#especially if the interviewer called him baby yoda

[dindjarindiaries]

Also what we’re not gonna do is take Pedro calling Grogu “Baby Yoda” in an interview for an entirely different franchise while jetlagged as him not caring about The Mandalorian/Din Djarin anymore

[for-a-longlongtime]

Wow. Y'all. I truly never expected so many awesome responses on the post I wrote last night about Dieter, Goya and Pedro on Talk Art. It is the first 'fun' thing I've written in so many years - after having felt blocked/paralyzed re: creative pursuits since 2020 (shit happened) -, without stressing about how I wrote it, and it means the world to me that so many people liked it and shared it.

I don't want to clutter up all the feeds by individually sharing and responding to the reblogs etc, so I'm throwing it together in one post here - because I want y'all to know I appreciate it so much. And it honestly made me even more excited that some of my favorite PP fic authors did so, because I've been enjoying YOUR work so much!

@chaoticgeminate Sending those hugs right back, and your fic was absolutely not a silly little piece! I truly love(d) it, and I'm glad it sent me down this little rabbithole. And yes, while writing that piece I also became more convinced that Pedro himself was a really big part in shaping Dieter and his background story. It's so damn intelligent and very much his style.

One thing I didn't mention yesterday (and I'm sure this is something a lot of people already spotted since the first day that the movie was online) is that I also came to realize how much Pedro has based Dieter's outfits and some mannerisms on Jeff Bridges' character The Dude from 'The Big Lebowski'. Never really saw that movie but I put it on today for a bit, and it was striking -- I'd even dare to say that the "'Bola, hold my hair!" moment on the toilet is a nod to how The Dude (who has longer hair) gets his face shoved into a toilet. Also, at one point when Bridges' character is addressed with "Mr Lebowski", he dismisses that and tells the guy to call him Dude, or even 'Duder' which, yeah, that's just a small step from 'Dieter Bravo'.

amycben on Reddit said the same thing about Bridges, and shared these Dieter pics, which definitely made it clear how our Feral Raccoon Boy's style is inspired by 'The Dude' <3 I don't care much for the Lebowski movie, but I love a good reference, especially since it's a Coen brothers movie - and we all know that Pedro now has a small role in Ethan Coen's upcoming movie 'Driveaway Dolls'. Anyway, I honestly hope that at some point Pedro will be asked about the work he did in shaping Dieter, because I'd love to hear more about this. There's no chance in hell that'll happen, because which journalist would ask him this? But I'm cool though if the universe wants to manifest one of us getting to interview him some time in the future, haha.

Anyway, again @chaoticgeminate - thank YOU really. I needed that deep dive more than I knew thanks to your writing!

@nicolethered thank you too for being responsible for my deep dive, haha, it were your screenshots that made me recognize the other Goya paintings! <3 (and I love your gifs btw!

@mysterious-moonstruck-musings well hearing from you that you loved MY writing is just such a super awesome thing after how much I've been enjoying your Dieter story! <3 <3

@julesonrecord I'M TOTALLY IN hahaha, I saw your comment right before I went to bed last night and it made me smile so much!

@imaswellkid I'm def not an Apatow person either, and I'll be honest - the first time I watched the Bubble I couldn't get past the first half, haha. But I later began to realize that you should indeed watch it through a critical lens and as a reflection about the craziness that was going on, rather than 'oh this is a movie about the pandemic'. The Mando bud is great btw! But even better is the Baby Yoda bud - I have no clue how growers/dispenseries (I'm in the midwest) get away with naming their product after Disney stuff, but I'm sure glad it got me to try that hahaha.

@lunapascal IKR artist Dieter is so damn underrated, and I'm so glad that at least a whole lot of fic authors are giving him more of what he deserves! OK and I totally want to write some too now, hahaha. Especially because there's a lack of Dieter x OMC/m!reader fics, which tbh needs to be fixed.

@survivingandenduring @sp00kymulderr @thesimulationswarm @pedrit0-pascalit0 @gemmahale @sin-djarin @perotovar @ladamedusoif @gracie7209 thank you so much for your kind words, they honestly mean so much to me! @angelofsmalldeathandthecodeine WOW, that Dali piece is fuckin incredible! And @basicoccult woahhh maybe y'all did!? See now I feel like I need to inquire about whether y'all take new initiates! <3

@chronically-ghosted God don't get me started, it's so tempting - next thing you know I'll have suckered myself into writing Dieter fic (while I'm only just getting started now on two other WIPs), haha. But yes I'm so curious about what the unspoken canon is there -- and most probably Pedro is the one with answers to that since it seems so much like he created Dee. I ended up googling some Apatow interviews this morning and saw that he set out to make the Bubble as a sort of Christopher Guest movie (the mockumentary style), and other articles said that there was a lot of improv involved - so obviously Pedro must've contributed a lot. Particularly because I've read at least interviews with four directors (Zeke who did Prospect, Craig Mazin from TLOU, I wanna say Patty Jenkins, and I'm currently blanking on the other name) who spoke about how involved Pedro was, down to specific dialogue and character's motivations etc in shaping the movie (I think Zeke said that Pedro worked with them to tone down Ezra's Shakespearian manner of speech a little, which I can totally see happening since Pedro has done/read so much Shakespeare and it's easy to picture that he wants to fine tune it so it's accessible enough for audiences). Ugh, it's probably gonna take a long while until there'll be any long form interviews with him again, and sadly interviewers are probably not gonna ask about any of this.

Re: painting or acting, yesterday I read @blueeyesatnight 's That's Not Your Name-Dieter fic (LOVED it, can def recommend it!) and one of the coolest things about Dee's character development there is that it indeed delves into 'okay how did he pick acting versus art' and more background story, plus how in the current day events of the story he is even making his own oil paint. That has become my headcanon now <3

@tessa-quayle I'm so glad you liked my post!! I really really wish that Russell and Robert would do another episode with Pedro. I love Russell in particular (sorta followed his work since Being Human was released, which holy crap was already 15 yrs ago?), but the way they attempted to interview Pedro back then was kind of a hot mess - and I say that lovingly hahaha. They were so enthusiastic that they talked over him so/too many times, so I'd love a tad calmer conversation where P has the opportunity to go more indepth.

@tvversionperson IKR there is SO much plot and character development to be explored with Dieter in that movie, which of course it doesn't have room to delve into but shit I wish they would/could. Or at least to just hear Pedro talk about what his thoughts are on it, because you know he most definitely had Dee's entire back story fleshed out in his head when he shot this movie.

Super long post, but again, I just wanted to thank y'all for the love. This is the first time I've done anything writing wise re: the PP cinematic universe, and all your responses have been so heartwarming and really encouraged me to do more stuff in one way or another with the Pedro boys, be it rabbit hole analysis or fic.

