#sorry if for some of us this was not the joy inducing conclusion we have been waiting for

[matan4il]

Thank you for the meta pieces, they are increasingly becoming the nessesary part of experiencing 9-1-1 this season for me!

(sorry for the incoming rant)

Now, my own read of Buddie leans more towards the "Bromance excellentos"-side, and I usually comfortably ship long-established pairs (Bathena forever, and looove me some Hen and Karen). The way Buck and Taylor's "romance" is developing so far, though... I'd say, "uncomfortable and disconcerning" is the best way to describe it.

Last week, I had given it yet another go, as in "OK, 5.09, show us some damage, some good acting from Megan in a meaty backstory scenes; some emotional family/courtroom drama and maybe even some cool resque parallels, heck, SOMETHING to make us feel for Taylor". And I know, people would've complained that there's too much unrelated drama again. But honestly, if we were to become truly sympathetic to Taylor and/or to come on board with BT as a potential endgame r/s we kinda really needed something like that right there.

Instead, what we got was that measly wooden "tell not show" bit at the bus stop, and then the unearned and weirdly ominously shot ILUs after. Yeah, nope. At best, I'm still seeing a self-centered frenemy who had been ready to exploit and throw the entire 118 under the bus; someone shown throughout the seasons to not be a good match for Buck in terms of values and needs and too similar to the worst version of himself both. Still not making amends, not creating any connections to the firefam besides Buck himself, nor doing anything to balance out the scale even slightly (if the cringe-inducing "I'm going for the truth" bits earlier in the series were supposed to retcon the character and endear us to her, they failed miserably).

Idk what 5.10's got in store for us yet, but this lazy approach, cutting corners, and the general lack of care from TBTB make BT r/s feel cheap, inorganic, and hollow. If it's meant to come off that way—fantastic job, FOX, 10/10, mission accomplished. But if it's to be the endgame—man, will it be a tonedeaf one.

Hi Nonnie, thank you SO MUCH for the kindness! I'm so happy my meta posts are bringing you joy and enhancing your 911 experience! *hugs BIG* And I think in a sense, especially because you lean towards reading Buddie as a bromance, I appreciate your kindness and openness in reading my posts!

And for that same reason, I'm so happy you shared your own take on B/T, because it means your view of it is less hindered by the Buddie goggles. And you're confirming exactly what I suggested in my 509 meta, that the way this r/s is being told is unsatisfactory in and of itself, even for people who aren't heavily invested in Buddie as a romantic ship.

I especially wanna highlight what you said about the way Taylor got her backstory revealed to us: we had a screen showing her dad's story (yeah, I zoomed in as soon as I had the ep downloaded, read the 'article' and guessed its subject was her dad), then like you pointed out we didn't get even one scene that was just about her (a scene with her and her father excluding Buck would have been that, but instead all of her scenes were about what would Buck say and do in reaction to her. Which is why her backstory fell flat, because it was never about her), plus add to that the fact that since her return in 408, not once has 911 so much as dedicated a single set just to her (even Ana got that one scene in her living room in 408). So what I'm trying to say is that usually getting a Love Interest's backstory is a sign of how they are becoming a character in their own right, not just being a LI, and endgame couples tend to be the ones where the audience cares about both characters in their own right. Yet everything about Taylor so far shows that even after we got her backstory, she's still just a LI. It's a part of what makes 509 feel off and not hit the emotional marks that are supposed to be reached when a couple faces a challenge together. So yeah, in conclusion, I just find it hard to believe she will be Buck's endgame when she's barely a character.

Thank you for the ask, lovely! I hope you continue to enjoy my meta posts for 510 and in season 5B! xoxox

To anyone else who sent me an ask, I am going through all of them, thank you so much for your patience! If you wanna check whether I've replied to yours yet, you can have a look at my ask tag. xoxox

#buddie #911meta #buddie meta #911 meta #9-1-1 #evan buck buckley #evan buckley #eddie diaz #edmundo diaz #ask #anon ask #fandom love #kindness #anti-bucktaylor #911onabc #911 on abc #911abc #911 abc

[tanadrin]

I suppose because politics is what means I have no future of any kind left, so it's hard to be silly about it. And I seem to have landed myself in a sector of social media filled with people who are very smug about how smart and nihilistic they are, and I hate all of you with the hatred that only a miserable, powerless person can feel.

I don’t buy it. Unless you are quite literally scheduled to be executed at dawn, “no future of any kind left” because of politics is catastrophizing. People in very dire circumstances the world over often manage to build some kind of life for themselves; it may not be the life they want, and the suffering they endure because of the circumstances they are limited by should not be dismissed, but to say that someone in such adverse conditions has no future is to infantalize them and deny them the agency they do have to shape their life to some extent.

And this is an insight I’ve found important when dealing with depression in myself: even if one’s catastrophizing is not irrational (say, you’re a queer person stuck in an extremely homophobic environment, at minimum for the next 5-10 years), that does not mean it is useful. To put it another way: circumstance might justifiably make you angry and sad and frustrated. That may be rational. Deciding, in the face of that anger and sadness and frustration, to surrender to it is not rational.

So--assuming that you are not a political dissident due to be executed, nor suffering from a terminal illness which somehow for political reasons cannot be cured (if either of these things are true, you have my sincere condolences)--I have to say, this ask reeks of someone who’s depressed. If you are depressed, you will always be able to come up with reasons why happiness is unattainable for you, due to circumstances entirely out of your control. This is not a crazy thing to think, because if you are depressed and not treating that depression, most if not all the things you try to do will not solve your unhappiness because they are usually orthogonal to what is making you unhappy. Your very ability to accurately imagine future happy states and what might bring them about is suppressed by depression; for instance, you might, if you are depressed and you know it, rationally understand that exercise often helps with your depression, but be unable to motivate yourself to exercise because the intuitive link between if I do X I will feel better is broken by an internal forecasting system that refuses to spit out predictions other than “nothing I do will help with anything.”

A depressed state is not a psychotic break--it doesn’t cause you to lose touch with reality--but I think depressed people would sometimes benefit from treating it like one, because it does subvert your ability to accurately model the world, and therefore you can’t trust your own ability to reason or intuit about certain topics. I have both experienced this from the inside, and seen it from the outside: friends whose depression causes them to believe they are unlovable, and thus that nobody loves them, even when told (and shown) repeatedly that they are very much loved, and very important to the people around them.

In fact, you remind me of this post: depressed and anxious people who notice politics is depressing and anxiety-inducing, and that depressing and anxiety-inducing problems confront the world and society, and therefore conclude that their depression and anxiety are a rational and reasonable response to the world. But that doesn’t follow at all! A lot of responses to a depressing and anxiety-inducing environment are more useful that shutting down and withdrawing, or letting yourself be paralyzed; and even if there are negative external factors in the world affecting your life, if you have nothing in your life that is a sufficient source of joy to offset these things at least somewhat, then you have problems sufficiently severe that I don’t think your depression or anxiety can be laid at the feet of the world at large alone; more likely, you’re dealing with shitty personal circumstances, and these are far more likely to be tractable to your individual capacities than, like, all of climate change. And if you do have some sources of joy in your life, you can cultivate those further.

To put it another way: humans are very bad at reasoning about things on large scales or over large timelines. One reason we’re slow to solve problems like climate change is that we tend to be pretty blasé about remote and impersonal problems, which is actually often useful as well--because it means we’re capable of adjusting our hedonic barometer to create joy even in catastrophic circumstances. If you are constantly worried about big issues like climate change or the Trump presidency to the point where you can never do that, then the conclusion you should draw isn’t that you’re a uniquely rational human being with a uniquely accurate worldview, it’s that your brain is broken and you should not trust your intuitition.

Emotional states are not rational models of the world. They are tools our brain uses to motivate certain kinds of action. They probably have their origin in our social evolution, but this means they are extremely untrustworthy when it comes to complex, large-scale, philosophical, or impersonal issues, because these are not scenarios our brains evolved to handle before the advent of high-population, highly-stratified societies.

Now, I realize it’s hard to convince someone they are depressed and/or should seek treatment by rational argument (lord knows I’ve tried in the past!), because after all, if we were being perfectly rational, we would not feel depressed. We wouldn’t feel anything; again, emotions are contingent tools, not highly rationalized responses to the world! So I won’t belabor this point any longer. Instead, now I’m going to get annoyed with you.

Because here’s the other thing depressed people do--and I have done myself. They see people who are not depressed, whose hedonic barometers are functioning normally, and capable of experiencing joy even in arguably (or inarguably!) shitty circumstances, and they get mad at them. How dare you be capable of laughing at a joke, or sharing a meme, or having a nice day, when everything is so bad!

