resistance.”

Again, I plead. I beg. I implore. Don’t use this as a formula.

The Blurb: Point Out Results

Something about this product makes it uniquely valuable. I hope.

Tell me how you outperform:

“In testing, the TX 1000 showed greater flat-resistance than all major competitors.”

Describe unique features. Get specific!!!

“The TX 1000 is the only tire with an unobtainium valve for greater durability and easier inflation.”

I won’t call this the USP because the term’s so overused it makes me ill.

The Blurb: Find The Unnoticed Obvious

“150 TPI means a supple, flat-resistant sidewall.”

Now, I have:

Progress.

The Blurb: Remove Words That Should Never Be Spoken

Plague words. Ew. Additionally, really, indeed, obviously. Shudder. Dump them all.

I’ve got a whole list of plague words right here. If you use ’em, delete ’em.

The Blurb: Remove The Breathless

Avoid the painfully obvious. Without bicycle tires, I get sparks and hemorrhoids. And only an idiot wants a tire that combines high rolling resistance with vulnerability to sharp objects. I get it.

Don’t tell me I’ll love this product, either. You’re already implying that. Saying it out loud seems needy and pushes me away.

I know I need a bicycle tire. Tell me why I need this bicycle tire.

The Blurb, Resplendent

Here’s what we’ve got:

On to the bullets.

The Bullets: Find The Questions (And Answer Them)

Bullets are punchy little bits of information. Readers scan for them. Use them to dispel concerns and answer questions. Finding good bullet content is easy:

Go to Amazon.com. Search for your product, or a relevant one. Scroll down to “questions.”

Answers to questions make great bullets

If there are any, find the five most-read and most-asked. Write a brief response to each one. Keep those answers handy.

Do the same on other sites: Walmart, Jet, and vertical-specific sellers all have “questions” sections.

Those will become bullets in your product description. You might even repeat items from the blurb, like “150 TPI.” Use your judgment.

I found many questions about tire weight, tube versus tubeless, and sidewall color. So my bullets could be:

10 grams (a guy can wish)

Requires a tube

Black sidewalls

Destroy the FAQ

If you’re reselling someone else’s product, look at the manufacturer’s FAQ.

Those can become more bullets or part of the blurb.

Everyone wants to know if we guarantee this tire. We provided this answer, so I turned it into a bullet:

10 grams (a guy can wish)

Requires a tube

Black sidewalls

Guaranteed rim fit and flat resistance against normal debris. No rampaging hippos

What About…?

Product specifications? Your call. I don’t think you need specs for a capybara plushie. You might if you sell roofing shingles.

Product ingredients? I like to put them after the bullets, but it depends on the product. A bag of popsicle sticks doesn’t need a list of ingredients. I hope.

Just Get To The SEO, Ian

If you did all of the above, you’ve got an optimized product description page. If you want to take it further:

Make sure you don’t avoid your keyword. You sell bicycle tires, not inflatable wheel support.

Start with the important stuff. Ingredients rarely belong in the first paragraph. Your appeal does.

Do some smart internal linking.

And, you need to work on your SERP snippet:

The SERP Snippet

The product description page is your pitch. The snippet is about search visibility and clickthru.

I’m going to focus on the title element and meta description. They’re usually the bulk of the snippet:

Title element and meta description tag, in a SERP

It may include reviews and other bits, too. That’ll be another post.

The Title Element

If you don’t know what a title element/tag (same thing, different names) is, here’s a primer.

First, follow the Blank Sheet Of Paper Test. I like to start with the product description page title:

Fast Roller TX 1000 Road Tire: Presta

But I probably need to include “bike” or “bicycle” to separate me from motorcycles and cars:

Fast Roller TX 1000 Road Bicycle Tire: Presta

Now, use a keyword research tool like Moz, SEMRush or Merchantwords to find the most-researched product features. I found these:

Flat-resistant bicycle tires

Fast bicycle tires

Bicycle tires weight

Road tire vs. mountain bike tire

I also found a lot of folks search for quantitative features:

Size (700c)

Inflation pressure (110psi)

I might add these to my description:

Fast Roller TX 1000 Road Bicycle Tire – Presta – 700c – 110psi

Remember to check the current maximum title element length. We have a nifty SERP preview tool that can help.

