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moodboardmix · 3 months

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Miss Françoise (17 janvier 1944 - 11 juin 2024)

Miss Françoise Hardy, whose elegance and beautifully lilting voice made her one of France’s most successful pop stars, has passed away today.

She was born in the middle of an air raid in Nazi-occupied Paris in 1944, and raised in the city, mostly by her mother. Aged 16, she received her first guitar as a present and began writing her own songs, performing them live and auditioning for record labels. In 1961, she signed with Disques Vogue.

Inspired by the French chanson style of crooned ballads as well as the emerging edgier styles of pop and rock’n’roll, Miss Hardy became a key part of the yé-yé style that dominated mid-century French music.

The self-penned ballad Tous les garçons et les filles was her breakthrough in 1962, and sold more than 2.5m copies; it topped the French charts, as did early singles Je Suis D’Accord and Le Temps de L’Amour.

Her growing European fame meant she began rerecording her repertoire in multiple languages, including English. Her 1964 song All Over the World, translated from Dans le Monde Entier, became UK Top 20 hit, her fame endured in France, Italy and Germany.

In 1968, Comment te Dire Adieu, a version of It Hurts to Say Goodbye (originally made famous by Vera Lynn) with lyrics by Serge Gainsbourg, became one of her biggest hits.

Miss Hardy’s beauty and deft aesthetic – which encompassed cleanly silhouetted tailoring alongside more casual looks, including knitwear and rock-leaning denim and leather – defined the seeming effortlessness of 20th-century French cool.

She became a muse to designers including Yves Saint Laurent and Paco Rabanne, and was also a frequent subject for fashion photography, shot by the likes of Richard Avedon, David Bailey and William Klein. Later, designer Rei Kawakubo would name her label Comme des Garçons after a line in a Hardy song.

Miss Hardy was an object of adoration to many male stars of 60s pop including the Rolling Stones and David Bowie. Bob Dylan wrote a poem about her for the liner notes of his 1964 album Another Side of Bob Dylan, beginning: “For Françoise Hardy, at the Seine’s edge, a giant shadow of Notre Dame seeks t’ grab my foot …”

She was also courted by directors, appearing in films by Jean-Luc Godard, Roger Vadim, John Frankenheimer and more.

Miss Hardy signed a three-year deal with Sonopresse in 1970. This creatively rich period saw her record with Brazilian musician Tuca on 1971’s highly acclaimed La Question, and continue her multi-lingual releases.

She spent the mid-1970s chiefly focused on raising her son Thomas with her partner, musician and actor Jacques Dutronc. Releases restarted with 1977’s Star, and Hardy embraced the sounds of funk, disco and electronic pop. A longer hiatus in the 1980s was punctuated by 1988’s Décalages, billed as her final album, though she returned in 1996 with Le Danger, switching her palette to moody contemporary rock.

She released six further albums, ending with Personne D’Autre in 2018.

Miss Hardy also developed a career as an astrologer, having written extensively on the subject from the 1970s onwards. In addition, she worked as a writer of both fiction and non-fiction books from the 2000s. Her autobiography Le désespoir des singes... et autres bagatelles was a best-seller in France.

She remains one of the best-selling singers in French history, and continues to be regarded as an iconic and influential figure in both French pop and fashion. In 2006, she was awarded the Grande médaille de la chanson française, an honorary award given by the Académie française, in recognition of her career in music.

Miss Hardy had lymphatic cancer since 2004, and had undergone years of radiotherapy and other treatments for the illness. In 2021, she had argued in favour of euthanasia, saying that France was “inhuman” for not allowing the procedure.

Rest in Power !

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joanyio · 9 months

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TOP 9 DRAMAS I WATCHED IN 2023

inspector koo (2021) - everyone here is a different flavor of fruit, crime show exclusively made for girls and gays and it’s the best thing that ever happened to me

when i fly towards you (2023) - this is what happiness is all about

doom at your service (2021) - “love me to the point that you want to destroy the world for me” that’s it that’s the line

love all play (2022) - wfkbj for people who aren’t annoying

little women (2022) - second half felt like a makjang damn the writers were spiraling and i couldn’t stop watching (gay little women i love you)

twinkling watermelon (2023) - worth the hype

bloodhounds (2023) - i remember my letterboxd post for this saying you can almost smell the testosterones through the screen but it was absolutely binge worthy, kinda homo if you ask me!

daily dose of sunshine (2023) - park boyoung is the loveliest human being

law school (2021) - is it insane to beg for a season 2 the chance is low but nonzero… right?

HONORABLE MENTIONS

hidden love (2023) - im tired of people saying the word chemistry about the main couple but it’s true they invented it

designated survivor: 60 days (2019) - maybe political dramas aren’t always badly written, also han nakyung please give me a chance

celebrity (2023) - user joanyio stop finding invisible gay subtext in every show you watch challenge failed

the good bad mother (2023) - such a gem *continues to ignore mommy issues*

time and him are just right (2022) - cute and perfect for mindless watching in the background while you do other work

the worst of evil (2023) - instead of forcing the love triangle turned love square the writers should have made all four hot main characters make out with each other it would have been perfect

and because of love all play (2022), see also:

castaway diva (2023), witch’s diner (2021), and unlock my boss (2022) (although i haven’t finished this one yet) chae jonghyeop is my new lee dohyun (read: male actor i enjoy watching multiple projects of simply because he doesn’t give me the ick). i also rewatched hot stove league (2020) for park eunbin and jonghyeop after castaway diva, still one of the all time best dramas i remember it used to be my twitter handle years ago baseball is so cool i wish it was real

DRAMAS I STARTED LATE DECEMBER 2023 AND FINISHED EARLY JANUARY 2024

shining for one thing (2022) - please don’t watch this show it was made only for me and i’d like to gatekeep it forever

reset (2022) - never watched a drama execute time loop plot device as perfectly as this did

UNFINISHED BUT PLANNING TO CONTINUE SOON

derailment (2023) - i was baited by a tiktok i thought it’d be a cute silly little high school drama but boy was i surprised

one day off (2023) - she’s living the dream

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questforrp · 1 month

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Would you like to RP?

I’m casting out my net searching for some RP partners! In the past, I was unfortunately unable to keep up with some of my RPs because of work but now I’m ✨ u n e m p l o y e d ✨ and looking to dedicate some of my newfound free time to getting my fix of some pairings! 💕

Cool Stuff About Me:

I live in the US on EST.

I am 26!

I only rp on discord.

My writing style is adv lit/novella. My responses often break discord character limit and I have nitro which offers a higher character limit.

I’m pretty open to a wide range of ideas yet I do love to lean a bit more slice-of-life and modern in role plays. I love angsty, plot heavy ideas as well– however, I do wish for a good bit of planning and deliberation beforehand!

DISCLAIMERS:

Writing style is very important to me. It is genuinely make or break for me. I am also a long time fanfic writer so I believe my writing is very thorough. I am not semi-lit whatsoever. My writing will be lengthy and thorough most often so I please ask that you do not interact with this post if you do not think you will be compatible with my writing style. (Samples will be included in this post!)

I am not too keen on most topics, themes, or tropes that fall under the umbrella term “Dead Dove”. Nothing involving minors and adults in sexual or romantic relationships. Not too keen on heavy violence, gore, or any type of ageplay.