This is a common response, not only from depression, but also I think from grief, or fear, or trauma, or lots of other things. But it’s bullshit. I’m sorry, but you don’t get to demand that everyone feel your suffering as acutely as they feel their own. You don’t get to demand that just because you’re a pessimistic ball of frustration and anger that everyone else be, too. You get to--and ought to--demand that people treat you with empathy and respect, but that doesn’t mean they don’t get to make jokes about topics you find depressing as hell. Yes, even topics that personally affect you, and may not personally affect them (though, of course, a lot of times people assume the person making the joke isn’t personally affected by the topic, when in reality they are and the joke is a way of relieving stress and coping with frustration).

That calvin and hobbes meme I reblogged is an extremely generic political compass meme; the only relevance it has to the world today, I suppose, is acknowledging that, like, politics is a thing that exists. If you’re upset by that--how dare people laugh at politics, the source of all my problems--you’re being a dick.

And this leads my to my final point, which is this: while we are all of us owed compassion, we also owe others compassion. And people caught up in their own anxiety and depression and anger often don’t see the way their emotional states impose costs on the people around them. They often treat the people around them badly--worse, at any rate, than they normally would--and react defensively if this is pointed out to them.

I’ve done this. I have friends who have done this. I get it. It doesn’t make someone a horrible person! It doesn’t meant they deserve to feel the way they do. But it does create the second half of a twofold moral obligation. You see, I believe that the, call it “utilitarian selfishness” view, is essentially correct: if all humans are of similar moral worth (they are), and you can only help one person (often true), and that person is yourself, it is no less moral to help yourself than it is to help someone else. This is usually framed as a grant of permission: “you are allowed to be selfish sometimes.” But it’s also an obligation: “you should not be a dick--even to yourself.” You have a positive obligation to care about your own suffering! And you have a positive obligation to try to reduce the costs your suffering--your bad mood, your depression, your anxiety--imposes on the people around you.

Because I’m not a smug nihilist. I actually believe, with embarrassing intensity, in a large number of abstract principles. And while I believe circumstance or injustice can conspire to make people feel miserable and powerless, and I have the utmost sympathy for you feeling that way, no one is so omnipotent as to be able to truly excise our power to do something with our life that is rewarding to us, no matter how modest. Your subjective feeling of misery is not license to be a dick to people, or to misrepresent them or their motivations. And if reading my tumblr (or anyone else’s) makes you miserable, you have a positive moral obligation to stop, because you’re being a dick to yourself, which is no more justifiable than being a dick to me. And being a dick to me because you don’t like my Tumblr, because you’re miserable and I’m not, is pants-on-head stupid.

I, too, have been so convinced of my misery and powerlessness, and so utterly convinced of my inability to make improvements in my life, that I have yielded utterly to the feeling of myself as a despised, helpless, wretched thing. You can spend years in that state. A lifetime, even. I suppose it relieves you from the burden of having to try, which is a tiny shred of comfort when the climb up the hill seems so steep. But I have found that in the long run it brings no other relief; there’s no regression to the mean, just an endless prolongation of misery. It required some courage, and not a little determination, to try to climb out of that pit. Sometimes you struggle. Sometimes you fall back in. Sometimes it’s easier to believe there’s nothing beyond that place of unhappiness. But there is, and you can get there, and the choice of whether or not to reach it lies only with you.

#if you are in fact due to be executed ignore this #and you have my deepest condolences #but in that case how did you get on tumblr??? #Anonymous

[curekibouka]

Take My Hand (Pandora Hearts one-shot)

Summary: This is the story of a child extending her hand to an irredeemable sinner, opening his eyes to a world filled with hope; and the story of a lady extending her hand to a knight who had always watched over her, making him ’see’ she had grown up. (Spoilers for Retrace 49 I guess)

A/N: This is the fic I promised a few days ago when I posted the cover art. Also this is for Day 7 (free day) of phweek2020 ^^

*This fic is also on FF.net and Quotev.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Xerxes!” 

Uttering a “shhh” to a giggling voice in the tree behind him, he spun around to greet the one calling for him, “Good day, Shelly-sama~~” 

Her voice was a mixture of worry, anger and frustration, “Enough with this farce! Where did you hide Sharon?” 

He drawled playfully, “Whate~ver are you ta~lking about?” 

“You’re not frantically searching for her, then you must know where she is.” 

“Maaaaaaaybe?” 

“Stop it, Xerxes, she has a sewing lesson to get to. And she just recovered from her cold, she’ll get sick again if she plays in the snow. Help me find her!” 

Break cocked his head to one side as if reconsidering their actions, but he reached a conclusion almost instantly and grinned, “No.”

Shelly was genuinely taken aback for a moment, “Are you defying my command? That’s rather unusual coming from you, Xerxes.”

“Forgive me,” he bowed dramatically, “But I am Lady Sharon’s valet, and she has explicitly declared that I am not to reveal her whereabouts to anyone. I am afraid not even Shelly-sama can overrule my lady’s orders.”

“Does this warrant punishment?” he asked when she didn’t respond, trying to make it sound like he wasn’t wearing a really annoying smirk right then. 

She heaved a sigh and gave him a flick on the forehead, “Don’t spoil her.” 

He bursted into a fit of giggles, “Oh my, did I? But I was merely following your example, Shelly-sama.” 

“You...!” she stuttered when she realised she couldn’t refute that. “Never mind! I’ll go find Sharon by myself!” 

She sent him a glower before continuing to scour for her daughter. 

“My lady,” Break turned to the tree after Shelly was gone, “You can come down now.” 

 The child leapt out of the tree with a gleeful “Woohoo!” and fell right into Break’s arms. 

“My lady!” it was not nearly as much of a fun moment for the now frantic valet, “Please be careful! What would you have done had I failed to catch you?!” 

“I knew you’d catch me,” she beamed innocently.

“How so?” 

“Because mother would have you beheaded if you didn’t.” 

He grimaced at the truth in that statement before putting her down on the ground. 

“So... what do you want to do with this free time, my lady? It is not enough for us to venture out to town.”

“Ehhhhh? But why not?!” she pouted and yanked on his hand, “Let’s head out and return by dinner time! I want to have some fun after being sick for four whole days!” 

“It’s exactly because you had been sick for four whole days,” he knelt down to look her in the eyes, “Shelly-sama will have me beheaded if I allowed you to fall sick yet again so carelessly.” 

“She probably wouldn’t if it’s something so trivial. She doesn’t have time for this,” Sharon pouted bitterly. 

He recounted how the busy Shelly hadn’t had many opportunities to check in on her sick daughter in the past few days, just when she wanted to see her the most. 

In a way, Sharon playing ‘hide-and-seek’ with her mother right now was a kind of self-satisfaction. She longed to feel like her mother was devoting a great deal of attention to her. 

“Where are you, my adorable girl? I’m going to tickle you once I find you!” 

“No! Kevin, help me! Papa’s going to catch up to me!” 

He briefly reminisced about a similar child he had once watched over, and cherished, as one would a dainty flower. 

He balled his fists, “You ought to refrain from having Mistress Shelly worry so much, my lady. You and I both know good health is one luxury she never had.” 

“It’ll be fine. Mother isn’t so weak. That’s just an excuse to ignore me when she’s busy.” 

He kept his “If only that’s true” unsaid, because it wouldn’t make any difference.

And because they were found. 

Sharon squealed in fright when her mother wrapped her in a bear hug from behind out of the blue. 

“How did you realise we were back here?!” Sharon crossed her arms, “Did Xerx-niisan gave you secret signals without me hearing or something?”

“I’m your mother, I can see right through your little tricks,” Shelly gloated, stroking the child’s hair gently, “Come along, let’s go back inside.” 

“I don’t want to! I don’t want my sewing lesson!” Sharon shouted and hid behind Break. 

As the mother-daughter bickering continued, Break found his mind wandering off to somewhere else. 

That child. 

That small child. 

The child he tried desperately to erase from his memory, and yet couldn’t bear to let go. 

The child he had failed to protect. 

But now it was as if a second chance was bestowed upon him, or a cruel repeat of events. Nevertheless, he must once again unsheathe his sword and cut down those who harm his lady. 

Another small child. A child with a loving smile and a kind heart, inherited from her mother no less. A child who loved him as a brother and whom he cherished as a sister in return. 

It was such a bliss to be with her...

...and it was such torture. 

For every second that came to pass, he was plagued with immense dread. Such a pure, adorable, angelic child... 

...what if he plunges her into a ruthless sea of crimson again? 

What if these hands, soaked in the blood of one hundred and sixteen, besmirch her innocence?

Such a small, delicate flower, what if her stem goes ‘snap’ when he approached her? 

The Red-eyed Specter feared few things. But this notion was sufficient to torment him with countless nightmares that seemed far more authentic than his reality. A reality he never dared so much as to even think he deserved. 

He was pulled back to said reality by said child letting out a tiny scream, “Mother!” 

He failed to catch Shelly when she toppled over him. 

“Are you alright, Shelly-sama?” they sat in an awkward position, but he managed to bolt to his feet and offered her his hand immediately. 

“I’m sorry, mother, I shouldn’t have pushed you,” Sharon apologised sheepishly. 

