#create email message C

[renrooked]

Just Roll With Palestine: Keep the Strike Rolling

Hello, #JustRollWithPalestine has come back to Keep the Strike Rolling from January 26th to February 10th. Participation in any capacity will be rewarded, and there are ways for you to help even if you can't donate!

Link to Google form: HERE

If you have any questions feel free to dm me here or on twitter, as well as the rest of the social media mods on twitter: @organbean @ne0neclipse @tinytiefling_ @RenRooked

Additional mods working on this project:

@grassfur @neptunelogs @reed_you_guess

All necessary links and information are in the Google form, BUT for easier access to links and/or for those who just want to donate links to resources to help out, click keep reading!

To Donate:

Feminine Hygiene Kits for Gaza With the Asad Sisters 

Care for Gaza Paypal

Just Roll With Palestine Tiltify (PCRF)

World Central Kitchen

ESIMS for Gaza- Instructions provided NOMAD (iPhone only): https://www.getnomad.app/en/middle-east-eSIM Tutorial on twitter for NOMAD: https://x.com/icarus19897/status/1741297413321637972?s=20 SIMLY (iPhone and Google Play): https://www.simly.io/regional-esim Tutorial on twitter for SIMLY: https://x.com/CharSequence/status/1719283248721702946?s=20

To personally contact your representatives:

Use this template builder to create your own message to your government representative:

To send a prewritten message:

(US):

(AU):

https://apan.org.au/support-south-africas-icj-case/

(CA):

(UK):

https://www.map.org.uk/campaigns/it-is-becoming-impossible-to-sustain-human-life-in-gaza-demand-a-ceasefirenow

[gabrielleragusi]

For Artists: My Experience with Commission Platforms and Illustration Agencies

Hi there! I’ve been wanting to compile a list of commission platforms that I’ve personally used for the longest time, and I finally did it! I’ve highlighted the still-active commission platforms in bold and struck those that don't exist anymore so you can jump to the sections that interest you without needing to read my entire story.

Let me start by briefly introducing myself.

I’m Gabrielle, a fantasy illustrator. Since 2014, I’ve been working on book covers and illustrations for publishers, authors, and book subscription boxes. Early on, work wasn’t as frequent as it is now. I had to search for opportunities myself, and even small private commissions were important for building my portfolio and earning some money, which I’d spend on materials, books, and online courses. Like many other artists, I started out by trying my luck with the biggest art community available at the time.

DeviantArt

2009-2018

Once upon a time, there was a virtual haven called DeviantArt. To my teenage self, it was a magical place. I signed up in 2009 and thought I’d never leave!

At first, I created an account just to share my work and learn. I didn’t even think about commissions for four or five years. But when that first inquiry finally landed in my inbox, things took off! My mum swears she remembers my excitement when I got my first commission, but for some reason, I’ve completely forgotten about it. I can't remember what it was or how much it paid. It might have been a portrait of a fantasy character.

Commissions on DeviantArt were fairly frequent, especially considering my cheap prices at the time. I used to offer discounts and post my rates in my DeviantArt journal, or in Commission groups that featured artists either monthly or weekly. After checking out my profile, a client could simply send me a private message and from there, we’d discuss payment, deadlines, and other details, and the platform didn’t take any fees, much like how ArtStation works today. Everything happened through private messages or email, with direct contact between artist and client.

The downside of this process was that there was no dispute resolution system on the platform. I had to handle all issues myself, and unfortunately, problems did arise sometimes: there were clients changing their minds about commissions, asking for refunds after work was delivered, refusing to pay, or just ghosting me. These issues didn’t happen because clients were evil, but rather because I was inexperienced and allowed some to take advantage of my naivety.

However, all that frustration helped me develop my commission process through trial and error (mostly error). And despite the challenges, I can say with satisfaction that most of the commissions I received through my DeviantArt profile were positive experiences.

DeviantArt eventually introduced a commission feature for Core (Premium) users, which came with a platform fee, but I didn’t use it much, and I’m not sure if it still exists.

The real beauty of dA, though, was the connections I made. I was able to meet people, both artists and clients, that I’m still in contact with today, and some of whom I still collaborate with.

I closed my account in 2018 or 2019, but by that time, I hadn’t really used it for a couple of years. The new user interface was a bit of a turn-off for me. I had always loved the geeky, and dare I say cozy, look of the old green and grey aesthetic, with its customisable panels that you could move around and personalise with HTML code... But I digress.

Artists and Clients

2013-2016

While taking small commissions on DeviantArt, I discovered Artists & Clients. It was a nice platform for clients to get things like their D&D characters or groups illustrated for relatively cheap. I think my highest price was $50 for a single character portrait, with the platform taking a 15% cut. I used it for about two or three years before the platform started to change.

As more artists with hentai art styles flooded in, the homepage shifted, and so did the clientele. There’s nothing wrong with drawing naked anime girls, of course, but you can understand that if a client is looking for a fantasy, semi-realistic painting of their female orc character, or a realistic portrait of their spouse, it's more than likely that they won't bother sifting through a sea of anime girls to find the style they want, imagining it isn't here. Let's just say that, at the time, the website took a definite direction that wasn't in line with my genre, but this direction didn't make the different, more realistic art styles stand out either.

Soon, commissions slowed down for me, so I closed my account, but by then I was already working elsewhere.

That said, this platform could still be a useful tool if you’re looking to take on smaller commissions.

DreamUp

2014-2015

DreamUp wasn’t an AI generator back then. It was actually a subsidiary of DeviantArt, where clients could post projects and artists could apply. It was a competitive platform that offered well-paid work–very well-paid. I remember seeing jobs posted that ranged from $300 to $1,200. DreamUp was a very professional platform for clients with a mid to high budget.

I believe I landed my very first book cover commission through this website when I was in my last year of high school. I remember getting the job and going to school the next morning, excited to share the news with my classmates. Everyone was super thrilled for me (we were a really close-knit class!), and I felt like I was walking on air.

Unfortunately, as far as I know, that book was never released, but it didn’t matter because I was moving forward, and fast.

I’m not sure when DreamUp was shut down, but I do know that DeviantArt held onto the copyrighted name, assigning it to something so anti-old DreamUp that it still boggles my mind.

ArtCorgi

Now Artistree

2014-2019

When I received an invitation to join ArtCorgi from its founder, I already had a somewhat consistent portfolio. I was painting portraits and fantasy illustrations, and the clients on this platform were looking for both–your typical wedding and pet portraits, as well as book covers, which were what really interested me. To get to the latter, I had to do the former. Over the years, I’ve painted so many realistic portraits that now I have a strict rule for my own sanity not to do them any more. I have great respect for portrait artists, but it’s just not me.

When I first submitted my prices to the person I was in contact with, she kindly suggested that I raise them... a lot. That was a major step forward in my professional career. I went from charging $50 to $100/$200 overnight. And to my surprise, people actually wanted to commission me at those prices!

From 2014 to 2019, I took nearly every commission that came my way. I never spoke directly with the clients; all instructions and feedback went through my point of contact, which helped maintain a level of professionalism, although now that I’m used to working directly with clients, I’m not sure I’d want to go back to having an intermediary.

Sadly, as with all good things, this chapter came to an end. My point of contact eventually left communication in the hands of someone else, and shortly after, the commission fee changed to, I believe, 30%.

Simply put, 30% is an unrealistic cut for a website like this. For an agent that gets you all kinds of big work in the publishing industry, sure, but since this was not the case I had to stop taking commissions. Despite that, my overall experience with ArtCorgi was very positive.

Today, ArtCorgi joined another platform, Artistree. As far as I can tell, Artistree doesn’t take any fees from artists, with clients covering a small cost instead.

Sketchmob (?)

2016-2020

This was probably the platform I used the most. I’ve lost count of how many commissions I received through Sketchmob. Many. Enough to generate a steady income at the time. With reasonable fees and a variety of art styles available, clients contacted me almost daily. Communication was direct between artists and clients, and payments could be split. The review system also worked very well… for a while.

Once I raised my prices, requests became fewer and farther apart. But by then, I was already working with my own clients.

Is this platform still active? Who knows. The website is still up and the chat feature works, but I’ve seen users complain that money available for withdrawal never arrived via PayPal (the only payment method the platform accepted, if I remember correctly). Personally, I wouldn’t risk completing a job through Sketchmob right now, at least not until they release an update.

If you’ve used the platform recently and successfully received payment within the last six months, please let me know, and I’d be happy to update this section!

Upwork

2017-2019

In 2017, I was determined to break into the book publishing industry. After trying out Fiverr and Freelancer.com with no success (the competition was too fierce for someone just starting out), I decided to give Upwork a shot. The platform looked very professional, and while the process sounded a bit complicated, I wanted to land the interesting projects I saw featured in my category. I really wanted to work with a big client… but big clients didn’t seem to want me, despite having the Rising Talent badge.

In two years of bidding for jobs and submitting proposals, I only landed two projects: a small commission from a private client who actually reached out to me, and another project that I bid on.

Don’t get me wrong, I was ecstatic at the time and truly appreciated every opportunity that came my way. But looking back, I can see why Upwork didn’t work out for me. The platform just wasn’t the right fit for my style and niche, which is fantasy illustration. Graphic design, however, was (and still is) in much higher demand.

The commission process on Upwork wasn’t as simple as on other platforms. For instance, at the time, costs were calculated hourly, which was a challenge for someone like me who prefers working with flat fees (having already calculated my average hours spent on an illustration). From what I’ve seen, this has since changed.