[nowritingonthewall]

I was tagged by the lovely @thedukeleto, thank you so much :)

Favorite Pedro character: Frankie <3 <3 <3 (To be fair, though, I am still a rookie in the fandom and there are so many roles I haven’t seen him in yet…like, I have a feeling that I would instantly fall in love with Markus Pike…)

Favorite Pedro movie/show: Triple Frontier, obviously ;), because Frankie and that other guy.  If Triple Frontier was out of the race, it would be The Mandalorian and The Golden Circle.

What got you into Pedro and his characters: After accidentally watching the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy in one day and immediately and helplessly falling in love with Poe (and Oscar), the Mandalorian kept being recommended to me and I thought that it would be lovely to just enjoy a show, for once, without becoming emotionally invested (yeah, that worked out well…). I had so little knowledge about Star Wars that it took me three episodes to figure out that Baby Yoda wasn’t, you know… actually Baby Yoda. I also had never heard of Pedro before and then, suddenly, he was everywhere. So between the first and the last episode of the Mandalorian, I watched Triple Frontier because of Oscar and accidentally fell in love with Frankie, I watched the Golden Circle because of Colin and accidentally fell in love with Whiskey, and then there was The Interview with grumpy eagle and baby chicken, of course <3  

Favorite thing about Pedro or his characters: Uhm, my favourite things about a person I basically don’t know ;) are… how he doesn’t have a problem with calling people out on their bullshit, yet there never seems to be any malice behind his words; his unwavering support for his sister; his friendship and dynamic with Oscar; the warmth he seems to exude towards other people; the total absence of pretence; the fact that he totally lacks the air of a wannabe-alpha-male; how he seems to be unperturbed by what people think of him; the fact that he is a beautiful lovable goofball and a hundred other things I will probably think of the minute that I have posted this ;)      

Do you write for Pedro characters? If so, what is your favorite fic you have written so far?: I’m way too intimidated by all those amazing writers out there!

And what fanfics have you not been able to stop thinking about by another author?: Tbh, I am only just starting to discover the world of Pedro fanfic as I am still fighting to catch up with all the amazing Oscar writers BUT I am a huge fan of @writefightandflightclub ‘s Frankie, especially when he is written as the wonderful and precious best friend!

And finally, this one is a bit odd, but what do you hope Pedro does in the future (like a role he takes or a project he works on or something that happens to one of his characters)?: Another movie or show with Oscar please!!! Also, I am a huge fan of movies, in which he doesn’t die. Also, I totally agree with Coa, I would love to see any well-written character that gives him the opportunity to show the range of his acting abilities. And OMG yes, more Spanish, please!!!

 Tagging anyone who would like to have a go at this :)

[manuphantom]

I replied to a post from pedro on twitter where he had put the link on the new mandalorian season 2 poster, I replied under his post that I was so excited to see him in October and that I was so fond of mando and baby yoda. All of a sudden I get a private message that I hear from Pedro almost takes me doesn't take a hit, I was really shocked. pedro wrote "hello I hope I didn't scare you in the message, thanks for writing in the post, I know who you are, I have seen many of your photos with me next to you you are really funny, I'm sorry I never liked you, I feel that I don't I would like to be too cheeky but I would like to meet you live, answer when you can ", my brain was traveling at an unprecedented speed I thought" oh my god pedro wants to know why I'm afraid of him, if I don't like them? "; in the end I replied "hello pedro sorry if I answer you now, thank you very much for replying you were kind, I don't know what to say to go out with you, however I accept the invitation tell me where". Pedro answered me shortly after "you just have to say yes, I wanted to ask you if you would like to have breakfast with me? I know a nice and quiet place to go called toast bakery cafè", I replied "ok perfect, thanks again then there see you there for 9:00, I'll be dressed casually in black ", Pedro replied" perfect see you there for 9:00, thanks to you for accepting and I apologize again for scaring you usually I'm not like that daring, but there is something about you that intrigues me a lot ", I said" I don't think I'm so intriguing haha, you'll see it for yourself later "; I closed the mail and got dressed. god i was taut like a violin string, i dressed as fast as possible, wore a black mandalorian t-shirt and baby yoda, i had a pair of black shorts below the knee and i was wearing a pair of black adidas trainers. I arrived on site at least 20 minutes early, I waited for pedro in front of the club, I had never been so tense with a man but especially with him, I was curious to see him live. I saw him coming god how beautiful he was, his hair was a little bit longer like in the mandalorian, his eyes were a dark brown like chocolate, that fleshy mouth cabbage I would have given them a bite willingly, it was really beautiful so fascinating up close. he introduces himself giving me his hand "hello nice to meet you", I replied "my pleasure", I shook it, that hand was so soft to the touch, imagine if that hand were to undress me and better not think about it ", pedro said" what about let's go in ", I said" yes of course ". we entered the place was nice and welcoming, we sat at the table facing each other. pedro said "so are you happy to come and have breakfast with me?", i said "i am very happy to be here with you, you really were very kind, why did you want to go out with me", pedro said "to make me to donate all the times that I have not even replied to one of your posts so I wanted to be forgiven ", I looked at him smiling I replied" you do not have to be forgiven for anything, you know it makes me strange to go out with someone like you, do not get me wrong I'm very happy, but I don't understand because just me, I just answered one of yours on the mandalorian ", pedro looked at me with his hypnotic gaze he said" you intrigue me a lot, I would like to know you more if you allow me ", I couldn't believe it pedro wanted to know me more ", I replied with a shy" yes ". Pedro said "let's order breakfast, I'm hungry like wolves", in the end we ordered. Pedro had an American black coffee and buttered toast with blueberries, while I had iced tea and French toast with strawberries.