Turns out my title is too long, so I have to get ruthless. I remove the less-important feature:

Fast Roller TX 1000 Road Bicycle Tire – Presta – 700c – 110psi

OK. Title complete.

The Meta Description

If you’re not sure what a meta description tag is, read this.

The meta description has zero direct impact on rankings. It does, however, impact clickthru. These are a few things I try to do:

A SERP snippet with bolded words

The searcher is more likely to click.

I don’t recommend doing this for the on-page, visible product description. Ad text is optimized for search results, not a product page.

Try to use all available characters. As I write this, the accepted maximum is 300 characters. It changes all the time. Do your research.

Done! Or Not.

You’ve written a great product description page. You’ve got a great SERP snippet. Nice!

Keep an eye on page performance. Look at clickthru rates. Revise. Keep trying to..

http://bit.ly/2N7uZrZ

#FEED 9 MARKETING

0 notes

realtor10036 · 5 years

Text

How To Write A Great Product Description Page

We can do better.

This is my sort-of-system for better product descriptions. Use as you see fit.

Two Kinds Of Descriptions

You’re writing two product descriptions:

The SERP snippet, to improve rankings and generate clicks

The product description page, to generate sales

Both impact rankings. But writing just for rankings will kill sales, and vice-versa. You have to find the right balance.

I beg of you, please don’t go and rewrite 10,000 product descriptions to the exact formula I outline here. It’s a starting point. Be creative.

The Product Description Page

This is the classic “product description.” Folks read it when they’re making their buying decision. They’re looking at two things that your writing can impact:

Value

Features

If UX is solid and the product is good, a great description will explain features and establish value so well that the customer clicks buy.

I focus on three elements of the product description page:

The on-page title

The blurb

The bullets

The Product Description Page

If you don’t have bullets, may I suggest adding them?

There’s lots of other stuff: Images, call to action, price, for example. I’m not writing about those here. I know my limitations.

Check For Duplication

If you’re rewriting an existing description, check for duplication.

Copy two sentences from the blurb

Put them in quotes

Paste them into Google

Gahhh! Duplicates. This is a problem.

If you need to rewrite the description, don’t worry. Follow the rest of these recommendations, and it’ll happen naturally.

The On-Page Title

Note: Writing titles for Amazon is an entirely different discipline. Start with these recommendations, but you’ll need to include more product detail. It’s annoying, I know.

Your on-page product title starts as the product name:

Fast Roller TX 1000

But it must pass the Blank Sheet of Paper Test: The title, written on a blank sheet of paper, should make sense to a knowledgeable stranger. The Fast Roller is a road bicycle tire. Try this:

Fast Roller TX 1000 Road Bicycle Tire

That sounds like an SEO wrote it. When you’re wearing your SEO hat, though, you don’t write copy. You optimize it. Never optimize while you write.

I want something tighter. Remember, the blank sheet of paper test says a knowledgeable stranger. So this will work:

Fast Roller TX 1000 Road Tire

Maybe there are two TX 1000s, though: One for each valve type. Then I end up with:

Fast Roller TX 1000 Road Tire: Presta; and Fast Roller TX 1000 Road Tire: Schrader

You want higher rankings, though, so you’re tempted to write a fifty-word title. Use your judgment. An overweight title won’t pass the blank sheet of paper test:

Fast Roller TX 1000 Road Bicycle Tire Flat Proof Presta 700C 150TPI Bike Rolling Thingie With A Valve And Tube And Stuff

The knowledgeable stranger will give up. Think before you start keyword stuffing.

The Blurb: Write An Appeal

Fill the blanks:

If [thing or need] then this is a perfect [product].

