#which is like. the goal of eclipse photography?

[livelaughlapush]

Unpopular Opinions: Twilight Edition

Bella Needs a Hobby...

Speaking on the movies

Bella goes through so much in the films, we barely see Bella having any fun in Twilight. Throughout the films, i constantly ask myself, does she have any goals in life, what is her passion, what does she want to do, what does she like to do, does she have any careers in mind? Those questions are never really brought up in the films, which actually could've made for a great storyline, this idea actually could've helped move the plot along and a possible reason for her turn or for her not to turn.

In New Moon, Bella is given a camera for her birthday and it's used only twice and it's never brought up again, and in Eclipse we find out that Bella and her Mother traveled a lot, so something I thought what would've been great for her was Photography. I thought it would've been cool if Bella would've liked taking pictures growing up, maybe of herself (and of course never showing anyone because she is shy), of her mom, their house, the pretty sights of Arizona, their travels, as a way to show the way she sees life and the world, have it be another way to tell her story.

Bella should've been into the arts of some kind. it was pretty clear Bella did not like expressing herself verbally, so maybe have her do so with her photos or writing, I love the idea of her being a writer, I would've loved if she actually had love for books in the films (Which I know she does in the novels) and writing. She should've had a diary, and her narrations in the films, were actually her diary entries, a way of expressing herself, there isn't really anyone for her to talk to about this stuff she goes through with Edward so a diary probably could've kept her sane, and she puts her photos in her diary.

Since moving to the Pacific Northwest, The Cinematography of Forks (Portland) was absolutely beautiful. The first film should have had Bella go out and travel the town on her own, or with Angela, maybe during a hike and take pictures of the City of Forks, the Nature, the people, Jake and his crew, the kids at school, and have her join the newspaper with Angela, use that as a way for her to fall in love with Forks, to become a little more social with her inner circle. They could have used this for Bella to be reminded of the life, have her see the beauty of life, making Bella's decision for immortality a lot harder.

Or maybe have Bella believe when she becomes a vampire she can become everything that she has always wanted to be or use the fact that Bella does not have a passions as a way for her to realize that she does need to live life more, and that like Carlisle, with her newfound immortality she literally can do whatever she wants, and nothing can stop her.

I love Bella Swan but she deserved so much for her character.

#twilight #the twilight saga #twilight fandom #twilight icons #twilight revival #the twilight series #twilight renaissance #edward cullen #twilight atmosphere #bella swan #twilight aesthetic #jacob black #twilight rennaisance #twilight saga #bella cullen #carlisle cullen #esme cullen #twilightcore #twilight forever #alice cullen #jasper cullen #emmet cullen #rosalie cullen #charlie swan #billy black #leah clearwater #black pack #the cullens #unpopular opinions twilight edition

[growwithmeastrology]

Wednesday, October 11th 2023

Sun in Libra ♎️💨 Moon in Virgo ♍️🌎

Today is all about getting down to business. Put in the work, reap the rewards.

The Moon in Virgo trines Jupiter in Taurus which brings in abundance where we are productive and detail oriented.

It might be difficult to get going though especially if your job is physical as the Sun in Libra is in the peak of an opposition with Chiron in Aries. I missed this transit the last couple of days and kept receiving messages from people experiencing body pain. Chiron being the wounded healer in opposition with the Sun wants us to face old wounds and heal them. This can manifest in physical pain for a lot of us.

Mars in the last degree of Libra is also in a trine to Saturn in Pisces. This transit will help give you the strength and ambition you need to get your goals accomplished.

Late tonight and into tomorrow for those on the east coast, Mars will leave Libra and enter Scorpio. Mars being the original ruler of Scorpio isn’t uncomfortable here but has the ability to bring out the warrior in us. This is, “don’t mess with me” energy. It can bring out some anger in us but it’s also highly strategic and thorough.

I warned earlier this week that the energies building up to the eclipse would be a little rough. It certainly is manifesting that way for many of my clients.

Take deep breaths, do a few stretches before getting your day going and do your best to focus on the tasks at hand. Reaching the top of a mountain has never been accomplished without a little pain. 💚✨

Learn more about your personal energies and how the daily forecast affects you! Comment below⬇️ or DM me for a FREE consultation.

Grow With Me Astrology provides astrological roadmaps that empowers people to take full control of their lives. Let me reveal to you the most powerful tool you already possess.

📸: Fernanda Meier Photography. Check out her work at FernandaMeier.com

If you’d like to support or donate:

🅿️ PayPal @NaliniFlor, Venmo @KameyBatiz or CashApp $NaliniFlor

#astrology #growwithme #zodiac #moon #sun #empowerment #horoscope #daily horoscope #daily energies #sun in libra #moon in virgo #mars in scorpio

[interdisciplinaryproject-group9]

Idea Proposal 4: The Last Room in Andromeda

Idea proposed by Tej Kamble

The brief was open-ended, my group was bursting at the seams with ideas and notions. I came upon a YouTube video titled "8K 360 video of the Lunar Eclipse and Aurora Borealis near Fairbanks, AK" by William Briscoe Photography, and it instantly captured my imagination.

That's when it dawned on me. We were producing an experience rather than merely a 360° video. Our goal was to profoundly affect our audience by taking them to a different planet. And how better to accomplish it than by using the aurora’s magic?

The idea sparked a flurry of brainstorming in my group. We envisioned a scene bathed in the ethereal glow of the northern lights, with the audience finding themselves in a digitalized world with a room that is the only part left of the previous world (an idea proposed by Vanessa) where a whale (being a symbol of protection, wisdom and a guardian of the world as Sabrina's investigation said) roams the sky, protecting what's left of the world, the room where objects (computer, desk, furniture, plant) would be either floating around or placed (Feodor’s idea) which symbolizes the only link left of the older world, with the Milky Way swirling overhead (Etti’s idea). (The Galaxy will be either outside the room or stuck inside the computer).

We'd incorporate interactive elements, allowing viewers to tilt their heads to follow the whale (maybe with other smaller fishes) floating across the sky or zoom in on the intricate patterns of the aurora and the galaxy. We'd even layer in subtle audio cues, like the whale singing to further immerse the viewers in the scene.

There would be difficulties, of course. The subtle luminosity of the lights would need to be captured without overpowering the surrounding scenery. To make the experience smooth and credible, we would need to test out several filming methods and post-production procedures. But the difficulties simply heighten our enthusiasm. We were committed to producing a 360° film that would wow our audience and properly capture the breathtaking splendor of the aurora.

References:

www.youtube.com. (n.d.). 8K 360 video of the Lunar Eclipse and Aurora Borealis near Fairbanks, AK. [online] Available at: https://youtu.be/HfadNyZgl2s?si=1FCRaLhK2a3q5s0r [Accessed 30 Jan. 2024].

For Image Creation I used [https://firefly.adobe.com] [https://gencraft.com/generate].

‌

#Youtube

[tej-k]

Idea Proposal 4: The Last Room in Andromeda

Idea proposed by Tej Kamble

The brief was open-ended, my group was bursting at the seams with ideas and notions. I came upon a YouTube video titled "8K 360 video of the Lunar Eclipse and Aurora Borealis near Fairbanks, AK" by William Briscoe Photography, and it instantly captured my imagination.

That's when it dawned on me. We were producing an experience rather than merely a 360° video. Our goal was to profoundly affect our audience by taking them to a different planet. And how better to accomplish it than by using the aurora’s magic?

The idea sparked a flurry of brainstorming in my group. We envisioned a scene bathed in the ethereal glow of the northern lights, with the audience finding themselves in a digitalized world with a room that is the only part left of the previous world (an idea proposed by Vanessa) where a whale (being a symbol of protection, wisdom and a guardian of the world as Sabrina's investigation said) roams the sky, protecting what's left of the world, the room where objects (computer, desk, furniture, plant) would be either floating around or placed (Feodor’s idea) which symbolizes the only link left of the older world, with the Milky Way swirling overhead (Etti’s idea). (The Galaxy will be either outside the room or stuck inside the computer).

We'd incorporate interactive elements, allowing viewers to tilt their heads to follow the whale (maybe with other smaller fishes) floating across the sky or zoom in on the intricate patterns of the aurora and the galaxy. We'd even layer in subtle audio cues, like the whale singing to further immerse the viewers in the scene.

There would be difficulties, of course. The subtle luminosity of the lights would need to be captured without overpowering the surrounding scenery. To make the experience smooth and credible, we would need to test out several filming methods and post-production procedures. But the difficulties simply heighten our enthusiasm. We were committed to producing a 360° film that would wow our audience and properly capture the breathtaking splendor of the aurora.

References:

www.youtube.com. (n.d.). 8K 360 video of the Lunar Eclipse and Aurora Borealis near Fairbanks, AK. [online] Available at: https://youtu.be/HfadNyZgl2s?si=1FCRaLhK2a3q5s0r [Accessed 30 Jan. 2024].

For Image Creation I used [https://firefly.adobe.com] [https://gencraft.com/generate].

‌

#Youtube

[illegalastrology111]

FORECAST 2021 - PART 1:  SURFING THE SEA OF LIFE - PART 1

2020 ended with Jupiter and Saturn moving out of Capricorn into the sign of Aquarius.  This indicates karma reaching a peak,  in order for it to be confronted and removed.  For some this will not have been an easy task.  There will be  those able to navigate through these challenges,  others will be consumed and overcome, unable to maintain balance  or stability.  However, it’s important to note that whatever karma is left from the previous cycle, will be carried over into the Jupiter/Saturn in Aquarius transit.   As a result some, will experience life-challenges throughout the year, similar to surfing the sea of life.

Aquarius represents freedom, independence humanitarian concerns, hopes, wishes, ideals, friends and groups.  Therefore, if karma still remains from when Saturn was in Capricorn  there will be difficulty, obstacles and frustrations in all of the above. 

One of the reasons life-challenges will continue is because Saturn, planet of karma, will be in Aquarius (freedom, independence, groups, friends, hopes, wishes and humanitarian concerns),  until March 2023.     Wherever Saturn resides it puts obstacles, difficulties,  restrictions, limitation and delays in a person’s path until the karma has been confronted and overcome.. Once this is done, a release happens and everything becomes stable and secure, with added benefits thrown in as a reward.  

When Saturn retrogrades,  May 5th - October 10th,   if there are lessons still to be learned, it will seem like taking two steps forward, three back, similar to moving through thick mud or sinking into a swamp.  

This karma cycle is increased with Pluto still being in Capricorn  until January 22nd 2024.  When it moves into Aquarius for another 16 years!  

Pluto n ‘Capricorn represents upheaval of old stagnant structures, fear , insecurity and doubt attached to this structures and connected to carer, goals, ambitions, authority and power.   All need to be replaced by something new, in harmony with moving forward with the Universe in more progressive ways (Aquarius), for the good of all concerned.   Upheavals can be costly and difficult, often causing conflict, because people like to hold onto the familiar, safety and security it appears to provide.  However, if you dig deep enough, you’ll find it stems from fear of the unknown and change.  Therefore while Pluto retrogrades in Capricorn,  April 27th - October 6th, intense introspection is needed in order to root out the Cause of the affect.  

Mercury is retrograde in Aquarius, January 29th - February 20th,  indicating a time of unexpected surprise related to the past and to some degree the present.   Expect the unexpected, equally with Jupiter and Saturn in the same sign.  Long-term opportunities and completion of existing projects is more favorable with this cycle.  Friends and acquaintances from the past will return.  But unless it’s for a good reason, it would be best to walk away.    Shocking revelations could also come to light  even  more so during the Mercury in Aquarius cycle.

Uranus, still in Taurus, until July 7th 2025, will continue to uproot existing methods of earning money and require serous budgeting/re-evaluation of finances..  Even more so one retrograde  /august 19th 2021 - January 18th 2022.

One ion the most important aspects of 2021,  is Jupiter moving into Pisces temporarily,  May 14th - July 28th.   Then December 30th - May 10th 2022.   This is unusual for a Jupiter transit,  because the planet usually stays in a sign consistently for one year.  But in 2021, Jupiter leaves Aquarius briefly to go into Pisces.

This temporary stay in Pisces brings spiritually front and center.  Music, film, photography, video, anything of a visual nature becomes important.   Pisces rules the 12th house of spirituality, endings, secret enemies, the hidden, sorrow, self-undoing,  karmic debt, large institutions, dreams, creativity, love in its purest form, illusion, delusion and confusion.   Neptune is the ruler of Pisces, and currently resides in this sign, February 4th 2012 - Match 31st 2025.  

Together with Jupiter in Pisces , May  - July,  the emphasis of Neptune and Jupiter together in this sign, is even stronger.  The negative traits of Pisces will be in the spotlight, drugs, alcohol ,viruses,  illusion, delusion, confusion  and nostalgia will all be happening at the same time.    All forms of escapism in excess.    People who are unable to cope with the hardships of life will felel the need to indulge in these activities in excess during the Jupiter in Pisces cycle.   Compassion, a positive trait of Pisces will be needed in order to help others get through this.

Because the  immune system and viruses are also represented ty this sign, its; quite likely that Covid 19, will be even more in the news, as some experience allergies/complications for the vaccine and  more research is necessary, with the new strain of the virus spreading even more.

Each planet and sign has its positive/negative traits and the majority of people tend to lean towards the negative unless they’re very self-aware.   

Pisces is a water sign, therefore,  this element will be of great importance  and newsworthy during the Jupiter in Pisces transit.  Jupiter, as always acts as magnifying glass,  highlighting the good and the bad,, strengths/weaknesses.    Sea levels will rise and some land features may actually disappear raising more serious concerns about global warming.

One of the most positive aspects of Jupiter in Pisces, is to develop a broader spiritual understanding/perspective of life , not just a physical material outlook, which was signified by Jupiter in Capricorn and later when Jupiter moves into Aries in 2022.    The danger is Ito avoid making decisions without forethought or falling into illusion, delusion and confusion. which then leads to sorrow and self-undoing .

Secret enemies will also be exposed on some level with this aspect whether on a persona/mass level, in order for  these issues to  come to a close.

Wherever Neptune and/or Pisces is placed in a birth chart, that’s where a person is the most vulnerable, intuitive and compassionate, and most probably even psychic to a degree .  As result expect a rise in interest in this field, as psychic ability comes to the  forefront. With Jupiter in Pisces, this ability will grow and expand.  For some , dreams , visions and deep meditative insights. Will seem larger than life.  

Jupiter with Neptune in Pisces is one of those cycles to work hard at making dreams come true, because could actually happen.

The Lunar Eclipse in Sagittarius, May 26th, will bring a cycle to an end, pertaining to beliefs and ideologies that not longer serve a positive purpose.  This also includes law, travel to far away places anything conned to publishing/literary and studies to improve Self and Mind.   Many things will be changing around this time to make way for new beginnings of how to live life and be a better version of Self.  IN addition, to this expect certain truths to be revealed.

In June the New Moon Solar Eclipse in Gemini will highlight new ways of communication being introduced, in order for things/people to be more adaptable I’m living their life, getting around and learning, because it will be slow road to recovery based on everything that has occurred in the last year alone.  

#2021 #astrology 2021 #horoscopes 2021 #zodiac 2021 #forecast 2021 #astrology #astrology readings #astrology posts #new astrology insights #new astrology information #the new year forecast #New year astrology

[midnightswaltz]

As always, the December rolls around and I make so many goals and plans for the new year.

And, as always, January hits and I end up basically in a cocoon of “meh” and I just kind of forget everything.

This January it’s been really hard to be sociable even online. I’ve been kind of poking at it here and there, but some days I can barely register what’s on the screen.

Today was the first day in a while that it wasn’t that hard so maybe it’s coming around.

boring personal stuff under cut if you’re curious

I still have my (long) list of goals for this year, but I’m gonna focus on just a handful.

1: my health. physical and mental. I’m pushing 400lbs. I know weight isn’t everything, but I can just barely buckle my seatbelt (thankfully winter has been pretty mild around here & I haven’t needed a heavy coat lately). Cannot fit into like 80% of the chairs I find (forget booths at a restaurant & that was before I ballooned during a pandemic). I broke the box springs on my bed the other day. worse than all of that, i can’t stand for more than 10 minutes at a time. i have to make calculations on whether or not it’s worth the knee pain to go up and down the stairs (i live on the second floor) which means sometimes laundry doesn’t get done. or dishes pile up in my room. I’ve really got to get this under some semblance of control. I want to be able to comfortable sit in a restaurant booth by the time it’s actually safe to do so

2: writing. There’s now 4 novels (not including like 3 novel length fanfics) I am currently plotting. I really, really need to get on that. I want to at least share more of the fandom stuff I’ve got going on in my head. I’m thinking of working more on one-shots than longer stories (but then one shots usually end up growing, but maybe that’s not a bad thing). if I can at least manage 15 minutes of editing or 250 words a day that’ll be good.

3: drawing. I’ve always wanted to learn to draw. i used to be pretty okay at it so long as I had the model to work of off. but mostly, I would really love to learn how to paint (digitally) fantasy landscapes, creatures, and characters. I purchased a pen tablet (huion) just after christmas and it’s been sitting in it’s box since I set up the software on my computer. I have the supplies (so many pencils) I just need to start practicing. I might start sharing my learning practice here weekly, maybe.

4: astronomy: my local astronomical society moved to zoom meetings due to the pandemic. I haven’t attended one. I’m going to start (hopefully won’t fall asleep like a nearly did during the in person ones. they weren’t boring, but turning off the lights for a presentation at 9pm on a friday evening? I’m already exhausted from the rest of the week, people!). I’m also saving up for a telescope. I haven’t had one in years (my previous one was cheap because we couldn’t afford much and then it was broken by a couple hyper children who didn’t know better).

5: photography: i had a camera on hand pretty much constantly since I was like 10 years old. i took pictures of everything. then a couple years ago, i just kind of stopped. literally, the last pictures i pulled off my dslr were from the eclipse in 2017 (a friend of mine’s parents lived right in the middle of totality so she and her boyfriend shoved me in the back seat and drove 5 hours north to go spend the night and watch a fuckin’ total solar eclipse. it was fuckin’ amazing!). i’m thinking i’m going to get my camera out and start playing with it again, at least go out a couple saturdays a month and see what images i can make. maybe even start a bit of astrophotography work if i can find a good spot.

#it me. #my life.

[veroticker]

Us - Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy

You can buy the book on Amazon.

Summary (from Elle Kennedy’s website)

Five months in, NHL forward Ryan Wesley is having a record-breaking rookie season. He’s living his dream of playing pro hockey and coming home every night to the man he loves—Jamie Canning, his longtime best friend turned boyfriend. There’s just one problem: the most important relationship of his life is one he needs to keep hidden, or else face a media storm that will eclipse his success on the ice.

Jamie loves Wes. He really, truly does. But hiding sucks. It’s not the life Jamie envisioned for himself, and the strain of keeping their secret is taking its toll. It doesn’t help that his new job isn’t going as smoothly as he’d hoped, but he knows he can power through it as long as he has Wes. At least apartment 10B is their retreat, where they can always be themselves.

Or can they? When Wes’s nosiest teammate moves in upstairs, the threads of their carefully woven lie begin to unravel.
 With the outside world determined to take its best shot at them, can Wes and Jamie develop major-league relationship skills on the fly?

Blurb

“Vancouver is a beautiful city, but I can’t wait to leave it.

We’ve just finished the longest road trip on our schedule, and I cannot fucking wait to go home. Standing in a fancy hotel room overlooking the waterfront, I shake the tissue paper out of a shirt I just bought at the boutique around the corner. Since I’ve been living out of my suitcase for so long, I’m out of clean laundry. But this is a great shirt, and it looked at me as I passed the storefront on my way back from signing autographs at a charity luncheon.

