#I have some first printings that are nearly 500 pages long and have at least one notable mistake on every single page
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Lesson 9 - Keep It Moving
Today’s Lesson: Keep It Moving
Today’s Teacher: Tower of God by S. I. U
How do you keep a story from grinding to a halt or retreading the same information over and over while you figure out the ending?
Pacing is difficult to teach by example because it’s something that develops over long stretches of story, not in single-panel or short sequential screenshots. But bad pacing is the most common reason people drop a longrunning story - “I just got bored of reading it. It felt like I was reading the same thing over and over again.”
Fortunately for me, who’s never read the comic until prompted to do so while trying to find a good case study for this post, Tower of God has this problem right off the bat!
Tower of God is a pretty old Webtoon about some guy who needs to clear all the levels in a tower to get to a girl he likes. It was recently made into an anime on Crunchyroll. It’s also over 500 episodes long and still going. Each episode is twice the length of most Webtoons, clocking in at the equivalent of nearly 15 print comic pages. And because of this length, it feels as though the story is unfolding glacially slowly. It takes the protagonist four of these extra-long episodes to clear the first level of the tower. The amount of build-up and frequent cutting away to other characters commenting on the protagonist’s trials, instead of heightening the tension of his fight, serve to diminish it by making the fight feel stretched out as well. Long stretches of dialogue and white (or black) space prime the reader to scroll faster to get to the action and might lead to people missing the good bits amidst the fluff.
The formulaic nature of Tower of God’s Level-Up plot means that on a larger scale the story feels even more repetitive, as the protagonist fights a bad guy, moves up to the next level, faces a bad guy it looks like he won’t be able to defeat, unlocks a secret power he didn’t know he had and kicks the bad guy’s ass, and then moves up to the next level again, over and over. We’ve discussed the unsustainability of escalating battle sequences in Lesson 7, and that applies to Tower of God as well. But on a smaller scale, I feel like the fights in Tower of God would land more effectively if they were faster paced, told with bigger splash panels and less unnecessary buildup surrounding them.
Pacing is also a matter of personal preference, however: Stephen King has said he prefers slower-paced stories. I like stories that move quickly (or at least feel like they do), with things developing and changing in every chapter or episode.
Regardless of if you prefer your comics fast or slow, every panel in a comic must either develop the story and characters, or establish the environment and mood, and if it doesn’t do either of those things, there is no reason for that panel to be in there.
Exercise: This is based on an exercise I half-remember from Scott McCloud’s Making Comics. Pick a movie you like and grab some index cards! (If you don’t have any index cards draw some rectangles on a page.) Break down the movie into 16 key scenes or events. Now remove half the index cards so that the story still makes sense. Then, get some new index cards and expand each of the remaining scenes into two cards, or even three. How does the story change depending on what you cut or expand? How does the feeling of the story change? Experiment by cutting some things and adding others. The one thing you can’t do is add in things that weren’t in the movie you were thinking of, or rearrange the order of events.
Webtoon Rec of the Day: The Webtoon I always think of as an example of unsuccessful pacing, Cheese in The Trap, is currently a Daily Pass Webtoon, which means I can’t easily reread it or use it as an example. But I did notice something interesting in Soonkki’s new ongoing Webtoon, After School Lessons for Unripe Apples. Instead of long arcs spanning multiple episodes, each episode of ASLfUA consists of several shorter strips stacked on top of each other. It still feels very slow and occasionally repetitive, but when read closely you can see each short strip develops the slice-of-life scenario further, just very slowly. This slow pace is probably not to everyone’s taste, but it works in a way Cheese in The Trap didn’t for me. At any rate, I think it’s an interesting comic to look at if you want to see how a slowly paced comic can work well.
The Webtoons that have the best pacing I’ve noticed tend to be Webtoons that were completed in under 200 episodes, and unfortunately a lot of completed Webtoons are now in Daily Pass jail. I really enjoyed Lilac 200% recently, though, so if you have the patience for Daily Pass and enjoy bodyswap stories and scathing critiques of the idol industry, I recommend it.
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My Saviour-Taron Egerton
This is something Ive been working of for close to 3 weeks, final work count is 11′500 words approx, hope yous enjoy it :)
Y/N:
“Goddammit all to hell! Y/N!”
My boss’s voice rang out through the office, and out of the corner of my eye I saw several people wince at the tone. I kept my face blank even though I wanted to do the same thing, dreading going into his office. I took a silent, deep breath as I pushed away from my desk and walked into Mr. Walker’s office.
“Yes, Mr. Walker?” I kept my voice neutral, knowing it was the safest route. My eyes widened as I took in the scene on his desk, knowing this was bad. Oh, so very bad.
Spilled coffee covered the posters spread out on his desk, posters that he needed for a presentation he’d been working on for months for a huge client.
Of course, when I say he’d been working on them, I meant the team he bullied around. He’d been bragging about this client since the moment they were assigned to him, telling anyone who cared to listen- and many who didn’t- that this one was sure to land him a promotion and an office upstairs. So naturally, he had other people do the work for him.
Chester Walker was what I liked to call a brilliant idiot. He couldn’t do any actual work with any intelligence, but he somehow figured out a way to keep climbing up the ladder. Either he knew exactly how to blame the right people when things went wrong, or his daddy placed money in the grubby hands of the higher ups. Probably a little bit of both.
“I need you to get down to the third level and have them print another copy of this presentation. Run, yell, do what you fucking have to in order to get this to me on time.” He was already trying to clean the mess up off his desk, not looking at me once.
“B-but, sir, it’s going to take at least 20 minutes for those to print again. The meeting is in less than five!”
He looked up from his desk, his thin hair falling over his sweaty face as he glared at me. “Well then you should’ve been down there fifteen minutes ago! Just get your ass down there and bring them up to the meeting when they’re done.”
I snapped my mouth shut, fuming silently as I rushed away to do his bidding. There was no point in arguing that there was no fucking way I could’ve had them reprinted for him on time when he literally just ruined them. He’d only yell some more, wasting both our time. And there was no way I could just tell him to go to hell- I needed this job, as much as I hated it.
I burst into the printing room, and my eyes locked onto one of my best friends. Samantha saw me, and the look on her face must have clued her in to how desperate I was.
“What do you need, girl?”
“Chester just spilled coffee all over his presentation for the meeting that starts in,” I glanced at the clock on the wall, “thirty seconds.”
“Shit,” she muttered. Placing her hands around her mouth, she yelled out to the three other workers down there. “Everyone, drop what you’re doing. Start reprinting Chester’s stupid posters. My girl needs ‘em!”
I relaxed just a bit as she turned back to me with a grim smile, the other workers clacking away on their keyboards to find the project she was talking about. Everyone in the building knew who Chester was. He made sure of that.
“With everyone printing different pages, we can cut the time in half. Sorry I can’t do more than that, sugar.”
“It’s alright Sammy. That’s better than nothing."She sighed and turned to her own computer, pulling up the project in the database history and calling out which pages she wanted everyone printing. I paced back and forth along the carpet, watching the clock tick by second by grueling second.
Eleven minutes later, I was pounding up the stairs towards the ninth floor where the meeting was. I knew it was a risk going into the meeting sweaty and out of breath, but I was desperate to get there as fast as possible. Thank god I wasn’t completely out of shape, or they would’ve found me dead in the stairwell after three of the seven flights I had to climb.
I shoved open the last door, gasping and panting but glad no one in the meeting could see me from here. I leaned against the door, closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths to calm down before walking at a clipped pace to the meeting room. I knocked on the door sharply and waited for Chester to invite me in- as I knew he preferred.
I kept my breathing as steady as possible while I walked to the front of the room where Chester held court. I could feel everyone’s eyes on me, burning into my skirt and blouse that I hoped to god didn’t show how sweaty I was.
"Took you long enough, Y/N. I apologize again gentleman. I’m sure you all know how hard it is to find good help.”
Tittering laughter filled the room at Chester’s words as I stiffly shoved the posters at him.“Careful girl, you already ruined the first set.” Chester’s snide words made my back stiffen and I opened my mouth to contradict him. He raised an eyebrow at me, shooting a glance towards the rest of the table and my mouth snapped right back shut. If I mouthed off to him in front of these people, I was for sure going to lose my job.
“Sorry,” I grit out. I knew had to get out of there before I exploded. I spun on my heels as Chester began his presentation, his nasally voice grating on my every nerve as I mentally eviscerated him.
TARON :
I watched in fascinated rapture as the woman stomped out of the room, steam nearly blowing out her ears. She kept her head high, her hazel eyes flashing fire. Her strawberry blonde ponytail swung quickly, the tips of her hair brushing the small of her back. She was a tiny thing, probably 5'2" without the wicked heels she was wearing if I had to take a guess, and slender with just enough curves to fill my hands.
And fuck, did I want those curves in my hands.
“Mr. Egerton ?”
I jerked my head back to the other side of the table where the piece of shit my company had been dealing with over the last few months was standing.
I merely stared at him, not saying a word. It didn’t take long for him to drop his eyes, and satisfaction filled me. He coughed awkwardly, then continued with his presentation. I tuned him out as my mind drifted back to the woman.
Y/N. I scrunched my nose, thinking that the name didn’t really fit her. It sounded too… delicate. And even though she was a small thing, she had steel in those bones of hers. No, she wasn’t anything like a flimsy piece of lace.
A man a couple seats down to my right was speaking now, and I finally tuned into the conversation.
“As you can see by the charts up on the board, we project that sales would go up by at least 15% with in the next year after implementing said changes.”
“Only 15%?” My voice rang out in the room, and everyone turned to me. “By my math, if all the changes that I expect to be put in to place go well, there should be a 27% increase and that’s just within the first eight months.”
Chester’s face went bright red and he glared at the other man. “Did you input all of the data I gave you David?”
“Y-yes sir, I know I did.” He started flipping though the pages of a folder in front of him, his face pale as he frantically searched for the info.
“Obviously you didn’t.” Chester’s sneer was nasty, and my blood boiled even hotter at the way he was acting. I ran a goddamn tight ship, but I always treated my employees with respect. This was only fire on the flames of the annoyance I’d had with him since the beginning, plus the way I’d nearly jumped out of my chair and strangled him with the way he’d talked to Y/N.
“Enough,” I said harshly as I stood. “I’ve heard plenty. David, come with me.” I turned and walked out of the room without a backward glance, knowing that everyone on my team would automatically follow; as would David. My reputation as a ruthless business man was slightly exaggerated but it wasn’t inaccurate, and I used that infamy to my advantage when I had to.“David.” In the next second the man was hurrying to walk beside me, his mouth opening, probably to make another apology. I interrupted him before he could even begin. “Where is Y/N?”
“Who?” I glanced to him to see him confused, and I realized I referred to her by my own nickname for her.“Y/N.”
“Oh. Um, this way.” He motioned to the left toward the elevators. “She’s three floors below, where Mr. Walker’s office is.”
“What’s her role here?”
“She’s his… assistant.” He pushed the elevator call button.
I turned to my associates. “Gary, Emily, Reid. Go ahead on to the office, I’ll be there shortly.” They all looked at me with a little bit of curiosity, knowing this wasn’t my usual m.o.
“You got it boss,” Gary finally responded. I rolled my eyes at him, ignoring his chuckle as I turned back to David, all of us stepping into the elevator.
“Now why did you hesitate when you said she was his assistant?"David swallowed hard, but kept eye contact. A kernel of respect for him grew, knowing that not everyone was able to do that when I was in a mood.
"Well, that’s what she is. He calls her his 'glorified secretary’ though.” The distaste was obvious in his voice and stamped all over his face. My respect for him grew a few more notches.
“Hmm. Can I see the file?” He handed it over to me without hesitation, and I shuffled through the papers. I found and email to David from Chester, notes about the data for today’s projections. I immediately noticed several important factors were missing, and I quickly figured out that those numbers would have affected the data and given us exactly what was presented to me today.
It was obvious that Chester had failed to pass on all the information I’d needed for David to correctly prepare the presentation. It wouldn’t surprise me to find that Chester had barely done any of the work for this, only wanting to take the credit when all was said and done. I made a noise of disgust in my throat, closing the file and handing it back to David.“Sir?” David was looking at me warily, and I was sure all my rage and frustration was showing on my face. The elevator stopped, pinging to let us know we were on the floor we needed.“Take me to Y/N.”
Y/N:
I slammed another desk drawer shut, taking my anger out on the poor thing. Everyone had been avoiding me for the last half hour. Wisely. I was in no mood to deal with anyone else’s bullshit today. In fact, I was just getting ready to leave early. I didn’t care if Chester got mad at me for it, there was no way I was staying here to help him after he lied and threw me under the bus in front of everyone earlier.
I took my note to Chester to his office, grumbling out loud to myself the whole way. It was a bad habit of mine, but one I hadn’t been able to get rid of.“He’s so freakin’ stupid. I don’t know why he even wants this job, when he doesn’t know anything. I mean, that’s just got to be so stressful. Well I guess if you’re smart it would be, but he’s dumb enough to think that everything is perfectly fine when everyone just wants to wring his fat neck.”
I was just saying the last part as I stomped out of his office, freezing when I noticed David standing awkwardly at my desk with a stranger. David gave me a tight smile, but I barely saw it as I took in the other man.
Standing almost a foot above my own height, he was lean but I could see even through the tailored cut of his expensive suit that he was fit, and probably still packed with muscle. He had a confident and intense aura about him, and my mouth went dry at the look in his eyes as he perused my body from my heeled feet to the tie in my hair holding my ponytail.
His eyes were so dark they looked black, and he already had a five o'clock shadow covering his jaw and cheeks, the black stubble that matched his hair calling to me. My fingers twitched, wanting to reach out and feel the prickles against my skin.
“Y/N, I presume?”
Holy shit. A full body shiver went through me at that voice, deep and gruff with the hint of a British accent. I swallowed hard and nodded, taking a few more hesitant steps towards the mystery man.
“Y/N, this is Mr. Taron Egerton .”
A lightbulb went off in my head at David’s introduction of the stranger, and I stiffened. This was the head of the company for the presentation Chester had been in charge of, and if he was here at my desk, and only after half an hour, that meant the meeting hadn’t gone well. And since Chester had blamed the lack of visual aids on me, I assumed Mr. Egerton was here to berate me for it. I had no choice but to save my ass.
“Mr. Egerton ,” I started as I stepped toward him and held out my hand in greeting. “I would like to apologize for the Y/N in today’s presentation. I hope that my mistake didn’t deter you from working with us.”
He let me finish my apology before taking my hand, and when our palms touched sparks shot through me. I was grateful I hadn’t been speaking at the time, because the effect he had on me would’ve been obvious when I tripped over my words.“No apologies necessary, love”
My eyebrows shot up in confusion at his words, “My name is Y/N."“I know I don’t like it that much”
I felt my face flush, embarrassment and a little disappointment filling me at the blunt words. Turning to my desk and sitting, I replied, “Then feel free to leave.”
I shook my mouse to wake up my screens, focusing on them even though I could feel him staring at me. It was probably irrational of me to be sad he didn’t like my name, since I didn’t either, but I couldn’t help it.
“David, wait for me down the hall.” Mr. Egerton ’s voice brooked no argument, and I watched out of the corner of my eye as David immediately did as he was told. I snorted a tiny bit under my breath at his obedience; I wouldn’t be so easy to order around.
Mr. Egerton walked around to my side of the desk, spinning the chair so that I was facing him. He bent down to get closer, his words low but commanding.
“You’re going to have lunch with me. I can already tell you want to fight me, but I wouldn’t suggest it. I have no problem putting you over my shoulder and spanking that ass if you do."His words made me bristle and warm all at once, the mental image of his threat enticing me and pissing me off at once. I could feel the tip of my nose turning red like it did when I was holding back my anger.
Pushing against the floor, I rolled the chair back and out of his hands so I could stand, grabbing my purse angrily.
"I’m going to go with you so that you don’t cause a scene, but don’t think for one second that I want this,” I grit out so only he could hear. This office was open and full of gossips, although fairly harmless ones.
He let out a low laugh, and the hairs on my neck raised in appreciation of the sound. Traitor body, I thought to myself as I stormed past Mr. Egerton towards the elevator doors. I punched the button and waited, listening to him and David talk behind me.
“Although your charts were wrong, they were not incorrect David. You weren’t given the information you needed, so your data was off by no fault of your own. Give me your email address and I will send you the correct information. I expect to see the updated charts in two days.”
“Yes, sir.” David sounded a tad confused, reflecting my own thoughts. Why would the owner of a giant corporation want to deal with someone lower on the totem pole? Usually men of Mr. Egerton ’s status thought they were better than all that, preferring to deal with the higher ups.The elevator doors opened and he followed me in, leaving me trapped with him in a big metal box. His scent enveloped me, and I took a slow deep breath to really appreciate it. It was something smoky with a hint of freshly cut wood, and I only wanted to get closer, imprint it in my mind forever.
Shaking my head to get myself together, I turned to the man who’d somehow managed to discombobulate me without even trying. “What am I doing here, Mr. Egerton ?”
“Please, call me Taron .” I made a non-committal noise, and his mouth twitched, a ghost of a smile appearing for a moment. He moved closer to me, backing me into a corner and placing his hands on either side of me, caging me in.
My mid was telling me to push him away, but my body had different ideas. My pulse quickened, beating hard in my veins as his dark eyes captured my own light ones.
“I can see you want to fight me Y/N, and I like that. But I have an offer you can’t refuse."I paused for a moment, then burst out laughing. "You’re really going to use that on me right now?”
He chuckled and stepped away from me, breaking the tension. “I know, it’s cliché, but I couldn’t help myself.”
With that one sentence, I learned something about Taron . He was intense, but a bit of a goof underneath that. I wasn’t sure why that made me instantly more comfortable with him, but it did. I finally relaxed, but crossed my arms over my chest and raised an eyebrow at him, still expecting an answer to my previous question. His eyes flicked down to my cleavage, now more pronounced by my crossed arms. A sliver of satisfaction filled me at the heat that flared up in his eyes before he snuffed it out and got to business.
“I want you to come work for me.” His tone brooked no argument, but that wasn’t the kind of person I was. I didn’t follow commands like a dog, and I wasn’t going to start with him no matter how delicious he looked and smelled.“No.”
TARON :
I stared down at Y/N, hiding my shock at her answer. I was trying to avoid looking at her tits again, because I wanted her to know I was serious about this. I didn’t want her here with that shit head Chester. I wanted her in my space, around me. All the fucking time. It was a little disconcerting how suddenly this need for her had consumed me, but fuck if I was going to try to fight it.
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t take orders from anyone.”
“Oh really? You mean like Chester?” I knew it was a dick move, but I wanted to get my point across. “You would rather stay here and take the blame for all his mistakes? Let him walk all over you?”
“And what’s the alternative here? You want me to come work for you, where I’ll probably end up spread out on your desk or under it, sucking your cock while you try to have a conference call? I’m not an idiot, and I don’t want my life to end up like some trashy romance book!”
My dick throbbed painfully at the images she painted for me, and though I was guilty of wanting just that, I wasn’t the kind of man to expect that.I crowded her against the wall again, ignoring the ping of the elevator saying we’d reached our floor. I spoke in a low voice, so she was the only one that could hear me if other people were around.
“Although I’d love to have those pretty lips surrounding my cock, that’s not what I meant. I see your drive, your passion, and it would thrive in my office instead of being stifled here in this one.” I stepped back and turned to leave the elevator, ignoring the looks of the couple of people standing outside watching. “Let me know if you change your mind, Y/N.”
That woman was so goddamn stubborn. It’d been nearly a month since my visit to the office, and she had avoided speaking or seeing me at all costs. My takeover of the company was almost complete, although only two other people knew that it was happening. I hadn’t said anything to Y/N, but after I bought that company out I was going to promote her.
I didn’t want her to think I was doing it because I wanted her under me. And I didn’t want her to think I was using that to get her to like me. Not after all the gifts I’d tried sending her that she’d sent back in the same day. Every time I’d gotten the gift back, I’d grinned and chuckled, storing it away for later. She was going to accept the gifts someday, whether she knew it or not.
I had noticed though that in the last basket I’d sent, she’d taken out a caramel chocolate bar. I’d smirked, loving that she’d given a tiny piece of herself away even if she didn’t know it. I was desperate to know her, to get inside her head and figure out what made her tick.
Of course she was beautiful; that was obvious. But with every spurned gift I only yearned more to know her. And today, I was going to make sure I got exactly what I wanted.
Today was the meeting for all the staff, to tell them about the takeover and introduce to them their new owner and overall boss- me. I knew exactly what changes I was going to be making, and I knew some people weren’t going to be happy about it but I didn’t give a fuck.
“We’re here, Sir.” My driver’s words brought me out of my head, and I nodded crisply. I didn’t wait for him to open my door, reaching for the handle and letting myself out. I headed into the building, glancing at my watch to make sure I would walk in at the precise time. I got in the elevator, doing my best not to think about the fact that last time I was here I had Y/N in here with me.
I stepped off onto the 5th floor, making my way to the meeting room. I heard the voice of the previous owner of the company, Pete, just finishing letting them know he’d sold his company. Stepping through the door, I caught his eye and he motioned towards me.
“I’d like to introduce you to the new owner, Taron Egerton .” Polite clapping followed his words, but I barely heard it. I’d caught Y/N’s eye, and the heat in the air between us was high, her gaze shooting daggers at me. Something I would deal with later, especially seeing as how I was about to flip her world upside down.
“Thank you Pete. I hope your retirement is as enjoyable as you’ve been planning.” He chuckled at my words and shook my hand, waving to the people gathered in the office.
“Good luck with this one!” He chortled and waddled his 72-year old body out of the building. The room went quiet, and I stood looking at everyone until I heard the chime of the elevator in the distance signal his final departure.
“Okay everyone. As you’re aware, I just bought this company. I am a demanding boss, but I am fair. I may ask a lot, but nothing I’m not willing to give in return. If you’re a hardworking employee, then you have nothing to worry about.”
I saw a few surprised glances, and I let the ensuing whispers die down before I began to talk again. I caught Y/N’s eye while everyone was semi-distracted, giving her a small smile and a quick wink that only made her glare harder. I swallowed the chuckle with a cough, catching the room’s attention once again.
“Chester?” The heavyset man stood, a smug smile on his face that I was about to wipe off.“Yes, Taron ?”
I held back the snort at his presumption of using my first name. “You’re fired."Gasps rang out through the room, and Chester’s face went white. I glanced at the crowd, noticing a fair amount of them looked pleased with the new development, even though they tried to hide it. Chester began to splutter, and I cut him off.
"You don’t do any of your own work. You blame other people for your faults. You’ve been stealing from the office and those under you, and I don’t tolerate dishonesty or thieves. Get your shit and go.”
