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davidmann95 · 4 years ago

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So Phillip Kennedy Johnson did an interview on Word Baloon. Some tidbits I've heard: 1. Reaffirmed that Morrison was consulted for Future State. They had a Fourth World idea that PKJ cannot share for spoiler reasons, and they were complimentary towards PKJ's ideas. 2. Due to the Cosmic Scale, Lois won't be playing a major part in the plot. This is why the back ups are there. 3. Jon won't be deaged, the secret ID stays out. Waid are Morrison are his favorite Superman writers. He also likes Marz.

I listened to it, he dropped a lot of interesting info! I organized them as such (not including what we already know, which is that after the two-part crossover The Golden Age with Phil Hester kicking off the run he’s doing Action Comics with Scott Godlewski and Superman with Daniel Sampere; he’ll eventually do a big event-scale story in Action Comics starting around September with Mikel Janin and then remain solely on that book while another team takes over Superman, and there’ll be a big shift in the supporting cast on one of the books at some point):

Future State

* Johnson wasn't on Superman for 5G, but the more general cosmic side, though the shifting plans wound up with him here.

* House of El has a 'fall of Camelot' sort of vibe; he charted out future super-lineages for that book, including from other people Clark had families with after Lois passed away centuries down the line, who largely only exist by implication in this story because we see the great-great-grandchildren of those kids.

* Reaffirmed that Morrison consulted on the Superman stuff in Future State, and they were very complimentary to PKJ's ideas. The anecdote provided was that when one idea was thrown out Morrison replied with “HEY, IF YOU’RE DOING THAT HAVE YOU READ THIS ONE ISSUE OF FOURTH WORLD WHERE-” and then Johnson can’t say what Morrison said because that’d be a spoiler.

* We're gonna see some of Smallville in Worlds of War.

Superman/Action

* He's doing lots of worldbuilding stuff ala his work on The Last God; he feels that’s a big part of why he was brought in by DC to the main line in the first place.

* He's not deaging Jon, he's not putting the secret identity back in the bottle, he liked those stories and even if he would’ve made different decisions he feels it’d be disrespectful to creators and the forward momentum of the characters to hit the One More Day button (though he acknowledges and is fine with that someone else probably will some day).

* These are big, cosmic-adventure stories - since he felt the core of Bendis’s run were about intimate character interactions he’s throwing the lever in the opposite direction, saying that if that was about Superman’s humanity this is about Superman as a borderline-god. Which would be bad if that were the sole focus of the take - he’s made clear it isn’t - but is still certainly nice to hear compared to the logline of the last 40 years.

* We're not going to see much of Lois or the Daily Planet crew due to that cosmic scale, so the purpose of the backups is to highlight them (and Sean Lewis won't be writing all of those).

* Asked about the contrast between Clark and Jon: Clark has seen and done it all and is really feeling the weight of his status as a veteran hero who’s been doing this forever at the start of this, especially with Jon literally growing up overnight. While not detracting with his incredible decency Jon’s going through a lot, under the pressure of only being who he is, having the opportunities and responsibilities and accomplishments he does, because of his dad even if he doesn't resent him at all. He doesn't want to be Superman in spite of being the unambiguous heir to the throne, both out of desire to be his own man and because that'd be predicated on losing his dad. He's also a bit of a mess because he's been hopping around time and space throughout his entire life, from literally day one with Convergence (conceived on one Earth, born on another, raised on another) and the shock of learning about his parents and then everything under Bendis; Johnson notes it's remarkable he's as put together as he is but he's feeling how he has no fixed sense of place or home.

* Asked about if the run is predicated in part on multiverse stuff he danced around the question.

* He reinforced again that there should be room for Clark and Jon ‘between the two books’.

The event with Mikel Janin on Action

* The event makes the universe "bigger and older" by expanding something PKJ considers underserved; it might affect other books but it's a Superman thing first and foremost.

* Asked about Power Girl he noted that while he doesn't have plans for her, she'd theoretically fit well in the event so it's not impossible she could show up.