pedro said "so what's your french toast", I replied "it's really sublime, it will be a lifetime that I didn't eat a french toast so good, instead your toast how is it?", pedro said "it's very good then i love blueberries only my favorite food, so tell me what brings you here in los angeles ", i replied" well i'm attending an acting class and i'm working as a waitress to be able to pay for the course since it's not so cheap ", pedro said" wow congratulations, I also started from scratch doing several auditions, I know what it means to earn a living alone, even if sometimes I suffered from hunger too, but luckily I had a very kind neighbor lady who he was always preparing food, when I moved to New York I was 17 ", I looked at him and replied" I have seen several interviews of you, you are really an interesting person not because you are famous, but because you are simple in hand and it shows, you know not everyone is like that, I love people though mplici because they are themselves I do not like snobs at all that if they pull it I hate them ". he said "you are absolutely right in this world there is little simple, we always have to fight with bitches because a person is different from the color of the skin or because of a different sex, unfortunately we are in a very closed society where the weakest lose and the richer they win, but I'm with the weaker ones we have to give voice to the lower people ", I replied" I agree with you, now let's talk about beautiful things, instead you what will you tell me of course if you can tell me something ", pedro said" well at the moment nothing special, I'm studying some scripts of some movies let's see if they interest me, then today I posted the photos of the entertaiment weekly newspaper and then yesterday I posted a post on instagram of an interview that I have done with a friend of mine about dogs other things related to the mandalorian, the game of thrones etc., have you seen it "he asked curiously; I replied "yes I saw both posts, the interview was super nice, then I love dogs, years ago I was a dog sitter and I volunteered at a kennel here near Los Angeles I wanted to take all the dogs home , too bad I can't afford it "; Pedro said "man, how nice, I have a mongrel dog named edgar, wait I'll show you the photos", took the phone and showed me how many photos he had with edgar, we were so close I could smell his scent of clean and mixed coffee , I had the chills. I looked at the photos ecstatic, how beautiful they were you could see that they really loved each other, then I said "you are really too cute, Edgar looks like a little hairy baby yoda I bet the ahi chosen for that hahaha", he laughed and said "no not I chose him for that, I wanted a dog to keep me company and not feel alone when I'm at home ", I replied" it's a beautiful gesture what you did furry animals are a good company more than human beings ", pedro he said "I'm not a good company?", I replied "of course you are a good company, thank you so much again for today, you have been really kind, but soon I have to go I have to go back to studying", Pedro a little sad said "ok, if you ever need help with anything just let me know is, you can send me an emal or a private message or even to have a chat", I replied "thank you". in the end, pedro paid for both of us, we left the cafeteria, the air was still cool and not too hot for 11:30. Pedro turned to me and said "can I hug you?", I replied "certainly", his hug was so comfortable and soft that I didn't want to let him go, man since they didn't hug like that, I smelled his scent of clean, I was stroking their back a little bit, but after a while I broke away from him, our faces were so close that Pedro kissed me without thinking twice, the kiss was sweet and passionate, I tightened their shirt, then I pulled away back to him but with a stupid smile. Pedro said "it was this morning that I wanted to do it, sorry if I was hasty, but you intrigue me a lot", I put my hands in front of my eyes replying "you kiss very well, but it's me who kisses shit it was a while since I was not kissing someone ", he took his hands from my eyes, stroked my cheek and looked at me" but stop not kissing so badly, I would like to see you again if I can ask ", I incredulously said" do you really want to see me again? I find a jealous girlfriend chasing me with a knife on the street right? ", he laughed heartily" no I have no girlfriend at the moment I'm free and that's why I asked you if I can see you again? " said pedro, I replied "sure there is no problem, I'll leave you my mobile number, now I really have to go", he said "thank you for the wonderful morning later I'll send you a message", I replied " ok ", we said goodbye a little sad, I would not have wanted this day to ever end. I greeted him again and started to go back to work when I get a message on my cellphone from pedro "have a good day", I replied "you too have a good day, we'll soon feel kisses", I went to work as happy as ever. part one

@thewaythisis @ohpedromypedro @oberynispunk @ithinkwehitametaphor

@pedropascalito @takemepedropascal @pedropascalownsmyheart

@poenariuniverse @pisss-offf-ghostt @abuttoncalledsmalls @thisis-theway 

@scout-134 @gamingaquarius @dornish-queen​ @javierpenaaddiction​

[jasmine-curse-breaker-adlawa]

Hogwarts Mystery: Interview

Thank you @aleksia-aries-hogwartsmystery for tagging me!!! This was fun!! ^w^

INTERVIEW

What’s your Name? ➔  

“Jasmine! Wait, was that supposed to be my full name? My full name’s Jasmine Ruth Adlawa.”

Are you single? ➔ 

Jasmine blushes and bites her lip while scuffing her shoe. “I mean...right now yeah…But there’s someone I have a crush on so I guess there’s that?”

Are you happy? ➔

“Sorta? I mean, the majority of my day I’m pretty happy.”

Are you angry? ➔ 

“Also sorta...There’s a lot of stuff I can get angry about but I don’t wanna Hulk-out or anything.”

…Sorry! Are your parents still married? ➔ 

“Yep! Dunno how long they’ve been together for but I’m glad they’re still together....Especially with how they reacted when my brother was expelled and ran away…..”

 ——

NINE FACTS

birthplace ➔ 

“I was born in California! My parents say it was a beach city but I don’t remember anything from there. I was only 5 when we moved.”

hair color ➔

“Black!” She flips her shoulder-length hair proudly “I’m actually trying to let it grow out!”

eye color ➔ 

“Just regular brown. Nothing too much special.”

birthday ➔

“November 25!”

mood ➔ 

“Um…...neutral? No, wait! Uh….confused? No!......Does ‘indecisive’ count as a mood or-”

gender ➔ 

“Imma girrrllllllll”

summer or winter ➔ 

“SUMMER!!! Don’t get me wrong, the snow is pretty but it’s cold! Summer is waaaaaayyyy better because you can get all the ice cream, wear tank tops, you have no school, all the movies are open, and you can have all the sleepovers!”

morning or afternoon ➔ 

“Afternoon, it’s my peak chaos time.”

 ——

EIGHT THINGS ABOUT YOUR LOVE LIFE

are you in love ➔ 

She blushes and looks at her hands “I….have a crush? Does that count?”

do you believe in love at first sight ➔ 

“Ha, nope! I mean, aside from going ‘oh that person’s pretty!’ you know absolutely nothing about each other! How could you possibly fall in love?”

who ended your last relationship ➔ 

“Uhmm….I’ve never been in a relationship???”

have you ever broken someone’s heart ➔ 

“Oh! Charlie told me I broke his heart when I told him about How to Train Your Dragon! Does that count?”

 are you afraid of commitments ➔ 

“Kinda? I mean I don’t usually interact with school committees ‘cause I’m not that interested but they seem a little intimidating…”

*some whispering*

“OH! Commitments! Sorry! No, I’m not afraid of commitments.”

have you hugged someone within the last week? ➔ 

“Mhmm!! I’ve hugged all my friends! And my Baby Yoda plushie! I’m waiting for my Dad to send over Dyn’s plushie when he finishes it though…”

have you ever had a secret admirer ➔

She shakes her head and laughs “Secret admirer? For me? That’s a joke!”

have you ever broken your own heart? ➔ “…..”

“I-.......No???? I’m not even sure how I’d do that-”

——

SIX CHOICES

love or lust ➔ 

“Love! Definitely.”

lemonade or iced tea ➔ 

“Lemonade!! Especially if it’s pink lemonade. It tastes better and I don’t know why.”

cats or dogs ➔

She grins widely before shifting to her Animagus form of a calico Ragamuffin cat. “This answer your question?”

a few best friends or many regular friends ➔

“Uhmm…..both? Like I have few friends that I’d call my close best friends but I also have a bunch of friends I like hanging out with.”

wild night out or romantic night in ➔ 

“Night in. You can do basically all the romantic attractions for free in your own home.”

day or night ➔ 

“Night! It’s the best time to concentrate!”