I unbutton it and slip it on. In the hotel mirror, I check the fit, and it looks fine. Great, even. The cotton is a fine weave, and there’s a lime-green checked pattern shot through the fabric. It’s very British, and the lively color reminds me that it won’t always be February.

Now that my dress code includes a suit and tie three or four times a week, I’ve had to pay more attention to my wardrobe. In college I wore a suit maybe three times a year. But it’s no hardship because I like clothes. And the hotel mirror says they like me, too.

I’m a sexy motherfucker. If only the one person I care about was here to appreciate it.

Last night we obliterated Vancouver, and it’s not bragging to say that I was the reason why. Two goals and an assist—my best showing yet. I’m having the kind of rookie season that makes headlines. Though right this second I’d trade it all for a night in front of the TV with Jamie and a blowjob. I am beat. Whipped. Knackered.

Luckily, all that’s left of this trip is one more ride on the team’s jet.

I grab my phone off the desk and unlock it. With the selfie cam, I shoot a picture of my abs, the shirt parted to reveal my six-pack, my hand over my crotch. It took me a while to figure out that Jamie has a thing for my hands. I swear he likes them more than my dick.

I send the picture. No commentary needed.

The hotel room gets one last glance, but I’ve packed everything. I’ve learned in a hurry not to leave charging cords and toothbrushes behind. We’re on the road so often that packing has become my new skill.

My phone vibrates with a text. Grrrr. Just get home, would you? I don’t need any pics. My poor lonely dick is so hard.

That reminds me of old vaudeville jokes. So I reply, How hard is it?

Hard enough to pound nails into our bare walls, he replies. It’s true that we haven’t exactly decorated our apartment. We both work a lot and there’s been no time.

But, as always, sex is a greater priority than home decor. Show me, I beg. There’s a reason I keep my phone locked down. Jamie and I like to indulge in some private photography.

He doesn’t answer, though. Maybe he isn’t at home. It’s afternoon in Vancouver, which means it’s later in Toronto… Fuck. I’m sick of doing this math all the time. I just want to go home.”

(review under the cut)

Review

(audiobook) After I fell in love with #wesmie, I needed to have them back in my life, so I listened to the second book of the series, Us.

Wesley and Jamie are now a couple and they live together. But Wesley is a rookie in the hockey team he’s joined, and he doesn’t want bad buzz ruining his career. He’s gonna come out at some point, because he doesn’t want Jamie to be a secret, but for now, they need to be roommates for the outside world. You can imagine he won’t go well--secrets never stay secrets for long.

We knew what the situation would be at the end of the first book, so no surprise here. But the authors throw in a bunch of colorful characters, a flu epidemic, and a burgeoning career for Wes while Jamie is losing faith in himself. Fun, angst and steam guarenteed!

If you loved Him, you’ll love Us.

Quickie

Series: Him #2 (no cliffhanger, but this book follows the same characters as the first one)

Hashtags: #hockey romance #MM romance #established relationship #secret relationship

Triggers: some homophobia and slurs

Main couple: Ryan Wesley & Jamie Canning

Hotness: 5/5

Romance: 5/5

+ Wes putting Jamie above everything else in his life *swoons*

- Blake is a cockblocker! But I like him anyway...

  Stalker mode

You can suscribe to Sarina Bowen’s newsletter on her website, same for Elle Kennedy on her website.

You can also follow Sarina on Facebook, Elle Kennedy too here.

#Sarina Bowen #Elle Kennedy #Us #contemporary romance #MM romance

[cutegirlmayra]

Commission Receipt  - Soler the Hedgehog

Commissions are open! http://cutegirlmayra.tumblr.com/commissions (If you have any questions, please feel free to message me!)

@solerwolf21 - Solar ‘Lunar Eclipse’ Story - Next Chapter (Sonic OC story)

Time: After a brief discussion of what was wanted, the cost willing to be given, and how many pages that would give, I took about a day or two to plan the plot and wrote about 60 some pages.

Amount paid: 28$, Page range agreed upon:  around 60-70.

Review: @solerwolf21  “So first, I wasn't prepared for the amount of feels you had in store for me. I teared up at least three separate times. Like, woah I wasn't prepared lol  Well, first, it was the right amount the pacing was great. Parts I teared up on I definitely got hit when he was leaving the village. That hurt but was so well done. It got me also when his PTSD would act up. I felt for my boy so much. You did so good on holding their characters like, woah. Soler and Luna felt so natural and how I imagined them, great job! Reading them in action felt soo good. Then Soler going to Sally felt like a natural progression for him. I enjoyed the ending with the song so much! Photography was definitely the right song to choose. All in all you outdid yourself with this one.

Product Preview: (By consent of the customer) - Please enjoy a sample of what I can offer. This is the product’s rough draft that is being kindly allowed for your viewing pleasure. I hope you consider commissioning me in the future! :Db

Lunar Ellipse

Commission of 60-70 pages for the amazing Solerwolf21

By: Cutegirlmayra

It’s been a long time since the Metal Sonic incident…

I’ve been carrying the weight of that day for a while now… I know it’s no good, so I’m trying to get my mind off of things and start something new.

At least, something new to think about…

That’s when I thought about Sally.

Soler held his medal close to himself, looking down forlorned as he continued his afternoon walk. It was getting late, as it usually does, but he missed his morning sulk so this was his best effort to stay on schedule.

“Heh,” He lightly laughed out loud at the thought. ‘Morning Sulk’ was a good name for it, but he liked the fresh air too. It was nice to get away from everyone’s busy work and all the fighting.

Time and time again… one fight after the other. But it was exhausting, you know? Then Eggman suddenly blipped off the radar. Everyone got anxious and confused, scared even. I went out on my own to do some recon and came back with to a nasty surprise. Apparently, I didn’t ask permission to go off on recon and the whole of the Freedom Fighters was about to send out a search party with Sally at the command.

After that, Sonic had told me to take it easy… but what does that mean?

Did everyone just suppose I was unstable? Maybe I wasn’t… maybe I really was.

I’ve thought a lot of things lately…

He stared at the ground as his shoes kicked the dirt off the path as he continued. The scent of pinewood and the weeds scrapping against his feet created a pleasant scenery. Not too many flowers, but just enough to catch the eye.

Mostly, I’ve thought a lot about Sally. But then…

He sighed, looking up as he let go of the medal and clasped the necklace instead.

“Luna… The moon’s about to come out soon.” He stopped a moment as he tried to remember which moon this would be.

When he realized he didn’t know, a sudden harsh sadness came on him. “Did I forget?” He seemed almost spooked. Feeling guilty, he quickly ran to try and see the moon over the hill he usually star-gazed on. He climbed a moment on all floors to regain some balance at his new quickened pace. It was a tad slippery from some rainfall, but Soler didn’t mind it. He was used to laying on this hill as fresh dew scattered across it. It was refreshing after the walk, and the sun warmed him while the earth cooled his sweaty back.

Things weren’t necessarily quiet back at camp… the Freedom Fighters had their fair share of Eggman busting to do. After he went dark, they were on high alert, finding rogue robots from his army and taking those down one by one. Sonic and Shadow both agreed I needed space and time to think, but qgain, what exactly does that mean? Were they really not gonna let me help? Just because of the Neo Metal Sonic incident… or because I went off on my own without telling anyone? It was confusing, to say the least… I felt bad about it, but I also hoped everyone had already put it passed them.

I guess I did give everyone quite a scare…

After racing to the top of the hill, he paused to look up, breathing hard in his worry. His emerald green eyes scanned the falling horizon, “… It’s not up yet.” He looked behind him and suddenly clutched his fists. “Dang it. I really can’t let go!” he slammed it into the hillside’s top, a full-blown swing as he slightly jumped and let it collide with the earth, bending and landing on his knees to reach the mark. This caused a small pound but none of his chaos energy was put into it, so his hand just hurt a little from the harsh hit.

“Huh?” He once again wondered what was going on. “My… my abilities?” he tried to see if he could do a Chaos Spear.

As practiced a thousand, no—millions of times with Shadow, he released a perfect set of spears that flew with a whistle out into the air and pierced sharply into the ground upon descending in an arrow’s arch. After a moment, they disappeared in a swiped flash and were no more.

“Phew… Why am I so paranoid?” he gripped his wrist, just massaging it a bit and wondering why he didn’t feel himself today.

Recently… I’ve been thinking too much.

He sat down, plopping on the tippy top of the hill as though not caring if he hurt himself in the process. Staring up, he vaguely saw the sun finally setting and dipping away.

It was his favorite thing. Waiting for the moon to come up. The Moonset, as he called it. However, he couldn’t bring himself to view the moon today, though he willed himself too. A pain slowly sank from his chest down into his heart and stomach. His mind raced again from the longings of his heart… his words following, unable to contain what lie inside his every thought.

“Luna…” He looked down at the necklace, waiting to see what the moon would be like today. “Luna… if I decided to love someone else… would you always know I still loved you?”

There was an unshakable silence.

---

“Soler! You’re falling behind!” The voice was so real, so tangible. It was soft and high, like a cloud against the moon. It was shrouded in utter fascination and mystery to Soler, so hard to describe, but so easily to recognize and pull again to mind.

“Ha…Ha… I’m trying, alright!?” Counter wise, his voice was husky from all the running, heavy breaths interrupted any sweet, playfulness it usually carried.

“Well, try harder!” she urged.

“You’re just as pushy as your dad!” He raised his head up, trying to keep up the pace.

“Haha! I take that as a compliment!” It was a typical day with the beautiful chief’s daughter, nothing in the world could ruin this memory for him.

Luna raced up the track that headed back to her village, looking behind her constantly to wave and encourage Soler on. “Come on! If you make it, I might just give you a hero’s kiss~” she taunted, winking and blowing him a tease.

Soler’s head shot up, “Huh?” It hadn’t been long since they confessed the buddings of romance to each other, but the thought of a kiss still brought a faint blush to his cheeks.

“What? Was that not motivation enough? Hehe!” she laughed as she bolted forward again.

How mischievous… But I don’t dislike that about her. In fact, it’s kinda fun and refreshing to see her tease me like this.

He smiled, his breathing seeming to find a rhythm in their jog now. She was quite a ways ahead, but he didn’t mind giving her the head start. He loved running. It was something he always did when exploring new places.

But… today was meant to be the day he was going to tell her he wanted to head out again. His nomadic ways hadn’t stopped so suddenly. It was a habit to find new places and people to serve, it was just his nature to acquaint himself with anyone who needed his help.

He wanted to leave for a while, but also wanted to promise her he’d come back and live there with her… he was still so young, they both were.

His eyes arched as he thought about it…

If I kiss her… will that make me change my mind?

He shook his head.

I’ll just let her win. Besides, she usually does, anyway.

“Slowpoke!”

“That does it.” He narrowed his eyes, smiling. “Here I come!” he had stored his energy long enough He burst forward with a high-speed velocity, but nothing compared to the rumored Fastest Thing Alive. His lungs pumped air in and out like a steam-train without any breaks, his legs like well-oiled wheels being pushed by a long gear to never quit or strain under the pressure. He felt an open smile as he breathed through his mouth and was charging up to the side of her at a rapid pace.

His heart had a goal in mind, but his mind didn’t have the heart to disappoint her.

He began to catch up swiftly, causing her to stop laughing and gasp in fright. Immediately, she began to run with all her effort—for real this time. Though, her curiosity and fright at his sudden bolt made her keep looking over her shoulder, slowing her speed down every time she looked back to see him continually picking up speed.

“Eeee..!” her mouth stretched far back, clearly nervous about the rewards at stake…

“Heh.” Here’s for trying to tempt me! He slid up next to her and grabbed her hand, “Need a boost?”

“Ah!” she blushed, while he looped her hand under his arm and passed the village gates—side by side.

Serves her right for upping the ante.

It was terribly romantic, too. A duo tie. However, if Soler knew anything about Luna, she would downplay his charms and pretend like she wasn’t smitten at all by it.

“Y-you’re pretty fast.” She didn’t move away from him as he slowed down to a stop, looking down at her ducking face.

He could still see the pink all over her muzzle though, so it was enough to make him smile.

There was heat on his cheeks too, but the fresh air and smell of food being cooked in the village cooled and stilled him off. He would probably eat something light with her to make up for all the lost energy.

He decided not to ask about the ‘reward’ but instead, poke at her nose. “I know you’re pretty fast yourself. Almost lost there if I didn’t think fast too.”

She giggled at his touched and looked up at him, shyly trying to disguise her fondness for him. That smile though… couldn’t even hide a secret…

“Did you have fun?” He found himself saying, finding his breathing had returned to a normal rhythm again. He was glad she didn’t pull away, it reassured him that this tie was a grand idea in the end. At least, she always seemed to enjoy his company, and this wasn’t exactly the first time he was trying to win her affections through a clever tactic. He was used to be bolder with her now, since they confessed. But it did leave him wondering if he should really leave or not…

“Y-yes.” She put her other hand to her chest and tried to still her racing heart again. “But I think my heart still thinks we’re in the race.”

“Well… who said we’re not?”

“H-huh?”

He leaned down and lightly pecked the side of her cheek, making sure to pull her lightly over to him with his arm that still held her hand in place.

“Ah! Stop it! Not in public!” she cutely moved away and shoved him off, causing him to wobble a bit before grinning happily and stepping away from her.

“Whatever you say, Luna.”

She covered her face, but then opened her hands enough to stick her tongue out at him.

“You offered first…” he mumbled as he folded his arms and looked away. He decided not to push it anymore, concluding that she probably was still a bit hesitant about it all.

“Actually,… Luna… I meant to ask you something.”

Luna stiffened a bit.

“I… I think I’d like to-“ He was about to address the subject when a familiar voice, like brass toned to a mature ring, echoed towards the two abruptly.

“Luna! Darling!” Suddenly, out of the blue, her father stepped in and worriedly embraced his daughter. “What have I told you about wandering too far from the village?! Ah, Soler!” he saw Soler and outstretched his palm to him. “Now I see! You were being protected! I’m glad then. But still, dear girl, don’t go running off like that!”

“But dad, I’m-“

“A big girl who still asks me to cook breakfast for her?” He raised a comical eyebrow as Soler covered his mouth to chuckle.

She blushed and looked to Soler, then her father. “Dad!”

At this point, Luna’s father had completely taken Soler in. It didn’t change the fact that he didn’t exactly know Soler and Luna’s relationship, but at the same time, Soler felt he wouldn’t mind much either.

But they were still… so young.

He looked back out of the gates of the village, feeling some left over thrill at running out and exploring what else could be out there again.

His powers…

He looked down at his hands with striped ‘X’s over his gloves. I also want to go somewhere safe to train… My combat skills are better than ever, so far. And I’m sure there are other villages out there that could use my help too.

He turned back to watch the antics of father and daughter play out a familiar scene. The Chief was a bit protective over her, but it made sense since she was slightly childish at times. Seeing Luna scold her father while he kept lovingly reminding her of her youth made Soler wish once again to have known more about where he came from, what family dynamics he might have had. It was too much of a blurry memory, hazy from years of being unable to recall it. Still… he considered this village a type of family, and wondered what they’d think of him taking off for a while…

“-And that one time you asked me to buy you that adorable hedgehog doll made out of hay. You painted it white, you know.”

“DAD, SERIOUSLY, STOP!” she kept jumping up to try and reach his mouth, hoping to slam a hand over it and shut him up. However, The Chief kept raising his head to avoid her, laughing at her attempts to reach his rather large height.

“Hahah! Even put cute, little pink blush-dots on the cheeks.”

“I’m so embarrassed!” Luna finally gave up and covered her face again, ducking as she raced off deeper into the village. “You’re the worst, Dad!”

“Haha. About time she gave up.” As though planning this, The Chief turned to Soler. Soler realized then that he was trying to embarrass her and have her run off. Soler gulped, wondering what The Chief was up too… “Now then, why don’t you and I have a talk, young man.”

Soler suddenly felt a whole planet had been dropped on him. A… A talk? Did he know!?

“Y-…Yes, sir.” He didn’t know why he was so nervous all of a sudden. He deeply respected The Chief, he was a good man, but the way he said that…

The two walked around the village, full of young and old life doing chores like hanging clothes out on lines or cooking for the village feast. They didn’t usually eat in families on weekends but had big parties to celebrate their happy village community.

Soler loved it here, but the atmosphere was something he wasn’t accustomed too. They had welcomed him with open arms, a little hesitant about his presence at first before saving them from a wild creature of sorts. Soler was sure it was something dark and possibly enraged by battling one of Eggman’s robots, evident by oil all over its hide. But whatever it was, it wasn’t natural. Soler had gotten injured and some of that darkness infected his injury, but Luna tended to him and his strange power had taken care of the rest. He was a bit uncomfortable with how sincerely grateful they were to him, always making him special in any social gathering, but he took it with a polite smile and awkward head nod.

Today, it seemed The Chief wanted to talk about manhood. He began to recite something that sounded recited, if that makes any sense. So although Soler listened intently to the chief’s speech on what a true, righteous man is… he was instantly bored of the topic and observing the life of the bustling village about him. He was constantly in awe at it, watching the children play outside their little straw houses or huts. So modest an abode, but then again, no one seemed to notice wealth or poverty. It was like they all shared and communicated freely, nothing was bought or sold, but exchanged and handed out without contracts or agreements. Just… in the spirit of being friendly and neighborly.

He knew it was very different from the outside world though, but when The Chief began to change his tone, Soler immediately started to pay more attention to his long monologue.

“Now, a lot of people ask what a young man like you would want to be when he grows up. A warrior? Simple farmer? But any of man can be a truly good, exemplary, benevolent man regardless of upbringing or birth.”

The entire time, Soler felt uneasy. He wasn’t much into justice or goodness. He just did what he felt was for the benefit of other’s safety. A man has his own soul to look after, but that doesn’t mean he can’t risk it save another’s. He wanted to ignore again and scan the silkworks for a sign of Luna, maybe find her gathering hay in a field and carrying it to the storehouse. Either way, anything would be better than being stuck with a rambling old man about traditional man values…

Why can’t I just be my own kind of man?

“-And so a true man has a heart that will never yield to injustice, but always fight for what is right. Regardless of this, he also obeys the laws the citizens have placed by their own will and hearts. So, what I’m saying is, the fifth quality of a true, righteous man is to respect the hearts of others, as well as the laws they give to govern themselves- ah… Soler?” The chief hit his staff a few times to the ground, causing Soler to snap out of his walking-sleep and shake his head a second.

He immediately realized he had been caught daydreaming, and apologetically scratched the back of his head.

“E…heh.” Opps.

“…Ehem.” The Chief cleared his throat, showing he was aware that Soler was dozing off while walking with him. Which… his eyes were wondering a lot, and after a moment,… maybe he did rest them without realizing noticing he was dozing off…

The Chief sighed, “One day, you will become a man. What, prey tell, kind of man do you want to be?”

Without hesitation, Soler opened his mouth-

And yawned.

“You aren’t very keen on thinking of the future, are you, boy?” The chief relaxed his tensed-up shoulders a moment, showing his caring eyes again that told Soler he was off the hook.

At least, for now.

“Honestly, Chief… I wanted to tell you and Luna what I’ve been thinking and feeling lately.”

“Oh?” The chief seemed interested, switching his staff to the other hand and waiting patiently for Soler to continue. “Go on.”