One positive aspect of Upwork is its current 10% cut on what artists earn. I don’t recall if this has changed over the years, but 10% is quite reasonable in my experience. Of course, 0% would be even better, but for a platform as large as Upwork, 10% is fair.

Illustration Agency

2019-2021

By 2019, I had built a solid, consistent portfolio thanks to my personal work and commissions. I had a simple website in place, my Instagram following was growing… I was steadily working toward my goal of illustrating covers for big publishers (which didn't happen until two years ago).

So, when an illustration agency reached out to me one day, I was over the moon. I had always heard that artists were the ones who had to approach agencies, not the other way around.

Well, that should have been my first red flag.

I won’t name this agency because, unfortunately, I have nothing positive to say about it. In fact, the word “nothing” perfectly describes my involvement with them. Nothing came of this barely there experience.

The agency invited me to sign up, not on an exclusive basis, but they assured me they’d get me work. That work never came. Once in a while, I’d receive messages saying they were trying to pitch my portfolio to a French publisher or another client, but... nothing.

Please understand that meanwhile I was already working directly with shops and authors, so I don’t believe my portfolio was the problem. The real issue was something I didn’t realise at the time: some agencies do this. They feature talented artists in their catalogue without having actual clients lined up, just to appear more professional and credible to potential clients. Did this strategy work for them? Maybe. I’ll never know.

In 2021, I politely asked them to remove my portfolio from their website, and that was the end of it.

After that, I never actively sought out an agent again. By the time my portfolio was strong enough to approach a serious agency, I just didn’t need representation anymore.

Hireillo

2019-2022

My experience with Hire an Illustrator, or Hireillo, is mixed. At the time, Hireillo was a platform that hosted artists' portfolios, featured artist-submitted news, provided useful articles, resources, and directories of artists and agents. I joined the site hoping to catch the eye of publishers, but I was mostly contacted by authors and one fellow artist for a graphic novel.

Unfortunately, most inquiries didn’t go beyond the first couple of messages due to budget constraints. I did, however, have fun sharing news about my painting process and projects I landed on my own, which were often featured by the website. Additionally, if I had questions about 'complicated' things like copyright, or just needed advice, I could ask the website’s owner and that was incredibly helpful.

Despite these benefits, I didn’t see any real results, which was a little disappointing. The subscription fee was also... odd, for lack of a better word. $5 per week. In the end I just couldn’t justify the cost, so I stopped using the website altogether.

Reedsy

2019-2022

Finally, we come to the turning point.

I remember stumbling upon Reedsy randomly. It wasn’t very well known at the time, and I think it still isn’t. I was nervous when I submitted my portfolio because their catalogue features the best of the best: designers who’ve created covers for bestsellers, THE bestsellers, people who’ve worked on Stephen King covers, or George R.R. Martin's. Designers, editors, and marketers who are veterans. I didn’t have high hopes for my application. So, I was in shock when it got accepted.

I had an introductory Skype call with a representative from Reedsy, who explained how everything worked. Before the call ended, I remember asking if there was a good chance I’d get work through the platform. The rep laughed and said, “Yes.”

A few weeks in, I understood that laugh.

Reedsy has an overwhelming demand for book covers and commercial projects. For every designer there are many more clients. In peak seasons, I was getting requests almost every day. I’m not exaggerating.

Reedsy transformed my portfolio and my pricing structure. Thanks to the income I earned through the platform, I was finally able not to take everything that came my way but be selective and choose only the projects that really interested me.

The commission process is simple: artists pretty much decide how to split payments, what to include in agreements, and the best part, the most beautiful and helpful feature of all, they can request and adjust deadlines. For someone like me who's terrible with deadlines, this feature was a lifesaver. The admins are also very kind and responsive, available via email or chat.

Unfortunately (this is my last 'unfortunately', I promise), my time on Reedsy came to an end for personal reasons. I’ll explain since it’s no secret.

All my images on Reedsy were watermarked with my signature (my full name), which apparently violated the platform’s rules. Why? Because if a client saw my last name, they could contact me directly and bypass Reedsy, which meant the platform lost potential fees. I’ll admit this did happen a few times, but I had the good sense to redirect the client back to Reedsy.

After three years, an admin finally noticed and asked me to remove my full name from the watermark and any text on my profile. It was a simple and reasonable request, but here’s where the problem started. Profiles on Reedsy are public, and images appear in search engines like Google Images, meaning anyone could download my work and use it without permission. Sure, watermarks can be removed, but uploading my work without one in the first place felt like a bad idea. Btw, not only do I use watermarks, but I also use Glaze to protect my illustrations before sharing them online.

Anyway, for this reason, and also because I couldn’t get over the fact that full names were public at the time, something I won’t get into because, believe me, I tried over email, and my reasons went into the void (now, last names are just initialised, like Gabrielle R. Okay. Sure.), I had to close my account–they would have done it anyway because it was already 'flagged'.

Overall, if you’re willing to overlook the last name conundrum, I can’t recommend Reedsy enough. If you have a killer, solid portfolio and a love for books and editorial projects, go for it!

--------------------------------------------

I hope you'll find this useful! If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask (: Oh, and here's an old article I wrote in 2020, titled:

Tips to freelance illustrators to avoid being screwed over

Who knows, maybe I'll write another 'article' post in four years!

Instagram  - ArtStation - Website - Inprnt - Etsy - TikTok

[sunflowersandsapphires]

Claimed by the Devil

Small Creatures, Chapter 1

pairing: Matt Murdock x fem!reader

summary: When the well-known vigilante of Hell’s Kitchen saves you from disaster, you realize he might mean more to you than you thought.

warnings: swearing, Matt Murdock’s self-destructive tendencies, mentions of a cult and subsequent trauma, allusions to drowning

a/n: This is it, y’all! A Matt Murdock soulmate AU as requested by that poll a few weeks ago. A HUGE shoutout to @zomtart for helping me plan this AU!! I am so excited to share this new verse with you, I really hope you like it! As always, please let me know what you think by replying and reblogging! This chapter takes place about a month before the beginning of Daredevil S2.

w/c: 4.1k

“For small creatures such as we, the vastness is only bearable through love.” Carl Sagan

Since the creation of man, each soul was created with another. Two, sometimes more, mirrored fractions of a whole, destined to forge a bond. Particles of a spiritual atom, drawn to each other by invisible forces, finally satisfied through connection. Soulmates. Each body marked with a symbol, to help them find their other half. Sometimes a word or a shape, a small clue to start their journey.

For a while, that journey was short. It would still take time, of course, to meet your soulmate, to fall in love—but it took less than one lifetime, while the world was still small, the human race still growing.

After a few generations, and centuries of invention, the population began to travel. Groups of people living on all 6 continents, developing new cultures, traditions, languages. As they moved, the average distance between bound pairs grew. It became less common to ever meet your match. Humanity found love in other places, built families on opposite sides of the globe, living their entire existence without their intended.

With each non-bound couple, came children without bonds. Scientists have puzzled over the phenomenon for years, some drawing the conclusion that our biology began to reject the bond, to continue without it as if it was a recessive gene. Through countless wars and plagues, and the continued spread of humanity, finding your soulmate was almost an impossibility.

And then the pendulum swung back. Wars became fewer, food more prevalent, medicine more exact. Lifespans were stretched and, with the help of machines, it was easier than ever to find your soulmate. The damage of an era without them began to repair itself.

Within 5 generations, chances of forming a true bond soared from one in one-thousand to one in thirty.

A sharp vibration from your laptop interrupted the voice in your head. Glancing at the bubble that flashed across your screen, you rolled your eyes at the message. It was the seventh—yes, SEVENTH—in a string of emails from the same haughty woman demanding the pictures of her great aunt's 90th birthday party.

The party was beautiful, and the photos reflected that, but it had been less than 48 hours since the event. Every contract you signed gave you a window of 5-7 business days to edit the photos, more time depending on the length of the shot list you were given and the number of pictures they wanted. If this woman wanted professional, edited photos, she needed to give you a damn break.

Clicking on the small white cross in the corner of the pop-up, you huffed out a small laugh, imagining the fuming woman growing redder in the face when you didn't answer her at 4:02 on a Sunday afternoon. Setting your own hours, as well as being able to ignore frustrating clients during your down time, were just two of the perks of running your own photography business. The flexible schedule and lack of strict routine were a welcomed change after your upbringing in a highly controlled community.

While you did understand why experts used that terminology, you were much more content calling your “community” what it was: a cult. “High control group”—or whatever other politically-correct, secular terminology people wanted to use to describe a bunch of adults deciding to use their limited power to exploit others in the name of some bogus goal—was too polite for the assholes from your hometown. The bumfuck rural town where “religious” leaders congregated to torture dozens of children over a tiny, immovable mark on their skin.

A brand of the devil. That’s what they claimed soulmarks were. The sign of a being destined for evil. And, in order to save humanity from said evil, it was up to this specific community to cleanse you of your threatening aura, to rid the demonic energy from your body and spare your soul.

They’d used written and verbal propaganda, forbid outside contact, relied heavily on fear-mongering—the whole nine yards of brainwashing, all to supposedly grant the town salvation. Given that your particular mark was on the inside of your right wrist? Well, it definitely didn’t help the “damned” accusations coming your way.

Something flashed across your mind. A memory. Tepid water, turning frigid as you were forced deeper and deeper. All traces of oxygen slowly draining from your lungs, your body struggling desperately against the hands gripping you forcefully by the arms, holding you under.