——

FIVE HAVE YOU EVERS

been caught sneaking out ➔ 

“Uhmm...yes? I tried sneaking out of my dorm at midnight cuz I got hungry and Rowan caught me trying to go to the kitchens, hehe.”

fallen down/up the stairs ➔ 

“I’ve done both so many times, let me tell you!”

wanted something/someone so badly it hurt? ➔ 

“My Baby Yoda plushies!!! Over the Christmas Break, my parents showed me the Mandalorian show and I started sobbing when I saw the Baby Yoda!! I kid you not, we had to pause the show several times so I could finish crying about how cute he is!! And then when we found out there wasn’t any merch for Baby Yoda I broke down crying again. But my Dad offered to make me a Baby Yoda plushie so it’s all good now!”

——

FOUR PREFERENCES

smile or eyes ➔ 

“Uhhhh both? Can I have both? Cuz they’re both good. I mean if I had to choose, I’d pick smile. It’s just nice to see someone smiling and the cute way their nose scrunches up in a smile or how their dimples show!”

shorter or taller ➔ 

She stands and aggressively demonstrates her 5 foot/152cm height. “DO I HAVE MUCH OF A CHOICE??? I’m pretty sure there are House Elves taller than me!!”

intelligence or attraction ➔ 

“Intelligence. My mom likes saying that people can look pretty until they open their mouth and talk.”

hook-up or relationship ➔ 

“Relationship!...Wasn’t this question technically answered earlier-”

——

FAMILY

do you and your family get along ➔ 

“Mhmm! Mom and Dad used to say me and my brother got along too well! Well….at least we used to before that whole expulsion thing…”

would you say you have a “messed up life” ➔ 

“Uhmmm, not to pull a page from Orion’s book but are any of us truly free from a ‘messed up life’?”

have you ever run away from home ➔

Jasmine snickers and grins widely “I don’t remember this, but apparently I tried to run away from home when I was really little. Like three or something. And I made a huge deal about it but according to my mom I passed out in my room curled up in a blanket and empty backpack.”

have you ever gotten kicked out ➔

“I have proudly gotten myself kicked out of my brother’s room no less than fifty times! Yes, I kept track.”

——

FRIENDS

do you secretly hate one of your friends ➔ 

She sucks in a breath through her teeth. “I mean…..I have a few friends who I don’t always agree with but we’re still friends. Like Skye Parkin! We’re definitely friends but sometimes I wanna strangle her...but like lovingly because she’s my friend who just has zero impulse control. And she rips books!! Who does that????”

do you consider all of your friends good friends ➔ 

“Mhmm!! They’re a chaotic bunch but they’re my chaotic bunch and I love ‘em!”

who is your best friend ➔ 

“Definitely Rowan! Aside from her, I’d say Chiara is also my best friend!” She blushes slightly “And I’m hoping I can get close enough to Talbott sometime to call him my best friend!”

who knows everything about you ➔

“Aside from my family? I guess Rowan and Chiara. We…..may have had one too many late night-sleepover sugar-high confessions hehehe…”

(I’m tagging: @weasley-adoptee, @coldcursebreaker, @dzikiszczupak, @benscursedkid and anyone else who wants to do this!!

[cindylouwho-2]

RECENT NEWS, RESOURCES & STUDIES, late-January 2020

Welcome to my latest summary of recent news, resources & studies including search, analytics, content marketing, social media & ecommerce! This covers articles I came across since the mid-January report, although some may be older than that. 

Right now I am trying to get at least 2 of these out each month. Is that enough? Too much? Am I missing topics you want to see covered? Please let me know! Comment here, message me through Tumblr, Twitter, or my website.

Also, I am once again working on plans to start an ecommerce business forum, where small business owners can learn and discuss topics like the ones I post about here. If you have any preferences for a suggested platform/forum space,please let me know! I will be running a survey once I narrow down my list. 

TOP NEWS & ARTICLES 

Etsy introduced alternative shipping for US sellers shipping outside of the US & Canada, run by Asendia. Etsy Labels will no longer offer USPS First Class International for those shipments, but faster levels will still be through USPS. The Help file doesn’t give that much more detail; discussion is here. 

Having educational/information pages on ecommerce websites can help product page search rankings. Blog posts, pillar pages and tutorials can all be a good investment. 

Excellent article on how to keep your existing buyers (aka customer retention) rather than always going after new ones. It cites decent research in the area, with examples. (As regular readers know, I love Help Scout’s customer service articles!) For example, “When it comes to highly rated customer service, quality and completeness matter more than speed. According to research from Gallup, customers were nine times more likely to be engaged with a brand when they evaluated the service as “courteous, willing, and helpful.” “Speedy” service, on the other hand, only made customers six times more likely to be satisfied.”

ETSY NEWS 

More updates to listing categories, including a new Presets & Photo Filters category, and Cribs & Cradles is now called Moses Baskets & Hammocks. 

Tips on marketing your Etsy listings for weddings. “Etsy wedding shoppers are often drawn to Etsy because they identify as creative people themselves, an asset you should consider when developing and marketing your products. By offering DIY versions of some of your popular items, you can draw in crafty shoppers, who may end up purchasing a finished handmade item from your shop instead. Offering both options can also be a great way of hitting multiple price points.”

If you sell jewellery and/or accessories, here is Etsy’s advice for marketing in the first half of the year. “While high-end jewelry is often a carefully considered purchase, more affordable everyday items make easy impulse buys and gifts due to their small size and approachable price points.” Also, people are still shopping by gender: “70% YoY increase in Jewelry, Accessories, and Bags category searches containing “him”. “We expect the bags category to grow the most out of these three categories in the next year, led by the increasing popularity of small leather goods such as wallets, dopp kits, and items for travel. A recent increase in average order value within the Bags category suggests buyers are willing to pay more for high-quality materials like leather.” But note that “Buyers tend not to use the term "purse" in their searches.” Finally, “From July through September 2019, over half of Etsy US and global GMS came from purchases that shipped for free.”

In case you missed it, Disney is going after Etsy sellers of Baby Yoda merchandise. Some speculate that they are mostly focusssing on the listings making the most sales. More sarcastic & humorous take here.

Interesting interview (podcast & transcript, including a pdf) with CEO Josh Silverman, on business strategies.  I do like this quote: “When you’re successful, what can be really hard is to tell you’re successful because of some things and in spite of others.” To be very honest, I have this problem a lot, and have seen other business people misjudge their success as well. This is telling, though “And you have until December 31st to ship it.” I have a hunch that is what happened with Etsy Ads and the free shipping tools. So they shipped unfinished tools, and that was bad for the business. Finally, “HOFFMAN: Until this point, Etsy’s focus had been on its sellers. It saw itself as a marketplace for handmade items, and the people who made them. Josh knew he had to change this perspective… SILVERMAN: It was a really big shift in focus. I think Etsy, like many two sided marketplaces, has very deep empathy for sellers, so much so that it can forget to have empathy for buyers. And when you talk to your sellers, they really mostly want three things. They want buyers, they want buyers, and they want buyers – in that order. In order to serve the sellers, you’ve really got to focus on buyers...By the end of my fifth week almost everyone in the company had a new job.”