“I… There’s just a… big, whole world out there!” Soler spread his arms out. “I mean… don’t get me wrong, you must know how I feel about your village, but…”

“Emhmm…” the chief smiled, leaning down and giving Soler a look like he knew how he felt about a certain daughter of his too…

But Soler shook off the feeling and smiled sheepishly, continuing with his original thought. “B-but I can’t help and feel like I want to go out there and see what other things I can learn and do. I want to come back! Honest! I just…” he felt his animated arms suddenly slow and drop to his sides. “…I’m sorry. I have to see who else I can help. If I even have control enough to help them.” He felt his uncertainty bite down on his words, but he felt he could tell The Chief anything. Even his own heart…

“There, there, boy. You are a typical young man.” The Chief put his arm around Soler’s shoulders, since he was quite a large man. But clearly, The Chief was beyond his own youthful years now and couldn’t really defend the village himself. Hearing Solar speak these things… Soler wondered if he’d really be okay with his words. “You don’t want to be stuck in a fishbowl, spinning in circles inside the plot of space allotted to you. And although I wish I could just say, ‘off you go!’ I’m afraid my fear for my village is a little more prominent on this matter than I hoped.”… or not.

He gave a fatherly shake on Soler’s shoulders before letting go and walking on, shaking his head. “What will we do without you, Soler? Is your mind made up or are you still willing to consider staying here?” it was a kind plea, one that made it hard to respond too.

Soler felt his heart ache a moment. “You’re a good leader, Chief. Honest, you are! I just… I have to go.” Soler admitted, though it pained him to see the Chief look so downhearted.

The Chief took a moment, not speaking as he clearly was sad to hear this.

But after a moment, he nodded and sighed, walking off. “I have no say in your life, Soler… I just wish I could convince you somehow.”

Soler bowed in respect, “Thank you… Chief.” He stopped to show he wasn’t going to follow and speak with The Chief further. The Chief looked sorrowfully over his shoulder to Soler, his eyebrows showing the concern for not only Soler’s life, but the safety of his village. He was a good man, though. He was going to let Soler do as he wished.

Now all Soler had to do… was break the news to Luna.

He looked behind him, wondering how on earth he was going to tell her.

…Easier said than done…

---

The moon was high now, the stars not out yet, but the owls cooed on their sideline choirs. Soler opened his eyes, relaxing and having dozed off in a dream of his past for a moment.

He rubbed his eyes, placing his hands on his stomach. He yawned and pulled out the necklace.

“Hmm. So that’s the phase today.” He concluded, and let his head fall back to the soft grace he was resting on before.

He had matured so much since then… But his yawn still matched that boy from the dream… his past self. He had no idea what was in store to come.

Soler lowered his eyes,… remembering the horrors that would then ensnare Soler’s every step forward. The pity and the pain, the sorrow and the savagery.

“…Luna.” He began. He found that something new had slipped into the crevices of his broken heart.

“I want to ask Sally if she’d like to go on a walk with me.”

It wasn’t what he usually said to the moon, but it was just what popped out. He had conversations like this, out loud with the moon as the only witness, holding Luna’s necklace by his heart. The moon never responded, and neither did Luna.

But there was no silence this time. Crickets hopped with their strings creaking out into the night. The owls’ choir was still in full rehearsal for the dead of night, and the moon stayed motionless to observe the orchestra in the dark.

“Would you… feel betrayed if I did?” he felt the cold nip at his nose, causing him to shiver slightly. “You’re my long-lasting love, Luna… I appreciate you more than anything else in the world. You did so much for me… Will you let me get close to someone else? Move on? I’m just…” he turned on his side, “I’m just lonely again… feeling like I’m wanting a fishbowl… but denying it again and again.”

There was a swift wind that ruffled his quills on his back.

“Brr…” he felt the chill and got up, rubbing his arms and blowing some hot air into his hands. “It’s gonna be winter soon… I can’t come see the moon all the time like this. This isn’t a goodbye or anything… it’s kinda like…” he looked back up at the moon, shining as there wasn’t a cloud in the sky to dull its glow. “Permission.”

---

A pot crashed to the floor as the other girls in the storage room all stopped their cluttering chores and watched as Soler backed away from Luna.

She quickly turned around with glossy eyes, “Leaving..? Why? What’s wrong?”

“N-nothing’s wrong!” Soler shook his hands out, and then looked around at the people around him.

Shoot. She should have come with me to our tree… but she just had to decide that she’d finally listen to her father for once and not leave the village!

Luna opened her mouth to say something but stopped as she closed it tight.

She forced her eyes not to blink, and quickly grabbed Soler’s arm, dragging him out of the room so no one could see the very real threat of tears coming to her eyes. One blink, and she would be a mess in front of those who looked up to her family for guidance and leadership.

Soler felt bad about whispering the news into her ear, but she refused to come with him, what else could he have done?

They hiked in silence as Soler tried to explain himself but Luna shushed him every chance he got a word out.

Finally, they were at their tree, where he originally asked her to go. “Luna, say something!” He begged when she let him go and spun around.

“Soler… I don’t want you to go.” She admitted, her voice shaking a moment in her emotions.

“I know… I know that, okay?” He gently approached her, placing his hands on her arms. “Don’t cry, Luna… I’ll come back! I promise! I’ll bring you lots of things too. You’ll see, it’ll be like I never left.”

“…You don’t have to go, do you?” she looked up, and it broke his heart to see her so upset.

“…No.” he whispered, letting the word slip out of his mouth. “I want to go, though.”

“But why?” She moved away a second, “Am I not good enough?” she then raced back into his arms, hugging him tightly. “I thought you were going to protect this village!”

“I-…” he was losing it.

Why should I go?

He looked away.

Any guy would want to stay. Luna was amazing. Her father adored him. The village was just giddy to accept him into their family… so why?

He remembered.

“Luna, I have a power that is extremely dangerous, hidden inside of me.” He took her hands in his own, holding them together. “I do care about you, a whole awful lot, but…” he turned his head away from her, thinking carefully on his next words. “I also want to make sure that when I come back, I’m strong enough to protect more than just your village.” His eyes bore a witness of his love for her, but he worried she couldn’t understand. He had turned back to her, but she was still emotionally distraught, letting tears fall more willingly now that it was just the two of them.

That was Luna for you, always dropping her front for Soler. She only cared that he loved her, and the rest was meaningless.

But she clearly feared his words, and didn’t seem to understand why he was doing this.

Luna sniffed, looking at his nose and lightly moving her hand to drift a finger onto it, letting it slide down and reach his muzzle before continuing the stroke down to his mouth. “Just… stop talking, okay?”

He felt something flare up inside him, but he wasn’t sure what it was. The strange touch was hypnotic, it altered his thoughts a moment before her finger stopped at his mouth, and her words brought him back to reality. He hadn’t felt anything that powerful before, but he also chose to ignore it.

“Luna…” He looked down at her finger, feeling his lips move under its touch… He felt his whole body surrendering and he didn’t understand why. His will to continue to comfort and encourage her was the only thing keeping him talking. Reassuring her that he was coming home was the only thing that matter now. He had to make sure she understood him. That he would, honestly, come back!

“I said to stop… please…” she ducked her head into his chest fur, ruffling her face deeper inside it to rid herself of the tears and feel something warm and inviting again.

“I don’t care how powerful you are.” She spoke boldly now. “I don’t care! I love you!” she pulled out of his chest and lightly kissed him.

Now he was confused.

A moment ago, he was ready to pack up with a goal in mind. Hone his skills and help others, come back for Luna with gifts in hand, and live the rest of his life as a guardian over the little village.

But now..?

All he wanted to do was warp his arms around her thin waist, skim the skin of their lips over the other’s, and not think at all. Just feel.

He held her so close that there was nothing between them and brought her deeper into her misaimed kiss. It was rash and bold, and her inexperience led her to just dive and go for it. Thankfully, this didn’t deter his affections for her. He found where her lips were and started to kiss back, feeling her sudden strength falter and finally, she too surrendered her weight into him.

When air was required, the two parted and just hung in the moment, unable to separate feelings from reason.

“…How could I leave you?” his breathless confession gave her courage. “I’m madly in love with you, too…”

She went for another kiss, leaving him even more conflicted.

Nothing wanted to resist her, but everything in him knew he needed too.

She lured his resistance back down inside of him, pulling out a vulnerability he had never felt before. She lightly slid her hands down to his embracing arms, enticing him to follow her towards the side of their tree.

I have to stop this… if I don’t, she’ll never let me go.

His brain knew that, but his heart kept letting her lead.

Darn it! How is she so good at this!?

Though innocent to the ways of love, Luna seemed to have a knack for it. Whether she had been planning this for a while or just imagined it happening and played it out didn’t matter. Whatever it was, Luna was keeping him there, and that thought…

Scared him.

Luna leaned against the tree, pulling him close again as her fingers returned to the side of his face and brought his kiss deeper and deeper into her. When she moved away, he felt like the planet had shifted, opening his eyes and wondering what on earth was happening. It was great, but it was so sudden. What were we even talking about again?

“Then don’t go. Stay with me. Soler, don’t you want to stay?” it was so sweet, so inviting… he remembered once again what it was he had to do, what awful power lie inside of himself, and immediately took his hands away and placed them on the tree. They were on either side of her while he breathed a moment, shifting his eyes as he didn’t know now what to do. Give into his mind or his heart? What was the better option here?

“Please… don’t make this harder on me than it already is.” He was begging her to free him. Whatever entrapment she was casting on him, it was working all too well. “I don’t want to constantly have the fear that my power will burst out of me, hurt you or someone in your village.”

“Our village…” she cooed, moving towards his lips again.

Was this manipulation!? Should I care if it is or isn’t?! Luna… all I can think about is you now! Why is this so hard to bear…

In the middle of another passionate, but inexperienced kiss, he found his arms twitching to return to her sides… but he pulled away and placed them back on the tree’s trunk, resisting.

“No.” He had to side with his mind. Otherwise… otherwise… what horrors could happen to them if my powers whacked out and killed them all!?

“No, Luna…” He stated it again so faintly this time, she thought he had just been breathing.

She kissed his cheek and he pulled away once more, shaking his head but keeping his eyes shut. One look at her and he would be at her mercy again. He had to keep it together, somehow…

“Luna… Luna, I love you, but we’re so young.” It took every bit of him to fully move away, to think of her safety over the feelings she was tugging out of him. Like a tug-o-war, he kept fighting her gentle pulls and pulled back with his own. I have to win. For her safety. Why doesn’t she understand that!?

He shook his hand, rubbing the other hand through his quills as he moved away from their tree. I gotta calm down. If I don’t think clearly, I’ll disappoint The Chief… Or maybe… this is what The Chief meant by convincing me? No, no! They wouldn’t play me that way!

“Soler… I’m not a child anymore.” She asserted herself, stepping in front of him and cutting off his doubting thoughts. “It’s okay to kiss me. I don’t mind-“

“No, that’s not it! That kiss was amazing! Are you kidding me?!” His goofy side was coming out with his nerves, and she giggled at his response.

“Really..? It was my first…” she held her hands in front of herself, soaking in the praise and blushing with accomplishment. “But besides that… was it enough to make you stay?”

He froze, his hands still mid-motion running along the spikes on his head.

“…I just don’t think you’re listening to me.” He admitted, being honest. “I think all you hear is that I’m going away, but what you’re not hearing is that I’m coming back. For you, Luna. I’m going away and coming back for you.”

“You’re… leaving for me?” she decided not to argue about the ‘listening’ part, and instead, try and seek understanding.

“Yes!” he excitedly threw his hands up to his sides. “Yes! I want you safe! I want to make sure everyone is safe with me around! Do you understand, Luna? I want to stay, but I first have to make sure I’m safe.”

He put his hands to his heart, desperately hoping she’d understand now.

“You’ve seen my power before, haven’t you, Luna? Have you forgotten so quickly what I can do?”

“…You can… do incredible things.” She seemed to be understanding a bit more now, opening up to the idea more. This gave him strength in his resolve, but every fiber of his being wanted to reach for her cheek and pull her into another mutual kiss. He had to resist that urge though. He knew now he had to leave… tonight.

“But those things aren’t always incredibly good. They can also turn incredibly dangerous in seconds. I don’t have any control over it, Luna. What if one day—And I mean one day as in some day—I seriously hurt you beyond my current capabilities? What if, while I’m still growing up, my powers grow with me and I can’t take back what they do?”

Her face sunk into a look of hopelessness. “Do you really think it controls you?” she looked into his eyes.

“I have no idea what it is, or what it can do.” He admitted, moving up and finally letting his fingers curl around her cheek bones and place his forehead to hers. He closed his eyes, squinting them so hard he thought he’d burst into tears if he didn’t. “But I won’t let it happen. I’ll sharpen my powers. I’ll be someone who can save others. Not just on a fluke, but for real. I took a hit for you, remember? I really need you to take this one for me…”

He felt wrong pulling that out of the bag in such a way as he did. But it was his last resort. “Let me go, Luna?” he asked, so sincerely. “Let me go and be a good man.”

She gently… lifted her hand to his own and nodded, crying softly without words.

They stayed in the others embrace for a moment, holding one another as their emotions came back to a somewhat reasonable stability. After a moment of silence, Luna consoled herself and reserved her feelings. She looked back up at him, feeling him gently wipe her tears away with a soft smile on his face.

She finally spoke, “Okay.” She said lightly.

She held a long blink a moment, as if forcing herself to say it again. She opened her eyes and looked up into his again, “Okay…”

That night, Luna stood outside his small, roughly constructed hut the villagers had made for him as he gathered his things. He didn’t have much, but he needed supplies for a long journey. He didn’t give her a set time, not wanting to make any promises he couldn’t keep, but he did give her one last kiss. However, she pulled quickly out of it, not saying a word.

It lingered, that heartache from her silence and reserved attitude as he waved one last time down the track that lead to her home, the lively and pleasant village.

She didn’t wave back, she just winked with a forced smile.

“I’ll be back before you know it, Luna… Every time you see the sunrise-“ he pointed to the moon, “And every time I see the moon, I’ll be thinking of you.”

“…I’ll pray that the sun rises every day then.” She held her necklace tightly in her hand, holding in the words she really wanted to say. “Don’t go… don’t go…”

“I love you… I love you…” every time he wanted to look back, he took another step forward, uttering the words after her own silent pleadings.

She mouthed more of the same desperate longings for him to rush back into her arms, returning to her and forgetting everything he had said previously. But as he left earshot, heading off into the night, she could see each firm foot-fall at every step he dared to take. She knew then that he wouldn’t be tempted to turn back to her, and formed a strong face in the mist of her turmoil inside her heart.

She would be there when he returned, he just knew it.

He had to trust his gut.

But his gut was saying…

Don’t go.

---

Soler woke up with Sally hurriedly placing blankets on his head.

“H-huh?”

“Quick! Get me some hot water, anything to fight off the cold.”

“C-cold?”

“You idiot!” she saw he had awoken and placed her hands on her hips, stubbornly. “You fell asleep just before the winter night! Are you asking to get ill or something?”

He lifted a cold hand to his head, burning with a fever.

“Guess I was…” he joked, but Sally just rolled her eyes and then smiled at him.

“Well, how inconsiderate of you. Now we have to use precious medicine meant for emergencies on your slight fever.”

“Is it that bad?”

“I didn’t emphasize ‘slight’, did I?”

“No, you didn’t.”

“Then you’re not doing so hot.”

“Duly noted. Temperature?”

“What do you care? Your fever is your own doing. I’ll get a cold washcloth for your head, just don’t move from that spot, alright?” She was harsh, but there was always a loving touch behind each sarcastic jab.

I was almost thankful I got sick. Sally personally stayed by my side and nursed me. It was day two and she was making soup for me, waving off another freedom fighter from worrying about me. She said, “I’ll handle this one. You just make sure Nicole doesn’t overheat with all the decoding Tails and Rotor are making her do. Is Amy still with Sonic? Tell her he’s fine and he’s just being a baby. How about Shadow? You should tell him Soler’s fallen ill by his own accord. I don’t know, don’t ask me. We found him lying on a hill shivering in the absolute worst state last night. We would have never found him without Team Chaotix picking his signal up while searching for badniks.”

Soler smiled slightly, his eyes blinking a few times as he listened in on her voice while waking up to its worried tone, honing all his senses onto it.

Then she came in, making him nervous as he found he pulled the covers of the blankets up a bit before Sally saw he was awake.

With a kind smile, she put some food down and helped him sit up, “How are you feeling now? You gave us all quite a scare.” She slightly repeated herself, but this time, with a bit more care.

He didn’t really know how to tell her. It was on accident that he had fallen ill, but he was purposefully there to watch the moon…

“How’s the resistance?”

“The Freedom Fighters won’t give up, you know that. Much like how Sonic won’t quit complaining either.” She rolled her eyes before winking and leaning slightly closer to Soler, “At least you were knocked out before you could start whining, right?”

He snickered, “No one likes a cry-baby.”

“Ah, but everyone loves babies.” Sally joked again, “At least you’re being good. Anything hurt?”

“Nah, I’ll be fine.”

She surprised him by placing her hand on his forehead, checking his temperature and then comparing it with her own. She moved closer and lifted the hand away, placing it down for support as she placed her forehead up against his own. He wasn’t sure if it was the fever that made his cheeks feel warm or not, but she pulled her lips back into a fine line and ‘hmm’d at the results of her investigation into his temperature. “It’s going down, which is good.”

He stared at her for a moment, the closeness between them bringing a small pulse of joy to his soul. He had to be utterly still, worried if he moved, she would also move away.

“Sally…” he begins, but the second he says her name…

“Am I not good enough?”

“Ahgh…”

Soler was the one to pull away first, feeling himself falter as Luna’s voice pierced his mind from that profound memory he had dreamed again. He hated that he was the reason the closeness between him and Sally was unbreached, but couldn’t be disgruntled about it now.

“Soler?” Sally worriedly leaned back before reaching for him.

He raised a hand, gripping the other to his head. “I’m fine. I’m fine… Sorry.” He didn’t want to explain it, but it wasn’t the physical illness that was plaguing him.

All he wanted to do was ask her. Why did guilt grip at him so much?

He didn’t want to shame his memory of Luna, his first ever love. He didn’t know whether true love was a thing or not, but he didn’t want to believe he could never find it again either.

“…You don’t have to go, do you?” she looked up, and it broke his heart to see her so upset.

“…No.” he whispered, letting the word slip out of his mouth. “I want to go, though.”

I really want to go, Luna. Please…

“Soler… do you need some more medicine? Here, at least eat something.” She got the food and placed it in front of his ducked head. He nodded, slowly reaching for it as Sally went to get some pills, dipping them in some water as they sprang out into dust. She spun the cup around, letting the particles dissolve and seem to disappear in the water.

“It’s not gonna taste great.”

Anything to drown out the pain.

He took the cup and began to gulp it down, then ate at the warm soup and licked his lips at the lingering flavor.

He didn’t want to hurt Luna again… even if it was just the memory of her.

I’m sorry, Sally. He mentally scolded himself for listening to a memory. But he couldn’t… he couldn’t refuse her again.

“Let me go, Luna? Let me go and be a good man.”

“Hoo… if you ask me, we’ve all been overworked lately.” Sally sighed before sitting on a chair on the other side of the room, kicking a leg over her other and rubbing the bridge of her nose. “Everyone has been demanding so much of us… Eggman is relentless and Shadow and Sonic still haven’t made amends about their last ‘dispute’.” She looked a little strained… this would be the perfect moment.

“You need a vacation.” Soler politely stated with a hint of humor in his gruff voice, due to his condition.

“A beautiful girl like yourself shouldn’t be working day in and day out without some sort of afternoon walk.”

She looked up at him for a moment. After processing what he stated, she smiled and rested her chin on her hand, leaning on the armrest. “Yeah, and get a cold just like you? Becoming useless to everyone for two days..?” she teased with a friendly smile.

Were we… flirting?

“I couldn’t do a vacation, maybe a break though.”

This really was the perfect moment, but before he could try and push the memory of Luna aside, trying to delicately remind himself that she wasn’t even here… but was gone, he faded off into his fever. “Would be… kinda nice… to walk with… someone…again.” his eyes drooped and he finally receded back into his deep sleep.

