#This is a school project

[foxgl-ove]

i don’t think there’s Anything gortash can do to top raphael’s theater kid fight or orin’s therapy session fight, i just really don’t think he has the talent to pull it off

[frxncoquxtte]

un jour dans ma vie !

by frxncoquxtte

05:30- je me réveille

05:30 à 05:45- je me prépare. je me brosse les dents, me lave ma visage, et mets des vêtements d’exercice

05:45 à 06:10- je fais du yoga. faire du yoga m’aide détendre le matin. j’aime écouter la musique, aussi

06:10- je m’habille pour l’école

06:30- je cuisine et mange le petit déjeuner

06:50 à 07:25- j’écris sur mon journal, lis une livre, ou nettoie

07:30- je pars aller l’école. parfois je marche avec mes copines

08:30 à 16:30- l’école. comme une élève américaine, j’apprends le programme pour les français et les américains !!

16:45 à 17:30- j’étudie et fais mes devoirs dans la bibliothèque. parfois mes copines vient aussi

18:00- je rentre chez moi. je prend une douche et mange le dîner ma maman a préparé

19:00- je prépare quoi porter pour le prochain jour

19:15- je me brosse mes dents

19:20 à 20:00- je finis mes devoirs, écris dans mon journal intime, ou lis une livre

20:00-21:00- je passe du temps sur mon portable (pinterest, instagram, tumblr …)

21:30- je dors ! 💤

[foolnamedjoey]

-My perfect house

It needs to be in the most conservative rich suburban neighborhood with just SO many kids. But like the kids need to show up AFTER my house is built, this is important.

         All black. Just so much black, the only thing that isnt black is the trim color, which is 100% gonna be gold.

All of the old plants and big ominous trees perfect for climbing and putting the weirdest stuff in. Like idk baby doll heads and fairy lights, maybe some bat nests if I’m lucky.

         Its old looking and in an old era Victorian style for PEAK WITCH VIBES. Like a gold lion knocker on the door for an extra measure.

There needs to be AT LEAST two towers in the house, like on the edge of “Is that an osha violation” but not SO on the edge where osha DOES get involved.

          I need 7 crows that I teach to stay creepy words randomly

4 black cats that all look the same so no one can ever be too sure how many cats I have

 Metal spiky finance with signs on them perfect for police tape and signs that say “Keep out”

          The reason the kids need to show up AFTER the house is built is so AS MANY RUMORS CAN START. And like the parents should be too weirded out by me to actually explain where I came from so I can be as elusive as possible. I can go to HEB in my sweat pants and dirty sleeveless white shirt with my emotional support crow so kids stare at me as I choose my strawberries in the store. I NEED to be the local witch or the neighborhood or I’ve failed my mission.

And like on halloween I make the best pancakes with just everything on them to make it SO IRRESISTIBLE that any kid would want to take a bite out of it- and like when they come back to school from halloween there’s a rumor little jimmy got cursed and Samual and Rabecca can be like “It was the pancakes” “Of course, of course, the pancakes always get them.”

          And like the reason I need it to be a rich suburban neighborhood is because rich people have this AIR of passive aggressiveness (especially if their parents which- IS THE GOAL BY THE WAY) so that if you’re just a little too weird they just won't talk to you at all, and that perfect because rich drama is the LAST thing I wanna hear- (NO Ms. Kale I DON’T wanna hear how bad Mr.Walker’s turkey was last thanksgiving) And like if one of the nicer rich moms wants to invite me to a pot roast or something, I can open the door and MY MURDER OF CROWS JUST COME FLYING OUT so she goes away.

[inkstainsandrosaries]

Introduction post!

Once upon a time, there was a little girl in the 17th century, who wanted to do nothing but learn. Her name was Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, and from a young age, she was captivated by the world of books. While other girls her age were to focus on household chores and prepare for marriage, she spent her days hidden away in her grandfather's library, devouring every text she could find. With an insatiable curiosity, she defied societal norms, seeking wisdom in philosophy, poetry, and science. Despite facing immense challenges and criticism, her passion for learning burned brightly. That little girl? Well, she grew up to be me…

My name is sor (sister in spanish for you) juana inés de la cruz. Well, thats what Im know as, my actual name is Juana Ramírez de Asbaje. Ive been posting for a couple days, but an introduction just slipped my mind, so I'm here to remedy that.

