#Also that’s not my actual location or Gmail so don’t even try

[potatothemouse]

Another scammer: ways to tell this was a scammer

1: bad grammar

2: wants me to draw her sons pet

3: want to know your location

4: tries to stall the prices

[tellyouily]

maybe stay here forever

dnf - couch cuddles - 1.4k words

george likes dream's sweater and patches seems to like it too

There is this sweater that Dream wears sometimes, a dark blue half-zip fleece with leather patches on the elbows and deep, warm pockets, that George is a little bit obsessed with.

Of course, the pockets are mostly there to be used by whoever is wearing the sweater, not by his best friend slash boyfriend who constantly has cold hands, but it’s a nice benefit. Not to mention that Dream also happens to look especially great in it, all broad and soft and rugged—especially with a few days worth of stubble on his face and his curls a little messy.

Which has been the case for most of the time these recent weeks, much to George’s contentment.

If someone were to ask him about it, though, he would maintain that he likes the blue sweater a normal amount. Give or take. And he might bring himself to admit that it’s the person wearing it who he likes more than just a little. An abnormal amount, you could say. A ludicrous amount.

He’ll admit that happily.

After searching high and low for the past ten minutes, he finally finds Dream in the guest house, of all places. He’s on the couch with his legs outstretched and his laptop—surprise, surprise—perched on his lap. Somehow, Patches has fit herself on his chest, too, fast asleep with her head on his shoulder like a baby. She must have ventured in here looking for him, too.

And she must have taken one look at the dark blue sweater Dream is wearing and deemed it a nice place to take a nap.

George doesn’t appreciate that she succeeded on that quest before he did.

“Hey you,” he says, announcing his presence. He leans his back on the door to close it.

Dream looks up and stretches, lifting a hand to the back of his head. His screen casts a soft glow on his face, and George would bet good money that either gmail dot com or his editing software is currently filling it. Or both. Dream likes the split-screen function.

“Hey you,” Dream echoes, making George smile as he nudges past the coffee table to join him.

This is really not a couch that can fit two people lying down, it can barely fit one if he’s honest, but Dream scooches closer to the back pillow and lifts his arm as a wordless invitation.

George does not need to be asked twice, climbing into position. He feels like he’s precariously close to the edge, but then Dream wraps his arm around his waist and pulls him close, and he relaxes like he’s been given a sedative.

Patches stirs ever so slightly at the commotion, giving George what he’s sure is a pointed look.

“She took my spot,” he mumbles, frowning at her and watching her simply close her eyes again and let out a sigh.

Dream’s hand comes to rest near the waistline of George’s sweatpants, his fingers grazing the sliver of skin where his hoodie has ridden up.

“There’s two spots,” he says gently.

And he’s right, of course. And really, George thinks it’s a good sign that Patches has chosen this as her desired nap location. She’s a smart cat and if this is the safest, warmest place she could think of, then he trusts her judgment wholeheartedly.

He would probably do the same if he was a cat. He’s even doing it now, as a human.

Only now does the laptop screen in front of him come into focus, showing something entirely different from what he was willing to bet money on. It’s a sports game of some kind—football? Or is that rugby?

All he knows is that each team is wearing a different color and that they are both running around on the field trying to win. And that Dream might be a furnace in disguise with how warm he is. Mostly the last thing.

“What are you watching?” George asks.

“Football game,” he answers, followed by a soft huff of amusement. “That you don’t care about.”

“I care a lot, actually.”

“Uh huh.” His smile is audible. “I’m sure it’s so interesting to you.”

George nods into the folds of the fleecy fabric. “It is. I love it,” he lies, making Dream laugh.

The game on screen seems to go on some kind of break and the camera pans to the players standing around, leaning on their knees, out of breath, and to the crowd and muted discussion between the referee and who George assumes is one of the team captains. Dream sighs and presses a kiss on the top of George’s head.

“If it was soccer you’d care,” he says. “ Actually care.”

George hums in a way that means yes. Real football, you mean , he would have said if he wasn’t so comfortable that he is tempted to let sleep overtake him. Take a page out of Patches’ book.

He’s surrounded by the kind of warmth that reminds him of his childhood. Of coming back inside from playing in the snow and getting to sit by the fireplace and watch cartoons to get the feeling back in his fingers. It’s more than enough to make him want to succumb to sleep.

Dream’s palm coming to rest fully on his bare stomach makes him blink. On screen, the game has started back up and so has the faint sound of cheering coming from the speakers.

With some difficulty, he retrieves his phone from his pocket. If he is to keep himself awake while lying here, watching American football is not the way to do it.

He uses Dream’s chest to prop up his phone and lets his thumb swipe past X and over to Reddit instead. 

Some of the posts are worth reading, others he scrolls past. It doesn’t take long for Dream’s attention to inevitably get pulled to his screen, as well, abandoning the game. George doesn’t blame him. He can tell that he’s reading, concentrating, by the way his hand starts drawing mindless shapes on his hip. He tries to move as little as possible in hopes that Dream won’t realize that he’s doing it and possibly stop.

They’re halfway through a particularly technical post about the motion detection system they’ve set up for the titan when a message from Sapnap pops up at the top of his screen.

Something stupid, of course. So stupid he might have just ignored it had it not been for the way he feels Dream smile against his temple.

George snorts. “What an idiot.”

He swipes down and types an even more stupid reply, making Dream turn his head away to laugh. Really laugh.

George grins. He knew that would get him. He’s much funnier than Sapnap could ever dream of being. “What’s so funny?”

Dream answers by burrowing his face into the back of his neck, his quiet laughter getting muffled by the hood of his hoodie. He’s in that kind of mood, George thinks; the one where he could say anything and Dream would find it funny.

It’s his favorite Dream-mood by far. He would know—he has them all cataloged.

“I should be a comedian,” he says, if only to prove his point—which it does.

“No, your guys’ humor is like, fucked,” Dream says, clearing his throat.

George sighs and clicks his phone off, moving his head back so he can see Dream’s face.

“You like it though,” he counters, running his hand over the stubble along his jaw.

Just then, Patches’s ears start to twitch and they both glance over at her, watching as she opens her eyes and stretches out her paws so far that they poke against George’s bottom lip.

“Oh no,” Dream says softly, petting her head with his free hand.

“Good riddance,” George mumbles, feeling a sense of smugness at the look of discontent he is sure that she gives him.

It’s not like they’re in a competition for Dream’s attention—except that they are, and he won it the second he walked into the room.

Dream shakes his head at his comment, but his amused-by-everything-George-says-smile hasn’t left. Patches stands up and hops onto the back of the couch, and then onto the floor, going off to somewhere quieter.

Good riddance.

“Guess she’s not a football fan,” Dream says.

George presses closer just because he can, hitching his leg up higher across Dream’s.

“Good thing I am,” he says, closing his eyes.

Dream shakes his head, his hand finding his thigh. “You’re an idiot, is what you are”

And George might like Dream’s sweater, but he thinks he likes making him laugh even more.

[lavender-lxnn]

Google Keep: the notes app for ND people

I don’t actually know what I did before I had this but it’s honestly a lifesaver and I would encourage all neurodivergent people to use it. The app is extremely user-friendly and has an accessible interface that takes little energy/spoons to use!

Can be used as a website and/or app and everything automatically syncs

Super customizable: You can change the color of the notes, move/organize them however you want, sort them by labels, put checkboxes, pictures, hyperlinks on them, basically Anything At All. Or you can do none of that. Your choice.

AND MY FAVORITE PART (and one of the most beneficial for ND ppl):

LOCATION REMINDERS.

That’s right, you can set reminders by motherfrickin LOCATION. 

Going to the store and want to remember to buy something? Bam, location reminder when you get there. 

Want to remember to do something when you get home from school/work? Boom, location reminder when you get home. You don’t even have to try to calculate the time. +1 spoons babyyyyy

Reminders can also be set by time/date but the location reminders are so incredibly helpful for me as an ADHD and autistic person who struggles with memory. 

Another helpful feature for ND ppl: collaborators.

You can share any of your notes with another person by putting in their Gmail! The person/people you share with can see, edit, and even set reminders on the note! I personally have never used this feature but I can see it being super useful for accountability and staying on track with things. 

In conclusion, 

You Should Get Google Keep.

[skateboardtotheheart]

Alex vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda

hello, everyone! i’ve been working on a fic titled “Alex vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda” for quite a long while, and i’m finally biting the bullet and posting the first chapter. this fic is based on the novel "Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda" by Becky Albertalli! it will be very closely based on the book, as well as some things from the movie "Love, Simon", and you may find dialogue or details that you recognize from either version of Becky Albertalli's story! i have no rights to the novel/movie or the JATP characters depicted in this fic. that said, there are a lot of details that are changed, and you'll be able to spot those really easily. this fic will be crossposted to my AO3 and can be located HERE. 

like i said, this fic has been a long time coming, and there is tons and tons i have planned for it. here on tumblr, i will be posting things like extra details, bonus content, and maybe some sneak previews! for now, let’s get into the fic!

SUMMARY: Alex Mercer is just like everyone else- only he has one huge ass secret. Nobody knows that he's gay, not even his closest friends and bandmates Luke, Reggie, and Julie. The only time he's ever mentioned it to someone, it was in an anonymous email chain with Ghost, another Los Feliz High School student. Alex can't risk coming out to anyone, but when his emails fall into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into a spotlight. Suddenly an already stressful junior year is all that more complicated as he juggles everyday drama, the school's annual band competition, blackmail, and trying not to lose his shot with the best guy he's ever met.

READ CHAPTER ONE BELOW THE CUT

Everything about this conversation is so out of the box of normal that I barely even register what's happening. Of course I'm the type of person who can't tell when this- something so crazy and awful and stressful and honest to God what the hell is happening- is going on. In my defense, Caleb Covington has never spoken to me before. I had no reason to assume that the first time he did, it would be to blackmail me.

We're taking a water break in the bleachers when Caleb saunters over. No greeting, no introduction- just words to send my entire junior year of high school spinning on its head.

"I read your email."

I swallow my water. "What?"

Caleb raises an eyebrow at me, and there's no other way to describe it but menacing. It's funny looking back on it all; I'd always heard Caleb was a really nice guy.

"I was in the library. And I read your email."

"You read my email?"

"Not on purpose. You really should have logged out of Gmail."

There's nothing I can do but stare at him, dumbfounded. What in the name of David Bowie is happening right now?

Caleb, thankfully, stops towering over me and takes a seat in the bleachers, a foot or so away. To anyone else, it might look like we're friends. To me, it feels like I can't breathe.

"Why the fake name?" Caleb asks, and my entire soul screams a wish that he would stop being so casual about this. 

I want to tell him that the point of a fake name is to keep people like Caleb Covington from knowing my secret. Way to freaking go, Alex. He must have seen me sitting at the computer like the monumental dumbass I am.

"Would it interest you to know my cousin is gay?"

"Um. No, Caleb. It really wouldn't."

He still has his eyebrow raised and a small smirk on his face. If I focus hard enough- kind of impossible right now- I can picture Luke punching it right off his face.

"What do you want Caleb?"

This is the longest five minute water break of my life. 

"Look, Mercer, I don't have a problem with it. It's not a big deal."

Yes, it really is. It's a huge monster of a deal. This is the biggest disaster since Luke slammed his fingers in a door and couldn't play his guitar. 

"But. . ." Caleb drags out, and I can feel my leg bouncing quicker by the second. "It's pretty clear to me that you'd rather keep it all hush, hush."

I mean. Yeah. Kind of. The coming out thing doesn't scare me that much. Except it does. Because if people know then my parents will know and if my parents know then my whole family will know and if my whole family knows then I've become like a living, gay, everyone-finds-out version of If You Give A Mouse A Cookie, and I'd rather die than have that happen. So maybe the coming out thing does scare me. But the biggest problem if people found out? 

Ghost.

I have absolutely no idea what it would mean for Ghost if Caleb was going to tell anyone. The thing about Ghost is he's a pretty private person. I bet he wouldn't forget to log out of his email so people like Caleb Covington wouldn't see it. I bet there's a good chance he'll never forgive me if he finds out about this. So really, I have absolutely no freaking clue what would happen to Ghost- to us.

And I'm still sitting in these stupid gym bleachers, the pink hydroflask Reggie bought me limp in my hand, desperately wishing Carrie would call an end to this godforsaken water break. I can't believe I'm having this conversation with Caleb right now. Why couldn't anyone else have logged into Gmail after me? Why was I so impatient to see if Ghost had emailed me back that I used the freaking school computers? Why did this stupid school insist on blocking the wireless so I had had no choice but to use the school computers? But it had been one of those days where I couldn't even wait to get out of dance practice to check my phone in my car.

I'd emailed Ghost this morning, and it had been a pretty big email. I was desperate to know if he'd emailed back.

I must have been just staring at Caleb for a while because he cocked his head at me and said, "Don't worry, Mercer. I'm not going to show anyone."

I take a relieved breath. Then my hydroflask finally slips from my fingers as I freeze, and the sound echoes through the gym. I don't even look at the rest of the dancers when their laughs break out.

"Show anyone?" I ask. 

Caleb leans in a little bit, smirk wider on his face. I feel sick.

"Did you- oh my god, did you screenshot my emails?"

"Yes, see, I wanted to talk to you about that."

"You took a fucking screenshot?" I hiss out, thankful I'd put my stuff farther away from the rest of the dance team today.

Caleb has the audacity to roll his eyes. "I've heard you're in a band with-"

"What the fuck does that have to do with- Let's go back to how you screenshot my email."

"Or you can shut up and listen to what I have to say." 

Something about the way Caleb's gaze catches you, it's hard to do anything but what he says. Fuck.

"I believe we may be in a position to help each other out."

Jesus Christ, what 18 year old talks like this?

"Why the hell would I do anything for you?"

