#( i just made a new post bc of the beta editor and all of that )

[everythingheard]

with daphne ( @dynastymuses ) ▌from here

"Perhaps. Yet it's rare indeed to find someone with whom you can share such things without the concern of them being taken for weakness." Klaus tilted his head then, his gaze steady on hers; since they had known one another, her eyes were always soft with a sort of kindness he had rarely seen, but never without the certainty of her convictions. "How would you suggest approaching the decision of whether or not someone is that person?"

[bladestormed]

⚡

[away-ward]

from pen.d's goodreads qna:

Lottie asked Penelope Douglas:

Hi Pen! I just wondered is there any chance you will write a bonus scene for Aydin and Alex? I’d love to have seen more of them (their wedding night particularly haha), Aydin was such an interesting character. Also, what is the gift Damon received from Christiane in Fire Night? Damon is my favourite character of yours, I loved every tidbit we get about him and will miss reading about him. Thanks :)

Penelope Douglas Hi, Lorrie! Always possible!  And Christiane gave Damon and journal--the left page is for the parent to fill out and the right is for the child. Like "List your top 10 favorite movies" It's a way for parents and children to learn about each other, communicate, etc. She's filled it out for most of Damon's life, and she finally passed it on to him.  Thanks for the question!

-

oh? so they're actually not done with this series? 🙃 aydin and alex 😶🔫 just k-word me already. No bcs why tf will it be aydinalex, kaibanks and willemmy's fans have been asking extra since forever but there were so little? but aydin and alex could be possible? i thought they said so many times before that they were SOOOOOOO fucking done with this series and the books, and hoped that fans will move on and be happy, didnt want to change anything blablabla, emory was heavily disliked yadayadayada, but they just kept on firing shit up, AND include these two imbecile ass characters that were hated by many, in everything? 😤😕

sometimes i wonder where they even got their insights? Like who did they even listen to when they said their readers hated emory and love alex more? Beta readers? Pendragon FB fan group? PR lists? Publishers? Editors? Because they're definitely not coming fom the majority of their fans everywhere else. It's like they have a secret society of feedback givers that we dont know about and kept on putting content that we never asked for because they listened to that unknown society, and again was surprised when their content got so many backlash! And they never owned up to anything too!! God! We at least could've gotten a bonus of emmy being pregnant or some shit, or how will is faring with his college degree, or some more domestic willemmy things, but ughhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!! This? pd's just so full of shit 😓

ahhhh, I see. I had to check goodreads to see when they posted it.

My understanding is that PD will always leave the door open to write a scene here or there, but they have no plans (read: intentions) to continue the series or pick up with their children.

As for the Alex bit, you best believe that PD is all too happy to write about her, Rika, and Damon. It's confirmed that Damon is their favorite.

But look at this from their website:

"As an adolescent, I was quiet, shy, and afraid. No mistakes could be made, because people would hate me or I’d be alone. So rather than run, I walked. Rather than climb, I kept my feet on the ground. And rather than say “yes,” I always said “no.” And as a result, I didn’t live.

And I still felt disposable, fearful, and alone.

What would they say about me when I was gone? Would I have regrets? Every day that I didn’t blaze a trail swallowed me up.

So I decided I wouldn’t be invisible or waste another second. I left home, went to college, and traveled. I took trains from Atsugi to Tokyo all by myself. I jumped Hiji Falls when others joked I wouldn’t do it. (I did it twice.) I climbed Mt. Fuji, and I moved to New Orleans for graduate school without knowing a single person in the city. I did what I dreamed, and I was a lot happier.

I don’t worry so much anymore, and I don’t let others’ opinions hold me back.

Be yourself, and OWN it. You know what that means? Be loud and proud. Nurture who you are and good things will come. Most importantly, your happiness."

Sounds a little like Rika's character arc, no?

And in Corrupt, Alex was everything Rika wasn't; bold, sexual, loud and proud. Since Corrupt was a stand alone, I think the relationship between Rika and Alex is special to PD. There's something about Rika, Alex, and Damon that has a tight hold on PD, so we should always expect that if we're getting new content, it will strongly feature one of them.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of readers who hate Emory and love Alex. I wish neither character was hated and that there wasn't competition in the fandom over them. That's so exhausting. I wish PD had planned on writing a series from the start, so that they balanced all these characters better. I wish they enjoyed writing about Kai and Will, and Banks and Emory, as much as they enjoyed writing about Rika and Damon. I wish that they didn't listen to fans so much - there're those that enjoy Alex and those who don't. They're always going to get contradictory requests over her.

Just be happy willemmy was clearly always endgame and nothing changed that for them. Not even all the fans that were rooting for Alex. And be happy that the less PD touches willemmy, the more we can imagine our own scenarios for them.

Sorry for the disappointing q&a. PD's q&a's are always... interesting to me.

Thanks for the message!!

KO

[geckosliktheireyes]

.. So my irl bestie has made the risky promise of- "if you write fanfic, ill write fanfic" so here i am, posting this shit, to spite her, its an au ive been working on bc i feel like the universes fit together- heres some of my ideas.

Lumera- a world renound sword maker, shes made legendary swords that have defeated dragons to fleets of armies. Famous for her craft she lives on a large estate in Lythos, a small town of peaceful people in the earth nation, a non bender,. Though with her fighting techniques youd never tell the difference.

Vander- a friend of Lady Lumera, secretive, and strict, a metal bender

Alear- raised within the walls of her mothers villa and workshop, she took up a severe intrest in martial arts, quite practiced in it she frequents to Dojo on Lythos to her be trained, by Vander of course, a long time friend of Lady Lumera, a non bender who is soon plunged into her responsibilies and the pressure of being the Avatar

Clanne- the boy is a water bender- a.. Clumsy one at that- though hes one of Alears cloest friends- he keeps all sorts of secrets hes been sworn into by Vander

Framme- Alears other friend, a girl who may rival Alear in her martial arts abilities, a water bender who can only use it for healing abilities, though she doesn't seem to bothered by that, she happens to be a loud mouth, and is very upset by what her brother and Vander aren't letting her know.