Example:

"If you [want puncture-resistance] then this is a perfect [road bike tire].”

That’s your appeal. It’s not the only way, but it’s a robust introduction.

You can combine multiple appeals:

“If you want puncture resistance and great handling, then this road bike tire is perfect.”

Or even:

“The TX 1000 provides puncture resistance without sacrificing weight, for a tire that delivers great handling and low rolling resistance.”

Again, I plead. I beg. I implore. Don’t use this as a formula.

The Blurb: Point Out Results

Something about this product makes it uniquely valuable. I hope.

Tell me how you outperform:

“In testing, the TX 1000 showed greater flat-resistance than all major competitors.”

Describe unique features. Get specific!!!

“The TX 1000 is the only tire with an unobtainium valve for greater durability and easier inflation.”

I won’t call this the USP because the term’s so overused it makes me ill.

The Blurb: Find The Unnoticed Obvious

“150 TPI means a supple, flat-resistant sidewall.”

Now, I have:

Progress.

The Blurb: Remove Words That Should Never Be Spoken

Plague words. Ew. Additionally, really, indeed, obviously. Shudder. Dump them all.

I’ve got a whole list of plague words right here. If you use ’em, delete ’em.

The Blurb: Remove The Breathless

Avoid the painfully obvious. Without bicycle tires, I get sparks and hemorrhoids. And only an idiot wants a tire that combines high rolling resistance with vulnerability to sharp objects. I get it.

Don’t tell me I’ll love this product, either. You’re already implying that. Saying it out loud seems needy and pushes me away.

I know I need a bicycle tire. Tell me why I need this bicycle tire.

The Blurb, Resplendent

Here’s what we’ve got:

On to the bullets.

The Bullets: Find The Questions (And Answer Them)

Bullets are punchy little bits of information. Readers scan for them. Use them to dispel concerns and answer questions. Finding good bullet content is easy:

Go to Amazon.com. Search for your product, or a relevant one. Scroll down to “questions.”

Answers to questions make great bullets

If there are any, find the five most-read and most-asked. Write a brief response to each one. Keep those answers handy.

Do the same on other sites: Walmart, Jet, and vertical-specific sellers all have “questions” sections.

Those will become bullets in your product description. You might even repeat items from the blurb, like “150 TPI.” Use your judgment.

I found many questions about tire weight, tube versus tubeless, and sidewall color. So my bullets could be:

10 grams (a guy can wish)

Requires a tube

Black sidewalls

Destroy the FAQ

If you’re reselling someone else’s product, look at the manufacturer’s FAQ.

Those can become more bullets or part of the blurb.

Everyone wants to know if we guarantee this tire. We provided this answer, so I turned it into a bullet:

10 grams (a guy can wish)

Requires a tube

Black sidewalls

Guaranteed rim fit and flat resistance against normal debris. No rampaging hippos

What About…?

Product specifications? Your call. I don’t think you need specs for a capybara plushie. You might if you sell roofing shingles.

Product ingredients? I like to put them after the bullets, but it depends on the product. A bag of popsicle sticks doesn’t need a list of ingredients. I hope.

Just Get To The SEO, Ian

If you did all of the above, you’ve got an optimized product description page. If you want to take it further:

Make sure you don’t avoid your keyword. You sell bicycle tires, not inflatable wheel support.

Start with the important stuff. Ingredients rarely belong in the first paragraph. Your appeal does.

Do some smart internal linking.

And, you need to work on your SERP snippet:

The SERP Snippet

The product description page is your pitch. The snippet is about search visibility and clickthru.

I’m going to focus on the title element and meta description. They’re usually the bulk of the snippet:

Title element and meta description tag, in a SERP

It may include reviews and other bits, too. That’ll be another post.

The Title Element

If you don’t know what a title element/tag (same thing, different names) is, here’s a primer.