It's a stupid question, I realize as he stares at me calmly. Calmly. Like this isn't the end of my life. Whatever he wants right now, it'll be in exchange. I do this, and he doesn't broadcast my private emails with Ghost to the entire student body.

All this time and I really thought Caleb was supposed to be this nice guy. Fuck me.

"You're going to make me do whatever you want?"

Caleb tsk'd like the condescending bastard he clearly is. "Well, now. I'm not making you do anything."

"But if I don't help you, you'll what? Post my emails on the fucking tumblr?"

LosFelizSecrets. The bane of every Los Feliz student's existence. Ground zero for more gossip than anyone in their right mind knows what to do with. A school of almost 3,000 kids but if it's on the tumblr, most people know within a day. A complete and utter hellscape disguised as a blog.

When Caleb stays quiet, I speak again. "What do you want from me, Caleb?"

He sneers. 

"Music of the Night."

Once again, I'm stuck staring at him. Music of the Night? That's what this is about?

"Your band is signed up, as is mine. The HGC lost to Dirty Candy last year, and I will not lose again this year."

Music of the Night is this competition Los Feliz holds every year as part of the music program. At the end of the year, there's this huge concert held at the Orpheum theatre in Hollywood. At the beginning of the school year, anyone can sign up. Then each band has 4 months to perform at school events, outside gigs and parties, and whenever they have an opportunity, really. During winter break, the student body votes on who the headliner of the concert will be. Last year, the headliner was Dirty Candy. Because they won last year, they're out of the running this year and are in charge of organization and things for the concert. This year, I was hoping the headliner would be Julie and the Phantoms. My band. Caleb and his band HGC has entered the competition every year, and he's never won. He's a senior, and I know this will be his last chance. I also know who his biggest competition is. 

Us.

"So. . . what? You want me to sabotage my own band?"

I feel breathless and dizzy as I ask. Caleb just shrugs casually.

"Whatever you need to do. So long as it's my band that gets the votes. Like I said, I think we can help each other out. Think about it."

Caleb winks- he actually winks- and walks away. I stare dumbly after him. No way. No, I'm not doing this. I can live with being outed. Right? 

But my thoughts travel to Ghost. Because he's a part of this, too. He goes to Los Feliz, and he's my age, and he uses a fake name, and he's not out. 

Ghost isn't out, and Caleb has my emails.

Fuck.

----------

Any hope I have of forgetting about that stupid conversation clearly isn’t worth it. I have an hour before dinner, and right now I’m basically willing to do anything to avoid my family. Trying to talk to my parents is exhausting. You can’t just get away with telling them your day was good or bad. No, you have to ring out every excruciating little detail. Everything that happens in my or my siblings’ life, they want to know about it. In all honesty, I used to love telling them all that stuff. Now I can’t get away from them fast enough. Especially today. I’m barely in the house long enough to put my backpack in my room before I’m slipping out the back door and leaving again. 

I try to drown out my thoughts with Axl Rose screaming into my earbuds. But my mind is stuck on Ghost, emails, and Caleb freaking Covington. Caleb wants to win Music of the Night. I can’t exactly blame him for that. Everyone wants to win it. 

Except he’s blackmailing me. And by extension, he’s blackmailing Ghost. And that makes me want to hyperventilate a little bit. Maybe go scream somewhere. 

But Axl Rose is helping. The familiar route of walking to Luke’s is helping. We don’t get much of a fall in LA, but the air feels a little crisper in mid October, and I can already see the houses that are getting ready for Halloween. 

When I reach Luke’s house, I don’t even bother going through the front door. I just cut through his backyard and head through the backdoor right next to Luke’s bedroom. I hear them before I see them. Reggie’s laugh fills the air, paired with a frustrated groan from Luke. They’re sitting side by side on Luke’s bed, facing the small tv with some video game I’ve never seen on the screen. They look like they haven’t moved in hours. Luke pauses the game as soon as he sees me, waving, and I can’t help but smile a little bit. The guy won’t put down his guitar for you, but he’ll pause a video game or movie without a second thought. 

“Great, you’re here! Tell Luke he’s shit at this game and he should let me play Mario Kart.”

I roll my eyes, “Dance was great, Reg. Thanks for asking.”

Reggie sticks out his tongue, and I crack a smile. This is the most comfortable I’ve felt all afternoon. I throw myself into the beat up bean bag chair Luke keeps in his room.

“Luke, you’re shit at this game and Reggie wants to play Mario Kart.”

Luke gapes at me, a betrayed gleam in his eyes, but I just shrug. Luke grumbles a bit as he gets up to switch out the game, and Reggie whoops in victory. I let out a soft sigh. I think I needed this. The chaos of Reggie and Luke playing whatever game, the strange mix of leather, Axe, and his mom’s Hawaiian Breeze cleaner that makes Luke’s room smell awful and entirely wonderful at the same time, and the familiarity of Luke and Reggie. Everything just fits right when I’m with them. 

As Luke sets up the game, Reggie looks at me excitedly. “Alex, Luke hasn’t heard about le wedgie.”

I snort a little, “Ah, yes. Le wedgie. C’est une histoire touchante.”

I don’t know why Reggie bothered to wait for me to tell the story; he’s the far better storyteller between us. Maybe it’s just because I’m better at French. 

Luke stares at me, “English, please?”

Reggie and I thought we’d be fancy and take something fun like French for our required language credits. Luke decided to take something actually useful and learn sign language. This story is stupid, and my reenactment is stupid, but it feels kind of perfect. Like Caleb and secrets are all things of my imagination, and nothing exists but this bedroom and me, Luke, and Reggie. Benefits of having known these dorks since elementary school, I guess. 

About as they finish the second race in Mario Kart, Luke lets out a yawn. Reggie reacts so quickly I barely realize what he’s doing. He grabs a crumpled up Hershey’s Kiss wrapper from Luke’s nightstand and throws it into Luke’s mouth. Luke sees it just in time to clamp his mouth shut. Reggie sighs in defeat, but shrugs.

“Keep yawning, I’ll get you one of these times.”

“Why are you so tired?”

“Because I party real hard. All night, every night, baby,” Luke says, slamming Reggie’s bike with a green turtle shell. 

“Alone in your room with your guitar. Some party that is,” Reggie retaliated with a bomb thrown in Luke’s direction. 

As the race finishes Luke yawns again, and Reggie’s Kiss wrapper bounces off his cheek. 

“I just keep having these weird dreams,” he explains. 

I raise my eyebrows. “TMI, dude.”

“Not that kind of dream!” Luke tosses the wrappers at me, Reggie cackling beside him. 

Luke starts explaining his dream- something about every time he started playing his guitar his cord had magically unplugged itself from his amp- and Reggie and I just share a look. We were used to Luke being in his weird, feels-the-need-to-analyze-everything moods. But even after all these years, it was almost like a movie, watching Luke get so weirdly passionate about things- music and otherwise. It made me glad that Luke was a brother to me by everything but blood. Partly because if he wasn’t, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to stop myself from falling for him. And I have a strict policy about not falling for straight guys.

To everyone but me and Reggie- immune to him after knowing pretty much every thought that’s ever gone through his head since elementary school- there’s this pull to Luke. Like he casts a spell that has everyone in a 10 mile radius tripping at his feet and each and every girl swooning. Poor Julie is not immune to the spell, it seems. Lucky for her though, Luke doesn’t seem immune to her either. 

It took barely a few weeks into the school year before I noticed Luke switching seats with Willie Meyers at lunch to increase the odds he’d end up right next to Julie. Then there’s that stupid, puppy-dog, love-sick look in his eyes that Luke gets every time he thinks Julie isn’t looking. And it’s not like Reggie and I haven’t put up with a pining Luke before, but everything seems a little different with Julie. It makes me think of Ghost. 

Would I look like that if I saw him in person? Would he look at me like that? 

If Caleb leaks my emails and Ghost hates me forever, I don’t think I’ll ever find out.

-----------

chapter one complete!

i'll let everyone know right now that i have no clear updating schedule for this fic; it's kind of hard to write and get down the way i want, so i'm not sure how long anything will take me. but it is summer break for me, so hopefully you'll all start seeing consistent posting of new chapters!

i hope you all liked this first chapter, or are at least intrigued to read some more. as i said in the starting notes, this will be cross posted to my AO3! Feel free to leave me a comment here if you would like, or head over there if you have any comments about the fic at any point! feel free to send me a message/ask on here if you have any questions or comments, too! my inbox is open any time <3

if anyone would like me to start a tag list, let me know and i’ll get that done right away!

this fanfic is definitely my baby, so i really hope you guys all like it as much as i do!

thanks <3

[delciastudies]

Advice for staying an organized and mentally-sane student

At the request of @karensesmiles ☺️♥️

1. Be on top of your schedule and deadlines ft. the importance of calendars: only memorize what you need to

First, it should be noted that you don’t want to waste your time trying to memorize deadlines and important dates when you don’t need to -- write them down. Reserve your limited memory space for tests, quizlets, etc.  Doing this actually gives you time to prepare, a sense of ease, and enhances your time management.

The Two Calendar Trick

No matter what, you’ll want a calendar or planner of some sort. The personal trick that I have used and found literally so much success with (as in me taking 5 courses in 10 weeks and maxing my course load type of success, and still having a life and being mentally sane) is the two calendar trick.

*Calendar 1: An Academic Calendar (MyHomework)

This calendar or planner should be solely academic: including deadlines, reminders, homework, and so on. I currently use a digital app for this called MyHomework, which I have used since high school! 

*Calendar 2: A Life Calendar (Google Calendar)

This calendar or planner should hold all of the things you are used to putting on calendars, including events, trips, meetings, birthdays, parties, and so on. I also put my class-times on my life calendar. The calendar I use for this is Google Calendar, just because it is connected to my student gmail, my Google Drive, my notes, my Chrome browser, and everything else I use through Google. For a long time, I was using a hand-planner in combination with MyHomework and taking it with me everywhere I went. I slowly moved away from paper, but a hand-planner is still a wonderful option.

By keeping these calendars distinct, it’ll help you to separate your personal from your academic, but also visualize your due dates and reminders separately from your daily time allotments. 

2. A week or two before the start of the semester

*Check your email consistently in case professors send early assignments.

*Write on your calendar your class info including full class schedule - start day, time, and location (which can be organized on MyHomework even before the start of the semester)

3. As soon as the semester begins (if not sooner)

*Print your syllabus and all class documents, organize them into a class binder or folder (I personally love the folders with little metal clips for three-punched papers since binders tend to take up too much backpack space)

*Know where you want to take notes (either in a class-specific notebook, a binder, an organized google drive class folder, or in a designated place on your laptop like Microsoft OneNote) - keep it consistent with all classes so you don’t get confused and keep it simple enough that you don’t forget where to find it. Distinguish between lecture notes, reading notes, and homework/assignment notes. **Note: if you keep your notes consistent and organized, making a study guide will be extremely simple since you have all of the info you need in one place!

*Organize all of your classes into MyHomework, and use the syllabus to organize all deadlines onto the MyHomework calendar, so you are ready from the start and don’t miss a single thing.

4. Tips on Time Management

*Likes are, if you have a full student schedule, then you should treat your academics like a full-time job, which needs daily attention.

*Check your email and schedule first thing in the morning, and respond to emails or snooze them/set a reminder to respond to them later. Checking your email and having notifications on is going to end up being more important than any other notifications.

*Don’t go into projects or homework assignments blind - prepare for them in advance. Finding out you’ll need to put 3 days of work into a homework assignment you opened the night before it is due is the worst feeling in existence.

5. Other tips

*Contact your professor frequently (and go to office hours), because at some point you’ll need advice, leeway on a grade, help with an assignment, or a letter of recommendation. A good rapport with the professor will never hurt a grade.

*Don’t do what other students around you might be doing: including not taking notes in lecture, skipping lecture, barely making it through homework assignments, etc. If your professor is grading cumulatively, which many will do, then only 25% or less of the students will get an A, and likes are you’re sitting by the majority. And likes are, they’ll be contacting another student to get the information they missed later.

*Sit in the front.

*I do daily to-dos in my notes and in other random places, and used to do it for my #100daysofproductivity :) it’s super helpful to get it down on paper if you’re overwhelmed by it.

*It’s better to know too much and be too “on top of it” than the reverse.

*Scraping along and barely making deadlines induces anxiety, stress, and makes education an unenjoyable experience!! You’ll thank yourself for being organized later!

Lastly, every successful student has some type of organizational routine or set of habits that makes them truly enjoy learning and enjoy how they go about studying. Hopefully, this will be the first step to finding yours.

That’s all for now, good luck students!! xx

[automaticdashboard-blog]

Automated Journalism - Wikipedia

Automated Writing Feedback – Shibani's Blog - Shibani Antonette

Table of ContentsAutomated Reporting - Point & Click Report Automation SoftwareCreate Real-time Reports Automatically - PlectoAutomated Word Reports For Financial AdvisersAutomated Insights: Natural Language GenerationAutomated Word Reports For Financial Advisers

As marketers in 2020, there's one significant thing that we share: We're driven by information. No matter whether we're copywriters, social media managers, videographers, or web designers, data is essential to helping us determine which tasks achieve success, which techniques may need more of a spending plan, and which tactics we need to leave.

Even if you have an analytics software application that tracks a project's traffic, engagements, ROI, and other KPIs, you'll likely still need to require time to arrange these numbers, examine them, and come up with a reasonable way to report on your jobs to your team or customers. In the past, marketing firms and companies entrusted full-timers with reporting-related tasks. automatic reporting.

7 Reasons to Start Report Automation ...analyticscanvas.com

This is a problem that my Cleveland-based marketing firm, PR 20/20, faced a couple of years earlier. As part of our procedure, we create month-to-month efficiency reports for each of our clients. When we create them, we pull the data from HubSpot and Google Analytics. Then, we write a report to explain the data to our coworkers, clients, and project stakeholders.