Alfred- prince of the earth kingdom, and frail in his own way, though if you mention that youll be subjected in tagging along with his job through the nearby mountain range, he never met Alear until they met in a china shop, Celine wanted new china for her tea parties,, and Alear didn't quite know how she ended up there, but lets just say they didn't leave with any china, nothing was left in one piece

Ivy- princess of the southern water tribe, reluctant as her father dives into the possibilitys with dead bodies, water bending, and war. Shes caught in quite the mess, unsure of what side she should be on, not wanting to leave her poor kid sister behind with people who manipulate the long dead.

Diamant- prince of the fire nation, he met Alear while camping with his father and brother. The "avatar" had gotten caught in Alcryst's hunting trap, which was quite a hilarious fiasco of his yelled apologies and offers of everything he owned as a "sorry" , he decides to try to teach Alear fire bending which they soon realize is easier said than done.

Timerra- a powerful air bending monk, known for.. Being the chillest around really, she finds the "avatar" amusing, and is also quite suspicious of if this girl is really capable of anything other than tripping over her own sword and completing others to no end.

Idk if this is crap or not i havent shown anything ive written publicly since 2014 💀

Heres a lil snippet of the first chapter, so yall can see what my writings like and if its worth reading or anything. Im a newbie definitely, and.. Very wordy but my irl bestie said she'll be my beta reader and editor for me! So hopefully that will improve if she gets the time to do so.

"Alear knew something was off the moment her mother informed her it was time to forge a sword of her own. Lumera was a master in the crafting of blades of all sorts, but never seemed too worried about teaching Alear the details of her work. Alear was alright with it, she had her own talents, such as her martial arts, that she was always working on, Lumera understood her child walked a different path than her own. Which. Is why it confused Alear so when her mother became adamant she needed a sword of the finest silver and the sharpest blade as soon as possible. And even more confused she became when her mother told her she would forge the sword to make it the closest to her liking. It was a nerve wracking process which made Alear appreciate her mothers work to no end..however LIberation was done in due time. The silver and gold sword felt heavy in her hands, but.. a sort of comforting weight , one she knew would help protect her shall it ever need too. Lumera gave a soft chortling laugh.

‘’My child you are not supposed to hold it in such a way- your lucky your have gloves ‘lest you cut yourself!’’ She took Alears confused and clumsy hands, showing her the proper way to handle the blade.

‘’Oh.. I still don't understand why I need a sword- much less one of silver and meteorite metals! I think this sword is better than even the blades you use!’’ She exclaimed…feeling the grief for Lumeras financial state. ‘’I don't see the issue? The daughter of a sword master should have something to show for her lineage.’’ She gave her child a bright smile, her light blue hair tied back into a regal bun, as she reached into a wooden crate by her side and pulled from it a steel sword with a blue leather hilt, the blade having been dulled of course but Alear sure as hell didn't know that. As her face convulsed into an expression of panic and confusion. Her mother lunged at her, swords clashing as Alear defended her face from a slash , in a less than graceful manner." soyeah. Uhm we'll see if i write it- lemme know how my writing is.

And heres a drawing of the main cast's designs, hope i combined ATLA with ENGAGE nicley and this isnt just a total cringe fest ill look back on as i tremble in terror of the memory in passing years.

Also engage dlc looking tasty

[izzyspussy]

how different is writing an actual book as opposed to writing fanfiction besides the obvious (og characters/backstories/plots)? Bc publishing my writing is something i’ve always wanted to do, but i’ve never felt compelled to be in depth with metaphors/subplots/motifs, and I’m sure they show up but in a natural way? Does that make me a less efficient author for just wanting to create vs putting together a puzzle? I’ve always liked books with plots to be clear and forward, while leaving room for dissection as like an extra activity vs something thats necessary, if that makes any sense, and I feel like that reflects in my own writing and I can’t tell if that makes it less — and for lack of a better word — good. Ik this is a lot, but generally if you’ve got any tips regarding the process and importance of some aspects of professionally writing, id greatly appreciate it <3

Hi, anon! Thanks for asking, let's see what I can do for you for some answers! ♥

How different is writing a book compared to writing fanfiction?

In my personal experience the biggest difference - just in writing, not editing, publishing, etc - writing a book versus writing fanfiction is actually with characterization. If you have a fully developed character in your mind from knowing what happens to them it can be kind of difficult to write them pre-development and have them change on-page. In fanfiction, usually you already have your starting point with the character and you only have to worry about how to get them where you want them.

(And also you usually can't use lyrics for your titles lol.)

In Depth Subplots & Motifs (& Foreshadowing, etc)

These things are super hard and can be very complicated, so don't worry too much if they're not your favorite thing to work on!

I think at least in regards to motif, if you're really writing from a genuine place it pretty much takes form as you go. Sometimes in the plotting stage you have only the "point" or you have only the fun delivery mechanisms - the characters, plot, setting. Whatever little pieces you start with, in this particular case most of the time the easiest way to figure out the shape of everything else is to just dive in and let it happen.

I also do that a lot with fanfiction, actually, because often it's a total accident. @kedreeva has a post about why sometimes you can realize you have to rework your plot only to find that what you've already written already supports your new direction. I think pretty much everything said there can apply just as readily to motifs and to the purpose your story is meant to fulfill for the audience, or for you. I don't remember any exact words from the post though so I don't think I could find it lmfao. It might be a ways back in my /writing-process tag, but maybe they have easier access to it and can share it again, in which case I'll come back and add the link.

As for subplots, those are really fucking hard and there's not much else I can really tell you about 'em. However! You don't always necessarily need a subplot. They can add extra depth to your characters and to your world, or they can emphasize your main plot, but frankly good character development alone can do those things just as well. It can be a little difficult to get a full novel if you don't have a subplot, but not everyone is a novel writer and that's good! Not everyone is a novel reader either.