I was born november 12 (Scorpio, of course) or maybe 1648? No one really noted it down, I mean- who would've knew I was gonna make such an impact in the world, right?. You see, women back then, were not allowed to have any sort of education that would help them get married and have babies. Which, as you can imagine, was a bit of a problem for me since I loved learning everything I could. I had little access to formal education, so i taught myself everything i could. Im half Creole and half Spanish.

For most of my life, I lived with my relatives in Mexico City, where I attracted the attention of the then viceroy. I was invited to court as a lady in waiting in 1664, and later I had my knowledge tested by some 40 noted scholars. 

But soon after, I realised that the freedom I sought to pursue knowledge would not come via marriage or my social circles. So, in 1667, I decided to become a nun. Not sure what i was thinking then but joining the convent would allow me to study and write without the pressures of traditional responsibilities.

First, I joined the Discalced Carmelites, but their restrictions were a little too stringent for me. I soon relocated to the more lenient Convent of Santa Paula, which is part of the Hieronymite order in Mexico City. That's where I've spent the remainder of my life.

Convent life was not as restricting as it might seem. In fact, it granted me a previously unattainable amount of freedom. I had my own apartment, time to write, and worked as the convent's archivist and accountant. I even taught music and drama in the convent's school. During my tenure there, I built up a sizable personal library—one of the largest in the Americas at the time—full of books on science, music, literature, and other topics. I even gathered scientific instruments while maintaining intellectual connections to scholars, poets, and philosophers.

The viceroys of New Spain, particularly the marquis and marquise de la Laguna, were fervent supporters of my work, ensuring that my writings were published in Spain, earning me international acclaim. I became an unofficial court poet, composing plays, poems, and hymns for religous festivals. My poetry covered a wide range of topics, including the beauty of nature, love, religion, and women's rights, and frequently combined humour, intellect, and emotion. One of my most renowned pieces, "Hombres Necios" (Foolish Men), exposed the hypocrisy of males who criticised women while engaging in the same behaviours they denounced.

use this link to find my posts for school project!!

[vinceaddams]

John Thingpenter's THE CARP (horror story about river ecology)

[bcbfbella]

"I've Been Influenced": The Language of Advertising in a Digital Age

Isabella Cheramie

For as long as the human race has existed, there’s always been something to sell. From the earliest bartering systems to the more refined Renaissance merchant guilds to our modern age of flashy sales pitches, people have always tried to convince consumers that their product was the best and that they deserve the customer’s money more than “the other guy.” 

Handmade signage evolved into bright billboards and flashing neon lights above a storefront. Infomercials became the most effective way of connecting with potential customers. Nearly everyone has spent time at some relative’s house where the only thing playing on TV was QVC or HSN, an endless stream of polished, attractive, and engaging personalities hawking products that you “simply must buy.” Truth is, you don’t need any of it. They know that. You know that. But, still, they successfully convince you otherwise. “It’s a great deal!” they say. “One chance to get it at this price!” “Never again will you get this opportunity!” Soon enough, you’re on the phone or website with your credit card in hand and completing the purchase before you even realize what you bought. 

Why? Because these professional advertisers are fantastic at their jobs. Did you need the newest model George Foreman grill that allegedly gets rid of all the fat on your meat while it cooks? No, but they made you think you did. So, a few business days later when you unbox your fancy new appliance, you are likely hit by a wave of buyer’s remorse. You suppress it with some level of excitement and plug it in. You ignore the questions in your mind: Why did you buy this $115 grill that you’ll probably only use twice before shoving it in the closet and never seeing it again? You shake your head and turn up the heat, smiling. After all, it was a once-in-a-lifetime deal. Congratulations! You’ve been influenced. 