However, although they were helping our customers, creating them was holding our group back. While our customers discovered the reports valuable, the process of pulling the information, examining it, and drafting the reports quickly took five hours per customer, each month. This took our marketers far from tasks that could have been efficient in the long run, such as conceptualizing originalities and methods that could visibly assist their clients.

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Whenever you're trying to experiment with or implement a new technique, you'll want to research the topic completely. For example, you'll wish to acknowledge your budget and after that check out software application that suits it. You'll likewise wish to determine the pros and cons of any software application you think about. This will help you better acquaint yourself with the world of AI and which tools can really help you.

Prior to choosing that we wished to simplify our reporting strategy, we 'd been investigating AI through resources at our Marketing AI Institute. The Institute is a media business that intends to make AI more friendly for marketers. automate dashboard. Since we introduced the business, we've published more than 400 posts on AI in marketing.

2 billion. After finding out about how AI had already streamlined dozens of marketing-related processes, we decided to check out how automation and expert system could help us with our customers at PR 20/20. We became consumed with how smarter technology might increase earnings and lower expenses. While doing so, we discovered natural language generation (NLG) innovation that composed plain English automatically.

You've experienced NLG anytime you have actually utilized Gmail's Smart Compose feature. Or, when you hear Amazon's Alexa respond to your voice questions. Once we found a possibly valuable NLG software, we chose to run an experiment to see if the AI technology might partly or fully automate our efficiency report composing procedure.

Quickly Generate Custom Branded Reports - Dradis Pro

Now, the next action is to look for software application that works for your business. Here are a couple of things you'll require to think about: You'll desire to think about the cost of any of the software application's memberships or fees, along with the cost to execute it. For instance, you might need to agreement or employ an engineer to prepare your data and take any actions to make sure the software application works efficiently.

Be sure to understand what you'll need to do if something isn't working effectively so you don't sustain any emergency situation costs. As a marketer, you will not want to count on a full-time engineer to use AI software to run your reports. You'll wish to purchase software that your less tech-savvy employee can ultimately get trained on and find out. automatic report.

As you select software, you'll likewise wish to locate case studies, evaluations, or user reviews that describe how a company utilized the software application to run reports or complete a similar activity. This will provide you an idea of if the item you're thinking about has a great performance history or trustworthiness in the AI software industry.

Here are two highly-regarded examples: Domo is a data visualization and reporting tool that incorporates with major data and analytics platforms including Google Analytics. When you connect these platforms, you can utilize a control panel to set up and generate information visualizations or reports for your customers. These visualizations include pie charts, other graphs, and word clouds.

Automated Reporting: Liberate You From Repetition Work

The platform offers guides on how to develop datasets or spreadsheets that its algorithms will acknowledge as well as a drag and drop guide which asks you to upload particular info such as "Regular monthly Spending plan." Here's a quick demo that reveals Domo in action: This reporting software application allows you to produce reports or reporting control panels that your group and clients can edit and cross-collaborate on.

Put your evaluation report writing to ...khulisa.com

Aside from information visualizations, you can also include boxes to your dashboards that reveal you scorecards that keep in mind whether you're striking your objectives or not, in addition to filters that assist you drill down on specific elements of your project. Here's a demonstration describing how small organizations such as nonprofits can benefit from the software's control panel reporting features: Despite which product you select, you'll likely require to prepare your data in such a way that your software application's robot or algorithm might easily acknowledge and analyze - automatic report updates.

Plecto ApS

Address: Viby Ringvej 11, 1 tv

Phone: +45 71 99 71 60

Email: support@plecto.com

Real-time insights

The software required structured information in columns and rows to produce text. So, first, we needed to pull HubSpot and Google Analytics information into spreadsheets. Because doing this manually would take too much time and limit the potential time conserved with automation, we utilized APIs and developed our own algorithm utilizing Google Apps Scripts to pull information into a Google Sheet.

We knew NLG software would be not likely to deal with totally custom-made reports well. So, we produced a design template for these reports that didn't alter every month. To create a format for each report, we determined a set of 12 common questions we were trying to address for customers monthly: Just how much traffic concerned your website, and how does that compare to the previous month? Last year? How engaged was last month's site traffic? What were the top traffic-driving channels? Existed fluctuation in general traffic, and if so, what caused it? How did the blog site carry out last month? How engaged was blog traffic? What were the top-performing blog posts? Were there any changes in blog traffic last month, and if so, what triggered them? The number of objectives or new contacts were produced last month? What were the top transforming pages? Where did objectives or brand-new contacts stem? Existed any change in overall goals or lead volume, and if so, what was responsible? A good AI software will either permit you to create documents or even control panels, as your reports.

Automated Reports And Dashboards In R - Nandeshwar.info

Once we 'd structured our data and established a basic report format, we needed to equate our standard report format into an NLG template. The template was essentially a completed variation of an efficiency report. When the NLG software runs, this report gets copied into the NLG software. Then guidelines are used to the copy to programmatically update what's written based upon the structured data supplied.

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Table of ContentsWritetolearn - A Web-based Ai-automated Writing Scoring ...How To Automate 70% Of Your Management Reporting ...Automated Reporting: Liberate You From Repetition WorkAutomated Reporting: How To Put Your Agency's Reporting On ...Automated Journalism: Here Come Writing Robots — Techslang

The last output might be a CSV, Word, or Google Doc file. Even if you're working with a credible AI software application, you'll still wish to check it and troubleshoot any issues that come to light. This avoids any AI-related occurrences from taking place when the tool is actively being utilized by staff members or on tight deadlines.

Plecto ApS

Address: Viby Ringvej 11, 1 tv

Phone: +45 71 99 71 60

Email: support@plecto.com

Real-time insights

And we eventually perfected the procedure to consistently produce clear, accurate automated efficiency reports. If a software supplier that you deal with offers a trial or discount for testing out their item, take advantage of it. This will allow you to witness first-hand if the cost of the product exceeds its advantages, or offer you time to recognize if there is a better product that you need to be using - how to create kpi report.

When you do this, here are a few things that you'll wish to evaluate: The amount of time that the software is conserving employees, or if there were any bugs, how much time the software expense. The amount of other productive or revenue-generating tasks your group had the ability to get finished with the additional time you had.

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As we tracked our new automated efficiency reports, we found that our tools took a portion of the time to produce the exact same report that we took hours to produce. Furthermore, the level of detail in our customer reports is now constant across all accounts. Prior to we carried out AI tools, the reports were only as strong as the account group's comfort level of examining marketing efficiency reports.

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The only manual part of the procedure now involves spot-checking the data for precision, using some styling, and after that sending. automatic reports. What once took us five hours per report now takes 10 minutes. While the initial procedure required to be handled by multiple teammates, just one team member is needed for spot-checking.

Although our group is able to gain access to AI suppliers and experts for our in-office experiments, other small company marketers can also take benefit of this technique rather cost effectively. However, keep in mind that AI application can take time. For us, we required to put time into developing structured datasets, in addition to our Report design template so that our AI software application might read our analytics and draft reports effectively.

Total information, faster conclusions, and much better decision-making digital-era success hinges on them (automate dashboard). However an organization with a single variation of the reality, spreadsheets filled with accurate information, is still a few rungs except success. One factor: management needs easy-to-digest reports that analyze the numbers. That tends to lead to cleaner analyses and crisper decision-making.

These items drill-down into ab company's database and auto-produce easy-to-understand, written reports from the very same information that Microsoft Excel utilizes to create graphics. Some of these relatively new AI tools also referred to as natural language generation, or NLG, software application are variations of the same technology that helps significant media companies produce computer-written news products.

10 Ways Automation Can Improve Your Writing Workflow

Anna Schena, a senior product supervisor at Story Science, another AI-generated writing toolmaker, states that "information storytelling" suggests users do not need to find out how to analyze spreadsheets or glean insights from long rows of control panel dials. "Easy-to-understand language and one-click cooperation features make sure that everybody in a company actually comprehends the information, all the time," Schena states.

Says Sharon Daniels, CEO of Arria: "NLG-driven, multi-dimensional narratives are the breakthrough that [data-generated] visuals were years back. The huge data problem was partially resolved with the development of company intelligence dashboards," she discusses. "However while visuals paint a picture, they're not the total photo." Adds Daniels: "The ability to gain access to essential information in near real-time communicated as if composed by the business's top expert, without predisposition, at an NLG writing-speed is really amazing - real-time progress reporting." Deep inside analytics departments, NLG tools are gaining traction.

Heitzman utilized AI-generated composing software application from Arria NLG to punch-up reports including the graphics rendered by his propriety business intelligence (BI) software application. "We've developed narratives on massive amounts of information to be able to instantly and plainly articulate the marketing value we're bringing to our customers," Heitzman states. "The [Arria NLG] platform has actually dramatically decreased the amount of time and effort to uncover insights." Brian O'Connor, lead director, advanced analytics international business services at biopharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, boosted the graphics produced by Microsoft's Power BI.

Meanwhile, chip goliath Nvidia is improving its Tableau control panel with Automated Insights: "Automated Insights' Wordsmith has actually completely altered how our team interacts with Tableau," says LaSandra Brill, head of digital preparation and insights at Nvidia. "We can now ask the most essential concerns directly within Tableau and get real-time analysis from Wordsmith." IT options service provider Macrocomm adds story to its analytics program's output also: "By including narratives to Eureka, we can produce summary findings in numerous languages that can be shown stakeholders at a speed and scale not formerly possible," states Vinny Perumal, a handling director in the compnay's energies department.

Solved: What Is A Major Advantage Of Automated Forensics ...

[nickgerlich]

Inconvenient Truths

If we have learned anything in 2020, through the pandemic and the lead-up to the November election, it is that social media is really nothing less than a battle ground of opposing ideas. It is where relationships are splintered, where liars and fakes are as common as truth-tellers and the legit, where conspiracy theories come home to roost, where curated content begins to sound a lot like an echo chamber.

And where we go to replenish our dopamine drip.

It doesn’t take a social scientist or tech whiz to tell us these things, but when they do, as in The Social Dilemma, a Netflix Original docu-drama, it speaks volumes. After all, the people interviewed in the 90-minute social media bashing are all former employees of some of the biggest, baddest blue ribbon tech firms in the world, or noted academics who have more chops than a butcher.

If Netflix was hoping to sound a call to action, they are probably a little late. We’ve known for a long time that social media and even email sites have their tentacles wrapped around us, that advertising has become more direct and specific, that we are--just like the point was made multiple times throughout the film--the product itself. After all, we don’t pay for these things, unless you are one who pays for the premium LinkedIn access.

In other words, the price of free, or to be a little less blunt, the price of participation, is that we must endure a lot of inconvenient things we may not otherwise like, but are willing to tolerate because the sites and services allow us to stay in touch with so many people.

Let’s look at some of those inconveniences. We are barraged with a steady stream of advertising that has been fired with laser accuracy, thanks to the sites’ knowing practically everything there is to know about us. My Facebook and Instagram feeds are littered with bikes, cameras, craft beer, and vegan recipes. Somewhere along the line I made it abundantly clear that these are high-interest areas in my life.

We are followed wherever we go. Yes, occasionally we have to answer a little question on our phones about the apps we install, and whether it’s OK for them to keep up with us. When I look at my Google tracks, it basically serves as a mapped history of everything I have done, everywhere I have been. By the way, how do you think Google Maps knows to make the freeway color red, indicating a slowdown? Simple. It is monitoring the speed of everyone on that same road who happens to have the same app as you. The result is crowdsourced information without anyone having to tap a single letter or number.

These sites can also track how long we linger in a given location. Thus, they have correctly deduced that I not only go to craft breweries, but (at least before COVID) am also highly likely to blow--I mean spend--an hour or two there. And I’m not just whistling Dixie, you know. So many beers, so little time.

They know the hotels I frequent (Hilton properties, in case you were wondering). They know I am a rare customer indeed at a chain restaurant, although I do have a minor record of dining at Red Robin or Mellow Mushroom. They know where I buy my gas. They know I tend to take the old two-lane roads. And they know that I stop the van for every old neon sign I have never yet photographed. Don’t believe me? Check out my Insta feed someday (@nickgerlich).

I could go on, but the point is clear: Our lives are open books on social media, and not just because of the things we post. The book of our life is open to them specifically because we allowed them to read it. Those apps, our phones...they are just the facilitators in this game. When we skipped through the Terms Of Service agreement and checked the box without reading a word, we gave them carte blanche.

And guess what? I have no problem with any of this. I actually like being considered “the product,” because it means they are trying to sell to me. I am in control of my wallet, not the other way around, and if in the process of all this, I receive ever more accurate advertising catered to my likes, my life is better. Think about all the crap you see advertised on network television on any given evening. They are using a shotgun in hopes of hitting a few targets along the way. Social media sites, though, are shooting rifles.

In other words, I am not afraid of them. No, they should be afraid of me. I am the one whose money they covet. I understand and accept their revenue model imperative, because as long as they can sell ads, I can keep using the site for nothing. I am willing to trade parts of my life in exchange for what I see as entertainment, even with all the warts and pimples that over-use and addiction can render.

As for all of those former employees appearing in the film, I suspect they all just started feeling a little bit guilty of the successes their efforts and employers were enjoying. The market cap on some of these firms is mind-blowing, testament to the fact that wealth is not finite, but instead created based on the faith that investors have in these companies. I’m not sure what these people are going to do in their self-exiled unemployment, unless they were able to sell off a bunch of stock to fund their guilty conscience.

We must remember this important point: no one made any of us sign up for Gmail, Facebook, Instagram, etc. We did it of our own volition, and how we use it is our business, whether we simply scroll through once in a while, or whether we use it to score enough Likes and Loves to make us feel liked and loved ourselves. Dopamine feels pretty good, doesn’t it? It is implicit that we accepted the terms of engagement, even if we didn’t really read them. “You want to advertise to me while I post pics and videos? OK. Knock yourselves out.”