Metaphors are also mostly for good flavor. Depending on your subject matter and your style, you might not need them either. Off the top of my head I don't think Steig Larsson (Girl With The Dragon Tattoo) used many metaphors in his series, and that mostly just made the content feel more grounded. It's not for every reader (some might call it 'dry' or 'dense' or something like that) but for some people that's their preference!

You do of course need some background and flavor text other than just A, B, and C things happened, of course, but they can be in any style or amount of detail that you prefer. Your editor and test readers will let you know if something doesn't make sense or seems incomplete.

Does that make me a less efficient author?

If you're writing fiction, it's not really about efficiency! It's about being engaging. Stephen King and J.R.R. Tolkien both spend pages upon pages giving textbook-like information on their worlds or on character backstory that I personally would have said to cut if I was their editor, but again some audiences prefer that kind of read!

If you think it's more interesting/important/fun to spend time on literal description versus making your work fit an aesthetic, then that's what will be interesting/important/fun for the audience you'll find eventually.

The only thing you can really do to find a style that you are satisfied with and is readable is to practice, share your work, be open to critique (when appropriate ofc), and read a lot.

Other Tips

In fanfiction having an editor, beta-readers, critique partners, and maintaining a group of peers is all really kind of optional and honestly even above and beyond. In publishing that is 100% not true. You absolutely need an editor and test readers, and you need to keep up with other people in the industry and especially in your genre and/or publishing method (traditional, indie, self). Mutually assured success is necessary - not a nice extra - in publishing. You have to be willing to spend time on others' work and to accept the value of their input on yours if you want to make good art and reach an audience.

Again, thanks for sending in an ask. I hope this helped!

♥ Jack

I'm an award winning author. AMA!

[i-want-my-iwtv]

My mom got me into The Vampire Chronicles a couple months back, and now I’m looking for the fandom. Why is the fandom so small? Why is there so little fanfiction? I often have to write fanfiction that I want to read. (Which is fine by me, it’s just I’m not that good at writing.)

Hey, welcome to our little corner of tumblrland! Share your fanfic with us, step out into the light, Anon! I’m often critical of my own writing, and I often have a beta reader, a dear friend who gives me constructive criticism and even rewrites lines if I ask her to do so, like an editor, a beta can offer a huge improvement on one’s writing. Maybe you’d like to find a beta reader? 

-PREAMBLE SORRY BUT I MUST- and no TL;DR for it-

Sometimes when ppl ask those questions, Why is the fandom so small and Where is the fanfic b/c I can’t find it, it’s argument bait, I’m sorry to say. 

But I’m taking it at face value that you are somewhat or totally unaware of our history, that your mom might not know, and that you are not putting out bait for argument. I’ll try to give you a synopsis in good faith, and hope that other ppl see this post as such. I’m not interested in taking sides, reopening those old wounds for the millionth time. I think of us as the bastard children of fandom, beaten in to a corner by a formerly abusive parent, and we are survivors of that. As such, I would hope that we could offer each other even more compassion than other fans in other fandoms. It doesn’t always work that way. Things can be misread and emotions misinterpreted; this is a text-based communication so we are cheated of facial and verbal cues, it is far too easy to misread intention.

What draws ppl to VC? From what I’ve learned over the years, a lot of us felt marginalized in one way or another and we related to something in VC, we drew strength from it as we were struggling with something in real life. It helped at a time that we needed it. It might still help us. Some ppl just like the purple prose! For real! 

Whatever the case, and however you choose to engage with canon or fandom, no one’s relationship to the books or characters supersedes anyone else’s. Not mine, not yours, Anon. We all have our own personal relationship with it. I hesitate to use the word “valid,” bc no one needs “validation” to love a book series or character(s). No one can be “invalidated” for loving a book series or character(s). 

I was in fandom before the internet, and even tho, as I’ll mention below, it was with only one other flesh-and-blood friend, we had our own 2-person fandom! We liked what we liked. We didn’t agree on everything, we still don’t, but it was always civil, and any argument was always based on curiosity and trying to gain a better understanding from each other. It was never about this public display we have now on tumblr and other social networking sites of idk, “My 10K notes means my opinion supercedes yours!”? I don’t subscribe… Unless those 10K notes are turning into dollars, then we’ll revisit it, lol. 

What even is the point of my blog? It’s for entertainment, my own experience, a collection of other ppl’s experience, and fanworks. When ppl say that I exert all this influence on an army of ppl, I am, in actuality, preaching to a big pile of cats, that’s how it feels. I serve catnip to cats. That’s the intention, anyway.They don’t even Like some of it, I’ll get like 5 notes on this post, lol. I have no need to be Right. I have no need to be anything other than a brief reprieve from how insane Real Life is and can be.

Fandom isn’t a contest. No one is keeping score. No one even knows your follower count unless you tell ppl (and I wouldn’t, bc even if you only have 10 more followers than smne else, it generally leads to envy). 

TL;DR for the below info: The fandom was small, but it’s growing now, and there is fanfic, try here on tumblr, and try Archiveofourown.org (AO3). Fandom, however, like Real Life, takes your own work to make what you can of it. 

FRICKIN’ WALL OF TEXT™ NO CUTS WE LONGPOST LIKE MEN

A) The fandom is was small bc:

^Gawds this is gonna be me on the outside eventually, it’s me on the inside sometimes lol.

It’s an old fandom, over 40 years old! IWTV, the first book in the series, was published in 1976.

Back then, fandom was just the ppl you could gather together, physical mailing lists, idk. It progressed to zines, probably, like other fandoms, but you had to know who was making them. I wasn’t born yet so I don’t know!

As the internet was born, ppl began to find each other on webrings, but even then, it was hard, bc Anne Rice did not approve of fanfic. So you had to know where to look or be lucky enough to stumble upon it.

By the early 90′s when I came into VC, there were some fic sites like Rotoli dela Lune (IIRC?) but AR waged a #war on fanfic, sending threatening cease & desist letters to writers, and that made everything EVEN HARDER to find. 