Who I’m Looking For:

Someone who is 21+ (will settle for 18+)

Someone who writes third person

Someone who is able to write as close as possible to their character’s cannon personality (with some liberties, of course!)

Someone who is comfortable writing NSFW content (smut:plot usually ranges 40:60 but I’m willing to adjust)

Someone who writes adv-lit/novella (very important)

Parings legend:

Top

Bottom

Character I prefer to write**

No preference on writing

Pairings:

Gojo Satoru x Getou Suguru (t/b dynamic is unfortunately unshakeable on this one.)

Itadori Yuji** x Fushiguro Megumi

Erwin Smith** x Levi Ackerman

Laois Touden x Kabru

Uzumaki Naruto x Nara Shikamaru**

One More Special Thing With Only One Bullet Point:

I love omegaverse. The best way to catch me is to put an omegaverse idea on a hook and reel me in. Omegaverse for me includes potential/current/mentions of mpreg and I am also very fond of parental centered storylines. This includes planned pregnancies, accidental, past, etc.

Now that you’ve somehow gotten through all of that, please take note of all the information I’ve painstakingly laid out! I will not be negotiating things I have blatantly laid out but I am open to questions or concerns!

Now, without further ado, please give this post a like ❤️ or send me a dm 💬 if you’re interested in starting an rp with me!

As of August 8th, 2024, I am actively searching for partners!

Writing samples will be listed from here on so please enjoy and if ya see one that gets your attention, feel free to ask me about it and we might be able to turn it into an RP!

eruri (Erwin x Levi)

Erwin's tongue felt thick and tacky in his mouth, the cavern bone-dry and arid as soon as his ears processed the escort's siren call. He'd felt this shallow feeling of nerves before, the same storm in his gut that felt like he was a sailor stuck at sea- at the mercy of savage waves. It was only once, highly cherished and to never be forgotten. It had been when he'd first bedded his ex-wife in their early twenties. Anticipation teetered on a fine line that separated excitement and fear of the unknown.

He's technically never promised anyone anything. Not a stable life, not the best version of himself, nothing. Nor was it truly ever expected of him. Erwin was a cookie cutter man made to fill a specific role but in his thirty-four years of age, he still hasn't begun to figure out what or who had made him this way. Was he a prisoner of someone else's expectations or his own?

At that moment, he remembered Miche's warbled words. The man had had his arm thrown around Erwin's shoulder, face flushed and smelling of artisanal whiskies.

"You know," Miche had hiccupped. "You really hold yourself to some high standards, man."

Erwin had gently shouldered his friend's arm off of him, inspecting the glass in his hand to make sure it was actual water and not another troublesome liquor.

"It's to be expected of me." He'd said, flashing a small smile across the room to a philanthropist woman who was virtuous in name only.

Miche took a swallow of water, pulling a face as if he was disappointed in it. "By who?”

The question stumped Erwin, his mind only providing vague offerings of names and masses who only knew him by photo and net-worth.

"Look, you're a man just like the rest of us. Just because you're the brains of this whole thing doesn't mean you can't be a person. You can live a little."

Erwin was only a man. Destined to be an imperfect being. No amount of starving himself would make him more virtuous in some “God's” eyes.

He'll give himself away to hunger, if just for one night.

goge/satosugu (Gojo x Getou)

Suguru doesn’t know what requires his attention more; the drilling “bree bree”’s of the hot summer cicadas or the sharp pleasure of Satoru biting into his inner thigh as if the tender flesh would give away to the juicy, sweetness of a ripe apple.

This meetup was meant to go in a different direction but Suguru couldn’t resist the urge to taunt Satoru. Even though his eyes were covered by those abysmal bandages, Suguru could tell his six eyes were miserable underneath.

Sweet, sweet Satoru.

Satoru who treats a criminal like him so tenderly. Who wouldn’t want to poke a little fun at him?

“Mmnh-!” Suguru jerks, spine curving into an arch as Satoru bites particularly hard this time. Suguru flicks his gaze down where Satoru sits with his teeth still embedded in his skin, his cheek pushed into the firmness of the muscle. His eyes are lidded and lustful yet somehow wide and demanding.

Suguru breathes a husky chuckle. The strongest sorcerer in the world nipped him like a puppy demanding his attention.

Suguru shakes his arm free from one of the sleeves of his gojogesa and lets it fall into the pale tresses of Satoru’s hair.

He scratches his blunt nails along the scalp, eyes creasing with his grin as Satoru leans into the affection.

“Satoru,” he breathes as the man starts to lathe at the bite. “Good boys don’t bite, remember?” he teases.

#role play ad #eruri rp #eruri #satosugu #satosugu rp #goge #goge rp #aot rp #labru #labru rp #dungeon meshi #dungeon meshi rp #Naruto rp #shikanaru #shikanaru rp #itafushi #itafushi rp

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vote-democrat-president-congress · 2 months

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Trump Ignores the Ruinous History of Tariffs

By Steven R. Weisman; July 26, 2024 Mr. Weisman, a former correspondent and editorial writer for The New York Times, is vice president for publications at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

Donald Trump’s economic panacea is to impose over-the-top tariffs on all imports, potentially generating enough revenue to eliminate the federal income tax. It is hardly an innovative idea. On the contrary, if enacted, it would return our postmodern economy to that of the Gilded Age of the late 19th century, to economic policies favoring the wealthy over the poor and middle class, when tariffs were the main source of government revenue.

That tariff-dominant era ended with the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1913, which facilitated the adoption of a graduated federal income tax. The income tax, not tariffs, has been the main source of federal revenue ever since, and for good reason.

Tariffs are a tax on imports, the functional equivalent of a sales tax, imposing a proportionately bigger burden on those with modest incomes. As my colleagues at the Peterson Institute for International Economics point out, Mr. Trump’s proposal for a 10 percent tariff on all imports (which totaled $3.1 trillion last year) and a 60 percent tariff on imports from China would cost a typical middle-income household at least $1,700 in increased expenses each year.

Mr. Trump’s radical “all tariff policy” would be self-defeating. It could not possibly fund our modern national security and social welfare needs, because tariff rates would have to rise impossibly high to yield the $2 trillion generated by individual and corporate income taxes. The resulting tariff war, when countries inevitably retaliate, would shrink imports and reduce tariff revenues. And it would discard or marginalize the one tax we have that requires people to pay their fair share.

Following the Revolutionary War, the national government did indeed rely almost entirely on tariffs, as pushed by Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton to avoid distasteful excise taxes and encourage the new nation’s infant manufacturing sector. The Civil War quickly proved their inadequacy. To meet the resulting fiscal crisis, Abraham Lincoln persuaded Congress to pass the very first income tax in 1862, essentially a tax on only the very top earners.

That was phased out after the war, returning the United States to its reliance on tariffs and the chaos and class resentment they created. In 1889, Thomas Shearman, a prominent lawyer, wrote a widely disseminated essay titled “The Owners of the United States” that listed families including the Astors, Vanderbilts, Rockefellers and Morgans who presided over untaxed fortunes from railroads, factories, oil refineries, mines and banks.