And even if social media have torn asunder more relationships this year than we would like, we can even control that. Simply quit interacting with the folks whose opinions you loathe, and the algorithms will take care of things pretty quickly. They’ll just fall off your feed. Kinda like I did about six weeks ago. I didn’t have to unfriend, unfollow, block, or delete anyone, and already my feed is like a breath of fresh air.

I just wish I had enough money to buy all those cool bikes and cameras I’m seeing. Cooking dinner is easy enough, but the big boy toys cost big bucks. Hey, can you give me a little love on this?

Dr “No Dilemma Here“ Gerlich

Audio Blog

[skookworks]

Gallery: Delta Green

Most of my RPG illustration work has been for Call of Cthulhu related projects. That’s the result of intention and good luck and accident.

The Intention part happened in the year 2000. I submitted some illustrations to the Delta Green website. Delta Green was a Call of Cthulhu RPG set in modern times – the late 199os. Most CoC games are set in the 1920s/1930s, the time the original stories were written and set. I discovered Delta Green in 1999 when I working at Half Price Books. I was the buyer when a customer sold us his collection of RPG manuals. In the buy was Delta Green and its sequel Delta Green: Countdown. I bought those books for myself. I loved the ideas behind the setting. It updated the Cthulhu Mythos for the late Twentieth Century in ways that surprised and delighted me. It created a means and a reason for investigators to, well, investigate the horrors from beyond.

I’d wanted to illustrate RPGs but didn’t have much of a portfolio of examples to show. I found the Delta Green site early the next year. I don’t think it had a way to send submissions and I don’t think they were asking for any. What it did have was a way to submit fan art and writing. So I worked up three illustrations (see the follow gallery) and submitted them. They got posted. No one from Delta Green contacted me.

Oh well.

Two years later those illustrations got me work at The Black Seal. But that’s another post.

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The original photoshop files of these illustrations are, possibly, residing on an old back up drive. It’s formated for Mac and I currently use a PC so I haven’t tried plugging it in. A lot of the work I did in the first ten years of this century was done on a Mac. The art always started as graphite and ink on paper and then had photoshop magic applied to it. I’ve got the original drawings in big metal flat files but the art that got published looks different.

Earlier this year I realized that I’d sent most of those illustrations to the editors and publishers via email and I’ve never deleted any personal emails. So I’ve tracked down a lot of that older art and will be showing it in future galleries. I found the two black and white illustrations in the above gallery in my emails.

The first three images, however, I couldn’t locate in my gmail archive. AOL has long since deleted all my old emals. At first they didn’t appear to be on the current Delta Green site but, after doing some obsessive google searching and some sort of back door poking around on DG I found them in an archive. Huzzah!

Story Seed #54 The Time Line AntiDefense League

There are a lot of stories that feature some sort of organization whose mission is to defend the “correct” timeline, to make sure that history works itself out the way that it is “supposed to”. Bleah. How about an organization whose mission is to create timelines where history works itself out in the best ways for the most people?

Recommendation

Beeple. This person’s art started showing up in my tumblr feed, shared by other folks I followed. It was weird and creepy so I subscribed to his feed. He posts an image a day, every day.

Also, the Growing Up / Overnight Kickstarter concludes on the 30th. If you’ve been putting off backing it. please jump in.

Local News

Last week, in one of our stand up meetings at USPS, we were reminded that we, the letter carriers were not supposed to talk to the press. That if a member of the press attempted to engage us in conversation we were to refer him/her to management. Also, while we were in uniform, we were not to engage in political discussions with anyone lest they assume that our views represented those of the USPS. We were also to be careful not to express politcal opinions on social media in such a way as to lead people to believe that our views represented those of the USPS.

Sigh.

To be clear, anything I write here about my job at USPS is just my experience and my opinion. I like to assume that those of you who read these newsletters recognize this but, on the off chance you don’t, I AM NOT A REPRESENTATIVE OF THE POST OFFICE. I’m just a guy who works there. In my opinion, the USPS can’t actually have an opinion since it’s an organization. Organizations are not people. The people in charge of organizations may claim that their opinion represents the opinion of the organization but that’s just a fiction.

Anyway.

The most interesting part about the day job right now is that I have a new T6. USPS delivers mail six days a week. Regular carriers work and deliver theri route five days a week. A T6 is the person who delivers the route on the regular carrier’s day off. My last T6 had medical issues that prevented them from delivering my route on a regular basis. My new T6 is healthy and detail oriented. More detail oriented than I am, actually. And that’s good. It means I’m updating labels in mailboxes and doing maintenance on my route that I’d let slide. I keep most of my customer changes in my head. Having another person who has to regularly work my route reminds me that I should communicate customer changes in clear, written methods. It’s only polite.

We’ve also moved our start time from 7 am to 7:30 am. I’m not a fan but I’m adjusting.

I’ve left my alarm at 4 am. I get up. Drink coffee Write. Do computer art or make products in either my Zazzle or my Redbubble stores. I’ve updated my various websites to include a “store” page with links to each. This week I spent most of my store time working on an Oz Squad collection for Zazzle. Oz Squad is Steve Ahlquist’s creature but, as a fan and sometime collaborator, I try to find ways to keep the brand active.

Oz Squad Land of Oz

by Skookworks

In the evenings, once we’ve finished dinner and our spot of television, I work on physical art. Right now I’m doing pirate sketches. More about that when the project can be talked about publically.

Thank you for dropping by. Remember that life has always been insane. Look out for yourself and your friends. That’s where sanity and security dwells.

See you next week!

Tuesday Night Party Club #34 Gallery: Delta Green Most of my RPG illustration work has been for Call of Cthulhu related projects.

[prorevenge]

Have fun explaining the smoking charge to your parents.

There was a fire across the street from a students' apartment building and due to the smoke a number of them were asked to leave by the fire department. As such we had a good number of students staying with us.

Generally I prefer students over adults as A) they're my age and B) for every 1 shitty student I have dozens of shitty older people (prime shitty range is late 40s to early 60s). I usually try to go a little out of my way for students as well, they come in drunk late at night and I'll make them fresh cookies or offer to let them go up onto our roof that overlooks the college campus we're located on, shit I'm technically not allowed to do but I figure especially for students they're paying a hefty price to stay here so the least I can do is try and make it a bit nicer. So it's around midnight and this group of 4 students come in. Two of them are staying with us on their parents' credit card (I only know this because the one kid was lightly making fun of the girl for "having daddy save her" at check-in) and the other 2 are just their friends. We get to chatting and have what to me was a great conversation.

Talk about various things a bit deeper than you normally would with a customer I assume but nothing philosophical. Our plans for the next few years, opinions on cities, how backwoods and reactionary the area I grew up in was (they were also familiar with the area and two of them grew up less than an hour from where I grew up). They joke that they're sad there's no cookies left and I tell them if they give me 15 minutes I can go bake some more. I ask them how many they want and I tell them "honestly you can have as many as you want", and they say one each is fine, but I can tell they want more so I say again "No honestly, you guys can have as many as you want, they're not my cookies and we buy in such bulk they cost like 5-10 cents each". The one guy asks if they could have 15. I tell them that's not a problem at all and go bake them. While they're cooking I say they're free to go up to their room and I can bring them up if they want. They agree to just wait in the lobby so we just continue talking. Again, above average conversation, not getting any weird vibes from them and they all seem super friendly and generally nice. We talk about our parents, the girl whose parents had paid for the room were apparently super strict. They think she's never done drugs, hasn't drank, still goes to church every weekend. She laughs and says how mad they'd be if they knew she was staying at the hotel with a guy(Important). Cookies are done, they head up to their room super thankful and I get that little twinge of happiness from helping to make their night a bit better.

Fast forward about 3 hours. I hear what sounds like tittering whispers and that gasping thing people do when they're crying coming from the basement. I go down the first bend of the stairs (there's a landing halfway down where it turns 180 degrees so you can't see straight down) and two of the girls turn the corner. They look teary eyed, but weirdly are giggling. I assume they got into fights with their boyfriends or something (the group of 4 was 2 guys 2 gals, both dating) and it's none of my business so I just say "sorry I thought I heard something down here, just wanted to check what it was". People seem to cry in open in our hotel a lot and in general crying makes me uncomfortable but especially I don't want to deal with crying at my job. Go back to what I was doing and I have a window open due to the weather so I get a big backdraft that pulls this really strong scent of weed up from the basement. Things all fall together, they were teary eyed from smoking, plus the laughing and their nervousness. Plus there's only a microwave and ice machine in our basement and they weren't using either.

So I go back down to the basement and they elevator door is just closing. I can smell weed prominently once I get to the actual bottom of the stairs. Our elevator is slow as fuck and I figure I can just take the stairs and catch them at their floor. I get there and they must have just beat me because I hear their door close as I reach the landing. Get to their room and I can definitely smell weed. Now I'm an avid smoker. There was a time in my life where I was high nearly 24/7 for the better part of a year. I've since cut back to a few times a week but still smoke heavily. I don't have a problem with weed or even smoking in the hotel as long as people are discreet about it. I have a schpiel that I give guests when I catch them smoking. We're supposed to have no warnings and just charge them a $250 "deep cleaning" fee which is really just shampooing the rugs and washing the curtains but I think that's way too much so despite having caught maybe 30-40 people in the time I've worked here I've only charged one person and that was only after 2 warnings and him being a real asshole every time. Anyways my schpiel generally goes "I'm not implying you were smoking but as a note there is a $250 charge if you are caught smoking inside the hotel. We also reserve the right to remove you from your room, as part of the agreement you signed at check-in. Now I'm sure none of us want that so just if you were smoking please limit doing so to outside the hotel or stuff a towel under the door turn on the bathroom vent and open the windows. At this time I'm not charging you, so with that I hope the matter's taken care of" and 95% of the time they agree and are thankful for getting off so there's no problem. I knock on their door and no answer. They had just gone in the room, I saw the door closing so there's no way they don't hear me. I knock again. I can hear them whispering in their room. It's that pathetic whisper drunk/ high people do that's way too loud to not be heard (even through a door). I'm quoting them but obviously it's not exact, just what I remember.

"Oh my god he followed us into the basement and then followed us back up here. So fucking creepy". I knock again "Guys just act like we're not here and he'll leave" "What's that pussy gonna do" "I dunno I'm just going to bed, don't answer the door" the discussion goes on like this for another few seconds, I knock again and they get less focused on the door and more focused on calling me names it seems. Whatever, sticks and stones. Then one of them calls me a faggot and I figure that's about where I draw the line (I had mentioned being bisexual to them). Leave their door and go back to my computer to charge them. Calm down on the walk back and figure I'll give them one more try. Call their room and get no answer. Call back one more time, and no answer. Put the charge on their dads credit card, it shows as SMOKING PENALTY on the receipt (also hooked up to her dads email address I can tell as it matches the name on the card (firstname_lastname at gmail)). Maybe 5 minutes later I get a call at the front desk. Pick up and it's them. "Hey so like we were sleeping and we think we got a call from but we just missed it and it took us a while to figure out how to call you back". I remind them that I saw them in the basement a few minutes ago. "Oh yeah we went up and fell right asleep". I tell them the reason I was knocking was to tell them we have a charge for smoking in the room- and immediately they go on a diatribe about how there was a fire across from their street and that must have been the smoke I smelled. I tell them I understand that but I also know that weed has a distinctly different smell. She admits to smoking but "it was outside the hotel then we came back". I tell her I've been sitting in our lobby all night and as that's our only door in or out, that's impossible. One of the guys gets the phone, same one who called me a faggot. "Come on dude can't you just like let this slide?". "I'm sorry the charge already has been posted, have a nice night". "Fuck you". Click. Looked up the dads email again in their reservation. Type up some facetious "standard" letter that we send out for smoking penalties so there's no way she can deny it to her parents. Say they had been given multiple warnings, and that the smoke smell had been independently confirmed by two separate workers. Even find a way to naturally worm in there that she was staying with a separate guest (saying it's a guy might make it too obvious I feared). In case he just doesn't notice the penalty charge on the receipt I figure a separate email will ensure he sees it. And I get that little twinge of happiness in seeing shitty things happen to shitty people.

(source) (story by Fawxhox)

[bondsmagii]

Hi, i was wandering If you know what happens with search histories after a long time? I was freaking out thinking that what i searched would be linked to me like 100 years in the future and i know they anonymize the IP (Google does) but isnt that reversible? And isnt it dumb easy to link IP to people? Like being exposed for my 17 year old fuckery to the future folk is my worse nightmare You seemed knowladgeable in the matter so i thught i ask

I’m afraid the answer to this is... not that great, lmao. Google retains your search history and data in its servers, and deleting your search history will not delete this. if you’re signed in to a Google Account, it will also retain pretty much everything linked to it -- your Gmail, your YouTube search history, anything you’ve looked up on Google Books; your location and even your voice if you have location tracker and voice command enabled, etc. you can actually view this data and download a copy if you want. the data can, if it’s able, go all the way back to 2005. recently a bunch of people on Reddit were going through their Google data and finding some wild shit from way back in the day. I just had a cursory glance at my own and found a YouTube search for “longest fart”, so there you go.

to view/download this data: 

go to your Google Account

on the left, click Data and Personalization

go to the Things you can create and do panel

click Go to Google Dashboard

here you’ll see a summary of all your Google (and related accounts) activity, and you’ll be able to download a copy if you want to browse it thoroughly.

beware if you’ve been signed in to your account for a while though... some people have reported the download taking over a day.

if you’d like to manage or delete the data that Google has, you can find more information here. however, as I said earlier, I’m fairly certain this data does not get deleted from Google’s servers even if you delete it from your own account. even so, for what it’s worth, I don’t think you have to worry about being “exposed” or whatever. unless you’ve been doing illegal stuff, there’s really no reason for such a thing to happen. and, worst case scenario, if does get leaked when you’re running for President or whatever, nobody will be free of sin. our entire generation grew up online; if we’re going to point and laugh at freaky Google searches, we have to point the finger at ourselves first. as for 100 years in the future, don’t worry about it. nobody will know who you are. the idea of a bunch of history students trying to decipher what I was doing searching “clown wig matching shoes” at 3:42am is is hilarious, if you ask me.

finally, an important piece of information: IP addresses are not what you should worry about. they’ve long been finicky and I think our fear concerning them comes from back in the day where internet trolls would threaten to leak IPs and whatnot. yes, they can sometimes be used for such a purpose, but your average person won’t be able to get your entire life from your IP. that’s more the realm of the government and related agencies... and they can already do that with your metadata. if you want to be hard to trace, be far more aware of your metadata than your IP. you can disguise your IP easily, but if the metadata tells a different story it won’t matter at all. 