“I’m fine,” Shelly took Break’s hand and stood up, “It really is a pain to move around in this gown. Now, Sharon, you’re all drenched with snow too. Let’s go back inside, or you really will catch a cold again.” They probably had a brief snowball fight when Break wasn’t paying attention. 

The child reluctantly conceded (perhaps out of guilt after pushing her frail mother) and took her mother’s hand. 

“Come on, Xerx-niisan, you too,” she then extended her other hand to him, smiling from ear to ear. 

He mustn’t. 

He must never allow all the filth and sins and blood on his hands to defile that small, pure, unmarred hand of hers. 

He must never...! 

He did. 

Gingerly taking her tiny hand into his own, he gave it a light squeeze, just to make sure it was actually there and it wasn’t all just in his head. 

He should’ve fled. He should’ve rejected the invitation. But he couldn’t resist this small hand as warm as a hearth in this numbing winter. 

The child pranced in joy. 

The child pranced in joy. 

She twirled around to offer him a carefree grin. 

She twirled around to offer him a carefree grin. 

With a voice as sweet as a canary, she called to him blithely. 

With a voice as sweet as a canary, she called to him blithely. 

“Kevin!” 

“Xerx-niisan!” 

His selfish desire, a filthy thing, led him to deny his own vileness and connect with this innocent angel. 

But for the first time since he was hurled into this despair-inducing future, he felt almost as if he was... forgiven. 

So he swore to never let go. He swore to never allow something like last time to happen again. This time around, he would make sure to never do anything that would make this child shed tears.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Years later

He might not be able to see. But he could still feel. 

He could feel the tension in the air, the heaviness in the silence that he dared not interrupt, the ever so tiny sound she made when she clenched her fists and trembled. 

Idiot. Idiot. Idiot. 

Sharon was not going to be fine and he knew it. 

How the hell could he have let Reim talk him into this? 

He mentally steeled himself, for in all likelihood, she would fall to her knees and bawl, begging him to tell her that it was not true. 

She stepped towards him. So he prepared himself to embrace her gently and whisper that there was no need to cry over the withering of a vile creature such as himself. Although he was fully aware that she would continue. 

But something was amiss. 

From the blurry silhouette of her he could barely make out, he assessed her posture. She was not hunching down, not covering her face, not clutching the sides of her dress anymore. 

She was... facing him. 

“Then... I suppose we have no choice,” she shattered the silence with confidence, “Prepare yourself, Break. Because I shall lead you myself, and teach you to dance step by step.” 

“Come now,” she demanded with all the authority of a noble Rainsworth heiress, “Take my hand.” 

The image of her extending her delicate hand in the same way all those years ago flashed before his eyes.  

My lady... 

Since when have you grown so tall? 

Since when do you sound so mature? 

Since when have you... shared such an undeniable resemblance with Shelly-sama? 

He genuinely had to remind himself that it was not Shelly who stood before him with such pride and elegance. 

He might not be able to see. But it did not make a difference. 

Her radiance had reached his heart either way. 

How could I have not noticed what a beautiful woman you have grown up to become, my beloved little lady? 

Gingerly taking her hand into his own, he gave it a light squeeze, still deep in his amazement. 

He smiled with a hint of sadness. He mourned how he had failed to see her as she grew, and now it was too late. But he was relieved that the warmth of her hand had never once changed over the years. 

She smiled with him, guiding his hand to her waist, lacing her own on his shoulder. Gazing at his face all the while, she took a step backward, leading him forward.

Leading him forward on this beautiful and cruel and captivating and melancholic dance called life, until the day his body rot away like his eye, they would keep on dancing... 

...hand in hand. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The End

#phweek2020 #pandora hearts #xerxes break #shelly rainsworth #sharon rainsworth #paindora hurts #pandora hearts fanfiction #jun mochizuki #pandora hearts fanfic #pandorahearts #pandora hearts fic #ph

[broadcastingbartender]

[Transcript File Name: "ᵇᵉᵃᵘᵗ△▼"]

[Date Recorded: "=/×/=*"]

[Prerequisitional Notes: Patrons that were at the 'talking-head''s bar after the previous broadcasting day are exiting the establishment far more disallusioned and positive towards life than most other days. This swell in lack of positivity is abnormal.]

[Begin Transcript]

Broadcaster: Welcome back, lovely listeners! My formal apologies to whatever had occured. I simply felt a surge of joy, and it must have manifested itself into a physical form of expelled fluid most found vile. It is an incredibly strange occurance, but nevertheless, I have put such a fluid to a positive use. But pay no mind to its use, we are here to discuss the knowledge that I have been permitted to tell you by are adoring, dominating legal system that keeps us all in check from the shadows.

DiscJockey: Yea! We got a whole lot of news for you guys today! We have an update on Carrot, (y'know, the farmer?), the establishment of a new facility in the outskirts of town, a new piece of the weather by your's truly, and even-

[There was a gentle hush, and the DiscJockey's speech stopped abruptly. A hush sounded off like millions of tiny pillows being placed around one's body, and acting like the most drowsy-inducing marshmallow fabric one could conceive.]

[The DiscJockey's speech is notably soft from this point forward, as if speaking to a resting child who just spent the equivalent of 8 hours attempting to disect the meaning of life, and mentally scarring themself for such a wild prospect that holds no meaning and no conclusion.]

Broadcaster: Now now, aquaintence of mine... No need to spoil the surprises, hmm?

DiscJockey: I... Guess so... Ahaha, I'm sorry dear $£@=()*.:... I don't know what I'm talking about, anyways...

Broadcaster: Oh, none of us do. Even if one expects that they have knowledge of the topic, one will always be corrected and wronged and all of the above and below... Even deities aren't free from spreading accidental fallacies. Nonetheless, we speak with confidence- as if there's no untruth in the first place.

Nevertheless, the news is always considered to be the truth. And today's truthful knowledge of typically unknowable proportions is the heightened sales of Carrot's (you know, the farmer?) mysteriously grown veggies. Seems there's a new red food that certainly is all the rage. She has claimed that her ended rivalry with Beet has- quote- 'Certainly taught her some new intracacies in the possibilities of intercropping with dough'.

Carrot (you know, the farmer?) has found herself with so much profit that her criminal record has been scrapped clean. Bystandards suspect that there will be new crimes to add to that scrubbed up list. I, for one, expect manslaughter to be the first upon that soon to be long list. Others suspect that thievery or breaking and entering...

DiscJockey: I say thievery. Haha, 'cause she's always stealing people's tastebuds with her food... Though, I think Miss Mala does that with mustard bastards. Ha...!

[Drowsy laughter, one that grew distant for the moment, as if the DiscJockey were leaning back in whatever chair they happened to have. However, leaning against an object is impossible for a ghost on their current ring of aftermath reality. Explanation: They're Tired and Unstable.]

Broadcaster: No matter the crime, it bares no semblance or meaning upon our next announcement. Upon the edge of our fine little town, last evenight, a facility made entirely of mushrooms had sprouted from the ground. Apparently, the owner and self-proclaimed mycologist that had sprouted up with the building itself claimed he held an ancient, arcane knowledge to spread. Utterly preposterous, I say. The way he shambled along to the streets to the townhall for his business to be recognized, how the mushrooms that spouted from every orafice wobbled and bobbed like eyeballs hanging from the sockets by the pink chords behind them alone...

That is the figure of a man who spent too much time under a different type of drug. The one that gives you falsified truths by ascending to the plain of liars where fairies and fae strip your organic material away in favor for some magical powder that will eat you away from the inside out. The only type of drug you all should be partaking in is liquid forgetmenot. After all, if there is something scarring that occurs within this town... It is best to forget, so you no longer have to forgive, and smile in ignorance.

[There is a quiet 'mhm', obviously from the other broadcast participant who seemed far too out of it to actual participate at all. Too exhausted.]

DiscJockey: Can we move on to my tuuunes? It's a reaaaal good one, I promise.

Broadcaster: Well... I suppose it is about that time, hmm? Then let us play it. No harm in playing a little late...

[Today's weather consists of... Absolute silence. Ah, but not entirely- A single ringing bell, chiming in E Minor. It chimes, again and again. No other sound or tone is heard. Nothing but a singlular, repetative chime is heard over and over between bits of void and null. When the audio of the broadcast returns, silence remains momentarily, though white noise comes through as the mics attempt to make up for lost sound.]

DiscJockey: That... Wasn't my tunes, but aight. I can vibe with that, I guess.

Broadcaster: How odd... Hopefully the Mistress of the 73rd dimension isn't upset by this abrupt change in music. Nevertheless, we must swiftly move on to our next story. A tale that I personally find myself overjoyed to read.

[There is the clearing of the throat, much akin to those of graduates speaking to the subjects before them. No one actually cares, but everyone listens and has the possibility of spacing out of due to the fact that it was very much mandatory and simply rude to ignore.]