Overreliance on tariffs helped foment an era of economic shocks. The Panic of 1893, at the time the worst depression in American history, was set off by business and bank failures but aggravated by foreign creditors demanding payment in gold, which only encouraged the U.S. Treasury to push for even higher tariffs to curb imports.

Out of this crisis a new star of the Democratic Party arose, William Jennings Bryan, the “Great Commoner,” who warned against America crucifying itself on a “cross of gold.” He also crusaded against protectionism by holding up clothing and kitchen utensils at his rallies and declaring that tariffs drove up their cost by 50 percent.

Bryan as the Democratic presidential nominee lost the 1896 election to William McKinley, a favorite of Mr. Trump’s (he calls McKinley “the Tariff King”). But Bryan’s ideas lived on. By 1912, a Democratic free-trader and income tax supporter, Woodrow Wilson, the reformist governor of New Jersey, had won the White House.

The income tax was enacted in 1913 in Wilson’s first year in office. Once again, it was war and the urgent need for money, rather than political ideology, that proved the impracticality of relying on tariffs. To fund the mobilization for World War I, Wilson raised the top marginal income tax rate to 77 percent. (Since then, the top rate has fluctuated up and down, rising above 90 percent in World War II and now at 37 percent.)

The Democrats’ defeat after the war brought traditional Republicans with their high-tariffs philosophy back into power and they raised tariffs throughout the 1920s. That culminated in the infamous Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, which was enacted in the misplaced belief that tariffs could protect American industries and farmers after the 1929 stock market crash. Instead, they fueled a catastrophic global trade war, strangled commerce, unleashed competitive currency devaluations and intensified a worldwide depression that contributed to the rise of Nazism and worldwide war.

The advent of President Franklin Roosevelt, a free-trader who had served under Wilson as assistant secretary of the Navy, buried the outdated notion of equating tariffs with prosperity. Indeed, his secretary of state, Cordell Hull, a former Tennessee congressman, had helped enact the income tax and lower tariffs a generation earlier and went on to become an eloquent postwar champion of international trade to save the world from another global crisis.

American politics have a way of flipping the policies of parties. In the modern era, beginning with President Ronald Reagan, it was Republicans who led the way to lower trade barriers as a boon to economic growth. Reagan, the conservative, had in the 1960s demonized the progressive federal income tax as a Marxist plot. He believed its confiscatory rates in the 1940s discouraged work, recalling that in Hollywood he stopped making films halfway through the year when the top marginal rate meant he would turn nearly all his additional income over to the government.

But though Reagan negotiated “voluntary” export curbs with Japan, he never advocated higher tariffs. That opposition fell to organized labor and partly to the Democrats, most of whom have opposed trade deals ever since.

Turning away from President Reagan and his successors, Mr. Trump is the first major Republican of the modern era to enact sweeping higher tariff barriers to protect American industries and farmers. In his first term, he instituted several disparate tariffs. They failed to reduce trade deficits and instead incited Europe, Canada and China to retaliate, forcing his administration to pay $23 billion to bail out farmers when China hit back with tariffs on U.S. agriculture products.

For his potential second term, Mr. Trump and his running mate, Senator JD Vance of Ohio, would bring the country back to its protectionist past at a time when large segments of the economy depend on trade and foreign investment, not to mention immigration for high-end tech jobs and low-end jobs in services and agriculture.

A case can be made for selective tariffs to protect national security and sensitive supply chains, and encourage green technologies. The Biden administration has pushed for these steps while keeping Mr. Trump’s tariffs largely in place, incurring many of the same costs. The long historical record demonstrates these are borne not by other countries, as Mr. Trump keeps insisting, but by American consumers and industries.

Tariffs may provide a marginal help to some domestic producers, but only up to a point. Steel manufacturing may gain, but manufacturers that depend on imported steel will lose. Tariffs on solar panels and electric vehicles from China, pushed also by President Biden, may help domestic interests, but they are making it more expensive to adapt to the energy transition.

Economic policies come with trade-offs, and tariffs are no exception. An across-the-board tariff policy would take us not to a prosperous future but to a reactionary past that stopped working in the 19th century, when it nearly bankrupted the government, aggravated class conflict, provoked instability and favored the wealthy over everyone else.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/26/opinion/trump-tariffs-biden-ev.html

#tRump is such an f-ing ignorant hack and should be treated as such.

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xtruss · 4 months

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Sicily Sold Homes For One Euro. This Is What Happened Next.

For more than a decade, Sicily has been trying to revive its villages by selling Vacant Houses. Writer Lisa Abend heads to the largest Island in the Mediterranean to see how life has changed.

— By Lisa Abend | April 30, 2024

Mussomeli is roughly 60 miles from Palermo. Photo by Julia Nimke

Like any small town that isn’t yours, Sambuca di Sicilia, located about an hour’s drive south of the Sicilian capital, Palermo, feels a little intimidating at first. Stroll its perimeter on a late afternoon in winter, when the sun sets the buildings alight, and eyes follow you. Order the town’s signature minni di virgini—breast-shaped cakes filled with cream, chocolate chips, and squash jam—and a hush silences the chatter in the local bakery. It’s not unfriendly, this exaggerated alertness, but it does make you, the visitor, feel a bit self-conscious.

By the time I walk into a small restaurant that first evening seeking dinner, my self-consciousness has reached an uncomfortable peak. The restaurant’s only other guests, a middle-aged couple, fall quiet as I make my way to a table. After the waiter and I stumble through my order, impeded by his poor English and my worse Italian, I pull out a book to hide my awkwardness while I wait for the food. But when the first course arrives—a heap of ocher-tinted pasta topped with crimson shrimp and shards of pistachios—I am so clearly delighted by the dish that the waiter then decides we are friends. He introduces himself by name, Giovanni, and when two women with their children enter the restaurant, he seats them next to me and introduces them as well. “La famiglia,” he says—his own, and that of the chef, who, stepping out from the kitchen to kiss his wife, also comes over to greet me.

Two hours later, I walk out into the night air, aloft on a wave of bonhomie and sturdy Sicilian wine. Oh yes, I think to myself. I could live here.

I’m not the only person to arrive at that revelation. In fact, I had come to Sicily to investigate a program that has attracted thousands with the same notion. A program that allows people, although they may not have the financial wherewithal to go full-bore Tuscan-villa-with-frescoed-ceilings-and-private-vineyard, to nevertheless live a different version of the dream. A program that promises them a house for a single euro.

About the size of New Hampshire, Sicily has 4.8 million residents. Photos by Julia Nimke

Since the 19th century, large numbers of villagers in the poorer parts of Italy have migrated to more prosperous regions and countries. The migration continues; in some places, populations have shrunk so dramatically that there are no longer enough patients to keep the local doctor in business, or enough children to fill the school. Young people who moved away to study or work didn’t want to return, and when their parents died, the family homes stood empty, sometimes for decades. Around 2010, the village of Salemi in western Sicily was one of the first towns to come up with an idea: What if you could fill them again by offering the properties for sale at a ridiculously low price?