Shuddering with discontent, your mark itched fiercely, as if it was trying to snap you out of the flashback. Absentmindedly dragging a nail over it to quell the unpleasant sensation, you inhaled deeply, studying the image as you did.

It was a simple thing, a series of a few lines just over the pulse point on your forearm. Two triangles, placed horizontally and pointing away from each other, with three small straight lines fanning out beneath. From your limited knowledge, it was a rune of some sort, though you hadn’t been able to narrow down the origin or meaning quite yet. Not scary enough to warrant the actions taken by your wonderful hometown though.

After surviving, and escaping, your upbringing, a lack of a rigid schedule was a necessity—which meant freelance event photography was a perfect career path. Unfortunately, an anxious mind and spontaneity didn't always mix.

It didn't matter that you didn't hear the messaging daily anymore. You were still struggling to unravel the mind games and indoctrination you'd been subjected to, hence the re-reading of this particular article. It wasn't the most informative, and the author clearly had a fully-realized bond herself, but it was the first piece of literature you'd ever read that wasn't propaganda.

There was a historical explanation for the disappearance of your condition, as well as a documented existence of others like you. Your mark didn't make you evil—it meant you were loved.

You re-read the blurb on days like today. Days where your conscience buzzed with apprehension, adrenaline flowing freely despite the lack of danger. There was something in the air around you. A warning, illustrated by the tiniest changes in your environment. On days like these, you felt like a bug beneath a descending shoe, scrambling to understand what was coming so you could make it out alive.

Expecting a disaster was illogical, you knew that. But reason wasn't the driving force in your brain on the anxious days. It was your desperate need to survive, to be prepared. On your bad days, your eyes flew open like you'd heard the door come crashing in or felt the cold steel barrel of a pistol against your temple—your body readying for a fight before you were even fully conscious.

Those days, your heart hammered in your chest, battering your ribs until they ached. Your lungs constricted when your blood pressure rose, each breath coming as a pant as you struggled to inhale enough oxygen. One wrong move and you'd send yourself spiraling into a full anxiety attack. Hopefully, you'd at least be able to stave that off over the last hour of daylight today.

Chewing at the edge of your thumbnail, you aimlessly scrolled through the page again, blowing out a terse sigh. The biggest annoyance when it came to your anxiety was that each experience was unique. There wasn't a universal solution. Sometimes, staying at home where it was familiar and safe was all you needed to settle your nerves. Other times, the constancy only made you more jittery.

As much as you'd wished that a sedentary day would slow your pulse and ease your breathing, that clearly was not in the cards.

Time for Plan B.

Growling almost inaudibly, you resisted the urge to start pulling your hair out strand by strand. Working up the energy to get through the door was always the hard part. As exhibited by your professional side, freedom to roam and choose your own path was vital. Despite your nervous brain trying to deny it, leaving your place to wander on a small adventure would be good for you in the long run.

When you'd escaped the clutches of the nutjobs running your old neighborhood, you'd made a promise to yourself–try at least one new thing every week. It seemed childish, but you'd missed out on so many things when under the control of the Order, you wanted to make up for that. Pretty quickly, it became clear that you thrived on flexibility and exploration.

So you kept up with it. Made a list of things in case you ever ran out of inspiration or couldn't decide what to choose next. That line of scribbles in a worn notebook came in handy on days where you disappeared into yourself, where you lacked the excitement that normally accompanied your little outings. Allowing the intense reluctance in your gut to churn, you reached for the leatherbound pages, sliding the book from where it lay on the coffee table and into your lap. Heaving out a breath, despite your protesting lungs, you thumbed through the paper, letting the smell of ink and coffee-stained parchment wash over you.

You weren't looking for something big. And the idea had to be plausible, there would be no mountain climbing or language learning in a single evening. Trailing a finger to the side of the dried ink, you skimmed each bullet point, eyes lingering on a particularly messy string of words.

“Golden Skyline Ink 48”

Thankfully, the gibberish you'd immortalized was recent enough that you could decipher it. Sunset photos of the skyline from the Ink 48 Hotel. You'd swung by the prestigious building for a meeting with a potential client, but you'd been too busy to snap a decent shot from the roof before your next errand of the day.

Pondering for a minute, you decided to go with your hesitant gut instinct. You craned your neck, hunting down your camera bag as you rolled your shoulder to unravel the tension balled up in them. Shoving up from your horizontal position on the couch, you closed your laptop and shuffled towards the door. Hefting the bag into your arms, you strode down the entryway.

Your hand reached for the doorknob at a snail's pace, halting mere inches from it as if the brass had a forcefield around it. ”You can do this.“ You muttered to yourself, forcing your fingers past the barrier and around the knob.

Stepping through the door, you flinched at the bright fluorescence of the hallway lights, hissing slightly like a vampire seeing the sun in a cheesy TV show. Swallowing the flash of pain in your head as the lights continued to beam down, you took another step. Here goes nothing.

Matt was grateful for the new body armor. He was, really.

He just wished Melvin’s talents included making the damn thing breathable. He’d never admit that, of course. On the spectrum of pain he lived with, being a bit overheated was closer to the bearable end. It wasn’t a stab wound or a broken bone, it wouldn’t impede his patrolling. If he could work through a punctured lung, he could handle a little sweating.

But when the nights got quiet and slow, it was more difficult to keep his mind from latching on to the discomfort–blown out of proportion by his fickle senses.

Sitting atop an apartment building on 55th Street, Matt could feel pure thermal energy bubbling up from the concrete beneath his feet. The waves of heat collided with his shoes, seeping into the rubber soles and blanketing his skin. Around him, the short ledge wrapping around the roof refracted more warmth, sending the sweltering air to smack directly into him.

He wasn't a fan of the heat, never had been, but the thick, skin-tight suit he was wearing only exacerbated the issue. Sweat beaded in the paper-thin gap between his skin and the fabric surrounding it, suctioning it impossibly closer to his body. Grinding his teeth in aggravation, Matt prowled to the edge of the roof, leaping off and rolling to deflect the impact from shattering any of his limbs. With a quick jump, he was back on his feet, taking off towards the next building in the line.

If he patrolled towards the Hudson and back around, he could escape the worst of the heat without neglecting his duty to the city.

Not that there was much action these days. The past handful of weeks, his outings in the suit had been unusually unproductive. It wasn’t that he was missing out on fights–it’s that they didn’t exist. Gangs were staying holed up, petty crime had taken a dive, even the steady drug or arms traders like Turk had gone radio silent. As much as Matt wanted to believe that his time as Daredevil had made a lasting impact on the city he loved so dearly, a current of doubt continued to whirl beneath his skin.

Crime was more likely in the summer, that was an inevitability. Increased temperatures shortened people’s fuses. Spats with loved ones were more likely to turn violent, miscellaneous expenses are more likely to add up and cause financial distress, it was statistically probable that he’d have busier nights leading up to the fall. And yet, here he was, twiddling his glove-clad thumbs while metaphorical tumbleweeds were swept down the streets.

He was confident something had changed, but he hadn’t quite determined what. So, despite the lack of problems he felt the need to solve, he continued to remain out until all hours, ears straining to pick up a scream or the explosive pop of a bullet leaving the barrel of a gun.

Body on high alert, he ambled towards the piers, vaulting from roof to roof in a familiar trajectory while his brain fought off an incoming onslaught of guilt at the notion of staying out. Foggy would be furious tomorrow, when he saw Matt gulping down the cheap coffee from their machine–which was held together by masking tape and sheer luck these days. Matt had foolishly admitted his conundrum to his business partner, remarking that the city had been eerily still lately, that there was less of a need for him. That he’d been searching so urgently for justification that he’d been going out before dusk.

The idea that Matt’s nighttime activity was no longer an absolute necessity had upset the tenuous understanding the pair had reached over said activity. A simple slip of his tongue and Matt was on the receiving end of Foggy’s chastising, being told he should take advantage of the lull and “get some goddamned rest for once”. (Foggy’s words, not his own.) The renewed argument had become such a frequent topic of discussion that Karen had almost been clued in a few times when Matt’s frustration had narrowed his senses. Just that morning, he and Foggy had been going at it when she’d arrived at the office, surprising both of them with her bright greeting and intrigued glance.

Hurling himself to the next rooftop, Matt huffed out an aggravated breath, clenching his fists as his muscles tightened with irritation, his friend’s desperate pleas echoing in his head.

“You can’t keep going like this.”

“You’re hurting yourself for nothing.”

“The city will be fine without you.”

That last one stung the most, ripping open an invisible wound he’d crudely stitched after taking down Fisk. His work had helped people. His infamous alter ego was the final straw in the case against the organized criminal, imperative to his arrest. To the people of this city, Daredevil mattered–which meant Matt Murdock mattered.

If he boxed up the suit…

No. That wasn’t an option. He couldn’t–

The shuffle of a shoe on concrete caught his attention, snapping him out of his downward spiral. His chest trembled as he panted in and out, his shallow breaths deepening as he focused in the direction of the noise. He wasn’t alone.

Mouth parting as his atypical radar closed in, his nose scrunched with slight confusion, brow furrowing with concern. There was a person perched on the brick ledge–a woman, balancing on her tiptoes and facing the city. She hadn’t noticed him, her pulse far too slow. Her hands held something blocky, the plastic object dragging along her skin as she positioned it, arms outstretched over the nearly 20 story drop to the pavement below.