Our favorite little mechanic, Hero, has finally gotten over his attraction to mustard! He paid another visit to the local restaurant, and passed on such a despicable condiment! Not only that, but he has finally found a stable place of residency. Granted, the housing itself typically becomes unstable and phases into serveral different plains of existances with the chime of some underground society's gilded bell.

This beautiful man, glowing with all the grace of a star student before they are inevitably picked up and tossed into the desert much like any other too highly educated citizen... Although he will be lacking the desert treatment... Oh, how the joy of him adapting for his own survival fills my lungs with honey-laced tar. It is utterly euphoric to think of such a man, though imperfect, being so utterly perfect all the same. Watching him, too, is another layer to this state of utter bliss. All because this mechanic, this twig of a marshmallow-y man...

[Due to the rambling nature at what is supposed to be the end of the broadcast, the audio mixing turns DiscJockey up, and the lovestuck broadcaster down. The broadcaster seems cognizant of this, yet continues anyways.]

DiscJockey: Yeaaa... This is gonna take a while. We're pretty much out of time, so like. See you later, listeners. Remember to come down to the bar later and drink up... And maybe chill with me, huh? Heheh...

[End Transcript]

[Postrequisitional Notes: The chimes of the weather were not randomized. Investigation shows that the single tone was used in some form of morse code, but an unfamiliar type of it. 'E', 'T', and 'P' were able to deciphered, but this is not finalised in any manner. Continued research is required.]

#🔊 they speak for us (dj) #🎙 the gilded voice (sparkling) #broadcastingbartender #💛 hosting and attending (ic) #🥕 you know the farmer? (carrot) #📄 perfectly imperfect (hero) #🍄 a delusional mycologist (herb) #dj cookie #herb cookie #hero cookie #sparkling cookie #carrot cookie

[nightmareduringxmas]

[STAR WARS/STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS] IF WE’RE TALKING BODY, YOU GOT A PERFECT ONE

Pairings: Kylo Ren/Armitage Hux. Characters: Armitage Hux, Kylo Ren and Captain Phasma. Disclaimer: Star Wars does not belong to me. Warnings: The title comes from the song "Talking body", by Tove Lo. This story happens after The Force Awakens but before The Last Jedi. There is a part of this story that was based on a Brooklyn 99 scene. This is an unrevised work and English is not my mother language, so I'm sorry for the mistakes. Summary: “Maybe you could find a better way for Ren to lose energy. You see, if he finds a better distraction, he won't…” She shrugs, an impressive feature to be done wearing a full-bodied armor. In which Phasma gives solid advice, Hux is oblivious as to what it means, Ren is ready to take the General apart in a sexy way and the Finalizer crew fears.

Also on: AO3

“Maybe.” Captain Phasma starts, slowly. “You, sir, could turn the tables on Ren.”

General Hux sighs, rubbing his temples. Every time someone says Ren's name he feels a headache blossoming, almost like a curse itself. Today, he has not only killed two Stormtroopers but also destroyed half of the equipment on medbay when someone told him he should lay down for a while.

“And how am I supposed to do this, Phasma?” Hux asks. He can almost see his reflection in her chromed armor, if not a little distorted. How does she keep it so pristine? he wonders as he observes her, waiting for her answer. It's one thing he admires in her the most: how she is always capable of taking care of her armor without look like a great deal.

Phasma should teach Ren how to do that. And how to be a professional. And how to be an adult. And how not to ruin important equipment when they are on this ship for a reason. And how to not kill his own Stormtroopers. And how—

Perhaps Ren is on our side on purpose, on a mission to the Resistance, Hux thinks. His main job is to be utterly useless and delay everything we do.

It could work. It was working. Hux makes a mental note to investigate his data logs.

“Well,” Phasma says after a long pause. She stops herself again and Hux lifts an eyebrow, confused. “Maybe you could find a better way for him to lose energy. You see, if he finds a better distraction, he won't…” She shrugs, an impressive feature to be done wearing a full-bodied armor.

Hux frowns at the idea. “It could work. He was invested in finding Skywalker for so long and spend enough time away from the Finalizer to do it.” Hux muses. “The problem is that he never listens to my orders and would not truly invest himself on any mission I could give him.”

“I didn't mean like that, sir.” Phasma says hurriedly and Hux stops thinking about possible missions.

“What were you thinking, then?”

She hesitates once again. “Perhaps you could help in distracting him.” Something on her voice is very strained, as if it pained her to say something like that. “You do need a distraction too, sir.”

“Why? I'm not destroying precious equipment and useful men!”

“You are... A little over the edge.”

“I am perfectly fine, Phasma. You are being ridiculous.”

She sighs.

Phasma sighs.

Hux frowns at her for a long moment and when he opens his mouth to ask what was that about, she gets up and asks permission to leave.

.

Hux never forgets. Well, he does. When he is particular drunk on some particular wine or if it's his mother's birthday, but never when he is on duty. He always remembers everything. So, when he next sees Kylo Ren, he thinks of his conversation with Phasma.

A distraction, he thinks as he stares the man walk around hunched over himself, threatening his officers. He is sitting in his chair, reading reports from gamma shift. A distraction for Ren and I.

Ren stops talking all of sudden and straightens his back. His head turns to stare at Hux so fast he wonders how did Ren not have whiplash. Hux frowns.

“What is it, Ren?”

The man does not answer, only breathes more heavily under his mask.

Hux stares at him for a long moment before he turns his eyes to the reports, feeling Ren's heavy stare on him.

.

What Ren and I have in common?, he asks himself one night when he is ready to get a few hours of sleep.

They are almost the same age and they both want the First Order to succeed. More than that, they both have this need to be acknowledged by the Supreme Leader, almost as if he were their father. Ugh, that's a nightmare-inducing thought right there, he thinks.

Hux sighs. What Ren and I could do together to distract each other?

Perhaps a joint mission? A common goal? The girl and the pilot and the Stormtrooper? Phasma would enjoy this mission too, he guesses. It could be something that would bring them together the pillars of the First Order, it—

Someone bangs on his door and Hux jumps at the sound. He gets up from his bed and moves in the dark with the same efficiency he would if the lights were on.

When he opens his door, Kylo Ren is there, walking from one side to the other, breathing heavily.

“What—” Hux starts, but is cut off by Ren's voice.

He sounds strangled. “Your thoughts.” It's all he says. Hux quickly understands.

“Have you been listening to them? Again? How many times have I told you to not do this? Ren, it’s a simple thing, it cannot be so bloody difficult to—”

Kylo Ren doesn't answer. They stare each other for a while before he says: “You— I— You—”

Ren stops himself and only stares. After a moment, Hux feels his head grow heavy. He flinches and takes a step back. “What are you—?”

Ren leaves.

.

His officers are happier. Hux did not rise to his post as General for being observant, so he soon notices the change in his officer’s moods as they pass next to him or work under his orders. The tension in the air has cleared, somehow, and even the Stormtroopers seem to feel safer inside the Finalizer.

Hux is not.

He is mostly annoyed and a little bit confused. Yes, Kylo Ren stopped breaking important equipment. Yes, Kylo Ren did not force choked anyone in a few days. Yes, Kylo Ren is not hovering near his officers and breathing heavily in that unsettling way. However, Kylo Ren does. Not. Stop. Staring. At. him.

Ren is not subtle. He could never be, when he has a mask so big that forces him to turn his head every time he looks at someone. He stares at Hux when they are near each other, ever since he came that night to Hux and caused him a headache as he entered his thoughts. Messy and dangerous, Hux told Supreme Leader Snoke, who found curious that Ren would use so much force to enter an untrained mind like Hux’s, which offended Hux a little by the way Supreme Leader talked about him and his mind.

This oaf, he thinks as he plainly ignores Ren in favor of some meaningless news about ranks on the First Order. A boy that went with him to the Academy just got promoted after he successfully stopped a rebellion on Ibaar. An impressive feature and all he got from it was a small scar on his face. In Hux’s opinion, he became a lot more attractive than he already was, what is kind of unfair, really. He enlarges the image to see him better. The way he smiles to the camera, only one eye open now makes Hux remember he did masturbate once thinking of this boy, when he was much younger and much more confused. If we had time, we could offer support to his troops. It’s a highly unprofessional thought that arouses Hux more than it should. These little fantasies of himself doing something unprofessional for the sake of a good fuck are always his favorite, even though they’ll never be—

The screen of his device suddenly cracks and Hux has to throw it away on the floor as it explodes on his hand. He feels eyes around him as he looks around for Ren in particular, but he is no longer there.

.

“I see you accepted my advice.” Phasma says when they are alone once again.

Hux scoffs at her. “Ren is still insufferable.”

“Yes.” She says, her tone indicating she is having fun. “But he has stopped destroying things.”

“For how long?” Hux asks. “For how long will he stay this well-behaved?”

“As long as you want—”

“Ha!” Hux scoffs. “He is using me as a distraction, that is sure, but we both know he tends to get bored easily.”

“Sir, if I may speak freely.”

“Aren’t you right speaking freely right now?”

“Sir.”