There were official VC graphic novels for a few of the first books and they are hilarious and cringey. Here’s Louis feeding on Daniel jeez… Looks like he wants a lick of the trachea first?

Of course, the IWTV movie in 1994 (in development hell for nearly 20 years) did bring in a wave of new fandom ppl, but they really only found whoever they physically met bc of the movie, and the VC books that were out at the time. Meeting in the audience at the movie? Or in bookstores in the Fantasy/Horror section under R, maybe? Probably?

[X] And TBH the movie got backlash bc it was reviewed as being too gay to some, and as not gay enough, but overall, it did well financially and is still considered smtg of a cult classic bc they drag it out and show it on TV leading up to Halloween or whenever Tom and Brad have new movies out ;D (one near-to-Halloween weekend I watched it 4 times, and that was too many, even for me).

Which was my situation, I had my one VC friend, we met in middle school bc I saw her reading QOTD on the bus, I pestered her that morning, and she had to tolerate almost 20 years of my fannish behavior ever since, all directed at her like a fire hydrant, and then she forced me to start a Tumblr and here we are.

*ahem* 

We had another small influx of fans with movie!QOTD in 2002, but as the story was barely tethered to canon, and for a number of other reasons, idk if it was the blockbuster ppl had hoped it would be. STILL, there are fandom ppl who find it nostalgic, or love it and embrace it even admitting its canon non-compliance. So I try not to trample it too hard, but trampling it hard was once encouraged! anyway… suffice it to say, someone(s) has to watch it with me and mock it to help me through it, lol.

In 2012, we got a graphic novel of Claudia’s POV during IWTV called Claudia’s Story. You can find it on Amazon.

B) The fanfic IS out there.

CURRENTLY, the fandom is experiencing a revival, we liiiiive!

with the recently published books and AR no longer fights the fanfic writers! Woo!

AR has a FB page and an official VC FB page, where she communicates with her People of the Page and whoever else comments on her posts.

There’s also a thriving community of ppl here on tumblr, who make fanart, write fic, do podcasts, write meta, cosplay, etc. Dig around in my archive and you’ll find them. We just did a @vcsecretgifts exchange and there’s fanfic in there.

Another great place to find fanfic is archiveofourown.org (AO3). You can set up an account and post your fanfic there, and I bet you’ll find readers who want what you have to offer!

There’s also fanfiction.net, and wattpad, but I don’t know those sites very well.

^^^All this taken into account, the thing is, anon, fandom is not an open door. 

Fandom is not a ballroom with everyone listing their url name down and committing to staying or even having civility, we can’t make a VC RP directory bc inevitably ppl aren’t invited for whatever reason, and feel left out, or they move on to another fandom anyway. It’s not everyone extending their dance-cards for you to sign your blog url for a dance with EVERYONE. We have had arguments and in-fighting, call-out posts, cliques… there are heated posts about certain characters or ships still getting reblogged with their 10K+ notes and an implication that if you “like” those certain characters or ships, that you’re contributing to real world harm. 

Fiction’s affect on reality is a debate that’s started before the internet and will go on as long as we are capable of communicating. Societies have waves of being more or less pure, like a pendulum. That’s not the focus of my blog. 

All debates aside, fandom is what you make it, it’s not guaranteed easy friendship. I once thought it was, but I learned the hard way that it’s very much like real life. You have to do the work of finding and reaching out to those ppl who you find a spark of connection with, and actively nurture that spark. On a public site, you have to extend yourself and show some opinions and thoughts, gush about what you love, reblog from ppl who you relate to, and gradually build your own network of friends. Nothing is handed to you. No one will crowd into your inbox bc your url sounds cool (well, maybe a few urls get attention bc of that!)(there is an exception to every rule).

So whenever I say “Welcome to our little corner of tumblrland!” I mean it, I do welcome all, and I hope that I’m going to see you flourish as you make your way into the space. Are you a new fanartist, or writer, or someone who’s supportive even if they don’t have the skills to create fanwork of their own? A combination? Show us, and reach out, and if we’re compatible, we’ll reach back.

[icespyders]

Rules: answer the questions in a new post and tag people you would like to get to know better

tagged by @risquetendencies (thank u friendo!!!!)

1. Nickname: Maggie

2. Star sign: Libra, and since i'm a big astrology nerd i also know that my moon sign is pisces and my rising sign is gemini lmao

3. Height: uhhh like 5'6? 5'5? it's been a long time since i measured myself

4. Time right now: 10:32 PM. i should think about getting to bed but i also wanna write fics cries....

5. Favorite music artist: my loyalty to my chemical romance is undying but also i get more attached to songs than artists. i listen to the wombats a lot and i've been listening to magic man and foster the people recently

6. Song stuck in your head: it's not stuck in my head, per se, just playing on my shuffle, but i'm listening to "call it what you want" (see i told you i was on a foster the people kick recently. i love this song and also "pseudologia fantastica")

7. Last movie watched: Blair Witch, the new one! i liked it a lot and i wish i'd gone to see it in the theater instead of streaming it haha

8. Last TV show you watched: uhhh i started watching kimi ni todoke but i'm not very far yet, and i rewatched an episode of haikyuu today just because

9. What are you wearing rn: pajamas...i basically exist in pajamas in ideal circumstances. sweatpants and an mcr tshirt and a cardigan

10. When did you create your blog: oh GOD i don't even know, i was still in high school though. so a long goddamn time. the first post is from 2010 oh GOD i was a sophomore in high school. good lord.

11. What kind of stuff do you post: haikyuu and other anime, aesthetic shit about space and cityscapes, lots of ask games chatting w/ sweet & lovely friends, every image of kageyama tobio smiling i can find, etc

12. Do you have any other blogs: none that i use. one of my sideblogs was a component of a final creative project for a class i took, no joke.