First, follow the Blank Sheet Of Paper Test. I like to start with the product description page title:

Fast Roller TX 1000 Road Tire: Presta

But I probably need to include “bike” or “bicycle” to separate me from motorcycles and cars:

Fast Roller TX 1000 Road Bicycle Tire: Presta

Now, use a keyword research tool like Moz, SEMRush or Merchantwords to find the most-researched product features. I found these:

Flat-resistant bicycle tires

Fast bicycle tires

Bicycle tires weight

Road tire vs. mountain bike tire

I also found a lot of folks search for quantitative features:

Size (700c)

Inflation pressure (110psi)

I might add these to my description:

Fast Roller TX 1000 Road Bicycle Tire – Presta – 700c – 110psi

Remember to check the current maximum title element length. We have a nifty SERP preview tool that can help.

Turns out my title is too long, so I have to get ruthless. I remove the less-important feature:

Fast Roller TX 1000 Road Bicycle Tire – Presta – 700c – 110psi

OK. Title complete.

The Meta Description

If you’re not sure what a meta description tag is, read this.

The meta description has zero direct impact on rankings. It does, however, impact clickthru. These are a few things I try to do:

A SERP snippet with bolded words

The searcher is more likely to click.

I don’t recommend doing this for the on-page, visible product description. Ad text is optimized for search results, not a product page.

Try to use all available characters. As I write this, the accepted maximum is 300 characters. It changes all the time. Do your research.

Done! Or Not.

You’ve written a great product description page. You’ve got a great SERP snippet. Nice!

Keep an eye on page performance. Look at clickthru rates. Revise. Keep trying to..

http://bit.ly/2N7uZrZ

#How To Write A Great Product Description Page

0 notes

repmrkting17042 · 5 years

Text

How To Write A Great Product Description Page

We can do better.

This is my sort-of-system for better product descriptions. Use as you see fit.

Two Kinds Of Descriptions

You’re writing two product descriptions:

The SERP snippet, to improve rankings and generate clicks

The product description page, to generate sales

Both impact rankings. But writing just for rankings will kill sales, and vice-versa. You have to find the right balance.

I beg of you, please don’t go and rewrite 10,000 product descriptions to the exact formula I outline here. It’s a starting point. Be creative.

The Product Description Page

This is the classic “product description.” Folks read it when they’re making their buying decision. They’re looking at two things that your writing can impact:

Value

Features

If UX is solid and the product is good, a great description will explain features and establish value so well that the customer clicks buy.

I focus on three elements of the product description page:

The on-page title

The blurb

The bullets

The Product Description Page

If you don’t have bullets, may I suggest adding them?

There’s lots of other stuff: Images, call to action, price, for example. I’m not writing about those here. I know my limitations.

Check For Duplication

If you’re rewriting an existing description, check for duplication.

Copy two sentences from the blurb

Put them in quotes

Paste them into Google

Gahhh! Duplicates. This is a problem.

If you need to rewrite the description, don’t worry. Follow the rest of these recommendations, and it’ll happen naturally.

The On-Page Title

Note: Writing titles for Amazon is an entirely different discipline. Start with these recommendations, but you’ll need to include more product detail. It’s annoying, I know.

Your on-page product title starts as the product name:

Fast Roller TX 1000

But it must pass the Blank Sheet of Paper Test: The title, written on a blank sheet of paper, should make sense to a knowledgeable stranger. The Fast Roller is a road bicycle tire. Try this:

Fast Roller TX 1000 Road Bicycle Tire

That sounds like an SEO wrote it. When you’re wearing your SEO hat, though, you don’t write copy. You optimize it. Never optimize while you write.

I want something tighter. Remember, the blank sheet of paper test says a knowledgeable stranger. So this will work:

Fast Roller TX 1000 Road Tire

Maybe there are two TX 1000s, though: One for each valve type. Then I end up with:

Fast Roller TX 1000 Road Tire: Presta; and Fast Roller TX 1000 Road Tire: Schrader

You want higher rankings, though, so you’re tempted to write a fifty-word title. Use your judgment. An overweight title won’t pass the blank sheet of paper test:

Fast Roller TX 1000 Road Bicycle Tire Flat Proof Presta 700C 150TPI Bike Rolling Thingie With A Valve And Tube And Stuff

The knowledgeable stranger will give up. Think before you start keyword stuffing.