SEO: GOOGLE & OTHER SEARCH ENGINES 

Google confirmed a core search update that started to roll out January 13 and took about 3 days, and showed substantial changes on most tracking tools. Early analysis indicates this has once again affected sites based on trustworthiness, but big winners and losers are still unclear. The take from Moz is that this hit health sites like previous updates, but also hurt diverse sites such as Orbitz, Yellow Pages, Poshmark, USA Today and Forever 21. RankRanger noted that there was more volatility in finance rankings than the December update. 

Remember Google’s algorithm change late last year, called BERT? George Mueller offered a bit of advice [text and video] on how to optimize for it: “if ... there’s anything that you can do to kind of optimize for BERT, it’s essentially to make sure that your pages have natural text on them...So instead of stuffing keywords as much as possible, kind of write naturally” 

Google is now highlighting some products (clothing & accessories) in organic search results on mobile in the US & India; you have to have a Google Merchant Centre account set up, but you do not need to buy ads to get this organic boost. Here’s the Google help file on how to optimize. 

If your website has many related pages on a specific topic, organizing the info on one “content hub” (aka pillar pages, or even category pages in some cases) is an excellent way to get user and search engine attention. 

Brief video from Google for SEO beginners: how to optimize images for Google search. They also link to their support file on this question, which has more advanced info. And here is another beginners video on Google SEO considerations for your website. (More links in the video comments.)

Google has a “SafeSearch filter” that removes porn and other mature content from search results, but sometimes it catches innocent sites as well. 

Another good article on how internal linking can serve multiple purposes on your website, especially keyword ranking.

Sites that get the “featured snippet” position in Google search results can no longer get organic ranking on the first page. This could change, though. 

CONTENT MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA (includes blogging & emails) 

Excellent tips & advice on how to make email marketing work for you. Not using emails? You should. “...email has over 3.8 billion daily active users. Take a minute to think about that. Most people who use email probably fall between the ages of 15 and 64, and since there are only about 5 billion people on the planet in that age range, that means email has over 75 percent market penetration.” And “Almost three-fourths of people prefer to hear from businesses via email.”

Do you think that every email campaign needs its own landing page? I’m not sure, but there are some convincing arguments here. And don’t forget to plan to send your emails at the right time for your list subscribers. 

Updated for 2020, HubSpot does an excellent holiday calendar that can help you plan social media posts and other content ahead of time, including hashtags where applicable. 

Tips on converting your existing content (blog posts etc.) into podcasts. “Podcasts tend to be longer-form content than video or blogs. Many videos that companies produce are relatively short, ~2 minutes. For someone looking to listen to your podcast, this may not be substantial enough in terms of the information covered.”

Here’s a useful list of demographics of social media users - think about which sites would work best for your business based on who is using them. 

Reddit is an excellent source of content ideas (video & transcript), as people are usually discussing and upvoting things that interest them, and it is all organized by topic for you. 

Instagram is adding direct messaging (DM) access to their website. 

Facebook is accused of denying data access to potential competitors. 

A surprising number of American adults use LinkedIn, and their numbers are growing faster than expected. “LinkedIn users make up around one-third of all social network users in the U.S.”

ONLINE ADVERTISING (SEARCH ENGINES, SOCIAL MEDIA, & OTHERS) 

Another tutorial on setting up a Google Ads account. 

Google ads were less evident in organic search results, for about a week. This mirrors the changes on mobile several months ago, & includes favicons next to brand sites. But more people complained about the desktop layout, so they have backed down and will continue to test new versions. 

Facebook, Google & Amazon are not the only advertising options out there. 

Short infographic on how to advertise on TikTok. 

STATS, DATA, OTHER TRACKING 

If you haven’t set up Google Search Console for your website or blog, you should. [YouTube Video, from the Beginners series]

A good basic guide to using the Google Keyword Planner, including more tips on how to get in without setting up a paid ad campaign. 

Instagram is most useful when you track your stats - use Insights to track your reach, clicks, impressions etc. 

ECOMMERCE NEWS, IDEAS, TRENDS 

The growth of ecommerce purchases has been detrimental to US retail sales overall, due to brick and mortar store closures, lower b&M profit margins, and fewer jobs. Remember that Amazon now gets around 50% of ecommerce purchases in the US, meaning that the increase of online retail is more consolidated than the lost brick and mortar sales. 

Amazon will now be reporting counterfeit goods sold on its site to the authorities: "The hope has been that Amazon’s coveted data will help law enforcement make connections about criminals." 

Amazon has started a delivery program in Australia called Amazon Flex. Requiring drivers to sign up for shifts up to 4 hours that they choose, driving their own vehicles, the program is being compared to Uber. 

Shopify now has over 1 million merchants, and is growing rapidly. “This past Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend, the company saw $2.9 billion in total sales; during its peak, Shopify software was processing $1.5 million in sales and 16,000 checkouts a minute.”

BUSINESS & CONSUMER STUDIES, STATS & REPORTS; SOCIOLOGY & PSYCHOLOGY, CUSTOMER SERVICE 

Smartphone purchases continue to increase: $5.9 billion spent on Black Friday & Cyber Monday, and 48% of online purchases in the US on Christmas Day. 

Supposedly, USPS is the most trusted brand in the US, followed by Amazon, Google, and Paypal. Actual quote: “levels of distrust are high in America, but it found that brands can win trust by protecting consumers' data privacy, not hiding important information in fine print and treating employees better than the minimum required by law.” I’m struggling with Amazon & Google in the top in particular, given that quote, but at least Facebook didn’t make the top 25. 😉 Note that age is a differential factor here: “Google is the most trusted brand among Gen Z and millennials, while USPS is the most trusted among older generations like Gen X and baby boomers.” Study details & top 25 list available here. (There is a large difference between the generations, according to this study; it’s worth a scan.)

MISCELLANEOUS

If you are looking for a new search engine, here are 7 that aren’t Google. Some of you  probably hadn’t heard of all of them, because I hadn’t. 

Anti-virus software Avast is still selling user data to major companies.

[kootenaygoon]

So,

Lyra was giving us a special tour.

Her medical shift ended around dinnertime and she came blazing out of the headquarters, still jazzed from a long shift of dealing with drugged-up idiots. Over the course of a day the medical staff dealt with everything from slivers to dehydration and minor wounds, but mostly they triaged all the different people in mental health distress thanks to what they called poly-substance abuse. There was the naked guy screaming out like a baby tyrannosaurus, the girl having a nervous breakdown, the bearded gentleman terrified by the alien chanting in his headspace. It was amazing to see her work, yammering into her walkie talkie while circling from one bed to the next, corralling patients. She only made it forty feet on to the grounds before a giant dude in a black and white prison uniform tossed himself on the ground in front of us and began howling, berserk and high-pitched.