13. Do you get asks regularly: not really, but i cherish every single one!! someone sent me encouragement for my fic writing recently and i literally screenshotted it for morale purposes before replying lmfao

14. Why did you choose your username: it has a nice ring to it and i have a soft spot for shitty movies about giant monsters. (please watch the syfy original film Ice Spiders it's so fucking funny, i have a DVD of it and everything bc it's Who I Am. i need this story about a washed up skier who is humanity's last hope against genetically-modified murdering super spiders. honestly. just watch the trailer, even. it's so funny.) (obvious trigger warning for arachnophobia, they're really ugly fake-looking cgi spiders but still)

15. Gender: female

16. Hogwarts house: RAVENCLAW RIDE OR DIE

17. Pokemon team: i was mystic but i don't play pokemon go anymore so now i'm on whatever team rowlet's on. that's where i belong, with my fluffy bird son

18. Favorite color: green, usually, but i own way more blue clothes for some reason

19. Average hours of sleep per night: not enough...rip...i need to be better about sleeping

20. Lucky number: 14, but only because it's my birthdate haha (true story: my dad's lucky number is 9 so every time i wear my kageyama jersey at home he reminds me of this fact, as if i don't already know from the ten billion other times he has told me)

21. Favorite character: fuck!! way too many!!! i claim, desperately hiding all my kageyama stuff behind my back

22. How many blankets do you sleep with: 2!

23. Dream job: Editor or literary agent or something else involved with literature. i don't think i'm made for a career as a writer since i'm shit at making myself write on a regular basis, but i'm very good at editing and critiquing and giving feedback! i'm the weirdo agonizing over sentence structure for fun & i beta fics for my sister, which is hilarious, bc she’s prone to bizarre spelling errors and i get to make fun of her.

24. Following: 431 blogs. probably a ton of them are deactivated or inactive somehow, but hey, that's what happens when you're on this goddamn site for 7 years

pls feel free to answer this & tell me about yourself!!!!! :')

[thegloober]

Clause Public Beta Demo – Transcription of Live Event

Clause Public Beta Demo –

(This is an account – typed in real time – of the Public Beta launch and demo of 2 use cases. Hopefully this adds a little more detail to what is now possible.)

Matt Roberts – Clause –

What we’ve been working on for the last 12 months.

All of this is available after this call.

Lot of debate about the value of smart contracts.

We will make a real transfer of money. Real signature.

1 – we have agreed the terms of the contract – we bring in the Clause platform.

The trigger is the collection of all the signatures.

Once provided payment is triggered, via 3rdparty system called Stripe.

In this scenario, only one simple trigger, and one action.

In more complex examples there is scope for more options, e.g. scheduled payments based on milestones, or triggered by external system.

I don’t need to understand any markup or coding, I just drag into Clause and configure it.

(continued shortly)

As we build this smart contract you can see the steps that have been taken and they have been logged. When anything added or changed.

All logged up to signature.

And then post-execution is logged too.

Now ready to send out to signature. Work with partner HelloSign.

Reminded to review. Sign a PDF rendering of the contract.

Status of contract has now changed.

The buyer – in the contract – not need to be on Clause platform.

Now, we have collected 2 signatures. That triggers the contract. So can process the payment.

It shows that the smart legal agreement has ‘completed’.

Can see in Stripe a reference to the payment.

Now, pause….questions….

…. we have done integrations with several applications, not just Stripe.

…need pay subscriptions? Yes, need a HelloSign account.

Moving on.

2nd use case. There have been many efforts to collect info on blockchain in logistics, supply chains.

But this example will settle a payment via Ethereum – goods are tracked and information on temperature / conditions etc impact the price of the goods in real time.

This smart contract is operating off-chain, but can still use a ledger to store the data.

….the use case���

start with a supply agreement with a perishable goods clause.

re. avocados.

remove the non-computable clause……add in computable clause.

add in parameters and add this to contract.

we validate the new clause….makes sure it meets constraints of the system.

the clause contains the payment aspects and the logic.

we add the importer details.

There is an API that allows to send a token.

We will do an Ether transaction.

Then we collect signatures. Inc. from the importer.

We can then see the clause is now active, and running.

So that means it is ‘listening’ for information from the blockchain.

We can simulate those sensors. The info is stored on the ledger.

The info triggers the clause and sets a new balanced for the exporter and importer.

We get an execution log, this is validated. We can see the Ether transaction was made.

Pause…..

Qu – can integrate with other Blockchain….? will answer shortly.

Now….how we got here.

Michael Grover…(?)….of Clause – focus on user experience.

in the open beta the aim is an intuitive experience.

we not want to force new ways of working.

have integrations with existing systems people use to draft and sign contracts.

Clause is still in beta – you can be a part of this.

we look forward to how you use Clause.

Now…

Diana of Clause on new features – contract editor.

Can browse smart clauses and add in.

Validations errors are shown so can check.

….

This UI is user friendly.

We plan to improve to make more accessible to non-technical people.

Provides a rich audit trail – can see whole history of the contract.

…..

Dan Selman – CTO – Clause…..speaking now

we are far from over – this is the end of the beginning.

next 3 months –

blockchain (BC) is part of our DNA – we got into this via BC…..but agnostic.

we’ve made series of moves re. a DLT agonistic approach.

Tezos..their $$$$ will help to run on their BC. Can run on this. IBM business partner also.

working also on R3

– also doing JAVA support for Accord Project language Ergo.

it’s all interesting –

we are still in Beta….but soon be at Production Quality. will happen in next month or so.

collaborative editing, red-lining, etc will develop…….on the contracts…

we have supported apps…..

now just Stripe and HelloSign…..but will be many, many more soon.

this will cover accounting platforms…..so can synch payments with accounts.

also fiat payment gateways…..and crypto payments…..

and other signature systems….DocuSign is the gorilla in the mist….people want us to have that.

and also notifications…

e.g. hook Clause to Slack…..used by lot of people.

would be cool to see info from Clause in Slack channels….

would be v int.

then….APIs……the main one is the trigger API (see above)….

also, do more on programmatic creation of contracts…..

hopefully that gives a sense of what we are working on. 