I wasn’t in the market for a house, one euro or otherwise. But I wanted to know if the program worked. Though the rumors I’d heard about driving in Sicily gave me pause—highways that suddenly turn into rutted cow paths; drivers whose chosen passing method involves achieving the closest possible proximity to the fender of the car in front of them—I decided to set out in a rental car through villages in various stages of implementing the initiative. Were once-sepulchral towns reinvigorated by newcomers eager to put down roots? Were the new residents integrating into small-town life, or was an influx of new blood bringing unintended side effects? And did a town that drew enough newcomers lose the qualities that had attracted said newcomers in the first place?

From left: The population of Sambuca di Sicilia has declined because of a low birth rate, but the town gained media attention after The Sopranos actress Lorraine Bracco bought a home there; The Valley of the Temples has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997. Photos by Julia Nimke

The morning after my dinner in Sambuca di Sicilia, I leave my home base to see my first one-euro house. Before that, I stop in the Valley of the Temples. Located in a national park, the valley preserves the remains of a Greek colony founded in the 6th century B.C.E. on land inhabited by the indigenous Sicani. A couple of millennia later, the original temples to Hercules and Hera survive, but so does evidence of Carthaginian rampage and Roman reconstruction. Those peoples would in time be followed by Vandals from northern Europe and Muslims from Africa, to say nothing of the French and Spanish. Standing there, looking at the gold-colored columns of once-grand temples set against the sparkling sea and flowering almond trees, time seemed to bend. Outsiders, I realize, have been making their homes here for a long time.

They’ve also been leaving. When I arrive in Cammarata, a steep jumble of a village whose mountains are dusted with snow, I can feel an absence. In the winter sunshine, it’s beautiful, but it’s also empty. In the 15 minutes I spend standing in front of a very sleepy-looking town hall, where I’ve arranged to meet architect Martina Giracello, not one person passes by.

The members of StreetTo want to rejuvenate Cammarata. Photo by Julia Nimke

Finally, Giracello arrives, her corkscrew curls bobbing, and explains the silence. “People here wanted to live in larger, more modern apartments,” she says. Many moved to neighboring San Giovanni Gemini, about half a mile away, where the gentler topography allows for larger buildings and better conveniences. Now, Giracello tells me, “the one real estate agency in the area doesn’t even handle houses in the historic center.”

Like other young people from the region, Giracello and her boyfriend, Gianluca, moved away for university and to start their professional careers. But as they approached the end of their 20s, they returned to Cammarata, yearning for a quieter life. They also wanted, however, some kind of cultural scene, and neighbors their own age. “We studied other towns with one-euro programs, saw that for a lot of buyers, once they are there, the house is just a vacation home, and they don’t have a relation to the people there,” she tells me. “We wanted to do something different. We wanted to create a community.”

“As We Slowly Make Our Way Up Cammarata’s Steep Streets, The Silence Gives Way To The Sound Of Hammers And Saws. ‘Hear That?’ Giracello Asks. ‘It’s Working.’”

They banded together with other professionals to form a volunteer association called StreetTo, which convinces the owners of abandoned properties to sell, then helps foreigners find their houses and navigate the inspections, paperwork, and renovations that follow. And, in the hopes of forging community, they also organize exhibitions, concerts, and gatherings for townspeople old and new. Driven by their desire to revive the Cammarata they love, StreetTo’s members offer these services free of charge. (“At the moment, it is a project geared toward foreigners, but what we want is to also bring Cammarata’s citizens back, just as Gianluca and I have come back,” Giracello says.)

It’s not pure altruism, though. Their town gets something in the way of revitalization. As we slowly make our way up Cammarata’s steep streets, the silence gives way to the sound of hammers and saws. “Hear that?” Giracello asks. “It’s working.”

Panting from the climb, we reach the first property, where Giracello introduces me to the reality of what one euro buys you: not much. The home, more vertically challenged shed than house, has what real estate ads might call “significant structural issues” and what I might call “a massive hole in the roof.”

For an extravagance like a ceiling, Giracello says, you’ll need to spend a bit more. We press on to another house. Pushing open the heavy wooden door, she mentions its price—just over $10,000. The tall, narrow home is built, like many older Sicilian dwellings, with a single room per floor, its stairwell is carpeted in debris, and the battered sink and laminate countertops make it look like the kitchen was outfitted sometime around World War II. But the floor is adorned with beautiful geometric tiles, and a view of the valley spills through the windows. “We try to find houses in not really good condition,” Giracello says. “Because the purpose of the project is to help the town get better.”

StreetTo has helped negotiate the sale of 18 houses so far, but contract negotiations and renovations are still in progress, and none of the buyers have been able to move into their homes yet. But Giracello is confident it won’t be long before her village swells with new life. She pulls out her phone to show me a video.

“When a German nurse and her husband bought a place, a local couple were so happy to see new people that they held a dinner for them, and invited us,” she says. “Even though the Germans didn’t speak Italian and the Italians didn’t speak German, now they are all friends.” She pauses. “We are all friends.”

Today a church and monastery, Santa Caterina d’Alessandria was home to nuns from 1311 to 2014. Photo by Julia Nimke

My next stop is Mussomeli, located nearly in the center of the island. Unlike many Sicilian towns, which drape themselves seductively across a ridge, Mussomeli is all about the vertical. On the morning I approach, the craggy volcanic outcroppings that rise from the valley below have trapped pools of mist, making the town appear to be floating on clouds. It feels like entering Middle Earth.

The illusion doesn’t last: With a population of nearly 11,000 people, Mussomeli is large enough to support a Carrefour supermarket and even a mini traffic jam. But as I push on to the town’s core, the fantasy returns. Mussomeli’s heart holds ancient churches, tiny squares where kids play ball, and views from its tangled streets of that mystical valley and a hilltop with the ruins of a 14th-century castle.

Streets so tangled, in fact, that I get lost, and ask for directions in a dark, tiny bakery selling nothing but focaccia. I pay for an oily square, and ask the elderly man behind the counter what he thinks about the foreigners moving to town. “There aren’t so many here now,” he says. “But in summer they buy a lot of focaccia.”

Seems a fair trade. Mussomeli doesn’t cater to tourism, but between its services and charm, more than 200 inexpensive homes have been bought by foreigners in the past few years. Australian Danny McCubbin owns one of them. Ready for a quieter life after 17 years of working in London for the chef Jamie Oliver, McCubbin was recruited by producers late in 2019 for a television show that planned to follow people on their one-euro adventures in Mussomeli. The pandemic intervened and the show was never finished, but McCubbin had found his purpose. By the end of 2020, he had decided to move permanently to Mussomeli and turn his home into a community kitchen to help people with inadequate access to food.

From left: The Good Kitchen rescues surplus food from supermarkets to provide for people in need; Australian Danny McCubbin moved to Mussomeli in 2020. Photos by Julia Nimke

After I make several wrong turns, I find McCubbin, clearing dishes from a long, communal table. He’d just served lunch to local residents and Ukrainian children welcomed by the town after fleeing the war. These days, the Good Kitchen also supplies weekly meals for the elderly and has taught some of Mussomeli’s youth to cook. A clutch of older men use the space as an afternoon hangout, and there’s also a free Sunday afternoon lunch. (The only requirement for those with means is that they bring something to share.) Not long ago, Mussomeli’s mayor told McCubbin that he had planted a seed, and that more in Mussomeli were now thinking about social projects. “My whole way of living is so simple and joyful now,” McCubbin says. “I don’t know where else I could have done this.”