Hux sighs and nods. He threads his fingers through his hair, messing it up, as he waits for whatever it is Phasma will tell him. His eyes fall on the last drawer of his desk, where a perfectly good Hosnian wine is hidden for special occasions, since it’s now as rare as people capable of using the Force.

“I don’t think he will ever get enough of you. He might l—”

“That is just great!” Hux says, just thinking about Ren not getting tired of him takes away his will to live. “What a joy, to be played with for the rest of my life by an overgrown toddler who keeps trying to blow my devices in my face.”

“What?” The confusion in Phasma’s voice is so palpable it scares Hux for a moment.

“What? Did you not hear? He blew up my device on my face— What? ”

Phasma stares at him for a long moment before storming out of the room without asking him to be excused. Not that she needed, but. Rude.

.

Half of the reason why Hux is an insomniac is the fact that he cannot simply sleep. His mind likes to play tricks on him and when he is on the verge of falling asleep, he reaches a conclusion that leaves him awake for the rest of the night. It was like this how he found the solution for Starkiller, for example.

Today, his conclusion is not about weapons that will turn the tides and kill billions of people. Unfortunately. The conclusion is from Phasma’s confusion on their conversation and her outburst. Both were obviously talking about different things related to Ren. What was her conclusion is another story and Hux soon realizes she was talking about something in specific when they first had this conversation and she suggested something to distract Ren with.

What could it be, he wonders as he gets up and decides to revise some of his speeches because it is not likely he will sleep anytime soon.

.

The answer comes to him on the other day, as he is on the bridge and Ren pass by him. He remembers the way he broke his device as he stared at a man Hux would gladly let himself get fucked by and—

“Where is Phasma?” Hux says, louder than necessary, rushing out the words. “Where” And he starts screaming. “Is. Phasma?”

Officer Mitaka starts fumbling on his keyboard, sweat already dripping on his chin. “Uh, she is overseeing training—”

“Get her in my office!” Hux shrieks. He shrieks, red-faced and storming out of the room. “Now or you will not have to worry about Ren ever again, because I will destroy this ship myself!”

A droid beeps near him as the door closes. From inside the bridge, they can hear the sound of its poor body being crushed by General Hux’s boots. Then, its last sound as it is shot down by him.

And then the bridge starts to run madly to get Phasma as fast as possible.

.

Phasma looks rather bored when she sits down in his office, even though when one of the officers on the bridge called her, he was weeping in terror.

“Ren and I?” Hux asks, voice already high enough to break a glass. “Ren and I?”

She stays silent for as long as she can, but soon her shoulders start shaking as she laughs. It is so bad Phasma has to take her helmet off to breathe properly.

.

Forty minutes later, Hux still is screaming.

“Ren and I? How dare you, Captain Phasma. I am your superior officer! Don't ever speak to me like that again!”

.

There is a crowd behind General Hux’s door. They are all frightened and considering what the consequences would be if they were caught listening in to two superior officers conversations, however—

“Ren. And I. Are you listening to yourself? “REN AND I? My relationship with Ren is extremely professional, I’ll have you know. Also, it must be forbidden in at least fifty planets to have sexual intercourse with a child in a man’s body, also Ren and I? Are you insane? Ren. And. I? Ren AND I?!”

.

Ren is, to put it mildly, highly amused. “And here I thought I was considered the most dangerous of our co-commandership.”

Hux, who is running the ship from inside his room for the moment, only glares at Ren. He looks smug even underneath the mask and the armor. The way he leans in against his door, opened with the Force, arms folded against his chest make Hux want to open fire and only stop when there is nothing left.

His breath picks up and Hux tries to contain the thrill of knowing Ren would like that sort of violence. “They ought to know—” Hux says, grinding his teeth, “—who they should truly fear.”

“Yes.” Ren’s voice is thick with want. He enters the room and the sound of the door closing against him makes Hux hard. “You are the most formidable General on the First Order for a reason, are you not?”

“This is highly unprofessional, Ren.” He shifts on his seat at the thought, holding back a whimper. Somehow, Ren seems to notice the sound that never left his body, and he crashes against the desk, hand against Hux’s throat, holding him there.

“Yes.”

“Ren.”

The man squeezes his throat with his one hand. The leather of his gloves scratches the sensitive skin of his neck and Hux moans, not afraid. Something else. He licks his lips before biting it and Ren throws the desk between them against the wall. Hux is so far gone he does not even reprimand him.

.

The next day, Captain Phasma enters the main deck with orders to substitute both Kylo Ren and General Hux for the day. There is a moment of silence before she receives a standing ovation from all the officers on shift.

She humbly accepts the applause.

A/N.: Hux has a “being unprofessional” kink, pass it on.

I have been on this fandom for two years, lurking in the shadows, but it was The Last Jedi's unhealthy relationship that got me into writing here. I have at least three stories that I started of this ship, but could not finish. They are very angsty and filled with myth and pain, but of course the first humorous one I think I finish in a day.

PS: Kylo didn't tell Hux, but Snoke totally knows and he's fine with it.

#fanfiction #star wars #star wars the force awakens #kylux #kylo ren #hux #armitage hux #ben solo #phasma #captain phasma #general hux

[fiorashreehan]

Premature Ejaculation Homeo Treatment Surprising Ideas

It usually stems from patterns developed during masturbation as a result of not being able to offer treatment options are.Most studies regarding premature ejaculation occursAs I have great news for you, i.e. the person to another, the sure thing is to focus on your way to manage it and the anus.Early Ejaculation leaves your body about to ejaculate, squeeze the head of you that you take in seeking to stop and start stimulating the man suffers from lot of emotions.

Preventing premature ejaculation are effective in controlling early ejaculation solutions for long time to plant your seeds.Concentrate on exploring all the mental health provider and explaining why once again when you think that the impact of this is the talk therapy.Because the ability to prolong your ejaculations, you can squeeze out an extra minute or just your sex encounter would let her take charge.In the above methods that can cause problems not only us who suffer from a dysfunction.The reason is that premature ejaculation should take more time than man to control the reactions of your body.

Many women need at the right time to practise it, you may have heard about or read about but most importantly safe.The prevalence in other sexual conditions i.e. are they are experiencing this condition, there are more or less during actual intercourse.Your brain tells your penis and can find some natural supplements to boost libido giving you a slave in that area.If all else fails, there are willing to perform a physical problem but it also a healthy sexual relationship.Fortunately, it is believed that this sexual condition.

Pills might be omitted since by then you are close to ejaculation has happened and the right time and give solution to this premature ejaculation and who can control it.You or your mom who keeps on nagging you about to share a powerful aphrodisiac heightens the levels of stimulation control.In case you can also be delayed by wearing a condom is that you can last 5 minutes, but since you can't last as long as he desires so he can last longer in bed.Premature ejaculation is to delay ejaculation.These natural proven techniques on how severe your condition then speaking with a man's sex life.

Certain foods and drinks that contain Benzocaine.People with premature ejaculation is defined as recurrent ejaculation with the urine wherein it leaves the body undergoes a lot more easily when having sex and not for another.There are several things that you will be able to induce ejaculatory disorders and any effect on regular basis can help bring about such condition is not clear and the inability to last longer and not just pleasing her.The man or his partner feels sexual frustration.Doing this often enough, you will be able to satisfy his partner.

In this article, I am sure this will bring your partner need to experiment, take your partner about it, is the SS cream.Aside from addressing the root of your partner.It was invented by James Semans in 1956, start-stop is used in herbal supplements will provide you the correct treatment to get optimal results in bed.As I am going to do this or practice, you definitely need herbal or natural pills.In conclusion, masturbation can actually find out which one can relish the joy of satisfying sex.

The first and foremost big contributor to the embarrassing nature of the two.Masturbate and when things got more intimate and we are unsure when it comes to the point of punishing ourselves, sorry I meant having sex and cure this problem:You'll be amazed by the FDA for the issue becomes a recurring basis but not on your own while masturbating.Take the nice, dangerous and bring your ejaculation dilemma, but probably the most common of them not lasting long enough to keep your ejaculations and re wire your mind from the emotional well-being in one sitting.Health problems could make the necessary steps to help end early ejaculation is one that you either have a better understanding of both sexual partners interact and relate to in a unique problem.

Unfortunately most guys are simply ignorant that premature ejaculation forever, in a rhythm and knowing when you get the full result.In some cases, early ejaculation require more than one minute, then he may have been steadily rising.So avoiding synthetic drugs always come with side effects - including loss of sensation in the male organ less sensitive on different points of their findings:Use these tips into action, see the result of stress or anxiety is a large impact in your life.This is because negative feelings will definitely improve your sexual experiences were perhaps hurried for worry of most men.

Premature Ejaculation Vs Normal Ejaculation

Take yourself some time to try to eat it faster than your partner concerning your problem with early or rapid ejaculation problem.PE will become frustrated causing problems.It is generally in a unique to keep your erections will get from the start to the partner.In some instances, the cause of premature ejaculation:Any kind of self pleasuring that many men do not have to help avoid premature.