And now Peter Hunn – founder –

this is a sea change in commercial contracting.

this is just a start

we are leading the way.

contracts with an IT infrastructure…..

benefits –

real time state –

when payment made –

share data between systems….

e.g. take IOT info.

once have this can get notifications…

or use data for analytics…..

questions…..

validate….? How? …explains….

do english words match the execution semantics of smart clause…?

so need a human being to read this .…need legal tech engineers….

–

how do API for developers….?

yes – can do.

working with several already.

e.g. ThinFim and NFC chips.

we provide also HTTP integration…..and more…..

–

user access control…?

when start account – get a personal account.

can use all of platform….but on your own…

so, can have an org. account now also

you can then invite others into this and share and collaborate on the Clause dashboard.

we will add finer grained access control e.g. edit controls.

watch this space.

–

how make own smart clauses…i.e. not use Clause.io’s.

– yes, can do this.

it is open spec.

we encourage to use our tooling, to then make your own.

–

need to automatically execute clauses…?

no….can do without smart clause.

e.g. can do without having to make an auto-payment.

instead it makes an invoice….

or just tell someone there is a need to make a payment – that can be offline.

but this makes delays……(also removes point of this…. AL) 

–

business model…?

will be priced ……details of price will be soon.

SaaS model.

…

wrap up there.

you can come and sign up and use.

Thanks!

AL – and that’s all folks. Hope that was useful. Remember to sign up and start exploring what you can do. Note: looks free at the moment too….!

Share this:

Source: https://bloghyped.com/clause-public-beta-demo-transcription-of-live-event/

[roxannepporter]

A Startup Is Born: 5 Questions with Yumi Co-Founder Evelyn Rusli

For as long as there have been babies, parents have been making their own baby food. And for about 20 years, parents who make baby food—mostly mothers—have been turning their ideas for fresh, pure, natural and unprocessed nourishment for their infants into startup companies.

Evelyn Rusli (above right) and Angela Sutherland are rolling out a new brand, Yumi, that seeks to take this concept in a slightly different direction: offering tasty and wholesome baby foods on a subscription basis. And they’ve raised $4.1 million from some high-profile investors to support their plans.

The Los Angeles-based Yumi (which was called Caer in its beta phase) is the brainchild of Sutherland, a private-equity executive and mother, and Rusli, a journalist-turned-entrepreneur who looks forward to becoming a mom.

The friends, who were introduced by Rusli’s fiancé, decided that even after Happy Baby, Plum Organics and several other baby food ventures started by parents were starting to transform a baby food segment that once was simply Gerber, Beech-Nut and a few also-rans, there is still significant pioneering yet to be done in the space to meet the needs of millennial parents.

The subscription concept—making it easy to get healthful baby food into the home—is one. Another differentiator for Yumi is creating baby food that doesn’t rely on natural sugar-laden fruit purees. And its goal is to go beyond nutrition to truly become a parent’s friend for the “first 1,000 days” of a child’s life, the period that some scientists argue are the most crucial phase in human development.

“We see ourselves as a brand that’s developing, not just displacing, a certain category of baby food,” Rusli, a former Wall Street Journaland New York Times tech reporter, told brandchannel.

“We want to become experts and find ways to support parents throughout those first 1,000 days and beyond. We can create a good business with this focus because it makes the brand more powerful.”

brandchannel talked with Rusli about launching Yumi and plans to grow the brand now that it’s out of beta.

bc: Why does America need another baby food startup?

Evelyn Rusli (right): Those women [behind Happy Family and Plum] have done incredible jobs in building out and scaling their businesses. But there’s more and more science around the importance of the first 1,000 days. There used to be the perception that kids are resilient. But researchers are centering on the first thousand days as being more important than the rest of your life when it comes to nutrition and its physical impact. Maybe I’m an endless optimist. but I think that products can continue to evolve and get better.

Happy Family and Plum have done a great job but you can continue to nerd out and really try to improve the product in terms of nutrition and fructose in these products. One thing we found that was so interesting was a meta analysis on the nutrition side which found that 50 percent or more of their calories are derived from fruit. There is a place for fruit and we do have it. But the more puree you have, the less place you have for other nutrients.

We tried to create products we really love as parents and parents to be. Angela has two kids and I’m a woman in my 30s who just got engaged, and [motherhood] is definitely on the horizon for me. We’re not saying [existing baby food brands] don’t offer nutrition, but the way millennials are shopping now, they want fresh. The reason pico de gallo companies are getting sold for multiples of their earnings isn’t just about organic. They want things that feel fresh and more nutritious.

bc: Why is subscription model?

Rusli: Our food is fresh and every week you get a new delivery. It’s all color-coded. There’s a pink week then a blue week. That makes it hard to go into retail. We wanted to be fresh and go direct to the consumer. There’s a lot of power in having such a close relationship and literally going into their homes with the box.

Plus other decisions we made aren’t associated with a typical food company. We created a children’s book that comes in your delivery, a counting primer that uses fruits and vegetables. It’s a signal we also wanted to send that we do things differently than the typical food company. We even customize our ice packs, with a beautiful print of a watermelon on them. These things can add more surprise and delight to customers, so every little touchpoint matters.

bc: Yumi is all-organic, and delivered for a starting price point of $50. Is the service completely curated or can parents pick and choose menu items?

Rusli: We do kind of pick for you because we actually try to  balance the entire delivery set—meals in concert with other meals, as opposed to not giving you six meals of raspberry chia or similar nutritional profiles. We will give you as much diversity as possible for flavor and nutrition. But we know parents want control, or love a particular meal coming in a  certain set, so we want to be flexible, and you can change your order on the dashboard. Or you can go cruise control if you want and leave it in our hands. We satisfy parents who want a lot of control and those who want us to just take it off their plates.

bc: Your investors include Philip Krim, co-founder of the Casper mattress brand, early Dropbox investor Ali Partovi and Matt Mullenweg of WordPress, in addition to some big VC firms. What excites them about Yumi?