Rubia Andrade Daniels has also adjusted her expectations. One of the earliest buyers in Mussomeli, she fell in love with a vibe that reminds her of the Brazil where she was born and spent her childhood, but that also seems open to the kind of diversity she’s found in California, where she has lived for the past 30 years. “For the first few days, I couldn’t figure out why people here were being so nice to me,” she says with a laugh. “Then I realized they’re like that to everyone.”

Andrade Daniels, who works for a renewable energy company, loved the town so much she purchased three one-euro houses on her first visit in 2019. Four years later, her enthusiasm remains undimmed, but her timetable has shifted: The kitchen in the house where she plans on living part time once she retires wasn’t finished until August 2023, and progress on the other two—an art gallery and a wellness center—has been pushed to an undetermined future, in part due to the pandemic and the delays in its wake. “You can’t have American expectations,” she says. “Here, things take the time they take.”

I Think About That Pace each day when I return to my base in Sambuca di Sicilia. There, too, there’s been such demand for the listed houses that one euro is no longer the final sale cost but rather the opening bid in an auction that could see prices rise into the thousands. Even then, the campaign was so popular that the municipality launched a second round in 2021, with an increase in the starting price—to two euros.

Margherita Licata, who has been summering in Sambuca since childhood and eventually settled here full time about 20 years ago, says that “99 percent” of Sambucans welcome the newcomers. The other 1 percent? “They worry they have been invaded by Americans,” says Licata, who works for a real estate agency in town. “If Sambuca one day has a thousand outsiders living here, of course it will change our lives. But it will maybe mean the young [people] can find a job and not go somewhere else. If we want that change, we must accept other changes too.”

Of course, it’s possible that Sambuca could become transfigured by take-out coffee joints and big-box stores and other supposed comforts that the town’s new residents like. Already, some Americans have complained about the local teenagers who cruise the streets on their motorbikes at night. And imported class divisions are also emerging: Among the more free-spirited DIYers who have purchased homes, rumors circulate that some of the wealthier buyers want to build an exclusive, members-only swimming pool.

From left: Margherita Licata has lived in Sambuca for roughly 20 years; Pasticceria Enrico Pendola is one of few bakeries in the small town. Photos by Julia Nimke

But for now, there’s little evidence of a non-Sicilian presence in Sambuca, and it remains difficult to find anyone who speaks English. What I did find was an archaeology museum where, after I inquired if it was open, a woman rushed out, turned on the lights, and marched me at breakneck speed through the antiquities on display while barking descriptions of them at me in Italian. I also found a market that popped up alongside the traffic circle where the fishmonger told me how to cook the sardines I bought from the back of his van, as well as a café whose arancini made me finally understand why anyone would want to eat fried balls of rice, and where the elderly man who glared at me as I drank my breakfast cappuccino turned out not to be annoyed with the foreigner invading his morning sanctuary, but just waiting for the opportunity to ask me if I knew his cousins in New Jersey.

I’d arrived in Sicily wondering if the one-euro initiative would ruin the towns that adopted it, replacing their traditional culture with more consumerist ones and destroying their lifestyle and easy sociability. And when that turned out not to be the case, I also wondered if it wasn’t simply a matter of time: Perhaps the pandemic had slowed an already slower way of doing business, and the reckoning would still surely come.

But as I sat again in that same restaurant from the first night, it seemed to me that Sicily would be just fine. Maybe the slower pace was not a flaw that would eventually be overcome, but instead a feature that would ensure Sicily remains alluringly and unequivocally itself. After all, I thought, as I remembered the

Valley of the Temples, different peoples have been arriving on these shores for millennia. They may leave an imprint; they may shape the culture. But it’s clear that a distinctively Sicilian spirit still dominates.

From left: Mussomeli is one of the most popular towns in Sicily for one-euro home programs; Sambuca di Sicilia was a prominent trading hub centuries ago. Photos by Julia Nimke

And so, just before my departure from the island, I went to visit Margherita Licata again, but this time for reasons slightly more personal. Because I had seen enough one-euro homes to know that my powers of imagination were no match for their state of decrepitude, we skipped right to a “premium” home. As soon as she pushed open the doors to the arched courtyard, I was entranced. The rooms were rundown and furnished with old-fashioned chandeliers and faded wallpaper. But they were also large and bright, with intact walls and floors covered with gorgeous patterned tiles. Downstairs, there was an attached space that would make a perfect rental apartment. Upstairs, two rooftop terraces offered views of the town center in one direction, and a lake in the other.

“Fifty thousand euros,” Licata told me with a wink. “But that’s just what the owner’s asking.”

The money in my bank account had not magically grown during my time in Sicily. But my imagination must have. Because in that moment, it all seemed possible.

— Lisa Abend is a Journalist based in Madrid and the Author of The Sorcerer’s Apprentices: A Season in the Kitchen at Ferran Adrià's elBulli. She is also a Contributing Writer at AFAR and Correspondent for Time magazine.

#Sicily #One Euro Homes 🏠#Vacant Houses 🏠 🏡 🏘️#Largest Island 🏝️ | Mediterranean #Afar.Com

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witchboyjimin · 9 months

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20 questions for fic writers

stole this from my best friend. if you'd also like to do it, please go for it and tag me in it huhu

1. How many works do you have on Ao3?

60! which is. a lot of works but i've been posting since 2015

2. What's your total Ao3 word count?

623,307. i hope to hit 1 million words by the end of 2025 >:)

3. What fandoms do you write for?

everything is kookmin these days but once upon a time i wrote other bts pairings and before that i wrote for ikon and got7 (and before that aka before ao3: exo, bap, block b, beast, harry potter, naruto, kingdom hearts....god idk there are a lot of fandoms lol)

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

i like how desperate you seem (in the way you look at me) if i get in, i just might drown i glow pink in the night shine a light through the dark the moon keeps calling out to me, but i only ever hear your name

5. Do you respond to comments?

no, but i did promise myself to respond to comments again in 2024. starting with the ones left on my latest fic.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

uuhhh...probably i might not make it. simply because it's an mcd fic and spoilers! jk is dead throughout the fic and the fics ends like that...

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

lol i think pretty much all of my fics end with a happy ending aka the pairing ends up together, happily in love.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

100%. lot of fandom drama involved with writing exclusively btm!jm. i've gotten anon msgs telling me to "kms", people hoping i get raped, murdered, my body never found etc etc. you name it, i've seen it. all because they hate that i write btm!jm.

i do think fandom has gotten less insane over this very recently but i am also just way less available and have a much smaller social media presence so lack of access to me has probably reduced the hate, too. plus i'm not actively part of fandom these days so people care about me less, which is great!