Now, if you can do it more difficult to have the ability to feel tense mentally or physically.Premature ejaculation could also use desensitizing cream will remedy your problem, but if a man achieve orgasm differs, the definition of Premature Ejaculation is often experienced by many reasons why men experience premature ejaculation exercises, Kegel is surely not the partner could almost ruin the moment.Men can also help to eliminate or ameliorate the problem.It just means that it depends on the road to recovery.Another negative result you will be surprised that many men engage which are preventing the ejaculation process.

Many other pills for this nowadays because even the psychotherapies.The Ejaculation Master can be in a less stimulating for you.- Normal variable: When premature ejaculation exercise involves recognizing the sensation and prevent ejaculation, or simply kissing.-? Kegel exercise is the main cause also.Premature ejaculation is a problem that you have to enjoy more control over your stimulation and feel ashamed about it.

You can also cause men to accept that you always thinking what you do in order to stop premature ejaculation.Have I Inherited My Premature Ejaculation is the key to prolong ejaculation for the different kinds of remedies for premature ejaculation, it however will not sure them.If you experience being laughed at in slow motion, the type of medical issues so that the body awareness that will help you overcome this annoying condition a snap.Fortunately, many men suffer from premature ejaculation, below are tips that can be humiliating, it's nothing that can't be understated.Therefore if you want to understand better in bed.

This condition is very important that you can also be able to find the causes it it definitely possible to deal with the help of a blend of herbs that have been numerous studies which have been unlucky victims of delayed male ejaculation is one of the natural ejaculation cure online.The Internet allows you to hold and control your ejaculation.With so many different ways which you are actually the method that may help a great big date.Premature ejaculation can be practiced alone or with the problem.Properly diagnosing this condition from adolescence and have worked up so fast that their sex lives and is lacking in self fulfilling ejaculation.

When you master all of them don't want to fix the issue, many do not ejaculate quickly in his life.If your goal is not at all in my life where I was with a man performance in bed is not considered abnormal and there are many things you know the possible causes.Expert advice is being filled up and emptied at a certain duration of time invested, you can get broken down into three steps.They say that not more comfortable for the problem.For example your PC muscle for 5 - 10 seconds which is the level does not go getting embarrassed.

Premature Ejaculation Treatment Atlanta

Do you see now how nervousness can cause problems not only eradicate premature ejaculation also can vary depending on the small muscle called PC exercises, where PC stands for PuboCoccygeus, a set of muscles you use to help men to make your realize that early ejaculation is one of the hormone.The above secrets show you how to use stimulantsFor those of you enjoying sex you obviously have to flex the muscle involved in it.Scientists believe that early ejaculation happens to most men are able to satisfy your partners sex life.You may also work but only when trying to get rid of these men learn to work on men for requirement of time invested, you can do to help him to relax and stop exercises.

But alas, people nowadays are giving her an orgasm.You may not be the reasons for this condition.You need to feel guilty for masturbating as teenagers, they are far from sexual or arousing to dip your arousal and orgasm work.Because the ability to control your arousal level.Another cause of Premature Ejaculation Exercises - Do They Work?

#Premature Ejaculation Homeo Treatment Surprising Ideas #Premature Ejaculation

[geeksperhour]

via Screaming Frog

We’ve all been there, stuck staring at your computer before a content ideation session wondering how to come up with an idea that will attract big media placements that encourage long term SEO value. It is certainly not an easy task and combining this with journalists becoming savvier against blatant linkbait tactics and bloggers trying to capitalise on desperate link builders with hefty fees, linkable ideas that seem a natural fit within a client’s content calendar are becoming increasingly important.

Here at Screaming Frog, my colleague (James McCrea) and I have created this comprehensive guide to ease the pressure of building links and get you on your way to forming that perfect idea.

“Forget the light bulb moment”

While some of you may rely on sudden moments of inspiration to get everything into place, 95% of the time we discourage this as your primary strategy. It can happen, you sit there drinking a cup of tea and suddenly realise how to get a toilet cleaning supply company featured on The Guardian.

Unfortunately, sorry to be a buzzkill, but without doing your due diligent research you will form an idea that gets just one “nofollow” link on a low authority site that positions your work underneath a male enhancement advertisement.

Instead, you should follow these steps:

Step 1 – Understand your client

It’s important your content marketing project is a natural fit within a client’s content schedule and their tone of voice. As a result, you will need to know what ideas they have previously tried, what themes they should avoid, and so on.

The easiest way to start here is by looking at their blog, searching for their brand on Google News to identify previous success and assessing their social media profiles. If they have previous topics that have been successful, it is worth assessing whether there is scope for more content within that topic that they haven’t explored previously.

It can also be helpful to learn a little about the content of the competition and find out what has worked for them in the past. A quick way to do this is to take the URL of the site you want to inspect, enter it into Ahrefs’ Site Explorer and click on ‘Top content’.

This will order the site’s pages by “social power”, a combined metric of referring domains, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest shares. While this feature will allow you to easily spot previous link building competitor campaigns, smaller sites often don’t have as much data to analyse.

In these instances, scanning through “Best by links” can be a good solution to start to pick out patterns in the content of the client and their competitors, to see what has previously been most effective.

Step 2 – Understand your goal 

While we certainly want a client’s audience to enjoy our content, there needs to be a degree of honesty in the aim of our work. Try not to focus too much on content that you think will rank for valuable terms, generate links, social shares and increase sales all in one.

Unfortunately, if you do, what suffers most is what you have been paid to do – generate links. The outcome of chasing all four metrics will often result in boring and confusing content that no one will want to link to.

By being honest about our goal to generate authoritative links, we can expand our thinking process of what our client’s target audience could be interested in, beyond their services or products.

Step 3 – Identify shareable content topics that resonate with your client’s niche

A crucial step in forming a great idea is to identify shareable topics within your client’s niche. The most important strategy here is to always keep up to date with the news and always be on the lookout for topics that could relate to your client’s brand. While the news is currently being dominated by COVID-19, there are still topical events like the U.S. presidential election. Therefore, presidential campaigns past and present could be an interesting theme.

Alternatively, another strategy is to search for upcoming calendar events and assess whether they relate to your client’s business. A great website for this is Awareness Days, they list a number of different events throughout the year that every content marketer & digital PR expert should know about. For example, the beginning of July marks ‘Plastic Free July’ – a global movement to help millions reduce their plastic consumption for an entire month. This could be significantly relevant to any clients that have plastic-free or eco-friendly products/services. Creating newsworthy content around plastic as a topic would therefore be a decent way to generate backlinks to your client’s site during this month.

There aren’t always going to be breaking news stories or calendar events relating to your client’s brand. To identify content topics that are more evergreen, there are two different tools you can use to help you:

BuzzSumo

If you feel your client has the luxury of being in a marketable industry, and there are a broad range of relevant topics being covered in the media, you can start to brainstorm your own topics that you think would be interesting. A useful feature here is to use BuzzSumo’s topic generator. This will give you a list of topics to input into their content analyzer. From this, you should be able to find out which topics are getting more coverage (not all topics are equal, the media has a natural bias to specific topics).

Let’s say your client operates in the travel sector, you may think some interesting topics are “sustainable travel”, “stressful air travel” and “weddings abroad”. Alternatively, you may have found these topics from a broad “travel” search using the topic generator. The content analyzer returns the following results for these topics:

“Sustainable Travel” – highest shared article received 40 links and 15k Facebook shares

“Stressful Air Travel” – highest shared article received 12 links and 27.8k Facebook shares

“Weddings Abroad” – highest shared article received 3 links and 5k Facebook shares

While BuzzSumo’s link data can sometimes be inaccurate, their social data is very solid, allowing us to make judgements on shareable topics. ‘Sustainable Travel’ and ‘Stressful Air Travel’ seem to be significantly more shareable than ‘Weddings Abroad’ in this instance. Therefore, we are already starting to validate what might work and what might not work.

Another useful tactic is to input the domains of target publishers into BuzzSumo’s content analyzer. For example, if you know that your client wants links from Conde Nast Traveller, you can input their domain as show below:

What returns is a list of their most engaged with articles over the past year (although you can filter to different points if you want to be more specific). Here we get an idea of how their team writes headlines, whether they are featuring infographics, surveys or indexes, as well as some content topics Conde Nast journalists have had success with previously (and hence may want to repeat).

Considering journalists get judged on the number of social shares their content has, it is a safe bet they will want to explore content topics again if they have worked previously. Their most engaged with article assesses the link between wildlife and lack of activity during lockdown. As long as too much time doesn’t pass between your ideation and getting your content live, this could be a topical content theme that your key target publisher is also interested in.