Rusli: There are some fundamental trends happening here as we see this large and increasing gap between the legacy food companies and where millennials are shopping and what they want out of the food they eat. And because this chasm is so large, investors will continue to experiment and invest in this space and find what is that next generation of food companies. We were really lucky in this process, able to choose the ones we love and who felt mission-driven. We found investors who not only understood consumer trends and how this could be a big business, but who also wanted this to exist in the world and liked why we were doing it.

bc: You’re starting with deliveries in California, Nevada and Arizona. What’s your plan to scale the brand?

Rusli: This is something we want to take national (across the US) via a hub-and-spoke structure like Blue Apron. With overnight shipping we can have coverage across the 48 states. And we’re quickly developing our product line. We already have 40 SKUs, and we can scale as we grow. So we may tackle formula. We really want to focus on early childhood development and nutrition so we could also go backward, with products for moms who are prenatal or postnatal.

Get more branding insights in our Q&A series. Suggest a Q&A: editor@brandchannel.com.

The post A Startup Is Born: 5 Questions with Yumi Co-Founder Evelyn Rusli appeared first on brandchannel:.

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[davisgordonc]

A Startup Is Born: 5 Questions with Yumi Co-Founder Evelyn Rusli

For as long as there have been babies, parents have been making their own baby food. And for about 20 years, parents who make baby food—mostly mothers—have been turning their ideas for fresh, pure, natural and unprocessed nourishment for their infants into startup companies.

Evelyn Rusli (above right) and Angela Sutherland are rolling out a new brand, Yumi, that seeks to take this concept in a slightly different direction: offering tasty and wholesome baby foods on a subscription basis. And they’ve raised $4.1 million from some high-profile investors to support their plans.

The Los Angeles-based Yumi (which was called Caer in its beta phase) is the brainchild of Sutherland, a private-equity executive and mother, and Rusli, a journalist-turned-entrepreneur who looks forward to becoming a mom.

The friends, who were introduced by Rusli’s fiancé, decided that even after Happy Baby, Plum Organics and several other baby food ventures started by parents were starting to transform a baby food segment that once was simply Gerber, Beech-Nut and a few also-rans, there is still significant pioneering yet to be done in the space to meet the needs of millennial parents.

The subscription concept—making it easy to get healthful baby food into the home—is one. Another differentiator for Yumi is creating baby food that doesn’t rely on natural sugar-laden fruit purees. And its goal is to go beyond nutrition to truly become a parent’s friend for the “first 1,000 days” of a child’s life, the period that some scientists argue are the most crucial phase in human development.

“We see ourselves as a brand that’s developing, not just displacing, a certain category of baby food,” Rusli, a former Wall Street Journaland New York Times tech reporter, told brandchannel.

“We want to become experts and find ways to support parents throughout those first 1,000 days and beyond. We can create a good business with this focus because it makes the brand more powerful.”

brandchannel talked with Rusli about launching Yumi and plans to grow the brand now that it’s out of beta.

bc: Why does America need another baby food startup?

Evelyn Rusli (right): Those women [behind Happy Family and Plum] have done incredible jobs in building out and scaling their businesses. But there’s more and more science around the importance of the first 1,000 days. There used to be the perception that kids are resilient. But researchers are centering on the first thousand days as being more important than the rest of your life when it comes to nutrition and its physical impact. Maybe I’m an endless optimist. but I think that products can continue to evolve and get better.

Happy Family and Plum have done a great job but you can continue to nerd out and really try to improve the product in terms of nutrition and fructose in these products. One thing we found that was so interesting was a meta analysis on the nutrition side which found that 50 percent or more of their calories are derived from fruit. There is a place for fruit and we do have it. But the more puree you have, the less place you have for other nutrients.

We tried to create products we really love as parents and parents to be. Angela has two kids and I’m a woman in my 30s who just got engaged, and [motherhood] is definitely on the horizon for me. We’re not saying [existing baby food brands] don’t offer nutrition, but the way millennials are shopping now, they want fresh. The reason pico de gallo companies are getting sold for multiples of their earnings isn’t just about organic. They want things that feel fresh and more nutritious.

bc: Why is subscription model?

Rusli: Our food is fresh and every week you get a new delivery. It’s all color-coded. There’s a pink week then a blue week. That makes it hard to go into retail. We wanted to be fresh and go direct to the consumer. There’s a lot of power in having such a close relationship and literally going into their homes with the box.

Plus other decisions we made aren’t associated with a typical food company. We created a children’s book that comes in your delivery, a counting primer that uses fruits and vegetables. It’s a signal we also wanted to send that we do things differently than the typical food company. We even customize our ice packs, with a beautiful print of a watermelon on them. These things can add more surprise and delight to customers, so every little touchpoint matters.

bc: Yumi is all-organic, and delivered for a starting price point of $50. Is the service completely curated or can parents pick and choose menu items?

Rusli: We do kind of pick for you because we actually try to  balance the entire delivery set—meals in concert with other meals, as opposed to not giving you six meals of raspberry chia or similar nutritional profiles. We will give you as much diversity as possible for flavor and nutrition. But we know parents want control, or love a particular meal coming in a  certain set, so we want to be flexible, and you can change your order on the dashboard. Or you can go cruise control if you want and leave it in our hands. We satisfy parents who want a lot of control and those who want us to just take it off their plates.

bc: Your investors include Philip Krim, co-founder of the Casper mattress brand, early Dropbox investor Ali Partovi and Matt Mullenweg of WordPress, in addition to some big VC firms. What excites them about Yumi?

Rusli: There are some fundamental trends happening here as we see this large and increasing gap between the legacy food companies and where millennials are shopping and what they want out of the food they eat. And because this chasm is so large, investors will continue to experiment and invest in this space and find what is that next generation of food companies. We were really lucky in this process, able to choose the ones we love and who felt mission-driven. We found investors who not only understood consumer trends and how this could be a big business, but who also wanted this to exist in the world and liked why we were doing it.

bc: You’re starting with deliveries in California, Nevada and Arizona. What’s your plan to scale the brand?