“Soler? Soler, are you okay?” She stood up, “Soler!” She raced to his bedside, but he could feel the sleep coming on and knew the dream would only continue where it left off.

---

Fire.

Screams had already deafened out into silence.

Soler watched as Luna was killed right before his eyes, then a vile threat from the shadowed figure, unable to be identified through the haze of the smog from the village flames and the burning that blurred Soler’s eyes.

Why did I have to go?

After the terrible events, he held Luna’s body, desperate to sense life in it.

She was gone. Not a single word of goodbye or even a reunion from being gone so long.

His emotions couldn’t handle it. He just clutched her lifeless and bleeding body in his hands. The blood was hot on his hands, but he felt numb to it. The red only blurred in the sight of the massive fog moving like a carpet that smelled of burning flesh and wood.

His eyes were half open, squinting through the tears and stinging air. He could hardly breathe. His heart was smashed under the stress, not even wanting to beat anymore, but the adrenaline kept him alive.

Red… the sky soaked the world in an endless red.

Dawn.

When everything in him finally came back to reality, he carried Luna’s body through the ash-filled village; at least, what remained of it. He continued to walk as though a ghost passing through a memory. For a moment, the village was alive again. Young men and women walked at a leisurely pace to do their chores, and the elders of the village worked their wheels or cooked their meals safely tucked away in their little homes. Life was blissful and uneventful. Was that why I had to leave?

He was entranced in his vision before his eyes twitched when his foot bumped up against something.

Looking down, he noticed he had knocked a small doll to the side, but it slowly rolled back to look directly up at Soler. Its expression was singed with black soot. What have I done?

Of course it wasn’t Soler’s fault, but he fell to his knees, gripping Luna’s body and letting her blood dry on his white fur.

He crumbled in the center of the village, leaning forward all the way till his head rested just above her side, crying out a loud, grieving mourn.

His wailing chased the birds that came to eat the corpses away, cawing at his abruptness in the now stilled morning.

How long have I been like this? How much time has passed?

Crying out in such agonized pain, he felt his voice grow sore and losing itself.

More. I have to cry more. It’s not enough!

Some lasting flames still licked at the remaining and burnable woods, straws, and yarns that were all but dust by the time Soler had arrived.

Luna… Chief… the villagers…

Gone.

---

Soler flinched awake, gasping as he felt his breath fill with clean air again. Fresh, pine-smells from the forest outside blew from the window above his low-riding bed. The dews of the last rainfall lingered in the cool breeze as he tried to get his bearings again.

The heat of that morning… it was so vivid and tangible just a moment ago. It was immediately replaced by this… this peaceful and serene morning.

His sweat made him shiver, gripping the blankets and trying to rub them against his shoulders and arms.

He felt better physically, but there was still a fever deep in his memory… a fever of Neo Metal Sonic… a recalling of past events that were now, eternally, seared into his mind.

He hadn’t had that real of a nightmare for a while. He thought—maybe, his PTSD had finally passed. He wondered for a long time while taking his walks, reading his books, training in the forest, and on the mountain sides that perhaps he could live a normal life again.

That apparently wasn’t the case.

“Aughh…” he rubbed his head, wiping his nose on his glove and looking himself over. “I need a bath.” He stuck his tongue out, disgusted at the idea of him being asleep for so many days in the same, now sweat-soaked bed.

He flipped the sheets over and began to walk towards the bathroom. Gripping the hose from atop the makeshift shower, he washed himself down and cleaned his clothes the old-fashion way. All he had were his shoes and gloves anyway, he wasn’t as lazy and inconsiderate of other people’s time as some would have supposed.

After that… he just got up and went to look for something to do. If his mind was occupied, maybe his heart would be too.

Tails and Rotor… Sally had mentioned they were getting Nicole to work on some things. He wasn’t really tech savvy, but he could hold his own in a conversation if needs be.

He decided to head over there first, and wasn’t surprised to see Sonic and Shadow peering with different expressions at the results flying through the computer screen.

Yikes… Shadow looks concerned.

He was probably the only person alive who would read Shadow’s multiple frowns. Where one may say he’s angry, Soler would say he’s just thinking. Someone could accuse Shadow of being condescending, and Soler would politely suggest he’s just showing some tough love.

Amy once thought Shadow was being rude, but Soler calmly explained he was attempting humor.

Sonic would battle with Shadow through wit and brawns, but Soler just knew that’s how they got along.

So when he saw Shadow’s face, he knew he wasn’t ticked off by Sonic’s grin, but simply worried about the results he was reading.

“You’re being too rash, Sonic.” Shadow almost growled the words out, but there was a refined elegance to his stance. He pivoted a foot toward him, removing his folded arms to gesture one out to him. This action forced Sonic to look at the movement and pay attention to his words, which made Soler smile, because Shadow seemed to also have an understanding of how Sonic worked. “If we try an all-out, frontal attack with these numbers… Some of our people may not be coming back.” He tightened his fist, showing his resolve in not losing anymore comrades.

Soler tightened the line of his mouth, not sure what he thought of that statement. If Shadow’s concerned, then this next raid must be a big deal…

“What’s to worry about?” Sonic shrugged, still happy-go-lucky as ever. “We’ve got Nicole to figure out all the possibilities and she’s already confirmed what we need is in there. We just have to use some sneak and distraction to get it out.” He wiggled his fingers down and moved them swiftly to the side, as though stating the ‘distraction’ part would be a walk in the park.

Soler decided to lean on the door post, listen for further clues before possibly saying anything.

“…Nicole.”

The voice freaked him out a moment, leaning up again from his relaxed stance and turning to see Sally stride forward, placing herself between Shadow and Sonic. She really did look regal, positioning herself right between the two different opinions of these powerful men.

“Is that machine you found really worth all this trouble?”

Sonic put a hand to his hip, tilting his head to Sally as though hoping she would side with him, but looked up to see Nicole’s answer instead.

“… I’m so sorry, Sally. But if Eggman really does complete the framework and design that Tails and Rotor showed me… it would be devastating for the entire Freedom Fighting cause. Not only would he be trying to mass-robotize whole continents with this device, but the level of fire-power in these system outlines also concludes a possible, massive war-weapon.”

“Is he that desperate to know our location?” Shadow countered, but Sonic snickered a reply as quick as blue lightning.

“Nah, he’s through trying to find our many stashed bases all over Mobius. He’s ready to just blow it all sky-high and rebuild later!” Sonic’s attitude rubbed Soler the wrong way, and he finally stepped forward.

“You should be taking this a bit more seriously, Sonic.” Defending Shadow’s end, Soler watched as Sonic and the others turned to address him.

“Well, well. If it isn’t the moon-watcher.” Sonic smiled, raising an eyebrow. “You done with your ‘light cold’ yet?”

Soler knew he was teasing him, but he still felt a little insulted. His eyelids dropped halfway to show his unamused expression as Sonic twitched at his serious response.

“Geez, you usually love my quips.” He pfft’d. “Someone’s been hanging out with Mr. Grumpy Quills too much.” He looked to Shadow. “Your boy’s up.”

“He’s not a boy, nor mine.” Shadow glared to Sonic but stepped up to Soler. “Your timing couldn’t be more perfect. We’ve got an ideal mission for your abilities. We need someone to endure Eggman’s offenses while we storm his fortress. We’re after that.” He pointed back to the screen as Nicole showed the massive fighter ship, still under construction in some areas.

Nicole then materialized in front of Sonic and Sally, stepping boldly to Shadow and Soler. “Is this really a clear plan?” She questioned, looking sheepishly scared at Shadow’s suggestion. “He’s an able fighter, but…”

“What Nicole is trying to say,” Sally about-faced, moving over to Shadow and Nicole. “Is that Soler is inexperienced and can get a little emotional when coming to his full power.”

Soler looked down, a little embarrassed she was speaking this way about him.

“Then I haven’t trained him enough.” Shadow quickly looked back at him, a true teacher’s anger as Soler felt fear spike up his spine.

Shadow gripped the top of Soler’s head, “If your last little outburst didn’t teach you patience and reason, then I have no choice but to put you through the ringer…” he started to drag Soler out the door, and knowing how awful Shadow’s routines could be, Soler knew his struggles wouldn’t be enough to satisfy Shadow’s perfectionist views this time.

“Wait-!” Sally outstretched her hand.

Oh, thank Chaos!

Sally looked kindly to Soler, “…He just recovered. I’ll talk to him. I’m the leader of the Freedom Fighters after all. I’ll judge whether he’s really ready or not.”

Shadow gave her a stern look as he slowly released Soler’s head from his firm, killer death grip.

“Very well… but if he doesn’t amount to your expectations…” He folded his arms, glaring down at Soler, as if to say- Don’t disappoint me a second time.

Soler gulped. Even after all these years, Shadow still saw him as a hopeless child.

Sonic clutched his stomach and laughed, walking over and swinging an arm around Soler. “Man! You should have seen the look on your face!”

Soler pouted, “It’s not like you haven’t had a time where Sally’s saved your butt either, Blue.”

“Hahahahaha-Watch it.” Almost as if a tick on a clock’s hand, Sonic’s charming ways shifted to a serious look of humiliation.

“Heh. Men will be boys.” Sally shook her head and then waved for Soler to follow her. “Come on, Soler. I’m ready for that ‘walk’ now.”

Soler could feel a gentle but heated blush on his face, but Sonic leaned toward his cheek with a suspicious side glance, leering on the colorful pink of his face…

“Now, what’s this..?”

 “Ah! G-got to go! Can’t keep a princess waiting!” Soler quickly leaned away and dashed. Not wanting to be found out, he charged to Sally’s side.

Sonic seemed confused, but only thought about it for a moment before growing bored and shrugging it off.

Shadow walked the opposite direction away from the two, and Sally sighed after seeing him out of ear-shot. “That was close.” Sally breathed out.

“Huh?” Soler looked back at her, seeing her face light up with a short giggle.

“What do you mean, ‘huh’?” she lightly nudged his shoulder, “I mean I just saved you from Shadow, the drill sergeant.” She laughed a little more boldly now that the two of them were heading into the thick of the forest.

She touched her head and arched her arm in, really letting herself enjoy the feeling. “Man, I haven’t laughed that good in a while!”

He smiled, seeing her happy made him feel good, even if that laughter was directed at an odd circumstance…

“Hehe… What’s gotten into you, anyway? I thought you wanted to take a walk and not get involved in war affairs for a while.” She looked onward, but Soler just kept staring at her.

“That’s…” he finally looked away, uncomfortable about mentioning Sonic’s words.

“What? You really think I don’t know you well enough?” She raised a playful eyebrow, and for a moment, he realized she thought he was going to say something else.

“N-no, no. That’s not-“ Before he could say anything more, she suddenly quieted down and smiled. She closed her eyes and put her hands behind her back.

“…Hmm… Maybe I only imagine the parts of you I don’t know.” She looked up at the sky, lingering there as Soler was completely captured in how she looked. Her brown fur in the morning light made a blonde line around her body. Her red hair glistened and waved like grass along the hillside.

She finally positioned her gaze forward towards the continuing dirt path, a sorrowful expression taking root in her eyes. “I often think you’re this poor, misunderstood softie who just has a pretty hard-knock past… who doesn’t? But then I see you lose control like that… and I begin to see why Shadow takes you so seriously.”

He felt his mouth grow dry, nerves at what she was saying sinking in.

“I’m…” He looked away from her. “Dangerous, I know.”

“No, not that.” She quickly spoke out, but then corrected herself, “I mean, by all accounts, each member of the Freedom Fighters is possibly dangerous. Maybe you are destructive, but… So are the rest of us. In one way or another.” Her comforting, yet completely brash words made him slowly turn back to her.

“You’re not afraid?”

“I’m only afraid of what Eggman knows, and what I don’t know about what he knows.” She tightened her stare to a deeper resolve, and he knew he touched a nerve then.

“S-sorry.” He looked forward, realizing he should drop that subject…

She grew serious then, ducking her head down, walking with more precision and a stronger stride. “I have to be everything this resistance needs me to be… I can’t afford to be afraid. Only cautious and wise.”

Soler nodded, “I think I understand that.” He then saw the awfulness of war in her face, the sweet girl that had to pull everything back to be a vicious warrior who couldn’t pay the price of defeat.

He felt his hand reach for her, but withdrew it back to his side, rubbing his arm.

A pair of lips mouthed ‘Don’t go’ in his mind’s eye.

His eyes quaked and he froze a moment, shaking his head and gripping it to try and rid himself of the jarring memory.

“Soler?” Sally stopped walking and turned back to him, looking concerned. “Is something wrong? Was it something I said?”

He looked to her kind and compassionate expression.

…How could I leave you?

“Augh!”

Soler turned away from her, gripping his head with more force now. “Stop it!”

Sally looked confused, but carefully walked towards him with her arms out. “Soler… what’s going on? Are you hurt?”

I’m madly in love with you, too…

“Soler?”

“I’m… It’s a memory!”

“A memory?” Sally stopped, letting her foot delicately land in front of her for a second as she processed what he was saying. “Is this..?”

…Was it enough to make you stay?

“Augh…” he fell to his knees. “Luna… let me go. Let me be a good man… let me… move on.” He found himself curling up, his quills sticking out and shaking.

Sally waited a moment, but couldn’t stand watching him suffer like this.

“Soler.” She firmly stated, tightening a fist, “This isn’t real.”

His tearing eyes burst open, looking up at Sally who morphed with Luna’s image, coming towards him.

“It’s just a memory, right? It can’t hurt you, Soler… You’re not alone.” She gently sat beside him and then…

He could feel her touch.

He breathed hard, hunched over as he was, while she gently glided her fingers with a stroke against his back, lovingly calming and comforting him. “This must be a side I don’t know about you, yet.” She concluded, letting her fingers weave through his standing quills and gently encourage them to lower back down.

“I’ve seen Sonic in a cold-sweat, waking in a frenzy and heard him say it was all just PTSD from losing his uncle… But he got his uncle back… and those nightmares ended. I had almost forgotten that not all people are as fortunate.”

He looked up, and gasped when he saw a tear streaming down her face.

It was like a goddess weeping, her look of serenity. “I had to let my father and mother go, too… I often forget that feeling. It was like freedom and remorse all crammed into one, big heart.” She smiled gently as she blinked her eyes open, showing more tears falling from her strong, sweet presence.

He couldn’t help but stare, like a welcomed angel to help him through his grief.

He felt so embarrassed, having such a huge episode in front of her. He squished his face against the earth and rubbed himself into it deeper and deeper, wishing he could just barrow away and be left to his miserable self.

“I don’t deserve this.” Soler admitted, “… I deserved to die instead of-“ He found himself choking to say her name in front of Sally.

Sally seemed to understand that he didn’t want to discuss it, and removed her hand from his back, nodding with empathy. “Let’s not talk further about it then.”

She helped him up, letting him get his balance again before smiling up at him, “We can still have a nice walk after this, right?”

He was grateful for her humor, and nodded. “Please,… don’t end the journey on my account.”

She thought that funny too. “Journey? I suppose in many ways, it is.” She began to walk beside him again, just letting him catch his breath.

“…Soler, I want you to know…” she gently took his arm, seeing him stagger a moment. “I’m here if you need anything.” She looked up at him again. “Anything at all.”

For a moment, he could see a whole different world in her eyes. A world where there wasn’t death and mourning; a world where a beautiful woman and distraught man could walk through the woods and feel at peace by one another’s sides.

Then, there was a loud explosion.

The two turned immediately back to base, hearing shouting as they looked up.

Sally cried out, “Eggman! He’s already found us!”

A squadron of Eggbots and more elite soldiers suddenly dropped from the sky like metallic rain. They crashed into huts and homes, buildings and gardens, sparing nothing as they continued their onslaught.

“The plans must have been old. He’s already created his war ship!”

Soler’s eyes scanned the blasts from the robot army’s arm-canons and lasers sparking fires everywhere. The screams…

Everyone running around in horror…

He went to grip his head but stopped himself, shaking as his muscles twitched with rage and rising vengeance.

His eyes slowly narrowed down. He bolted forward, summoning his power within him and charging back to the hideout.

“Soler!” Sally wasn’t trying to stop him, only alerting him to her presence close behind him.

“Eeeevvvillll day, citizens!” A voice spoke through a speaker, ringing through the sky and to the ground. The EggCarrier was a fierce looking blimp with Eggman’s nose as its point, and his mustache as its sharp and spiked wings.

“Whohooho! Weren’t expecting company now, were you?!” Eggman’s booming voice fueled the emotions inside of Soler. He definitely didn’t care if his power was stable inside him at the moment. All Soler cared about was getting to that ship fast enough!

Suddenly, as if summoned by his desire to fight, Tails and Sonic were seen soaring at an angle in the X-Tornado. Seizing his opportunity, Soler pushed off and grabbed the tip of its wing.

“Woah!” Sonic looked to the side of him, seeing Soler.

A moment of unspoken resolve was sent across the space between them, and Sonic paused a moment to register the sheer determination in Soler’s eyes.

There was unfinished business. He needed to vent and he needed this fight. Now.

Sonic smiled, understanding the look in his eyes and lowering a hand down to him. “Well, come on then.” He spoke out calmly as Soler nodded, lifting an arm up to grip the wing better and grab Sonic’s hand.

He climbed aboard the wing next to Sonic and hung on with one hand tightly clasped down on the front edge of the wing.

He looked down to Sally, slowing her run as she gapped at his feat.

“…I’m sorry.” He lightly spoke out, but he saw her nod as though she understood the look in his eyes as well, and raced to help the village of Freedom Fighters.

“You tagging along, too?” Tails looked up and to the side, raising an eyebrow at the sudden appearance of Soler.

Sonic chuckled, looking back at Soler as he smirked.

He gave Tails a thumbs-up, “More like a stowaway. You don’t mind, do you?”

“Not at all!” Tails looked just as fired up, but maybe in a different way. He had been cooped up with Rotor and Nicole for so long… he probably needed to let out steam and give his head a break.

“Although, this is rather a tedious mission… You sure you can keep your powers under control?” Tails inquired, but Sonic quickly interjected for Soler.

“Shadow’s his teacher, right? I’m sure he’ll be fine. I’ve fought by Soler’s side plenty of times. He’s a bro!” Sonic winked and then looked to Soler, showing some confidence in the youth. “Let me ask you something.” He said this with a humorous tone in his voice, but also with one of sincerity. “That machine we were talking about before… the massive Robotizer… Think you can use that chaos of yours to good use?”

Soler thought about it a moment. He wanted to say, ‘Absolutely!’ but he was somewhat unsure.

After all this time, he was still scared of his abilities. But now, he wanted to take courage. He wanted to be more than his nightmares.

He glared towards the EggCarrier. “Leave it to me.”

“We need something strong and sure. You ready for this?”

“…I will be.” Soler felt every fiber of his being fill with chaos power. It was almost as if the power inside of him knew how desperately he needed to prove himself. He wasn’t a ghost of his past, he was still alive. He could still fight.

Tails began to warn them, turning the plane at a sharp right to have the plane perfectly adjacent to a loading dock where some of the robots were falling from.

“Jump off here! I’ll take some out before they hit the ground!” Tails hollered out.

“Good thinking, Tails!” Sonic looked to Soler. “Ladies first.”

Soler rolled his eyes and jumped. While Sonic chuckled and jump below him, Soler smirked and grabbed Sonic’s top quill. “Then,” he spun in the air to throw Sonic into a horde of marching robots that were about to fall below. “After you!” His tactical swing was so strong that Soler forced Sonic to instinctively spin into a ball, taking out the lines of robots like a bowling ball on the loading dock.

Sonic created a path as Soler began to punch and round-house kick stragglers who managed to dodge Sonic’s attack.