He bit back an incredulous scoff as she bent further towards her death, practically rolling his eyes to the heavens as he approached. Not only was this position begging for disaster to strike, she had one headphone in, her lips moving as if mouthing along to the lyrics. She heaved in a dramatic exhale.

“Let’s try this again,” She murmured, finger slotting into a divot on an edge of the thing in her grasp, prompting a series of mechanical clicks to burst from it. Shutter sounds. A camera. A camera? You were risking your life for a photo?

Before he could judge you too harshly, your mouth twitched and your heart rate jumped. You’d realized he was there, then.

“You know, if you fall off that ledge, the effort you went through for that picture will be wasted.” He quipped, his lips twitching with a hint of a smirk as you squeaked indignantly.

It was only amusing for a moment.

As you whirled to face him, apparently surprised that he was there, you lost your footing, tumbling backward off the ledge.

For what it was worth, your little adventure had been going pretty well before the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen almost killed you.

There weren’t too many people out tonight, probably because it was disgustingly hot, so you’d made good time–jogging the few blocks to the hotel and sneaking into the elevator with a young couple who were too busy being at each other’s throats to care that you slipped in. The roof was vacant and more perfect than you could’ve dreamed. Swathed in the lights of nearby skyscrapers, you were presented with a gorgeous panoramic view of the Manhattan skyline at sunset, the stark red-orange hue of the sky peeking between towering steel.

Once you’d attached the proper lenses, you began snapping photos, but you couldn’t get the exposure to set correctly. To capture a good picture at this time of evening, you needed the settings to be just so. It was a tedious, attention-consuming process, that, when combined with the soft music blasting from your lone earbud, had prohibited you from hearing someone approach…until he spoke.

“You know, if you fall off that ledge, the effort you went through for that picture will be wasted.” His growl was low, but contained traces of a humor you weren’t expecting.

Damn your anxious self for startling so easily. With a tiny squeal, you slipped from the ledge, your careful posture crumbling as you fell. Your heart lodged in your throat, air rushing into your ears as you began to descend, but before you could even scream, a pair of warm hands grasped you firmly by the arm.

Face jerking up, your eyes locked onto the masked vigilante’s snarl of exertion as he hauled you over the cement shelf and onto stable ground.

Breathing shakily, still in his grip, your face went slack with a nauseating combination of shock and relief. “Th-thank you.”

He let out a puff of a laugh. “You’re welcome. That was a close call. Do I need to call a hotline?”

His lips twitched with a smirk, his face clearly displaying humor despite his eyes being covered by a mask. Head tilted cockily, he seemed to be studying you, maybe evaluating whether you should be in a psych ward.

Shaking your head furiously, you scrambled to your feet, nearly tripping over yourself as you backed away from your savior. “No, I’m good, that wasn’t the plan. I just–”

As you began to retract himself from his hold, his thumb brushed over your forearm, tracing the faintest line over your exposed soulmark. When his fingertip made contact with the lines over your wrist, the world exploded.

When you were a small child, you’d electrocuted yourself when unplugging a lamp. It was an act of rebellion against your parents when they had demanded you clean up after compulsory bible study. The inflicted shock had careened through your entire body, feeling as though you’d been dipped in boiling water and then flash-frozen as your body tried to adapt to the new current. An abrupt change of temperature, the suddenness uncomfortable but the aftermath numbingly calm.

Touching the Devil felt like that.

Your mark glowed with warmth like embers in a dying fire. The hair along your arm stood on end, your heart nearly bursting with energy as you were clobbered with a realization.

“You..you’re my–” You whispered, taking a step closer to the vigilante.

His hand had clasped around your wrist, holding it delicately, chin dipping towards his chest. His breaths were labored, his complexion seeming to grow more pale as he ran a calloused finger over the mark again.

“I don’t–” Dropping your arm as if it had burned him, Daredevil’s face settled into an angry mask as he hurriedly stepped away from you. “I have to go.”

“W-what?” You stammered, running your hands over your arms as your body recovered from his touch, goosebumps undulating beneath your palms. “But we–”

“It’s late. You should get home before it’s too dark.” He responded tersely, turning away from you. Striding across the roof, his hand landed on top of the short stack of bricks, head turning over his shoulder with a sorrowful pout. “I’m sorry.”

Gracefully jumping over the side, he was gone.

Feeling dumbfounded and slightly defeated, you stared after him for a minute before shouldering your bag and beelining for the fire escape.

Karen stretched her arms over her head, groaning softly as the knot of tension between her shoulders unfurled. Tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, she jiggled the mouse on the desk before her, turning her laptop back on to try and appear busy. After the law firm of Nelson and Murdock put Wilson Fisk behind bars, the clientele began to pour in–though whether that was for their proven representation skills or their shitty but functional AC, she wasn’t sure. Regardless, there had been a steady stream of walk-ins this week. And now that it had finally slowed down, she felt almost disappointed.

Being a secretary at the tiny little office was one of the most interesting things she’d ever done. Each case presented completely new realities, new opportunities and challenges. It was like she was given the chance to start fresh every day, and she was grateful for it. But in moments like these where the people filed out of the crooked doors, it made her a bit antsy.

Foggy and Matt were buried in new evidence for a guardianship revocation, holed up in Matt’s office, leaving her to schedule their appointments. She sighed, contemplating whether or not to interrupt them, to ask for something to do. Depending on when the guys would be heading out, they might want dinner or more coffee…

As she was running through a list of takeout that all of them could stomach, that hadn’t been ordered too recently, her phone’s display lit up, a new message appearing on the lock screen. An anonymous message in a chat board she frequented–one dedicated to opinions about Hell’s Kitchen’s hero, Daredevil. 

When she joined the board, she was solely intending to be a spectator. Unfortunately, the internet made it easier for trolls to share their bullshit opinions. Call the vigilante a threat to justice. Say that he should be put down. There was only so much she could handle before her blood boiled over and she sent her responses. 

These days, she was a pretty active poster. She rarely received private messages though, so the notification set her on edge. 

Hesitantly tapping the glowing bubble, she held her breath as it opened. No context, no identifying information, just two bizarre sentences that she was not prepared for.

“I know this is strange but..I think Daredevil might be my soulmate? And I was hoping you might know where I could find him.”

Taglist: @marytheweefrenchie @cheshirecat484 @siampie @xxdrixx @gracethyomen @ignore-mp3 @silas-aeiou @screechingphantommaker @spiderstyles04 @paradox-brody-chase

[jannelle-o]

Commissions are open~! (ﾉ´♡´)ﾉ*:･ﾟ☆

Here’s the link to the request form and more in-depth/important info: [ X ]

You can also contact me at jannellemr.art@gmail.com, message me here off anon, or message me on Twitter: jannellee_o

You can always check my art tag and commission art tag for more examples of what I can do.

I draw:

Most fandoms and ships (platonic/romantic/…etc.? haha)

Original characters (either your own or mine, I’m personally okay with drawing my own characters for you if you’d like.).

Animals/Anthro are a-okay with me

Friends/family/yourself/any other real peeps

For all, please be as specific/detailed as possible and provide any necessary visual references so I can accurately portray what you’d like.

I don’t draw:

NSFW (mild nudity is okay, but nothing that ends up being very explicit)

Really realistic stuff (Not the best at it honestly 😅)

Heavily mechanical characters/objects

Any other themes/ideas that would make me uncomfortable to draw

( I’ll let you know if your commission request is something I’m unable to do )

Payment:

The prices are based on USD currency. I accept payment through PayPal (will send out an invoice) and Venmo. I prefer payment upfront, but I’m also okay with pay half upfront/half after it’s done too. c:

If you have any other questions, feel free to send a message/email. I’ll do my best to respond as soon as I can. :’D

Thank you all a whole bunch for reading through this, I’d love to create something wonderful for you~(人 •͈ᴗ•͈✿ฺ)

[lovekz]

turn up friday

syn -> it’s rindou’s birthday, and you make sure he smiles at least twice today

warnings : slight angst to fluff, rindou is a birthday princess, ran is a travel model, a bit of dark humor, rindou and ran have a leopard gecko named freya, a bit suggestive

note : happy birthday to rindou! ts is so late and short tho i swear

-

the clock hit twelve, signaling the beginning of a new day.

a very special day.

it was now rindou’s birthday, and he was sitting at his kitchen counter.

in silence.

for the first time in years, rindou has gone into his birthday in an empty home.

no friends to come see him, no brother to smash five different cakes in his face.

nothing.

but him and his lizard.

freya, her name was.

it was a gift from him to ran for his birthday, but he gave it back when he would go overseas.

so freya was with him 90% of the time.

rindou sighed quietly in frustration, lifting himself to his feet and making his way to his room.

humming the tune to ‘happy birthday’ with freya’s fast little legs chasing behind.

before he could make it his doorbell rang about 5 times at once.

rindou pauses in his steps, before resting his hand on the floor.

freya climbs up his arm and rests on his shoulder.

he walks to the front door and opens it, eyes widening immediately.

“happy birthday!” you practically scream, holding dozens of bags.

and that was so you.

screaming when everyone was well into their beds asleep.

it only happened when you were really excited to see your boyfriend though.

rindou couldn’t even stop his smile.

“what are you doing out so late by yourself? come in.” rindou says, tugging you in.

not hard enough for freya to fly off his shoulder.

you place the bags down onto the counter, refusing to let rindou touch any of them.

it was his birthday, you didn’t mind doing the work for once.