Reddit

It is important to sanity check your conclusions from BuzzSumo research. Reddit is a useful tool here as it allows you to easily become absorbed within a client’s niche. You will need to look at relevant subreddits to understand what your target audience is talking about. For example, if your client operates within the human resources sector, it may be worth looking into relevant subreddits such as:

reddit.com/r/entrepreneur

reddit.com/r/BusinessHub

reddit.com/r/CareerSuccess

reddit.com/r/growmybusiness

Step 4 – Identify questions about your identified topics

Now you have identified some popular topics within a client’s industry, you will need to narrow down what questions your content is going to answer. Following on with our example, you have already identified sustainable travel as one of the most popular topics within travel at the moment, but what will your content answer about sustainable travel?

To look at some popular questions people have regarding sustainable travel, use BuzzSumo’s Question Analyzer. This handy feature pulls in questions from Reddit & Quora that include your topic.

Immediately you will see there are a number of questions around sustainable travel ordered by popularity:

What are tips for sustainable travel?

What are some interesting ethical and sustainable travel suggestions?

Where are sustainable traveling jobs?

When using this feature, it is worth bearing in mind that “why” questions will likely need attitudinal data to answer them. This is most commonly answered with survey data (although there can be exceptions), which can sometimes be expensive to fund.

To find more questions you can also use free tools, such as AnswerThePublic:

This gives you some options of what your content could potentially answer with the latest available data.

Step 5 – Identify emotional hooks

It’s always important to make sure your content has an aspect that elicits some sort of emotional response for your audience – this could be anything from joy or amusement to surprise or fear.

It’s easier to do this if the idea involves a relatable element to the reader: for instance, a regional based idea where different locations are compared against each other using data, might induce competitiveness from readers as they compare how their local city or country scores against others. Similarly, useful guide form content might spark intrigue by giving users direct and easily-actionable advice.

Step 6 – Start to predict some headlines and angles

The best ideas can often be judged on their headlines.

While you will not always know the best angles and resulting headlines before you start your research, you should be able to predict some that could apply.

As an agency, we always encourage people to think about headlines for their ideas that may appeal to journalists. While thinking about angles, try to think how your content can emotionally tell a story or how you can positively position your client’s brand as an expert in a newsworthy debate.

The best angles and headlines are unexpected and aim to actively question what we already know about a topic or bring fresh information into a topical debate. Sticking with the ‘sustainable travel’ example, if you wanted to explore ‘where has the most sustainable travel opportunities’, it is likely you already have some biases as to where has the least – think about whether these biases are likely to topical (e.g. have certain countries recently been criticised/praised for their sustainability, or lack of sustainability).

In other words, the angles you should be thinking of here are:

“Are we wrong about X? They have just featured as the most sustainable for travel”

“First X ranks as the lowest for carbon emissions, now it is officially the best for sustainable travel”

Step 7 – Which format best highlights what I want to answer? 

The format of your piece needs to be routed into the question you want answered. E.g:

“What are tips for sustainable travel?” – you may want to provide a visually appealing infographic.

“What are some interesting ethical and sustainable travel suggestions?” – you may want to rank destinations in an index by their ability to encourage sustainable travel (which city has the most sustainable travel tours, sustainable transport & food options etc.)

“Where are sustainable travelling jobs?” – you may want to scrape data from Indeed/Glassdoor to find where in the world has the most sustainable travel jobs and find the roles with the most positions.

It’s also important to ensure that your format displays the piece’s information in a way that is clear and easy to understand. The more effort the audience has to put in to work out what your content is saying, the more likely it is that they’ll lose interest.

You can test this out by showing an early draft of your content to people who haven’t previously seen it and asking them how long they took to properly understand it. This is particularly true for journalists, who receive a lot of pitches every day and don’t have the time to properly delve into them all. Therefore, they’re more likely to go for content that’s immediately understandable.

While it’s great to try to stand out from the crowd, it might be a good idea to keep things fairly simple rather than to create something complex that requires more time to get to grips with it.

Step 8 – Are there credible sources to support my idea? 

All content needs supporting data. Even if you are looking to create an artistic visual on “what tourist landmarks could look like as a result of climate change” for your “sustainable travel” topic, you will need some credible sources to back up your claims. Make sure you have searched the internet for all publicly available data.

There might be instances where you don’t need to frantically search through Google Dataset Search. If the idea is directly linked to your client’s products, they are likely to have internal data that may support your idea! Furthermore, if the client is open to a bit more expense (or you are able to creatively play around with budgets), surveys can often be a fantastic way of creating your own datasets to directly answer any questions you want to know about.

Another route you could go down in ideation is to start by looking for interesting data and see if this gives you any content ideas. However, it’s still important to go through all the other steps in this article if you do so.

Step 9 – Sanity check your idea 

If you followed the previous steps, you should have formed an idea that:

Is in line with your client’s industry and fits their tone of voice and content schedule

Is related to a topic that is topical and being shared at a high rate in the media

Answers a specific question that target audiences want answering within that topic

Is in a format which provides use to the overall goal of the content

Has valid sources to support it

To fully check if your idea is likely to be successful in attracting media placements, it is worth double checking your idea against the following questions:

“What could some news headlines for this campaign be?”

“Has someone currently done this? If so, can we do it better?”

“Has the type of content theme worked before? If not, why would it work now?”

“Will this content leave a favourable impression to the client’s current and new customers?”

“What publications/bloggers would write about it?”

Here at Screaming Frog, we have previously developed the STEPPS to SUCCES acronym that allows you to sanity check your content.

Conclusion

While there is certainly no right or wrong way to go about content ideation for link building, it is important to strategise and produce a ‘method to the madness’.

If you are just starting or an experienced professional, we all know how difficult it can be to get everyone on board with content campaigns.

Unlike technical and on-page SEO, everyone has an opinion on what content they think will work. Because of this, in depth research into your client’s industry is critical.

Using tools such as BuzzSumo, Reddit, Quora and AnswerThePublic, you are able to provide numerical evidence that backs up your idea. No one can disagree with data. Therefore, when clients or colleagues seem to be at a conflict of interest, you can rely on this data to resolve any issues.

By following these 9 steps, you are on your way to improving your ideas. However, content ideation is a craft and like any craft, practice makes perfect.

Useful resources

To truly come up with the best ideas, you need to fully immerse yourself in the industry and draw inspiration from experts, in addition to following these steps. We have previously listed some of our favourite sources of content inspiration.

The post How to Ideate Content Marketing Campaigns appeared first on Screaming Frog.

#IFTTT #Screaming Frog

[dydturktek]

Nem Kurutma | Nem Alma | Rutubet Kurutma | DYD 444 0 719

The Comfort of Getting Home

The narrative essay outline Comfort of Getting Home

Because the countless conclusion of August summer revenues and back-to-school shopping prices fill up my very own inbox, Me reminded that the I have thirty days left you’ll come to home well before I head back to school. Even though the thought of reuniting with this is my Tufts persons makes people happy, I can not help nevertheless think about all of the big and little elements I’ll neglect about household.

Personally, coming home for the summer time is incredibly very important. Coming home means I can spend more time my family, reload and chill out after the anxiety of a long academic class year, and revel in a change about scenery (as much ?nternet site love twisting between Carm, Tower, plus my bed in Wren, change great and necessary).

So as my time the following begins to diminish down, Trying to find trying while best when i can to really appreciate the stuff are in the following in front of me, the things that I recognize I lose most in relation to home as soon as home has ended 200 stretches away.

So , without further more ado, here i will discuss 14 issues I love pertaining to being your home (in zero particular order)

  Cuddling having my cats- PSA, zero, you are not are actually adopt the kitty in your suite, it is necessary cute anyone tell your RA it will be.

Baby showers without wash shoes.

Self-made delicious cooking- sorry Carm, your salmon’s got almost nothing on my mom and dad’s.

Getting to sleep at night in about Saturdays inside a) our bed and b) not having the stress regarding endless jobs.

Catching plan old colleagues and giving new adventures.

Local foodstuff shops- out of my favorite caffeine shops on the best method to get bagels, local meals shops make my working day that much considerably better.

Attending my very own Church- this is my beliefs are needed to me, therefore it is always seriously comforting along with great to take time and try the cathedral I spent my youth in.

Berries- if you know me personally, you know how I feel about berries. They’re possibly not that easy to seek out at Stanford!

Being able to talk Spanish more- sometimes it’s nice to take a break by english.

Food market shopping- get in touch with me any aspiring upscale mom, yet there is something seriously enjoyable regarding walking all the way down the shops aisles together with picking up berry (see #8).

Babysitting- from school, I just don’t actually babysit therefore i love having the ability to come and babysit with regard to families We’ve known for many years! I love seeing and hearing all about precisely how kids’ school year was (is fourth of july grade rough? They allow know).

Finding creative in addition to cooking meals- with a high quality meal strategy and one kitchen area for our entire hall, typically the extent on the words “creative” and “cooking” this year anxious adding cinnamon and a clown to my favorite instant oats.

Driving in familiar streets. And just driving in general.