Misc.

* The cover to Superman Annual #10 with The Sword of Superman was a big influence on PKJ's image of Superman as a kid, though he wasn't a huge fan of the story itself.

* He noted that with the "new multiverse setup" there's nothing stopping folks from writing a young Jon even while he's aged-up in what PKJ's writing.

* He listed Waid and Morrison as his favorite Superman writers, with an additional mention of how much he likes Ron Marz's take.

* Supergirl's going to have a bigger role going forward in the DCU, he's aware of plans for her in other books.

* Krypto won’t be in these :(

* He isn't writing Conner, he figures he isn't in the line for the Superman title in the same way as Jon nor does he struggle with the same identity issues because he's so effortlessly himself.

Without nullifying my concerns that he might screw it up - he’s had a pretty divided hit-miss-ratio from what I’ve seen, and there’s concerns that it could get decidedly jingoistic (hopefully the space focus will mitigate that) - he really sounds like he’s saying all the right things for me specifically. The idea of Jon lugging around the emotional load of going through pretty much every single Heroic Coming Of Age narrative rapid-fire is one I’ve had myself so I’m excited to see someone tackle that head-on (and this sure seems to be heading into him becoming Superman as I figured with the initial announcement and taking over that book proper. More specifically co-Superman, I think now DC’s gonna basically try and pull off a bunch of Miles Morales’s with him, Tim Fox, and Yara Flor, for better or worse), I love big-scale Superman adventures and mythology, he’s citing quality influences and seems to have a decent grasp on his two leads. God, maybe the Superman books will keep being good after all?

#Superman #Phillip Kennedy Johnson #Jon Kent #Action Comics #DC: Infinite Frontier #DC: Future State #Superboy #Phil Hester #Scott Godlewski #Daniel Sampere #Mikel Janin #Grant Morrison #Opinion

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chicagocityfclanspromoblog · 4 years ago

Photo

Farrokh Alvi → Riz Ahmed → Vampire

→ Basic Information

Age: 720

Gender: Male

Sexuality: Straight

Birthday: November 22nd

Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius

Religion: Atheism

→ His Personality

(one to two paragraphs)

→ His Personal Facts

Occupation: Keeper || Training to become the Keepers Leader

Scars: None

Tattoos: None

Two Likes: Animal Shifters Blood and Exotic Foods

Two Dislikes: Small Talk and Clingy People

Two Fears: Beheading and Religions

Two Hobbies: Bowling and Sword fighting

Three Positive Traits: Poised, Diligent, Individualistic

Three Negative Traits: Smug, Devilish, Plodding

→ His Connections

Parent Names:

Unknown (Father): Farrokh’s parents died when he was a child and he lived on the streets much of his human life.

Unknown (Mother): Farrokh’s parents died when he was a child and he lived on the streets much of his human life.

Sibling Names:

Abbas Jam (Street Sibling): Abbas, Nabeel, Ushna and Farrokh banded together in the streets and became a pseudo family to one another. Abbas went on to be killed in an invasion by the Mongols.

Nabeel Khan (Street Sibling): Abbas, Nabeel, Ushna and Farrokh banded together in the streets and became a pseudo family to one another. Nabeel and Ushna married and had a family. Farrokh keeps an eye on the descendants and makes sure they are supported.

Ushna Mir (Street Sibling): Abbas, Nabeel, Ushna and Farrokh banded together in the streets and became a pseudo family to one another. Nabeel and Ushna married and had a family. Farrokh keeps an eye on the descendants and makes sure they are supported.

Children Names:

None

Romantic Connections:

Briar Larson (Admires): Farrokh is interested in Briar and has been admiring her from afar. He is unsure about making his interest known because of their large age gap and different backgrounds.

Platonic Connections:

Dorj (Maker): Dorj attacked their army in the dead of night, coming upon them so quickly half were still asleep when they died or were changed. Farrokh was not and he hated him from the very day he had to take his blood. He was glad to kill him with Petra on that fateful day and be free of Dorj’s reign.