[claudeteemonds31]

What Is CPA Marketing | Guide On Starting

What Is CPA Marketing?

If you have looked for ways to make money online, you’ve probably heard the term “CPA” marketing. It is likely you’ve heard of CPA as some underground secret society where individuals are making fortunes online. This was the view that lots of have when they first begin examining exactly what CPA is, I know since I was one of them. I keep in mind questioning whether I was even qualified to be investigating them when and my really first interview.

The extremely first network I joined was MaxBounty and as they re-launched their updated website today, it got me considering my very first experiences going into the world of CPA. I decided that I ‘d get a short article out there to dispel the myths about CPA and give a brief introduction of exactly what it is.

CPA: Back to basics To begin out any sort of introduction I’ll initially share my definition of what CPA is. It might not be dictionary perfect but it’ll at least give you a design to deal with whilst thinking about the points throughout this article.

CPA (Cost Per Action/ Cost Per Acquisition): This is an advertising model where publishers are paid for an action that is taken as a direct outcome of their marketing. This differs from normal affiliate marketing because you may not necessarily need to make a sale to earn money within a CPA network. Payments are typically based on lead generation such as submitting a phone number or e-mail address to get some free product or information.

As you can picture the fact that you can get paid without even having to make a single sale can make CPA networks extremely appealing to the “make cash online” crowd and can possibly leave a lot of space to be made use of. When allowing individuals into their network, this means that CPA networks will normally be a little stricter than your normal affiliate network.

When individuals hear that CPA networks are more stringent they frequently get scared off. You shouldn’t let this take place to you since the fact is, if you are an honest upstanding affiliate or intend on becoming one, they actually do desire you involved. It’s actually the fraudsters and spammers of the world that they will try and weed out.

Methods of CPA Promo There are many varying methods to promote CPA campaigns, some of which include having your own website, some that don’t. The fact is that CPA marketing is really not all that different than other types of marketing. At it’s a lot of standard you simply need to spend some time to consider the product that you are promoting and where you will really discover a market that is interested in either discovering more or buying an item.

Having said all of that I will note a couple of examples of the more popular CPA promotional methods that you might discover:

Evaluation Site– Typically these types of websites will consist of 3 of more items within a specific niche i.e. Weight reduction Tablets or Lawn Fertilizer. They will then give you a short intro to each product, a review of the items performance and then normally a star score out of 5. Each of these products will usually be ranked in order and all will include links to either a customized landing page (presented below) or direct to the merchant. Sales/Landing Page– This site is generally more of a direct sales page and will likely present a lot more info on the product that it goes over. It will normally be a really difficult sale and work to get it’s reader either clicking through to the merchant there and then or at the very least signed up to the site owners sending by mail list. Some sales pages will really try to do both of these things, though it can frequently be beneficial to have one direct path through a landing page. A lot of alternatives can eventually suggest losing clicks. Splash Page– This is usally content light and will have flashy graphics with some punchy headlines and copy to encourage readers to input their information or click through to the merchant. Product information is typically minimal and these types of pages are often booked for items that need little explanation or are already popular i.e. competitors for an iPhone or Macbook. Quiz/ Fun Landing Page– Similar to the spash page but even simpler. There will typically be a concern with 2 or more responses that can then be clicked through big prideful buttons. In some cases some sort of game might be utilized in page of this style and it is certainly not the sort of page that somebody will be revisiting. It’s only purpose is to get that click-through and get it now. Having actually given you all these examples of sites that are utilized do not be misinterpreted into thinking that you can only market through your own website. Other possible techniques of promoting CPA Deals consist of posting to message boards, emailing a list of contacts, adding links to videos on YouTube and as soon as you’ve increased the capital perhaps even text-in adverts in publications or regional/national TV.

CPA: How difficult is it really? I understand you’re questioning how easy it is to enter all this. I indicate everything sounds excellent in theory however what’s this talk of nationwide TELEVISION? The reality is you needn’t go to these type of lengths to earn money in CPA. Whilst it’s great to understand that it’s possible to go to these lengths, there are ordinary people out there making thousands of dollars each day simply by running CPA promos online. I desire you to realise through this short article that it’s not some secret society and it’s definitely not some pie in the sky concept. It is still a service design and it will take work to make it. You ought to truly discover for yourself that with a little bit of work to obtain began you too can have success worldwide of Cost Per Action Marketing.

How To Get Accepted into CPA Networks Practically without fail this is one of the first concerns that pops into peoples minds when they hear that you have to apply to sign up with most CPA networks. Whilst there is not one simple method to get accepted each time, there are manner ins which you can increase your likelihood of being accepted. You ought to always bear in mind that if initially you do not prosper, try and try once again. As much as I want to claim that I’m best, I have actually been both accepted and rejected in the past. That’s the method that life works, nevertheless if you follow the steps in this short article you will be offering yourself the finest chance of success.

Obtain a Site– If you don’t already have a site, then now is the time to get your very first one. Whilst it is possible to get accepted to some networks without your own website you may also provide yourself the very best chance of success. Then can use with your existing domain, if you are a significant publisher or an experienced marketer and plan on running the CPA advertisements on your site. Nevertheless it’s most likely that you will have a number of smaller sites or none at all. In this case you will wish to produce a site that brands yourself as an online marketer and explains the locations that you work in. A good choice of ability sets to consist of are your experience with PPC, SEO, Email Marketing or any other methods that you might utilize. Selecting a name such as SOMETHINGmarketing.com will also give you a more expert feel. If you can’t or do not desire to create the site yourself then work with someone to do it for you within a CMS (Content Management System) such as WordPress so you can edit yourself at a later date. Use an e-mail on your domain– I got this information on excellent faith from a market expert a while back. If nothing else you will wish to use an e-mail that looks a little like this ‘yourname@yourdomain.com’. If you mainly utilize a GMail account or comparable you will want to do this and set up a redirect, even. Many CPA networks will immediately turn down any applicant who utilizes a complimentary e-mail address as they are so easy to set up and they have no verification you are really the individual who owns your website. Open & Honest in All of Your Communications– Whilst this might get you denied by some of the more selective CPA networks I really think that sincerity is very important especially in this area. If you say that you intend on driving 1000 keyword targeted leads from monthly from PPC and they telephone you up and it’s clear that you’ve never even used Pay Per Click it will start to raise flags about other locations. Whilst you may believe that stating you can do everything will help your case it may really injure it. As CPA networks usually offer you your own rep/manager you can typically get extra assistance in the areas where you are lacking, even if it’s simply a prod in the right instructions. Your success is where they will be making their cash. Be Proactive When Applying– Lots of CPA networks will require an interview over the phone or via instantaneous message prior to approving your account. In some cases it can take up to a number of days before they get an opportunity to call you back. If they provide a contact number or IM contact details then you ought to utilize them. You will have all the information that you have actually offered fresh in your head and even if they can’t talk to you on the area it proves that you are major about joining and they will likely identify your name when calling back. There you have it, equipped with the following information you ought to be well on your way to getting accepted into your very first couple of CPA networks. And on that note it’s worth stating that you ought to likely request a few of them. Even if you do get accepted into them all you will find that a number of them have different offers available that others don’t.

In Conclusion …

Ideally you have not been too overwhelmed by the quantity of info included within this post however I felt it needed to offer a full summary of precisely what CPA is and how you can get involved. You’ve learned a few of the approaches that CPA affiliates are utilizing today to make money online. Even equipped with the information you’ve discovered today you are method front of the typical individuals level of understanding about CPA so please don’t lose this opportunity.

My individual obstacle to you is this: If you’re thinking about entering CPA Marketing then either register with a network or set the wheels in motion today! A lot of individuals read details online and then forget about it after a couple of hours and never return. If you actually wish to be successful in any online marketing endeavours the genuine key is informed action. This article has actually offered you the power to take your primary steps into CPA, now what you finish with that info is up to you.

Get Going Today with the MaxBounty CPA Network

Source

Source: https://yourmoneymakingmachine.com/what-is-cpa-marketing-guide-on-starting/

from Your Money Making Machine https://ift.tt/2QsESTw

[elnatbrooksmi]

What Is CPA Marketing | Guide On Starting

What Is CPA Marketing?

If you have looked for ways to make money online, you’ve probably heard the term “CPA” marketing. It is likely you’ve heard of CPA as some underground secret society where individuals are making fortunes online. This was the view that lots of have when they first begin examining exactly what CPA is, I know since I was one of them. I keep in mind questioning whether I was even qualified to be investigating them when and my really first interview. The extremely first network I joined was MaxBounty and as they re-launched their updated website today, it got me considering my very first experiences going into the world of CPA. I decided that I ‘d get a short article out there to dispel the myths about CPA and give a brief introduction of exactly what it is. CPA: Back to basics To begin out any sort of introduction I’ll initially share my definition of what CPA is. It might not be dictionary perfect but it’ll at least give you a design to deal with whilst thinking about the points throughout this article. CPA (Cost Per Action/ Cost Per Acquisition): This is an advertising model where publishers are paid for an action that is taken as a direct outcome of their marketing. This differs from normal affiliate marketing because you may not necessarily need to make a sale to earn money within a CPA network. Payments are typically based on lead generation such as submitting a phone number or e-mail address to get some free product or information. As you can picture the fact that you can get paid without even having to make a single sale can make CPA networks extremely appealing to the “make cash online” crowd and can possibly leave a lot of space to be made use of. When allowing individuals into their network, this means that CPA networks will normally be a little stricter than your normal affiliate network. When individuals hear that CPA networks are more stringent they frequently get scared off. You shouldn’t let this take place to you since the fact is, if you are an honest upstanding affiliate or intend on becoming one, they actually do desire you involved. It’s actually the fraudsters and spammers of the world that they will try and weed out. Methods of CPA Promo There are many varying methods to promote CPA campaigns, some of which include having your own website, some that don’t. The fact is that CPA marketing is really not all that different than other types of marketing. At it’s a lot of standard you simply need to spend some time to consider the product that you are promoting and where you will really discover a market that is interested in either discovering more or buying an item. Having said all of that I will note a couple of examples of the more popular CPA promotional methods that you might discover: Evaluation Site– Typically these types of websites will consist of 3 of more items within a specific niche i.e. Weight reduction Tablets or Lawn Fertilizer. They will then give you a short intro to each product, a review of the items performance and then normally a star score out of 5. Each of these products will usually be ranked in order and all will include links to either a customized landing page (presented below) or direct to the merchant. Sales/Landing Page– This site is generally more of a direct sales page and will likely present a lot more info on the product that it goes over. It will normally be a really difficult sale and work to get it’s reader either clicking through to the merchant there and then or at the very least signed up to the site owners sending by mail list. Some sales pages will really try to do both of these things, though it can frequently be beneficial to have one direct path through a landing page. A lot of alternatives can eventually suggest losing clicks. Splash Page– This is usally content light and will have flashy graphics with some punchy headlines and copy to encourage readers to input their information or click through to the merchant. Product information is typically minimal and these types of pages are often booked for items that need little explanation or are already popular i.e. competitors for an iPhone or Macbook. Quiz/ Fun Landing Page– Similar to the spash page but even simpler. There will typically be a concern with 2 or more responses that can then be clicked through big prideful buttons. In some cases some sort of game might be utilized in page of this style and it is certainly not the sort of page that somebody will be revisiting. It’s only purpose is to get that click-through and get it now. Having actually given you all these examples of sites that are utilized do not be misinterpreted into thinking that you can only market through your own website. Other possible techniques of promoting CPA Deals consist of posting to message boards, emailing a list of contacts, adding links to videos on YouTube and as soon as you’ve increased the capital perhaps even text-in adverts in publications or regional/national TV. CPA: How difficult is it really? I understand you’re questioning how easy it is to enter all this. I indicate everything sounds excellent in theory however what’s this talk of nationwide TELEVISION? The reality is you needn’t go to these type of lengths to earn money in CPA. Whilst it’s great to understand that it’s possible to go to these lengths, there are ordinary people out there making thousands of dollars each day simply by running CPA promos online. I desire you to realise through this short article that it’s not some secret society and it’s definitely not some pie in the sky concept. It is still a service design and it will take work to make it. You ought to truly discover for yourself that with a little bit of work to obtain began you too can have success worldwide of Cost Per Action Marketing. How To Get Accepted into CPA Networks Practically without fail this is one of the first concerns that pops into peoples minds when they hear that you have to apply to sign up with most CPA networks. Whilst there is not one simple method to get accepted each time, there are manner ins which you can increase your likelihood of being accepted. You ought to always bear in mind that if initially you do not prosper, try and try once again. As much as I want to claim that I’m best, I have actually been both accepted and rejected in the past. That’s the method that life works, nevertheless if you follow the steps in this short article you will be offering yourself the finest chance of success. Obtain a Site– If you don’t already have a site, then now is the time to get your very first one. Whilst it is possible to get accepted to some networks without your own website you may also provide yourself the very best chance of success. Then can use with your existing domain, if you are a significant publisher or an experienced marketer and plan on running the CPA advertisements on your site. Nevertheless it’s most likely that you will have a number of smaller sites or none at all. In this case you will wish to produce a site that brands yourself as an online marketer and explains the locations that you work in. A good choice of ability sets to consist of are your experience with PPC, SEO, Email Marketing or any other methods that you might utilize. Selecting a name such as SOMETHINGmarketing.com will also give you a more expert feel. If you can’t or do not desire to create the site yourself then work with someone to do it for you within a CMS (Content Management System) such as WordPress so you can edit yourself at a later date. Use an e-mail on your domain– I got this information on excellent faith from a market expert a while back. If nothing else you will wish to use an e-mail that looks a little like this ‘yourname@yourdomain.com’. If you mainly utilize a GMail account or comparable you will want to do this and set up a redirect, even. Many CPA networks will immediately turn down any applicant who utilizes a complimentary e-mail address as they are so easy to set up and they have no verification you are really the individual who owns your website. Open & Honest in All of Your Communications– Whilst this might get you denied by some of the more selective CPA networks I really think that sincerity is very important especially in this area. If you say that you intend on driving 1000 keyword targeted leads from monthly from PPC and they telephone you up and it’s clear that you’ve never even used Pay Per Click it will start to raise flags about other locations. Whilst you may believe that stating you can do everything will help your case it may really injure it. As CPA networks usually offer you your own rep/manager you can typically get extra assistance in the areas where you are lacking, even if it’s simply a prod in the right instructions. Your success is where they will be making their cash. Be Proactive When Applying– Lots of CPA networks will require an interview over the phone or via instantaneous message prior to approving your account. In some cases it can take up to a number of days before they get an opportunity to call you back. If they provide a contact number or IM contact details then you ought to utilize them. You will have all the information that you have actually offered fresh in your head and even if they can’t talk to you on the area it proves that you are major about joining and they will likely identify your name when calling back. There you have it, equipped with the following information you ought to be well on your way to getting accepted into your very first couple of CPA networks. And on that note it’s worth stating that you ought to likely request a few of them. Even if you do get accepted into them all you will find that a number of them have different offers available that others don’t. In Conclusion … Ideally you have not been too overwhelmed by the quantity of info included within this post however I felt it needed to offer a full summary of precisely what CPA is and how you can get involved. You’ve learned a few of the approaches that CPA affiliates are utilizing today to make money online. Even equipped with the information you’ve discovered today you are method front of the typical individuals level of understanding about CPA so please don’t lose this opportunity. My individual obstacle to you is this: If you’re thinking about entering CPA Marketing then either register with a network or set the wheels in motion today! A lot of individuals read details online and then forget about it after a couple of hours and never return. If you actually wish to be successful in any online marketing endeavours the genuine key is informed action. This article has actually offered you the power to take your primary steps into CPA, now what you finish with that info is up to you. Get Going Today with the MaxBounty CPA Network