His face turned red, but he wisely held back whatever words he wanted to say. He turned and stomped out of the room, all of us watching as he went. He stepped out of the room, and I turned back to the others with a pleasant smile.“Now that that’s out of the way, let’s move on.”
Y/N:
Holy shit.
I wanted to clap, laugh, and cheer for this new development. My anger with Taron had temporarily abated, my happiness at his firing of Chester overshadowing everything else.“Y/N.” Taron ’s voice was sure, his gaze pinned on me as I froze in my seat. Oh shit, was I next?I stood on shaky feet, clasping my hands together to hide my nerves as I stared him down defiantly despite the pounding of my heart.
“You will be replacing Chester. If there’s anyone not on the team that you need or would like to move around, come to me and I will take care of it. I would also like to speak to you about your new responsibilities after this meeting is over.” He nodded, signalling that I could sit back down.I fell back into my chair, still processing what the hell had just happened. I tuned out the rest of the meeting while my brain tried to decide what Taron ’s motivation for this was. There were people here who had been there longer, in the actual field of work, that would have been better able to take over than a secretary.
Was this all his way of finally getting me to work for him? Anger rose anew at the thought, his manipulation and secrecy pissing me off. He couldn’t have bothered to tell me he was taking over? I ignored the voice in my head that said I’d been ignoring him so even if he had tried tot ell me I probably wouldn’t have listened.
I sat there fuming for the next 20 minutes, every possible reason for all of this getting worse and worse in my brain. Taron finally dismissed everyone and then motioned for me to follow him. I did so silently, waiting until we were alone to have the conversation that was bubbling inside. He didn’t initiate conversation, the ride in the elevator up to his office a couple floors above silent and vibrating with tension.
He let me in his office first, shutting the door behind me. As soon as I heard the click that signalled we were now private, I let loose.
“What’s the point of this? Are you doing all of this just to get back at me for ignoring you? Are you going to blackmail me with my new job, take it away if I don’t fuck you?”
His face had been impassive at first, but at my last words his eyes darkened and his expression turned thunderous. My words died at that look, my nipples perking against my will as he grabbed me and pressed me against the door, his face coming close to mine.
“I’m only going to say this once, so listen closely Y/N. I promoted you because I know you have the ability to get the job done, and fairly. I know it’s where you want to be. I know that everyone you talk to loves you, and that you will make a fuck of a lot better boss than Chester ever was."His words floored me. "How… how do you know that? About me, I mean?”
His eyes roamed over my face, the intensity bringing a blush to my cheeks. “David is a well of information once he gets started.”
I mentally cursed David, and then myself for giving him tidbits about me when I knew he was a worse gossip than old ladies in a small town.
“One last thing Y/N, and then we’ll get to business.” He leaned even closer, his face tilting so that he could talk directly into my ear. “When I fuck you, it will be because you’re begging for my cock in that tight, sweet little pussy of yours and not because of any goddamn job.”
He pushed away from me and turned, leaving me breathless and wet at his words, my ear still burning from the touch of his hot breath. I watched his saunter over to the chair of his new office before he sat, regarding me with a raised eyebrow.
“Well? Are you ready to get to work?”
I sprayed my new office with the can of air freshener I’d bought last night for the 50th time, trying to get rid of Chester’s scent that had seemed to permeate every corner. I finished the round of freshener, then fell into the brand new chair that had showed up this morning before I got in.
I hadn’t questioned it, only relieved that I wouldn’t have to sit in the same chair as Chester. The idea of that gave me the creeps. I was still getting used to the idea of being in charge of a whole team, but I couldn’t deny the excitement this new challenge brought me. It was where I’d wanted to be all along, and I was so incredibly grateful for all the support the people on my team were already showing me with this being my first official day on the job.
I’d stayed late to make sure that I had everything in order, and pretty much everyone else in the building had already left. I packed up my bag and headed out the door, taking the elevator down to the parking garage. I was mentally running through everything I had to finish tonight before delving even deeper tomorrow, which was probably why I didn’t hear the man shuffling up behind me while I tried to unlock my car door.
A hand grabbed my hair and slammed my forehead into the driver’s side window, pain blasting through my head and making me cry out. The hand tightened in my hair and I dropped everything in my hands to reach up and try to stop it from causing me more pain. I yelped loudly as tears gathered in my eyes while my head was yanked back, the rest of my body pressed against my car by the body of the man behind me,
“You little bitch. You fucked him so he would fire me, didn’t you? And then I bet you took his cock down your throat so you could have my job. Did you spill the beans about my skimming from the company too?”
The nasty voice took a minute to register through the pain, but when it did, I was even more horrified than before.
“Chester?”
His hand yanked on my hair again, and I couldn’t stop the tears from escaping my eyes at that point.
“Fucking whore. Do you realize what you’ve done?”
“What are you talking about? I didn’t do anything!”
“Shut up! You’ve ruined everything!” Chester’s voice was high and reedy, panic obvious. I had no idea what kind of trouble he’d gotten himself into, but it sounded like he was scared shitless. It was hard to feel bad for him at the moment though. I just had to figure out how to get out of this situation.
“Chester, just tell me what you need, I can help.”
“I can help,” He sneered in my ear, his breath wafting over my face and making me gag. “How much do you think your boyfriend will pay to get his slut back?”
I was so confused. “What boyfriend?”
He jerked my head around to face him, and I was horrified to see his face covered in bruises, his left eye completely swollen shut and the right bloodshot and full of anger. I glanced down and saw that the hand that wasn’t tangled in my hair was covered in a makeshift splint, his fingers purple and twisted unnaturally.
“Taron Egerton , the man you fucked to get my job.”
“I haven’t fucked him!” It was true, but by the maniacal laugh he let out, he wasn’t going to believe it.
“Yeah right. I’ve always known you’d do whatever it took to get that job. And it looks like you succeeded.”
I opened my mouth to respond, but he let go of my hair to slap me across the face before I could say anything more. I fell to the ground and curled up in a ball instantly to protect myself from what I was sure to be the beginning of a terrible beating.
I heard a loud thud and crunch and flinched before I realized the sound wasn’t coming from me. I heard some more grunts and odd sounds, and I lifted my head warily to see what was going on. My eyes widened in shock when I saw Chester on his back on the ground with a giant man towering over him, punching his face furiously. At this point, I couldn’t recognize Chester’s face through all the purple and red, blood flowing like crazy.
In the second after I took all that in, my saviour’s voice rang out through the empty parking garage.
“Don’t ever fucking touch her again!” With one more brutal punch, the man turned and faced me, chest heaving and fire in his eyes.
“Taron ,” I whispered out, stunned. He stared at me, his eyes raking over the wound on my forehead and cheek, my skin throbbing when his eyes landed on them. His jaw clenched and he took out his phone, pressing a button and putting it to his ear as he turned to kick Chester in the side a few times.
“E” He paused. “Yeah, the parking garage. Thanks.”
He hung up and turned back to me, holding out a hand.
I stared at it, taking in the blood and swollen knuckles before looking up to his face again. He looked at his own hand, realizing why I hesitated. He swore and then pulled out a cloth from his pants pocket, not even wincing as he cleaned off as much blood as possible. He shoved the cloth in his pocket and then held his hand out again.
“Come on Y/N, let me help you.”
His voice was soft, almost like he was asking me to trust him. And I did, despite the level of violence I’d just seen from him. It was highly possible that Chester was dead, but I couldn’t find it in me to care. If Taron hadn’t shown up, I could be the one laying there on the ground, covered in my own blood.I took his hand, careful of his wounds, and let him help me up. I bent down to grab my dropped purse and keys. I looked back up to Taron , a calm I wasn’t really feeling in my voice as I spoke.“Thank you. See you tomorrow then?” I turned back to my car, my hand shaking so violently I couldn’t get the key into the hole.
“Fuck Y/N,” he growled and swept me up in his arms. I started to protest, but he hushed me with one word. “Stop.”
I automatically settled in his arms, meeting his gaze with questions in my own.“I’m taking you home with me. I need to make sure you’re okay, and you’re in no condition to drive. Please, just let me do this for you. You can go back to hating me tomorrow.”
I shut my mouth, just nodding as I realized I really didn’t want to be alone. I found a weird comfort in his arms that I hadn’t felt in years, if ever. I let him put me in his car just a couple rows over that I hadn’t noticed before and buckle me in, wondering what was going to happen now.
TARON :
We drove in silence to my place, my anger still a burning hot thing inside me while she probably didn’t even realize she was shivering next to me. Thank fuck I’d worked late tonight and drove myself, or else who knows what would have happened to Y/N. The thought of that bastard Chester hurting her made me clench my hands on the wheel. the temptation to turn around and kill that fucker almost too much.
One look over at Y/N though, and I knew I was where I needed to be. I’d already called E, the mystery man on my staff who handled the ugly things like this, and Chester would be given to the very men who’d gotten to him before I did.
Yeah, I knew all about Chester’s gambling problem. He’d been stealing from the company for years to pay his debts, and he’d made a big bet the night before I’d fired him that he had no way to cover now. I would never have imagined that he’d take it out on Y/N though, or I would have made sure he never got near her.
I was feeling the guilt for not protecting her, but it was something I would have to deal with.I pulled into my driveway minutes later, punching in the code to my front gate before driving through and letting it shut behind me. I pulled up to the front door, knowing that someone would move my car where it needed to be eventually. I had Y/N to take care of right now, so the car could wait.
Going around to the passenger side door, I opened it and saw she hadn’t even unbuckled herself. I did it for her and pulled her into my arms again, loving how perfect it felt to have her there. She wrapped her arms around my shoulders and snuggled into my chest, and I nearly stumbled at the warmth that shot through me.
I clutched her tighter to me and made it into my house and up the stairs to the master suite in record time. I walked straight into the bathroom and set her down on the toilet seat. I turned the shower on, testing the temperature before I pulled back.
“Y/N?” She didn’t move, still shivering. “Y/N, I need you to look at me.”
Her head slowly moved up, her eyes glassy but meeting mine.
“Hold it together for another few minutes so you can get warmed up. If I leave, will you be okay?”
“Yes,” she whispered and lowered her head again. I stared at her for a few seconds, warring with myself. I didn’t want to push her too hard, but I didn’t want her going into shock either.
“Alright. I’ll just be right outside the door so if you need me, just shout.”
“Okay.” Another small whisper, but she was responding.
I hesitated, but walked out the door and shut it softly behind me. I listened with my ear to the door, and I let out a sigh of relief when I heard movement and the sound of clothes hitting the tile. The sound of the water changed a minute later, and I knew she’d made it in.
I began to pace the carpet, fuming about the events of the night. My right hand throbbed with the memory of punching that asshole in the face, and I didn’t regret the bruises already forming.A sudden weird sound had me pausing, and I strained to listen. When I heard a second choked-back sob echo in the bathroom, I was opening the door and striding in there without even thinking about it. I pushed the shower door open and saw Y/N huddled up on the floor, arms around her knees as she sobbed as quietly as possible.
I knelt down, not caring about the water ruining my expensive suit, and took her in my arms. She wrapped her arms around my neck and buried her face in my shoulder, her body shaking with her tears as she let it all out.
“Shh, baby, I’ve got you. You’re safe.” I repeated those words over and over, holding her tight to me and petting her hair. I was practically vibrating with the need to go and kill Chester, but knowing that Y/N needed me here more kept my ass plastered to the bottom of the tub.
The water had started to cool by the time Y/N lifted her head from my shoulder, her hazel eyes now a muddy colour but no less beautiful for the torment in them. She sniffled and reached up to rub her eyes, clearing them a bit as she finally focused on me. She looked down at herself and I saw a blush rise on her cheeks when she realized she was naked, in my arms, while I was fully dressed and now soaking wet.
Despite the unholy temptation to glance down and take in her body for myself, I kept my eyes focused on hers. I needed her to trust me right now more than I needed to see her bare skin, and I wanted her to know that.
“Come on Y/N, let’s get you out of her and into something warm.” I kept my voice soft and reassuring, and I waited for her nod of assent before clasping her against my chest as I stood.She let out an adorable little squeak when I lifted her, and automatically wrapped her legs and arms tight around me. I held back a groan at the feeling of having her pressing against me. I needed to focus on getting her what she needed, not what my body wanted. Desperately.
I leaned over to shut the water off and stepped out, not caring about the water dripping from us as I headed back into my room. I reached behind my door and pulled my robe off the hook, awkwardly placing it around Y/N’s shoulders while I held her.
“You’re going to have to let go of me,” I said in a gently teasing voice.
She hesitated, then loosened her grip on my body. She slid down, and I bit my tongue as she rubbed against my dick that was unmistakably hard. Just because I knew I wasn’t going to be doing anything with her tonight, it didn’t mean my dick knew that. We both ignored him however, and I wrapped her up in my robe while I pretended not to notice her body.I brought her over to a chair and had her sit down. “Stay there, I’ll be right back.”
I hurried into my closet and stripped off the ruined clothing, leaving it on the floor to deal with later. I quickly changed into some sweats and t-shirt and made my way back out to Y/N.
Stepping out of my closet, my eyes locked with Y/N’s in the mirror I’d sat her in front of. Her face was still slightly red from her crying, but her eyes seemed to hold more cognizance than before which I was immensely grateful for.
I held her gaze as I moved toward her, letting the silence between us hang there, the tension in the air there but set to the side. I stepped up behind her and lifted my hands, cautiously placing them on her shoulders. When she didn’t flinch or back away from me, I knew she was going to be okay.
“I want to take care of you tonight. Will you let me do that?”
Her eyes widened slightly, and she nodded haltingly.
“I want you to be sure. I swear I won’t do anything that makes you uncomfortable, but I also want to make you feel good.”
A small, strangled sound escaped her and I suddenly realized how my words sounded. My cock jumped beneath my sweats, and I mentally berated it. I moved my hands from her shoulders to her neck, pausing when I felt her quick heartbeat. Pushing away the sudden desire to clasp a hand around her neck and make her tilt back for my kiss, I moved my hands higher into her hair, beginning to massage her scalp.
Her eyes closed and a blissful moan fell out from between her parted lips. I bit my tongue again, and I knew it wouldn’t be the last time tonight. Ignoring the blood rushing from my brain, I continued to massage her head, waiting until she’d practically melted into the chair to take my hands away.
Her eyes popped open when my hands left her, and I smiled at her. “I’m going to get you something to sleep in.”
She nodded and settled back into the chair. I could feel her eyes on me as I walked back to my closet, finding a pair of shorts with a tie and one of my t-shirts for her. After handing them to her and telling her she could go change in the bathroom, I set about making sure that my bed had clean sheets for her. I was just placing the comforter on top when she came out of the bathroom, prompting me to look up at her.
My mouth went dry as I took in the sight of her wearing my old high school mascot shirt- and nothing else. She was holding the shorts in her hand, and gave me a little shrug.
“They weren’t really staying on.” She set them on a nearby chair, and then wrung her hands together as she waited for me to respond.
My dumb ass was still stuck on taking her in. Her long, strawberry hair spilling around her slim shoulders in waves. Her eyes large and cautious. Her braless tits peaking underneath the thin cotton, calling to me. She finally cleared her throat, and I stood up straight from the bed."Right. Uh, well, you can have the bed. I’m going to go out to the couch.”
I started hurrying out of the room, but her grasp on my arm halted me as I walked past her.“Please,” she said in a broken voice that had me turning to face her. “Don’t leave me alone."I shut my eyes and took a deep, steadying breath. "If that’s what you need, then-”
My words were halted by her hand tightening on my arm and pulling me towards the bed. I’ll take that as a yes.
She climbed into my bed like she’d done it a hundred times before and buried herself underneath the blankets. She looked so cosy, so content, that my heart beat hard in my chest imagining what it’d be like to have her in my bed past tonight. In my life.
Shaking those thoughts from my head, I slid in next to her and kept as much distance between us as possible. Not because I didn’t want to curl up behind her and encase her in my arms, but because I knew she’d gone through something traumatic tonight and I wasn’t willing to make her feel like I was pressuring her into anything. even though she’d been the one to ask me to stay, it didn’t mean anything more than that she didn’t want to be alone.
I heard her shift in bed , and I could feel her staring at me. Risking a glance, I saw her on her side facing me, a soft look in her eyes.
“Thank you, T. For saving me tonight, and for everything after. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t been there.”
I swallowed hard as red began to take over my vision. “I’m glad I was there too, Y/N. But no need to thank me.”
With that, I looked away from her, waiting until she turned onto her other side. I listened to her breathing, noticing when it deepened and slowed indicating she’d fallen asleep. Only then did I turn on my side to face her, studying the hidden lines of her body, the unique scent of her that enveloped me as I lay there, thanking whatever gods existed that I was there at the right time tonight. It was those prayers I fell asleep to hours later, my eyes never once leaving the woman in my bed.
Y/N:
I jerked awake, my heart pounding while I stared at the ceiling as the dregs of the dream I was having faded away in the early morning light coming through the window.Wait, that wasn’t right. I had blackout curtains, so what-
I whipped my head to the side as memories flooded my brain, and my heart softened and sped up all at once to see Taron sleeping next to me, noticing our legs tangled together and his hand laying on the bed between us, lightly gripping the ends of my hair.
The dream I’d been having came back to memory and I felt my cheeks heat up at the realization that I’d been having a sex dream about Taron . It was no wonder, when I’d been suffering for weeks to battle my desire for him, and then being surrounded by his scent and presence all night after he’d literally saved my life? Yeah, there was no fighting that now.
My clit pulsed when a vision of T slowly fucking into me from above while my legs were held up by his broad shoulders, and a light moan left me. I was wearing nothing but T’s shirt, and even that was tantalizing. My nipples had been hard since I woke up, and I could feel how wet my pussy was from the dream.
I shifted unconsciously, and I bit my lip as a wicked idea ran though my mind. He seemed to be sleeping deeply enough, maybe if I touched myself just a little to ease the ache, he wouldn’t know?
I kept my head turned towards him so I could watch for any signs he was waking up, and my right hand slid down beneath the blankets to touch my wet pussy. I couldn’t help the small gasp as my fingertips brushed my clit, sending lightning through me.
I paused, waiting for T to wake up, but he didn’t move a muscle. Happy to see that, I continued to slowly rub my clit with two fingers. I studied the lines of his face, the chiselled jaw of his that called for me to kiss it, to feel the stubble growing there rough against my soft lips. Just looking at him and remembering the way his hands had felt on me last night, massaging my head already had me dripping wet. I shuddered as my fingers began to speed up and my eyes closed in pleasure.
“Y/N,” I imagined him saying into my ear. My free hand moved under the shirt I was wearing, pushing it up my stomach so I could squeeze my breast like I imagined he would.I could practically hear him moan in my head, and my fingers moved faster on my clit as my hips lightly thrust into the air.
“Y/N,” Taron said again in my head. I shivered at the sound, how real it was. Something tugged my hair, and the sharp tingles it sent across my scalp hand me moaning. Man, if I’d known accidentally laying on my own hair would have that affect, I’d have tried that a lot sooner!“Y/N, stop.”
My eyes popped open and I froze, little pieces putting themselves together. Exactly how real his voice had sounded. The pulling on my hair. It had actually been him the whole time, awake.I stared up at the ceiling, to embarrassed to look over at him. Fuck, could this get any worse? I still had one hand buried in my pussy and the other gripping my tit, but I couldn’t seem to move.“Look at me Y/N.” He waited patiently for me to gather up the courage. When I did, it was to see him with eyes dilated and full of desire. His body was tight with tension, and one quick glance down had me noticing the giant tent in his sweats.
“I… I don’t know what came over me, I’m sorry.” The words fell from me, breaths shaky and stuttered.
“I don’t really think you are. I think you’re sorry I caught you rubbing your pussy in my bed, but I doubt you’re sorry you did it. Are you?”
His eyes blazed at me with need and a challenge. Would I pretend like I didn’t know what he meant, and let this be the end of it? Or…
“No. I’m not sorry.” My heart sped up even more, and I knew he could see the pulse beating in my neck. “I’m only sorry I’m the one doing it, and not you.”
It took a split second for my words to register, but when they did, his reaction was more than I could have hoped for.
A low growl reverberated in the air around me, and in just a couple seconds he was kneeling between my spread legs, everything bared to his sight as he pushed my arms above my head and into the soft bed.
“It’s been fucking torture,” he groaned while he leaned down and nibbled on my neck. “To see you walking around in those fucking pencils skirts and those damn high heels. To need and want you so badly, and not being able to touch you. But now that you’re in my bed willingly, offering up this pretty as fuck pussy to me? Now, I’m going to get my fill.”
He paused to pull back and study my face, looking for any sign I wasn’t on board.“I need you,” I whispered. It was all he needed to hear. Dropping his forehead onto mine, he stayed there for a second, giving me one last chance to back away. I wrapped my legs around his hips and pulled my body up to meet his, rubbing myself against him through his pants.That seemed to be the last straw. His mouth was on mine before I could take another breath, and I moaned loudly when his tongue came out to tangle with mine. He groaned in response, and sooner than I would have wanted he pulled away.
“Now tell me my sweet little Y/N,” he murmured as he sat back on his heels, inspecting me. “What was it that had you stroking that pussy this morning?”
I bit my lip, embarrassment flooding me again. I really didn’t want to tell him I’d dreamt about him, but I wasn’t sure he would believe a lie if I tried to tell one. His hands moved to grip my thighs, squeezing them before bringing his hands closer together, his thumbs stopping when they met the crease between my leg and pussy lips. He stroked the sensitive skin there, telling me wordlessly that he would continue if I answered him.
I swallowed. “I was dreaming about you, and, ohh…” I broke off when his fingers moved closer, stroking my wet lips. Such a light touch, and so powerful.
“Don’t stop baby, tell me about the dream.”
I fisted the sheets next to my hips and pressed up towards him as I continued in a strained and panting voice. “I dreamed that after you climbed into bed with me last night you didn’t stop yourself from pulling me closer. That you, um, rubbed your cock on my ass while you played with me.”
“Mmm, sounds like a good dream,” he said in raspy tones.
“Yeah… this is better.”
“I haven’t even really touched your pussy yet,” he teased.“Please,” I begged, looking down my body at him. “Please touch my pussy.”
“Since you asked so nicely…”
I watched hungrily, heart beating wildly in my chest, as he leaned forward and took one long lick through my folds. I moaned, my head falling back onto the pillow while I trembled beneath his hands and tongue.
I was no inexperienced woman, but I had never felt anything like this. I had never been so close to coming from just a few swipes of a man’s tongue. His tongue rasped through my folds over and over, dragging me closer and closer to orgasm until my hands were buried in his hair and my hips were grinding up into his face.
“Please, oh please please let me come.” Words fell out of my mouth and echoed around us in his room. His hands grasped my thighs tightly a second before he took my throbbing clit in his mouth and sucked, flicking his tongue across the surface and making me burst into a million pieces.