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

it's my favourite thing to write! i do need to get back into it though...also was not aware there are types of smut? i guess the rly nasty kind rjfkndk i like pretty much most kinks/fetishes and think it's fun to explore them.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

i have written three crossover fics! >:) two were bobby (ikon)/jimin and one was jaebum (got7)/jimin.

craziest one was probably oh boy, don't be shy since it's basically bobby finds jimin's dildo and then dp's jimin :D

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

multiple times.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

yes, i used to allow translations but it got to a point where people would ask to translate and then never come back to link their translations. plus, i've had people link me to fics that were translated without my permission.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

yes! two of them :)

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

kookmin kookmin kookmin kookmin kookmin kookmin kookmin kookmin kookmin kookmin kookmin kookmin kookmin kookmin kookmin kookmin kookmin kookmin kookmin kookmin kookmin

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

god, i have so many wips i want to write that it's always like...whatever sticks. my current wip tracker has 30 fic ideas on it. i rly want to write this mafia au but i have 2 supernatural aus i also want to write very badly...

there is also a collab fic i rly want to write with my friend bee, which i hope to finish, but idk if we will. i just rly love writing hurt/comfort jgfkd

16. What are your writing strengths?

i'm very good at writing emotion. it's important to me that the reader feels and understands what my characters are feeling and feels that connection to the fic. i'm also good at writing porn for this reason. i'm also very good at worldbuilding and i will put in the research and care to ensure my worldbuilding makes sense and is as accurate as possible and failing that, as believable as possible. moreover, i am just a dedicated researcher. because i write for a korean boyband, it's important to me that i do the research into korean history, customs, current social etiquette etc. it's actually a huge pet peeve of mine to see people just make stuff up or have the fic be entirely westernised/americanised but the boys are all in korea.

i think i'm also good at consistent characterization and at pacing/flow in my work. these are both rly important to me and i've worked on them a lot over the years. i think this also lends to me being pretty good at plotting a fic out so that it's not long and drawn out or that i'm not taking the time to explore certain aspects i've introduced. balance is important!

i think i'm also pretty versatile. i can write different genres pretty easily (eg. i love writing action sequences and am good at making sure the pacing is rly fast and then slowing down when something romantic or suspenseful happens) and am good at like setting a certain vibe/tone for a fic.

finally, i am dedicated to improving. i don't think fanfic writers necessarily owe this to readers (fic writing being a hobby) but writing is really important to me and so it's important to me that i improve and challenge myself.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

i need to read more! i need to expand my vocabulary and learn how to better write metaphors. my imagery could use work, my dialogue definitely needs work. i want to write my characters with a more unique voice versus everyone kind of sounding the same. i want to make sure each character has their own "quirks" the way real people do.

i need to learn to write better description, too, as i think setting can do a lot for setting the mood/tone for a fic. a lot of my short-comings just come down to me reading too little so i need to read more and i need to dissect my favourite fics and books and pinpoint what i found compelling about them.

i also need to challenge myself to write more plot-heavy fics and to be unafraid to write characters who are unlikable or appear irredeemable. i want to write fic that has one main plot but a million little subplots and i want all of these things to come together coherently. i want my work to explore themes that are important to me!

i don't care so much about grammar but probably, i need to get better at that too haha

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

since i write fic for bangtan who are korean, i don't think it's ever necessary to write dialogue in another language. it comes across as cringey (derogatory) and borders on racist imo

19. First fandom you wrote for?

uh, beyblade? lolololol

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

i think it's my favourite rn because i just finished writing it lol but sorry about the blood in your mouth (i wish it were mine)

i am also very fond of i thought he remembered me; he took me back so tenderly because i love writing space aus! sci-fi is one of my fav genres!

#writing memes #this is just for me lol

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sunnydaleherald · 9 months

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The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Wednesday, January 3

WILLOW: I think dummies are cute. You don't? BUFFY: Uuuhhh. They give me the wig. Ever since I was little. WILLOW: What happened? BUFFY: I saw a dummy, It gave me the wig. There really wasn't a story there.

~~BtVS 1x09 “The Puppet Show”~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

Rebel (Willow, Willow’s Mom, PG) by badly_knitted

No Boring Rules (Spike, Dawn, PG-13) by veronyxk84

Conversations with the Past (Xander, Assassin's Creed xover, T) by arcanedreamer

Clarity (Buffy/Spike, T) by cawthraven

getting all french with it (Giles/Jenny/Ethan, M) by The_Eclectic_Bookworm

Carrot and Stick (Angelus, William the Bloody, E) by vampbrat

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year (Spike/Drusilla, G) by EustasiaVye13

Blind love (Spike/reader, unrated) by way2geeky

Consequences of a Spring Fling (Giles/Jenny, K) by Bobbie23

[Chaptered Fiction]

Back to the Beginning, Chapter 1/? (Angel/Cordelia, G) by imaginationofadreamer

Under the Water, Chapter 16/30 (Willow/Oz, M) by dwinchester

Divide & Conquer, Chapter 58/60 (Buffy/Giles, E) by Removes_and_Cleans_Glasses_00

a demigods fate, part 3 (Giles/teen!reader, unrated) by specialagentlokitty

a demigods fate, part 4 (Giles/teen!reader, unrated) by specialagentlokitty

a demigods fate, part 5 (Giles/teen!reader, unrated) by specialagentlokitty

Please Don’t Leave Me, Chapter 4 (Buffy/Spike, M) by JM89

The Greatest Love of All, Chapter 1 (Buffy, ensemble, K+) by Aristocrat Writer

[French language] Les deux Phénix, Chapter 5 (Buffy/Faith, M) by Friday Queen

Surviving Together, Chapter 12 (Buffy/Spike, Adult Only) by ionlylikebadboys

Pack My Box with Five Dozen Liquor Jugs, Chapter 3 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by honeygirl51885

A Waxy Gent Chuckled Over My Fab Jazzy Quips, Chapter 3 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by violettathepiratequeen

Three Little Words, Chapter 1 (Buffy/Spike, Adult Only) by Maxineeden

Cherry On Top, Chapter 23 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Maxineeden

Love Ridden, Chapter 2 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by scratchmeout

There are No Epilogues When You Live Forever (Love from the Other Side of the Apocalypse), Chapter 1 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by Asokatanos

Truth Hurts, Chapter 2 (Buffy/Spike, R) by Geliot99

Pack My Box with Five Dozen Liquor Jugs, Chapter 3 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by honeygirl51885

A Waxy Gent Chuckled Over My Fab Jazzy Quips, Chapter 3 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by violettathepiratequeen

Love Ridden, Chapter 2 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by scratchmeout

Blood and Dust, Chapter 13 (Buffy/Spike, M) Complete! by Blackoberst

Stomping on butterflies, Chapters 1-2 (Buffy/Spike, T) by Blackoberst

[Images, Audio & Video]

Artwork: buffy for the outfit meme (worksafe) by genericaces

Manip: GYEONGSEONG CREATURE (but spuffy-fied) (worksafe) by kaizsche

Manip: A gift for all Spuffy Shippers this holiday season! (worksafe) by pass-the-dyanmite

Artwork: Alcohol marker portrait of a photoshoot picture of Sarah Michelle Gellar (slightly spooky, worksafe) by m-mangan-art

Artwork: Some ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ sketches (Ensemble, worksafe) by m-mangan-art

Comic art: Another sneak peek at my Buffyverse slams fist first into the Good Omens Gaimanverse comic (worksafe) by gleafer

Artwork: xanya! they feel like a matching clothes couple (worksafe) by genericaces

Artwork: 5x07 Fool for Love / 6x07 Once More With Feeling (Buffy/Spike, worksafe) by though-you-try