“I can’t let you be by yourself in your birthday, honey. it’s bad enough you went into it by yourself.” you sighed, pressing a kiss to his jaw.

rindou’s heart swoons immediately at your words.

he knew you probably rushed over here to come greet him on his birthday.

“now let’s go to bed. we can open these tomorrow.” you insisted, taking freya from him and guiding him to his room.

he couldn’t wait to see what you had in store

-

and it was exactly how he wanted to spend it.

you make him breakfast first thing in the morning, pancakes and hashbrowns.

he wasn't a big breakfast person, but that was more than enough to give him a big smile for the day.

then the two of you sat on the couch, opening all of his gifts.

you got him new cologne, one of his favorite albums on a vinyl, a snack basket, and a new video game.

he also received other gifts from his friends and his brother in the form of text messages (and cashapp).

raaan sent $200 : srry i cant make it :( happy birthday you shit

shionneedsmoney sent $1.72 : treat urself 2 smth nice bday princess

izanakok sent $50 : ty for not kys, check ur emails (he pre-ordered the new spider-man 2 for him)

kakuchopp sent $2 : you can get the rest when i get paid, happy birthday rindou.

kakuchopp sent $98.23 : nvm js take my bank account i feel bad

rindou was happy from all the gifts he received from his friends, also receiving gifts in the mail and people dropping things off.

now the sun was getting ready to go down, and the two of you pushed the cushions together to create a big bed.

rindou was scrolling through netflix, trying to figure out what he wanted to watch while you ordered food.

you apologized for not being able to get him a cake, but he really didn't care.

you were right next to him in his arms, nothing else mattered.

unless you were offering yourself as the cake, in which he would never refuse that.

now the two of you were about ten minutes into peppermint, holding hands under the fluffy pink blanket you left here.

rindou goes to open his mouth to say something, but gets interrupted by a door being thrown open.

the front door.

"honey i'm home!" ran yelled, holding a pastel blue two tiered cake.

rindou shoots up out of his seat, eyes wide as he stares his brother down in shock.

freya gets scared from this, and ducks under your blanket and in between your hands.

rindou launches himself over the couch and ran immediately places the cake onto the table.

the brothers share a tight hug, rindou crying in his arms.

his big brother was here in the flesh, right in front of him, for his birthday.

kakucho and shion walk in, holding bags of food in their hands.

everyone frees their hands and gets up to hug him, even shion who was recording.

he truly felt blessed.

- bonus -

ran laid out the cakes that he bought with him, a cheeky grin on his face.

you giggled, standing next to him.

rindou was in the bathroom, getting ready for the photo shoot ran promised him.

“everybody grab one.” ran ordered quietly, grabbing the blue cake.

you grab the yellow one, kakucho grabs the green one, and shion grabs the red one.

rindou walks out of the bathroom, fixing the white shirt he had on with white suit pants.

rindou looks to his left, and ran is already smashing the blue cake into his face.

not hard enough to make it hurt though.

everyone follows behind, smashing cake into his face with big grins and cheeky giggles.

when you all finished, you screamed happy birthday at the top of your lungs.

rindou rolls his eyes, licking the icing off the corner of his lip. he should've anticipated this.

"okay lets do your photo shoot, and then clean up. drinks on me!" ran yells, holding a bottle of wrap & nephew and hennesy.

now that was rindou's type of party.

he can beat ran up later, right now it was his birthday and he was with his favorite people.

people who would do anything for him.

rindou's pics came out something like these -> link link link

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Texans claim mailer supporting former President Trump is voter intimidation | MY SAN ANTONIO

By Warren Brown

A political mailer sent to residents of multiple cities across the Lone Star State is going viral for alleged voter intimidation. The mailer includes an ominous threat to notify former President Donald Trump if registered Republicans don't vote.

“Your voting record is public… Your neighbors are watching and will know if you miss this critical runoff election. We will notify President Trump if you don’t vote. You can’t afford to have that on your record,” reads one side of the mailer. On the other side, the mailer states, “Please don’t make us report you to President Trump” and that “President Trump will be VERY DISAPPOINTED.”

The political piece of mail has been delivered to separate ends of the state and has been met with shock and outrage from viewers alleging voter intimidation. Redditors report receiving it in Victoria and Denton — southeast of San Antonio and the northern part of Dallas-Fort Worth, respectively — showing a wide geographic distribution of the letter.

MySA reached out to the office of the Secretary of State but did not receive a response. The Texas Ethics Commission's general counsel, James Tinley, told MySA in an email, "the TEC is generally prohibited from commenting on or even confirming or denying whether a complaint has been filed," and does not have jurisdiction over claims of voter intimidation.

A logo for the "America First Conservatives Election Dept" is seen on one side of the mailer, but a search for the organization was unable to tie the letter to a specific organization. A presorted postage marker can be seen in one of the images floating around and includes a permit number. MySA reached out the United States Postal Service in hopes of identifying a sender. A USPS representative was unable to provide an immediate answer.

The sender is likely safe from criminal prosecution from the state, as the Texas election code says retaliation against a voter, the state's legal term for intimidation, requires a person to knowingly harm or threaten to harm the voter by an unlawful act. The threat to notify Trump is too vague to qualify.

However, federal law is a different case. It includes a broader term for "intimidation of voters" and targets "Whoever intimidates, threatens, coerces, or attempts to intimidate, threaten, or coerce, any other person for the purpose of interfering with the right of such other person to vote or to vote as he may choose, or of causing such other person to vote for, or not to vote for, any candidate for the office of President..."

Reddit users didn't hold back their distaste for the letter, with user hardman52 reporting he received it Wednesday in a post to the Denton subreddit.

"What are they even implying here?...that Trump is going to put you on the list for the train to the concentration camps?" said user MaverickTTT. "These people are fucking deranged."

A user in Victoria near the Texas coast also created a post about receiving the mailer. They note the letter could come "from either side of the political spectrum."

"This could be work from either an extreme right-wing party member hoping to scare us into voting for Trump or (the less likely scenario) an extreme left-wing party member hoping to paint Trump in a bad light," hoopur told MySA in a direct message on Reddit.

User Dentony5 tells MySA they believe the mailer is "part of an internal fight within the Texas GOP" and is tied to far right elements aiming to get Trump supporters to the polls. Hoopur separately mentioned the possibility of the letter coming from either side of the aisle.

In either scenario, hoopur identifies one part of the population they believe is more likely to react to the mailer at the voting booth.

"This would easily fool an elderly person or a new generation of voter, who does not know exactly how protected they are," hoopur writes. "Nobody wants their 'vote' to be publicized, let along criticized, by the community. The noticed claiming 'your neighbors [who we insinuate vote for Trump] will be upset,' would obviously persuade (scare) them into voting for the candidate."

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

I keep getting called a Karen by a few women at my work and I don’t know what to do, as I am a white woman and the women bullying me are in fact black women, and I’ve not done anything other than just started my new job there and all I can think is that they didn’t like me asking questions about what it’s like there etc. and I didn’t say or do anything that can be considered or said to be racist? One of them said as we were finishing that nobody would side with a white woman over them and they’d spread my name online and end me. I’m seriously depressed about this whole situation as my new job was a move and promotion that I wanted for a long time and now with these women targeting me I don’t know what to do. As who will believe me as it doesn’t seem like these sort of women bullying me are ever going to be stopped doing what they’re doing to innocent women like me that have seriously not done anything wrong as even though I’m a left wing progressive woman I don’t feel that non-minorities are listened to by these sort of faux claims of racism, sexism and bullying /abuse etc.

First, if you haven't already, you need to loop your boss and HR in immediately. Right now. If your boss or HR admin is one of these ladies, go above her. Stick just to the facts about what happened when you report what's happening. If you already have reported it, follow up. Say "The issues I reported to you on XX date are still happening and it's still causing (or now causing) X, Y, Z impact to A, B, C deliverables/results, and they are also now making B and C threats of retaliation. What suggestions do you have to address this?"

Second, lock your social media down tight. Restrict your visibility to friends only. Exclude your accounts/profiles from searches.

Third, document. Document, document, document. Every interaction you have with these ladies. Everything you've said, everything they've said, as verbatim as possible as you can remember. Include dates, times, locations, and witnesses/bystanders. If there's any harassment over messages (emails, texts, Slack, etc.) include screenshots in your write-ups. Do it immediately after every interaction you have with each one of them, whether individually or in groups. Also document every discussion you've had with your boss(es) and/or HR about these ladies/these situations too.

After writing it up, immediately email it to yourself - your work email and your personal email. If you have your own printer, print them out too and keep paper files in a locked drawer the ladies don't have access to or at your home.

This documentation is important because it creates a paper trail. If the ladies escalate, you have documentation proving your role (or lack thereof). If the company fails to protect you, you have documentation describing and showing what they didn't do.

I'm just going to be direct here. We live in a time where white people - white women especially - have to be very careful about what we say and do. It doesn't matter what our allyship is or our politics or what we think is right or how much credibility someone does or doesn't have. So when you make these reports, when you do this documentation, leave all of that out of it. Stick only to the facts, which is "I was in Conference Room 1 with Jane, Lisa, Sue, and Joe on Tuesday, April 2, 2024, for a discussion about X that took place between 1:30pm - 2:15pm. {{Discussion summary}} At approximately 2:15pm when the meeting ended, I said A. Lisa said B, then Joe said C. Our interaction ended at approximately 2:20pm when I returned to my office alone." Leave the feelings out, leave the justification out, leave your perspective out, leave your allyship and your politics out. Stick only to the facts.