“Taron! Fuck!” My whole body was shaking, jerking under him as he held me down, humming against me in obvious pleasure at my reaction.
I was just barely starting to come down when T pushed himself up and over me, his eyes fully dilated and my juices still glistening on his face.
“You have no fucking idea how long I’ve been wanting to do that. And Y/N, it was even better than I dreamed.”
I flushed under his praise, a shy smile tilting my lips up. “I think I know what you mean.”
I reached up and wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him down to me, kissing him and tasting myself on his lips. He groaned into my mouth, tilting our heads so that he could kiss me deeper, harder, ratcheting my desire for him right back up.
I pulled away first to look at him. Even though he’d gone down on me and kissed me like he was just seconds away from fucking me within an inch of my life, he still held his hips away from mine. Hell, he was still wearing clothes! The orgasm he’d given me with my mouth had only temporarily satisfied me; I wanted to feel him pumping in and out of me, our skin slick with perspiration as we barrelled towards the edge together.
I moved my hands down his body and grabbed his firm ass, pulling him down tight against me so I could rub against him. The moment our hips met and I shifted underneath him, and strangled sound wrestled itself from T’s throat and his hips thrust hard into mine. A loud cry left me, part surprise and part pleasure at the absolute wildness of the movement.
“Wait, Y/N, I can’t.” He started to pull away, and I wrapped myself like a koala to stop him. I waited until he opened his eyes and looked at me before speaking.“Why not?”
TARON:
Goddammit. Every second she spent wrapped around me was weakening my resolve. She stared up at me with her molten eyes, pleading for me not to go.
“I don’t want to take advantage of you. After last night���” I trailed off, the familiar anger with Chester burning in my chest. I squeezed my eyes shut, breathing through my nose to calm down.A soft hand pressed against my cheek, and the calm I’d been looking for settled over me like a blanket. I opened my eyes to look at Y/N, and saw her eyes full of some emotion I was afraid to name.
“While I appreciate your thoughtfulness,” she began, “I’m not looking for you to be gentle right now. I’m not going to break. Nothing happened to me; you were there to save me. And I need you, T. Remind me what it feels like to be alive.”
I hesitated for just a second, and she saw that. A wicked gleam replaced the soft emotions that were there before, and when she spoke again her words came out on a throaty purr that was impossible for me to resist.
“Come on Taron. Don’t you want to know what it feels like inside my tight, wet pussy? I bet you can slide in all the way on your first try, even though you’re so fucking big.” She moved one hand down and slipped underneath my pyjama pants, finding me bare and hard, throbbing and leaking with need for her.
I couldn’t help the thrust my hips gave into her soft hand, her grip just the right strength to have me leaking more precum than before.
She purred, and continued to talk while she used her heels to push my pants down, baring my cock in her hand to the both of us. The sight was so fucking erotic that I nearly lost it, but it was her next words that made me snap.
“Mmm, imagine all this cum leaking from my pussy baby. Don’t you want to see that? I’m on birth control, so you can come in me if you want.”
“Jesus Christ,” I grit out as she rubbed her thumb across the head of my cock and gathered my cum to taste it. My mind blanked, only one thought going through my mind. “You want me to fuck you Y/N? Fine.”
I yanked her shirt the rest of the way off and flipped her over onto her stomach, tying her arms behind her back before she could say a word of protest. I ran my fingers down from her shoulders the fabric of the shirt, then over the skin of her ass to her thighs, taking the touch away from her right before I smacked the right side of her ass. She let out a yelp and jumped a little, but calmed when I rubbed my hand over the pink mark.
“That’s what you get for pushing me, you naughty girl. You couldn’t leave well enough alone, and now you’re about to get more than what you bargained for.”
I paused for a second, then leaned down and murmured carefully in her ear, “If this isn’t okay, just let me know.”
She let out a shaky laugh. “Please, don’t stop. I love it.”
I grinned and sat back up. I spanked her other cheek a little harder than the first time, and the sound she let out had my cum leaking onto her skin where I straddled her thighs. I leaned back just a little and used my hands to spread her lips apart as much as I could with my legs keeping her tight together, and my mouth watered at the sight of how wet she was, the insides of her thighs shimmering with her arousal. I slid a finger down and ran it across her, then pressed forward into her tight hole just enough to tease her.
“You weren’t kidding, you’re fucking soaked baby. This cunt is going to feel so good wrapped around my cock.”
“Please!” She wriggled under my hands, trying to entice me to push more than just a finger inside her.
“All in good time, Y/N. Let me play a little with this naughty pussy of yours first.”
A whimper left her and her hands clenched in restraint. God, just seeing her back tense and her skin ripple with goose bumps as I lightly thrust my one finger in and out of her had me growling. I was going to tease her a little longer, but I had overestimated my self restraint.
I wrapped one hand around her bound forearms and pressed down, telling her silently to be still. Slipping my now soaked finger from her pussy, I brought it up through the crease of her ass, swirling the tip across her puckered asshole. My eyes widened when all she did was melt under me, a loud moan filling the moment of quiet. My finger paused there, pressing just a tiny bit as I tested her reaction.
“Um, oh my god, just… shit.” Y/N’s words were jumbled, and if her brain was as scrambled as mine was at this little revelation then I could understand.
“Y/N… do you like having your asshole played with? And don’t lie to me,” I said in a mocking voice as I pressed my finger against her again and relished the way her hips automatically pressed back towards me.
“Yes,” she mumbled into the blankets. I could barely understand her, but since I already knew what the answer was, it wasn’t difficult to decipher.
A low, excited laugh left me. “Oh baby, we’re going to have so much fun together.” I pulled my finger away and loved the way she let out a disappointed sound. Pressing slightly harder against he back, I cam up to my knees and took my cock in hand, pressing the already wet and dripping tip against the spot my finger had just left.
She jerked against me in surprise, and I let another laugh escape me as I pulled away.“Don’t worry, I’m not going there yet. Although I have to say, the way you pressed back against me like you wanted my cock in your ass first, is very tempting.” I moved my tip down to her cunt and notched it against her, pausing for a second while I steadied myself.
“Taron, stop teasing me and just fuck me please!”
How could I deny her when she begged so pretty? With one thrust, I went balls deep just like she’d mention earlier, her pussy immediately pulsing around me as she screamed my name out. It took everything I had in me not to come with her, the fact that with just one thrust of my cock in her had her breaking apart nearly too fucking good to resist going with her.
I managed though, and after a few deep breaths I had enough control to start pulling out of her. Little moaned and whimpers left her as my cock rubbed against her sensitive walls, her body still shaking from the orgasm she was having.
“Shit Y/N, I don’t know how long I’m going to last.”
“Doesn’t matter. S-s-sooo good,” she moaned out as I started to really fuck her, her ass bouncing into my hips and adding one more layer to the moment.
I was panting, my skin burning hot as a film of sweat gathered on my skin, sheer willpower and need for her to come again before I did driving my hips hard and fast against her.
I used my free hand to spank her ass rapid-fire, feeling how she clenched tighter around me with every smack. I continued to fuck her as I took my thumb and ran it back and forth across where we were joined, making both of us moan. Once my thumb was completely coated in both our juices, I brought it back up to her ass and played with her forbidden spot.
“Oh Jesus fuck,” she gasped loudly and threw her head back, her spine arching in pure pleasure as I pressed my thumb inside her. I felt her begin to ripple around my cock again, and my eyes widened while I slammed my hips harder into her, going so fucking deep I swear my cock touched her cervix.
“Shit, are you going to come again from my thumb in your ass?”
“Yes,” she cried out. “Fuck me so deep with your cock in my pussy and your thumb in my ass. I’m gonna come!”
I pulled up on her bound arms so her chest was lifted off the bed as I drove my thumb all the way in, my cock pistoning in and out of her gushing cunt.
Less than a second later, she was coming all over me, and I couldn’t resist the call that time. I yelled out along with her, coming so hard inside her that I couldn’t even breathe. My cum glazed her walls and spilled out around us as I continued to thrust in and out of her, dragging our orgasms out as much as possible.
I wanted the feeling to go on forever, but eventually we started to come down. We both collapsed onto the bed, and I began to untie her arms, rubbing them to make sure the circulation was going through and she wasn’t injured in any way.
Once I determined she was good, I turned her over and cuddled her into my side. She happily curled into me, humming with happiness with a big smile and eyes closed. We were still panting from exertion, but I’d never felt so replete and satisfied. I hadn’t expected Y/N, but I was sure as hell glad for her.
I knew I was going to keep her around; it was just a matter of convincing her to stick with me. Looking down at Y/N in the soft sunlight of the early morning, watching her as she began to fall asleep in my arms, I knew this was only the beginning for us.
@primaba11erina
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4. Share a sentence or paragraph from your writing that you’re really proud of (explain why, if you like), 6. What character do you have the most fun writing? 10. How would you describe your writing process? 16. Tried anything new with your writing lately? (style, POV, genre, fandom?) -> I'm beging nosy and asking FOUR questions 👀😂
Oh Amber, PLEASE be nosy. I love answering questions about my writing or characters, even though I take 5000 years to answer.
Fun meta asks for writers
4. Share a sentence or paragraph from your writing that you’re really proud of (explain why, if you like)
Okay, I thought about this for a while and I think I have a few more I could also share (and I'd probably have a sizeable amount of scenes or sentences if I reread ALL I wrote). But this scene was the thing that came to mind first and stuck the most.
From Italian Affairs, Chapter 9 "Drained Chances", Scene 3:
“I know I have to make up for what a jerk I’ve been”, he said. “But I still wish I could just forget.” He looked back into the room and spotted the wine bottle on a sideboard. “Charlie, you’ve got to face this”, Harry said and Michele sighed: “Okay we’ve got to think sober about this situation. Well, you do, Charlie.” “Damn right”, he muttered before walking over to the sideboard, almost falling over when he came to a hold with his hands on its upper side: "I have to correct my mistakes tomorrow!" “That’s the spirit!”, Harry said and Michele smiled. “You most certainly have the right ideas even now, Charlie.” “I have fucked up but I am a grown man and like that I will take responsibility for my actions!” He had grabbed the bottle even before the other two could yell “No!” and they only watched in horror as he emptied it. Charlie held down a burp, put the bottle back on the table and smile confident: "I have to talk to him again and explain myself." “And there it goes down the drain, the last piece of his common sense”, Harry hissed. “Thanks for lending me your ear, guys”, Charlie said and took a wobbly step away from the sideboard. “I am going back to my room now, enjoy your night.” He walked towards the door: “Or maybe I could try to talk to Marco again – no, that’s a stupid idea.” “You just drank half a bottle of wine in one go, mate, you are not going anywhere”, Harry said and Michele sighed but Charlie waved his hand while he staggered towards the door. “Don’t let me cockblock you, Happy fucking.” And with that he tripped and fell to his knees. He frowned at the floor while Michele got up to help him. “You know, Michele”, Charlie said while the Sicilian pulled him on his legs. “On second thought it might have been six beer.”
'Don't let me cockblock you, happy fucking', followed immediately by Charlie tripping and nearly falling on his face is deadass THE funniest thing I have ever written. I love how hilarious the entire situation is, solely because Charlie is an impulsive son of a bitch who keeps making bad decisions. Whenever he seems on track, he just cannot shut his mouth, he just cannot control a whim for a moment too long and it bites him in the ass the very next second. I love him so much. Furthermore, the scene itself is a perfect blend of wit and slapstick. I've outdone myself here.
Also, fuck you, ao3 says I have 382 170 words uploaded right now and that is still far from all I've ever written. So you're getting another scene.
From Smudged Makeup & Cleaning Up:
“I hate myself,” she said in French. “I hate myself and I hate him, I hate both of them so much,” she sobbed as her breath hitched and tears began to run down her face again. “Don’t cry again, shhht, don’t do that,” Hugo whispered and began to rock from side to side. “It’s okay, it’s nothing to cry about.” “I wouldn’t have to see it if I had just opened my stupid mouth and had told him how I felt, if I had just told him these stupid three words I now wouldn’t have to see this.” Her voice was something between a whisper and a hiss.
There are at least two more little paragraphs I could have shared from that one-shot, so I decided to go with the most emotional part. I reread it last night and I still think it is a pretty damn good piece of writing. It's funny, interesting and it shows all of the characters (Timothea, Hugo, Arielle) and their relationships to one another marvellously. I'd sincerely reccommend it to everyone, although the (not as good for sure) A French Trio Of Bad Decisions may be required reading to understand who Arielle is talking about in the above excerpt. (Amber, since you already read that one though, you can just go and enjoy Smudged Makeup & Cleaning Up as your first taste of Thea before you delve into The Amulet for more <3)
6. What character do you have the most fun writing?
That's a good question! I was going to go through Irish Problems and Italian Affairs again, tallying up who has how many POV Scenes, but gave up rather quickly; it's just very hard to determine with all the headhopping that happens in the beginning. Last time I checked it was Harry. The following list is by no means exhaustive and talks mainly about the characters as POV characters. I very much enjoy writing all of my children, whether they're the POV character or not in any given scene.
Charlie is definitely one of them, I feel very at home in his head and he's so much fun to write. His catastrophizing, his intense but jumpy emotions, his impulsivity and kindness, his dialogue and thoughts ... He is so much fun. I'd have to lie to say this gay adhd mess doesn't hold a special place in my heart.
Francesco is another good one, solely because I love being in his head. It's a nightmare in there at times, but that's what makes it fun. Let the sadism fight the catholic guilt, the lust for pleasure at all cost the need for kindness. He's a very vibrant character with an undeniable presence in each scene he is in and it's always fun to write interesting characters.
Lovino's also always a blast. His ranting, his annoyance, his fidgeting (oh, god, if someone asks me for a favourite scene again, I am sharing the one where he shuffled around too much during a car ride and ended up folded like a lawn chair in the footwell). The tumultous inside of his head, his doubts, his fears. I have nothing but love for him and I already miss him, despite not technically having finished Italian Affairs. The rewrite is still ahead of me and I am going to savour every single moment I get to write my favourite South Italian.
Last but not least a shoutout to Hugo. I think he is very interesting as well, with the masks he wears and the intensity that lies beneath them. He's both a sweet young man AND a fuckboy AND a little bitch. The only problem with Hugo is that I'm never 100% sure in his characterisation and have to consult Jonah, his creator, in those cases.
10. How would you describe your writing process?
Messy as shit for being this organized - or Surprisingly organized for being messy as shit. I've developed this process over the past eight years and I'll probably keep tweaking screws as time goes on.
This is my process for my big, multi-chapter, novellength main series entries. Anything else usually gets done in a similiar fashion, just with some of the steps lacking. (I didn't vomitdraft for rarepairweek, for example, nor did I do the proofreading on paper because deadline.)
1. I make an outline. I used to call this "Scene Plan", because it is just that - a list of each scene, with a very short description that makes no sense to anyone but me. Seriously, YOU tell me what is going on here:
2. I collect all snippets that come to mind for a series in a document; if I already have an outline, I copy whatever scene they would belong to as a header. Those things happen all the time, it isn't a conscious effort.
3. I take those snippets, paste them into Quollwriter and then vomitdraft for a few days. Each day around 500 words, as fast as possible. Whatever comes to mind goes onto the page, rarely backtracking. It's not about it being presentable, it's about having something written that serves as skeleton for the scene. I research jack shit at this point and directly type (Look this shit up) into the text.
4. Once a scene/chapter is done, I copy it into word and read through it to take notes in a little notebook. I write down what to research, what I like in the draft, what I dislike and what I still ponder. I try to draw the first connections to give the chapter a coherent feeling. (Chapters for the main series consist of three scenes, so I take notes for a scene and edit it before I repeat the process for the next - I don't take comments for three scenes in a row.)
5. I begin to edit the scene with a goal of 200 words a day. I usually exceed it; during a very bad day I fall a little short of it. I try to write every day or every two days, unless something else requires my focus more (like a term paper). Oftentimes I start a writing session with tweaking what I did the day before, before I continue. I usually also do the research as it is called for at this stage - The Amulet was the only time I did research before I even begun to write. My usual timer is 30 Minutes, but I tend to write for a little longer if I am in the flow. Or I sit there for 4 hours to finish a scene because I am THAT much in the flow and I want the GODFORSAKEN THING DONE.
6. Once I finished editing the chapter or one-shot, I print it out and go through it with a red gel pen. I correct typos, formatting errors or formatting choices I don't agree with. I rewrite sentences that I think read clumsily and cross out words that repeat too much. I sometimes add things to moments that are lacking or I cross out sentences that now feel unnecessary. Once finished, I apply the corrections to my document.
7. If I have a beta-reader (like the lovely @swabianmapley for Herz Auf Beat), this is the point at which I send them the document and wait for their feedback & corrections.
8. I post the thing onto the black void that is The Internet, lie to myself that I don't care about feedback & yet still keep checking ao3 for new hits/kudos/bookmarks/comments and begin the same process for my next project a few days later.
16. Tried anything new with your writing lately? (style, POV, genre, fandom?)
Hmm. I don't know if it counts, but in the coffee one-shots for rarepairweek I tried to make peace with the 'holes' I left. To not explain everything, but let the reader draw their own conclusion. Aside from that ... Been trying to put more emotion into my writing. I felt so unsatisfied with the big Charco kiss at the end of Italian Affairs that I'm now making an effort into describing emotions and sensations more, especially internally and not simply physically.
#writing#beareplies#amber#fanfiction#and bc bestest canon boy is in here I am tagging hiiiiim#aph#aph romano#aph south italy#hws romano#hws south italy#hetalia#hws#okay enough of that now my kids#storie nostre#charlie#hugo#harry#miche#franci#lovi#thea#arielle
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Collecting out-of-print Tarot decks
by Michelle Gruben
Every Tarot collector wants that one deck. The 1980s deck that you first learned to read with (and haven’t seen since). The indie Kickstarter deck you should have bought when you had the chance. The deck that everyone raves about that’s long overdue for a reprint.
As a lifelong collector (and occasional dealer) of Tarot, I know the agony of searching for those elusive decks. I’ve written this guide to help you round up the stragglers on your list. With a little sleuthing, patience, and (moderately) deep pockets, anyone can build the Tarot collection of their dreams. This article is geared toward those who buy Tarot decks for reading and study, rather than purely for collectible value. But if you happen to make money buying and selling Tarot, more power to you!
First, it’s helpful to understand why Tarot decks go out of print in the first place. Every time a Tarot deck is created, the publisher—whether it’s the artist or a publishing company—has to make a very risky bet. They have to settle on an initial print run, or the number of copies that will be produced. The publisher uses a current budget and past sales figures to arrive at this number, but it’s not an exact science.
If the number is too low, the deck will sell out quickly, disappointing customers. If the number is too high, the publisher could be stuck with unsold copies of the deck for years, tying up cash that could have gone to other projects. Print runs vary from 500 or fewer copies from indie artists, up to tens of thousands of copies from major publishers.
Most Tarot decks never see a second print run after the initial printing sells out. However, if the deck becomes extremely popular, the publisher may opt to put a new edition. Some titles are translated into other languages, and appear in multiple sizes and formats. A classic deck may even get an anniversary edition to mark a major milestone. Not all reprints are created equal, though. Sometimes, the print quality improves and errors are corrected in the new edition. Other times, the deck suffers from flimsy paper stock, “off” colors, and skimpy packaging.
Intellectual property issues can delay or block a re-issue. The Thoth Tarot by Aleister Crowley went missing for several years. The hiatus was due to a legal dispute between the Ordo Templi Orientis, which claims the rights to the artwork, and U.S. Games Systems, Inc., which has a contract to publish the deck. Eventually, a new edition made it to the market—but not before dealers went crazy hawking the out-of-print decks on eBay.
I’ll be the first to admit it: Finding rare and out-of-print decks isn’t easy. There are thousands of different Tarot decks, most from small print runs, and no centralized resources for collectors. In addition, serious Tarot fans tend to hold on to their decks for a long time—like, until death.
Your Tarot wish list
If you’re serious about filling out a Tarot collection, the first step is to make a wish list. Patience is a virtue when hunting for Tarot, so the list will help you focused during those long stretches of no luck. Write down the name, publisher, and any other particulars—like edition or language—for your desired decks. You can also arrange the wish list by priority (“Decks I Would Sell My Firstborn For” down to “Decks I Might Buy If the Price Is Right”).
Once your collection reaches a certain size, you’ll also want to keep an inventory of decks you already own. I don’t wish for anyone to be hovering around a stinky flea market trying to remember if they already have Motherpeace.
Ready to start chipping away at that wish list? Here's four places to look for rare Tarot and oracle decks:
1. Check online marketplaces.
eBay, Amazon, and AbeBooks are the most popular venues for used Tarot decks. Searching online listings is the fastest—but probably also the most expensive—way to get your hands on a long-lost deck. The three sites listed above have the largest selection of vintage Tarot. Generally speaking, used book lots and estate sales put Tarot decks in the hands of dealers, who pass them on to collectors. Search terms like “vintage,” “original” or “OOP” will show you the current haul of collectible decks.
Browsing these three sites is a good way to find out what a particular deck is worth—or at least, what dealers want it to be worth. I’ve seen mass-market decks that originally retailed for about $20 offered for $300 or more. And that’s without the deck being particularly rare or sought-after. Some dealers buy up all the current Tarot titles they can, just hoping that the publisher will sell out and the value of the deck will shoot up.
Don’t be discouraged if you find your coveted deck listed at an insane price. Remember, the value of something is only what someone else will pay. It’s often the case that the seller has no idea what the item is worth. They do know they have only one available, and they’re simply trying to get the best price from some eager collector. The seller may come down if no one bites, or if similar listings pop up. They will certainly come down if the deck is reprinted. If you’re willing to wait, it’s entirely possible that you might find the same title somewhere else for much less.
Try setting up alerts so you can be notified when your wish list items show up in listings. Large marketplace like eBay and Amazon usually support this function. Of course, if the deck you want is truly rare and at the top of your list, you may wish to snap it up as soon as you get a chance.
Online Tarot collecting is not without its risks. Read the listing carefully, and be sure to ask any questions before checkout. Because Amazon requires an ISBN number for listings (but doesn’t keep a complete catalog of ISBNs for out-of-print titles), sellers sometimes list old Tarot items under the wrong ISBN. It’s very disappointing to get the wrong edition (or worse, a book when you were expecting a deck.)
Also, don’t assume that people selling used Tarot decks on major sites know anything about Tarot. Some may be specialists, but some are liquidators who deal in all types of books and other items. Right now on eBay, there are decks with missing cards, decks described incorrectly, and newer editions passed off as vintage. Beware of “as is” listings and sellers who don’t describe the item thoroughly with words and photos. A reputable seller should at least be able to verify that all the cards are there and provide you with the publishing info from the box or booklet.