The Blurb: Write An Appeal

Fill the blanks:

If [thing or need] then this is a perfect [product].

Example:

"If you [want puncture-resistance] then this is a perfect [road bike tire].”

That’s your appeal. It’s not the only way, but it’s a robust introduction.

You can combine multiple appeals:

“If you want puncture resistance and great handling, then this road bike tire is perfect.”

Or even:

“The TX 1000 provides puncture resistance without sacrificing weight, for a tire that delivers great handling and low rolling resistance.”

Again, I plead. I beg. I implore. Don’t use this as a formula.

The Blurb: Point Out Results

Something about this product makes it uniquely valuable. I hope.

Tell me how you outperform:

“In testing, the TX 1000 showed greater flat-resistance than all major competitors.”

Describe unique features. Get specific!!!

“The TX 1000 is the only tire with an unobtainium valve for greater durability and easier inflation.”

I won’t call this the USP because the term’s so overused it makes me ill.

The Blurb: Find The Unnoticed Obvious

“150 TPI means a supple, flat-resistant sidewall.”

Now, I have:

Progress.

The Blurb: Remove Words That Should Never Be Spoken

Plague words. Ew. Additionally, really, indeed, obviously. Shudder. Dump them all.

I’ve got a whole list of plague words right here. If you use ’em, delete ’em.

The Blurb: Remove The Breathless

Avoid the painfully obvious. Without bicycle tires, I get sparks and hemorrhoids. And only an idiot wants a tire that combines high rolling resistance with vulnerability to sharp objects. I get it.

Don’t tell me I’ll love this product, either. You’re already implying that. Saying it out loud seems needy and pushes me away.

I know I need a bicycle tire. Tell me why I need this bicycle tire.

The Blurb, Resplendent

Here’s what we’ve got:

On to the bullets.

The Bullets: Find The Questions (And Answer Them)

Bullets are punchy little bits of information. Readers scan for them. Use them to dispel concerns and answer questions. Finding good bullet content is easy:

Go to Amazon.com. Search for your product, or a relevant one. Scroll down to “questions.”

Answers to questions make great bullets

If there are any, find the five most-read and most-asked. Write a brief response to each one. Keep those answers handy.

Do the same on other sites: Walmart, Jet, and vertical-specific sellers all have “questions” sections.

Those will become bullets in your product description. You might even repeat items from the blurb, like “150 TPI.” Use your judgment.

I found many questions about tire weight, tube versus tubeless, and sidewall color. So my bullets could be:

10 grams (a guy can wish)

Requires a tube

Black sidewalls

Destroy the FAQ

If you’re reselling someone else’s product, look at the manufacturer’s FAQ.

Those can become more bullets or part of the blurb.

Everyone wants to know if we guarantee this tire. We provided this answer, so I turned it into a bullet:

10 grams (a guy can wish)

Requires a tube

Black sidewalls

Guaranteed rim fit and flat resistance against normal debris. No rampaging hippos

What About…?

Product specifications? Your call. I don’t think you need specs for a capybara plushie. You might if you sell roofing shingles.

Product ingredients? I like to put them after the bullets, but it depends on the product. A bag of popsicle sticks doesn’t need a list of ingredients. I hope.

Just Get To The SEO, Ian

If you did all of the above, you’ve got an optimized product description page. If you want to take it further:

Make sure you don’t avoid your keyword. You sell bicycle tires, not inflatable wheel support.

Start with the important stuff. Ingredients rarely belong in the first paragraph. Your appeal does.

Do some smart internal linking.

And, you need to work on your SERP snippet:

The SERP Snippet

The product description page is your pitch. The snippet is about search visibility and clickthru.