Sonic kept spin-dashing, coming back to homing attack any robots aiming for Soler as Soler let out a few Chaos Spears and then showered the area inside with a Chaos Hailstorm. “HAAAAAA!!!”

The robots were stabbed through and misfired, hitting the loading dock as its side became detached.

“W-woah!” Sonic unspun and put a hand to the unstable metal, seeing the dock slide off one hinge and begin to dangle a moment from the EggCarrier.

“Soler!” he cried out, grabbing his hand and swinging him up inside the blimp.

Soler slid inside, seeing a few robots fire at him and dodged as best he could while still on the ground and holding Sonic’s hand.

“Take… this!” with his torso straining, he flung Sonic up from the edge before the boarding dock detached and began falling towards the village. Luckily, the X-Tornado took out the falling debris to be less dangerous, and Sonic spun into more of the large army.

Soler felt a laser glaze his shoulder and another fire into his side.

“Awk!” He fell to a knee, not sure which area to grab first. “S…Sonic, get out of the way!” he felt his power charging. His fingers twitched. He was going for the machine…

The machine had just started to descend, a large panel on the blimp’s floor opened in a spiral as the robots were flung out of the blimp from the powerful winds.

“Hmmm!? And what are you planning to do!?” Eggman’s voice blasted in his ears.

“I’m going to…” Soler stopped speaking a moment, looking below as the wind began to scoot his feet towards the opened hole. “Grrk…” he gritted his teeth, trying to stay upright and not get sucked into the wind tunnel.

Sonic grabbed a bar near him and looked to Soler, straining to stay upright as well. “How much time you need?”

“I…” Soler felt himself faltering. The chaos power began to rage inside of him. What was he fighting for? He just wanted to get rid of all these feelings. It was too much on him.

What am I fighting for? Luna’s memory? A future for the Freedom Fighters? Why can’t I make up my mind?

Almost at once, he saw the machine turn on, wheeling two giant gears as the beam charged.

“Soler!” Sonic cried out, “NOW!”

He heard… but he couldn’t move.

His eyes shook.

Luna…

Chief…

Shadow…

Sonic…

Sally…

He closed his fist, then his eyes, and ducked his head. The power around him was growing in unusual strength.

“You didn’t have to do that…” she commented, fixing him up before tightening the bandages as he held in another painful cry, puffing his cheeks up with air. ‘Mercy…’ he thought to himself. She smiled at his cute attempt to swallow the air back down but knew what it all meant. “But I’m very grateful you did.” she held him in a stare for a moment, but it felt like a long while to him. Looking into her eyes… was like watching a constellation go by…

She turned with a blush, “So is my father-!” she chimed in, clearing her throat at her obvious nerves that spiked as he didn’t look away from her. “A-and my village! We’re all in debt to your sacrifice and-and…”

He shook his head, a softer side coming out of him as his face turned to one of hope.

“As long as you’re alright, that’s all that matters.”

“…Thank you.”

He could see the memory, but the voice was his own. He knew now. He knew what he was fighting for.

“Please… think of the real people around you… think of the hero you want to be… the one Luna saw in you… that day you saved her life.” Amy said.

His eyes flexed and his pupils dilated. He recounted taking that bullet for her.

His hand twitched, the light in it slowly fading away…

“Life is worth saving, Soler… Don’t throw your life away for one victory… that needlessly leads to further suffering and pain. We’d all miss you, Soler… we all love and need you so much…” she lowered her head, crying into his chest as the warm tears cooled his boiling rage…

“This isn’t a redemption anymore.” Soler smiled, looking up with a relief he hadn’t found in years. “I have people to protect again. I have a me I want to be. I’m not meant to mope around or sob over lost stories…”

“What?” Sonic looked a little weirded out at his spoken narrative. “Look, I’m all for redemption arcs, b-but… is now really the time!?”

“I had my repentance… I had my redemption… it’s time… to save everyone like Luna and her village! Those who don’t have anyone! I’m not as useless as I used to be! I’m strong now! I’m strong enough to save everyone!” He jumped, feeling the wind take him into the line of fire.

“S-…Soler!?!?” Sonic’s eyes widened, “What the… Soler!” thinking the worst, Sonic let go and dived for him.

He didn’t make it in time.

“It’s time for my origin to end… and my new beginning… to start.” Soler smiled, thinking back on the happy times, the good moments from his past and his present. The future… never looked more beautiful.

He saw Sally in his mind’s eye, he saw Luna next to her, happily cheering him on and then looking to Sally, smiling to her and then back to Soler.

“Thank you… Luna.” He let the power soar through him, “I’ll never stop loving you… but thank you for letting me love more than I ever thought possible.”

The laser blasted out its robotic chemical beam, but as the metal began to engulf his being, losing his will…

His chaos reversed, blasting out a Chaos Canon as he shoved his half-metallic arms up at the machine, crying out just before losing all feeling in his body. “CHAOS CANNNOOONN!!!”

A huge surge of a synergy burst spread throughout the blimp, the beam was cut off from reaching the ground.

Immediately, the machine began to be coated in an extra layer of metal, as though the chaos power reverted the effects onto itself, and the machine began to malfunction and finally…

KA-KA-KABBBOOOMMMM……!!!!!!!

The sound wave sent Sonic flying back to the side of the ship. “Offph!” he slammed against the wall, but refused to give up. Thinking his friend was in need of him, he got himself off the wall and pushed off, fighting the wind-force that was continually funneling him away instead of inside the gapping hole in the middle of the EggCarrier, the exact opposite of before.

Soler felt the metal slowly chip off his skin, being revived to his normal colors from the roboticization process. He had reversed the effects… this could be huge, but he didn’t have enough strength to dwell on it further.

He could feel something launch into himself and pull him out of the blast of the crippled machine, falling in pieces, being blown off and toppling through the sky, shot into dust by the X-Tornado.

His ears were ringing with deafness. His eyes glazed as the steel-like sight returned to normal and Sonic landed on the X-Tornado.

Everyone below… are they okay? I hear… cheering… Sonic… Did you save me?

As he came too, he thought he could see a Silver-quilled hedgehog. He reached for her, seeing only Luna.

“….You did well, Soler. I’m so proud of you. Thank you… for saving everyone.”

“L…Luna…”

“Hehe! You silly, hedgehog! I’m glad you’re not hurt. Do me a favor, okay? Don’t forget what you said… I won’t.”

“I… I will protect them… Luna. For you… and for all those… I care about.”

“Good. Don’t let me down, mister!” ”Soler!”

Sally’s voice broke the trance as he saw the image fade and Sally’s blurry image race through it, falling down to his side.

Was I already on the ground? We landed safely?

“Sonic! What did you let him do!?”

“Me?! Why is it always me?! I saved his life! He was about to die in the line of fire!” animatedly, Sonic looked a bit offended but let Soler down to the ground as carefully as he could. “Hmph, it’s not like you ever worry this much about me.”

“You don’t have cosmic power that could kill you!” she gave him a side glare.

Sonic sweat-dropped a moment and awkwardly shrugged, “But I got a willful soul to worry about…”

“Impulsive, impractical-!”

“S…Sally.” Feeling bad for Sonic, Soler redirected those beautiful blue eyes back to him again.

“Soler… Are you okay? What were you thinking? You could have been robotized or worse!”

“Heh,… Good to … see you too.”

She threw her arms around him, thankful as she tried to hold her emotions within herself. “I was so worried… that you would have become… another painful memory…”

This time, there wasn’t any flashback that would pull him away from her now.

He struggled to lean up, but he willed his body to do so, tucking an arm around her and holding her closer to himself. He rested his head next to hers, hearing her light gasp as she felt his presence more strongly now.

“I promise you, too, Sally… I will be a living memory of how merciful the world can be.”

Sally’s eyes couldn’t hold back the tears.

“Sorry to worry you.”

Sonic stepped back a moment, seeing the two’s interaction, he began to look a little worried himself…

“Is it just me… or did you two get a little… close all of a sudden?” He seemed a bit apprehensive.

Sally glared up at him, “At least he can openly talk deep with me. Unlike some boys I’ve dated.”

“Hey!”

It wasn’t long after that, when Soler finally found a safebox that he hand-painted himself, and put Luna’s necklace in it. He dug a pretty good hole near the hill he star-gazed and admired the moon on, placing the box in it and marking it as a much needed grave for her.

With her body so burnt up, there wasn’t much too bury last time… this was much more peaceful and freeing for him.

So many bodies… at least this was a proper farewell.

This is the least I can do for you… Luna.

He gently bent down and kissed the ground he had just thrown over the box. Leaning up, he looked at the sky, seeing no moon tonight…

“Sleep well… Luna.” He wiped a tear from his eye and walked back to town, hoping to help out in repairing the damages.

Getting back, he hoisted a log with others over his shoulder and began to carry it to its designated site… Then Sally caught his attention.

She seemed to be giving directions and orders, holding a clipboard and checking it often before giving anymore feedback.

He smiled, it gave him strength.

On the way back to get some more lumber, he noticed her wipe her forehead and sit down by a stump, looking exhausted.

It’s time.

He took a deep breath, shaking off the thought of how sweaty and gross he was from lifting and moving large logs all day. He approached her and offered her his hand.

She noticed the crossed black stripes that made an ‘X’ in his glove and looked up.

“I think it’s time for that vacation now.” He charmingly stated.

She smiled, accepting his hand and getting up. “You know… it’s been hard since I left Sonic, but… You’re different, Soler. I feel different with you. In a lot of good ways, n-nothing bad! Ohh…” she hid behind a hand, and the cute retreat from the comment made him blush with an even bigger grin.

“You just… You let emotion sit with you and carry you to new discoveries, Soler. It’s one of the most powerful things about you, your quality of just… surviving through the strength you receive from your past. I know it must be painful, but I admire your strength so much…”

She saw that as strength!?

He was in complete awe at her words.

“I’ve noticed… how much you try and help. How dedicated you are to not losing another friend or fight. You always get up. You never just sink down so far that you can’t find yourself again… sometimes… I feel that’s exactly what I do.” She removed her hand and balled it up, looking away.

Soler then realized that maybe Sally was hurting in a different way from himself. His was a lot more physically affecting his life. Maybe… Sally’s was deeper inside, something that she would never let close to the surface.

His empathy for her skyrocketed, he couldn’t help but pull her a bit closer, move her hand from her face and have her turn to him.

She was amazed at his bold move, but it didn’t seem to miss its point…

“Sally… I don’t want you to suffer. Especially alone… Just like you told me, you can talk to me, too. You can rely on me. I’ve learned the hard way how to hold something in for so long, letting it fester and grow into something ugly and tragic… and I want to help you break out of that habit. It’s so easy to slip into despair… but the people we love don’t want us to feel despair. They want us to be liberated from the pains we hold onto. They want us to remember their best selves…” his voice was full of honest experience, of good intent, and of wisdom beyond his years.

Sally let out a soft sigh, lowering her eyes and letting a small, pleading smile escape her composure. “I like this about you, too… The side of you that lets people feel and experience pain… but also offering yourself to be apart of that pain so they can release it. I’ve seen you help others, but never help yourself. I wanted to help you, I just… didn’t know how.”

He looked to her hand, his around her wrist, and slowly… begins to bring his fingers up to hers and gently, sweetly… enticing them to let go of their tension and uncurl, letting him in.

“Sally… May I ask you on a date?”

She giggled, but looked to their hands intertwining.

“Yes. I’m excited to see what I say.” She teased, and Soler couldn’t help but let out a nervous chuckle. He was falling in love again, and it was different, just like Sally said.

But it was also very reassuring… and very… relieving.

“I’m excited to see where this new path takes me.” He holds her hand tenderly, and the two of them start to walk off together.

I’m so thankful… That I can now share my emotions with others. Because I have had this pain, I can understand them more than ever before. I can love more deeply, care more sincerely, and cherish those things that I’m allowed to keep. I can hold them close, closer to my heart than I was ever willing to do before. I won’t leave the places where I belong, or desert the hearts I have sworn to protect.

The two seemed very happy with their new relationship, watching it take form over the time they’ve shared together. Soler looked up at the spot where the moon would be again.

Luna, I will thank you till I have no breath left to utter, no thought left to think. You’ve shown me a better path and how to truly care about people. I’m sorry for what happened, but I will never be sorry for meeting you, the Chief, and your village. You helped me open up to the world, meet amazing people, like those that could teach me and those who could support me. They’re all such great people, you would have love them.

This time, He gripped Sally’s hand more, pulling his head towards her as she returned the kind gesture by letting her nose lightly bump against his own. A faint blush formed on both their muzzles. I’ll protect the things and people I love… under your watchful, relaxed, night sky’s eye…

The next day, the moon returned. It’s dark grey shapes shifted to look as though a smiling face…

( Here’s the song I’ll be referencing for this little wrap up >//w//< https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgmXPCX4VzU Photograph by Ed Sheeran)

Loving can hurt, loving can hurt sometimes

Luna is walking behind Sally and Soler, her hands happily behind her back, laced together as she giddily follows them and then stops. She lifts a leg a little bit, swaying as she lets them walk off,… alone. But it's the only thing that I know… When it gets hard, you know it can get hard sometimes It is the only thing makes us feel alive

Flashback to Soler having his nightmares, but he gets up and walks out to the hallways and knocks on Sally’s door. She opens it and immediately touches his head. It’s pounding and she lovingly kisses it, closing her door and holding his hand, walking out with him and cheerfully trying to take his mind off things to avoid further PTSD.

We keep this love in a photograph We made these memories for ourselves

Luna’s necklace still glows in the buried box, showing many shapes of the moon, time going by. Where our eyes are never closing Hearts are never broken And time's forever frozen still

A memory is shown with Soler, much younger, sitting on a hill next to Luna. Their two heads turn into each other, as if the village never burned and no one ever died.

So you can keep me Inside the pocket of your ripped jeans Holding me closer 'til our eyes meet You won't ever be alone,…

wait for me to come home

There’s a flash of light and Soler is heading off down the road, he holds onto her necklace, he turns and sees Luna trying to keep face. He waves, and puts her necklace in his gloves. As he does, the world shifts to a blazing fire behind him, his eyes red from tears, his gloves dirtied from the many graves he had to dig…

Loving can heal, loving can mend your soul And it's the only thing that I know, know

It’s modern day again, Sally and Soler are laughing and enjoying a meal together. She holds up something for him to eat and he goes to get it with his mouth, but she pulls the fork away, playfully laughing as he pouts. I swear it will get easier Remember that with every piece of you Hmm, and it's the only thing we take with us when we die

He offers her the gesture, when she goes for it, he withdraws the food and kisses her. She embarrassingly flings back and then starts to playfully whack and throw food at him. He laughs and the food fight continues. Then there’s a shift to another time, the two sitting beside one another as their loved ones start to resurface as faded images behind them.

Hmm, we keep this love in this photograph We made these memories for ourselves Where our eyes are never closing Hearts were never broken And time's forever frozen still

The images show Sally as a child, with her loving parents and other friends she’s made and lost along the cruel way towards freedom. Soler has the Chief and Luna, along with many other faces of cheery people he met on his travels. A time where they never knew loss or heartache… but the memories are all pleasant, not a single one is sad or upsetting.

So you can keep me Inside the pocket of your ripped jeans Holding me closer 'til our eyes meet You won't ever be alone

Soler helps Sally put her jacket on, she thanks him and takes up Nicole’s portable device. She turns to him and leans up on her tippity-toes. He does the same and she sighs, frustrated before they briefly kiss and she goes on a mission. He gets antsy, bouncing a bit before charging after her, swooping her up and rushing off on the mission with her.

And if you hurt me That's okay baby, only words bleed Inside these pages you just hold me And I won’t ever let you go

There’s a flash where Soler is holding Luna’s lifeless body, then suddenly he’s reaching for a wounded Sally… She reaches back to him, struggling to breathe as he shifts his chaos energy and blasts the area. Sally is unharmed as he picks her up. She smiles and touches her hand to his cheek, a single stream of tears starts down one of his cheeks, glad to see she’ll be okay. Wait for me to come home Wait for me to come home

Luna is playing hide and seek, peeking over a tree’s trunk as Soler chases after her. Wait for me to come home Wait for me to come home

Instead of Luna, Sally emerges to lean up against the tree, being caught by Soler as he slows the pace down and moves up to her, watching as she presses her back to the tree. He studies her eyes and then her mouth… leaning forward and closing his eyes…

Oh, you can fit me Inside the necklace you got when you were sixteen Next to your heartbeat where I should be Keep it deep within your soul

Luna’s necklace is around Soler’s neck, he’s holding Luna’s hand, she takes her necklace back and kisses him, putting it on herself and holding it close to herself. It means the world to her. He nods, letting her keep it.

And if you hurt me Well, that's okay baby, only words bleed Inside these pages you just hold me And I won’t ever let you go

Soler wakes up from a nap on the same hill, star-gazing when he sees the bright full moon. He then looks over, worriedly for a moment, when he relaxes at seeing Sally sleeping silently beside him, just resting by him as well.

When I'm away, I will remember how you kissed me

His memory takes him to Luna, but it rapidly flashes to Sally, sticking there. Under the lamppost back on Sixth  street

The two close the gap between each other, holding hands. Hearing you whisper through the phone

Sally chickens out and shakes her head, laughing and holding her hands to her cheeks. Soler tries to get in for one last kiss goodnight but she shakes a finger at him and starts to run off. He snaps his fingers, rushing after her back to the hideout. "Wait for me to come home"

His ear flicks, as if hearing something and turns to see the moon appearing to sit on the hill. Its shadow looks like a figure of a girl, Luna..?

Sally calls for him and he turns back around, sorrowfully deciding not to look back, but knowing time will heal the wounds left in his heart. He smiles and lovingly takes Sally’s hand as they walk back to the hideout. He kisses her hand and she lightly hits his shoulder, bumping her hip into his as though shy. He looks forward, unafraid and undaunted by the moon behind him.

He knew it was only saying goodnight to him.

FIN

#soler the hedgehog #commission receipt #cutegirlmayra #solerwolf21 #commission stories #commission

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #147

“i almost died, but it felt great.”