2. Scrounge around (in person).
Your second option is poking around in cluttered rooms that smell like books. (Poor you!)
Not a lot of metaphysical shops carry used Tarot decks. Part of the reason may be superstition, or clients' worry about the energy of previous owners clinging to the deck. But the bigger reason is probably the hassle. Every used deck has to be checked for condition and completeness. Most of the decks published in the 1980s and beyond just don’t have that much value, other than sentiment. As a shop owner, I can attest that the profit margin on new decks is small enough, and the margin on run-of-the-mill used decks is miserable. But it’s worth checking if your local occult store sells or trades vintage decks.
The next stop for scrounging will be the used book stores in your area. Because of pilferage, decks are usually kept behind glass or the front counter, so you may have to ask for them. Tarot can also show up at such unlikely places as estate sales, rummage sales, auctions, and library sales. Workers at these things don’t always know where to place the decks, so I check the New Age section, the games section, and the rare book shelf. (Unfortunately, the general public seems to think Tarot decks are worth a lot more than they are. Don’t be shy about setting them straight with a cash offer.)
When you run across vintage Tarot decks at a reasonable price, buy them all! Honestly, do it. Whether the decks are on your list or not, they’re really neat to rifle through and they don’t take up much room. They could be a useful bargaining chip when you meet with other collectors. (See #4, below.)
Magickal folks, you can use visualization and intuition to make a hard-to-find Tarot deck come to you. Put your intention out there, then go where your hunches and whims lead you. If you have access to a favorite image from the deck, print it out and put it with your collection. Or you can simply visualize yourself reading the deck or holding it in your hands. Then follow your nose and keep your eyes peeled for your new deck.
3. Contact the artist or publisher.
Through the wonders of the information age, it’s now possible to get in touch with nearly any (living) artist or author. It’s a long shot, but it just might yield up a Tarot deck or at least a hot tip.
Try sending a message to the deck creator through their website or Facebook page. Tell ‘em how much you love the deck, and how disappointed you are that you missed the limited edition, or gave away your personal copy, or lost it after revel fire that one night, or whatever. Then ask them if they know any way that the deck can be obtained.
Sometimes, artists will have a limited number of copies that they keep for family and friends. They may be willing to sell you one. Perhaps there’s been a second printing that you didn’t know about. Could be a bookstore in Winnipeg has some old stock. Maybe they’ll tell you about a new deck they’re working on that’s so awesome, you’ll cross the old one off your list.
Reaching out to artists that inspire you is usually very gratifying, even if it doesn’t land you a deck. Artists need love! For out-of-print titles stuck in purgatory, your message will at least demonstrate some interest, and possibly nudge them toward another print run.
I’m shy, so I’ll admit that this is not my favorite strategy of the bunch. Several years ago, I was desperate to get my hands on the rare-ish Alchemical Tarot by Robert Place. I got a large tattoo from the deck on my leg, and the plan was to send him a pic and ask if he had a deck to sell me. But I chickened out! I (Fortunately, it was later reprinted.)
Nowadays, I chat with lots of deck creators, and I’ve found them to be a great resource for finding those rare decks and special extras. Many creators are collectors, also. They’re often the first to know when a re-issue or new release is forthcoming. Re-issues always drive down the price of out-of-print decks, so this is useful intel whether you buy or sell Tarot.
4. Connect with other collectors.
Other Tarot collectors make wonderful fishing buddies. Whether you meet them online or in person, connecting with Tarot community will yield a wealth of information. They can help you set up trades, find new leads, evaluate purchases, and identify your decks. The only danger here is that your wish list will grow and grow!
If you have decks in your collection that you no longer want, other collectors will be happy to take them off your hands. Bring a handful of old decks to Tarot classes and spiritual book swaps, and they may find a happy new home. A Tarot meetup I used to attend had a monthly “Show and Tell” that very often turned into “Show and Sell.”
For many years, the leading online Tarot swap community has been on the Aecletic Tarot forums (registration required for most features). They are generally fair and knowledgeable folks. You can post buy/sell requests or show off your collection! Remember, the only thing better than finding a much-longed-for deck is helping someone else to do the same.
Happy collecting!
https://www.groveandgrotto.com/blogs/articles/collecting-out-of-print-tarot-decks
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Epson WorkForce Pro WF-4830 Wireless All-in-One Printer Review
Replacing our 2017 Best of the Year WorkForce Pro WF-4740, Epson's WorkForce Pro WF-4830 Wireless All-in-One Printer ($199.99) is a midrange multifunction (print, copy, scan, and fax) printer aimed primarily at small offices. This year's model comes with similar paper capacity, volume ratings, and features as its predecessor—and boasts a $100 price reduction. Its large, auto-duplexing automatic document feeder (ADF) and two 250-sheet paper trays make it well worth its modest price if you're printing and scanning every day. Overall, the WF-4830 is a fast, feature-rich, business-ready AIO that gives great value for its purchase price.
Tall and Powerful
The WF-4830 is the middle model in a recent five-machine WorkForce Pro refresh. The WF-3820 and WF-4820 are less expensive and less robust; the WF-7820 and WF-7840 are wide-format machines (printing pages up to 13 by 19 inches) that are otherwise similar to the WF-4800s. Assuming you don't need poster printing, the WF-4830 is the obvious choice for most offices with moderate printing needs, as it delivers much more value than the WF-4820 and WF-3820. (I'll talk more about how these machines differ in the sections below that cover relevant productivity and convenience features.)
The WF-4830 measures 13 by 16.7 by 19.8 inches (HWD) and weighs 26.2 pounds. That makes it about two inches taller and 3.3 pounds heftier than the WF-4820. It's about the same size and girth as the HP OfficeJet Pro 9025. The most similar printer that Canon offers is the smaller and lighter (and not nearly as capable) Pixma TR8620.
A much more expensive Epson AIO, the EcoTank Pro ET-5850 (also on our 2017 Best of the Year list), has a notably larger footprint and weighs almost 20 pounds more than the WF-4830 unit. And Brother's MFC-J6945DW (on the 2019 Best of the Year list) is bulkier and heavier still, mostly to accommodate tabloid-size printing. I'm including comparison machines that cost up twice as much as the WF-4830 because I couldn't find recent AIOs in the $200 price range that come with two paper trays, a feature that really makes the WF-4830 stand out in its class.
Another perk of the WF-4830 is a 50-sheet auto-duplexing ADF that automatically scans both sides of two-sided multipage documents. Manual-duplexing feeders, such as the one on the WF-4820, can't capture both sides of two-sided documents without a human standing by to flip the stack. If you're regularly scanning two-sided documents that are more than a couple of pages long, auto-duplexing makes a big difference in convenience and saved time.
Of the other AIOs mentioned here so far, only the Pixma TR8620's 20-sheet ADF is manual-duplexing. The two OfficeJet Pro machines come with 35-sheet feeders, and the ET-5850 and MFC-J6945DW both have 50-sheet ADFs.
The WF-4830's paper input capacity is 500 sheets split between two 250-sheet cassettes. That's 250 sheets more than its closely priced sibling, the WF-4820, and comparable to the higher-end ET-5850, which adds a 50-sheet multipurpose tray that pulls up and out from the back of the machine.
The OfficeJet Pro 9025's paper capacity is the same as the WF-4830's, while the Premier comes with only one 250-sheet cassette. Brother's MFC-J6945DW boasts two 250-sheet cassettes and a 100-sheet multipurpose tray, making it the most versatile of this group. The Canon TR8620's meager 200-sheet capacity is the least robust.
The WF-4830's maximum monthly duty cycle is 33,000 pages, and its suggested monthly volume is 1,600 prints. At that rate, you'll refill the paper trays three to four times a month. Those numbers are comparable to the OfficeJet Pro 9025 and MFC-J6945DW, which are rated at 30,000 pages maximum and 2,000 prints suggested, and the OfficeJet Premier, rated for 25,000 pages maximum and 1,500 prints suggested. Canon doesn't share volume rates for its consumer-grade printers. If your printing volume is considerably higher, the ET-5850 can handle double the WF-4830's workload.
Versatile Controls
Aside from Home and Help buttons residing on either side of the screen, the WF-4830's spacious 4.3-inch color touch-screen control panel controls all its functions. You can set up and execute copy jobs, scan to local drives or cloud sites, monitor ink levels, configure security parameters, generate usage reports, and a lot more. You can also use the WF-4830's built-in web portal from any web browser, including the one on your smartphone or tablet.
The WorkForce Pro AIOs all ship with the same standard interfaces: Ethernet and Wi-Fi for networking, and USB 2.0, Wi-Fi Direct, and Bluetooth LE for direct connections. There's a USB port in a covered compartment to the left of the control panel that lets you print from or scan to USB thumb drives.
Android Print, Apple AirPrint, and Mopria make it easy to connect to the WF-4830 from your mobile device. Epson throws in its Epson Connect suite of utilities: Epson iPrint, Epson Creative Print, and Epson Smart Panel (all compatible with iOS and Android); Epson Email Print; Epson Remote Print; and Scan to Cloud. You also get TWAIN drivers for scanning directly into desktop apps.
For faxing and scanning, you get Epson Fax Utility and Epson's two outstanding scanner interfaces, Scan 2 and ScanSmart, as well as a newcomer to the bundle, the Smart Panel App. Scan 2 has three modes—Home, Office, and Professional—that provide access to features according to expertise levels. ScanSmart is a modular scanner interface that supports plugins, such as Epson's ScanSmart Accounting Edition for gleaning data from receipts, invoices, and other financial documents and converting it for use in bookkeeping programs. ScanSmart also integrates well with document management applications, including Epson's Document Capture Pro.
The newcomer, Smart Panel App, is a remote control panel that runs on your smartphone or tablet. It only works with the latest generation of WorkForce Pro AIOs. I installed it on my Samsung Galaxy Note smartphone and fooled around with it for a while, but the jury is still out as to how necessary it is. I suspect it's mostly a response to HP's Smart App, which is touted as a universal interface that allows you to configure and manage all HP printers and scanners across Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS platforms.
One Quick Inkjet
Like the WF-4820, the WF-4830 is rated at 25 monochrome pages per minute (ppm). During my tests, it performed slightly faster than its rating and its WF-4820 sibling. I put it through its paces over an Ethernet connection to our Intel Core i5 testbed PC running Windows 10 Pro. On the first part of the benchmark regimen, I timed it as it printed several copies of our standard 12-page Microsoft Word text file and came up with an average score of 27.5ppm, or 1.1ppm faster than its WF-4820 sibling and 1.2ppm slower than the ET-5850.
The OfficeJet Pro 9025 beat the WF-4830 by 2.2ppm and the speedy OfficeJet Pro Premier came in ahead of the WF-4830 by 10.1ppm. But the WorkForce Pro turned around and trounced the Brother MFC-J6945DW by 9.2ppm. The Canon Pixma TR8620, at 13.7ppm slower than the WF-4830, ate everybody's dust.
The next part of the testing routine entails printing our collection of colorful and complex Excel spreadsheets with accompanying charts and graphs, PowerPoint handouts containing intricate graphics and fonts of varying sizes and colors, and graphics-laden Adobe Acrobat files. I then combined these scores with the results from printing the text document above and came up with 12ppm, a negligible 0.4ppm faster than the WF-4820.
The other Epson, the ET-5850, beat this one by 6.3ppm. The Brother MFC-J6945DW and the two OfficeJets, the Premier and 9025, had speeds almost identical to the WF-4830's. The Pixma TR8620 managed a paltry 4.7ppm.
To finish up, I clocked the WF-4830 as it churned out several instances of two brilliant and detailed 4-by-6-inch snapshots in an average time of about 13 seconds, 1 second slower than the WF-4820 and near average for this group of inkjets.
Superior Text and Image Printing
Epson's WorkForce Pro AIOs are built around PrecisionCore Heat-Free Technology printheads that utilize ink chips with small, dense, and tightly clustered nozzles that produce some of the best detail and color accuracy in the business-oriented printer space. Granted, nearly all inkjet printers churn out good-looking output these days, but the WorkForce Pro family is clearly one of the best for detail and color accuracy that stand up to close scrutiny.
The WF-4830 printed our common serif and sans-serif sample font pages with crisp, well-shaped, and highly legible characters down to what I could make out without magnification, or about 6 points. The several not-so-common decorative, headline, and theme fonts we test looked good, too. And the colorful and complex business graphics, charts, graphs, and embedded photographs I printed were more than attractive enough for both internal and external business use.
However, it did struggle with a few PowerPoint handouts that contain gradients from light to dark black and from green to black. In some of them, instead of flowing evenly from one color to the next, the gradient stepped, banding perceptibly from shade to shade. The result wasn't awful, but it was obviously not the intended effect.
The photo prints from the WF-4830 were not quite as vibrant as you'd get from an Epson or Canon consumer-grade photo printer (the Editors' Choice–winning Epson XP-7100 comes to mind), but its photo output is good enough for most business applications and even for family photos.
Expensive Per-Page Output
Without some kind of discounted-ink incentive, consumer-grade printers like this one, especially if you push them close to their suggested maximum volume, cost a lot to use. When you buy Epson's so-called high-yield ink cartridges for this printer, monochrome pages will cost you about 3.6 cents each and color prints will run around 11.7 cents each. The more you print, the more you'll care about running costs that are 1 or 2 cents higher per page than those of comparable printers.
For example, let's say that you print 1,600 pages each month (the WF-4830's suggested maximum volume) on a machine with a 1-cent monochrome page cost. Printing 1,600 pages will save you $41 each month, $499 each year, and $2,496 over the expected five-year lifespan of the printer.
I'm comparing this printer to more expensive ones in part because their lower running costs lead to a comparable lifetime cost. The ET-5850 Pro, a bulk-ink EcoTank machine that lists for $900, delivers running costs of 2 cents for both monochrome and color prints. (Note that most of the other EcoTank models, the ones without the "EcoTank Pro" in their names, cost even less to use: 0.3 cent per black page and 0.9 cent for color.) Obviously, you have to print and copy a lot to save enough to make up the difference in purchase price, but when you factor in Epson's current offer of free ink for the first two years you own the ET-5850, the lifetime value math is worth doing.
Both the OfficeJets discussed here are eligible for HP's Instant Ink subscription program, for which the printers monitor ink levels and order more as needed. Subscribing to the $19.99 option gives you your first 700 prints each month for 2.9 cents each and charges $1 for every subsequent 20 pages. If this doesn't sound like an impressive value, keep in mind that we're talking 2.9 cents for every page, even letter-size borderless photos with 100 percent coverage—a fantastic boon if you print a lot of color documents and photos. I should also point out HP is currently offering two free years of its 300-page, $9.99-per-month subscription for Premier owners. Brother's MFC-J5945DW, an INKvestment Tank model, delivers running costs of 0.9 cent per monochrome page and 4.7 cents for color, which isn't bad either.
Finally, Canon's Pixma TR8620, which doesn't offer a bulk-ink incentive, prints monochrome pages for a painful 7 cents and color for 11.7 cents each. However, the Canon Pixma G4210, a bulk-ink AIO, will run you just 0.3 cent for monochrome and 0.9 cent for color.
A Solid and Durable Low-Volume Solution
The WF-4830 is loaded with productivity and convenience features designed to save time and maximize efficiency. It sports valuable improvements over the WF-4820. It's difficult to find a machine with two big paper drawers and a 50-sheet auto-duplexing ADF for under $200. However, this AIO costs more to use than several others in its class, making it less of a value if your print and copy load is more than a few hundred pages each month. If your output volume is modest or you don't mind paying a premium for ink, this sturdy machine will serve you well for several years.
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Music Shows | Black Suit promotion week
♡ Hi everyone! /VERY long post ahead/ ♡
I know it’s been nearly 3 weeks since Black Suit’s promotions ended, but I still wanted to write about my experience ^^ This could serve as a guide/reference for all the future ELFs who are planning to go to Seoul in 2019 for SJ’s next comeback!
1. Pre-ordering albums at Hot Tracks for the 1st fanmeeting (V-Live) The first time I had to buy PLAY albums was to sign up for the fanmeeting that took place on the 6th of November. Basically, all the information will be on Super Junior’s official website, in the “Notice” section. The location, dates, hours, details… everything will be there. Use Naver translator or go on Twitter if you want to fully understand what the notice is saying! Couldn’t get in but it was worth a try, as there were 500 winners. 2. 1st Music Show recording: M!Countdown (2017/11/09) Ahhh Music Shows… Stressful for any first-timer! I swear it wasn’t too bad though. First step is to sign up for the show, as soon as you see the notice on the official website. It’s important to know more experienced people in your fandom, as they’re the one who could tell you when the sign up begins, and the location of those in charge of the list (they’re often in one of the coffee shops around the recording studio and they will most likely stay there for 6 hours & more). Now it’s important to know that it’s a first come first serve basis, as you will get a number when you register. The morning of the recording, the people in charge of the list will call everyone who signed up one by one. So make sure you come at least 1 hour before the time that has been announced on SJ’s official website, otherwise you will lose your place. Where? Susaek station What do you need? 4 things : 1. Alien Registration Card or Passport 2. Official lightstick (this time it was only local group lightstick, meaning no solo/subunits (ex.: no Kyuhyun fanmeeting lightstick), or overseas lightstick (ex.: no Japanese Super Show lightstick). The lightstick has to work. 3. Both copies of PLAY (OMC version + Black Suit version) with the CD inside 4. Last but certainly not least: DIGITAL PURCHASE PROOF. MelOn, Genie, etc. you NEED to print the correct form that they ask for, meaning the PC version web page that shows your ID (specific page) and your downloads web page.
You will be classified in E1/E2/E3/E4, E1 meaning you have everything, E2 meaning you don’t have the digital purchase proof, etc. Honestly, few people in E2 got in the recording so make sure you have everything that they ask for! ALSO @ INTERNATIONAL ELF, please follow the rules. If the staff asks you to stay in line, STAY. A lot of fans ran to see Suju get in the building and Mnet staff was pissed, that explains why SM had to proceed with the Korean priority for Inkigayo. M!Countdown was amazing! I was E-2 because I printed the wrong digital proof page, but somehow managed to get in per pure luck. I was one of the last ones who could get in. Kyuhyun and Siwon were in the backstage but we couldn’t see them. This was my first time seeing Suju in real life, I was so shocked by their beauty that I forgot some part of the fanchant even though Black Suit’s fanchant is super easy haha.
3. 2nd Music Show recording: Music Bank (2017/11/10) Same procedure as M!Countdown. Music Bank allows less people in though, once again make sure you have all the things that are required. Where? National Assembly station, exit 4. Go into KBS’s building, there will be directions once you are inside.
4. 3rd Music Show recording: Inkigayo (2017/11/12) Inkigayo’s recording is during the weekend, so there will always be more fans. Now, this time, SM had to proceed with Korean fans first, because a lot of international ELF broke the rules (such as taking pictures during the recording……….. PLEASE DON’T) or didn’t understand what the staff was trying to say. What happened is that foreigners got E6 (for those who had everything they asked for, and the rest got E7). I didn’t manage to get in, but Suju prepared a tteokbokki food truck for the fans. Where? Gayang station, exit 10. Go on your left and walk straight until you see your fandom. 5. Other fansigns While we were running around trying to register our name on the list, we also ran around to pick up our albums, and to sign up for the upcoming fansigns. It’s really easy, just follow the notices that SM posts on SJ’s official website. Now take in mind that the sales in some shops where you sign up for fansigns don’t count towards the official charts! If you plan on buying a lot, Hot Tracks & Synnara do count if you want your albums to help boost the numbers. I won a spot and got to watch their COEX fansign on 2017/11/17! But there was a very unfortunate mistake (ugh) so Suju prepared some signed pictures for all of us ;; Little trick: Suju always does fansigns but they do get tired of them, so the last event will most likely be a selca event. If you want to invest in that, keep your money for the last fanmeeting!
6. 4th and last Music Show recording: Music Bank (2017/11/17) Mnet had to prepare for MAMA2017 and Music Core aka MBC was on a strike, so we only had Music Bank for the 2nd week of promotions :c Good news is that everyone got in! It was so cold though lol. Because they only needed one take at the recording, the members felt sorry that we waited for so long just to watch them perform one time, but they were behind the schedule. So Leeteuk and Donghae went in the audience to shake hands with us and say hello ^_^ Suju prepared some red bean bread and energy drink for us after the recording. ♡
All these activities are only a small part of SJ’s schedule. They had multiple recordings for variety shows, radio show, overseas schedules (airport), etc. It was a crazy 2 weeks, I don’t know how fans have the energy to go to The Show, Show Champion, M!Countdown, Music Bank, Music Core and Inkigayo in the same week, I was EXHAUSTED both physically and emotionally, on top of having school work to do. But it was all worth it. Suju is seriously the best, and I love them even more after spending quality time with them. Although I felt like the group energy is not the same as before, this comeback made me miss all the members a lot, especially my Kyukyu >< But they worked SO hard for this comeback and their efforts did not go unnoticed. I also got to meet a lot of lovely ELF during the promotions, people that I’m gonna see again for Super Show 7. Thanks Suju for creating memories that I will cherish forever. You will always be my first love ♡
Super Junior is so much more stunning, funny, and beautiful when they’re standing in front of you. I swear, seeing them in real life still gives me butterflies: no one really gets used to it. Their bond is clearly undeniable.
Suju, you are magic. Thank you.
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New Post has been published on https://randykopplin.com/self-fulfilling-prophecy/
Self Fulfilling Prophecy
Self Fulfilling Prophecy
First off, why did I call this "Self Fulfilling Prophecy?" I don't know. Call it a Holy Spirit thing. Intuition? Honestly, I was told to call this article that, but it has nothing to do with that, really. It has to do with Markethive going viral, exponential growth. And my call out to you to be part of this amazing venture.
I also have to say, I love Markethive, I mean I really love this system, I am passionate about it. It is my life's work, my calling and I know many of you feel the same way. I am humbled the Lord has called me to build it. So there, now you know. OK here is the article I have spent a week writing.
Nice illustration huh? Again doesn't have a lot to do with this article, but then again it does. While writing this article I have also been completing our Pitch Deck, Financials and Business Plan. I have made a ton of Infographics like this as well. All in preperation for Markethive going viral, gaining perspective and acquiring. We are now gaining interest from Angel Investors. We are on our way. So here is the article.
I am calling upon all of you to help propel Markethive exponentially. There are 3 things we need you to do and I am asking you to do this so, I can leverage your assistance to turn Markethive into one giant Entrepreneurial Ecocenter driving huge results, results that will reward every single one of you.
Acquire the Alexa Browser Exchange and log into Markethive every day and post, comment, blog, and register your social accounts.
Make referring 3+ new subscribers to Markethive a daily commitment.