“The crazy thing is I can tell you right now that he’s on too much ketamine. And believe it or not, the right way to deal with that is to give him more ketamine,” Lyra told me, as she flagged down the on-duty medical staff. They roared over with their ATV and loaded him up. 

“They can actually respond to an emergency anywhere on the ranch in two minutes, any stage or anywhere out in the camping area. Two minutes.”

Lyra was intensely proud to be working for Shambhala, but I wondered if somebody behind the scenes had instructed her to take the local journalist for a ride. She was definitely showing me the festival’s good side. The official types were busy arguing about the forest fire and they wanted to make sure I had other things to occupy my time. In the darkness it wasn’t as obvious that the smoke had only gotten thicker over the course of the day. There weren’t any new updates on Twitter, so I’d texted Chris Armstrong. He hadn’t gotten back to me yet.

“What do you think Jimmy will do?” I asked. “Like if they tell him to shut it down, can he just ignore that?”

We were hiking through the darkness, and Lyra shouted back over her shoulder at me. “I wouldn’t want to be in his position. He’s got $5 million at stake.”

“Have you had people checking in for smoke inhalation or anything like that?”

“Oh, a couple. But come on, it’s Friday. How close could the fire get by Monday, really? I heard they surveyed the fire and it’s still not even heading in this direction.”

“It’s just so ominous, you know? Trying to enjoy a music festival while the province is on fire. If things get worse I’m going to have to file a story tomorrow.”

“I doubt that will happen.”

Lyra found a side-gate to the Fractal Forest, hugged the guy manning it, then ushered Steph and I through it. Pretty soon I was climbing to the top of a flashing neon temple, looking out over the surging dance floor towards the looming green face of Yoda. In one of my Star stories I’d quoted a raver saying the muppet Jedi was making his “bass face”. My brainspace throbbed from the swampy soundscape, the light show lasers making me squint. I hadn’t really slept the night before, laying in my RAV arguing with Andrew Stevenson, so I’d now been awake for over 30 hours. Lyra put her hand on the base of my bare back, her lips tickling my ear while she narrated the scene in front of me. I loved the smell of her breath.

“Any of these kids could go down at any moment, from an overdose or whatever, and they don’t even stop the music. The medical team just drives right on to the dance floor and collects the person,” she said.

“You should see them do it. They’ve got it down to an art now.”

Eventually we worked our way back to the Pagoda Stage, where silhouetted women hung sultry from hoops and the newly constructed architecture came alive with rainbows of vibrating energy. My body felt heavy but I was trying to have a good time, half-dancing with Steph. I knew this was probably my last chance to enjoy the festival before I put on my journalism hat tomorrow, working on my harm reduction feature with Dr. Brendan Munn. Lyra pulled out her camera and took some blurry pictures in the darkness, as we hugged and posed. I told them I was heading off to find a washroom, then headed back towards the vendors lined up near the entrance.

That’s where I found Kori. I’d first connected with them during the Human Library event three months earlier. It was an event at the Nelson & District Public Library where readers were invited to take out real people for 20-minute interviews. I was covering it for the Star and ended up writing a cover story about Kori, the first non-binary person I’d ever met. As I approached I saw they were wearing a tutu and rocking a fu manchu moustache, their breasts brazenly bared. Kori had recently had a kid who was now potentially going to become the first British Columbian to have a birth certificate without a gender, and appeared on Piers Morgan arguing about the use of the pronoun “they”. From what I understood, Kori planned to utilize the female aspects of their body for the parenting experience before going through a further transition. During our interview at the library I’d been surprised to find myself attracted to them, because they reminded me of my ex Cat. 

I’d never met anyone like them.

“So I was thinking if I did LSD, then it would end up in my breast milk, right? So if I squirted it in your mouth right now, would you get high?” they asked, looming six inches taller than me.

I considered this. It felt strange to be attracted to someone who seemed like they could dominate me physically. “That would make sense. It would be kind of like recycling your drugs.”

“Exactly. Do you want to try?”

Hanging out with Kori was a trip, and always got me thinking about my own relationship with gender. Ever since I was in elementary school, I’d always considered myself to be a female in a male body. For a long time I even wished I could become a girl. I understood girls, gravitated to them, befriended them, while boys were obnoxious and scary and gross. This information never proved to be especially relevant, because I ended up being comfortably cisgender and hetero, but meeting Kori had me reconsidering the complexity of it all. If our sexualities were all in our brain matter, was it really possible to imagine an identity that contradicted your body? Could I imagine being a woman, and everything that came with that? In my fiction I’d created female characters, conjuring everything from lesbian heartbreak to a tragic father-daughter relationship. What if I took it one step further, and imagined childbirth? Could I be like Daenerys on that funeral pyre, giving birth to her dragons? Could I be more than this ordinary dude, hopelessly vanilla? 

Lyra and Steph eventually caught up, and I introduced them to Kori. We danced together in the shadows, throwing our arms around each other like we were in a football huddle. I gazed around at their three beautiful faces, full of love.

“It’s like I’m high on you guys. I’m feeling this incredible energy because I’m here partying with three mothers,” I said, my mouth gaping open happily.

Kori raised their eyebrows at me, and I knew I’d fucked something up. I was so careful with the pronouns!

“Three parents,” they said. “Three parents.”

The Kootenay Goon

[megadarkbouquettidalwavethings]

Is Your Dog Ready to Be an Instagram Star?

What conclusions may be drawn? For one thing, Instagram puts a premium on superficial dog traits like cuteness over ones like intelligence or obedience.

“Instagram and social media is impacting everything, and influencing all kinds of lifestyle and consumer decisions, so it makes sense that it would influence what kind of dog people choose,” said Cameron Woo, the publisher of The Bark, a dog-culture magazine based in Berkeley, Calif. In that way, Instagram is like television was in an earlier era, Mr. Woo said. “Lassie” inspired a mid-century collie boom; “Frasier” propelled a Jack Russell terrier moment in the 1990s.

That was certainly the case with Aleksandar Gligoric, a dog breeder from Serbia who named his online dog store Frenchie World, in part because of Instagram. “People are considering Instagram worthiness in all aspects of their life,” he said. “I felt that the Frenchie would be the next big thing on Instagram.”

Almost Human

So, what dog traits are favored by Instagram users? Well, for starters, they like dogs that look like them.

Breeds like pugs and Boston terriers “really resemble humans, or babies,” Mr. Woo said. These so-called brachycephalic breeds, with their shortened heads, flat faces and barely there noses, “are very photogenic with their large, forward-looking eyes,” Mr. Woo said. “They appear to be grinning or smiling,” never mind that the “smiles” are often caused by breathing difficulties native to their breeds.

Pug owners don’t disagree.

“With their smushed-in faces, all the rolls, and their funny tails, pugs are the least doglike dogs,” said Leslie Mosier of Nashville, whose pug, Doug (@itsdougthepug), is one of the most popular pets on Instagram, with 3.2 million reputed followers. “They are more like humans-slash-pigs-slash-dogs.”