Scorpius Getta (Seethe Leader): Farrokh is amused by Getta’s desire to make vampires’ lives more bearable and luxurious, especially when just centuries ago they were considered the scavengers of the supernatural world. Getta is doing an outstanding job and has made Chicago the flagship seethe and place to be. For the most part, Farrokh likes him and respects the work that he is doing.

Fiona ‘Fi’ Marz (Friend): Fi is entertaining to speak with and hang out with. There is never a dull moment with her in the room. Fi likes to flirt with him aimlessly, Farrokh is always willing and ready to respond. Their own personal game to try and see who will back down first.

Richard Fili (Friend): Farrokh knows exactly what he is getting himself into when dealing with Fili. There is no guessing with Fili since the man is an open book and that makes him easier to get along with. Farrokh has tried to get Fili into bowling but somehow it always ends up with property damage and injuries.

Sadie McCoy (Friendly): Sadie can be a stick in the mud at times, but she keeps everything running smoothly Underground. He was Sadie’s keeper when she first was changed and is impressed with how far she has gone.

Morana ‘Ana’ Vickors (Unsure): Farrokh is 100% certain that he has met Ana in passing but the female vampire claims to have never met him before. He knows she is lying but for her new husband’s sake, Farrokh has allowed it to slide.

Petra Chak (Old Friend): Petra is Farrokh’s oldest friend. She was one of the vampires to attack his army and killed many men. After getting over that rough patch, he and she became very close friends. Dorj had changed her 3 centuries before him. The pair were a fearsome duo, often being sent out by Dorj to assess and attack other seethes. They travelled together to initially take over the seethe under their previous ruler, though quickly switched sides once they realized how much stronger the original seethe was. Petra is one of the few who can offer a challenge to Farrokh in combat.

Lestat Marcoux (New Friend): They share the dislike of rat shifters. One of Farrokh’s close friends was a casualty when the rats hit a gas leak underground years ago, and decided to take it out on innocent vampires. After bonding over shared stories, he noticed that Lestat was not a bad company to keep.

Sven (Old Friend): Farrokh ran into Sven multiple times around the world before settling in Chicago. They once hunted the same feeding grounds before finding food became more convenient. Sven is trying to talk him into becoming a guardian but Farrokh enjoys his position as a keeper and refuses every time.

Raphael Caron (Friend): Raphael is the main outlet for many of his bad ideas. He is easy to goad into dares which always delights Farrokh. He trained the younger man as a keeper, and he in return decided to teach him how to bowl.

Raul Satiago (Bowling Team Member): Raul doesn’t annoy him as much as the other two bowling team members. He’s quiet and focuses on his game.

Hostile Connections:

Angel Landyn (Bowling Team Member/Dislike): Farrokh does not see his team members as anything closer than people he bowls with. Angel seems insistent that they are friends and should want to hang out constantly, he disagrees.

Chai Gates (Bowling Team Member/Annoyance): Farrokh does not see his team members as anything closer than people he bowls with. Chai somehow always finds another person that she knows when they are bowling and either gets distracted from the game or invites them in and Farrokh then has to talk to them too.

Pets:

None

→ History (paragraph(s) on background) → The Present (paragraph(s) on how the character connects to the plot)

→ Available Gif Hunts (we do not own these)

Riz Ahmed [1][2][3][4]

#riz ahmed #vampire rpg #supernatural rpg #underground rpg #fandomless RPG

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chicagocityofclans · 4 years ago

Photo

Farrokh Alvi → Riz Ahmed → Vampire

→ Basic Information

Age: 720

Gender: Male

Sexuality: Straight

Birthday: November 22nd

Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius

Religion: Atheism

→ His Personality

(one to two paragraphs)

→ His Personal Facts

Occupation: Keeper || Training to become the Keepers Leader

Scars: None

Tattoos: None

Two Likes: Animal Shifters Blood and Exotic Foods

Two Dislikes: Small Talk and Clingy People

Two Fears: Beheading and Religions

Two Hobbies: Bowling and Sword fighting

Three Positive Traits: Poised, Diligent, Individualistic

Three Negative Traits: Smug, Devilish, Plodding

→ His Connections

Parent Names:

Unknown (Father): Farrokh’s parents died when he was a child and he lived on the streets much of his human life.