Upgrade to Entrepreneur. As of this notice, Entrepreneur is now classified Entrepreneur One. Explanation to follow.
Primary Mission: More Customers and More Revenue for you with Markethive Markethive is a Commerce Platform (look for the coming Store Fronts), an Inbound Marketing platform (nearly identical to Marketo) that recently sold to Adobe for 4.75 billion, an integrated social community (navigation familiar to Facebook and LinkedIn), and a Digital Media Network (like Western Journal, Cointelegraph, Mashable and Techcrunch) all integrated and fully operational right now.
Alexa Ranking. Credible Traffic 3rd party confirmation: To help build a solid ecocenter for the entrepreneurs, being able to publically display our traffic with a 3rd party is necessary to establish Markethive’s credibility. Each member can assist us by installing the free browser extension from Alexa @ https://www.alexa.com/toolbar. We are now approaching 100,000 unique daily visitors. Our internal tracking, Alexa and WorthofWeb all confirm this. These numbers are critical to establish our rates for members to pay for our advertising and marketing services. Allowing us to reference similar digital media networks like AMBCrypto and Blockonomi .
AMBCrypto Alexa 23,841 : Price: $5,500 https://coinbound.io/buy/ambcrypto-banner-ad-top-content/
Blockonomi Alexa: 54,230 Price:$1,850 https://coinbound.io/buy/blockonomi-banner-ad/
Therefore it is to all of ours focus and recognition is that traffic and credibility are the key aspect of our strategy and you can help. BTW: As we continue to develop Markethive’s “Infinity Bounties” Markethive will eventually recognize your Alexa browser extension as you login and give you additional ranking, bounty and advantages in the “Infinity Bounty” program. The core of Infinity Bounties is you registering your social accounts with Markethive and then following Markethive’s social networks. Doing this increases your earnings in the faucet system. There is more to it as well, but that is the foundation of this service, now….
Refer 3 to activate your faucets Markethive requires you to refer at least 3 people to activate some of our services, particularly the Faucet and the Hive Ranking. The Faucet system is a micropayment system that all Markethive usage like posting, commenting, blogging, emailing, etc. pays you in MHV coin for your activities and other members activity in reaction to your activity (blog swiping, blog subscribing, tipping, etc.). The Hive Ranking rates your activity and popularity and the higher your rank the greater your faucet earnings. So the more you use Markethive and produce quality content the more you make in MHV coins which have value that can be used for Markethive services, exchanged for Bitcoin, sold for fiat, or used at other 3rd party systems, stores and services.
Entrepreneur One Upgrade The current Entrepreneur Upgrade is the premium highest level you will ever have the opportunity to acquire. It contains all the leveraged advantages you need to accelerate your success in Markethive:
Associates Control Panel: Gain full data, their social networks, verified phone and text, verified email and a contact management system that tracks data, stores dated notes, sends messaging and calendars events reminding actions on your Markethive calendar like call backs, email, etc. with the Associates Control Panel (Part of your Friends section)
Primary Matching Airdrop Bonus: Receive 100% matching bonus from the new registration airdrops. This can be a significant reward for those that aggressively build “associates” the term used for the leads, Markethive provides (profile page and default capture page). Our first infinity airdrop will be 500 coins, and it doesn’t take a lot of effort to offer a system as powerful and valuable as the Markethive system that also rewards new members with an immediate 500 coin reward. You can easily promote this and build 1000s of referrals that will add up to significant coins and customers.
Secondary Matching Airdrop Bonus: When your associate customer upgrades to Entrepreneur, we airdrop them 100 coins and you will also receive 100 coins as a matching bonus.
Matching ILP Loyalty Program: You also get an equal ILP share after 12 months of continuity with the Entrepreneur program. This is only available for the first 1000 Entrepreneur upgrades. What that means….Liken to an ICO, your monthly payment is accrued and if you stay current for 12 straight months, we contribute to you a full 10% ILP and continue to offer this 12 month reward for 10 years or your stop payment. This offer is limited to the first 1000 active upgrades.
Banner Ad Program: You also get unlimited 1st level Banner advertisement in all of our traffic portals and Internet properties. This offer is incredibly valuable. Markethive properties are already receiving significant traffic and as we grow, this traffic is included with this Entrepreneur upgrade.
Press Release Program: Markethive will also be delivering a Press Release system as a hybrid liken to PRNewswire (traditional distribution) to include Forbes, Yahoo! Finance, CNNMoney, MarketWatch, TheStreet.com, Bizjournals.com, Business.com , Wired, Tech Crunch, Engadget, Computerworld, CNET News, InformationWeek, R&D Magazine and more in the Tech industry. Our Media List will be greater than 4000 media organizations, journalists, reporters, bloggers, producers, freelance writers and editors across print, online, blogs, radio and television.
It will also publish to our growing social network followers (40,000 and growing via MH subscribers) and our growing members WordPress blogs (about 3000 and growing with MH members). When Markethive reaches 1 million members our Social Following is projected to be at (700,000 – 2 million followers total) and about 150,000 WordPress sites. These WordPress sites will be mini news media and vertical news media like http://aimhigh.news along with publication to Markethive’s portfolio of sites like https://Markethive.com , https://Markethive.net , http://allaboutco.in, http://aboutbitco.in , and http://aboutco.in .
Cointelegraph, a vertical tech news media organization, which charges about $8,500 per release with an Alexa rank (2,646) social followers (1.3 million) and 16,000 subscribers justifies their price. Markethive’s press release will be priced accordingly and increase as our subscribers reach grows. The second biggest digital news media site to Cointelegraph is CNN with an Alexa rank (10,899) charges $1800 and only posts to their main site front page.
The Entrepreneur One Upgrade will include one Press Release per month for life as long as your Entrepreneur One Upgrade remains active and current. This does not accumulate. Additional Press releases will be discounted.
Sponsored Article Program: Sponsored content is a piece of brand journalism that lives on a publisher’s website. It’s usually written by the publisher’s staff so the article matches the tone and voice of rest of their content. Sponsored article are published to the same distribution Markethive articles are published on plus, notification of articles is sent to our social network, and the 1000s of connected WordPress sites. Sponsored articles run from high end media sites like Cointelegraph for $7500 to an average of $1200 for most other media systems in the general markets.
Co-Op Customer Acquisition Program: Markethive strategic campaigns will designate %60 to %80 of our revenue into Marketing and Advertising campaigns. These campaigns will point to Markethive assets like: Markethive.com Markethive.net Aboutco.in Allaboutco.in Aboutbitco.in Ewav.net Iwav.net
Traditional Customer Co-Op programs charge $50 to $100 per customer. Cooperative marketing programs foster teamwork between a brand (Markethive) and its channel partners (Markethive Subscribers). Channel partners often don’t have large marketing departments. Markethive is more equipped to create professional advertisements and deal with media placement. Markethive Entrepreneur Upgrade subscribers create the demand and. Co-op marketing programs take advantage of the sale channel’s local presence. This benefits both the partner and the brand.
Commerce Portals: To sell on our commerce portals, like Big Kahuna (A website builder like WIX), Beelancers (A freelancer service like Freelancers), Markethive Exchange (A full service crypto exchange like https://idex.market/) you must be an active Entrepreneur One Upgrade to sell or trade. This eliminates processing fees and commissions like found on Freelancers, Upwork, Guru, etc. Buyers have no obligation other than free registration with Markethive. This change in services where it is traditional to be constrained into the platform and pay high processing fees and commissions is eliminated with the Markethive Entrepreneur Upgrade system.
Crowd Funding Portal: If Markethive engages (likely we will) with a crowd funding campaign, promoted to top crowd funding systems like ICOranker, ICObench, Tokentops, Airdrops.io and Cryptoslate.com etc. We will be sharing the campaign traffic via all Entrepreneurs through our crowd funding portal @ Markethive.io and giving all Entrepreneur Upgrades their own self replicated portal to help in the campaign. These portals will earn equal matching shadow shares if they bring in new ILP purchases and will also be traffic portals earning new members as well.
So I have to ask, what are you waiting for? And now a word (audio) from the CEO
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Thomas Prendergast CEO Markethive
Randy Kopplin
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Not Another Tragic Backstory | 3
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 + Epilogue Pairing: Jughead x Reader Word Count: 3,105 + Epilogue: 303 Warnings: I solemnly swear. By which I mean, there be curse words below! Also I attempted fluff. Summary: Riverdale has resurrected the Blue & Gold and with it, the Journalism program! This week’s lesson: Human Interest/Profiles. Reader is paired with Jughead who writes an unflattering profile on her, prompting her to confront him about it. A/N: So there are 750 words of this that I wrote before any part of this story and it’s the part where she is going awf on Jughead. I didn’t proofread this and an epilogue is included at the bottom. It’s an attempt at fluff so beware.
When the bell rings for lunch I all but run out of class. I’m the first person in the hall and I keep my head down to avoid seeing anyone who would want to talk to me. I reach in my bag and touch the sharp edges of the profile Jughead Jones has written about me, ensuring that it is still there. It’s a familiar motion, one that I’ve been completing since Ash handed it to me after our journalism class.
Ash’s words have stirred up my nerves. I’m afraid, but I can’t ignore this opportunity. An itch has already started and I know that nothing but reading this article can satisfy it. I opt to duck into the janitor’s closet under the stairs and cringe at the musty odor of a long forgotten room. The lighting in here is terrible so I pull out my phone and use the flashlight function to light up the words.
The headline reads: Y/N Y/L/N A RIVERDALE LEGACY’S PATH TO REDEMPTION and my stomach clenches in fear of what I’m about to read.
The town of Riverdale was founded 75 years ago by six prominent families who each inspired the development of the town. The Y/L/N family had a large hand in cultivating the tone of Riverdale’s community as they, and their descendents, were voted into office for ten terms back to back. This was considered the family business until Mayor Sierra McCoy was elected in light of what is known as the July Scandal.
From the moment she was born Y/N Y/L/N has been on the fast track for a political career. In grade school she participated in numerous National speaking competitions and took first place on four separate occasions. In Junior High she was president of the Debate Club, taking them to Nationals, and organized a Model UN with the schools in nearby towns. She participated in two speaking competitions and placed third and second respectively.
Now a sophomore at Riverdale High Y/L/N is a member of the notorious River Vixens cheer team, co-captain of the Debate team, and will be running for Class President. Today she has foregone the River Vixens uniform for a business casual attire of brand name blue jeans, an ironed blouse and kitten heels.
Y/L/N was four years old when the July Scandal unfolded. During a debate between former Mayor Y/L/N and candidate Mayor McCoy a young woman approached the front of the town hall and asked the former Mayor why he wouldn’t acknowledge his mistake. That woman was an intern at City Hall that the former Mayor had engaged in relations with, resulting in pregnancy. The pregnancy has never been confirmed, but it was a big enough scandal to tip the election in Mayor McCoy’s favour.
Since the July Scandal the Y/L/N family has stepped back from politics to focus on other projects, but it looks as though their legacy will continue with our classmate.
I am so angry that I am visibly trembling. Jughead’s piece goes on and on about how I’m going to essentially spend the rest of my days in Riverdale as a politician in some sort of twisted redemption for my family’s shame. He might has well have written that I’m going to die here and be buried next to my Mayoral ancestors.
Though factually he’s correct about my past, his piece is ignorant and ill-informed about the me of today. I have no intention of running for class president. I didn’t run for the title of class president last year, and I considered it for college applications this year, but I ultimately decided that it wasn’t worth it. The July Scandal didn’t just cost my father the election, but nearly cost him his family. I have no interest in walking down that path, ever.
He goes on to describe myself and the other descendents of the six founding families as legacies and talks about our obligations to the town. It just makes me so sick. This is how he sees me: in the afterglow of a scandal that nearly tore my entire family apart. My shaking rage dissolves into frustrated tears and I know that I can’t stay at school.
I will allow myself one minute to be upset and then I will have to be a big girl. This is a skill that was taught to me early on in life. I am allowed to be upset for a moment, but then I must put it behind me and be a grown up about it. I breathe deeply, wipe my tears, and then start texting Ash.
Hey Ash, I’m not feeling very well so I’m going to go home can you cover for me?
You read it, huh?
It wasn’t as bad as you made it out to be. Which is a lie I need to tell myself right now so that I can hold myself together until I get home.
If that’s what you need to tell yourself babe. It is, for now. My visible shaking has become an unnoticeable quiver by the time that I get home. The anger and sadness, however, has only grown in intensity. I head straight to my room and open my laptop, pouring out all of these emotions in the only way I know how: through writing.
I write poems, small paragraphs, bits of a bigger story and multiple blog posts of 2-3 sentences that are vague and drenched in angst. It’s during my fifth poem that I realize what has happened.
Jughead Jones has broken my heart and he has no idea. Well, that was going to change.
I knew I’d find him at Pop’s. I just didn’t know if I’d find him there alone. On the one hand, the part of me that is hellbent on seeking revenge wants to drag him in front of his friends. On the other hand, the part of me that is scared and heartbroken wants to keep this as private as possible. Less witnesses if I started crying again.
Jughead’s profile on me is rolled up in my clenched fist and I subconsciously squeeze it as I survey the crowd at Pop’s. There are a couple of families on the other side of the diner having ice cream and milkshakes, a few kids from school studying, and sitting as far away from the crowds as possible is Jughead Jones.
He’s wearing his fur-lined denim jacket and his infamous beanie, staring intensely at his laptop while his fingers move across the keyboard with purpose. Next to his laptop is an empty glass and a plate that is half full (or half empty) of fries. I falter briefly in my mission and know that if I don’t act now then I’m going to end up rolling over and letting this slide.
My strides are so long that it takes me approximately four steps to approach Jughead’s booth. When I do, I slam his profile down on the table so hard that his glass tips to the side, startling him for a second time. He looks up at me, wide-eyed and completely speechless and I try to school my features to hide the fact that it hurt like a son of a bitch to hit the table that hard.
“You don’t know me or what my plans are, Jones.” I say it with as much cold venom as I can muster and slide into the booth across from him. He looks at the wrinkled and slightly curved pages on the table between us. A look of realization crosses his face before it’s replaced by annoyance. He slouches back in the booth and starts eating fries, looking bored and disgusted with the situation.
Yesterday this would have disarmed me. Today, it sustains me and my rage.
“You didn’t ask me a single question to support your profile, so I’ve prepared some of my own.” Jughead opens his mouth to say something, but I hold up one finger and raise my voice over him “One: what are you hopes for the future? Well, Jones, one day I hope to have an extensive mug collection for my modest apartment in any town that isn’t Riverdale.” I put up a second finger and make sure I am holding eye contact with Jughead while I speak.
“Two: why did you decide to take journalism this year? Well Jones, I’ve been writing since they taught us how in elementary school. I thought taking journalism this year might show me a way to turn my hobby into a career. I thought it might help me improve my storytelling. Frankly, I find print journalism to be fascinating.” I give him the most sarcastic smile I can muster.
“Since you are so interested in my past, I feel like I should share with you that when I was younger I thought it would be cool to write for a magazine. Now that I’m in journalism I know without a doubt that I’d like to get at least one piece published in the following magazines either in their print publications or online: Ms. Magazine, BUST, Bitch, Rolling Stone, Variety, Cosmo, and The New Yorker. And here’s a tidbit about the speaking competitions you mentioned in your piece: It’s not just talking to a crowd. I wrote all of those speeches, thank you very much.”
I can tell that Jughead is growing more uncomfortable by the second and I know that my voice is too loud for the crowd at Pop’s. He refuses to meet my eyes and slouches in the corner of the booth with his arms crossed. It feels so so so good to finally say all of this, to not hold back. I hold up a third finger and am tempted to tell him to read between the lines.
“Three: why are you so upset, Y/N? You know, it really warms my heart that you would ask me that. See, you’ve written about 500 words about my character based on things you’ve heard or maybe seen. You didn’t profile me. You wrote assumptions and deductions. The truth is that you don’t know me, Jones. You think you do, but you actually don’t know what I’ve lived through or what drives me or who I love. You don’t even know my favourite colour or what kind of movies I like, but I bet if you were to guess you’d say it was purple and that I like romantic comedies. Well, surprise, bitch! My favourite colour is mint green and I like psychological thrillers.”
I take a deep breath and lean back in my seat. I have officially burned through all of my anger and am left with something else, something softer and heavier all at once. I take a moment to collect myself and evaluate my audience. His eyebrows are furrowed and he is leaning forward with his lips slightly parted. In his eyes I see intrigue. He starts to speak and I cut him off without having to raise my voice.
“I’m not finished yet,” I tell him tiredly. I hold up four fingers and then let my hands rest on the table in front of me. “Four: Y/N, you mentioned that I don’t know what you’ve lived through. Why don’t you elaborate on that and educate me?” I let out a sigh and give Jughead a half smile across the table. “See, now these are the kind of probing questions I had expected of you, Jughead. After all, you are investigating Jason Blossom’s murder and that would involve a certain level of intelligence.”
Jughead reaches up and closes the lid of his laptop and I know he’s truly invested in my mock interview. Maybe it’s because I called him by his first name but it’s probably because I mentioned Jason Blossom.
“Frankly, I don’t think you deserve an answer. However, as a fellow writer, I would hate for the quality of your piece to suffer, so I will give you this much: The only friends I had as a kid were the possessive kind that liked to put me on a shelf when they were done with me. They got angry if someone else acknowledged me. It could be borderline abusive at times, but I’m stronger for it.”
“Are you talking about Cheryl Blossom?” Jughead asks before I can stop him. I shoot him a sarcastic smile.
“Sorry Jughead, you had your chance to ask your questions. Five: Why bother explaining yourself to me?” I choke on my words, but there’s something about how he’s looking at me, really looking at me, that makes me push through my nerves. It’s now or never.
“Because I’ve quietly admired you for years and it really fucking hurt to know that you think so little of me. Meanwhile for the last three months or so I’ve been trying to stop thinking about how you’re the kind of boy who hangs stars in the sky when you smile. That’s a direct quote from a poem I wrote in English class last year. It was about you, as most of my poems these days are.” I close my eyes tightly and take a deep breath, leaning my head back against the booth.
I feel like I’ve just cut the cord tethering me to earth. It never occurred to me just how heavy this secret was, that it had been a constant weight that I’d been carrying around. I’m scared and relieved all at once. I’ve just gathered the energy to leave when Jughead speaks.
"Just because you got personal with me doesn't mean I'm going to spill my tragic backstory to you." His voice is quiet and not unkind. There is an almost teasing lilt to his tone. I open my eyes and he is looking back at me with an indiscernible expression on his face. It’s almost a mixture of uncertainty and awe? I give a mirthless laugh and sit up, mirroring his position with my arms crossed and elbows leaning on the table.
"You think all that was a tragic backstory? Honey, my tragic backstory is going to die with me." I wink and shoot him a flirtatious smile, one that I learned from watching Ash and Reggie.
“Really? Spending your childhood as Cheryl Blossom’s toy isn’t a tragic backstory?” He’s leaning forward over the table and his smirk causes my thighs to press tightly together.
“Not by a longshot, Jones. You’re curious now, aren’t you?” I lean back and try to keep my composure. Jughead follows my movements and leans back against his side of the booth casually.
“No, of course not.”
“I’m starting to see why you don’t say a lot. You’re a terrible liar.”
“Is that such a bad thing?” He asks me, tone serious.
“No,” I answer him softly. My smile is no longer flirtatious, but fond. His honesty is one of the things I like most about him. Followed by his passion for things. I like how soft he looks when he thinks no one is looking. I like his tenacity and his independence and his way of viewing the world.
“Can I… can I buy you a milkshake?” He asks, sounding uncertain of himself.
“I would love that.” I try to tone down my enthusiasm, but his smirk tells me that I’ve failed. I enjoy getting to admire the object of my affections up close and personal. I expect him to shy away from my hungry eyes, but he seems to be looking back just as intensely. The tension in Pop’s threatens to choke me, so I smile softly at him and start a new conversation.
“I never got to finish my interview in class today. So, question five: tell me, when did you realize that you were a pretentious twat or have you not figured it out yet?”
“It’s recently been brought to my attention,” he admits with a smile.
“I’m happy to say that a lot of you did well with your profile assignments. Jughead Jones, in particular, excelled with his profile on Y/N Y/L/N and will have the privilege of interviewing Mayor McCoy.” Mrs. Cooper is holding up a copy of Jughead’s assignment and I can’t help but to look look at him over my shoulder. His eyes are already on me and he quirks his eyebrow, tossing a potato chip in his mouth. He smirks while he chews. Asshole.
I flip him off with as much subtlety as possible.
“I’ll be leaving the profile on my desk for anyone who is interested in reading it after class.”Ash glares at Jughead over her shoulder and sends me a sympathetic smile. I wave off her concern and pass her a note, encouraging her to read it again after class.
Mrs. Cooper launches into a discussion on what we did well and what needs work and I smile down at my notebook. I sneak glances over my shoulder and he’s always looking back at me with that intensity that attracts me like a moth to a flame.
At the end of class Ash all but sprints to get her hands on Jughead’s profile. I watch him pack up his things and follow behind him as he leaves the room. Reggie Mantle is standing outside of the classroom. He and Ash must be very much on right now if he’s walking her to and from classes again. He smirks when he sees Jughead and puts a hand on his shoulder, stopping him from passing.
“Where’s the fire, Wednesday Addams? Off to plan your next murder?”
I force my way under Jughead’s arm, wrapping my arm tightly around his waist. He looks startled by my appearance.
“Actually Reg, we’re headed to the bleachers to make out so you and Ash should go somewhere else today.” I twist out from under Jughead’s arm, grabbing his hand and walk backwards so that I’m facing him. He, along with Reggie and a few other students in the hall looks stunned.
“Do you not want to make out under the bleachers?” I ask him teasingly. He smirks and jerks his arm backwards bringing me chest to chest with him.
“You’re being cheeky,” he tells me lowly.
“I’m being daring,” I counter, pushing up on the tips of my toes to press a soft kiss to the corner of his mouth. “So do you want to go behind the bleachers or no?”
Jughead smirks and laces our fingers, taking the hall that will bring us outside to the football field.
EPILOGUE
When I left for college Jughead gave me picture frame and inside of it was an article he had cut out of The New Yorker. It’s the one I wrote in junior year after we, along with his friends, solved the murder of Jason Blossom. My first published piece, but not my last.
Jughead took a gap year to promote his book and when it reached the New York Times Bestseller list, I printed it off and had it framed. I gave it to him in person on the anniversary of the day I stormed into Pop’s to yell at him for being presumptuous. I still get dizzy thinking about the way I kissed him that night, with his back pushed up against the pillar on my front porch.
I found my modest apartment in Salem. Jughead populated my mug collection by sending me one from each city he visited and one from every hotel chain he stayed at while on tour with his book. If I had to pick a favourite, it would be the two he brought from Pop’s the night he sold the movie rights to his book. We drank cheap champagne from them and he drunkenly confessed his desire to marry me.