With new inventions such as the internet came new methods of advertising. Likely the most prevalent method today is through social media. Facebook, Twitter*, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok: what started as easy and exciting ways to connect with your friends as well as the world around you changed rapidly once companies realized the power of user engagement. 

User engagement such as likes, shares, and comments causes content to be pushed to a larger audience. This is the most basic explanation of how these social media algorithms work. So, the more appealing the content is, the better it performs. Understandably, the obviously branded content doesn’t perform nearly as well as authentic and relatable posts. People don’t feel the same connection to corporations and hired actors as they do to real people sharing real stories. It became evident that, to achieve success on social media, these corporations had to change their methods of appealing to audiences. Infomercial-type formats in the traditional sense wouldn’t work well on YouTube and billboard-type ads weren’t the most effective on Twitter. 

So, in order to maintain brand relevancy in an era of increased authenticity, companies decided to capitalize on the success of social media personalities and utilize their audiences and platforms to reach consumers as mentioned in this Forbes article by Joel Mathew. These social media personalities had these platforms due to their parasocial connections with the anonymous users on the other side of the screen. It was their candid ways of speaking – their relatability, humor, and occasional humbleness – that captured audiences. 

But what was it that caught the attention of audiences and made this new type of influencer marketing so effective? Well, part of the answer lies in linguistics. 

When looking at TikTok, currently the most lucrative platform for influencer marketing, it is crucial for a creator to capture the attention of viewers within the first two seconds. It’s like a good book in the way that, if the first part doesn’t make you want to keep reading, it’ll be challenging to finish. As the content grows longer, specifically in long-form video content as seen on YouTube, these first few seconds of critical engagement extend to nearly the entire video. 

YouTube is unique in its creator advertising and marketing systems in that it practically pioneered this entire concept. It was the first to pay creators for simply creating and uploading content regardless of outside compensation such as sponsorships (more on that later). The YouTube monetization system relies on how much advertisers are spending to show ads per 1000 impressions, referred to as CPM. Basically, the more engagement your content received, the more people would see it, the more ads would be shown on your video, and the more money you would make. This system encouraged creators to make content intentionally designed to receive more engagement and lead to greater compensation.

Returning to the basic ideas of audience engagement, a few reliable methods of increasing content exposure emerged. In a recent study on YouTube influencer advertising, the videos of over 150 top YouTube influencers were analyzed to determine linguistic patterns in order to determine what specifically was aiding in their success on the platform. Of the 11,000+ videos examined, researchers found seven specific linguistic styles that were used most: storytelling, intimate experiences, motivation and guidance, expert advice, coaching and mentoring, middle-of-the-road videos, and struggle and overcoming. Social influence theory, as discussed within the study, focuses on three processes to explain influence on social media. These processes are compliance: influence being accepted by individuals in search of approval or to avoid disapproval from the influencer; identification: followers accepting influence in order to establish or maintain a self-defining relationship with the influencer; and internalization: followers accepting influence because the source is in line with their value system. 

So, this explains why the audience is perceptive to an influencer’s message and why they might follow their influence, but what about the influencer’s role in this? Part of it is emotional tone. Think about it: you’re more likely to want to listen to someone who is upbeat and passionate about what they’re discussing, right? When creators use bubbly, excited voices when they’re discussing something (specifically a product), it helps sell the image of an ideal reality. We’re all familiar with the “expectations vs. reality” jokes online. The reality is often a disappointing representation of the expectation just like an influencer’s real life is often a bit boring or not as interesting in comparison to their online persona. Influencers don’t just sell tangible products, they sell ideas. They appeal to audiences through envy and yearning for a more glamorous, polished life. 

Let’s think: you see an influencer showing an expensive new mascara that has absolutely changed their entire makeup routine and made their lashes a million times longer. She swears by this $40 tube as she sits in the glittering bathroom of her expensive New York apartment and gives you her affiliate code so that you can try the mascara too! You’re not just being sold the product – you’re being sold a lifestyle. Maybe if you buy this mascara, you’ll share in some part of her alluring lifestyle. She sounds so excited, so happy and full of life, and maybe, if you buy that mascara, a bit of that happiness and excitement will transfer to you. 