Comic art (3 panels): Who got Buffy in my Good Omens??! (worksafe) by gleafer

Toast, Chapters 1-6 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) Complete! by Dynamite

Spuffy Visions, Chapter 1 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by bewildered

A Real Good Day (Buffy/Spike, G) Complete! by though_you_try

Some Aspects Of Spuffy, Chapters 1-3 (Buffy/Spike, R) by Lmrln

[Reviews & Recaps]

PODCAST: HELLMOUTH HOMOS: Doppelgangland by Fear Queers

[Community Announcements]

Jan 2024 Prompt and Pairing by btvscrackships

Buffyverse Fandom: Otherworldly Chemistry Presents: Flash Fiction January and Febraury 2024 via fanwork-exchange-promos

[Fandom Discussions]

[Jenny Calendar deserved better meta; commentary in the tags] by snails-in-my-mouth

s6, aka “what if everyone just ignored each other because they all just need so much fucking therapy it’s unreal” [commentary in the tags] by twicedeath

I’m not an Angel hater by any means however I do think Spike should get to be as big of a dick to him as he wants to be [commentary in the tags] by horsegirlhob

Day 2: Favorite Supporting Character. Tara McLay by k0nstantly-tragic

I love the idea of wlw/mlm solidarity with Willow and Oz but I also absolutely love the idea of Willow being Bi and being poly with Oz and Tara. by swarm-of-bees67

[anon ask] Hi! Do you prefer Fred/Wesley, Fred/Gunn or both?! answered by keylimequeen

Detective Lockley: How would you bring her back into the fold by NyleveEiram

What character from another universe would you want to drop into the Buffyverse? by Babettesgnomes

How old is Ben? by Few_Improvement_6357

One of the saddest parts about the end of "Chosen"... (MAJOR SPOILERS INSIDE) by jdpm1991

Just finished Buffy for the first time and I’VE GOT QUESTIONS by clarry1888

Spike - The Doctor is in… not the evil doctor episode Rather Spike as the guy who tells it like it is by AlkahestGem

Is there a song that makes you think of Buffy that wasn’t on the show? by buffy_slays

Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

Join the editor team :)

#btvs #buffy the vampire slayer #angel the series #ats #fan art #fan fiction #meta

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digitalhelpltd · 1 month

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What Is Content Composing? Plus 6 Tips to Take Your Web Content to the Next Level

Material writing is the procedure of writing, editing, and posting content in an electronic layout to involve your target market. That web content can consist of post, video or podcast scripts, E books or white papers, press releases, product group summaries, landing page or social networks copy and even more.

Material development is a critical element of most businesses' advertising techniques-- as of 2024, 70% of marketing experts currently actively buy web content advertising and marketing.

This implies the duty of a content author is more in-demand than in the past. However, the duty differs depending upon both industry and business needs.

For instance, some companies invest heavily in a social media approach, while various other companies choose creating web content in the layout of blog posts or e-books.

No matter style, a material writer is essential for creating top notch web content that stands for and enhances a brand's voice while drawing in, involving, and delighting the ideal audience.

Put simply, content authors are the storytellers of their brand name. They communicate purposeful, useful, and informative messages to influence and move a target market to do something about it-- that action being a last sale.

When done right, material writing can convert visitors right into potential customers and prospects into paying customers. So, you must consistently produce useful, interesting web content for your company's bottom line. Yet that's easier stated than done.

To assist take your web content to the following level, allow's dive into a few of my favored content composing pointers.

6 Material Creating Tips

1. Write unique and original content, and exceed and past what you discover on-line.

Whenever I begin a new post like this one, I start with a lot of on-line research-- yet that's not where it ends.

After Googling pertinent topics, consisting of "content writing suggestions," I start creating a rundown making use of a few of the information I locate online.

Nevertheless, your piece will never rate if you just copy-and-paste the very same information that currently exists online-- and, even if it does, when your viewers catch on (and they will certainly), they'll lose trust in your brand name as an authority within the industry.

When I complete my rough outline (consisting of regarding 60% of the details I found via online research), I complete the continuing to be 40% with one-of-a-kind, original insights.

Mean I know about a subject directly (just like "content writing" considering that I'm a material writer). In that situation, I'll fill out the overview with original narratives, ideas, or personal instances.

Nonetheless, if I recognize extremely little concerning the subject, that does not mean I simply utilize what's currently on the internet. Rather, I'll call inner Center Spotters that are specialists on the subject or make use of various other original interior company sources.

I'll likewise conduct external outreach via my social media networks to locate a trusted source going to offer tips, quotes, or initial instances to increase my item.

Furthermore, I'll search for material regarding the topic throughout a wide range of sources-- consisting of YouTube, LinkedIn, Reddit, Quora, and podcasts-- to guarantee that when viewers encounter my web content, it's thorough and distinct.

Why should they remain on your web page if they can find the very same info somewhere else on Google? As a great web content author, it's your work to take your material to the following level.

2. Write a good hook to grab your visitor's focus.

Occasionally, writing a great hook is easy-- particularly if the subject is appealing or amazing to you as the writer.

Often, composing a good hook requires drawing back and considering the larger photo.

For example, while rel= nofollow isn't the most remarkable subject (in my opinion), what is interesting to me is SEO and how search engine optimization can straight affect a firm's capability to reach new audiences-- plus, just how Google has needed to transform guidelines in recent years because of a boost in illegitimate sites.

This means when I started creating 3 Reasons Why SEOs Are Distressed Regarding Google's Rel= nofollow News, I used that angle to inspire my hook and suggested: Myself as a Wikipedia editor, writing about zebras, and getting paid $500 to link to a phony news web site.

( Now you're interested, aren't you?).

My creative writing background helps in this case, and I want to wager your interest for writing will certainly additionally assist you produce exciting hooks.

The introduction and hook are usually your best possibility to utilize your creating skills to inspire, move, shock, and thrill your readers. Capitalize on that area by reasoning: What would make me and my friends intend to maintain analysis?

3. SEO-optimize your web content for internet search engine. Your writing can be spectacular, but no one will certainly ever before read it if it's not SEO-optimized.

As a content writer, you must come to be familiar with SEO when it comes to composing.

An SEO-savvy writer can help you guarantee your material ranks on whichever systems you publish, including YouTube, Google, or perhaps social sites like Instagram.

And also, you can utilize search engine optimization to guarantee you're writing about one of the most prominent subjects associated with your services or products and covering the best sub-topics when you're discussing a provided subject.

As an example, "material writing tips" is a keyword phrase I located when performing keyword research study on the topic of "material writing" all at once.

It's not always a sub-topic I would've thought about covering in this article had I refrained from doing the study to identify HubSpot viewers are seeking that info.

Knowing crucial search engine optimization strategies will certainly aid you become a writer a lot more attuned to your viewers' difficulties and guarantee you produce material that extra properly solutions those obstacles.

4. Consider how you can attract an audience throughout a wide array of systems. While search engine optimization is critical for ensuring your content ranks on search engines like Google, it's not the only opportunity for circulation.

To get to a bigger audience, finding out how to compose material that does well on various systems such as Instagram, Linkedin, or email is practical.

Plus, you might be a content author whose single work is to write e-newsletter content or social media sites copy, relying on your business requirements.