If I had to guess about what's happening here, it's probably that one of those ladies applied for your job, didn't get the position, and now she's taking it out on you and enlisted her friends to help.

And if you'd like more help, take a look at Ask A Manager. She's an HR manager who has a ton of experience in managing people and the blog is an amazing resource for any/all kinds of career advice. Here are a bunch of here pages about dealing with bullies and toxic colleagues that you might find helpful as well.

[akashgh522]

New Business Marketing Tips and Tricks for Success

Starting a new business can be an exhilarating adventure, but it also comes with its fair share of challenges, especially in the competitive landscape of today's marketplace. To stand out and thrive, effective marketing is crucial. Here are four essential marketing tips and tricks to help your new business succeed:

Define Your Target Audience and Create Customer Personas:

One of the first steps in crafting a successful marketing strategy for your new business is to identify and understand your target audience. Who are your ideal customers, and what are their needs, preferences, and pain points? Creating customer personas can help you visualize and humanize your audience, making it easier to tailor your marketing efforts effectively.

Start by conducting market research to gather data about your potential customers. Analyze demographics, psychographics, and behavior patterns to create detailed customer personas. These personas should include information like age, gender, income, interests, and pain points.

Once you have a clear understanding of your target audience, customize your marketing messages and strategies to resonate with them. Craft compelling content, advertisements, and promotions that address their specific needs and desires. By speaking directly to your ideal customers, you'll increase the chances of building meaningful connections and driving conversions.

Leverage the Power of Digital Marketing:

In the digital age, online presence and digital marketing are indispensable for any new business. Here are some essential digital marketing strategies to consider:

a. Build a User-Friendly Website: Your website is often the first point of contact for potential customers. Ensure that it is well-designed, easy to navigate, and mobile-responsive. Optimize it for search engines (SEO) to improve your visibility in search results.

b. Content Marketing: Create valuable and relevant content that educates, entertains, or solves problems for your target audience. Blog posts, videos, infographics, and social media updates can all be part of your content marketing strategy.

c. Social Media Marketing: Identify the social media platforms where your audience is most active and engage with them there. Develop a content calendar and use a mix of organic and paid content to reach a wider audience.

d. Email Marketing: Build and nurture an email list to stay in touch with your customers. Send personalized and relevant content, offers, and updates to keep them engaged and informed.

e. Pay-Per-Click Advertising (PPC): Consider running targeted PPC campaigns on platforms like Google Ads and Facebook Ads to reach potential customers actively searching for your products or services.

Emphasize Customer Relationships and Engagement:

In a competitive market, building and maintaining strong customer relationships is vital. Consider these strategies to enhance customer engagement:

a. Provide Exceptional Customer Service: Respond promptly to inquiries and address customer concerns with care. Happy customers are more likely to become loyal advocates for your brand.

b. Personalization: Use customer data and segmentation to personalize your marketing messages and offers. People appreciate tailored experiences that cater to their unique preferences.

c. Encourage User-Generated Content: Encourage customers to share their experiences with your products or services on social media or review platforms. User-generated content can build trust and credibility.

d. Loyalty Programs: Reward repeat customers with loyalty programs, discounts, or exclusive access to new products or services. Loyalty programs can foster long-term relationships and increase customer retention.

Monitor, Analyze, and Adapt:

Marketing is not a one-size-fits-all endeavor. To continually improve your strategies, track key performance indicators (KPIs) and adapt based on the data:

a. Use Analytics Tools: Employ tools like Google Analytics, social media insights, and email marketing metrics to monitor the performance of your marketing efforts.

b. A/B Testing: Experiment with different marketing approaches and compare their results through A/B testing. This allows you to refine your strategies over time.

c. Stay Informed: Keep up with industry trends, competitors, and evolving customer preferences. Stay open to adjusting your marketing plan as needed.

In conclusion, successful marketing for a new business involves understanding your audience, utilizing digital strategies, fostering customer relationships, and staying adaptable. By implementing these tips and tricks, your new business can navigate the competitive landscape and carve out its own path to success.

[someriverinidaho]

reminder: you have new test results from — to review. create your online portal to view results today LAST CHANCE: We'd love your feedback! This is a friendly reminder about your appointment with Dr. —. Hello. We have been trying to reach you, please call — Scheduling Line. Thank You. Reply STOP to opt out. Hi, it’s Dr. —’s office. Please review your prescription below: Don’t delay! Create your patient portal account while you wait. Friendly Reminder: Please tell us about your patient experience Your opinion matters to — and all of us here at —. you have 0 refills left for C***** from —. Request now to allow time to process your request and avoid a gap in treatment: This is a follow-up to my previous emails to check in and see how you're doing. We haven't heard from you yet, and we're concerned about your well-being. It’s easy to take care of your balance for your recent appt with —. Reply STOP to opt out. You will receive another message from this number when it's time to checkout online to complete your order through a secure and compliant portal. Reminder from — Pharmacy: 5 days before you’re out of C*****. Request a refill: your statement from — is now available. View your bill and pay here: confirm your appt! — Txt STOP to opt out. TextSTOPoptout. Reply HELP for help or STOP to opt-out from SMS. To restart messages, reply START.

[senditcolton]

So Tragic and Rare

September (pt. 4)

masterlist

KEELY HALLORAN LATE NIGHT WITH SETH MEYERS (FULL TRANSCRIPT)

Seth Meyers: My first guest tonight has recently stepped back into the spotlight after a five-month absence. Whether you know her from her first three albums, or tabloid magazines, or have just heard her sing with Post Malone on his song “Die For Me,” please extend a warm welcome to Keely Halloran.

[cheers and applause]

Meyers: It’s good to see you again, Keely. Keely Halloran: It’s good to be back, Seth. For some reason I missed you. (jokingly) Meyers: You’ve been making headlines since your appearance at the VMAs – Halloran: (grimacing) I was making headlines long before that. Meyers: Yes, you have. Do you want to talk about it? Halloran: All I’ll say if that I really needed the time away. I found out a lot about myself and who I wanted to be. Now that I’m back, I’m no longer going to change myself in order to fit with the version of me that others have created. Meyers: I like it. It’s like your clapback to the haters. Halloran: Please never say that again. (laughing) But I guess, in a way, you’re right. I mean, I hope that I can get people to accept me and see me for who I really am but I’m no longer interested in making myself palatable. I’m messy, fierce, complicated, vengeful, maybe a little self-destructive, but I’m authentically and unapologetically myself. Meyers: It takes a lot of bravery to own every version of yourself so I applaud you for that. [cheers and applause] Halloran: Thank you. Meyers: I suppose that is a good of a segue as any to talk about your comeback song “Die For Me.” Fans thought that something was going on between you and Post Malone since the VMAs but I don’t know how many were expected a collab. Halloran: I honestly didn’t expect it. Along with some self-discovery, I made a lot of business changes so I didn’t think I’d come out with new music so soon. But Austin – Post – reached out through my direct messages and said that he loved “Without Me” and told me he had a song that he’d love for me to work on with him. Meyers: So, he slid into your DM’s? [laughter] Halloran: In a strictly business capacity. (laughing) So, I managed to fly to his studio in Dallas and that’s where everything happened. Meyers: How much of this song did you have a hand in? Halloran: Post had the music and some of the lyrics written already. I wrote my verse – which required a lot of cutting down, I might add. Future couldn’t make it down to Dallas so I have yet to meet him in person. There was a lot of emailing back and forth between us and him and when it was all planned out, he sent his vocals over and then everything just fit together from there. I think the three of us did a really good job making this a song that has all of our fingerprints on it. Meyers: Sounds like an awesome experience. Halloran: I had a lot of fun working on this, especially with Post. There is a very clear reason why he is everyone’s favorite artist to collab with. He’s so talented and yet so down to earth. And that was amazing. Making this song was really therapeutic for the both of us. Sometimes, it didn’t feel like I was working with another artist. Instead, it felt like I was talking to a best friend. [audience coos. applause] Meyers: So, we got an amazing song and you made a good friend. Halloran: I did. Meyers: Will we be able to hear and new Keely Halloran songs soon? Halloran: You know the answer to that, Seth. Meyers: I do. [audience clamors] Meyers: Should we tell them? Halloran: Let’s build the suspense a bit more. [audience clamors again before quieting] Meyers: So, you got a new look and released a new song. Is there anything else new in your life? Halloran: I got a new dog. Meyers: You did? Halloran: Yes. Her name is Gigi. Meyers: You were kind enough to make this collage for us so we can all gush over how cute she is. [audience coos] Talk us through these pics.

Halloran: Well, this was her first bath. This was the time she couldn’t decide what toy she wanted to play with so she just took all of them out of her toy basket. This is her giving her best impression of me on Mondays. And this is her just being the sweetest bean in the world. Meyers: What kind of dog is she? Halloran: She’s a cavapoo, so a mix of a poodle and a Cavalier King Charles spaniel. Meyers: Well, she is precious. And it seems like you love her a lot. Halloran: I absolutely do. She was a lifeline these past few months. Meyers: When do I get to meet her? Halloran: Well, I’ll have to talk to Gigi about that. She’s very private. Meyers: But I get along with everyone! Halloran: Maybe sometime soon. You and I have bigger things to do. Meyers: That’s right. We do. [turns to address the audience] Ladies and gentleman, tonight, Keely Halloran will step onto the stage for the first time in almost a year to give a special performance of her hit song “Without Me” as well as a brand-new track. Stick around because you don’t want to miss this. [cheers and applause] [commercial break]

a/n: and early drop today because you all will be getting a 'part 2' to this moment a little bit later!! so, truly, stick around to "see" those performances.

taglist: @fallinallincurls @laureniray @comphy-and-cozy @smileysvech @pyotrkochetkov @thewintersoldierdisaster

let me know if you want to be tagged in this story or if you want to add yourself to my general taglist, click here!!