Rusli: This is something we want to take national (across the US) via a hub-and-spoke structure like Blue Apron. With overnight shipping we can have coverage across the 48 states. And we’re quickly developing our product line. We already have 40 SKUs, and we can scale as we grow. So we may tackle formula. We really want to focus on early childhood development and nutrition so we could also go backward, with products for moms who are prenatal or postnatal.

Get more branding insights in our Q&A series. Suggest a Q&A: editor@brandchannel.com.

The post A Startup Is Born: 5 Questions with Yumi Co-Founder Evelyn Rusli appeared first on brandchannel:.

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[markjsousa]

A Startup Is Born: 5 Questions with Yumi Co-Founder Evelyn Rusli

For as long as there have been babies, parents have been making their own baby food. And for about 20 years, parents who make baby food—mostly mothers—have been turning their ideas for fresh, pure, natural and unprocessed nourishment for their infants into startup companies.

Evelyn Rusli (above right) and Angela Sutherland are rolling out a new brand, Yumi, that seeks to take this concept in a slightly different direction: offering tasty and wholesome baby foods on a subscription basis. And they’ve raised $4.1 million from some high-profile investors to support their plans.

The Los Angeles-based Yumi (which was called Caer in its beta phase) is the brainchild of Sutherland, a private-equity executive and mother, and Rusli, a journalist-turned-entrepreneur who looks forward to becoming a mom.

The friends, who were introduced by Rusli’s fiancé, decided that even after Happy Baby, Plum Organics and several other baby food ventures started by parents were starting to transform a baby food segment that once was simply Gerber, Beech-Nut and a few also-rans, there is still significant pioneering yet to be done in the space to meet the needs of millennial parents.

The subscription concept—making it easy to get healthful baby food into the home—is one. Another differentiator for Yumi is creating baby food that doesn’t rely on natural sugar-laden fruit purees. And its goal is to go beyond nutrition to truly become a parent’s friend for the “first 1,000 days” of a child’s life, the period that some scientists argue are the most crucial phase in human development.

“We see ourselves as a brand that’s developing, not just displacing, a certain category of baby food,” Rusli, a former Wall Street Journaland New York Times tech reporter, told brandchannel.

“We want to become experts and find ways to support parents throughout those first 1,000 days and beyond. We can create a good business with this focus because it makes the brand more powerful.”

brandchannel talked with Rusli about launching Yumi and plans to grow the brand now that it’s out of beta.

bc: Why does America need another baby food startup?

Evelyn Rusli (right): Those women [behind Happy Family and Plum] have done incredible jobs in building out and scaling their businesses. But there’s more and more science around the importance of the first 1,000 days. There used to be the perception that kids are resilient. But researchers are centering on the first thousand days as being more important than the rest of your life when it comes to nutrition and its physical impact. Maybe I’m an endless optimist. but I think that products can continue to evolve and get better.

Happy Family and Plum have done a great job but you can continue to nerd out and really try to improve the product in terms of nutrition and fructose in these products. One thing we found that was so interesting was a meta analysis on the nutrition side which found that 50 percent or more of their calories are derived from fruit. There is a place for fruit and we do have it. But the more puree you have, the less place you have for other nutrients.

We tried to create products we really love as parents and parents to be. Angela has two kids and I’m a woman in my 30s who just got engaged, and [motherhood] is definitely on the horizon for me. We’re not saying [existing baby food brands] don’t offer nutrition, but the way millennials are shopping now, they want fresh. The reason pico de gallo companies are getting sold for multiples of their earnings isn’t just about organic. They want things that feel fresh and more nutritious.

bc: Why is subscription model?

Rusli: Our food is fresh and every week you get a new delivery. It’s all color-coded. There’s a pink week then a blue week. That makes it hard to go into retail. We wanted to be fresh and go direct to the consumer. There’s a lot of power in having such a close relationship and literally going into their homes with the box.

Plus other decisions we made aren’t associated with a typical food company. We created a children’s book that comes in your delivery, a counting primer that uses fruits and vegetables. It’s a signal we also wanted to send that we do things differently than the typical food company. We even customize our ice packs, with a beautiful print of a watermelon on them. These things can add more surprise and delight to customers, so every little touchpoint matters.

bc: Yumi is all-organic, and delivered for a starting price point of $50. Is the service completely curated or can parents pick and choose menu items?

Rusli: We do kind of pick for you because we actually try to  balance the entire delivery set—meals in concert with other meals, as opposed to not giving you six meals of raspberry chia or similar nutritional profiles. We will give you as much diversity as possible for flavor and nutrition. But we know parents want control, or love a particular meal coming in a  certain set, so we want to be flexible, and you can change your order on the dashboard. Or you can go cruise control if you want and leave it in our hands. We satisfy parents who want a lot of control and those who want us to just take it off their plates.

bc: Your investors include Philip Krim, co-founder of the Casper mattress brand, early Dropbox investor Ali Partovi and Matt Mullenweg of WordPress, in addition to some big VC firms. What excites them about Yumi?

Rusli: There are some fundamental trends happening here as we see this large and increasing gap between the legacy food companies and where millennials are shopping and what they want out of the food they eat. And because this chasm is so large, investors will continue to experiment and invest in this space and find what is that next generation of food companies. We were really lucky in this process, able to choose the ones we love and who felt mission-driven. We found investors who not only understood consumer trends and how this could be a big business, but who also wanted this to exist in the world and liked why we were doing it.

bc: You’re starting with deliveries in California, Nevada and Arizona. What’s your plan to scale the brand?

Rusli: This is something we want to take national (across the US) via a hub-and-spoke structure like Blue Apron. With overnight shipping we can have coverage across the 48 states. And we’re quickly developing our product line. We already have 40 SKUs, and we can scale as we grow. So we may tackle formula. We really want to focus on early childhood development and nutrition so we could also go backward, with products for moms who are prenatal or postnatal.

Get more branding insights in our Q&A series. Suggest a Q&A: editor@brandchannel.com.

The post A Startup Is Born: 5 Questions with Yumi Co-Founder Evelyn Rusli appeared first on brandchannel:.