Unknown (Mother): Farrokh’s parents died when he was a child and he lived on the streets much of his human life.

Sibling Names:

Abbas Jam (Street Sibling): Abbas, Nabeel, Ushna and Farrokh banded together in the streets and became a pseudo family to one another. Abbas went on to be killed in an invasion by the Mongols.

Children Names:

None

Romantic Connections:

Briar Larson (Admires): Farrokh is interested in Briar and has been admiring her from afar. He is unsure about making his interest known because of their large age gap and different backgrounds.

Platonic Connections:

Scorpius Getta (Seethe Leader): Farrokh is amused by Getta’s desire to make vampires' lives more bearable and luxurious, especially when just centuries ago they were considered the scavengers of the supernatural world. Getta is doing an outstanding job and has made Chicago the flagship seethe and place to be. For the most part, Farrokh likes him and respects the work that he is doing.

Lestat Marcoux (New Friend): They share the dislike of rat shifters. One of Farrokh's close friends was a casualty when the rats hit a gas leak underground years ago, and decided to take it out on innocent vampires. After bonding over shared stories, he noticed that Lestat was not a bad company to keep.

Raul Satiago (Bowling Team Member): Raul doesn’t annoy him as much as the other two bowling team members. He’s quiet and focuses on his game.

Hostile Connections:

Pets:

None

→ History (paragraph(s) on background) → The Present (paragraph(s) on how the character connects to the plot)

→ Available Gif Hunts (we do not own these)

Riz Ahmed [1][2][3][4]

#Farrokh Alvi #Open #OM #OMV #OV

0 notes

hotspreadpage · 8 years ago

Text

7 Ways to Stop Flailing with Your Content Marketing in 2017

Be better.

This simple mantra always plays in the back of my head when it comes to what we publish, but it’s becoming louder and louder these days – as the noise around content marketing becomes louder as well.

I love content marketing, and I truly believe that – when it’s done well – it’s great for your customers and a fantastic way to build and grow a business.

But, I’m also tired. Tired of similar advice. Tired of marketers dialing it in to check a box. Tired of too much me-too or meh content.

Please don’t get me wrong. I’m not coming from a place of having all of the answers – and I’m fighting with several of these issues, too. But to grow as marketers – and to really move the business forward with content (which is why we are doing this anyway, right?) – we all can benefit from thinking beyond the usual platitudes and ideas.

What’s going wrong – and what can we do?

Note: I am not going to restate many of the issues we talk about often (but, I still believe these are issues – and you need to deal with each of these):

Lack of a documented strategy

Lack of commitment

Lack of consistency

Lack of a differentiated story (i.e., your content sounds like what everyone else is publishing)

Too much focus on your product and service instead of your customers

My intent is to give you things you may not be thinking about.

1. You are answering questions instead of offering insights

Often, we talk about answering your audience’s questions instead of talking about your products and services. Do I believe this? Absolutely. But, I like how Mark Schaeffer takes this further when he talks about content creation in his book Known:

Answering customer questions is a solid strategy for beginners, but it’s not ideal in every situation, especially in a more crowded content niche. In that situation, you need to focus on insights instead of just answers.

Insights instead of answers. I adore this sentiment because not only is it a dig-deeper approach in which you can create the 10X content that Rand Fishkin talks about, but it’s also something that only you can offer. It comes from your point of view instead of a regurgitation of what has been published.

Successful #content comes from your point of view, not a regurgitation, says @MicheleLinn. Click To Tweet

Not to get too meta, but my goal with this post is to give you my point of view instead of providing a generic simple answer to “How can we get better with content marketing in 2017?”

Think about what only you can offer.

HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT: Your Brand Needs a Point of View, But Do You?

2. You are drowning in noise, not giving yourself time to create something meaningful

I’ll bet you personally have too much noise in your life.