I’m going to focus on the title element and meta description. They’re usually the bulk of the snippet:

Title element and meta description tag, in a SERP

It may include reviews and other bits, too. That’ll be another post.

The Title Element

If you don’t know what a title element/tag (same thing, different names) is, here’s a primer.

First, follow the Blank Sheet Of Paper Test. I like to start with the product description page title:

Fast Roller TX 1000 Road Tire: Presta

But I probably need to include “bike” or “bicycle” to separate me from motorcycles and cars:

Fast Roller TX 1000 Road Bicycle Tire: Presta

Now, use a keyword research tool like Moz, SEMRush or Merchantwords to find the most-researched product features. I found these:

Flat-resistant bicycle tires

Fast bicycle tires

Bicycle tires weight

Road tire vs. mountain bike tire

I also found a lot of folks search for quantitative features:

Size (700c)

Inflation pressure (110psi)

I might add these to my description:

Fast Roller TX 1000 Road Bicycle Tire – Presta – 700c – 110psi

Remember to check the current maximum title element length. We have a nifty SERP preview tool that can help.

Turns out my title is too long, so I have to get ruthless. I remove the less-important feature:

Fast Roller TX 1000 Road Bicycle Tire – Presta – 700c – 110psi

OK. Title complete.

The Meta Description

If you’re not sure what a meta description tag is, read this.

The meta description has zero direct impact on rankings. It does, however, impact clickthru. These are a few things I try to do:

A SERP snippet with bolded words

The searcher is more likely to click.

I don’t recommend doing this for the on-page, visible product description. Ad text is optimized for search results, not a product page.

Try to use all available characters. As I write this, the accepted maximum is 300 characters. It changes all the time. Do your research.

Done! Or Not.

You’ve written a great product description page. You’ve got a great SERP snippet. Nice!

Keep an eye on page performance. Look at clickthru rates. Revise. Keep trying to..

http://bit.ly/2N7uZrZ

#How To Write A Great Product Description Page

0 notes

byebyeskylark · 7 years

Text

A short thingy I had to get out of my head. Not angsty despite that opening. AO3 link.

Jason rolled the tiny smoke bombs. They were nearly silent on the filthy corporate berber of the abandoned office building. They deployed at the feet of the nearest two kidnappers, the door guards.

He sprinted past them to take out the one holding the AR-15 first. Disarmed and KO-ed in one smooth, brutal movement as Jason spun the rifle into the outstretched arm-and-Colt-1911 of the next nearest man, ignoring the pistol as it fired close to him. He grabbed this one and broke his gun arm, tossing him bodily into the one of the door guards as he tried to rush him.

Pulled his own pistol and shot the door guard that had been moving toward the figure hanging from the ceiling before he could put a gun to the hostage's head. Managed to shoot Mr. Colt 1911 as he pulled a second gun with his unbroken arm, before dodging the sloppy tackle of the last door guard, who had recovered.

Mad now. Seeing red as he ignored the gun in his hand in favor of kneeing Door Guard a few rapid times in the belly before letting him go so he could savagely pull the man's face down onto his own heavily padded kneecap and let him fall limp to the floor. He kicked and threw weapons out of reach of the ones who might live before holstering his own gun and striding to the suspended figure just as it dropped heavily to the floor.

"Hey, old man," Jason wasn't even out of breath as he moved quickly to Bruce's side, "Are you hurt?"

"No, Jay," Bruce said softly from where he lay on his side. He was half-smiling in a way that made Jason feel both warm and unsettled. He helped Bruce sit up. Took stock of the three-piece, probably unsalvageable. Just because Bruce Wayne had to be kidnap-able didn't mean Bruce made it easy. Bruising alongside his mouth where he'd been punched and a swollen left eye. Raw around the wrists where he'd been tied. Pupils, wide-blown and glassy looking. Explained what had taken him so long to escape.

"I've got him," Jason spoke into the comm, "Kidnappers down for the count. They drugged him – he's movin' slow."