Source

from Your Money Making Machine https://yourmoneymakingmachine.com/what-is-cpa-marketing-guide-on-starting/ from Your Money Making Machine https://yourmoneymakingmachine1.tumblr.com/post/189888134683

[johnshintze1]

What Is CPA Marketing | Guide On Starting

What Is CPA Marketing?

If you have looked for ways to make money online, you’ve probably heard the term “CPA” marketing. It is likely you’ve heard of CPA as some underground secret society where individuals are making fortunes online. This was the view that lots of have when they first begin examining exactly what CPA is, I know since I was one of them. I keep in mind questioning whether I was even qualified to be investigating them when and my really first interview. The extremely first network I joined was MaxBounty and as they re-launched their updated website today, it got me considering my very first experiences going into the world of CPA. I decided that I ‘d get a short article out there to dispel the myths about CPA and give a brief introduction of exactly what it is. CPA: Back to basics To begin out any sort of introduction I’ll initially share my definition of what CPA is. It might not be dictionary perfect but it’ll at least give you a design to deal with whilst thinking about the points throughout this article. CPA (Cost Per Action/ Cost Per Acquisition): This is an advertising model where publishers are paid for an action that is taken as a direct outcome of their marketing. This differs from normal affiliate marketing because you may not necessarily need to make a sale to earn money within a CPA network. Payments are typically based on lead generation such as submitting a phone number or e-mail address to get some free product or information. As you can picture the fact that you can get paid without even having to make a single sale can make CPA networks extremely appealing to the “make cash online” crowd and can possibly leave a lot of space to be made use of. When allowing individuals into their network, this means that CPA networks will normally be a little stricter than your normal affiliate network. When individuals hear that CPA networks are more stringent they frequently get scared off. You shouldn’t let this take place to you since the fact is, if you are an honest upstanding affiliate or intend on becoming one, they actually do desire you involved. It’s actually the fraudsters and spammers of the world that they will try and weed out. Methods of CPA Promo There are many varying methods to promote CPA campaigns, some of which include having your own website, some that don’t. The fact is that CPA marketing is really not all that different than other types of marketing. At it’s a lot of standard you simply need to spend some time to consider the product that you are promoting and where you will really discover a market that is interested in either discovering more or buying an item. Having said all of that I will note a couple of examples of the more popular CPA promotional methods that you might discover: Evaluation Site��� Typically these types of websites will consist of 3 of more items within a specific niche i.e. Weight reduction Tablets or Lawn Fertilizer. They will then give you a short intro to each product, a review of the items performance and then normally a star score out of 5. Each of these products will usually be ranked in order and all will include links to either a customized landing page (presented below) or direct to the merchant. Sales/Landing Page– This site is generally more of a direct sales page and will likely present a lot more info on the product that it goes over. It will normally be a really difficult sale and work to get it’s reader either clicking through to the merchant there and then or at the very least signed up to the site owners sending by mail list. Some sales pages will really try to do both of these things, though it can frequently be beneficial to have one direct path through a landing page. A lot of alternatives can eventually suggest losing clicks. Splash Page– This is usally content light and will have flashy graphics with some punchy headlines and copy to encourage readers to input their information or click through to the merchant. Product information is typically minimal and these types of pages are often booked for items that need little explanation or are already popular i.e. competitors for an iPhone or Macbook. Quiz/ Fun Landing Page– Similar to the spash page but even simpler. There will typically be a concern with 2 or more responses that can then be clicked through big prideful buttons. In some cases some sort of game might be utilized in page of this style and it is certainly not the sort of page that somebody will be revisiting. It’s only purpose is to get that click-through and get it now. Having actually given you all these examples of sites that are utilized do not be misinterpreted into thinking that you can only market through your own website. Other possible techniques of promoting CPA Deals consist of posting to message boards, emailing a list of contacts, adding links to videos on YouTube and as soon as you’ve increased the capital perhaps even text-in adverts in publications or regional/national TV. CPA: How difficult is it really? I understand you’re questioning how easy it is to enter all this. I indicate everything sounds excellent in theory however what’s this talk of nationwide TELEVISION? The reality is you needn’t go to these type of lengths to earn money in CPA. Whilst it’s great to understand that it’s possible to go to these lengths, there are ordinary people out there making thousands of dollars each day simply by running CPA promos online. I desire you to realise through this short article that it’s not some secret society and it’s definitely not some pie in the sky concept. It is still a service design and it will take work to make it. You ought to truly discover for yourself that with a little bit of work to obtain began you too can have success worldwide of Cost Per Action Marketing. How To Get Accepted into CPA Networks Practically without fail this is one of the first concerns that pops into peoples minds when they hear that you have to apply to sign up with most CPA networks. Whilst there is not one simple method to get accepted each time, there are manner ins which you can increase your likelihood of being accepted. You ought to always bear in mind that if initially you do not prosper, try and try once again. As much as I want to claim that I’m best, I have actually been both accepted and rejected in the past. That’s the method that life works, nevertheless if you follow the steps in this short article you will be offering yourself the finest chance of success. Obtain a Site– If you don’t already have a site, then now is the time to get your very first one. Whilst it is possible to get accepted to some networks without your own website you may also provide yourself the very best chance of success. Then can use with your existing domain, if you are a significant publisher or an experienced marketer and plan on running the CPA advertisements on your site. Nevertheless it’s most likely that you will have a number of smaller sites or none at all. In this case you will wish to produce a site that brands yourself as an online marketer and explains the locations that you work in. A good choice of ability sets to consist of are your experience with PPC, SEO, Email Marketing or any other methods that you might utilize. Selecting a name such as SOMETHINGmarketing.com will also give you a more expert feel. If you can’t or do not desire to create the site yourself then work with someone to do it for you within a CMS (Content Management System) such as WordPress so you can edit yourself at a later date. Use an e-mail on your domain– I got this information on excellent faith from a market expert a while back. If nothing else you will wish to use an e-mail that looks a little like this ‘yourname@yourdomain.com’. If you mainly utilize a GMail account or comparable you will want to do this and set up a redirect, even. Many CPA networks will immediately turn down any applicant who utilizes a complimentary e-mail address as they are so easy to set up and they have no verification you are really the individual who owns your website. Open & Honest in All of Your Communications– Whilst this might get you denied by some of the more selective CPA networks I really think that sincerity is very important especially in this area. If you say that you intend on driving 1000 keyword targeted leads from monthly from PPC and they telephone you up and it’s clear that you’ve never even used Pay Per Click it will start to raise flags about other locations. Whilst you may believe that stating you can do everything will help your case it may really injure it. As CPA networks usually offer you your own rep/manager you can typically get extra assistance in the areas where you are lacking, even if it’s simply a prod in the right instructions. Your success is where they will be making their cash. Be Proactive When Applying– Lots of CPA networks will require an interview over the phone or via instantaneous message prior to approving your account. In some cases it can take up to a number of days before they get an opportunity to call you back. If they provide a contact number or IM contact details then you ought to utilize them. You will have all the information that you have actually offered fresh in your head and even if they can’t talk to you on the area it proves that you are major about joining and they will likely identify your name when calling back. There you have it, equipped with the following information you ought to be well on your way to getting accepted into your very first couple of CPA networks. And on that note it’s worth stating that you ought to likely request a few of them. Even if you do get accepted into them all you will find that a number of them have different offers available that others don’t. In Conclusion … Ideally you have not been too overwhelmed by the quantity of info included within this post however I felt it needed to offer a full summary of precisely what CPA is and how you can get involved. You’ve learned a few of the approaches that CPA affiliates are utilizing today to make money online. Even equipped with the information you’ve discovered today you are method front of the typical individuals level of understanding about CPA so please don’t lose this opportunity. My individual obstacle to you is this: If you’re thinking about entering CPA Marketing then either register with a network or set the wheels in motion today! A lot of individuals read details online and then forget about it after a couple of hours and never return. If you actually wish to be successful in any online marketing endeavours the genuine key is informed action. This article has actually offered you the power to take your primary steps into CPA, now what you finish with that info is up to you. Get Going Today with the MaxBounty CPA Network

Source

from https://yourmoneymakingmachine.com/what-is-cpa-marketing-guide-on-starting/

from Your Money Making Machine - Blog https://yourmoneymakingmachine1.weebly.com/blog/what-is-cpa-marketing-guide-on-starting

[yourmoneymakingmachine1]

What Is CPA Marketing | Guide On Starting

What Is CPA Marketing?