Have you ever thought of a relationship as more of a job than love?  Yep, definitely with Tyler.  Girt felt that way too, kinda. Do you live in a town where basically everyone knows everyone else?  Nope. When’s the last time you chose a bath over a shower?  Years ago, you don't even wanna know what was wrong with me. What are you doing for your next birthday?  Hopefully I'll be in a tattoo parlor my dude. Do you know anyone else with your name?  Yeah, but spelled differently. Who do you care about the most?  Sara and my mom. Colored skinny jeans. Yay or nay? YAY. Interests & hobbies:  Photography, watching let's plays, music, writing/RP, any interaction with animals, art, gaming, being out in nature if it's cool. Music. What do you listen to?  Heavy metal, mostly.  Other sub-genres of metal and rock. Quality or quantity?  Quality. What’s your phone’s signature? (if you have one…)  Oh my fucking god I forgot phones used to have a signature option.  I don't have one. Do you think it’s possible to will yourself out of caring about someone? I don't think so, honestly.  Well... maybe.  But I think you have to truly want to. Do you know anyone that is albino?  No. Would you agree that smoking (cigarettes) should be illegal?  It should be, but it's too late to make it so.  Too many people would lose their jobs. Do you prefer regular bacon or turkey bacon?  Regular by miles. Where do most of your relatives live?  New York and Ohio. Is your weight proportionate to your height?  No. What is the last place, other than home, that you stayed overnight?  Sara's house. Do you prefer leather or lace?  Lace. Would you ever buy a motorcycle?  No, too risky for me. What is the furthest you have traveled alone?  Illinois. Have you ever ridden a train? How about a subway?  No to both. What did you do on the busiest day of your life?  I dunno. Do you think everyone is born innocent? Or do you think “evil” is predetermined?  I lean more towards being born innocent. What was the meanest thing you’ve been called?  A martyr. Do you have any pets? If so, what species/breed? How did you acquire said pets?  I have two dogs, one being a beagle/cocker spaniel and probs collie mix, and another that's supposedly part jack russell.  The first came from a friend of a family friend, and the other I think from Craigslist?  Then I have a cat that looks to have Siamese heritage, and he came from my sister's mother-in-law.  I also have a champagne ball python that came from a breeder in Florida.  Both my iguana and rat came from Craigslist. Have you ever gotten a pet at a shelter? You should. There’s nothing wrong with shelter pets.  I believe so? Have you ever taken in a stray animal?  Story of my family's life with cats lmao. Have you ever dated someone simply for their looks?  No. What about dating someone simply because you felt too bad to say no?  That's honestly how Tyler and I started, yes lmao.  I didn't "like" him yet, but I mean, he was enough of a good guy for me to be like "okay let's try." Does any food always make you sick but you love it too much to not eat it?  None "sick," no.  Some don't sit well with my stomach, but I eat anyways. How do you feel about alcohol?  Dangerous potential.  Don't overindulge. Have you ever been drunk?  No. Chicken or the egg, really?  Chicken. Do you tell white lies?  Sometimes. Would you rather be able to talk to animals or be fluent in every language?  Talk to animals! Does your kitchen have a pantry?  No. Have you ever interviewed a job applicant at your workplace?  No. How do your political beliefs compare to those of your parents?  I'm not as conservative as either. Have you ever gone over 3 months without shaving/waxing your legs?  Lol yes. Would you ever consider being a foster parent?  No. What’s your opinion on lottery tickets? Waste of money, or no?  Once in a blue moon, whatever, give it a shot if you want.  But generally a waste, odds are too small. Have you ever swam in a saltwater pool?  Those exist?? What kinds of leisure activities did your family do together when you were growing up?  Almost nothing all together...  We would swim together sometimes, though.  And cook out. Are either of your parents retired yet and if not, what do they do?  No.  Dad's a mailman, and Mom's a pharmacy tech. What kind of booze did you last take shots of?  I've never done shots. What is one moment that you missed out on that you wished you didn’t? Off the top of my head, I guess the total solar eclipse we had a while back.  Didn't see anything here.  But eh, didn't have glasses anyway. What is your favorite shape?  Circles. Who did you last kiss?  Romantically, Sara.  Platonically, I think my nephew. Are pigs adorable or dirty?  PRECIOUS. What brand water do you drink? (Smart Water, Dasani, etc)  Great Value lmao. Can you speak a second language fluently?  No. Do you wanna learn any other languages?  I would really, really like to take German again and become fluent. What is the worst pain you’ve ever experienced?  Physically, an infected cyst being drained with not even nearly enough numbing and morphine; emotionally, romantic heartbreak. What’s your least favorite chore?  Dishes.  I refuse to live somewhere that doesn't have a dishwasher when I move out aksjfdasoejiw. If you had 5 minutes to talk with any politician, who would it be?  *shrugs* What would you ask them?  ^ You’re stranded alongside the road. Who do you call first?  Mom. Name the last 3 TV shows you watched:  The Good Doctor, The Bionic Vet, and probably a show that's not coming to me for Keegan or the girl Colleen watches. If you had to be a member of a TV sitcom family, which one would it be?  jfaskdjasie the Addams.  Goals. Name 3 things from your childhood that you still have today:  Like half a billion stuffed animals, some toys, some video games. How many bones have you broken?  None. Who is the one person you DON’T want to come to your wedding?  Hm.  Idk.  Maybe my sister's husband, but I mean it'd be fine if he kept his judgments to himself as I'm probably marrying a girl, and boy do I know his opinions. What is your favorite fast food joint?  Probably Wendy's. Have you used Limewire before?  Hahaha yes. Do you have any siblings? Younger or older?  Yeah, five older and one younger. Have you ever had a one night stand?  No. Do you or any of your friends have children?  My best friend has a son. Who do you envy the most, if anyone at all?  Ha, couldn't tell you.  Somebody. So have you ever been on a legit date?  Yeah. Last person you watched a movie with? 
 Colleen. Favorite book that was made into a movie? Johnny Got His Gun. Do you like eggnog?  NO. Ever seen someone get surgery?  Not like, in person.  But I watched a video of how the surgery I had is done before having it. Do you play Pokemon Go? If so, what level are you and who’s your buddy?  I play when I can anyway, Pokestops are like non-existent here, so.  But anyway I think I'm 11 or 12, and my buddy is Charmander. If you wear lipstick, what’s your favorite color to wear? Black. Has your best friend ever made you cry?  Yes. Have you ever entered a talent competition?  No. What color is your best friend’s hair?  Blonde. Is your best friend older or younger than you?  She's a few months older. Do you have a dream catcher?  No. If you’ve ever been out of your country, do you have a souvenir?  I've never been out of the country. When was the last time you saw the person you had your first kiss with?  February of last year. Have you read any of Shakespeare’s works other than Romeo and Juliet?  Yeah, though it was still for school. Why did you move to where you’re living now?  We got evicted and kinda just had to pick whatever accommodated us and wasn't gross-looking.  Thankfully we all really like our house, more than our old one even. What was the most severe punishment your parents gave you when you were growing up?  Multiple spankings. Have you ever been to California?  No. Do you think dreams actually mean anything? Why/why not?  No.  Because recently Colleen told me about a dream where she won a fried chicken plush from a claw machine and it came out as four buckets of KFC.  Find me the meaning pls. What’s something you’re really bad at compared to others?  Social interaction.  I panic over how long I'm supposed to keep eye contact, dude. How much was gas the last time you filled your car up?  I don't fill my own gas, don't have a car.  But I think it's like... $2.69 or something here?? Do you usually fill up at the same gas station?  Mom normally does. What was the topic of conversation the last time you spoke to a sibling?  I was texting Ashley about where we're doing Ryder's birthday pictures. Are any of your relatives musicians?  No. Is there a movie you currently want to see?  Slender Man and The Meg. Have you ever received an autograph from a celebrity? No.. Do you have a piece of technology that should be dead, but it’s still going?  Oh boy, the iPod nano I've had since the beginning of middle school. Ever sent drunk texts? No. How many dresses do you own?  Besides my two prom ones, I think one?? What was the most unique pet you’ve owned? My iguana, probably. Do you enjoy swimming in the ocean?  Big scream yes.  I was at the beach the other day and the water was absolutely perfect. Is there something you want to do, that you swear you will, no matter what? Yeah, meet Mark.  Direct opposite location in the U.S. my ass, he has no escape. What’s something you’ve vowed to never eat? Wild animals, unless I'm in a survival situation. Do you have trouble sleeping if you sleep anywhere else but home?  Eh, I can sometimes.  If I'm comfortable, not really.

#survey #quiz #questions

[michaelandy101-blog]

The New Best Practices for Native Advertising on Editorial Sites

New Post has been published on http://tiptopreview.com/the-new-best-practices-for-native-advertising-on-editorial-sites/

The New Best Practices for Native Advertising on Editorial Sites

Digital advertising is different nowadays.

How and when we interact with ads online drastically changed in March when COVID-19 ushered in a new era of rolling global lockdowns, not to mention lifestyle changes that none of us could predict.

And for native advertising in particular, ad performance has always relied on the nature of consumer behavior on the sites where they appear. Because they fit the form and function of their sites, their best practices are directly dictated by how we interact with the organic content that surrounds them.

On editorial sites (think news, niche blogs and online magazines), consumer behavior has shifted quite a bit.

People started interacting with content from different devices, at different times, and reacting to different types of campaign creatives. All of this resulted in a new set of best practices for marketers to follow when it comes to running effective native ads.

We’ll walk you through those new best practices and answer the following:

How have native ads been impacted by COVID-19?

How has consumer interaction with native ads changed?

What campaign messaging is the most effective?

What KPIs are other advertisers in your vertical targeting?

What creative strategies perform best?

COVID-19’s impact on news sites and native ads

There was a whole lot of uncertainty this past March, and as a result, many companies pumped the advertising breaks. Despite the slowdown, the industry will spend more on native ads in 2020 than they did in 2019, but at a much smaller growth rate.

According to eMarketer, $47.33 billion will be spent on native ads in 2020 — a 4.8% growth spurt. They expect native ad spend to grow by 21% as digital ad spend recovers next year.

The ads that did run, though, saw a lot of attention. The coronavirus news cycle brought a boom of interest to editorial sites across the web from March to April.

Nieman Lab reported that articles about the pandemic increased overall traffic to 350% week over week, totalling 980 million views.

When the dust settled, it was clear consumer priorities had shifted, and where and when they were spending time on editorial sites did, too.

Where and when consumers interact with native ads

Editorial sites have the potential to serve native ads in a lot of different places. They can appear as promoted articles on a homepage or category page, as native display ads in the middle of an article, and at the bottom of the article, to name a few examples.

We partnered with Nielsen using BrainVu, a cloud-based neurocognition technology, to measure consumer reactions to ads on the page, meaning we physically measured people’s brain waves as they interacted with ads on editorial sites.

Immersive AI and virtual reality technology (think headgear with a ton of wires attached) measured when and where they were paying the most attention and had the highest emotional response.

We found that consumers were paying 20% more attention to ads at the bottom of the article and had a 17% higher emotional response than anywhere else on the page.

Plus, research participants displayed an 8% lower cognitive load at the end of an article. Basically, they had more “brain space”, or memory resources, to pay attention to new content or ads.

A follow-up study from Nielsen revealed that these moments occurred most often as we were on our way to bed or just waking up, taking a work break, or using the restroom. Lunch breaks, lines, and commutes had been deprioritized.

When we’re in those moments of next, primed and ready to discover content or advertising from brands, what are the topics engaged with the most?

We’ve seen three major shifts in consumer interest that should shape the messaging for your next native advertising campaigns.

Campaign messaging people engage with the most

The news topics gaining the most attention on editorial sites have changed, which should signal to marketers a need for a shift in native ad messaging.

Long-term trends in news are a reflection of consumers most relevant and immediate concerns. Aligning your campaign messaging with these long-term trends will improve your native ad performance.

So, what are those long-term trends?

First off, content related to the coronavirus and political climate has all but eclipsed consumer attention on editorial sites.

Underneath those high-level basic interests, we’ve identified four trending topics that have emerged since the coronavirus was declared a pandemic, and with which we’re seeing a lot of engagement:

Investing: The combination of coronavirus and the 2020 election has resulted in some ups and downs in the stock market, and everyone wants to jump on the bandwagon. (Nerdwallet pushed a partnership with Fundrise just in time for the trend).

Food: Quarantine baking has resulted in a burst of attention to the food category, specifically for topics related to desserts and baking. (Just Egg leaned into marketing as a faux egg alternative when quarantine baking took off.)

Racism: George Floyd’s murder and the Black Lives Matter movement have sparked a recent increase in engagement with topics related to racism and equality. (Mint promoted a webinar and video series on how to close the racial wage gap.)

Work: How and when we’re getting back to work is on our minds. (Nestlé released a series of content, including this article, about how parents were handling working from home.)

Here’s how interest in these content topics have broken down over the past six months, measured in pageviews:

While specific news stories have created spikes of pageviews for content related to these topics, interest has stayed steady for all four since April.

How coronavirus influenced native advertising KPIs

Native advertising KPIs shifted after COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic.

To illustrate this change, we took a look at the total advertiser spend on our network across each vertical, and broke it down by three high-level KPIs: brand awareness, lead generation, and purchases.

If the percentage of spend allocated to one of those KPIs changed more than 5% after March or April, we included it here.

Brand Awareness

Brand awareness includes campaigns optimized for KPIs like impressions, clicks, and pageviews.

For the fashion and technology verticals, brand awareness became a much higher priority after March 8th.

Lead generation

Lead generation includes KPIs like form fills, engagement on the page, or newsletter subscriptions.

Both the entertainment and auto industries prioritized lead generation just after the pandemic was declared.

They eventually focused more on brand awareness by April, when a need for education and finance products took their place.

As consumers looked to support schooling at home, and make sure their finances were in order, education and finance brands started to prioritize lead generation over other KPIs.

Purchase

Purchase KPIs include cart checkouts, contacting a sales representative, or any digital step in the funnel that results in a sale.

Directly after the pandemic hit, healthcare and home good brands prioritized purchase KPIs as consumers looked to stay healthy and improve their inside spaces. Healthcare has continued to prioritize purchase KPIs since the pandemic was announced.

Moving into April, more and more education marketers also prioritized purchase KPIs to support homeschooling and professional development needs. Beauty advertisers also filled a need left by closing salons across the globe.

Fashion marketers started prioritizing purchase KPIs again through April as it became clear how consumer priorities had shifted.

Creative best practices since coronavirus

When pen meets paper (figuratively speaking) and it’s time to build your campaign creatives, you’ll want to be sure to include creative elements that consumers find engaging.

Below you’ll find insights for native ads that are either driven by sponsored content (think articles, e-books, photo galleries, and videos on the landing page) and video (think video creatives where a click isn’t necessarily the goal).

Sponsored content

These ads are made up of a headline and photo to entice consumers to click and learn more about what you have to offer. Both require a bit of attention to make sure your ad performs as best as it can.

We’re seeing increases in click-through-rates (CTRs) for the following photo elements:

Photos without text

Photography over illustrations

People over landscapes

Colors over black and white​

Close-ups over photos at a distance

We recommend A/B testing photos with one or two of these elements to see what works best for your campaign.

Keywords

After your photo catches your eye, your headline has to convince people to click and keep reading. We’ve seen certain keywords give advertisers a better chance at a user clicking through to their landing page.

Over the past month, the following keywords have had a positive impact on CTRs:

These keywords used to have a positive impact on CTR, but are now used in many different ad campaigns, meaning you’ll likely have to bid higher in order to get in front of consumers.

Finally, these keywords haven’t quite made it into the ‘strong engagement’ bucket, but have had a positive CTR impact for a smaller selection of advertiser campaigns and might be worth testing if relevant to your brand.

Video campaigns

When producing video assets, there are specific action types and characteristics to include to make an impact on completion rate and viewability.

High completion rate

Consider showing scenes with swimming, air travel, stretching, and other high-movement related action types to encourage people to watch your video ad all the way to the end.

In addition, video characteristics like winter scenes, men, videos without people, and food are also showing a positive impact on completion rates.

High viewability

When it comes to catching someone’s eye, actions like eating, climbing, and stretching seem to be the most effective.

Male actors, videos that aren’t illustrated, colors, and food are also great characteristics to include to make sure your video isn’t missed.

Main takeaways

​The native advertising landscape has changed since March and the declaration of a global pandemic. Ad spend changed in response to consumer behavior, and we walked away with a new set of best practices to use as a basis for our native advertising campaigns.

When you’re building your next native advertising campaign, ask yourself:

Can I incorporate a messaging angle related to investing, food, racial justice or work?

Are other advertisers seeing success with my desired KPI in my vertical?

Have I considered testing native ad placements at the bottom of the page where people are most likely to be engaged?

Am I following creative best practices like including colorful, close-up images of people?

You should always A/B test—best practices should always be taken with a grain of salt. Using these best practices as a basis for testing your native advertising campaigns moving forward will make your optimization process a bit easier, and ultimately lead to better performance marketing.

You can stay up to date on the latest content topics and creative trends at Taboola Trends.

Source link

#General

[growwithmeastrology]

Monday, October 30th 2023

Sun in Scorpio ♏️🌊 Moon in Taurus ♉️🌍and Gemini ♊️💨

Things start to calm down a bit as we shift out of the Taurus eclipse energies. But before the Moon moves into Gemini late this morning it will trine Pluto in Capricorn. This will have us increasing our sensitivity in areas where we need to be deliberate and decisive.

We’re ready to tackle whatever is coming at us with a little more vitality.

The Moon works its way into communicative Gemini where we feel more social or talkative. We can shift focus towards our dreams or passions better as the need for mental stimulation will increase.

As the Moon separates from earthy Taurus, there’s also grand trine forming in the sky first with Venus in Virgo in a trine with Uranus in Taurus today which will have us in the mood to try something new or stimulating. Our mind is on our spending and could have us focused on investments or money matters.

The winds of change are finally coming in and we’ll personally feel more grounded and focused. The grand trine in earth will strengthen by tomorrow where I’m sensing some big events could arise on the world’s stage in the finances sector. Let’s hope it’s not too spooky giving the circumstances the world’s topics are focused on.

Value and desire are center stage as the mind starts to wake up and feel more active. Focus on your short term goals so you can enrich your life today! ☮️💚✨

If you enjoy my daily forecasts please like, comment, share and consider a gratitude tip in support. 🅿️ PayPal, Venmo or CashApp - @NaliniFlor

Learn more about your personal energies and how the daily forecast affects you! Comment below⬇️ or DM me for a consultation.

📸: Fernanda Meier Photography. Check out her work at FernandaMeier.com

#astrology #growwithme #zodiac #moon #sun #horoscope #daily energies #scorpio season #taurus moon #gemini moon

[drummcarpentry]

The New Best Practices for Native Advertising on Editorial Sites

Posted by MeganRoseM

Digital advertising is different nowadays.

How and when we interact with ads online drastically changed in March when COVID-19 ushered in a new era of rolling global lockdowns, not to mention lifestyle changes that none of us could predict.

And for native advertising in particular, ad performance has always relied on the nature of consumer behavior on the sites where they appear. Because they fit the form and function of their sites, their best practices are directly dictated by how we interact with the organic content that surrounds them.

On editorial sites (think news, niche blogs and online magazines), consumer behavior has shifted quite a bit.

People started interacting with content from different devices, at different times, and reacting to different types of campaign creatives. All of this resulted in a new set of best practices for marketers to follow when it comes to running effective native ads.

We’ll walk you through those new best practices and answer the following:

How have native ads been impacted by COVID-19?

How has consumer interaction with native ads changed?

What campaign messaging is the most effective?

What KPIs are other advertisers in your vertical targeting?

What creative strategies perform best?

COVID-19's impact on news sites and native ads

There was a whole lot of uncertainty this past March, and as a result, many companies pumped the advertising breaks. Despite the slowdown, the industry will spend more on native ads in 2020 than they did in 2019, but at a much smaller growth rate.

According to eMarketer, $47.33 billion will be spent on native ads in 2020 — a 4.8% growth spurt. They expect native ad spend to grow by 21% as digital ad spend recovers next year.

The ads that did run, though, saw a lot of attention. The coronavirus news cycle brought a boom of interest to editorial sites across the web from March to April.

Nieman Lab reported that articles about the pandemic increased overall traffic to 350% week over week, totalling 980 million views.

When the dust settled, it was clear consumer priorities had shifted, and where and when they were spending time on editorial sites did, too.

Where and when consumers interact with native ads

Editorial sites have the potential to serve native ads in a lot of different places. They can appear as promoted articles on a homepage or category page, as native display ads in the middle of an article, and at the bottom of the article, to name a few examples.

We partnered with Nielsen using BrainVu, a cloud-based neurocognition technology, to measure consumer reactions to ads on the page, meaning we physically measured people's brain waves as they interacted with ads on editorial sites.

Immersive AI and virtual reality technology (think headgear with a ton of wires attached) measured when and where they were paying the most attention and had the highest emotional response.

We found that consumers were paying 20% more attention to ads at the bottom of the article and had a 17% higher emotional response than anywhere else on the page.

Plus, research participants displayed an 8% lower cognitive load at the end of an article. Basically, they had more “brain space”, or memory resources, to pay attention to new content or ads.

A follow-up study from Nielsen revealed that these moments occurred most often as we were on our way to bed or just waking up, taking a work break, or using the restroom. Lunch breaks, lines, and commutes had been deprioritized.