There is so much talk about the need to unplug from work, and I am a huge proponent of that. But, you need to do more than replace one type of media for something else. When you are browsing Facebook, checking personal email, or watching Netflix, your mind shuts off from work, but it’s not really shut off.

While there is nothing wrong with fun reading and other entertainment, I have been challenging myself more by shutting off everything and getting comfortable with quiet. (Yes, getting comfortable – it can be unsettling to be tethered to nothing.) When I find that space for quiet, I find my thinking truly does improve, and I’m more at peace.

I shared this quote several weeks ago, but I’ll share it again as I love it that much:

“When we’re constantly fixated on the verbal agenda – what to say next, what to write next, what to tweet next – it’s tough to make room for truly different perspectives or radically new ideas. It’s hard to drop into deeper modes of listening and attention. And it’s in those deeper modes of attention that truly novel ideas are found” – Justin Talbot-Zorn and Leigh Marz

While it’s slightly embarrassing to admit, I often shut my eyes and turn off my thoughts for 15 to 20 minutes each afternoon. My thinking is clearer, and I’m happier. (The downside is that when I don’t get that 15 to 20 minutes, I struggle with fuzzy thinking and grumpiness.)

How much truly quiet time do you have? If it’s not a lot, what can you shut off to get comfortable with quiet?

3. You have too many ideas but have trouble taking something from start to finish

I was recently asked about my biggest challenges as a marketer. While I have several, the one I chose to reflect on is that our team is drowning in ideas. While I’m glad we have so much to cover, I have found this glut of ideas to be a negative for a few reasons.

First, if you are working on something, you need to give up – or push back – working on something else. And this can be tough if you love a lot of your ideas (as many of us do).

Suggestion: Choose something and commit to it. Don’t get stuck in the trap of thinking about what you aren’t getting to and instead focus on the movement you are making.

A second issue when you get stuck when you are working on something is that it can feel easier to move on to something new because there is plenty to choose from. It’s easier than bearing down and doing what is difficult that stands right in front of us.

Suggestion: Have one or more gut-check people who can tell if you’re going in the right direction or suggest another approach if things aren’t working. For instance, I shared the first draft of this post with one of our editors, Ann Gynn. She told me the piece wasn’t clicking for her and gave me some advice on how to reframe this. While I initially considered moving on to another piece, I stuck with this one but looked at the issue in a different way. You need these honest and insightful people in your life.

Have gut-check people who can tell if your #content is headed in the right direction. @MicheleLinn Click To Tweet

The last issue is simply the time it takes to wade through and prioritize what we, as a team, should focus on. It’s conversations and phone calls about talking about what we can do instead of doing.

Suggestion: I tackled this topic a few months ago in a post called Get Control of Your Content Marketing Ideas So You Can Take Action.

Add to this the consistent pace and daily deadlines, the constraints on our time, constant distractions, and it’s easy to become unfocused, burnt out, or frustrated – which, quite frankly, can show in the work we do.

While we have not yet implemented Agile marketing as a team, I am so intrigued with this approach to marketing – and it’s coming up in so many more conversations these days. Recently I even talked to a marketer, Eva Johnson, who started an Agile marketing meet-up in Indianapolis, which, to my surprise has more than 100 participants.

In short, Agile has so much potential as an approach to help the team get a shared understanding of what to do – and then do it. Here is a great primer from Andrea Fryrear on the basics of Agile marketing.

#Agile has much potential as an approach to help teams get a shared understanding of what to do. @MicheleLinn Click To Tweet

4. You have a plan instead of a strategy

I may be cheating a bit with this one, as I mentioned I wouldn’t regurgitate the need for a documented strategy, but so many people think they have a strategy when what they have is a plan. It’s a list of deliverables that will be published, but it lacks the who, what, and how of a strategy:

Who are we educating/helping? (Note: I did not say “targeting,” as your goal should be helping. Creating a persona is one way to do this.)

What can we do to help them in a way in which no one else can? (This is your content tilt.)