He presents me with a scrapbook six months later. Every magazine article that I’d gotten published is cut out and pasted down on its own page. Underneath or beside the article are handwritten notes from Jughead: little comments or thoughts he had about the piece.
On the last page is a mock article he has written. Our wedding announcement. Underneath it he has taped the engagement ring I wear now. I twist it around my finger and listen to Jughead caressing the keys to his computer in the next room and I am so so so happy.
Tag list: @tasteofswallowedwords; @forsythe-pendleton-jones-iv; @ju-gg; @murderyoursoul; @ri-verdale
#Quill Writes#Not Another Tragic Backstory#Jughead imagine#jughead jones imagine#jughead jones x reader#riverdale imagine
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Book Blogging
A Tyranny of Queens by Foz Meadows. The sequel to the portal fantasy I read last month. Most of the plot here is fallout from the climax of that book: Saffron has returned back to Earth from the fantasy world of Kena, but can she re-adjust to a 'normal' life? And if not, what choices will she make? Yena's adopted sister died in the final battle, but can Yena reclaim religious rights for her sister's funeral and learn more about her mysterious heritage? The evil king has been overthrown, but escaped – where is he and what caused his actions? What's up with the mysterious magic artifact he left behind in the castle? Sadly, I didn't like this book nearly as much as its predecessor. The biggest problem is simply a shift in the use of characters; whereas the first book divided its pages fairly evenly among a vast cast, A Tyranny of Queens is hugely dominated by Saffron and Yena. And I'm sorry to say it, but they're the most boring characters in this series. Both are an example of the 'normal teen girl dealing with events outside her experience' archetype, which is a fine enough archetype as far as it goes, but not one that's particularly exciting unless you give her some sort of distinctive personality trait, anything other than 'determined', 'hard-working', 'smart'. Buffy wanted to date boys and wear cute clothes; Katniss wanted to be left alone and was unexpectedly ruthless; Saffron wants... ? The characters who did grab my attention in An Accident of Stars are pushed mostly off-screen here. Yasha, the grumpy, staff-wielding elderly matriarch who was revealed late in the first book to be an exiled queen, gets something like ten lines of dialogue in this entire book. Viya, the young, spoiled but trying hard to improve noblewoman who is named co-ruler of Kena at the end of the first book, and thus should be navigating the delicate balance of maintaining equality of power while still learning to handle so much responsibility, gets literally two scenes out of three hundred pages. And so on through a whole list of really cool characters. Instead we get multiple chapters of Saffron arguing with her guidance counselor, then her parents, then her social worker over whether she should apologize to one of her high school teachers over a minor incident caused by a bully. Exciting fantasy! My second problem with the book, unfortunately, is much more fundamental. The plot revolves around discovering that the evil king wasn't really evil after all, but was brainwashed. I'm sure this is an attempt to do an interesting redemption arc, or to look at how even the worst-seeming villains have their reasons, but it didn't work for me at all. It felt like a cop-out to remove blame from the king by passing it on to a historic figure from centuries ago (who never gets an explanation for his evil actions, so Meadows hasn't really complicated the role of villains so much as pushed the question a few steps outside the main narrative). None of the many people who died in the wars he started or were tortured in his pursuit of knowledge get a voice in this second book, so I kept feeling as though the suffering he caused was conveniently being swept under the rug to get readers to feel sorry for him. In addition, for a book that tries so hard to be progressive, ending with 'it's not the king's fault! He was manipulated by a foreign woman who made him fall in love with her!' is, uh... not a great look. All in all, a disappointing book. But there was enough good about the series that I'll give the author another chance. The Written World: How Literature Shaped Civilization by Martin Puchner. A nonfiction book that makes its way through human history via the medium of literature. Each of sixteen chapters focuses on a particular classic and shows how it both influenced and was influenced by contemporary events, from Homer's Odyssey giving Alexander the Great a hero to model himself after to The Communist Manifesto inspiring revolutions across the world. A subthread is the development of the technologies of literature itself – the inventions of the alphabet, paper, the printing press, ebooks, etc. It's a pretty neat idea for a book! Unfortunately the execution is terrible. I started off being annoyed that Puchner never seems quite clear on what he means by the term 'literature'. He implies it only includes written works (in the Introduction he says, "It was only when storytelling intersected with writing that literature was born."), and yet many of the pieces he choses to focus on were primarily composed orally (The Odyssey and the Iliad, The Epic of Sunjata, the Popul Vuh, probably the Epic of Gilgamesh, certainly at least parts of One Thousand and One Nights). And yet there's never any discussion of what it means to go from an oral mode to a written one, a topic I was eagerly awaiting to see analyzed. It's just... never addressed beyond a passing mention here and there. Okay, fine, I thought to myself, Puchner means 'literature' as in 'stories'. But that doesn't work either, since once again many of his choices don't tell any sort of narrative (Saint Paul's letters, Martin Luther's theses, Benjamin Franklin's 'Poor Richard's Almanac', Confucius's Analects, Mao's 'Little Red Book'). So what does Puchner mean by literature, the central organizing principle of his whole book? God alone knows. My irritation with the book deepened when I got to Chapter Four, where Puchner claims credit for inventing the concept of the Axial Age: "It was only in the course of trying to understand the story of literature that I noticed a striking pattern in the teaching of the Buddha, Confucius, Socrates, and Jesus. Living within a span of a few hundred years but without knowing of one another, these teachers revolutionized the world of ideas. Many of today’s philosophical and religious schools—Indian philosophy, Chinese philosophy, Western philosophy, and Christianity—were shaped by these charismatic teachers. It was almost as if in the five centuries before the Common Era, the world was waiting to be instructed, eager to learn new ways of thinking and being. But why? And what explained the emergence of these teachers?" Sure, dude, sure. You came up with this vastly original idea all on your own. (To be fair, if one choses to read through the endnotes, Puchner does cite Karl Jaspers, though he still insists his own version is ~so different~.) He then proceeds to get basic information about the Buddha completely wrong. For example: Some form of writing may have existed in India during the Buddha’s time (the so-called Indus Valley script may not have been a full writing system and remains undeciphered). This sentence. I can't even. I almost stopped reading the book right here, it's so incredibly incorrect. It's like saying, "Thomas Jefferson may have been literate, but since we find no Latin engravings in his house, we can't be sure." Let me lay out the problems. The Buddha lived around 500BCE; the last known well-accepted use of the Indus script was in 1900BCE. That's a gap of nearly two millennia. The Indus script was used on the western edge of South Asia, in Pakistan and the Indian states of Gujarat and Haryana; the Buddha lived on the eastern edge, in Nepal. At minimum, they're 500 miles apart. There is no chance in hell the Indus script was remotely relevant to writing about the Buddha. And in fact, we don't need to guess at the script of the Buddha's time and place. It's called Brahmi and it's quite well attested – though Puchner doesn't once mention it. He does include a photo of an Indus seal, because why not waste more space on utterly irrelevant information. Let's quickly go through the problems on the rest of this single page: What mattered above all were the age-old hymns and stories of the Vedas, which were transmitted orally by specially appointed Brahmans for whom remembering the Vedas was an obligation and a privilege. Though the Vedas do have an important oral history, they were certainly written down by the time of the Buddha, and possibly as early as 1000BCE. The oldest Indian epic, the Ramayana, was also orally composed and only later written down, much like Homeric epics. The Mahabharata is generally considered to be the older of the two epics. Despite my disillusionment at this point, I continued on with the book. And to be fair, I noticed many fewer mistakes! Though possibly because I know much less about Renaissance Germany or Soviet Russia than I do about Indian history. I did hit several problems again in the chapter on the Popul Vuh, the Mayan epic. To begin with, the chapter opens with a long dramatic scene recreating the Spanish conquistadores' capture of Atahualpa, the Incan emperor. Incan. Who lived in Peru, in South America. The Classic Mayan culture was based in Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize – North America and a bit of Central America. This time Puchner is literally on the wrong continent. Once he finally makes his way up to the Mayan homeland, he focuses his narration on Diego de Landa, a Spanish priest who did indeed write an important ethnography of the Mayans of the 1500s. The Classic Mayan Era was over by 950CE, introducing a discrepancy Puchner does not deign to acknowledge. Even aside from that small problem, Puchner describes Landa's writings multiple times as "an account [...] that has remained the primary source of information on Maya culture." This entirely ignores not only the Popul Vuh itself; but the multiple other Mayan codices that survived Spanish colonialism; the many Mayan writings carved on their pyramids, palaces, and stele, and painted on their pottery; their murals of war, sport, and history; the enormous archaeological record of their cities, technology, and diet; and, oh yeah, the fact that Mayan people are still around today. Oh, my bad – Puchner does remember the Mayans still exist. Here's what he has to say about them: "My journey began in the Lacandon jungle. A bus dropped me at the border of the Maya territory, where a beat-up truck picked me up at the side of the road. The village of several dozen huts was located in a clearing in the jungle. Everyone but me was dressed in what looked like long white nightgowns. Men and women both wore their black hair shoulder length (I thought of the shipwrecked sailor who had gone native), and most of them walked around barefoot, sometimes donning rubber boots." That's it. That's literally the only mention of the modern Mayan people. (Puchner's in the area to learn about the Zapatista uprising, to which he devotes the rest of the chapter.) I'm so glad he spent ages detailing that and de Landa's biography instead of devoting any space at all to the contemporary persistence of Mayan beliefs, language, or rituals. When I first read its blurb, I looked forward to the rest of The Written World. Unfortunately it's the closest I've come to hurling a book at the wall in a long, long time. I read this as an ARC via NetGalley.
[DW link for ease of commenting]
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Greasing The Gears Of Legal Commerce — Automatic, Systematic, Hydromatic (alt.legal) Innovation
Joe Borstein
Close your eyes and picture a magically perfect legal services market.
In this meritocratic legal-utopia, the best law firm (with the best legal talent, innovative technology, and processes/solutions) wins the work every time. Innovative upstarts take on (and take out) incumbents by taking risks and building a better mousetrap. Law firms clamor for tools that give them an edge (which, in turn, venture capitalists clamor to fund!). In the end, the best law firms (law companies and technologies) win, while clients’ rights and interests are optimally protected at the lowest possible cost… and we all live happily ever after.
Today, Jae Um and I explore what such a world would look like!
Gears Make the World Go Round (Faster)
I asked Jae to help visualize a theory we are calling “The Gears of Commerce.” If you don’t know Jae, shame on you. She’s the newest must-read influencer in legal. While her longform essays speak for themselves, I’ll add that she is also a true expert on all aspects of strategic marketing (from brand and positioning to sales and pricing).
We agreed that it’s not productive to blame Biglaw lawyers (who are smart and hardworking) for the slow pace of legal innovation. Rather, the frustrating pace of progress is a function of the systemwide inefficiency of all commercial activity in our industry which, unfortunately, is visualized below.
To solve these blockages, we need to ask smart questions about how that market actually works and how it can work better. What are the specific cogs and wheels that must click together and rotate in perfect synchronicity?
The Best of All Possible Worlds (With Fine Print, Of Course)
Back to our opening question. How would a more perfect legal market work?
Because both Jae and I are pragmatists, we constrained our thought experiment to reflect the current regulatory environment: (a) law firms remain protected as the only business entity authorized to practice law, and (b) lawyers maintain their monopoly on equity ownership of law firms.
Here’s a simplified flowchart of our ideal state:
CLIENT PROBLEM: clients approach leading law firms (the only organization in the United States who can practice law) with a legal problem, and seek proposals to solve it;
VIRTUOUS CYCLE / SOLUTION DESIGN: law firms weigh the cost and benefits of various courses of action, and propose solutions;
BUY BUILD OR PARTNER: these solutions would include both their legal expertise, AND best-in-class technology, outside services and financing, all of which would be designed to lower costs and risks, and improve legal outcomes;
CLIENT-SIDE BUYING SOPHISTICATION: the law firm with the best proposal would be selected;
FIRM-SIDE EXECUTION: Law firm would serve as general contractor, executing the proposed solution as promised;
COMMERCIAL LOYALTY (NOT JUST <3): if the solution was successful, this strategy would please the client encouraging them to use the law firm more in the future, while also encouraging others clients;
TRUTH IN ADVERTISING: the law firm would advertise their win, and have outsized odds of picking up more like clients;
RIGOROUS REPORTING: the legal media would also pick up the innovative story and speed the adoption of the technologies, services and financing used by the law firm;
SMART CAPITAL: venture capital and strategic buyers would increase investment and acquisition of similar solutions, making them better and better, faster and faster!
RINSE & REPEAT: Well, you get the picture!
The Red Pill: The Real World We Occupy Today
Well, anyone who works at the intersection of law and innovation today knows we are far from this ideal state. In order to grease the gears of commerce, we first have to diagnose the barriers preventing the best of all possible worlds.
We identified three categories of barriers that slow the pace of innovation, each at different points in the go-to-market process: (1) being presented to buyers; (2) being adopted by a critical mass of clients, and; (3) being rewarded by the market.
Failure of Best Solutions Being Presented:
It’s the revenue, stupid! The legal innovation paradox states clearly that solutions that make legal matters more efficient tend to reduce billable hours.
Many innovations reduce the revenue Biglaw will generate on a given matter. Unless Biglaw partners believe they will be rewarded in other ways, this is a disincentive to innovation (think predictive coding for litigation or leveraging AI like Kira or eBrevia for diligence).
You can’t leverage what you don’t know! Most Biglaw attorneys have very little knowledge of the alt.legal landscape. Again, this is NOT because they are dumb or lazy (most are smart and hard working) but because they are busy! Few firms have influential chief innovation officers, or people in other influential roles to serve as trusted curators of institutional knowledge for best-in-breed innovations.
How do you price it? Don’t forget that just a decade ago, nearly everything was handled internally by the law firm (copy fees anyone?). You can’t blame Biglaw partners for not knowing how to price the subcontracting of predictive coding technology or legal process outsourcing teams in ways that are fair and profitable.
Failure of Best Solutions Being Adopted:
Next, even if innovations are presented, there are barriers to adoption by clients.
Have you tried contracting with a Fortune 500? It’s hard… very hard… and very slow. Often, a major company doesn’t want to try the newest thing at all. Surprised? Geoffrey Moore of Crossing the Chasm tells us that only about 16 percent of people seek novelty; the rest of us prefer to shop for established, reliable products we know will work.
Cost savings are not always a priority, and they’re certainly not the only priority. While “more for less” has been the rallying cry of corporate counsel since the Great Reset of 2009, legal procurement simply isn’t a one-size-fits-all proposition. For many big-ticket, high-consequence items, white shoe firms will tell you that their clients simply want everything done perfectly, and that clients truly don’t care about cost. The latest Altman Weil Chief Legal Officer Survey tells us that the white shoe firms are neither dumb nor deluded in this view: CLOs indicated that nearly 25 percent of outside counsel fees are “price-insensitive.” (Consider that a typical bet-the-company litigation or major merger dwarfs even the astronomical fees of elite Biglaw firms to a rounding error.)
There is often a light form of capture, where in-house counsel want to be brought back into Biglaw as a partner (or at least be invited to their sweet parties!). Indirectly or subliminally, some senior counsel do balance incentives between squeezing Biglaw for discounts and protecting the long-term relationship.
Failure of Best Solutions Being Rewarded:
Finally, if a tree falls in the forest, and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?
Biglaw partners correctly surmise that there will be little marketing, media or fanfare in response to innovative solutions — even better, cheaper, and faster results. Thus, there is no guarantee they will pick up new clients by being better (sad).
Furthermore, the bigger the matter, the less likely it is to recur — so the firm might not even get materially more work from THAT particular client.
Without a guarantee of effective and meaningful storytelling from the very top of the marketing funnel to the point of sale, the proposition is to perform all this extra work and take on all this extra risk… at the expense of current revenue!
In the current state, the primary pitfalls in the marketing cycle are:
Advertising in legal doesn’t work well and is highly regulated!
Media doesn’t always cover the HOW behind major innovation wins.
Word of mouth is limited in legal and very, very slow.
Despite the ongoing and increasing interest in legal innovation as a whole, the aggregate volume of hype often results in meaningful signals getting lost in the noise.
So. What Do We Do About It?
As we enter 2019, it is my commitment to cover in these pages the lawyers, companies and innovators working to make these gears turn faster. Stay tuned, and thanks Jae!
Joe Borstein is a Global Director with Thomson Reuters Legal Managed Services, delivering Pangea3 award-winning legal outsourcing services and employing over 1800 full-time legal, compliance, and technology professionals across the globe. He and his co-author Ed Sohn each spent over half a decade as associates in BigLaw and were classmates at Penn Law. (The views expressed in their columns are their own.)
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APRIL 2020
PAGE RIB
Well, where the hell do I begin?? I won’t even go into much of the covid-19 business cuz it changes every day and now all aware that we have a pandemic. Scary Clown tried hard to keep us from knowing anything but word is out. I truly hope you and your loved ones are safe and healthy. May we all adjust calmly to this new world and help and love one another.
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An animal sanctuary in South Carolina is asking for volunteers to cuddle rescue pigs. At least 75 of the pigs that were taken out of harm’s way from a farm in Kentucky have been adopted.
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Stegosaurus footprints thought to be 170 million years old were found on the Isle of Skye. This is the first evidence of these modest sized cuties in Scotland.
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A Federal court has granted a request by the Standing Rock Sioux tribe to strike down federal permits for the Dakota access pipe line. The U.S. Army corps of engineers violated the National environmental policy act when it affirmed federal permits for the pipeline. The court found that there were significant unresolved concerns about the potential impacts of oil spills and their likelihood to take place. It took 4 years but the tribe’s experts on technical analysis proved their case. Now the corps must work up a full environmental impact statement.
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If you haven’t heard Harry Styles and his take on Sledgehammer then check it out on Howard Stern.
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Chris Meloni will be back in a new Dick Wolf production. The Law and Order spin off will put Elliot Stabler in charge of the organized crime division.
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A 4.2 magnitude earthquake hit Puerto Rico.
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A lot has happened in the democratic race since last I wrote. Buttigieg is out but his breakfast with the Carters was a wonderful thing to see. Klobuchar is out, Bloomberg is out, Gabbard is out, Kemp is out and they all back Biden. Warren is out and keeping mum. It seemed that once Biden started to take most of the delegates and the others all started dropping that there was a shift. The political pundits and hosts started turning on Bernie. Were they just waiting for all this to come down? Many of the states that Biden won are in the South and the Dems probably won’t win them anyway. They seem to love Trump even as he screws up this whole virus situation. Things seemed sort of even handed until the wind shifted. It seems Yang and Tio Bernie had some timely ideas when they said everyone needs healthcare and about $1000 a month. How different would the country be right now if those things were already in place? A couple of our biggest issues would not be there. ** Do we blame the young for only being left with 2 old white guys as our choices? Did this whole big exodus of candidates begin with a “subtle” phone call from Obama to Buttigieg?
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Why is it that simple voting is still so hard in this country? People have fought from the beginning to be heard, to have a real democracy. Some people take it for granted and some stay home. If a person really wants to vote, can we please make it EZ? There are special circumstances this year and let’s hope it proves once and for all, that vote by mail is the way. People were waiting for hours to cast a vote and some primaries were cancelled. How about Ranked choice voting?? This gives voters the option to rank candidates in order of choice. Voters pick a first choice candidate and have the option to rank backup candidates in order of their choice. If a candidate gets more than half of the first choices they win, as usual. But, if there is no majority after the first choices, the race is decided by instant run off. The candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and voters who picked candidates as #1 will have their vote count as the next choice. This continues until a candidate wins more than half the votes. It can also be used in multi winner elections like city council where they have to reach a threshold.
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The talk is that Bernie broke up Public Enemy. Flava Flav refused to endorse him when the rest of the band wanted to play a Bernie rally. He walked. Dr. Cornel West is also stumping for Bernie.
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OMG The final season of How to Get Away with Murder is upon us. NO!!!!!
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Peter Jackson will bring us The Beatles: Get Back with never before seen footage!!!! Fingers crossed we will see it in September!
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The Killers have a new one out: Imploding the Mirage
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Putin is now in power until 2036.
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I have realized that nearly every tv show that has been on for any period of time mentions Manson at least once.
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The new reality is a Biden /Bernie debate without an audience that I loved. That is the way they should be. Also the late night shows are entertaining from their homes and we get to see how creative they can really be. The Jimmy’s are reminding us of charities that need us right now. Kimmel had a photo of Dave behind him then a Vonnegut print. Nice. **Some people are worn out from working all the time like housekeepers in hospitals and nursing homes, Doctors, nurses, grocery and discount store employees. A clerk told me the other day that she was grateful for her job but a couple days of quarantine would be nice. Others are stuck at home or confined to small rooms in nursing care. We must thank our police and emergency workers, sanitation and postal employees, the truckers, the railroad workers and all those that we can’t live without. ** Rosie O’Donnell did a fundraiser online** Divorce rates are up** We have learned that people are obsessed with their paper products. I saw a sign in a grocery store bathroom: ‘Please don’t steal the toilet paper.’ People were calling 911 to tell them they are out of T.P.** Vegas has drive thru strip shows : $100 for 10 minutes.** Bill Burr called out those of us who are ripping on the hoarders. Wall Street does it every day.
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All the great public engagements, the fests, the tours et al have been postponed until later dates.
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How different will life be when this subsides?? What will change? Will more people work from home? They should, less overhead at the office. Will this scare the public into things with more style and substance? Could we shift into different viewing habits? Can we finally get rid of “reality” shows with their ridiculous made up hillbilly diva drama? Made up, hillbilly, diva and drama can all be good things but put them together and UGH!! The amount of on line shows has soared out of necessity. Perhaps a new voice will stand out. Let’s see what sticks.** Just think about the fuel emissions that we could cut and the traffic that could be lighter if more people worked from home. Perhaps managers will make schedules that make more sense. Many mags are going exclusively online. ** Dolly Parton will read kids stories online with ‘Goodnight with Dolly.’ ** Are the balanced well meaning people rising up to take over the evil? This world ebbs and flows, sometimes the greedy take charge and sometime our better angels win out.
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Zach Braff and Donald Faison are starting a podcast.
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Abortion providers like Planned Parenthood as well as the ACLU have sued Iowa, Ohio, Oklahoma and Alabama to ensure access to abortion during the pandemic. The states have suspended elective surgeries. The question is if time sensitive abortion is an essential procedure.
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Game Stop and Hobby Lobby are forcing people to work. Hobby Lobby owner David Green sent a letter to his managers. He stressed that the Lord sent a message to his wife, The Prayer Warrior. The sign told them 3 words, Guide, Guard, Groom. He wrote that ‘God is in control’ and that they will stay open now and later tighten “our” belts. Employee health be damned!