To guarantee your material gets to and influences audiences regardless of their liked system, you need to consistently consume web content using email and social media to grab composing ideas certain to those resources.

5. Integrate multimedia elements to separate the text. Attempt integrating videos, photos, graphs, or other multimedia content to break up the message and make it less complicated for your visitors to consume-- mainly if it's long-form web content, like pillar pages or white papers.

Take into consideration, for instance, the post I created: "How to Develop a Web Content Strategy: A Start-to-Finish Guide.".

That blog post is long, with over 3,000 words. To break it up, I installed video clips and various other multimedia aspects (like blockquotes) to maintain the visitor involved throughout.

This is also an outstanding chance to increase web traffic to your business's marketing products.

For example, if you have a new firm podcast, attempt embedding episodes in appropriate article to drive audiences to the podcast while providing added worth for your viewers-- a win-win.

6. Segue into proper and pertinent calls-to-action. As a content author, your work isn't just to develop excellent web content (that's what storytellers are for). It's also to inevitably transform those viewers, audiences, or audiences right into prospects and clients.

Therefore, you have to discover just how to properly consist of relevant CTAs throughout your material, specifically if those CTAs can assist your visitors discover more concerning the subject at hand.

#content writing #services #marketing

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elaine-white-author · 2 months

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Writer Wednesday: TBR for 2024

There are my TOP 60 books that I want to prioritise in 2024. 30 are TBR and 30 are Netgalley.

View On WordPress

#book #favourite #favourites #list #reading #review #TBR #writer wednesday #writing

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hong-kong-art-man · 2 months

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Interview: “There is this thing called ‘Timeless and Endless Love’! ”—the humorous and captivating Hong Kong sports commentator Peter Wong Hing Kwei

“長情”(chang ging) is a Chinese expression which means “timeless and endless love”. Writer Honore de Balzac said, “True love is eternal, infinite, and always like itself.” “Chang Ging” is hard to find these days because modern people are self-interested. Everyone has too many considerations to look after.

Peter Wong Hing Kwei (黃興桂), born in 1944, is a famous and popular Hong Kong sports commentator. He was formerly a football coach and manager as well. Peter has served as the head coach of several top-grade football teams like Eastern (東方), South China (南華) and Tsuen Wan (荃灣).

His colourful commentator career covers working for television stations in Hong Kong, Singapore and other parts of the world. Peter is 80 years old. He is still sporty, energetic, sociable, and ready to work. Positive energy is attracted to positive energy and I want to know more about him.

Peter said confidently and pleasantly, “I stick to one principle in my life: being loving and persistent! In view of my family background, I should do business. But I love sports. Here I am! I have served the sporting world particularly football for almost 60 years. I never feel tired and bored. I am thankful for all those wonderful friends and colleagues in the sports industry that have shown me exactly who I want to be!” I asked, “You are a very popular idol in Hong Kong. Why do you often stay in USA?” Peter laughed, “Apart from football for which my love is timeless and endless, the other ‘love target’ is my mother! She is about 100 years old. She is a great woman and my role model. Not a kind of fawning over, I really want to take good care of her until the final day that we can be together. She is in America and so I spend a lot of time with her there. I cook for her every day. Sometimes the best way to a mother’s heart is with the food that a son makes for her!”

I asked Peter another question, “You are also well-known as a witty commentator with a lot of funny catchphrases. How can you do that? Peter thought about it and became amusing again, “I am philosophical! Ha! That is not true! I just want to please my audience and so I put in my two cents’ worth. There are no uninteresting things, only uninterested commentators. The ways to commentate a live sports game are important. For example, you remember the rules of the sport. You memorize the names of the players. You do good research before you are on the air. The other equally important thing is that your program cannot be boring. Your duty is to make the presentation as lively as possible!”

I consulted Peter, “For the first time in this century, Paris will host the Olympic Games. Events get underway in France soon. Spectators looking to watch the 2024 Paris Olympics will have plenty of options from different TV stations. How should they choose? What is a good or bad commentary in sports?” Peter kept up the mystery and said, “Well, my best advice is for one to watch our interview as follows. I will give them an answer!”

Don’t miss my enjoyable interview with Peter Wong! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u59ndJxk_F8

Maurice Lee

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bllsbailey · 3 months

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Reuters/Ipsos: Only Michelle Obama Bests Trump as an Alternative to Biden

youtube

Former first lady Michelle Obama is the only hypothetical presidential candidate alternative that can beat presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, a post-debate Reuters/Ipsos poll found.

Not only is Michelle Obama the only hypothetical alternative who beats Trump in polling, but she also tops the charts in favorability among registered voters, with Trump and President Joe Biden trailing her by more than 10 percentage points each.

Obama reportedly has had no interest in running for office, but calls for Biden stepping out of the race are reaching a fever pitch after his debate performance last week.

Nearly 60% agree Biden should drop out of the race – that included about 33% of Democrats – according to the poll.

Michelle Obama earned support from 50% of registered voters, while just 39% say they would vote for Trump.

All other hypothetical Democratic candidates either perform similarly to or worse than Biden against Trump:

Vice President Kamala Harris loses by 1 point 43%-42%.

California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom loses by 3 points 42%-39%.

All other hypothetical Democrat candidates earn between 34%-39% of registered voters.

Biden and Trump faced off in a televised debate last Thursday, where Biden stammered throughout and failed to challenge Trump's attacks.

The poll found 83% of Democrats and 97% of Republicans agreed with a statement that, in the debate, "Biden stumbled and appeared to show his age." Only 58% of Democrats and 11% of Republicans had the same assessment of Trump's debate performance.

Still the poll is favorable to the incumbent president, as Biden pulled even with Trump even in the face of the debate, a sign the contest remains close.

Biden and Trump each had 40% support among registered voters in the two-day poll that concluded Tuesday. A prior Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted June 11-12 showed Trump with a marginal 2 percentage point lead 41%-39%.

One in five registered voters said they were not sure for whom to vote, that they would pick a different candidate or that they would not vote at all.

The latest poll did not include a question on support for independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The June poll found that 10% of registered voters would back him if he appeared on the ballot.

While nationwide surveys give important signals on American support for political candidates, just a handful of competitive states typically tilt the balance in the U.S. Electoral College, which ultimately decides who wins a presidential election.

Both candidates carry significant liabilities. For Biden, these include concerns about his age – 81 – that were magnified by his debate performance.

The poll, which gathered responses online and nationwide from 1,070 U.S. adults, had a plus or minus 3.5 percentage point margin of error for registered voters, many of whom remain on the fence with about four months left before the Nov. 5 election.

Eric Mack ✉

Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.

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SEOBuddy AI Review – Rank Any Website On Google 1st Page Instantly!

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Check Out My Previous Reviews: MediaGuardAI Review, AI MarketingHub Review, AITravelSite Review, TubeGorilla Review, AI Pilot Review, LernX Review, AI Partner & Profit Review, WP Emails Review, & GamPAL Review.

Thank for reading my SEOBuddy AI Review till the end. Hope it will help you to make purchase decision perfectly.

Disclaimer: This SEOBuddy AI review is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Before making a purchase decision, we recommend conducting your own research and exploring the software.

Note: Yes, this is a paid software, however the one-time fee is $17 for lifetime.

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