How will we know we are successful? (These are the business goals for your strategy.)

I recently talked (OK, ranted) about my frustration with the sentiment, “I have a strategy – take a look at my editorial calendar.” If you don’t think there is a difference – or if you think the difference is in semantics only – please take a few minutes to read that post.

5. You are focused on leads instead of subscribers

Many marketers conflate content marketing with getting leads. While leads are essential for many businesses, I worry that marketers aren’t appreciating the value of truly building an audience whom they can help over the long term (and, who, of course, will help your business).

Instead of thinking about leads, I urge you to think about subscribers. Leads give some information in exchange for a piece of content or something else. They may or may not be interested in your products or services. Chances are, they don’t want ongoing communication from you.

Instead of thinking about leads, think about subscribers, says @MicheleLinn. #contentmarketing Click To Tweet

On the other hand, subscribers sign up to receive regular communication from you because they think you have something valuable to say – and that you’ll continue to have value. They sign up because they want what they anticipate you’ll provide.

While changing your mindset from subscribers to leads is a great first step, I challenge you to take this even further. During his ICC keynote talk, Robert Rose explained that he considers two types of email addresses: gathered and given.

Given is data given freely because people want to hear from you.

Gathered data is far less useful because it’s emails given to get that one-time exchange – but they are often false (or, at the very least, they turn into unengaged subscribers).

Are you spending too much time and energy around which assets to gate so you can get leads? Or, are you thinking about how you can provide something consistently that’s so valuable that people would miss it if it were not there?

6. You are spending too much time trying to game the system instead of being helpful

As a team, we get a lot of emails from people who want to contribute to our blog. Some of the pitches go something like this: “I would be happy to write for your blog if I can have a link back to my website.”

Granted, these authors typically do not have advanced content marketing experience that would benefit our readers, but no matter who the author or what the topic, this exchange-request approach is an absolute turn-off. While I understand the value of guest posting at authoritative sites, if your main focus is getting a backlink to your site, the article already seems insincere.

If your focus of guest #blogging is to get a backlink, the article already seems insincere, says @MicheleLinn. Click To Tweet

On a similar note, we are seeing an influx of crowdsourced posts. While some of these posts are wonderful performers and offer a lot of value (for instance, this roundup of social media tools from Aaron Orendorff), we also experience people who want to publish these posts on our site simply because the contributors get backlinks. As such, we are creating a more formal policy about backlinks from authors. We want people to write for CMI because they have something valuable to share that hasn’t been covered in other places – not because they want to get a link. (Shameless plug: If you have an idea for an article, let us know.)

In short, don’t publish or guest blog to get links. Be helpful and be genuine – and know that rewards come in other ways than backlinks.

7. You are really trying to focus on quality instead of resonance

I’m currently working on a new e-book, and when I initially shared it with a few people on the team, Joe Pulizzi’s response was, “I think this is fine.”

My response back: “While fine is fine, that’s not what we need …”

Fine isn’t fine these days — and I think people should try to be better than that.

For last year’s content marketing predictions, I talked about resonance, which was a theme I heard repeatedly at Content Marketing World. Unlike useful, usable content (which is, well, useful), resonant content moves the person to do something, to take action. It could be an action that benefits your business – such as becoming a subscriber or purchasing your product – but it could also be something that you never see – such as retooling a process or changing their approach to something based on what you shared with them.

I challenge you to define what quality means to you – or simply get rid of that word altogether – and figure out how you can create meaning.

Over to you: Are you seeing similar issues? What else would you add?

Want one more way to stop the flailing? Plan to attend Content Marketing World for expert insight, frustration venting, and even some silence away from the office. Register before June 2, 2017 for early-bird rates. Use code BLOG100 to save an additional $100.

Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute

The post 7 Ways to Stop Flailing with Your Content Marketing in 2017 appeared first on Content Marketing Institute.

7 Ways to Stop Flailing with Your Content Marketing in 2017 syndicated from http://ift.tt/2maPRjm

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lucyariablog · 8 years ago