The breed’s almost-human face makes it easy for owners to anthropomorphize their pets with costumes. Ms. Mosier routinely plays off Doug’s perma-frown by dressing him — wrapped in towels, say, with cucumber slices over his eyes, looking like a moneyed divorcée taking refuge at Canyon Ranch.

Continue reading the main story

As actors or models, pugs are the canine equivalent of hams. “They were bred in China to sit at the emperor’s feet and entertain,” Ms. Mosier said.

A dog’s popularity can increase exponentially when it has a signature style flourish, the canine equivalent of Anna Wintour’s sunglasses or Pharrell Williams’s hats. Case in point: the Gene Simmons-length tongue of @marniethedog, a Shih Tzu rescue that at this point may be more famous than the real Gene Simmons, thanks to an explosively popular Instagram feed.

And if the canine flourish isn’t genetic, there’s no stopping the owner from creating one with careful grooming. Take Agador (@poochofnyc), a maltipoo with teddy bear looks who has appeared in ad campaigns for Google and a teaser for Katy Perry’s “Bon Appétit” video.

Agador’s explosive orb of copper-colored frizz is routinely gussied up into a spherical confection atop his head. It is a look that conjures the Bob Ross, the TV painter who died in 1995. And who isn’t going to follow “the Bob Ross of dogs,” as Agador is billed on Instagram.

“It makes him instantly recognizable,” said Allan Monteron, one of his owners. “People stop us on the street and say, ‘I follow that dog on Instagram!’”

Exaggerated features are a plus, too. Take corgis, those squat-legged canine courtiers to the queen. They are certainly hot on Instagram, with accounts that have “corgi” in the user name rising 200 percent over the past year, according to Instagram, and that cannot all be attributable to the breed’s occasional cameo on “The Crown.”

Every feature of the corgi works as a visual punch line: those oversize Yoda ears, the squat “Honey I Shrunk the Collie” body, the 50-percent-off appendages, which make the corgi’s movements particularly comical on social media.

The same may be said of bulldogs, the one breed that appears in the top five of both Instagram and the American Kennel Club. Outside of social media, bulldogs’ popularity will be assured so long as there are Anglophiles, Marine Corps veterans and college football fans in the state of Georgia.

Continue reading the main story

And on Instagram, where user names that include “bulldog” have seen a 60 percent surge in the past year, bulldogs check multiple boxes: They look like people (specifically, grumpy old men), have inherently comic features (the volleyball-size head, the tiny bow legs) and are easy to anthropomorphize.

The breed has also reaped a windfall of “it dog” publicity from celebrities, including Brad Pitt, Jessica Biel and David Beckham, for whom these homely little bruisers seem to make the perfect foil. The message seems to be: “Do not hate me because I am beautiful, since my dog is not.”

Mutts and Tripods

Because of their associations with the queen and the British Empire, however, both corgis and bulldogs seem out of step with the current vogue for rescue dogs and less rarefied breeds.

These days, pointedly aristocratic breeds tend not to pop on social media as much as dogs with quirky features or compelling back stories, said Elias Weiss Friedman, a New Yorker photographer who spends his days snapping pictures for The Dogist, a dog-centric street photography site that has a rabid Instagram following.

“I’ve found that people prefer the more real, natural dogs,” Mr. Friedman said. “Poodles seem to give off a pretentious vibe, especially if they have the classic poodle haircut. The older generations love them, but I think the younger generation sees that style as fake, undogly.”

Indeed, his two most popular posts have been a mixed breed puppy with funny ears named Larry and a 12-year-old Labrador with vitiligo named Rowdy. “People crave relatability, and see dogs as individuals with similar life challenges to themselves,” he said.

The right kinds of mixed breed — they were once called mutts — play well on social media, particularly if their features are camera worthy. A husky-malamute-wolf mix called @loki_the_wolfdog has become one of the 10 most popular pets on Instagram, thanks in part to his rugged “Call of the Wild” aura and head-turning looks (including mismatched eye colors and a silky coat that changes color with the seasons), that his owner, Kelly Lund, uses to poetic effect in his shots of Loki in the snow-dusted Colorado wilderness.

Many dog owners interviewed also said they see mutts, rescues and disabled dogs as a more ethical choice.

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“I think the most difficult question posed to us is always ‘Where did you get that dog? I want to get one exactly like it,” said Francis Bott, who owns Agador with his partner, Mr. Monteron. “It is simple enough to provide the breeder’s name, but we are big proponents of adopting rescues whenever possible.”

(They opted buy a hypoallergenic poodle mix from a breeder, Mr. Bott said, because their previous dog, a rescue Shih Tzu/Bichon mix, aggravated their allergies.)

Rescue organizations like the North Shore Animal League and the Brooklyn Animal Resource Coalition blanket social media with heart-rending photos of doe-eyed animals looking for a home.

Such social media efforts to raise awareness have led to a demand for differently abled dogs and so-called tripods, or those missing a limb, said Jennifer Nosek, the editor of Modern Dog magazine. One such unlikely Instagram star was Smiley, a golden retriever born without eyes, and with a form of dwarfism, in a puppy mill, who went on to become a widely publicized service dog in nursing homes and hospitals. (Smiley’s death last year, after a battle with cancer, was covered by the news media.)

“Perhaps it’s an antidote to all the bad news we’re so often bombarded with,” Ms. Nosek said. “These accounts remind us that there are people, and dogs, out there doing good.”

Either that, or such dogs just provide a break from the pressure that the rest of us feel trying to look too perfect for Instagram.

Take @chloekardoggian, a gray-whiskered 13-year-old rescue Chihuahua in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, with huge eyes and 153,000 followers. “Her ears go up, her nose goes right, her tongue goes left, and her eyes each go in different directions,” said Dorie Herman, her owner. “Everyone has felt like Chloe looks at some point in their lives.”

Continue reading the main story

ALEX WILLIAMS

The post Is Your Dog Ready to Be an Instagram Star? appeared first on dailygate.

[malarkiness]

I saw the Star War. TLJ spoilers under the cut.

I was spoiled for just about EVERYTHING in TLJ but despite that, I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about it once I actually saw all the weird shit in context. Some fans with similar tastes to mine seemed to hate it, but others thought it was mediocre with some redeeming traits, and then some actually liked it, so I didn’t know how I’d react.

And after seeing it, I'm... still not really sure how I feel about it?

I didn’t find the conflict between Poe and Holdo that interesting. I can appreciate that it provided a little character development for Poe, but it felt kind of contrived. 

There’s a lot of jarring humor in the first half hour or so of the movie. Like there are all these scenes where tension starts to build and pull you in, but then it’s shot down because someone just has to make some stupid, useless comment. And it just makes the writing seem really insecure, like they’re afraid the audience won’t take this seriously, so instead of just committing anyway, they have to throw in some elbow-jabby line to make it seem like they’re in on the joke, too. I found myself refusing to take scenes seriously because I knew the emotional build-up wasn’t going to pay off.