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The Census is temporarily suspended. Also the RNC sent out some of their propaganda mailings that said census right on them. That is one way to confuse people into reading that garbage. ** The tax deadline has been moved to July 15.** The Olympics have been postponed.
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It seems that Jared Leto only learned of the coronavirus in mid- March because he was on an isolated meditation journey.
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500 billion bailout for corporations with little accountability? Money for cruise lines which are not even based in the U.S.? I don’t think so. Funny how it isn’t socialism when they want government $. None for the USPS who may have to close by June if they don’t get help?? WHAT?? Our country is raw and exposed. People have no savings and the rich have their hand out. The Senate bill will have long term effects and they wanted nothing for state and local problems? What?** An article said that Trump tried to buy the firm that is working on the vaccine. Is that true?** It seems like they want the people who can afford it to hoard all the T.P. to get a nice check and not much for the bottom who really need it. The republicans put in a little gem to lift restrictions for 3 years on losses that were limited in the 2017 tax cut. The move could result in $170 billion in tax breaks for real estate investors. This of course includes Trump and Kushner. You got to hand it to them, even with people falling all around them, they can keep a clear head to continue their greed. I suppose that is a skill. Word is Kushner told his tenants that they must keep paying their rent as he asks for a little leniency from his creditors. As a wise man recently said to me, ”Sounds like America!”** The bill has now been signed so we will see how it all plays out. **Did the government really send 170 broken ventilators to California yet send seven times the face shields requested to Oklahoma?? Stupidity, mistake or on purpose??
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Michael Cohen claims that Trump instructed him to pay tech firms to rig polls in his favor.
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The stories of generosity are there too. Angelina Jolie has donated a mil to charity along with many other celebs and civilians. We can do without human contact for a while but it will be needed for children, for faith and the frightened. ** Abbott, an Illinois based company claims they have a 5 minute portable test for the virus that they plan to roll out in April with 50,000 tests a day. The initial small amount of research is good but we have yet to see the accuracy on a large scale.
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Tax payer money should be used to bail out people, not corporations. –Robert Reich
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The word is that ventilators are not easy to mass produce. Sone companies won’t even be able to get to out orders for months because China put in orders first. **College gymnasiums are being converted to wards. Jerry Falwell Jr. wanted to keep his school open but they have decided to halt classes and just leave study areas open at Liberty U. **
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“Thank God Trump is managing this corona flu like you would expect from a successful CEO V a career politician.” –Jerry Falwell Jr. ** From Murdoch to Trump to Falwell, what is it with these greedy sons??
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Thank God we have a President who knows how to take charge.” –Franklin Graham** The good news on Graham is that he did ship a field hospital to Italy. His Samaritans purse is also helping with those in Central Park.
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Thank God some of these pastors who insist on holding services are getting arrested. They are not the only non -essentials staying open and endangering us though so I hope they soon shutter as well.
Intel chair Richard Barr, Diane Feinstein and others sold off major stocks a week before the stock market crash. Sen Loeffler’s husband is the CEO of the NYSE. It’s funny that they had briefings on the virus and yet told us that all was well. ** Sean Spicer was at some WH briefings to ask questions.
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It only took a deadly virus to halt school shootings. – Romy Reiner
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Trump gave China 18 tons of respirators, gauze, gloves and other equipment.
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About 60% of these pathogens come from animals. Things that may be harmless to them could kill us. As we tear down their habitats, they have to go somewhere and sometimes it is right in our own backyards. Are we killing ourselves with virus because of our own denial of climate change and the destruction of the homes of these wild animals?
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Is this true? The PINO (President in name only) and his campaign told tv stations that they could lose their licenses if they air a political ad that contains his own quotes.
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Joe Rogan had a hissy fit about people singing’ Imagine’. Why do people lose their minds every time this song rises to the surface again??
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DR. Rand Paul was having lunch with other Senators, swimming in the pool and working out while he awaited the results of his coronavirus test. ** So many are staying put, so many have to be out there caring for others or keeping us supplied and this moron can’t follow some simple steps. Let us please get these bozos out of office. They can’t look out for themselves, let alone the rest of us. ** FU congressman Tom Markie.
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Some are speculating that Pence will be out and Nikki Haley will be in.** Will there be any debates if it comes down to Trump and Biden? I don’t think Trump will let go of all this crap about Joe and his son and it will get really ugly. Oh yea, too late! ** The furries, the young and the Latinos seem to love Tio Bernie.
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Genesis is reuniting.
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The Friends reunion has been postponed.
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How many times do we hear true crime shows say, “disposed of like trash” and “It don’t happen here.” Hey, law enforcement, horrible crime happens everywhere, get used to it and be ready !!
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Charges against Russian firms for interfering in the elections that were filed by Mueller have been quietly dropped. ** The DOJ has asked congress to give them emergency powers. It is like the patriot act all over again. Look out!
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Don’t forsake those duties which keep you out of the nuthouse. –Katherine Houghton Hepburn
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Tom Brady is out and going to Tampa Bay.
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Harvey Weinstein got 23 years and tested positive for the corona virus and it ain’t over yet.
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Brit Hume was caught with “sexy vixen vinyl” on his browser and much was made of that.
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Humanity Forward is Yang’s new non- profit starting with giving 3 mil to ordinary people.
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No Time to Die has been moved from an April release to a November release. I am sure it is the first of many as people are sheltered in place.** The GLAAD awards with no audience, No SXSW or NBA. Many productions have been halted. ** Every American can get tested regardless of insurance if you can find a test, that is.** Dr. Zeek Emanual tells us this could go on for 2 years. Projections show we could lose 4 times as many people as we did in WWII. We lost 1000 in a month and in 48 hours that was up to 2000. ** Which one of Trump’s donors will get the contract to make more test kits? Is that the hold up on supply? ** Alex Jones and Jim Baker were both trying to sell coronavirus cures. The government has asked them to stop.
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Bill Gates has stepped down from Microsoft’s Board of directors.
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HBG has cancelled Woody Allen’s book after a walk out.
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Meghan McCain is pregnant.
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Mulvaney is out and Mark Meadows has left congress to become the new Chief of staff. Can we just let all the X presidents into the WH and let them take over before we are all dead??
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In the foreseeable future, I will be a dead person. I want to remind you that dead people are people too. There are good dead people and bad dead people. Some of my best friends are dead people. Dead people have fought in every war. –Tom Davis
The Covid-19 call center is 833-275-9644.
R.I.P Marlyn Carls, Kenny Rogers, the Covid-19 victims, James Lipton, the Nashville tornado victims, McCoy Tiner, Max Von Sydow, Maggie Griffin, Larry Edgeworth, Kenny Rogers, John Hammond, Terrance McNally, Fred ‘Curly’ Neal, Joseph Lowery, Manu Dibango, John Callahan, Mark Blum, Maria Mercader, David Schramm, Joe Diffie, Richard Reeves, Vincent Marzello and Anton Coppola.
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Three digital marketing trends you can’t miss in 2020
The internet has transformed the way we view and experience the world. Nowadays, we use it for virtually everything, from making a phone call to paying off our credit card bill. Smartphones have revolutionized how we shop and do business. With them, we can interact and socialize with people from around the world using Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, and so on.
From personal experience, I can tell you that I would have never guessed that my smartphone would become a priority for me. I remember thinking that Blackberry pin-to-pin messaging was a disease. Now, I can spend hours upon hours browsing idly through my Instagram feed. Well, the joke’s on me, right?
The same goes for businesses. Most were limited to operating from a storefront or office, and they could only rely on printed or TV ads, and local networking to get customers. Today, however, the world is any business’ oyster. And digital marketing is the magic wand that makes it possible. But that doesn’t mean that it’s easy.
Digital marketers are facing new challenges every year. The interaction between businesses and prospects or customers is evolving as new devices, apps, and social media platforms become available.
The end of the decade brought the time, to sum up, what this ever-changing industry has in store for 2020.
Here are three marketing trends to keep an eye on this year.
1. Paid voice search
Voice search advertising has been on most marketers’ radars for a while now. However, the use of smart speakers and voice assistants has gained momentum in the last couple of years.
So, adopting digital marketing strategies to increase your businesses’ presence in voice searches will soon become a necessity:
In 2019, Amazon claimed to have sold more than 100 million Alexa devices, while Google predicts that Google Assistant will soon reach one billion devices.
At least 20% of mobile searches are made using voice assistants.
It’s predicted that 50% of all searches will be voice-based this year.
And don’t forget about the benefits of paid voice search for local businesses and ecommerce sites:
75% of people who own a smart speaker perform a search for a local business weekly and 53% of them do it every day.
More than 20% of voice-based orders are for groceries.
Voice-based purchases are expected to increment to $40 billion in 2022.
Source for the above-mentioned stats: QuoraCreative
But how can your business take advantage of this new advertising niche?
By establishing a solid strategy for voice engine optimization. To get ahead of the game, you need to understand how your audience asks questions. Check out the details below.
Adapt the tone of your written content: Question words are widespread among search queries. That is, How, When, Who, Where, When, and Why. Most people use question-based keywords when implementing voice search. So, adding these words to your written content can put you in the spotlight quickly.
Focus on long-tail keywords: When asking smart speakers and voice assistant questions, users tend to speak naturally. That’s why voice searches tend to be more specific. Instead of using “cheap hotel in Vermont,” a person would search for “What is the cheapest four-star hotel in Vermont?” – using long-tail keywords will allow you to rank better for voice searches.
Use Schema Markup: This lets you contextualize your content and helps search engines understand exactly what your content is about.
Guy Sheetrit, CEO and Co-founder of Over the Top SEO, predicted the increasing importance of voice searches last year.
When asked about SEO trends for the near future in an interview for Brandwatch, he mentioned that,
“The combined growth of voice search and the ability of Google to deliver a specific answer to a search query… is going to have a significant impact on how much exposure your website gets.”
This has been slowly but surely turned into a reality. And the ever-growing popularity of smart speakers will just make it more prevalent as time goes by.
2. Interactive content
We’ve all heard the saying “Content is King”. And yes, informative blog posts, killer copy, or social media posts should continue to be key parts of your content marketing strategy. However, they are slowly being outpaced by interactive content. And it makes sense.
In a world where we are bombarded by information right, left, and center, audiences have become more and more demanding about the type of content they’re willing to consume. They expect content to be engaging, relevant, and accessible via any device they use. And they expect this 100% of the time.
I asked Shreetit about the impact of interactive content to which he said,
“If you’re not optimizing your digital marketing strategy with interactive content, then you’re already losing customers.”
He asserted,
“For any business to succeed in 2020, it needs to keep up with what users are craving. And interactive content is one of the most innovative ways to consume information.”
We’ve been using interactive content for a while. Think about online quizzes, surveys, and social games.
However, as technology advances, so does the way users want to experience the world. Investing time and money on incorporating interactive formats to your digital marketing strategy can have tremendous payoffs. To do so, include some interactive infographics, white papers, case studies, or ebooks.
But why is interactive content a trend for the start of the new decade? Why should you invest in interactive content now?
For starters, it’s proven to positively impact KPIs. Interactive content helps increase brand awareness and its connection with users by way of branded experiences.
Because it is immersive. Prospects engaging with a brand through interactive content tend to spend more time on a business’s website.
It also increases page views, boosting engaging metrics, increasing time on site, and decreasing bounce rates.
Not sold on it just yet? Check out these figures:
Interactive content generates double the conversions when compared to passive content.
Over 90% of B2B prospects prefer interactive content over static content.
It is 93% more effective than static content.
In the era 2.0, where the average users’ attention span is eight seconds or less, keeping potential customers engaged may seem like a herculean task. Consumers are exposed to so much branded content that it can be nearly impossible to stand out from your competitors.
The good news is that it doesn’t have to be. Planning and implementing an interactive content strategy can help you cross that bridge, effectively closing the gap between traffic to your site and conversions.
3. TikTok advertising
TikTok is not new. However, its increasing popularity is. It was launched into the international market in 2017 and last year it took over musical.ly. A smart move that eased its way into the American teen and tween market.
But what exactly is this social app about?
The concept is rather simple. Users can create short videos and edit them to add filters, effects, and other features. They can then share them on TikTok’s platform or other social media.
And believe me, this single concept has taken the social-media-sphere by storm:
In October 2018, it was the most downloaded app on both Apple and Google’s app stores, surpassing Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube worldwide.
It was downloaded by 188 Million users globally in the first quarter of 2019. This represents a 70% growth from the previous year.
It currently has over 500 million active users worldwide.
66% of users are under 30 years old and 40% of them are between 25 and 30.
It’s available in 75 languages and 150 countries.
The outreach potential for this app is enormous. If you want to benefit from what TikTok has to offer, I suggest you consider the following tactics.
Create a brand TikTok account
If you create a brand account, you can take advantage of hashtag challenges. These are hugely popular within the platform and will give you a chance to leverage user-generated content. This type of content has become invaluable in today’s marketing world and it’s a nearly foolproof way to reach your audience. Not to mention TikTok’s format has a huge potential for virality. Another way to increase your brand’s presence is by utilizing branded lenses. They are the equivalent of Snapchat or Instagram’s 3D filters. With TikTok, your brand can also create posts with 2D and Augmented Reality (AR). These filters bring a significant level of user engagement by letting your audience actively interact with your products.
Partner with an influencer – someone who already has an established audience
In this case, you need to make sure their demographic and type of content coincide with your target audience and brand. You also must evaluate their engagement metrics to ensure a successful partnership.
Use its paid advertising features
TikTok introduced its biddable ads feature earlier this year and it currently only has one ad type – the in-feed video ad. The platform allows you to target these ads by age, gender, and geographic location (to state level). And, the developer has stated that more granular segmentation will be available soon. You can also create customized audiences by manually adding a CRM list, and whitelist or blacklist specific audiences as well.“As soon as I realized the potential TikTok had, I knew it was an app that could add enormous value to any marketing strategy” Shared Guy. “I wouldn’t be surprised if TikTok changes the digital marketing world entirely and end ups displacing Snapchat.”He also said it was a sure-shot way to gain some track within the teenager and college-age demographic. If they’re your target audience, this is your shortcut to boost your exposure.
To sum it all up…
Keeping up with the ever-evolving digital marketing industry is no easy feat. Things tend to change at the drop of a hat. However, if you stay up-to-date with trends and follow what the experts are buzzing about, you can stay on top of your business’ digital marketing strategy. Adapting it to the shifting online environment to benefit your brand is key to stay ahead of your competitors.
Pius Boachie is the founder of DigitiMatic, an inbound marketing agency.
The post Three digital marketing trends you can’t miss in 2020 appeared first on Search Engine Watch.
from Digital Marketing News https://www.searchenginewatch.com/2020/01/27/three-digital-marketing-trends-2020/
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2020 Panel Review 2019: Is This Survey Site Legit or a Scam?
It’s tough to tell which survey-taking websites are legit, especially considering how many options are out there. Our 2020 Panel review covers the information new users need to know before signing up. We’ll also explain how to create an account and start making money.
2020 Panel Review: What Is 2020 Panel?
2020 Panel uses a business model similar to many other survey sites. Companies pay the site to collect market data, and 2020 Panel finds participants by offering some of that money in exchange for taking surveys.
The research organization has been around since 1986, giving it a longer history than most alternatives. Plus, it’s free to sign up.
2020 Panel Review: How Does It Work?
Signing Up
Joining 2020 Panel is as simple as entering your email address and creating a password. From there, you’ll receive a confirmation email. Verifying your address is the last step toward creating an account.
Following account creation, the website will ask for some additional information to match you up with surveys. Keep in mind that survey availability varies widely from one user to another, mainly depending on demographics.
After signing up, 2020 Panel will let you know whenever new surveys are available. Unlike some other sites, you can take surveys only when you receive an invitation. You can’t look for surveys on the website, and you may not qualify for any surveys on your first day.
Even if you don’t qualify for a survey right off the bat, there are some quirky features you might enjoy checking out. For starters, there’s a coupon page that lets you print out coupons for some major-brand items.
Then there’s a job search function that pulls data from career boards. I guess it’s a reminder that you could be doing more lucrative things with your time than taking surveys!
Signing up for 2020 Panel is a relatively straightforward process.
Taking Surveys
2020 Panel offers a wider variety of surveys compared to most competitors. Rather than just answering questions online, you may be invited to participate in a number of ways. Remember to check your email filters to make sure that messages from 2020 Panel go to your inbox.
One supplement to the conventional survey is an online interview. In this case, you’ll answer a few screener questions to determine whether you’re eligible for the interview. If you’re selected, the website will connect you to a moderator for the interview.
2020 Panel also runs user-driven discussions through both chat rooms and webcams. These opportunities range from roughly 30 to 90 minutes, but typically lead to better rewards than surveys alone.
Finally, members in a few locations may be eligible for in-person participation. 2020 Panel currently has facilities in Miami, Nashville, and Charlotte, North Carolina. It’s an even better opportunity for people living in these areas.
Remember that 2020 Panel uses your personal information to connect you with new opportunities. You probably won’t receive any invitations if you haven’t completed the initial profile survey. The website adds new questions periodically, so you should check your profile regularly to make sure you haven’t missed anything in your inbox.
Emails from 2020 Panel typically invite you to a preliminary questionnaire, so there’s a chance you won’t be accepted for the entire survey. Getting screened out can be frustrating, and there’s no way to predict which surveys you’ll qualify for.
Earning Rewards
2020 Panel offers both points and money for different surveys, so look at the reward before taking a new survey. Points expire after 18 months, more than enough time to redeem them in most cases. You can redeem points for PayPal or a gift card when you reach at least 500.
If you fail to qualify for a survey, you’ll still receive 10% of the reward value. This makes it feel like the time was worth it, especially compared to sites that don’t offer any rewards unless you finish the entire survey.
Focus groups and online discussions usually offer much better rewards than surveys. Again, don’t forget to check the form of the reward to make sure it’s something you’re interested in. You should expect to receive around $50 to $200 after completing a focus group. This is significantly more than is typically available with most other sites.
Rewards can be issued in the form of gift cards or PayPal cash.
2020 Panel Review: Is 2020 Panel Legit?
2020 Panel is a highly reputable survey site, and it’s a trustworthy option for anyone interested in earning some extra cash. It offers a few particularly valuable advantages that make it worth considering above the competition. These are a few the things we liked that we found while writing this 2020 Panel review.
In-Person Discussions
In-person focus groups are available in only a few cities, but they’re still a unique opportunity among survey sites. They also offer some of the best rewards available on any platform.
If you live in a supported area and are interested in taking surveys for money, 2020 Panel could help you earn substantially more than competing platforms. Rather than making a dollar or two for each interaction, you could earn as much as $200.
Free Coupons
2020 Panel consistently offers valuable coupons to all members at no charge. You can view the available coupons at any time and download them after creating an account. Most deals are on common household items you likely would have considered purchasing anyway.
Free coupons provide a benefit at no cost, and you can redeem an unlimited number of deals. After signing up, remember to check the coupon page regularly for new offers. 2020 Panel coupons could help you save a few dollars every week.
If you don’t qualify for surveys, at least you can clip coupons!
Screener Rewards
You need to complete a short screener before being accepted for an entire survey. While 2020 Panel rejects many users, you’ll still get a small reward if you don’t qualify. Some other sites provide rewards only if you qualify for and complete the full survey.
Screener rewards are relatively small, but they’re a significant step up from nothing. If you’re consistently taking surveys, these rewards will add up quickly and supplement what you earn from finishing surveys. Don’t get discouraged if you’re consistently screened out. Different demographics are in demand at different times.
Reliability
Many survey platforms are relatively new to the scene, but 2020 Panel is one of the oldest. The company is serious about market research and won’t try to scam you or sell your answers.
2020 Panel uses your responses only to form statistics, so they won’t be directly associated with you. Your information is entirely anonymous and will never be shared without your permission.
Privacy
2020 Panel’s privacy policy describes exactly what the site does to keep your data safe. Privacy and data security are two of the top concerns for most internet users. They’re especially important for survey sites since you’ll be asked to share personal information.
The website removes most user data within a year of collecting it, so there’s no long-term record at all. Its privacy policy is extremely thorough, so check it out if you’re worried about your security.
Referral Benefits
Referrals are the perfect way to add to the money you make from surveys. 2020 Panel has a robust referral program that provides entries into a cash drawing. You could win as much as $100 just by introducing a new member to the website.
The platform regularly announces new winners, so you could even see your name on the 2020 Panel website. The more people you refer, the more chances you’ll have to win the money. You might not get anything, but you could earn a lot more than competing sites typically offer.
2020 Panel Review: Is 2020 Panel a Scam?
2020 Panel is a highly reputable website, but there are some issues with the platform. Every site has unique pros and cons, so try a few out to see which ones work for you. Since you can create an account for free, there’s no risk involved. You won’t lose anything except a few minutes.
These are some of the biggest issues we found when working on our 2020 Panel review.
No Mobile App
There’s nothing wrong with taking surveys on your computer, but it may be more convenient to complete them on your phone. After all, we’re often looking to kill time when commuting on the train, sitting in carpool line, or waiting at the dentist’s office.
Unfortunately, 2020 Panel currently doesn’t offer a mobile application on either iOS or Android.
With that in mind, you’ll probably end up taking surveys on your laptop or desktop. Other survey sites have better mobile options, so check out some alternatives if that’s an important feature. Mobile access makes it easy to complete surveys no matter where you are or what you’re doing.
Unpredictable Availability
Survey availability varies widely on nearly every site, and it can be tough to earn a sustainable income. You could go weeks or months without qualifying for a survey or other opportunity.
You can take a survey on 2020 Panel only if you’ve received an invitation to do so. When working on this 2020 Panel review, we weren’t invited to participate in any surveys beyond our initial profile setup.
It may be worth switching to another survey panel if you’re not receiving enough invitations. Different demographics get more surveys on different sites, and there’s no way to predict which one is right for you.
Confusing Rewards System
2020 Panel is one of the few survey sites to offer both cash and points, and the site doesn’t make the rewards system very clear. While users report receiving a 10% reward after being screened out, this isn’t mentioned on the website.
The website has a relatively disorganized design that makes the platform somewhat difficult to understand. It will probably take you some time to get used to the layout and start using the site more efficiently.
Limited Access
Users in the United States will have no trouble accessing 2020 Panel, but there’s no mention of international support on the platform’s website. Registration is limited to Americans above the age of 18. Many other platforms are open to younger people and those in other countries.
Furthermore, the lack of widespread support for in-person focus groups limits the appeal of 2020 Panel. While this is a great opportunity if you live in one of the three cities listed, it won’t make a difference for the vast majority of members. Even if you are in a supported location, you may have trouble qualifying for focus groups.
One of 2020 Panel’s several quirks is a job listing page.