The study did mention, however, that constantly upbeat attitudes aren’t always effective, however. In reviews and product discussions, a bit of negative honesty can go far. Deliriously positive reviews tend to glaze over any potential negatives of a product and only discuss how wonderful it is. When an influencer speaks candidly about the things they dislike, it tends to lend a bit of credibility to what they’re saying. For this reason, it’s important for a bit of negative emotional content to appear from time to time. After all, most people won’t want to engage with or buy things from an influencer that they don’t trust. 

Additionally, the use of words such as “we” and “you” when discussing positive opinions or aspects of things tended to lead to an overall better audience perception. The same phenomena occurred when creators used “I” and “my” when discussing negative opinions or experiences as it made them a bit more relatable to audiences. A bit of informality like the inclusion of slang or jokes can also help to connect with viewers. These approaches made the content feel less like “look at this!” and more like a conversation, strengthening the parasocial relationships and making the influencer seem more trustworthy. 

The study goes on to “score” the perceptions of each of the seven types of linguistic styles that were proposed. Of the 11,151 videos examined, 14.7% of them were videos of struggle and overcoming. These videos were more candid, exploring an influencer’s personal journey and how they got past the obstacles and achieved the wonderful life they show their audience. This sort of video performed overall in terms of engagement which supports the theory that audiences want to relate to a creator. This relation, in turn, builds trust and helps the influencer make more money through regular monetization as well as affiliate links, partnerships, and sponsorships along with any personal business ventures they may embark on.  Because, as influencers are acutely aware of, their success relies entirely upon our perception of them.

While this study did focus on YouTube creators, it’s worth noting that similar methods are employed in short-form content such as on TikTok. YouTube’s monetization program pushed influencers to create more engaging content, in turn pushing them to focus more on content-making as a career which leads to selling things through their influence. While some creators leaned into the authentic side as it was what their audience preferred, others like Mr. Beast went fully into the flashy, wow-factor sort of content. While it does work for some creators such as Mr. Beast, it often creates a sense of disconnect with the audience. Again, we ask ourselves “Why?” Mostly the reason why is because everything is too polished, too flashy, too unrelatable. So while audiences may enjoy watching this type of content occasionally, more relatable and down-to-earth content seems to generally resonate more with a broader audience.

YouTube rewards both authentic and the more non-authentic content alike, though, with its pay scale based on engagement and whether or not advertisers seem to approve of your content. TikTok, however, prioritized authenticity completely. The TikTok creator fund (their version of content monetization) pays creators based solely on organic audience interaction which prioritizes content that remains true to creators’ personal brand and audience.

Despite having over 24 million videos uploaded daily, TikTok and its influencer advertising efforts are still a bit too new to find any robust studies like you can find for YouTube. So, until then, we’re forced to rely on user experiences and opinions. Speaking anecdotally now, TikTok creators seem to be a bit sneakier in their advertising. Oftentimes, you won’t realize that you’re watching a sponsored post until you get to the end of the video or sift through the myriad of hashtags buried in the caption. However, the content feels much more candid. Perhaps it’s because of the short-form content style or simply the fact that everyday people can hop on and make a video about their new favorite item, but TikTok “ads” don’t feel so much like ads as they do a friend telling you about something they love. 

Naturally, there are still some influencers who are a bit more heavy-handed with their advertising and the FDA sort of requires them now to disclose the fact that it’s an ad, but even then it doesn’t have the same overtly consumeristic feel as a QVC marathon. It’s much more subtle, their efforts more subdued even when they proclaim that “this is the best energy drink ever!” It’s sneakier in that way, a more direct approach to earn the customer’s trust by building that parasocial relationship using the same methods as discussed in the YouTube study. 

When you really consider the entire “influencer” thing as a whole, it all seems to boil down to understanding and utilizing the linguistic nuances that garner attention. Obviously, this isn’t the only piece of the puzzle when you try to unravel the current state of content creators and the internet, but the bubble seems to collapse without it. 