"Be careful. You remember what happened the last time he got tranqed," Dick warned. Drugs rarely had their intended effects on Bruce anymore.

"Jay," Bruce said groggily, grabbing Jason's chin with hands that hadn't quite gotten their circulation back. He was smushing Jason's mouth into a silly shape, but Jason played along. He wasn't about to get anything broken like that poor Watchtower med tech.

"Yesh?" he answered, hamming it up and waggling his eyebrows a bit. Like he hadn't just (probably) killed several men.

"Jason," was all Bruce said, frowning a little now in concentration as he tried to focus on Jason's face.

Jason pulled his chin out of Bruce's grip, which was tightening.

"How's about we stand up and move on outta here, B?" Jason gently slung Bruce's arm over his shoulders and pressed Bruce into a standing position. Bruce slumped against him drunkenly.

Jason steered them around the debris of broken kidnappers and bedraggled office furniture.

"Always loved watching you fight, Jay," Bruce said a little dreamily as they moved through the buildings empty halls.

"Yeah?" Jason tipped his head forward to see Bruce's face. He had that weird smile again.

"Dick. Fighting is another type of performance for Dick. Until his back is against the wall. Always making things...elegant," he slurred, "or funny." He chuckled a little at some memory.

"And Tim. Tim is fast. Makes up for that lack of reach with everything he's got. Gets there ahead of everyone. Two steps ahead."

"Thought we were talking about me here," Jason muttered, taking Bruce through some old swing doors to another corridor.

"Damian's not old enough. Hasn't settled into one style. Sneaky though."

"Well, yeah," Jason agreed, voice droll.

"And Cassandra-"

"-is perfect." they finished together.

Finally hitting fresh air they walked slowly out the bay doors at the back of the huge office complex, toward the car Jason had parked a quarter mile down the road, out of sight. Bruce was still leaning heavily on Jason, trying not to let his feet drag. Not quite succeeding.

"And what am I, old man?"

Bruce smiled crookedly at him with slightly bloodied teeth.

"A hammer." He let the pronouncement fall heavy. "You come down on them like the hammer of God. Focused." His mouth stretched a little wider in something that was not quite a smile.

"Vengeance."

Grinning, Jason squeezed a little with the arm that was supporting Bruce. Together they made their way across the weed-strewn parking lot.

#a scene i had to get out of my head before bed #jason todd #bruce wayne #ficblogging #batfam headcanons

188 notes · View notes

poop4u · 5 years

Text

How to Tell If Your Dog Has a Cold

#Poop4U

The post How to Tell If Your Dog Has a Cold by Dr. Ernie Ward appeared first on Dogster. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren't considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Dogster.com.

I had just completed my physical exam and was beginning to discuss my findings when Dr. Google joined us. I was seated across from a smartly dressed, smartphone-wielding young client. As she flashed the screen to show me her list of demands, I noticed a clear drop of liquid reflecting from the nostril of the baby-faced Bichon at my feet. Chloe was 3 years old, fully immunized and a picture of perfect health, until returning from boarding two days earlier. She had developed a cough, runny eyes and nose, and her owner was understandably worried.

“Most of these antibiotics are available in generic form, and here are the current prices from my preferred online pharmacy.”

As she read off the medications, costs and shipping times, I continued silently studying Chloe’s breathing. Quiet, deep and regular breathing, despite the pharmaceutical recital to which we were both held captive. I hadn’t heard a cough yet, but I still had a couple of tests to go, something no amount of internet searches and chats could perform.

“I’m not suggesting Chloe couldn’t have an upper respiratory infection she contracted while boarding. We used to believe Bordetella bronchiseptica, the bacterium associated with ‘kennel cough’ we vaccinate against, was the main culprit. We now understand it involves multiple bacteria and viruses. CIRDC more accurately describes my No. 1 concern for Chloe’s symptoms.”