If you have looked for ways to make money online, you’ve probably heard the term “CPA” marketing. It is likely you’ve heard of CPA as some underground secret society where individuals are making fortunes online. This was the view that lots of have when they first begin examining exactly what CPA is, I know since I was one of them. I keep in mind questioning whether I was even qualified to be investigating them when and my really first interview. The extremely first network I joined was MaxBounty and as they re-launched their updated website today, it got me considering my very first experiences going into the world of CPA. I decided that I ‘d get a short article out there to dispel the myths about CPA and give a brief introduction of exactly what it is. CPA: Back to basics To begin out any sort of introduction I’ll initially share my definition of what CPA is. It might not be dictionary perfect but it’ll at least give you a design to deal with whilst thinking about the points throughout this article. CPA (Cost Per Action/ Cost Per Acquisition): This is an advertising model where publishers are paid for an action that is taken as a direct outcome of their marketing. This differs from normal affiliate marketing because you may not necessarily need to make a sale to earn money within a CPA network. Payments are typically based on lead generation such as submitting a phone number or e-mail address to get some free product or information. As you can picture the fact that you can get paid without even having to make a single sale can make CPA networks extremely appealing to the “make cash online” crowd and can possibly leave a lot of space to be made use of. When allowing individuals into their network, this means that CPA networks will normally be a little stricter than your normal affiliate network. When individuals hear that CPA networks are more stringent they frequently get scared off. You shouldn’t let this take place to you since the fact is, if you are an honest upstanding affiliate or intend on becoming one, they actually do desire you involved. It’s actually the fraudsters and spammers of the world that they will try and weed out. Methods of CPA Promo There are many varying methods to promote CPA campaigns, some of which include having your own website, some that don’t. The fact is that CPA marketing is really not all that different than other types of marketing. At it’s a lot of standard you simply need to spend some time to consider the product that you are promoting and where you will really discover a market that is interested in either discovering more or buying an item. Having said all of that I will note a couple of examples of the more popular CPA promotional methods that you might discover: Evaluation Site– Typically these types of websites will consist of 3 of more items within a specific niche i.e. Weight reduction Tablets or Lawn Fertilizer. They will then give you a short intro to each product, a review of the items performance and then normally a star score out of 5. Each of these products will usually be ranked in order and all will include links to either a customized landing page (presented below) or direct to the merchant. Sales/Landing Page– This site is generally more of a direct sales page and will likely present a lot more info on the product that it goes over. It will normally be a really difficult sale and work to get it’s reader either clicking through to the merchant there and then or at the very least signed up to the site owners sending by mail list. Some sales pages will really try to do both of these things, though it can frequently be beneficial to have one direct path through a landing page. A lot of alternatives can eventually suggest losing clicks. Splash Page– This is usally content light and will have flashy graphics with some punchy headlines and copy to encourage readers to input their information or click through to the merchant. Product information is typically minimal and these types of pages are often booked for items that need little explanation or are already popular i.e. competitors for an iPhone or Macbook. Quiz/ Fun Landing Page– Similar to the spash page but even simpler. There will typically be a concern with 2 or more responses that can then be clicked through big prideful buttons. In some cases some sort of game might be utilized in page of this style and it is certainly not the sort of page that somebody will be revisiting. It’s only purpose is to get that click-through and get it now. Having actually given you all these examples of sites that are utilized do not be misinterpreted into thinking that you can only market through your own website. Other possible techniques of promoting CPA Deals consist of posting to message boards, emailing a list of contacts, adding links to videos on YouTube and as soon as you’ve increased the capital perhaps even text-in adverts in publications or regional/national TV. CPA: How difficult is it really? I understand you’re questioning how easy it is to enter all this. I indicate everything sounds excellent in theory however what’s this talk of nationwide TELEVISION? The reality is you needn’t go to these type of lengths to earn money in CPA. Whilst it’s great to understand that it’s possible to go to these lengths, there are ordinary people out there making thousands of dollars each day simply by running CPA promos online. I desire you to realise through this short article that it’s not some secret society and it’s definitely not some pie in the sky concept. It is still a service design and it will take work to make it. You ought to truly discover for yourself that with a little bit of work to obtain began you too can have success worldwide of Cost Per Action Marketing. How To Get Accepted into CPA Networks Practically without fail this is one of the first concerns that pops into peoples minds when they hear that you have to apply to sign up with most CPA networks. Whilst there is not one simple method to get accepted each time, there are manner ins which you can increase your likelihood of being accepted. You ought to always bear in mind that if initially you do not prosper, try and try once again. As much as I want to claim that I’m best, I have actually been both accepted and rejected in the past. That’s the method that life works, nevertheless if you follow the steps in this short article you will be offering yourself the finest chance of success. Obtain a Site– If you don’t already have a site, then now is the time to get your very first one. Whilst it is possible to get accepted to some networks without your own website you may also provide yourself the very best chance of success. Then can use with your existing domain, if you are a significant publisher or an experienced marketer and plan on running the CPA advertisements on your site. Nevertheless it’s most likely that you will have a number of smaller sites or none at all. In this case you will wish to produce a site that brands yourself as an online marketer and explains the locations that you work in. A good choice of ability sets to consist of are your experience with PPC, SEO, Email Marketing or any other methods that you might utilize. Selecting a name such as SOMETHINGmarketing.com will also give you a more expert feel. If you can’t or do not desire to create the site yourself then work with someone to do it for you within a CMS (Content Management System) such as WordPress so you can edit yourself at a later date. Use an e-mail on your domain– I got this information on excellent faith from a market expert a while back. If nothing else you will wish to use an e-mail that looks a little like this ‘yourname@yourdomain.com’. If you mainly utilize a GMail account or comparable you will want to do this and set up a redirect, even. Many CPA networks will immediately turn down any applicant who utilizes a complimentary e-mail address as they are so easy to set up and they have no verification you are really the individual who owns your website. Open & Honest in All of Your Communications– Whilst this might get you denied by some of the more selective CPA networks I really think that sincerity is very important especially in this area. If you say that you intend on driving 1000 keyword targeted leads from monthly from PPC and they telephone you up and it’s clear that you’ve never even used Pay Per Click it will start to raise flags about other locations. Whilst you may believe that stating you can do everything will help your case it may really injure it. As CPA networks usually offer you your own rep/manager you can typically get extra assistance in the areas where you are lacking, even if it’s simply a prod in the right instructions. Your success is where they will be making their cash. Be Proactive When Applying– Lots of CPA networks will require an interview over the phone or via instantaneous message prior to approving your account. In some cases it can take up to a number of days before they get an opportunity to call you back. If they provide a contact number or IM contact details then you ought to utilize them. You will have all the information that you have actually offered fresh in your head and even if they can’t talk to you on the area it proves that you are major about joining and they will likely identify your name when calling back. There you have it, equipped with the following information you ought to be well on your way to getting accepted into your very first couple of CPA networks. And on that note it’s worth stating that you ought to likely request a few of them. Even if you do get accepted into them all you will find that a number of them have different offers available that others don’t. In Conclusion … Ideally you have not been too overwhelmed by the quantity of info included within this post however I felt it needed to offer a full summary of precisely what CPA is and how you can get involved. You’ve learned a few of the approaches that CPA affiliates are utilizing today to make money online. Even equipped with the information you’ve discovered today you are method front of the typical individuals level of understanding about CPA so please don’t lose this opportunity. My individual obstacle to you is this: If you’re thinking about entering CPA Marketing then either register with a network or set the wheels in motion today! A lot of individuals read details online and then forget about it after a couple of hours and never return. If you actually wish to be successful in any online marketing endeavours the genuine key is informed action. This article has actually offered you the power to take your primary steps into CPA, now what you finish with that info is up to you. Get Going Today with the MaxBounty CPA Network

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from Your Money Making Machine https://yourmoneymakingmachine.com/what-is-cpa-marketing-guide-on-starting/

[shidiand]

How do you imagine Tenco's Story ending in your head?

that is a GREAT but UNEXPECTED QUESTION freshlybaked "spider" bread and i'm really happy to have the opportunity to try and answer this ageless question that has burned within all of us in the tenco's story iv waiting room community since 2013. it is an incredible coincidence (or is it? 👀) that i was just talking to Risa about tenco's this (edit: yesterday) morning so i am extra double super in the mood to talk about Tenco's Story today. so excellent of a coincidence is this that i am tempted to refer you to them in case you wanted to hear their thoughts on the matter that would probably turn out super cool, but that is neither here nor there; let us talk Tenco's Story.

i of course must mention my unadvertised and modestly detailed commentary on tenco's i-iii at https://shidiand.tumblr.com/tencos, presenting slightly interesting facts in an unwieldy and difficult-to-use format, but as it dates back to june 2017, i want to take some time to understand my feelings about the series once more.

tenco's story is a series that has a lot of meaning to me.

i took on my current name of shidiand in november of 2013. i was still in 11th grade at the time, 4th year of high school, and a very socially isolated person. i should say i was introduced to touhou in 7th grade, 2010, so i was still working through a 3 years-strong phase of trying to simultaneously both find an outlet for and bottle up an endless wellspring of awkward weeaboo-gamer nerd energy at the time.

i had my first real foray onto the internet in 2010, tried out twitter, followed some RPers and other people who had Cool Touhou Usernames. didn't really go anywhere. i had maybe 50 followers, i dont really know the count but it was definitely a) double digits and b) pretty low. didn't know what to tweet about. didn't know how to hit it off with others. i think there was basically maybe only 3 other people i ever properly interacted with. oh shit i was playing league of legends at the time. oh my god. i really did play league of .. oh my god. let's move on.

aw shit im super digressing amn't i. well.

this is just how it goes when i write essays on tumblr.com.

i'm afraid you're just along for the ride at this point so please do your best to enjoy it.

i got kind of tired of twitter at the time because i didnt know what to do with it. didnt know how to interact with people and didnt find the people i was following interesting, so i ghosted on out of there by the end of 2012. didnt deactivate it until like 2015 but at that point that was just burning away my dark history. anyways. november 2013.

--im taking a lot of time here trawling through old files on my computer, my tumblr blog, notification emails still lying around in my gmail inbox from twitter, the dropbox i didn't actually use but it had several tenco's story pictures on it but i deleted them so this was useless, ... to trace the timeline of this story and im really seeing a lot of remnants of dark history here you know? did you know i wrote a letter to a girl i had a crush on valentine's day 2014, slipped it into her locker, and anxiously hung around nearby at lunchtime to see how she reacted at lunchtime? i certainly didn't, or at least i made darn ass sure to forget about this incredible virgin incident and not remember it, ever, until i came across the records of it that i thoughtfully preserved for the me of 5 years later today. ok well now i have to read the letter to see if it was as bad as it just sounded there brb

ok so the good news is that it was actually very focused on being positive and full of admiration for the cool things she did instead of being a confession letter so i am very glad i was able to be a respectful chad 5 years ago, but the bad news is that the jokes, the actual sentences i put together. oh my god. but i mean. well. at least i got the spirit. its certainly a step up from this other person in my grade, WEEABOO ANDREW, YOU MAY RECALL THIS STORY AND HIS NAME FROM PREVIOUS STORYTIMES, THE MAN THE MYTH THE LEGEND who came to school on halloween once cosplaying kirito from sword art online and got very possessive about people asking if they could hold his black replica plastic sword, and probably worse, dropped a "will you be my girlfriend" letter into the locker of my homie and fellow trombonist samantha, who was a little bit nerdy, hung out with the anime-likers who were actually sociable and fun to be around so you can imagine why weeaboo andrew was into her, which had i) a direct quotation from SAO chapter 16.5 (origin of the famous "glopping noise" line), and ii) a condom. jesus christ. i dont want to talk about this any more. next topic.

i also put this drawing of iku nagae and her skarmory (actually an albinoss from 18 DRAGONS) on the other side of the letter because it was the coolest thing i could think of drawing at the time. and i completely agree with 2014 me because it IS super fucking cool. hell fuckin yeah

https://shidiand.tumblr.com/post/76301993387/iku-nagae-ft-that-thing-that-supposedly-is-a

alright that was a fun little trip down memory lane but lets get back on track. november 2013. i started anew as shidiand. still awkward, still learning how to express myself and looking for my place among others. i followed some touhou bloggers, hung around r/touhou a lot as well. in december i got my first tablet for christmas, a wacom bamboo splash. i still use this thing! the usb cable disconnects if you bump it so i have to find just the perfect position to sit in whenever i want to draw, but its served me well. anyways. i was just starting to play around with digital art but i remember, probably just before new years, for some reason i wanted to find out more about tenshi hinanawi (i don't remember why. tenshi wasn't even one of my favourite characters at the time) so i went googling and right there on zerochan i found this:

https://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=23525572

this was during my dark souls phase so i just went BANANAS at the sight of this. this was literally the coolest image i had ever seen in my internet life. That image alone made me want to draw in hopes that I could make something as cool as that someday.

it wasn't immediately after but i soon discovered tenco's story, and it was love. kannnu was my very first artistic inspiration, and for a long time, my only one. i absolutely idolized them at the time. since then, ive found other artists to look up to, in a more healthy manner, but to this day i still look up to kannnu, still admire their work a lot.

i played around with drawing, followed the lives of people on tumblr, started reading touhou fanfiction, made a new twitter. i met a lot of new people along the way. some people i havent stuck with, some i cut ties with, and some people i still keep in contact with today. over those long 5 years of being shidiand, i found a name (i used to use shidian and then shid, but someone called me shidi once and i realized that was a lot better), how to reach out to others, how to express myself, places that i could feel included in. this is why i owe a blood debt to evelyn, who permitted me to kneel at her throne and was like "yea ok you can join my discord server u seem cool". evelyn, if you were confused by me ominously mentioning this blood debt/blood oath in a tumblr reply 1-2 years ago, this is the context. those 5 years were like a coming of age of sorts, that i never had when i was in high school.

and my love for tenco's story, that inspired me to draw that day, has been with me since almost the very beginning of my time as shidiand. from the beginning, i have always encouraged people to READ TENCO'S STORY, like the kin of those who cry PLAY MELTY or WATCH SYMPHOGEAR. i think my very first sidebar description was something akin to a prayer, written in very choral language, hoping for the day tenco's story iv was completed, ..., "meanwhile, furious shitposting". kannnu's work, finding delight in whatever they chose to draw, has been at my side, all along. my true mentor, my guiding moonlight...

so that's why i still to this day love tenco's story so much.

let's talk about tenco's story.

tenco's story is a story told through single pictures. the plot is vague, and details are sparse. dialogue is rare. we only know what has happened; we seldom know why. furthermore, there are many gaps between scenes that the reader is left to fill in for themselves; we see only snapshots that form an hazy outline of the events that occurred, and must imagine the rest. motivations and explanations fail me. but even with a barebones plot, tenco's story has themes, and if nothing else, those have to be carried through.

the main theme, of course, is journey and travel, but there are also other ideas, too. i actually think they start to change as the series goes on:

book i, where tenshi runs away from home, is about striking out on your own. it's a very fun and unpredictable journey, together with a friend.

book ii, where tenshi and iku are separated, forces tenshi to find and rely on companions of her own even more. but they do so, and they are able overcome hardships, and there is food and festival.

book iii marks a climax, reasserting tenshi's goal of finding the sword of hisou. i feel like the journey shifts from a travel (visiting) to a path forwards (making your way through). perhaps this is just something i get from knowing the locations from dark souls (Anor Londo, New Londo Ruins, the Great Hollow), but the locations start to give more of a sense of verticality, like they're emphasizing tenshi's climb to the summit. the hardships and enemies are the greatest they've been yet, and right when they near the top, tenshi and iku start to bleed. the book ends on an uncertain note.

if i had to describe the type of journey and travel that tenshi and iku undertake, there's this sense of wonder at discovering new places, wandering from vista to vista in delight, but also a sense of conquering, making it through a difficult patch. the sequence from pages 2-44 to 2-51, taken together, convey this sense of overcoming the best. it's one of my favourite parts. again, although the tone definitely starts to lean towards struggle in book iii, i think tenco's sense of wonder really is the heart of the series. there's no map of the world, no predicting where tenshi and iku will end up next. and through their travels, though they come across many enemies, they also find friends -- places of refuge, places full of life, people who will look after them for a few days, companions who will stay with them for the rest of the journey. at the end of book iii, we see a long haired tenshi with purple hair being impaled by the sword of hisou (3-33, see also this extra illustration that risa pointed out to me http://sinnnkai.blog.fc2.com/blog-entry-195.html), and regular short haired tenshi continuing on her journey (3-42). if we ignore the out-of-story images where tenshi has the sword of hisou, tenshi has actually only ever used her sunlight blade (2-24, 3-26, etc), so i think that the long haired tenshi on 3-33 is a different person altogether. (if i had to guess, she might be the purple haired woman in the top left of https://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=35443328 as we have never seen that woman appear anywhere.) she probably has something to do with the flashbacks at the end of book ii and she might somehow be short-haired tenshi at the same time, but this is just speculation.