So, next time you’re mindlessly scrolling through TikTok or Instagram and find yourself nearly convinced by an influencer excitedly encouraging you to use their affiliate code for some must-have product, pause to look past their words and ask yourself if you really need it. Save yourself some money and scroll past because, most of the time, you don’t! 

Notes: *I refuse to refer to Twitter as X. I think X is an objectively horrific name unbecoming of a social media site. I also firmly believe, as a Twitter user since 2016, that the platform should have never been sold to Elon Musk. 

Sources:

[teslacoils-and-hubris]

no one understands him like I do

[trashiiplant]

they're judging you

+ random doodle dump

[soapyakships]

welcome to the other side!

[retrocooking]

The Best Brown Sugar Mound Recipe

8/29/23

Good morning, everyone! I hope you're doing well. Today I decided to make brown sugar mounds with a recipe out of my family's cookbook. These mound cookies use pecans and are great for nut lovers! Even without the pecans, these cookies have a nutty taste that is accentuated by the brown sugar. I have never seen a mound recipe that uses pecans, most use coconut (like this recipe,) but even as someone who typically doesn't like pecans, I think they really add to the cookie.

"Not a good Christmas Cookie" was written beside this recipe, which intrigued me because I think these cookies would be fine Christmas cookies (here is a list of good Christmas cookies if you're curious). This recipe also calls for sour cream, which is interesting, as that is not an ingredient typically used in desserts. I have seen sour cream used in sugar cookie recipes to make them softer and fluffier. It seems that's its purpose in these cookies as well, as these cookies puff up and get soft when they cook. The sour cream doesn't mess with the taste either.

Making the Dough:

This recipe calls for: margarine (I used softened butter), light brown sugar, eggs, flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, sour cream, and pecan halves (see ingredient list below for measurements).

Start by sifting the flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon into a bowl to set aside. In a different bowl, cream together the margarine (or butter) and the brown sugar. Once the brown sugar and margarine mix is light, beat in the egg. Once everything is mixed well, add in the rest of the dry ingredients and the sour cream. Make sure everything gets mixed well.

Baking the Cookies:

Spoon the dough onto a cookie sheet, making sure each scoop is around the size of a small walnut. Press a pecan halve into each of the scoops and bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes.

I used a toaster oven to bake my cookies, so I found that baking them 7-8 minutes worked best for me, but the time needed to cook will depend on the oven and number of cookies you are cooking. Check on your cookies every few minutes and take them out when they start to brown on top and get dark brown around the bottom edges. Use this WikiHow for reference.

This recipe also makes 4+ dozen (depending on size of the cookies) So I would recommend halving this recipe.

Ingredients and Measurements:

1 cup margarine, softened

1 ½ cups light brown sugar, packed 

1 egg 

4 cups sifted flour 

½ tsp salt

½ tsp baking soda 

2 tsp cinnamon 

½ cup sour cream 

Pecan halves 

Directions:

Sift flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon into a bowl. Set aside

Cream margarine and sugar until light. Beat in egg. Add sifted dry ingredients and sour cream, mix well 

Shape into balls about the size of a small walnut. Place on baking sheets and press pecan into center of each. 

Bake 400 for 10-15 minutes (check the "Baking the Cookies" section above)

[akanemnon]

Sorry, Noelle... They're a little slow on the uptake.

FIRST - PREVIOUS - NEXT

MASTERPOST (for the full series / FAQ / reference sheets)

[damianito]

Chuuya will not remember. Dazai will.

[meepzs]

Fuck it we back.

[contoart]

UDON

[inkstainsandrosaries]

to see how far I've come from being a little girl learning latin at the age 3 to having my face on my country's banknote really warms my heart. It's crazy to see how far society has come in recognizing women's achievements, even when many obstacles still remain.

[beebeedibapbeediboop]

Some of my character design work for our upcoming short film Chrysalide :)

If you want to check out our progress, you can follow us on instagram here!