Contact Methods
Many survey platforms simply send an email when new surveys are available. 2020 Panel emails for online surveys, but they also call for certain opportunities. They’re one of the few sites that still use phone calls to notify members.
Most of us avoid all but the most important calls, so you might find 2020 Panel to be intrusive. If you’re not interested in being contacted by phone, check out another survey site. Email allows you to view and complete surveys at your convenience rather than in response to a call.
Low Payouts
As mentioned above, the payouts associated with in-person focus groups are a major advantage of 2020 Panel. On the other hand, you shouldn’t expect the same amount of money from online surveys. Similarly, online discussions offer much smaller benefits than the focus groups available in Charlotte, Nashville, and Miami.
Of course, relatively low payouts aren’t exactly unique to 2020 Panel. Survey sites are generally designed to provide some money on the side, not a second source of income. You’ll only be disappointed if you expect to earn more.
Point Expiration
Most survey platforms offer points that last forever, but 2020 Panel points expire after 18 months. While that might sound like a long time, it’s easy to forget about your points until after the expiration date. Remember to check your balance periodically and make sure to use points while they’re still redeemable.
Screener Surveys
Like some other sites, 2020 Panel uses screener surveys to determine whether you qualify for the entire survey. You might answer questions for a few minutes before being rejected from that opportunity.
The website offers 10 percent of the total reward whenever you’re screened out. While that’s better than nothing, screener surveys are still one of the most frustrating things about 2020 Panel. You might only qualify for a fraction of the surveys for which you receive an invitation.
Invitation-Only
Rather than displaying a list of surveys, 2020 Panel surveys are available exclusively via email invitations. There’s no way to take surveys at all if you don’t have any pending invitations.
This makes the sign-up process slightly underwhelming, since you won’t have any surveys to take after creating an account. Instead, you’ll simply have to wait until you receive your first invitation. As mentioned above, availability can be unpredictable, and you could wait hours, days, or weeks.
Since you can take surveys only by invitation, there’s a chance that surveys will fill up before you respond. Each survey requires only a certain number of responses. You might miss out if you see the email too late.
Because surveys are by invite only, it’s likely you may not have any surveys available to take for periods of time.
Profile Changes
Updates to the profile surveys are another one of the platform’s unique quirks. Most other sites ask you to fill out a one-time personal information form. 2020 Panel, by contrast, regularly adjusts its profile surveys.
The website uses your information to find surveys, so you may not receive invitations if your profile isn’t up to date. It’s easy to forget about your 2020 Panel account and potentially lose a variety of opportunities.
2020 Panel Review: The Bottom Line
2020 Panel is one of the most unique survey sites currently available. It offers both online surveys and traditional focus groups to help you earn money quickly. Unfortunately, those focus groups are currently available in only a few select areas.
Members also have access to a variety of coupons, and you can sign up for free to start saving even more money. Between these offers and 2020 Panel’s surveys, you could earn a surprising amount of cash.
On the other hand, 2020 Panel has a number of glaring flaws. It still doesn’t offer a mobile app, and its confusing reward system uses both points and cash. Furthermore, 20|0 Panel doesn’t offer any international support.
If you’re an American interested in earning passive income, 2020 Panel is an OK way to get started. However, you might find a more versatile platform such as YouGov or Swagbucks a better fit.
from https://moneydoneright.com/2020-panel-review/ from http://thereallaptoplifestyle1.blogspot.com/2019/10/2020-panel-review-2019-is-this-survey.html
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lawn maintenance services near me
lawn mowing companies near me
No matter what the economy, the grass still grows. There is always someone near by who needs their lawn mowed and cannot do it themselves. These folks have a problem and you, the full-time employee wanting to start a part-time lawn mowing business, have the solution. They can pay you to mow their yard. Problem solved.
I often get the question of whether you can start your lawn mowing business part-time in the evenings and on weekends and keep your full-time job. The answer is a big yes!
The question is can you do it? If you have lots of energy, enjoy being outdoors and working in your yard, and can handle just 5 to 10 extra hours of physical work each week, you can start a part-time lawn mowing business and keep your regular job.
People who work 12-hour rotating shift schedules are in a terrific position to run a lawn mowing business part-time while keeping their full-time jobs because they have so many days off.
Marketing
First, you need to find some customers. Write a flyer using word processing software, print it, take it to your local copy shop, have 25-30 copies made, and distribute them around your neighborhood within walking distance of your house. You may want to use a half-page flyer so you can distribute to 50-60 houses. Include what you offer the prospect (lawn mowing, edging, cleaning off the concrete), your name, best phone number to contact you, your address so they know you are a neighbor and how much you charge. Since you are new to the business charge on the lower end of the average rate other lawn care professionals charge in your area. Five dollars cheaper than average may get your neighbors to stop using someone out of the neighborhood and start using you instead.
Another reason to start with your neighbors is they know you or know of you and we all want to help other people, especially people we know. Since these folks are close by, you get to go out, knock on doors and meet your neighbors while marketing your business to them. Smile, introduce yourself and tell them which house is yours or what street you live on and get to know a little about them and some things you might have in common. Hand them a flyer at the end of the conversation and move on to the next house.
Keep this up until you have at least one person ready for you to go home, get your equipment right now, come back and work that day and are pulling out their checkbook to pay you. If this happens, stop marketing that day, service your new customer and earn some money. Continue marketing the next day.
When you have the number of customers you think you can handle, stop marketing daily and only doing a little occasionally or when someone asks for your information. You will need to keep a few flyers on hand to give out. Be on the lookout for yards that overgrow and see if a lawn service comes to mow them. These folks may need someone closer who will service their lawn regularly. Be sure to visit them and ask.
Equipment
Do not buy any commercial equipment or go into debt. You only need the mower you use on your own lawn, a gas-powered string trimmer and blower to get started. If you have an electric-powered string trimmer and blower, you can still use them, but make sure the customer knows you will need access to an electric outlet and you will need a very long extension cord.
Alternatives to gas and electric-powered trimmers and blowers are the cordless rechargeable models. They are less expensive than their gas-powered cousins, cheaper to operate and much more environmentally friendly. If you have electric equipment that requires an extension cord, you will want to replace it with cordless electric or gas-powered equipment as soon as you earn enough money mowing to do so.
Starting within walking distance of your home eliminates the need for a truck or trailer to haul equipment to job sites keeping costs down. If you live within walking distance of the job you can put your equipment and gas can in a wagon or cart and pull your lawn mower along by hand. If you are willing to do this extra manual labor you are more likely to succeed because you are not afraid of hard work and not prone to overspending.
Earnings
One of the biggest reasons to have a part-time lawn mowing business is you make significantly more money for the time you spend working than at most other part-time endeavors.
If you charge $50 to mow the grass, edge and clean up and you can do 5 lawns after work and on weekends each week, you will earn $250 per week. You will need to set 15% of your revenue aside after expenses (gas, parts, repair, replacement equipment, etc.) for self-employment taxes which you will need to pay each quarter. If you spend $9 on gas and save $36 for taxes, your net weekly earnings will be $205. Six weeks of hauling your equipment by hand will build physical strength and allow you to accumulate about $1230. You could also resubmit your form W-4 at work to take the correct amount of extra money out of your pay checks to cover these taxes. However, if you are trying this to determine if you want a full-time lawn mowing business I recommend you become familiar with paying self-employment taxes quarterly.
After 20 weeks of mowing 5 lawns per week you will have netted nearly $4,000. It will be less than this because your equipment will need maintenance and repair. That will not cost more than a few hundred dollars, so you will still have around $3,700 if you save your profits.
Now you will have the cash to buy a good used commercial lawn mower. Once you have a commercial mower you will be able to increase the number of yards you can mow per week in the same amount of time it took with your residential mower, increasing your revenue. You may be able to mow 10 yards per week instead of 5, so your gross revenue will jump to $500 per week. After another 10 weeks you may have enough cash to buy a used trailer to haul your commercial equipment.
Remember that in many areas there are only 3 mowing seasons or about 40 weeks of steady work each year. If you spend the first 40 weeks earning enough to get some commercial equipment and increase your customer base, your second part-time year will be mostly profits.
Two years part-time in the business will allow you to decide if you want to start mowing full-time. You will know it is time to go full-time when you are turning customers away because you do not have time to service their yards and if you could take on those customers, you would earn more annually than at your full-time job.
Earning more means earning more than your current annual pay after taxes plus paying for the benefits you and your family need, like health insurance. If your spouse works outside the home, he or she may carry the family benefits leaving you free to earn lots of cash. You will have to save for retirement and pay your own disability insurance even if your spouse can provide the other benefits. Few companies offer spousal retirement or spousal disability coverage.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1428387
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How Links Help Rank Your Law Firm's Site Higher in Google
New Post has been published on https://bitcoinbetanews.com/how-links-help-rank-your-law-firms-site-higher-in-google/
How Links Help Rank Your Law Firm's Site Higher in Google
I watched your video about how my website desires hyperlinks from different sites to rank better in Google. Ive additionally heard that getting higher anchor text is essential. Can you provide an explanation for what that’s how most important it is? Ok. So, in relation to search engine optimisation, Google has advanced so much given that I dont be aware of, every time they have been invented but, one thing thats remained real is that hyperlinks are nonetheless probably the most important things that pressure your web pages search engine optimisation or your Google rankings. Now, its no longer the only factor, I suppose its fitting much less much less foremost, but it surely still is a aspect, you already know, I imply, theres no some men and women say 200, some people say 500 theres hundreds of rating reasons that all get put together in this algorithm, which essentially becomes something referred to as web page rank, its type of intricate, but backside line is that hyperlinks are still some of the strong approaches to get your internet site to rank on the first web page of Google.So, what does that imply? The way that Google appears at links which you can just about seem at it as other internet sites are balloting for your internet site or are vouching to your internet site. So, let me give you an example: if the brand new York instances hyperlinks to your website, Google knows that the brand new York instances is an authoritative internet site. Its bought lots of content, its acquired lots of , its acquired lots of hyperlinks going to it, so, Google already appears at the new york instances as an authoritative internet site. Then, the thought method its way more complicated than this, Im simply looking to dumb it down a little bit bit but the suggestion approach is is that: okay, if the brand new York instances will link to John Smiths internet site, then big apple times is a internet site that, considering the fact that theyve such high authority, we know that they dont really just hyperlink to spam you web sites. So, when you consider that of that, we all know that John Smiths website has to have some variety of authority, so, had been going to bump their page rank or their authority as Google sees it have been going to bump that up a bit bit, thats very nearly what it is.Now, this occurs on various specific levels considering the fact that now not everybody is going to get a link from the new York instances. This occurs, , all the manner from the top the entire method down to, you realize, websites that had been created yesterday, you realize? Undoubtedly, a internet site with much less authority goes to give you much less energy. So, you understand, a website a hyperlink from the brand new York instances will also be worth more than a thousand crappy links from spammy websites or directories or matters like that, and a few of those websites would in reality hurt you. So, for example, one factor that occurred for a very long time that folks nonetheless do Ive been telling people to stop doing this for a very long time is scholarship links. EDU hyperlinks have been invariably very complicated to get considering the fact that the query was once: how can we get schools to hyperlink to any internet site, you realize? So, the concept approach is is that if a institution, if an educational school goes to link to your internet site, theres generally some authority there, due to the fact that colleges obviously are not going to be linking to spammy web pages.So, like everything, marketers ruined everything, and what they stated is: k, cool, so, what good do is good create scholarships, good create a scholarship on our internet site and then well contact these faculties and say: good day, had been going to present a scholarship to all your pupils , its a contest, definitely, no longer everyone is going to get a scholarship however its a scholarship and you understand, weve got all the small print on our website, just throw a hyperlink in your internet site, and good link to your website.So, this worked relatively well in view that persons have been getting .Edu links which used to be rather the holy grail of links, however the quandary is is that Google is pretty shrewd. They started looking and so they stated, oh wait a 2nd, why does every regulation firm in la now have a scholarship hyperlink going to it from you already know each random college within the country? So, they swiftly put the kibosh on that and truly, they variety of there was an update in so, what yr are we, had been in 2019, so, it mustve been 2017 known as the I feel it used to be referred to as the ban hammer web pages that had scholarship links and they penalized them. Now, theres still people that are utilizing the scholarship hyperlinks, theres nonetheless people that swear by using scholarship links.We don’t do it for our consumers anymore, I dont consider that thats just right, but thats an example of how a link will also be very, very important. So, links are very principal, and the website that they come from may be very major. Now, the other aspect of linking is the anchor textual content. The anchor textual content is the actual phrases which might be clicked on that take you to an additional web page.So, for illustration, something that claims click on right here, the phrases and you know, it says click here and then you definately click the phrases click here and it takes you to a web page click right here is the anchor textual content. Now, the way that Google used to work is that anything that anchor textual content was was most of the time essentially, thats what your website is going to rank for. So, within the historical days I mean, Im talking like 2006, 2007, 2008, all you needed to do like, in case you were a lawyer in Baltimore is simply construct 10,000 links that all have the anchor text Baltimore lawyer youll rank youll be on the highest. It used to be easy. Those have been just like the golden days of search engine optimisation. Thats not how it works anymore. Now, Google has an algorithm known as Penguin Penguin basically appears at the first-rate of the oneway links which are going to your website.So, the first-rate of the web sites that link to you it additionally appears at the anchor text. So, what we try to do is we try to preserve a more natural anchor text, what used to intend is that we had sincerely a ratio where we stated: ok, we most effective want these key phrase-kind hyperlinks, these Baltimore legal professional , Baltimore DUI legal professional we best want those hyperlinks to make up possibly 10% of our entire one way link profile. So, you realize, we’d have I dont understand 20% of the links may be the brand identify, 20% will be the internet site URL you already know 10% would be those specific match, after which the other ones would simply be random you recognize click on here, check This Out internet site you already know matters that arise naturally, clearly.But what we started realizing is that its surely better to analyze the engines like google the quest Engine results page of each and every area of interest in my opinion. So, for illustration, what we might do is lets say, Baltimore DUI legal professional what we’d do is we might go to Baltimore DUI legal professional And we do a inbound link evaluation making use of websites like Ahrefs and Majestic those are traditionally the two that we use and we seem at all the websites which can be ranking definitely, sorry all of the pages which can be rating on web page one and whats important about that’s considering that Google is telling you what they want. So, what we do is and we ignore FineLine, Yelp, and all of the listing crap however what we do is we appear at the nearby internet sites which can be rating and we look and we see what number of hyperlinks do they have got and then we additionally see what’s the anchor text range, how many you already know what percent whats the ordinary percentage of specific match to these Baltimore lawyer hyperlinks, whats the average percent of URLs the place it honestly links to the place the anchor text is genuinely a URL, whats the normal percent of you know click on here, investigate This Out website stuff like that.Now, what we do is we variety of we do it on a no longer even a city by way of city basis on a surf by surf basis we clearly work out what is Google watching for thats the fine strategy to do it. So, anchor textual content hyperlinks are very, very main. Theyre getting more more intricate, its very primary because for those who do it mistaken, that you can obviously fairly screw up your internet site. Should you do it correct, then you can have a ton of success particularly make a lot of money with search engine optimisation. So, linking is normally one of the crucial predominant, one of the crucial most likely abused, one of the vital one of the most least understood materials of linking. So, confidently I explained that a bit of bit. I can go far more in-depth at linking than I did, however Im just looking to kind of hold it a little surface-level here. .
#andrew stickel#attorney marketing#attorney marketing strategies#attorney marketing tips#internet marketing for lawyers#law firm advertising#law firm marketing#law firm marketing ideas#law firm marketing strategies#law firm marketing tips#lawyer advertising#lawyer marketing advice#lawyer marketing tips#legal marketing#marketing for lawyers
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How Links Help Rank Your Law Firm's Site Higher in Google
New Post has been published on https://bitcoinbetanews.com/how-links-help-rank-your-law-firms-site-higher-in-google/
How Links Help Rank Your Law Firm's Site Higher in Google
I watched your video about how my website desires hyperlinks from different sites to rank better in Google. Ive additionally heard that getting higher anchor text is essential. Can you provide an explanation for what that’s how most important it is? Ok. So, in relation to search engine optimisation, Google has advanced so much given that I dont be aware of, every time they have been invented but, one thing thats remained real is that hyperlinks are nonetheless probably the most important things that pressure your web pages search engine optimisation or your Google rankings. Now, its no longer the only factor, I suppose its fitting much less much less foremost, but it surely still is a aspect, you already know, I imply, theres no some men and women say 200, some people say 500 theres hundreds of rating reasons that all get put together in this algorithm, which essentially becomes something referred to as web page rank, its type of intricate, but backside line is that hyperlinks are still some of the strong approaches to get your internet site to rank on the first web page of Google.So, what does that imply? The way that Google appears at links which you can just about seem at it as other internet sites are balloting for your internet site or are vouching to your internet site. So, let me give you an example: if the brand new York instances hyperlinks to your website, Google knows that the brand new York instances is an authoritative internet site. Its bought lots of content, its acquired lots of , its acquired lots of hyperlinks going to it, so, Google already appears at the new york instances as an authoritative internet site. Then, the thought method its way more complicated than this, Im simply looking to dumb it down a little bit bit but the suggestion approach is is that: okay, if the brand new York instances will link to John Smiths internet site, then big apple times is a internet site that, considering the fact that theyve such high authority, we know that they dont really just hyperlink to spam you web sites. So, when you consider that of that, we all know that John Smiths website has to have some variety of authority, so, had been going to bump their page rank or their authority as Google sees it have been going to bump that up a bit bit, thats very nearly what it is.Now, this occurs on various specific levels considering the fact that now not everybody is going to get a link from the new York instances. This occurs, , all the manner from the top the entire method down to, you realize, websites that had been created yesterday, you realize? Undoubtedly, a internet site with much less authority goes to give you much less energy. So, you understand, a website a hyperlink from the brand new York instances will also be worth more than a thousand crappy links from spammy websites or directories or matters like that, and a few of those websites would in reality hurt you. So, for example, one factor that occurred for a very long time that folks nonetheless do Ive been telling people to stop doing this for a very long time is scholarship links. EDU hyperlinks have been invariably very complicated to get considering the fact that the query was once: how can we get schools to hyperlink to any internet site, you realize? So, the concept approach is is that if a institution, if an educational school goes to link to your internet site, theres generally some authority there, due to the fact that colleges obviously are not going to be linking to spammy web pages.So, like everything, marketers ruined everything, and what they stated is: k, cool, so, what good do is good create scholarships, good create a scholarship on our internet site and then well contact these faculties and say: good day, had been going to present a scholarship to all your pupils , its a contest, definitely, no longer everyone is going to get a scholarship however its a scholarship and you understand, weve got all the small print on our website, just throw a hyperlink in your internet site, and good link to your website.So, this worked relatively well in view that persons have been getting .Edu links which used to be rather the holy grail of links, however the quandary is is that Google is pretty shrewd. They started looking and so they stated, oh wait a 2nd, why does every regulation firm in la now have a scholarship hyperlink going to it from you already know each random college within the country? So, they swiftly put the kibosh on that and truly, they variety of there was an update in so, what yr are we, had been in 2019, so, it mustve been 2017 known as the I feel it used to be referred to as the ban hammer web pages that had scholarship links and they penalized them. Now, theres still people that are utilizing the scholarship hyperlinks, theres nonetheless people that swear by using scholarship links.We don’t do it for our consumers anymore, I dont consider that thats just right, but thats an example of how a link will also be very, very important. So, links are very principal, and the website that they come from may be very major. Now, the other aspect of linking is the anchor textual content. The anchor textual content is the actual phrases which might be clicked on that take you to an additional web page.So, for illustration, something that claims click on right here, the phrases and you know, it says click here and then you definately click the phrases click here and it takes you to a web page click right here is the anchor textual content. Now, the way that Google used to work is that anything that anchor textual content was was most of the time essentially, thats what your website is going to rank for. So, within the historical days I mean, Im talking like 2006, 2007, 2008, all you needed to do like, in case you were a lawyer in Baltimore is simply construct 10,000 links that all have the anchor text Baltimore lawyer youll rank youll be on the highest. It used to be easy. Those have been just like the golden days of search engine optimisation. Thats not how it works anymore. Now, Google has an algorithm known as Penguin Penguin basically appears at the first-rate of the oneway links which are going to your website.So, the first-rate of the web sites that link to you it additionally appears at the anchor text. So, what we try to do is we try to preserve a more natural anchor text, what used to intend is that we had sincerely a ratio where we stated: ok, we most effective want these key phrase-kind hyperlinks, these Baltimore legal professional , Baltimore DUI legal professional we best want those hyperlinks to make up possibly 10% of our entire one way link profile. So, you realize, we’d have I dont understand 20% of the links may be the brand identify, 20% will be the internet site URL you already know 10% would be those specific match, after which the other ones would simply be random you recognize click on here, check This Out internet site you already know matters that arise naturally, clearly.But what we started realizing is that its surely better to analyze the engines like google the quest Engine results page of each and every area of interest in my opinion. So, for illustration, what we might do is lets say, Baltimore DUI legal professional what we’d do is we might go to Baltimore DUI legal professional And we do a inbound link evaluation making use of websites like Ahrefs and Majestic those are traditionally the two that we use and we seem at all the websites which can be ranking definitely, sorry all of the pages which can be rating on web page one and whats important about that’s considering that Google is telling you what they want. So, what we do is and we ignore FineLine, Yelp, and all of the listing crap however what we do is we appear at the nearby internet sites which can be rating and we look and we see what number of hyperlinks do they have got and then we additionally see what’s the anchor text range, how many you already know what percent whats the ordinary percentage of specific match to these Baltimore lawyer hyperlinks, whats the average percent of URLs the place it honestly links to the place the anchor text is genuinely a URL, whats the normal percent of you know click on here, investigate This Out website stuff like that.Now, what we do is we variety of we do it on a no longer even a city by way of city basis on a surf by surf basis we clearly work out what is Google watching for thats the fine strategy to do it. So, anchor textual content hyperlinks are very, very main. Theyre getting more more intricate, its very primary because for those who do it mistaken, that you can obviously fairly screw up your internet site. Should you do it correct, then you can have a ton of success particularly make a lot of money with search engine optimisation. So, linking is normally one of the crucial predominant, one of the crucial most likely abused, one of the vital one of the most least understood materials of linking. So, confidently I explained that a bit of bit. I can go far more in-depth at linking than I did, however Im just looking to kind of hold it a little surface-level here. .
#andrew stickel#attorney marketing#attorney marketing strategies#attorney marketing tips#internet marketing for lawyers#law firm advertising#law firm marketing#law firm marketing ideas#law firm marketing strategies#law firm marketing tips#lawyer advertising#lawyer marketing advice#lawyer marketing tips#legal marketing#marketing for lawyers
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