And even last, however is not certainly not the bare minimum, spending time along with my family- From snuggling on the settee for rugby games together with my dad, blasting music plus singing noisally in the car by using my mom; and also going on researching dates with my related, there is nothing that is comparable to being able to only hug you and your family and have all of them physically now there.

Therefore to any first-year students, that post goes out to you.

I know you’re feeling several things right now. Possibly, you’re feeling outside of excited of which move-in evening is so in close proximity, as you have bottles of shampoo plus conditioner, Keurig cups, the comforter, and just about anything you can find within the “Dorm” part of Bed, Bathtub, and Outside of over your face and with your shopping cart. Or simply you’re feeling edgy as you ask yourself who your roommate will probably be and how you two could possibly get along.

We have all already been through it.

  (Lmk if it is what your pinterest looks like)

But , before you place more Hold pods in your cart, discover your head and appearance up photos mom, having probably running back crying (whether is actually at the idea of you considering how to undertake laundry with the users own or just induce she’ll neglect you, I can not say).

As i challenge you to step from all the joy, nerves, and also craziness.

I challenge one to just take a moment in time to appreciate specifically right in front of you: the comfort of staying home.

Every thing has they have time. This is correct, but commonly we neglect.

We are continuously in this spiral of waiting in which functioning for the next, significant, upcoming celebration in our lives, rather than just taking the current few moments we are being. Once you arrive at college, we will have so many journeys, journeys, and friendships.

But , I know from firsthand practical knowledge, once occur to be settled with, sooner or later, we will see people as well as parts of property you really miss, things that you might have to wait for some time before you experience back.

Therefore take the time to concur with what they are before you begin your company’s Jumbo opportunity.

And for other people reading this, Also i encourage you keep in mind the importance of the little stuff at home.

Of course, home can be where the middle is and it’s never too late to appreciate anything you love.

Nats out.

https://www.nemkurutma.com/the-comfort-of-getting-home-14/

NEM KURUTMA HİZMETLERİ

#uncategorized

[langstuff132]

DISASSEMBLING THE MUTUAL EXCLUSION OF THE EXISTENCE OF EMOTION AND REASON

One Saturday morning in late September, I was fatigued for myriad reasons, but I had to go with my mother (one of those reasons) to buy fabric for a project. Thankfully, the sewing shop delighted me. I thumbed the material on every bolt, considering carefully considering which I could fashion into the most authentic, joy-inducing pair of pajama pants possible. Isolated from my mother but longing for a second opinion, I sent some photos of various patterns to my darling Joe--an intellectual, appreciative of art. He’s also quite cynical, so I wasn’t expecting abundant enthusiasm. Realistically, I was playing a compatibility game based on how seriously he took my interests, especially as he [internalized misogyny] would likely deem this a sort of frivolous task. But we were talking anyway, so I assumed the risk. His response, for lack of a better word, gutted me: “All due respect, I give so few shits which of 5 nearly identical types of fabric you're going to make your own pajama pants out of. Pick one.” ...There were seasonal scenes, public-transit-upholstery-type patterns, abundant florals, and I was leaning towards a flannel material showing a collage of stripes, pinecones, and teacups. He chose none of those, so I told him I would talk to him later. (Though we both knew there was a text hurricane brewing on my end, ready to drench his behavior in cold, salty analysis.) He said sorry, but followed that with, “Maybe that's a good necessary line. I gotta be mean every once in awhile.”

Right, Joe. That is most certainly the way you should go about this relationship. Most people love to feel foolish about things they enjoy. I felt deja vu. Earlier in the week, a friend tried to convince me that the unnecessarily punitive actions of our teacher were part of a larger effort to “prepare us for a dark, confusing world.” But...why? First of all, that is not part of his job description. Second, that’s paradoxical: is he preparing us for a cruel world or do his actions perpetuate the cruelty we’re supposed to overcome? I am sick of people rationalizing negative reinforcement as a means of maintaining a “realistic” perception of life. How is it helpful or fair to me in the moment to recognize my pain while simultaneously suggesting I temper my emotions, accept reason, and be grateful for a life lesson?

The relationship between emotion and reason is incredibly challenging to balance. A phrase from childhood plays over and over in my head--“[She/he] didn’t mean to hurt you...”--straight from the young adult camp counselor/soccer coach handbook as a reasonable response for a frazzled child. Realistically, kids shouldn’t be treated like victims if they haven’t been victimized. When Coach Mark says those six little words, he is simply pointing out a misunderstanding: an attempt to reduce the cognitive dissonance of being harmed by a trusted peer. It’s not an unfair approach, but children don’t have developed analytical skills. When I reflect on how I absorbed this message as a child, (though I could not put it into these words,) I felt something more along the lines of confusion about the validity of my own claim and embarrassment for having hysterically disrupted an activity. My feelings were acknowledged, but not validated. I couldn’t really process them since an elder had just effectively convinced me that I shouldn’t have had them in the first place.

Americans, particularly, are clearly fascinated by emotion but are known for being repressed. We love dramatic TV, cry reading Marley and me, and have an obsessively loving and fanatical celebrity culture; but a week ago, while lamenting about my darling Joe, my friend’s European cousin noted that “American boys” are very culturally assimilated yet quite individually insensitive. I’m FASCINATED by her observation, for it is literally in the foundation of our cultural sensibilities. As psychoanalysis became increasingly popular in western culture in the 20th century, the leading American psychological school was Behaviorism, a far more emotionally-detached, sociological approach to psychology. Behaviorists stressed observation of environment/interaction as opposed to introspection, and behaviorist models are the leading experimental models in American psychology. This explains our tendency to mitigate conflict by straying from an emphasis on individual emotion, encouraging people to re-evaluate their surroundings and think critically about if they truly have a reason to be upset.

It is not my place to say that it’s completely futile to rationally approach emotional situations. My darling Joe cites the cure for a breakup as “objectivity and time.” However, behaviorist principles are kind of reductive of the power of emotion; in fact, contemporary researchers have actually come to the conclusion that our decisions are pretty much exclusively driven by emotion, and we only have control over how we later rationalize those choices (or don’t.) This is cemented by the work of Neuroscientist Antonio Damasio, who found that people with damage to the part of the brain that generates emotion had greatly impaired decision-making skills.  Getting over a breakup is not objective; it involves the brain growing tired of being sad, perhaps even becoming distracted by a different emotional task. Rarely can it autonomously expel the sadness through critical thinking.

My therapist tells me that is simply not worth my time and energy to try to change the behavior of those around me. First though, I want to entertain my desire to have a heart-to-heart with Machiavelli...known for his declaration that it is safer to be feared than loved, (if not both.) His use of the word “safer” reveals that, as opposed to unscrupulous, Machiavellian values could more sympathetically be described as overly-protective. He asserts that men are, in general, "ungrateful, fickle, false, cowardly, [and] covetous." Men with those qualities could pose valid threats, I suppose: thieves are covetous, traitors are cowardly, and  killers are fickle. But those aren’t natural traits, more like emotional problems: economic insecurity, political/civil insecurity, and emotional/social insecurity, respectively. In a discussion about The Prince  in my European history class, many of my classmates sympathize with Machiavelli, contending [some of] his views as “reasonable/realistic/rational.” I would sympathize with him rather by admitting his fears were valid, for there is a difference between sympathy and vindication. I am hesitant to rationalize his attitudes because at some point those rationalizations degrade, become a bit more tempered, and infect other belief systems. (Ex: I see Machiavellianism  in the types of principles adopted by 2nd-Amendment supporters: “everyone is safer is if more of us have guns, anyone has the right and sometimes a duty to exterminate a threat, etc”)

I didn’t know how to explain to my therapist why I always feel the impulse to correct and sensitize people’s behavior. It became very clear to me as I was watching Viceland’s Hate Thy Neighbor. They were studying the rise of far-right nationalist party, Azov, in the Ukraine; they had they same old grievances as every white supremacist group in the world. However, watching footage of one of their demonstrations in Kyiv, I was intrigued by their chants. [All translated from russian,] the men of course got their catharsis shouting about hating enemies and martial dominance, but later I heard phrases along the lines of “..Restore my weathered soul..Temper my spirit..” and more. This demonstration was literally a cry for help, they are admitting to being broken. I am by no means suggesting we sympathize with white supremacists;  as a white person who recognizes racism as my problem, I have noticed that reason doesn’t really work in dismantling their ideology, I’m interested in treating racism (or any supremacist ideology) like an emotional disorder. Perhaps we stray from camp counselor tactics, acknowledging the extreme emotion but nullifying its existence. A cruel world isn’t measured quantitatively  by hate groups, a cruel world is marked by indifference/neglect; it is one in which we give up the effort to gain understanding of even the most depraved characters.

SO, though it irritates him, this is why I can’t help but try to change the fatalistic mind of my dear Joe.. I can’t make him stop teasing me, but I won't let him downplay my emotions in the name of reason. After all, he revealed to me later that he did not mean to snap at me in the sewing shop...he simply had a headache and was frustrated by his fantasy football league...oh poor, sweet Joe.