When we're in those moments of next, primed and ready to discover content or advertising from brands, what are the topics engaged with the most?

We've seen three major shifts in consumer interest that should shape the messaging for your next native advertising campaigns.

Campaign messaging people engage with the most

The news topics gaining the most attention on editorial sites have changed, which should signal to marketers a need for a shift in native ad messaging.

Long-term trends in news are a reflection of consumers most relevant and immediate concerns. Aligning your campaign messaging with these long-term trends will improve your native ad performance.

So, what are those long-term trends?

First off, content related to the coronavirus and political climate has all but eclipsed consumer attention on editorial sites.

Underneath those high-level basic interests, we've identified four trending topics that have emerged since the coronavirus was declared a pandemic, and with which we're seeing a lot of engagement:

Investing: The combination of coronavirus and the 2020 election has resulted in some ups and downs in the stock market, and everyone wants to jump on the bandwagon. (Nerdwallet pushed a partnership with Fundrise just in time for the trend).

Food: Quarantine baking has resulted in a burst of attention to the food category, specifically for topics related to desserts and baking. (Just Egg leaned into marketing as a faux egg alternative when quarantine baking took off.)

Racism: George Floyd's murder and the Black Lives Matter movement have sparked a recent increase in engagement with topics related to racism and equality. (Mint promoted a webinar and video series on how to close the racial wage gap.)

Work: How and when we're getting back to work is on our minds. (Nestlé released a series of content, including this article, about how parents were handling working from home.)

Here's how interest in these content topics have broken down over the past six months, measured in pageviews:

While specific news stories have created spikes of pageviews for content related to these topics, interest has stayed steady for all four since April.

How coronavirus influenced native advertising KPIs

Native advertising KPIs shifted after COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic.

To illustrate this change, we took a look at the total advertiser spend on our network across each vertical, and broke it down by three high-level KPIs: brand awareness, lead generation, and purchases.

If the percentage of spend allocated to one of those KPIs changed more than 5% after March or April, we included it here.

Brand Awareness

Brand awareness includes campaigns optimized for KPIs like impressions, clicks, and pageviews.

For the fashion and technology verticals, brand awareness became a much higher priority after March 8th.

Lead generation

Lead generation includes KPIs like form fills, engagement on the page, or newsletter subscriptions.

Both the entertainment and auto industries prioritized lead generation just after the pandemic was declared.

They eventually focused more on brand awareness by April, when a need for education and finance products took their place.

As consumers looked to support schooling at home, and make sure their finances were in order, education and finance brands started to prioritize lead generation over other KPIs.

Purchase

Purchase KPIs include cart checkouts, contacting a sales representative, or any digital step in the funnel that results in a sale.

Directly after the pandemic hit, healthcare and home good brands prioritized purchase KPIs as consumers looked to stay healthy and improve their inside spaces. Healthcare has continued to prioritize purchase KPIs since the pandemic was announced.

Moving into April, more and more education marketers also prioritized purchase KPIs to support homeschooling and professional development needs. Beauty advertisers also filled a need left by closing salons across the globe.

Fashion marketers started prioritizing purchase KPIs again through April as it became clear how consumer priorities had shifted.

Creative best practices since coronavirus

When pen meets paper (figuratively speaking) and it's time to build your campaign creatives, you'll want to be sure to include creative elements that consumers find engaging.

Below you’ll find insights for native ads that are either driven by sponsored content (think articles, e-books, photo galleries, and videos on the landing page) and video (think video creatives where a click isn't necessarily the goal).

Sponsored content

These ads are made up of a headline and photo to entice consumers to click and learn more about what you have to offer. Both require a bit of attention to make sure your ad performs as best as it can.

We're seeing increases in click-through-rates (CTRs) for the following photo elements:

Photos without text

Photography over illustrations

People over landscapes

Colors over black and white​

Close-ups over photos at a distance

We recommend A/B testing photos with one or two of these elements to see what works best for your campaign.

Keywords

After your photo catches your eye, your headline has to convince people to click and keep reading. We've seen certain keywords give advertisers a better chance at a user clicking through to their landing page.

Over the past month, the following keywords have had a positive impact on CTRs:

These keywords used to have a positive impact on CTR, but are now used in many different ad campaigns, meaning you'll likely have to bid higher in order to get in front of consumers.

Finally, these keywords haven't quite made it into the 'strong engagement' bucket, but have had a positive CTR impact for a smaller selection of advertiser campaigns and might be worth testing if relevant to your brand.

Video campaigns

When producing video assets, there are specific action types and characteristics to include to make an impact on completion rate and viewability.

High completion rate

Consider showing scenes with swimming, air travel, stretching, and other high-movement related action types to encourage people to watch your video ad all the way to the end.

In addition, video characteristics like winter scenes, men, videos without people, and food are also showing a positive impact on completion rates.

High viewability

When it comes to catching someone's eye, actions like eating, climbing, and stretching seem to be the most effective.

Male actors, videos that aren't illustrated, colors, and food are also great characteristics to include to make sure your video isn't missed.

Main takeaways

​The native advertising landscape has changed since March and the declaration of a global pandemic. Ad spend changed in response to consumer behavior, and we walked away with a new set of best practices to use as a basis for our native advertising campaigns.

When you're building your next native advertising campaign, ask yourself:

Can I incorporate a messaging angle related to investing, food, racial justice or work?

Are other advertisers seeing success with my desired KPI in my vertical?

Have I considered testing native ad placements at the bottom of the page where people are most likely to be engaged?

Am I following creative best practices like including colorful, close-up images of people?

You should always A/B test—best practices should always be taken with a grain of salt. Using these best practices as a basis for testing your native advertising campaigns moving forward will make your optimization process a bit easier, and ultimately lead to better performance marketing.

You can stay up to date on the latest content topics and creative trends at Taboola Trends.

Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read!

[lakelandseo]

The New Best Practices for Native Advertising on Editorial Sites

Posted by MeganRoseM

Digital advertising is different nowadays.

How and when we interact with ads online drastically changed in March when COVID-19 ushered in a new era of rolling global lockdowns, not to mention lifestyle changes that none of us could predict.

And for native advertising in particular, ad performance has always relied on the nature of consumer behavior on the sites where they appear. Because they fit the form and function of their sites, their best practices are directly dictated by how we interact with the organic content that surrounds them.

On editorial sites (think news, niche blogs and online magazines), consumer behavior has shifted quite a bit.

People started interacting with content from different devices, at different times, and reacting to different types of campaign creatives. All of this resulted in a new set of best practices for marketers to follow when it comes to running effective native ads.

We’ll walk you through those new best practices and answer the following:

How have native ads been impacted by COVID-19?

How has consumer interaction with native ads changed?

What campaign messaging is the most effective?

What KPIs are other advertisers in your vertical targeting?

What creative strategies perform best?

COVID-19's impact on news sites and native ads

There was a whole lot of uncertainty this past March, and as a result, many companies pumped the advertising breaks. Despite the slowdown, the industry will spend more on native ads in 2020 than they did in 2019, but at a much smaller growth rate.

According to eMarketer, $47.33 billion will be spent on native ads in 2020 — a 4.8% growth spurt. They expect native ad spend to grow by 21% as digital ad spend recovers next year.

The ads that did run, though, saw a lot of attention. The coronavirus news cycle brought a boom of interest to editorial sites across the web from March to April.

Nieman Lab reported that articles about the pandemic increased overall traffic to 350% week over week, totalling 980 million views.

When the dust settled, it was clear consumer priorities had shifted, and where and when they were spending time on editorial sites did, too.

Where and when consumers interact with native ads

Editorial sites have the potential to serve native ads in a lot of different places. They can appear as promoted articles on a homepage or category page, as native display ads in the middle of an article, and at the bottom of the article, to name a few examples.

We partnered with Nielsen using BrainVu, a cloud-based neurocognition technology, to measure consumer reactions to ads on the page, meaning we physically measured people's brain waves as they interacted with ads on editorial sites.

Immersive AI and virtual reality technology (think headgear with a ton of wires attached) measured when and where they were paying the most attention and had the highest emotional response.

We found that consumers were paying 20% more attention to ads at the bottom of the article and had a 17% higher emotional response than anywhere else on the page.

Plus, research participants displayed an 8% lower cognitive load at the end of an article. Basically, they had more “brain space”, or memory resources, to pay attention to new content or ads.

A follow-up study from Nielsen revealed that these moments occurred most often as we were on our way to bed or just waking up, taking a work break, or using the restroom. Lunch breaks, lines, and commutes had been deprioritized.

When we're in those moments of next, primed and ready to discover content or advertising from brands, what are the topics engaged with the most?

We've seen three major shifts in consumer interest that should shape the messaging for your next native advertising campaigns.

Campaign messaging people engage with the most

The news topics gaining the most attention on editorial sites have changed, which should signal to marketers a need for a shift in native ad messaging.

Long-term trends in news are a reflection of consumers most relevant and immediate concerns. Aligning your campaign messaging with these long-term trends will improve your native ad performance.

So, what are those long-term trends?

First off, content related to the coronavirus and political climate has all but eclipsed consumer attention on editorial sites.

Underneath those high-level basic interests, we've identified four trending topics that have emerged since the coronavirus was declared a pandemic, and with which we're seeing a lot of engagement:

Investing: The combination of coronavirus and the 2020 election has resulted in some ups and downs in the stock market, and everyone wants to jump on the bandwagon. (Nerdwallet pushed a partnership with Fundrise just in time for the trend).

Food: Quarantine baking has resulted in a burst of attention to the food category, specifically for topics related to desserts and baking. (Just Egg leaned into marketing as a faux egg alternative when quarantine baking took off.)

Racism: George Floyd's murder and the Black Lives Matter movement have sparked a recent increase in engagement with topics related to racism and equality. (Mint promoted a webinar and video series on how to close the racial wage gap.)

Work: How and when we're getting back to work is on our minds. (Nestlé released a series of content, including this article, about how parents were handling working from home.)

Here's how interest in these content topics have broken down over the past six months, measured in pageviews:

While specific news stories have created spikes of pageviews for content related to these topics, interest has stayed steady for all four since April.

How coronavirus influenced native advertising KPIs

Native advertising KPIs shifted after COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic.

To illustrate this change, we took a look at the total advertiser spend on our network across each vertical, and broke it down by three high-level KPIs: brand awareness, lead generation, and purchases.

If the percentage of spend allocated to one of those KPIs changed more than 5% after March or April, we included it here.

Brand Awareness

Brand awareness includes campaigns optimized for KPIs like impressions, clicks, and pageviews.

For the fashion and technology verticals, brand awareness became a much higher priority after March 8th.

Lead generation

Lead generation includes KPIs like form fills, engagement on the page, or newsletter subscriptions.

Both the entertainment and auto industries prioritized lead generation just after the pandemic was declared.

They eventually focused more on brand awareness by April, when a need for education and finance products took their place.

As consumers looked to support schooling at home, and make sure their finances were in order, education and finance brands started to prioritize lead generation over other KPIs.

Purchase

Purchase KPIs include cart checkouts, contacting a sales representative, or any digital step in the funnel that results in a sale.

Directly after the pandemic hit, healthcare and home good brands prioritized purchase KPIs as consumers looked to stay healthy and improve their inside spaces. Healthcare has continued to prioritize purchase KPIs since the pandemic was announced.

Moving into April, more and more education marketers also prioritized purchase KPIs to support homeschooling and professional development needs. Beauty advertisers also filled a need left by closing salons across the globe.

Fashion marketers started prioritizing purchase KPIs again through April as it became clear how consumer priorities had shifted.

Creative best practices since coronavirus

When pen meets paper (figuratively speaking) and it's time to build your campaign creatives, you'll want to be sure to include creative elements that consumers find engaging.

Below you’ll find insights for native ads that are either driven by sponsored content (think articles, e-books, photo galleries, and videos on the landing page) and video (think video creatives where a click isn't necessarily the goal).

Sponsored content

These ads are made up of a headline and photo to entice consumers to click and learn more about what you have to offer. Both require a bit of attention to make sure your ad performs as best as it can.

We're seeing increases in click-through-rates (CTRs) for the following photo elements:

Photos without text

Photography over illustrations

People over landscapes

Colors over black and white​

Close-ups over photos at a distance

We recommend A/B testing photos with one or two of these elements to see what works best for your campaign.

Keywords

After your photo catches your eye, your headline has to convince people to click and keep reading. We've seen certain keywords give advertisers a better chance at a user clicking through to their landing page.

Over the past month, the following keywords have had a positive impact on CTRs:

These keywords used to have a positive impact on CTR, but are now used in many different ad campaigns, meaning you'll likely have to bid higher in order to get in front of consumers.

Finally, these keywords haven't quite made it into the 'strong engagement' bucket, but have had a positive CTR impact for a smaller selection of advertiser campaigns and might be worth testing if relevant to your brand.

Video campaigns

When producing video assets, there are specific action types and characteristics to include to make an impact on completion rate and viewability.

High completion rate

Consider showing scenes with swimming, air travel, stretching, and other high-movement related action types to encourage people to watch your video ad all the way to the end.

In addition, video characteristics like winter scenes, men, videos without people, and food are also showing a positive impact on completion rates.

High viewability

When it comes to catching someone's eye, actions like eating, climbing, and stretching seem to be the most effective.

Male actors, videos that aren't illustrated, colors, and food are also great characteristics to include to make sure your video isn't missed.

Main takeaways

​The native advertising landscape has changed since March and the declaration of a global pandemic. Ad spend changed in response to consumer behavior, and we walked away with a new set of best practices to use as a basis for our native advertising campaigns.

When you're building your next native advertising campaign, ask yourself:

Can I incorporate a messaging angle related to investing, food, racial justice or work?

Are other advertisers seeing success with my desired KPI in my vertical?

Have I considered testing native ad placements at the bottom of the page where people are most likely to be engaged?

Am I following creative best practices like including colorful, close-up images of people?

You should always A/B test—best practices should always be taken with a grain of salt. Using these best practices as a basis for testing your native advertising campaigns moving forward will make your optimization process a bit easier, and ultimately lead to better performance marketing.

You can stay up to date on the latest content topics and creative trends at Taboola Trends.

Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read!

[epackingvietnam]

The New Best Practices for Native Advertising on Editorial Sites

Posted by MeganRoseM

Digital advertising is different nowadays.

How and when we interact with ads online drastically changed in March when COVID-19 ushered in a new era of rolling global lockdowns, not to mention lifestyle changes that none of us could predict.

And for native advertising in particular, ad performance has always relied on the nature of consumer behavior on the sites where they appear. Because they fit the form and function of their sites, their best practices are directly dictated by how we interact with the organic content that surrounds them.

On editorial sites (think news, niche blogs and online magazines), consumer behavior has shifted quite a bit.

People started interacting with content from different devices, at different times, and reacting to different types of campaign creatives. All of this resulted in a new set of best practices for marketers to follow when it comes to running effective native ads.

We’ll walk you through those new best practices and answer the following:

How have native ads been impacted by COVID-19?

How has consumer interaction with native ads changed?

What campaign messaging is the most effective?

What KPIs are other advertisers in your vertical targeting?

What creative strategies perform best?

COVID-19's impact on news sites and native ads

There was a whole lot of uncertainty this past March, and as a result, many companies pumped the advertising breaks. Despite the slowdown, the industry will spend more on native ads in 2020 than they did in 2019, but at a much smaller growth rate.

According to eMarketer, $47.33 billion will be spent on native ads in 2020 — a 4.8% growth spurt. They expect native ad spend to grow by 21% as digital ad spend recovers next year.

The ads that did run, though, saw a lot of attention. The coronavirus news cycle brought a boom of interest to editorial sites across the web from March to April.

Nieman Lab reported that articles about the pandemic increased overall traffic to 350% week over week, totalling 980 million views.

When the dust settled, it was clear consumer priorities had shifted, and where and when they were spending time on editorial sites did, too.

Where and when consumers interact with native ads

Editorial sites have the potential to serve native ads in a lot of different places. They can appear as promoted articles on a homepage or category page, as native display ads in the middle of an article, and at the bottom of the article, to name a few examples.

We partnered with Nielsen using BrainVu, a cloud-based neurocognition technology, to measure consumer reactions to ads on the page, meaning we physically measured people's brain waves as they interacted with ads on editorial sites.

Immersive AI and virtual reality technology (think headgear with a ton of wires attached) measured when and where they were paying the most attention and had the highest emotional response.

We found that consumers were paying 20% more attention to ads at the bottom of the article and had a 17% higher emotional response than anywhere else on the page.

Plus, research participants displayed an 8% lower cognitive load at the end of an article. Basically, they had more “brain space”, or memory resources, to pay attention to new content or ads.

A follow-up study from Nielsen revealed that these moments occurred most often as we were on our way to bed or just waking up, taking a work break, or using the restroom. Lunch breaks, lines, and commutes had been deprioritized.

When we're in those moments of next, primed and ready to discover content or advertising from brands, what are the topics engaged with the most?

We've seen three major shifts in consumer interest that should shape the messaging for your next native advertising campaigns.

Campaign messaging people engage with the most

The news topics gaining the most attention on editorial sites have changed, which should signal to marketers a need for a shift in native ad messaging.

Long-term trends in news are a reflection of consumers most relevant and immediate concerns. Aligning your campaign messaging with these long-term trends will improve your native ad performance.

So, what are those long-term trends?

First off, content related to the coronavirus and political climate has all but eclipsed consumer attention on editorial sites.

Underneath those high-level basic interests, we've identified four trending topics that have emerged since the coronavirus was declared a pandemic, and with which we're seeing a lot of engagement:

Investing: The combination of coronavirus and the 2020 election has resulted in some ups and downs in the stock market, and everyone wants to jump on the bandwagon. (Nerdwallet pushed a partnership with Fundrise just in time for the trend).

Food: Quarantine baking has resulted in a burst of attention to the food category, specifically for topics related to desserts and baking. (Just Egg leaned into marketing as a faux egg alternative when quarantine baking took off.)

Racism: George Floyd's murder and the Black Lives Matter movement have sparked a recent increase in engagement with topics related to racism and equality. (Mint promoted a webinar and video series on how to close the racial wage gap.)

Work: How and when we're getting back to work is on our minds. (Nestlé released a series of content, including this article, about how parents were handling working from home.)

Here's how interest in these content topics have broken down over the past six months, measured in pageviews:

While specific news stories have created spikes of pageviews for content related to these topics, interest has stayed steady for all four since April.

How coronavirus influenced native advertising KPIs

Native advertising KPIs shifted after COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic.

To illustrate this change, we took a look at the total advertiser spend on our network across each vertical, and broke it down by three high-level KPIs: brand awareness, lead generation, and purchases.

If the percentage of spend allocated to one of those KPIs changed more than 5% after March or April, we included it here.

Brand Awareness

Brand awareness includes campaigns optimized for KPIs like impressions, clicks, and pageviews.

For the fashion and technology verticals, brand awareness became a much higher priority after March 8th.

Lead generation

Lead generation includes KPIs like form fills, engagement on the page, or newsletter subscriptions.

Both the entertainment and auto industries prioritized lead generation just after the pandemic was declared.

They eventually focused more on brand awareness by April, when a need for education and finance products took their place.

As consumers looked to support schooling at home, and make sure their finances were in order, education and finance brands started to prioritize lead generation over other KPIs.

Purchase

Purchase KPIs include cart checkouts, contacting a sales representative, or any digital step in the funnel that results in a sale.

Directly after the pandemic hit, healthcare and home good brands prioritized purchase KPIs as consumers looked to stay healthy and improve their inside spaces. Healthcare has continued to prioritize purchase KPIs since the pandemic was announced.

Moving into April, more and more education marketers also prioritized purchase KPIs to support homeschooling and professional development needs. Beauty advertisers also filled a need left by closing salons across the globe.