however, in 3-43, tenshi's hair is rather blue, so i don't know if this is the purple haired woman or not. if it is, tenshi is probably still fine and closing in on the summit, but if it isn't, then it's very worrying to see a picture of tenshi without any of her companions. it's very ominous.

meanwhile, iku, while climbing the red carpeted corridor, is stabbed, and disappears for a few pages. there's a black page, a shot of a shrine that strongly resembles the hakurei shrine, and a picture of iku standing behind someone in a tux, with the line "In the past, I was saved by the lady I was serving, you see?". and then iku wakes up in a field of flowers.

i think what this scene makes clear is a theme that has continued to appear and reappear throughout every book of "being saved, being aided by someone's kindness".

i think another theme that is implied and has to be addressed by this story of running away from home is "return". something im imagining is that the reason tenshi makes finding the sword of hisou her goal is because she wants to have something to prove herself with, to vindicate her when she comes home. but i don't think she needs to prove anything, and i ultimately think that she would be happier spending the rest of her life exploring.

so i think this should be what happens in the ending.

open on iku's journey, and give her a long sequence of travel without seeing tenshi. underline her newfound resolve. she climbs to the summit with albinoss, and finds the rest of tenshi's companions fallen. and in the last room is sword of hisou tenshi, who has lost herself, and it comes down to iku to bring her back. after a difficult battle, when both of them are on their last legs, iku is unable to stand any longer. but at this moment tenshi sees her companions struggling to get back up and reach her, and that's what brings her to her senses. and iku gets to see how many friends tenshi's been able to make on her own, and they finally and properly reunite. together, tenshi and iku carry each other out of the last room.

i don't think it's necessary to return to heaven. as a conclusion, dedicate some time to tenshi and iku travelling together. they're on their way back, revisiting old friends who helped them along the way, enjoying the journey. their last stop is the house of the elderly nawis (1-42). tenshi shows off the sword of hisou; she decided to keep it not as a trophy to show her family but as proof of the bonds of her companions. surrounded by friends, tenshi and iku decide to part ways with each other, knowing that the other will be alright. iku drifts among the clouds once more, and tenshi sets off for the horizon.

that's the plot that i'd write/just wrote. i don't really expect tenco's story iv to ever come out, though. i mentioned my first sidebar description earlier in this essay, but of course, you can see that it's been changed. 2 years ago, i read my hopeful prayer once more and was struck with a terrible melancholy, so now it reads this: "having come to terms with the fact that tenco's story iv will never be released, i can still live, knowing that the spirit of the journey will live on through kannnu's original works [...] meanwhile, furious shitposting".

on one level, tenco's story is a story, but in the process of following it, i came to think of the work itself as a journey too. you can constantly see kannnu's improvement between and even within each book. they have always drawn whatever they liked; what plot matters in the face of "I wanted to draw a beautiful sky." "I wanted to draw a fantastic battle." "I wanted to draw Dark Souls and Monster Hunter and Pokemon and Brave Fencer Musashi and Bokura no Taiyou and Touhou."

its not really kannnu's style to go back and tie up old ends. they just draw whatever makes them happy. so as i watch them continue to draw beautiful places and fantastic creatures, new characters heading out on journeys of their own or just enjoying their everyday lives, it's as if tenco's story never ended. the limits and consistency of that world ignored, and a new one springs up; in a way, the world of tenco's, which had such thin boundaries, just gets bigger.

but even so, having said all that, i still see them draw that short-haired tenshi from time to time. it makes me happy to see them remember tenco's story with such fondness. often crossing over with orion or roar or elweiss, you can see tenshi on another journey.

[hershelsstyles]

Lost in Japan

Part 3 - Harry gives Nina a backstage tour

word count: 2,281

Series masterlist

The city gets dark and after having dinner at a local restaurant, I go back to my hotel. After I check in and get up to my room, the first thing I do is pull my SD card out of my camera and shove it in my laptop.

I look at the amazing images I got from today, I choose my favorite and post it to Instagram. I tag the location and write a small caption.

Less than a few minutes later, the picture has over 2,000 likes, and so many comments saying the same thing.

"Omg Harry's in Tokyo to!! Is that why he followed her?"

I remember how Harry said he would be in Japan soon. My stomach starts to feel bubbly. Why am I feeling nervous?

After chilling, I open my laptop again and decide to read through my emails. It's crazy how when you gain a small following on Instagram the number of random companies email you with all sorts of weird brand deals. Almost all of them are spam, but I come across one email from a personal Gmail account that I don't recognise. I click on it.

From: Jefferyazzof@gmail.com

Hello, you have been invited to Harry Styles live on tour in Tokyo on the 12th of May. Please be at the venue at 7 pm, give your name to the box office to collect your tickets. Looking forward to seeing you there.

Kind Regards

Jeffery Azzof,

Full Stop Management.

This is insane. I immediately check the date as I have basically been jumping time zones throughout the last week, I have no idea what day it is. Today is the 11th of May, that means the concert is tomorrow. My heart is skipping beats, I feel so excited. This is actually crazy, Harry has invited me to his show! How does he know I'm in Tokyo? I know I told him I was going to be in Japan soon, but I never specified dates. My phone buzzes in my lap. Its a notification from Instagram, @harrystyles liked your post. I open the app to see which one he liked, it's not even my latest post, he's looking through my feed.

I don't even have to think about whether I'm going or not, there is no question about it. I don't know if I'm supposed to reply to the email or not. I decide against replying because firstly I would know what to say or not sound desperate. I sit on my bed and try to comprehend what just happened. I think about what I'm going to wear, what is it going to be like? Am I going to see him? Obviously, I'm going to see him perform, but will we get the chance to see each other again?

I decided I should probably listen to his album some more if I'm going to his show. As I'm getting ready for bed I'm singing the words to 'Sweet Creature', his album is actually really good. It so different to One Direction but I find myself starting to really like it. I wonder if it's going to sound different live, what kind of show he will put on. I fall asleep listening to ‘From the Dining Table.’

The next morning when I wake up, I remember the events of last night and my evening plans and my stomach is doing flips. I'm so excited, but nervous. As I hop in the shower and get ready for the day I can't wipe a smile off my face.

Today I was planning on going to the gardens Harry suggested I visited, and since the show is at 7 pm I still have the whole day ahead. After spending the day around Tokyo shooting the whole time, I head back to my hotel around 5 pm so I can get ready.

After I shower, I straighten my hair. I put on a bit of light makeup which consists of a tinted moisturizer, bronzer, a swipe of highlighter on my cheekbones and eyelids, mascara, and lip balm.

I put on my outfit which is a red dress which comes above my knees and has buttons down the front. It light and summery as Tokyo weather is warm, and so is a concert. I decide against any fancy shoes and settle with my old skool black vans, I'm going to need comfort as Ill probably be standing the whole night.

After spending about 20 minutes trying to figure out a route to get to the venue on public transport, I decided to give up and call a taxi. I don't want to risk getting lost and being late. I make my way down to the hotel lobby just as the taxi arrives.

When I get to the venue I'm overwhelmed with how large it is. I quickly spot the box office in the crowds of people and make my way over. Next to me is the merchandise tent with very long lines. I look at the merch being sold as I join the much shorter line for the box office, my eye is caught by the 'Treat People With Kindness' t-shirts, I love that, he's using his platform to spread such a nice message. I really want to get one but the line is so long and I'm already in the line for the box office.

Soon it's my turn to step up to the window. I begin to realise the person working probably doesn't know English, and I don't think my Japanese is good enough to explain why I'm here. My worries soon disappear as when I approach the window she greets me in English.

"Hello, how can I help you today?"

"Hi, um I was told to come here and pick up a ticket for Nina Grey"

"One moment please," she says as she types into her keyboard. I nervously watch her in anticipation, maybe that email was a joke, my email is in the bio of my Instagram, anyone could have sent it.

I start feeling hot, and not because of the warm weather, my nerves are kicking in. She then picks up the phone next to her and starts speaking quickly in Japanese. I can't understand anything she's saying other than when she says my name.

She puts down the phone, I'm fully preparing myself for her to start laughing at me and tell me there no ticket for me.

But she instead smiles at me "I will just print your ticket now, Jeff will be here to take you inside soon"

I recognise the name Jeff, the guy who sent the email. A flood of relief comes over me. The lady hands me my ticket and tells me to wait by the VIP check-in area for Jeff. I thank her as I walk away.

Not long after, a tall man in his early thirties walks over to me, he reaches out his hand to shake mine. "Hi, you must be Nina, I'm Jeff, Jeffery Azzof. I'm Harry's manager, the guy who sent you the email."

I shake his hand, "Hi yes I'm Nina, nice to meet you."

"Well, we better get you inside, ah and before I forget you will need this." He hands me a lanyard with backstage written on it.

"Follow me." He says.

"I really wasn't expecting this, thank you"

"No problem, now I'm just warning you, backstage can be pretty chaotic, so try not to get in the way, everything needs to run smoothly." I nod while we keep walking.

I can tell Jeff is good at his job, his tone wasn't rude or mean, just simply being honest, which I appreciate.

We pass a security guard as we enter through a large door, Jeff waves and smiles. The security guard doesn't say a thing. Jeff was right about backstage being chaotic, there is staff running around, people chatting, eating, and getting ready.

Jeff takes me to the main area where there's a food and drinks table, there's also couches and tables all around, and a ping pong table in the middle of the room. The table has the same words written on it as the merch, 'Treat People With Kindness'.

There are two people that are playing a seemingly serious game of ping pong. One of them looks to be a sound engineer as he's wearing all black and has earpieces, walkie-talkies, and many wires sticking out of his pockets. He hits the ball to the other person playing with him. It's Harry. He's wearing sweatpants, black vans, and a white t-shirt which I recognise, it's his own merch.

I stand and watch the game with Jeff, "Harry is very serious about his ping-pong" He says.

When Harry goes to hit the ball he looks up at me and smiles. He completely misses the ball and it bounces off the table onto the ground and under a couch. The sound guy throws his hands up in the air.

"I finally won! I bet the unbeatable Harry Styles!" Harry doesn't seem to care very much as he puts down his bat and walks over to me.

"Nina, how lovely it is to see you again!" He says going in for a hug. "Thank you for inviting me"

"No problem, I figured since you're here and all you might as well come! I didn't think you would to be honest, we have only met once."

"Of course I was going to come, who would say no to a free show?" I say laughing, he laughs too.

"No seriously, I had nothing else better to do, and I listened to some of your stuff and it's actually pretty good"

"Thank you, that means a lot. You look incredible by the way, red is defiantly your colour." I feel my cheeks starting to blush, and before I can say anything back he grabs me by the hand. "Okay let me show you around"

He first takes me to some dressing rooms, there is a hairdresser styling a guys hair sitting in a chair.

"Nina, this is Ayae our hairstylist, and Adam my guitarist getting his hair styled, because he defiantly needs it," he says jokingly.

"Adam, Ayae, this is Nina."

"Hi, nice to meet you guys"

"So this is the girl you met in business class while the rest of us were sitting in coach?" Adam says in a thick British accent.

"Yes actually it is, and I offered to upgrade you guys, but you all said no"

"Well, we will see you guys later, better get on with this backstage tour." Harry says as he walks out the door, I wave goodbye. The door to the next room is shut, as Harry knocks, I read the sign above it which reads 'Wardrobe'.

"Its always good to knock, I've definitely walked in on more people changing than I would have liked to," He says laughing.

"Come in!" An American voice yells out. Harry opens the door and there are two people standing there looking very suspicious.

"You guys were definitely making out weren't you?" Harry asks. "Definitely not!" the woman exclaims too overprotectedly.

"This is Mitch and Sarah. Mitch is my best friend and guitarist, and Sarah plays the drums, very well might I add." They both acknowledge me by nodding their heads.

"Hi, I'm Nina"

"So this is wardrobe where we keep all our clothes" Harry says as he runs his hand over all the clothing on the racks. "Okay we better be moving on" Harry says as he walks out of the room.

I'm shown around more places, and basically introduced to every person we see. Helene his photographer, Claire his pianist, and many more people I can't remember the names of.

He looks at his watch, "I'm going to have to go and get ready for the show soon, but I want to show you one more thing." He says excitedly.

I follow him as we wind down more hallways, through more doors, and the further we go the louder it gets.

"Warpaint the opening act is on now, but you have to see the crowd from here," he says as he runs up the metal stairs leading to the side of the stage.

I look out at the crowd, "Woah, this is insane" I say. The whole arena is filled. "Don't you feel nervous?" I ask "All these people have come to see you"

"I don't really get nervous anymore, only when there are people in the crowd I know, like you." He says, I smile and laugh, this is so crazy.

"Well we better go back now, I'm due on stage soon, this is their last song."

When we get back to the main backstage area, Harry goes up to Jeff and puts his hand on his shoulder.

"Make sure Nina gets to her seat alright"

"Sure thing" he says then gets distracted by his phone ringing. "Sorry gotta take this" he says walking away.

"Well Jeff is going to kill me if we get behind schedule, so I better be off to get ready. Thank you for coming tonight, I know its kind of odd I just met you, but I really wanted you to be here."

"No thank you for inviting me, that was really nice of you."

"Enjoy the show, see you after?"

"Sure, good luck Harry," I say smiling as he walks off down the hallway.

Jeff walks over to me and puts away his phone. "Okay should I take you to your seat now?"

"That would be great, thank you," I say as Jeff gestures me to follow him out the way he showed me in.

Part 4