[linisiane]

Been thinking about a Modern!Babel AU centered around colleges aimed around Silicon Valley

Immigrant kids being funneled into CS because it’s the field where the money is (linguistics? Where’s the money in that? You want to starve?).

International students coming to America because all the Big Programming Languages and their documentation are in English, because translations of documentation is to err and to betray, because English is the programming lingua franca, because if you don’t know English then you’ll be “trailing edge.” Source

“As an American and native English-speaker myself, I have previously been reluctant to suggest this, lest it be taken as a sort of cultural imperialism. But several native speakers of other languages have urged me to point out that English is the working language of the hacker culture and the Internet, and that you will need to know it to function in the hacker community.” Source

So they come to America to improve their English because you have to be fluent to be taken seriously. Or maybe they’re born in America and can feel the rot of their native tongue as they grow up, even as they learn more and more programming languages.

Java, C++, Ruby, XML, Python, Swift, PHP, etc.

It’s funny, but programmers, even as they’ve decided on English as the one true language, they create more and more programming languages to suit their needs/problem solving efficiency:

Source

[ID: XKCD comic that is titled "How Standards Proliferate (See: A/C chargers, character encodings, instant messaging, etc.)" It reads,

Situation: There are 14 competing standards. Cueball (stick figure): 14?! Ridiculous! We need to develop one universal standard that covers everyone's use cases. Ponytail (other stick figure): Yeah! Soon: Situation: There are 15 competing standards.

End ID]

(transcript taken from the ExplainXKCD wiki)

And of course, the students from countries on the Indian subcontinent are acutely aware of the unbalanced nature of the work they do, the way they’re expected to do export IT work, despite the digital divide in India, Bengal, Pakistan, etc. Especially since it’s a sign of being well-educated (wealthy) to speak English fluently thanks to the history of British Imperialism on the subcontinent.

Chinese IT students sink or swim thanks Mandarin monolinguism making it difficult to learn English. Americans programmers struggle not to link choppy English with choppy code, even while being monolingual themselves!

Not to mention the heavy sexism in the IT field! Female programmers taking on nicknames on emails and resumes to pretend to be men, so they’ll be taken seriously. Despite the history of women like Ada Lovelace being foundational to computers.

And of course we gotta bring up the ethics of AI, how it’s a march towards the inevitable that only Luddites would oppose. Despite the millions who’d lose their jobs once implemented into the workplace.

Commercial transportation sector lost to self-driving cars.

Digital artists lost to DALL-E.

Manufacturers automated.

But can’t they tell that progress is inevitable? That this is the future and to try to stop it is foolish?

As Anand Giridharadas put it in Winners Take All:

“In [Silicon] Valley, prediction has become a popular way of fighting for a particular future while claiming merely to be describing what has yet to occur”

Elon Musk is a genius. Bill Gates is so charitable. Bezos is customer obsessed, and they’re the future, don’t you see? Infinite growth forever and ever.

Tower of Babel? Valley of Silicon.

Unfortunately I suck at STEM, and I’m an uncultured Asian American, so I don’t know programming languages well, nor do I know enough about other cultures to do Ramy, Victoire, Robin, or Letty justice. Just the bare bones to see the structure of this AU and put it out in the world to see if anybody would like to play with it or add on.

[sundayswiththeilluminati]

Hey let’s talk about some of the dungeon lore w/r/t Rasputin and other AIs. Cut for spoilers for the new Spire of the Watchers dungeon.

So turns out back during the Golden Age Ishtar Collective and CB Corp did a brief collaboration on creating an “Augurmind,” Soteria, an AI equipped with Vex time-manipulation tech that allowed it to do very accurate observations/simulations over stretches of space that it otherwise takes light (and hence causality) millions of years to traverse. Soteria needed these abilities to plan intergalactic colony ventures that would take tens of thousands of years - but when she tried to crunch the numbers on habitable worlds in nearby galaxies, she detected destructive “anomalies" (the Pyramid Fleet). Soteria summarized what she saw in a burst message to Rasputin, which is probably how he caught the Fleet inbound to our system as well. 

All of which is cool but not what I want to talk about. What I want to talk about is like five lines of text:

[Soteria]: R. Access provided data points and analysis. Confirm potential EGYPTIAN [attached].

[Rasputin]: I concur, S. Anomalous masses demonstrate independent movement. Consider timeline escalation under TWILIGHT to preserve [H]. Warwatch to monitor Sol border/anomalous intersection based on received data.

This is Rasputin talking. Rasputin, whose every other message is either a) dense highly-formatted military-style flash traffic orders; b) cryptic-mystic stream of consciousness; or c) sad, just...sad. This is Rasputin tossing off an email like he’s scheduling a meeting about the tarp budget. It is impossibly normal, and that tells us some significant information.

For one thing, it turns out Red can hold a regular conversation, just not with a human. For another, we've seen other AIs reference him or orders from him, but this is the first direct conversation we have, and amazingly it bears out the old "first among equals" description. Soteria has no qualms about forwarding him what might be a false alarm, and Rasputin renders an opinion with equal casual civility. Despite the seriousness of the situation he doesn’t issue orders but rather makes a few suggestions and leaves the rest to Soteria’s judgement. His attitude is that of an expert consulted by a colleague on a specialist matter, and while many AI probably treated his “suggestions” with the force of orders, he doesn’t seem to intend them as such. He really did have familiar and friendly relationships with other AI pre-Collapse. It explains why e.g. Firewall, monitoring the lunar anomaly, responded to evidence of dangerous activity by trying to contact Rasputin. It explains why the dying Exodus Red says they’d like to talk to Rasputin except he just seems so busy right now (fighting an interplanetary war). He was the authority of last resort. Rasputin would listen to your problem, and then he would tell you what to do. Rasputin would always know What To Do. Right up until he didn’t, and it all came crashing down.

I’m a Magic player, so the closest analogy I’ve got to Rasputin’s status among the other AI is that of a pro player hanging out at his local store with the casual crowd. He’s friendly, trades fairly, happy to look at your deck tech, but always that little bit set apart. When he comes in others treat it as an event even if he doesn’t. He’ll play with anyone, even lose a couple rounds, but no one is ever in doubt about whose house this is. If there’s a hard judge call to make, he’s there; if there’s unsportsmanlike behavior on display, he’s there too, and a brief conversation is enough to set that straight. He takes responsibility. And everyone’s happy to let him. You’re glad, even proud, that he hangs out at your store, even if it’s scary as hell when he comes to look over your shoulder in person. You might even think of him as a friend. And he thinks of you as a friend, too. He likes hanging out with you. He likes hanging out with everyone. 

But he also knows he’s always, always, going to be that little bit apart.

[captainbasch]

>>> MERMAY 2023 | YCH COMMISSIONS &lt;;<< Hello hello! It's time for Mermay 2023! It's been a while since i've been able to offer Mermay themed YCHs, but I am excited to have a little something this year c:

Ocean Dreams 3.0 | 4 slots Flats+: $280* Paints: $400 > Full illustration of you character as a mermaid! (Design can be created by me if you do not already have one) > Character can be in any underwater location, at any time, with any additional elements such as corals, kelps, small fish. (Ask if you have anything bigger in mind) > Character can be clothed or nude in merform but must have at least under garments if you are getting the non-mer version. *coloring is more advanced than regular flats but not at detailed as paints

In a Bubble | unlimited slots Flats+: $70 > A chibi version of your character as a mermaid! Featuring a border of your choice - ex: kelp, seashells, rope and treasure, fish and coral, flowers, crystals, bubbles, you decide! > Mermaid design can be created by me if you do not already have one.

If interested, email me at cptbasch@yahoo.com OR message me here! You can get multiple commissions per slot! Payment via PAYPAL INVOICE PAYMENT PLAN AVAILABLE ****TOS HERE

PLEASE NOTE My wrist health is non negotiable. Some days I can work 5 hours, some days I can barely manage one. Please understand that I am not slacking off, I literally just cannot work some days if I want to continue to draw in the future. If uncertain or possibly long turnaround times are not good for you, I absolutely understand! I will do my best to communicate further delays or at least check in with your periodically if things take longer than I expect. Thank you so much for your patience and your continued support! <3

[clunelover]

Oh man, Jeremy is dealing with someone at his work who is going full asshole - he’s a data architect, and has worked to create something Jeremy needed, but did a meh job and is now refusing to do any rework or answer any questions about it. His position seems to be: "making this thing shouldn’t even be my job, and I don’t have time to do anything further on it, and now you’re adding new requirements you didn’t say up front (but from my understanding that’s not really true - it’s just trying to make him actually deliver on the initial requirements he did not meet) also I don’t talk to you, I deal with my product owner and so you can talk to him instead"

It’s possible he has a point re: needing more support, and the thing he did not being strictly his job. But it wasn’t like Jeremy went rogue or around someone by asking him to work on it - the direction that he should take it on came from several layers above. he’s also really not done himself any favors - he’s just declined any meeting Jeremy tried to set with him, and it all came to a head with him sending Jeremy a message saying "my role is not to do [this thing]. I have other things I’m supposed to be working on, and your constant questions have derailed me from valuable work. Frankly, I’m not sure why you’re involved when [product owner] is the domain expert, and you should be asking him these questions instead of me" and then he LINKED TO A BLOG POST called "what does a product owner do?" …he also tried to school Jeremy on what agile methodology is and how Jeremy is forcing them to deviate from it.