Fashion marketers started prioritizing purchase KPIs again through April as it became clear how consumer priorities had shifted.

Creative best practices since coronavirus

When pen meets paper (figuratively speaking) and it's time to build your campaign creatives, you'll want to be sure to include creative elements that consumers find engaging.

Below you’ll find insights for native ads that are either driven by sponsored content (think articles, e-books, photo galleries, and videos on the landing page) and video (think video creatives where a click isn't necessarily the goal).

Sponsored content

These ads are made up of a headline and photo to entice consumers to click and learn more about what you have to offer. Both require a bit of attention to make sure your ad performs as best as it can.

We're seeing increases in click-through-rates (CTRs) for the following photo elements:

Photos without text

Photography over illustrations

People over landscapes

Colors over black and white​

Close-ups over photos at a distance

We recommend A/B testing photos with one or two of these elements to see what works best for your campaign.

Keywords

After your photo catches your eye, your headline has to convince people to click and keep reading. We've seen certain keywords give advertisers a better chance at a user clicking through to their landing page.

Over the past month, the following keywords have had a positive impact on CTRs:

These keywords used to have a positive impact on CTR, but are now used in many different ad campaigns, meaning you'll likely have to bid higher in order to get in front of consumers.

Finally, these keywords haven't quite made it into the 'strong engagement' bucket, but have had a positive CTR impact for a smaller selection of advertiser campaigns and might be worth testing if relevant to your brand.

Video campaigns

When producing video assets, there are specific action types and characteristics to include to make an impact on completion rate and viewability.

High completion rate

Consider showing scenes with swimming, air travel, stretching, and other high-movement related action types to encourage people to watch your video ad all the way to the end.

In addition, video characteristics like winter scenes, men, videos without people, and food are also showing a positive impact on completion rates.

High viewability

When it comes to catching someone's eye, actions like eating, climbing, and stretching seem to be the most effective.

Male actors, videos that aren't illustrated, colors, and food are also great characteristics to include to make sure your video isn't missed.

Main takeaways

​The native advertising landscape has changed since March and the declaration of a global pandemic. Ad spend changed in response to consumer behavior, and we walked away with a new set of best practices to use as a basis for our native advertising campaigns.

When you're building your next native advertising campaign, ask yourself:

Can I incorporate a messaging angle related to investing, food, racial justice or work?

Are other advertisers seeing success with my desired KPI in my vertical?

Have I considered testing native ad placements at the bottom of the page where people are most likely to be engaged?

Am I following creative best practices like including colorful, close-up images of people?

You should always A/B test—best practices should always be taken with a grain of salt. Using these best practices as a basis for testing your native advertising campaigns moving forward will make your optimization process a bit easier, and ultimately lead to better performance marketing.

You can stay up to date on the latest content topics and creative trends at Taboola Trends.

Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read!

#túi_giấy_epacking_việt_nam #túi_giấy_epacking #in_túi_giấy_giá_rẻ #in_túi_giấy #epackingvietnam #tuigiayepacking

[bfxenon]

The New Best Practices for Native Advertising on Editorial Sites

Posted by MeganRoseM

Digital advertising is different nowadays.

How and when we interact with ads online drastically changed in March when COVID-19 ushered in a new era of rolling global lockdowns, not to mention lifestyle changes that none of us could predict.

And for native advertising in particular, ad performance has always relied on the nature of consumer behavior on the sites where they appear. Because they fit the form and function of their sites, their best practices are directly dictated by how we interact with the organic content that surrounds them.

On editorial sites (think news, niche blogs and online magazines), consumer behavior has shifted quite a bit.

People started interacting with content from different devices, at different times, and reacting to different types of campaign creatives. All of this resulted in a new set of best practices for marketers to follow when it comes to running effective native ads.

We’ll walk you through those new best practices and answer the following:

How have native ads been impacted by COVID-19?

How has consumer interaction with native ads changed?

What campaign messaging is the most effective?

What KPIs are other advertisers in your vertical targeting?

What creative strategies perform best?

COVID-19's impact on news sites and native ads

There was a whole lot of uncertainty this past March, and as a result, many companies pumped the advertising breaks. Despite the slowdown, the industry will spend more on native ads in 2020 than they did in 2019, but at a much smaller growth rate.

According to eMarketer, $47.33 billion will be spent on native ads in 2020 — a 4.8% growth spurt. They expect native ad spend to grow by 21% as digital ad spend recovers next year.

The ads that did run, though, saw a lot of attention. The coronavirus news cycle brought a boom of interest to editorial sites across the web from March to April.

Nieman Lab reported that articles about the pandemic increased overall traffic to 350% week over week, totalling 980 million views.

When the dust settled, it was clear consumer priorities had shifted, and where and when they were spending time on editorial sites did, too.

Where and when consumers interact with native ads

Editorial sites have the potential to serve native ads in a lot of different places. They can appear as promoted articles on a homepage or category page, as native display ads in the middle of an article, and at the bottom of the article, to name a few examples.

We partnered with Nielsen using BrainVu, a cloud-based neurocognition technology, to measure consumer reactions to ads on the page, meaning we physically measured people's brain waves as they interacted with ads on editorial sites.

Immersive AI and virtual reality technology (think headgear with a ton of wires attached) measured when and where they were paying the most attention and had the highest emotional response.

We found that consumers were paying 20% more attention to ads at the bottom of the article and had a 17% higher emotional response than anywhere else on the page.

Plus, research participants displayed an 8% lower cognitive load at the end of an article. Basically, they had more “brain space”, or memory resources, to pay attention to new content or ads.

A follow-up study from Nielsen revealed that these moments occurred most often as we were on our way to bed or just waking up, taking a work break, or using the restroom. Lunch breaks, lines, and commutes had been deprioritized.

When we're in those moments of next, primed and ready to discover content or advertising from brands, what are the topics engaged with the most?

We've seen three major shifts in consumer interest that should shape the messaging for your next native advertising campaigns.

Campaign messaging people engage with the most

The news topics gaining the most attention on editorial sites have changed, which should signal to marketers a need for a shift in native ad messaging.

Long-term trends in news are a reflection of consumers most relevant and immediate concerns. Aligning your campaign messaging with these long-term trends will improve your native ad performance.

So, what are those long-term trends?

First off, content related to the coronavirus and political climate has all but eclipsed consumer attention on editorial sites.

Underneath those high-level basic interests, we've identified four trending topics that have emerged since the coronavirus was declared a pandemic, and with which we're seeing a lot of engagement:

Investing: The combination of coronavirus and the 2020 election has resulted in some ups and downs in the stock market, and everyone wants to jump on the bandwagon. (Nerdwallet pushed a partnership with Fundrise just in time for the trend).

Food: Quarantine baking has resulted in a burst of attention to the food category, specifically for topics related to desserts and baking. (Just Egg leaned into marketing as a faux egg alternative when quarantine baking took off.)

Racism: George Floyd's murder and the Black Lives Matter movement have sparked a recent increase in engagement with topics related to racism and equality. (Mint promoted a webinar and video series on how to close the racial wage gap.)

Work: How and when we're getting back to work is on our minds. (Nestlé released a series of content, including this article, about how parents were handling working from home.)

Here's how interest in these content topics have broken down over the past six months, measured in pageviews:

While specific news stories have created spikes of pageviews for content related to these topics, interest has stayed steady for all four since April.

How coronavirus influenced native advertising KPIs

Native advertising KPIs shifted after COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic.

To illustrate this change, we took a look at the total advertiser spend on our network across each vertical, and broke it down by three high-level KPIs: brand awareness, lead generation, and purchases.

If the percentage of spend allocated to one of those KPIs changed more than 5% after March or April, we included it here.

Brand Awareness

Brand awareness includes campaigns optimized for KPIs like impressions, clicks, and pageviews.

For the fashion and technology verticals, brand awareness became a much higher priority after March 8th.

Lead generation

Lead generation includes KPIs like form fills, engagement on the page, or newsletter subscriptions.

Both the entertainment and auto industries prioritized lead generation just after the pandemic was declared.

They eventually focused more on brand awareness by April, when a need for education and finance products took their place.

As consumers looked to support schooling at home, and make sure their finances were in order, education and finance brands started to prioritize lead generation over other KPIs.

Purchase

Purchase KPIs include cart checkouts, contacting a sales representative, or any digital step in the funnel that results in a sale.

Directly after the pandemic hit, healthcare and home good brands prioritized purchase KPIs as consumers looked to stay healthy and improve their inside spaces. Healthcare has continued to prioritize purchase KPIs since the pandemic was announced.

Moving into April, more and more education marketers also prioritized purchase KPIs to support homeschooling and professional development needs. Beauty advertisers also filled a need left by closing salons across the globe.

Fashion marketers started prioritizing purchase KPIs again through April as it became clear how consumer priorities had shifted.

Creative best practices since coronavirus

When pen meets paper (figuratively speaking) and it's time to build your campaign creatives, you'll want to be sure to include creative elements that consumers find engaging.

Below you’ll find insights for native ads that are either driven by sponsored content (think articles, e-books, photo galleries, and videos on the landing page) and video (think video creatives where a click isn't necessarily the goal).

Sponsored content

These ads are made up of a headline and photo to entice consumers to click and learn more about what you have to offer. Both require a bit of attention to make sure your ad performs as best as it can.

We're seeing increases in click-through-rates (CTRs) for the following photo elements:

Photos without text

Photography over illustrations

People over landscapes

Colors over black and white​

Close-ups over photos at a distance

We recommend A/B testing photos with one or two of these elements to see what works best for your campaign.

Keywords

After your photo catches your eye, your headline has to convince people to click and keep reading. We've seen certain keywords give advertisers a better chance at a user clicking through to their landing page.

Over the past month, the following keywords have had a positive impact on CTRs:

These keywords used to have a positive impact on CTR, but are now used in many different ad campaigns, meaning you'll likely have to bid higher in order to get in front of consumers.

Finally, these keywords haven't quite made it into the 'strong engagement' bucket, but have had a positive CTR impact for a smaller selection of advertiser campaigns and might be worth testing if relevant to your brand.

Video campaigns

When producing video assets, there are specific action types and characteristics to include to make an impact on completion rate and viewability.

High completion rate

Consider showing scenes with swimming, air travel, stretching, and other high-movement related action types to encourage people to watch your video ad all the way to the end.

In addition, video characteristics like winter scenes, men, videos without people, and food are also showing a positive impact on completion rates.

High viewability

When it comes to catching someone's eye, actions like eating, climbing, and stretching seem to be the most effective.

Male actors, videos that aren't illustrated, colors, and food are also great characteristics to include to make sure your video isn't missed.

Main takeaways

​The native advertising landscape has changed since March and the declaration of a global pandemic. Ad spend changed in response to consumer behavior, and we walked away with a new set of best practices to use as a basis for our native advertising campaigns.

When you're building your next native advertising campaign, ask yourself:

Can I incorporate a messaging angle related to investing, food, racial justice or work?

Are other advertisers seeing success with my desired KPI in my vertical?

Have I considered testing native ad placements at the bottom of the page where people are most likely to be engaged?

Am I following creative best practices like including colorful, close-up images of people?

You should always A/B test—best practices should always be taken with a grain of salt. Using these best practices as a basis for testing your native advertising campaigns moving forward will make your optimization process a bit easier, and ultimately lead to better performance marketing.

You can stay up to date on the latest content topics and creative trends at Taboola Trends.

Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read!

[nutrifami]

The New Best Practices for Native Advertising on Editorial Sites

Posted by MeganRoseM

Digital advertising is different nowadays.

How and when we interact with ads online drastically changed in March when COVID-19 ushered in a new era of rolling global lockdowns, not to mention lifestyle changes that none of us could predict.

And for native advertising in particular, ad performance has always relied on the nature of consumer behavior on the sites where they appear. Because they fit the form and function of their sites, their best practices are directly dictated by how we interact with the organic content that surrounds them.

On editorial sites (think news, niche blogs and online magazines), consumer behavior has shifted quite a bit.

People started interacting with content from different devices, at different times, and reacting to different types of campaign creatives. All of this resulted in a new set of best practices for marketers to follow when it comes to running effective native ads.

We’ll walk you through those new best practices and answer the following:

How have native ads been impacted by COVID-19?

How has consumer interaction with native ads changed?

What campaign messaging is the most effective?

What KPIs are other advertisers in your vertical targeting?

What creative strategies perform best?

COVID-19's impact on news sites and native ads

There was a whole lot of uncertainty this past March, and as a result, many companies pumped the advertising breaks. Despite the slowdown, the industry will spend more on native ads in 2020 than they did in 2019, but at a much smaller growth rate.

According to eMarketer, $47.33 billion will be spent on native ads in 2020 — a 4.8% growth spurt. They expect native ad spend to grow by 21% as digital ad spend recovers next year.

The ads that did run, though, saw a lot of attention. The coronavirus news cycle brought a boom of interest to editorial sites across the web from March to April.

Nieman Lab reported that articles about the pandemic increased overall traffic to 350% week over week, totalling 980 million views.

When the dust settled, it was clear consumer priorities had shifted, and where and when they were spending time on editorial sites did, too.

Where and when consumers interact with native ads

Editorial sites have the potential to serve native ads in a lot of different places. They can appear as promoted articles on a homepage or category page, as native display ads in the middle of an article, and at the bottom of the article, to name a few examples.

We partnered with Nielsen using BrainVu, a cloud-based neurocognition technology, to measure consumer reactions to ads on the page, meaning we physically measured people's brain waves as they interacted with ads on editorial sites.

Immersive AI and virtual reality technology (think headgear with a ton of wires attached) measured when and where they were paying the most attention and had the highest emotional response.

We found that consumers were paying 20% more attention to ads at the bottom of the article and had a 17% higher emotional response than anywhere else on the page.

Plus, research participants displayed an 8% lower cognitive load at the end of an article. Basically, they had more “brain space”, or memory resources, to pay attention to new content or ads.

A follow-up study from Nielsen revealed that these moments occurred most often as we were on our way to bed or just waking up, taking a work break, or using the restroom. Lunch breaks, lines, and commutes had been deprioritized.

When we're in those moments of next, primed and ready to discover content or advertising from brands, what are the topics engaged with the most?

We've seen three major shifts in consumer interest that should shape the messaging for your next native advertising campaigns.

Campaign messaging people engage with the most

The news topics gaining the most attention on editorial sites have changed, which should signal to marketers a need for a shift in native ad messaging.

Long-term trends in news are a reflection of consumers most relevant and immediate concerns. Aligning your campaign messaging with these long-term trends will improve your native ad performance.

So, what are those long-term trends?

First off, content related to the coronavirus and political climate has all but eclipsed consumer attention on editorial sites.

Underneath those high-level basic interests, we've identified four trending topics that have emerged since the coronavirus was declared a pandemic, and with which we're seeing a lot of engagement:

Investing: The combination of coronavirus and the 2020 election has resulted in some ups and downs in the stock market, and everyone wants to jump on the bandwagon. (Nerdwallet pushed a partnership with Fundrise just in time for the trend).

Food: Quarantine baking has resulted in a burst of attention to the food category, specifically for topics related to desserts and baking. (Just Egg leaned into marketing as a faux egg alternative when quarantine baking took off.)

Racism: George Floyd's murder and the Black Lives Matter movement have sparked a recent increase in engagement with topics related to racism and equality. (Mint promoted a webinar and video series on how to close the racial wage gap.)

Work: How and when we're getting back to work is on our minds. (Nestlé released a series of content, including this article, about how parents were handling working from home.)

Here's how interest in these content topics have broken down over the past six months, measured in pageviews:

While specific news stories have created spikes of pageviews for content related to these topics, interest has stayed steady for all four since April.

How coronavirus influenced native advertising KPIs

Native advertising KPIs shifted after COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic.

To illustrate this change, we took a look at the total advertiser spend on our network across each vertical, and broke it down by three high-level KPIs: brand awareness, lead generation, and purchases.

If the percentage of spend allocated to one of those KPIs changed more than 5% after March or April, we included it here.

Brand Awareness

Brand awareness includes campaigns optimized for KPIs like impressions, clicks, and pageviews.

For the fashion and technology verticals, brand awareness became a much higher priority after March 8th.

Lead generation

Lead generation includes KPIs like form fills, engagement on the page, or newsletter subscriptions.

Both the entertainment and auto industries prioritized lead generation just after the pandemic was declared.

They eventually focused more on brand awareness by April, when a need for education and finance products took their place.

As consumers looked to support schooling at home, and make sure their finances were in order, education and finance brands started to prioritize lead generation over other KPIs.

Purchase

Purchase KPIs include cart checkouts, contacting a sales representative, or any digital step in the funnel that results in a sale.

Directly after the pandemic hit, healthcare and home good brands prioritized purchase KPIs as consumers looked to stay healthy and improve their inside spaces. Healthcare has continued to prioritize purchase KPIs since the pandemic was announced.

Moving into April, more and more education marketers also prioritized purchase KPIs to support homeschooling and professional development needs. Beauty advertisers also filled a need left by closing salons across the globe.

Fashion marketers started prioritizing purchase KPIs again through April as it became clear how consumer priorities had shifted.

Creative best practices since coronavirus

When pen meets paper (figuratively speaking) and it's time to build your campaign creatives, you'll want to be sure to include creative elements that consumers find engaging.

Below you’ll find insights for native ads that are either driven by sponsored content (think articles, e-books, photo galleries, and videos on the landing page) and video (think video creatives where a click isn't necessarily the goal).

Sponsored content

These ads are made up of a headline and photo to entice consumers to click and learn more about what you have to offer. Both require a bit of attention to make sure your ad performs as best as it can.

We're seeing increases in click-through-rates (CTRs) for the following photo elements:

Photos without text

Photography over illustrations

People over landscapes

Colors over black and white​

Close-ups over photos at a distance

We recommend A/B testing photos with one or two of these elements to see what works best for your campaign.

Keywords

After your photo catches your eye, your headline has to convince people to click and keep reading. We've seen certain keywords give advertisers a better chance at a user clicking through to their landing page.

Over the past month, the following keywords have had a positive impact on CTRs:

These keywords used to have a positive impact on CTR, but are now used in many different ad campaigns, meaning you'll likely have to bid higher in order to get in front of consumers.

Finally, these keywords haven't quite made it into the 'strong engagement' bucket, but have had a positive CTR impact for a smaller selection of advertiser campaigns and might be worth testing if relevant to your brand.

Video campaigns

When producing video assets, there are specific action types and characteristics to include to make an impact on completion rate and viewability.

High completion rate

Consider showing scenes with swimming, air travel, stretching, and other high-movement related action types to encourage people to watch your video ad all the way to the end.

In addition, video characteristics like winter scenes, men, videos without people, and food are also showing a positive impact on completion rates.

High viewability

When it comes to catching someone's eye, actions like eating, climbing, and stretching seem to be the most effective.

Male actors, videos that aren't illustrated, colors, and food are also great characteristics to include to make sure your video isn't missed.

Main takeaways

​The native advertising landscape has changed since March and the declaration of a global pandemic. Ad spend changed in response to consumer behavior, and we walked away with a new set of best practices to use as a basis for our native advertising campaigns.

When you're building your next native advertising campaign, ask yourself:

Can I incorporate a messaging angle related to investing, food, racial justice or work?

Are other advertisers seeing success with my desired KPI in my vertical?

Have I considered testing native ad placements at the bottom of the page where people are most likely to be engaged?

Am I following creative best practices like including colorful, close-up images of people?

You should always A/B test—best practices should always be taken with a grain of salt. Using these best practices as a basis for testing your native advertising campaigns moving forward will make your optimization process a bit easier, and ultimately lead to better performance marketing.

You can stay up to date on the latest content topics and creative trends at Taboola Trends.

Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read!