The truth about CIRDC

Canine infectious respiratory disease complex (CIRDC) is still erroneously referred to as “canine cold,” “dog flu” or “kennel cough,” although none are correct and cause considerable confusion for dog owners. To complicate matters, most cases never receive a precise diagnosis, and the condition rarely requires antibiotics. This makes treating CIRDC doubly demanding for today’s “insistent-on-instant” pet owners. Some conditions can only be treated with time, a price few are willing to pay these days.

“There’s something else I’d like to do to determine the extent of Chloe’s condition. So far, I’ve observed a clear nasal and ocular discharge, normal breathing and body temperature, and healthy lung sounds. You said Chloe mainly coughs and sneezes after walking, getting excited or after periods of lying down, and that her appetite and energy levels were basically normal. I’d like to see if she has any congestion in her upper trachea by gently massaging her neck. Many times, if a dog has tracheal inflammation, she’ll exhibit a goose-honk cough after I rub her throat.”

As I gently massaged Chloe’s upper airway, I noticed her swallow hard a few times and a couple of soft coughs, but no goose-honking.

“That’s good news. We’ve got a couple of ways to proceed.”

Most cases of CIRDC will resolve within 10 days without needing prescription medications. In more severe conditions, or when an owner wants to pursue all available testing, we begin by evaluating chest radiographs and blood tests. Some dog owners request cultures of the throat or nasal passages, but current medical guidelines discourage these tests unless an outbreak is occurring or pneumonia develops. Even the most sensitive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays often fail to identify a specific causative agent and are prone to sampling errors and difficulty interpreting normal flora from infectious. In cases involving boarding facilities, I always alert them to be on the lookout for H3N8 or H3N2 canine influenza (CI).

Treating CIRDC symptoms

Many dog owners believe antibiotics are needed to treat upper respiratory infections and feel cheated if the veterinarian doesn’t dispense at least one. The fact is that most canine upper respiratory infections are caused or complicated by viruses, rendering antibiotics powerless. If a dog has a fever, decreased appetite or lethargy, then an antibiotic such as doxycycline may be used. I also use a nebulizer in my clinic to jumpstart treatment of these more serious cases. When needed, there are a variety of prescription and over-the-counter medications to help reduce excessive coughing.

In most cases of mild CIRDC, symptomatic treatments are the only treatment required during the first 10 days. I recommend:

❅ Using a humidifier, especially at night

❅ Keeping your dog in the bathroom when you take a hot shower

❅ Applying warm water compresses several times a day to keep the nose and eyes clean of debris

❅ Using plain saline nose drops to clear snotty nasal passages

❅ Using a walking harness to avoid irritating the neck

❅ Trying canned food or dry kibble softened with warm water to enhance palatability and be easier to swallow for dogs experiencing sore throat.

❅ For owners interested in natural remedies, I’ve used powdered echinacea root and mushroom extracts with good results.

Always see your veterinarian

“So, you’re saying it’s not ‘kennel cough’ and Chloe doesn’t need these medications?”

“That’s not exactly …”

“That’s great to hear! You never know what to believe on the internet these days. I feel so much better after you examined her so thoroughly.”

“Well, that’s great …”

“If you can tell me where to get this humidifier thingy and those herbal treatments, I’ll be on my way.”

And with that, Dr. Google was officially off Chloe’s case. I called to check on her three days later, and she was “90% Chloe” according to her owner. By the following week, Chloe was back to her old self.

If your dog is suffering from runny eyes, stuffy nose or coughing, see your veterinarian at once. “Real” canine influenza and more serious forms of CIRDC can become life-threatening quickly, and prompt diagnosis and treatment is critical. The internet can be both a valuable asset and a confusing distraction for dog owners. There’s no replacing a physical examination and an attentive, experienced veterinarian when it comes to providing the best care for your best friend.

About the author:

Dr. Ernie Ward is an internationally recognized veterinarian known for his innovations in general small-animal practice, long-term medication monitoring, special needs of senior dogs and cats, and pet obesity. He has authored three books and has been a frequent guest on numerous TV programs.