Anyway, I’ve never actually experienced anything like this - I’ve dealt with people who disagreed strongly or were really mad about a screw up at work, but everyone I’ve worked with, up to very big deal c-suite people, has only ever done the "I’m seething, but you’d only know that by reading between the lines of my impeccably professional and restrained email" thing.

So I’m getting a lot of vicarious vindictive thrill from hearing about this and how Jeremy showed the jerky message to a pal who is on the same team as jerk guy, and that guy was like "okay have you shared this with your boss? I’d like you to, or if you don’t want to, I am going to share it with my boss…cause this is not the first time he’s behaved this way." So then Jeremy shared it with his boss who was like "okay this is a big deal, please send this to me as an email with a little blurb about the context that led to it" so he did that and then very soon after gets a phone call from a guy who is jerk’s grandboss, being like "yeah I talked to [jerk’s boss], and the CTO, and we all think this might be the last straw for this guy, but we’re going to tell him he has to meet with you and be cooperative, and just see how that goes, so please keep me posted and if he still won’t play ball, he’s out."

I know I’m biased but like, I hear Jeremy conducting his work, and while he can be a bit intense and talks too fast, he’s also really sharp and collaborative and conscientious about asking people to do things, so when I heard of this guy’s fuckery my blood was just boiling on his behalf!!

[thornybubbles]

Guess who paid me a visit on Fanfiction.net

So today I went to check up on my stories on Fanfiction.net to see if I got any comments, messages, etc. I saw I had a review on My "Jealous Yandere Jo-Foes" story. This is what it says:

"catspats31chapter 1 . Dec 18, 2022

The writing quality is good in terms of your spelling and grammar, but the following part of the Content Guidelines is broken for being a second person or you-based story:

Entries not allowed: 5. Any form of interactive entry: choose your adventure, second person/you based, Q&As, and etc.

Please remove all elements related to the reader and replace them with a canon character or original character. Switch to first person or third person point of view. You can always put it on another site where it is allowed such as Archive Of Our Own."

Now let me clarify something for those of you that are not in the know (I only found this out myself today)... this person is part of a group that goes around dropping into people's reviews to tell them that they are violating the rules of Fanfiction.net. These people actively flag stories they say are in violation of the rules. These people are not affiliated with Fanfiction.net. They are not admins or moderators and they have no agency or authority to be doing what they are doing. I'm not the only one that this has happened to and I'm not the only one talking about it. This has apparently been going on for a while.

I do not appreciate someone who is not in charge, acting as a rules lawyer for a site that they do not own or work for.

Something else to take into consideration is the fact that if you go to the "reviewer's" profile, they wrote this:

"Second person/you based stories or reader inserts. Sometimes, the reader would feel traumatized when the story puts them in it. I feel that stories like that show a sign of laziness when authors put things like "(name)" or "(h/c)". Can't you use another character from the fandom or an original character instead of putting the reader in the story?"

The whole "traumatizing the reader" is an incredibly weak mindset, but this mostly shows that this person simply doesn't like reader inserts. I feel that this is the REAL reason that catspats31 decided to warn me about my "violation". That seems to be the case with a lot of people in this group as well. They go after both writers of reader inserts and people who write smut. Now, I know that Fanfiction.net has some rules against NSFW stuff, but I don't know nor care much about it because I don't write smut anyway.

I don't feel that my stories violate the rules because the rules state that interactive stories are not allowed. It mentions "you based" stories or stories written in second person which can be a reference to reader inserts. However, most reader inserts, my stories included, are not interactive. The reader is inserted into the story as the main character but does not control what they do or what happens to them in the story. Therefore, by my reasoning, they are NOT interactive. When I tried to argue this point, I was called "disingenuous" for interpreting the rules how I want. Funny, coming from people who are merely interpreting the rules how THEY want (when they didn't even have a hand in creating said rules) but whatever.

I have made a post to Fanfiction.net's help desk forum asking if someone who is an actual moderator or admin can tell me if reader inserts are allowed on the site or not. Only one person said that reader inserts are technically violating the rules, but this person is not a mod or admin, so I take what they say with a grain of salt. I also suspect that this person is either part of this group or a sympathizer. (There are a lot of people who sympathize with them. It's really weird and cultish.)

I sent two emails to Fanfiction.net's support email to inform them of the confusion over their rules. I asked that they please clarify in their rules if they consider reader inserts to be interactive or not and if they actually violate the rules. Who knows how long it will take for them to get back to me or if they ever will.

Another thing to note is that there is a community created by these people that adds stories to a list of stories THEY say violate the rules. There, they "review" and actively report stories for rules violation. My story is on that list. I can do nothing that I know of to get it removed.

I do not plan to bend the knee to these people but I also do not plan to upload anything else to Fanfiction.net until I get word back from someone of actual authority. However I will also not be removing or changing my stories to cater to these people.

If it turns out that my stories are indeed in violation and reader inserts are not allowed then I will happily remove them from Fanfiction.net. I have been seriously thinking about just leaving the site long before this happened today anyway. I have no attachment to Fanfiction.net and I get a lot more readers for my JoJo stories on other sites anyway. Archive of Our Own is a much better site for a lot of reasons. Better tagging for one thing. Tagging on Fanfiction.net is practically non-existent.

I will update this if anything new happens.

[harkaranscanvas]

Creative Advertising Exercise

Hey Urban Nest community! 🌟

Creating a compelling advertising campaign is crucial for capturing attention and driving sales. Today, we’re sharing our top strategies with a Creative Advertising Exercise that will help you craft an engaging campaign, tailor-made to resonate with your audience.

Whether you're promoting a new product or revamping your brand, this exercise is designed to spark creativity and drive results.

Objective:

Develop a creative advertising campaign for Urban Nest that effectively engages young urban dwellers and drives interest and sales.

Step 1: Define Your Campaign Theme 🎨

A strong campaign starts with a cohesive theme that ties all your elements together.

Theme: “Urban Living Redefined”

Description: This theme emphasizes transformation and personalization, highlighting how Urban Nest can help customers create a stylish and functional living space that reflects their unique personality and urban lifestyle.

Step 2: Craft Your Key Message 📢

Your key message is the core idea you want to communicate.

Key Message: “Transform your apartment into a stylish urban sanctuary with Urban Nest’s modern and affordable decor.”

This message should be consistent across all campaign materials to ensure clarity and impact.

Step 3: Develop Creative Executions Across Channels 📺

Let’s break down how to implement your campaign theme and key message across different media channels.

1. Social Media Magic 🌟

Platforms: Instagram, TikTok

Idea: “Apartment Makeovers” – Showcase stunning before-and-after apartment transformations using Urban Nest products.

Execution:

Visuals: Side-by-side photos and quick videos showing the transformation process.

Caption:

“From drab to fab! 🌟 Swipe to see how Urban Nest turned this space into an urban oasis. #UrbanLivingRedefined”

Call-to-Action: Include “Shop the look” links or promote urban living tips.

Example Post:

Caption: “Turn your city apartment into a modern sanctuary with @UrbanNest. Use code URBANLIFE for 10% off your first order. #UrbanLivingRedefined #UrbanNest”

2. Pop-Up Events in Urban Areas 🎪

Location: Urban Community Centers and Popular City Spots

Idea: “Urban Nest Pop-Up Experience” – Host pop-up events where city dwellers can explore Urban Nest products in person.

Execution:

Setups: Create mock urban apartments with different decor themes (industrial, modern, chic).

DIY Stations: Allow visitors to create their own decor items.

Promotions: Offer exclusive event discounts and host social media contests.

Example Setup:

Event Flyer: “Visit the Urban Nest Pop-Up Experience this weekend! Discover stylish decor, DIY your own pieces, and enjoy exclusive discounts. 📍Location: Urban Plaza, Date: July 15-16”

3. Online Decor Quiz 🧩

Platform: Urban Nest Website

Idea: “What’s Your Urban Style?” – An interactive quiz that offers personalized decor recommendations.

Execution:

Quiz Design: Include questions about style preferences and living habits.

Results: Provide a curated selection of Urban Nest products based on quiz results.

Call-to-Action: Offer a discount to quiz takers on their first purchase.

Example Quiz Question:

Question: “How would you describe your ideal urban apartment ambiance? a) Industrial b) Modern c) Minimalist d) Chic”

4. Email Marketing Campaign 📧

Platform: Email

Idea: “Urban Nest Inspirations” – A series of emails featuring decor tips, product spotlights, and customer success stories.

Execution:

Email Series: Send weekly emails with themes like “Small Space Hacks”.

Personalized Recommendations: Use data to offer tailored product suggestions.

Call-to-Action: Include “Shop Now” links with special discounts.

Example Email:

Subject: “5 Easy Decor Hacks to Transform Your Urban Apartment Today!”

Content: “Hi Alex, ready to upgrade your apartment? Check out these 5 decor hacks featuring our top-selling products. Plus, enjoy 15% off your next order with code URBANHACKS.”

Step 4: Review and optimize 🔄

After launching your campaign, track its performance across all channels. Use metrics like engagement, click-through rates, and sales conversions to gauge effectiveness. Adjust your strategy based on what’s working best.