Leia gets shot into outer space and lives because... the Force? Honestly, fuck it, who cares, Leia can do whatever she wants.

I did like how Rey and Kylo’s skype calls were shown, how you could tell that they could see each other even though they were in different locations and weren’t even in the same shot. Kylo noticing the rain on his glove was a nice touch, too. Also, between shirtless Kylo and those.... things Luke milked on the island, there were entirely too many nipples in this movie.

Rey started sympathizing with Kylo WAY too easily, IMO. She saw this guy nearly kill her friend and also rip a hole in his own father’s chest, what, a week ago? If that? Why would she believe anything he tells her? I understand her not fully trusting Luke either, that’s fine, but her decision to try to get Kylo to switch sides was too abrupt. I’m not really against Rey trying to turn Kylo as a plot point, but it could’ve been written much better, and in a way that doesn’t make Rey look so naive.

Popular opinion, apparently: I didn’t care for the casino planet. Finn and Rose have to go there to find this one kind of annoying character who can get them access to the First Order, and along the way they see how the First Order is funded and all that, so it does play into the overall story, but it just felt like those two were lightyears away from the actual plot. Every time the movie cut back to that subplot I just dreaded it, and I hate that. Finn’s my favorite character, so his storyline should’ve been one of the highlights of the movie for me, but it was just so boring. Like the setting itself wasn’t very creative, the codebreaker they pick up is pretty forgettable, Finn and and Rose’s interactions are kind of flat (which is a shame because John and Kelly work great together in interviews and whatnot; it just seems like they weren’t really given any good dialogue to work with). The whole thing just felt like a waste of time. They definitely could’ve found something more interesting for Finn and Rose to do. I did like Finn telling whatshisfuck that he should give Rose her medallion back, though, and that whatshisfuck.... actually did it. That was kind of nice. I think what the writers were trying to do was solidify Finn’s commitment to the resistance, but... we sort of already did that? In TFA, he wants to run from the First Order and is on his way to do just that after leaving Rey at the cantina, but he changes his mind after the first Starkiller attack. And from then on, he’s on their side. Granted, his primary focus is saving Rey, but he’s still fighting alongside the resistance. And anyway, if you really wanted to do this sort of storyline (again), you could’ve found a more interesting way to do it.

I liked seeing Yoda again, especially his OT incarnation. I rewatch RotS at least once every Christmas, and that’s more consistently than I watch any of the other films, so I tend to forget that Yoda wasn’t always the calm, steady, powerful CGI figure that he is in the prequels. He actually started out (release order-wise) as this jankity puppet character who’s very wise but also kind of batty, and it was just really fun to see that version of him again.

I’m pretty sure my heart dropped into my stomach when Phasma showed up. For some reason, I completely forgot that she’d be aboard that ship too, so I wasn’t prepared for her at all. I think I actually gasped in the theater lmao.  I loved seeing her and Finn face off, and that she calls him a flaw in the machine (or something like that) and then “scum,” and I LOVE that he corrects her insult to “rebel scum” right before she dies... even if it does seem like a cap to a kind of redundant character arc, but what the hell, it’s still a good line. I would’ve liked some more build-up to this fight, though. I suppose Finn defeating her had more to do with what she represented to him than their personal relationship, but I dunno, it would’ve been cool for these two to get more than just one fight (and a very brief one at that). Also, Finn needs to fight with a lightsaber again before this trilogy ends.

Rey and Kylo kill Snoke in his very silly-looking throne room and then fight off all his equally silly-looking cherry jolly rancher henchman. Silliness aside, though, that was a great scene. Kylo using the Force to ignite the lightsaber and slice Snoke in half was gruesome and honestly really fucking cool, and I say that as someone who’s easily grossed out by that sort of thing. I also liked how the tone shifts when the fight’s over and Rey expects Kylo to call off the First Order and spare the rebels, and he refuses.

The fight scenes in general were fantastic in this movie. I especially loved how often Rey used a reverse grip with her lightsaber.

Luke and Leia’s reuinion was very sweet. I did cry a little over that.

Luke and Kylo’s face-off was great, too. I like that Luke apologizes, but still holds Kylo accountable for his actions. And I liked the line, “Kill me in anger, and I will always be with you,” and I can’t wait to see how that concept plays into IX. And I LOVE that Kylo doesn’t kill him (not for lack of trying, ofc...), but that instead, Luke sacrifices himself to give the resistance time to escape. I was just a little upset that Luke wasn’t really there, though, and that he didn’t really give Leia Han’s dice.

I liked the battle on Crait, too. The red soil getting kicked up from under the salt made for a lot of nice visuals. All the red dust in the scene where Kylo fired everything at Luke made it seem so much more brutal. I also liked the scene where Rose stopped Finn from sacrificing himself (by  crashing into him lmao, that could’ve ended very badly very easily). Rose kissing Finn was kind of random, but I liked her line about “saving what we love.”

Finn and Rey’s hug at the end was the single greatest moment of the entire film (and possibly all of 2017 cinema tbh). It was perfect. I love that Finn is the first one out of that cavern to her, and that there’s no hesitation or talking or anything between them. They are just immediately in each other’s arms and are so happy and relieved and it’s so beautiful and pure and I am devastated that this ship is sunk.  I mean... I dunno, I guess it could still happen, but right now, I’m thinking FinnRose’ll be endgame. Rey and Kylo will probably have some drama or whatever, but Kylo’s almost definitely a dead man in IX, so I kind of doubt we’ll get R*ylo as a final ship. Just no love triangle bullshit, please. I barely survived LoK’s, and I kinda  doubt a FinnReyRose triangle would end with ReyRose.

I gotta say, though, I was pretty disappointed in the lack of an actual relationship between Luke and Rey. I mean, they have a relationship technically, but there’s no bond. They eventually have this duel on the island, and Rey tells him she thinks she can turn Kylo on their side and leaves, and....... that’s the last time they ever see each other. It just felt so hollow. Instead, the movie focuses all the real drama on Luke and Kylo’s relationship, which honestly is fine. I was surprised that I actually didn’t mind all that much that Kylo got so much focus in TLJ because the movie at least built him up as a good villain for Rey, setting him up to be a very Vader-like counter to her Luke. I just wish I could’ve gotten that and some more development between Luke and Rey. I liked seeing Luke’s fear of training Rey after sensing the darkness in her, and I wanted to see some more focus and drama around that. In all fairness, though, Luke could come back as a Force ghost in IX and remedy some of this, so maybe I shouldn’t be too hard on it.

I’m fine with Rey not being a Skywalker (and she isn’t, assuming Kylo’s word is good for anything. It’s perfectly possible that he was lying, but even if he was, I still don’t think she’s a Skywalker. Luke showed 0 recognition of her, Leia and Han didn’t know her... Unless Shmi miraculously conceived another Force baby and didn’t tell anyone, I think this theory’s dead.). Truthfully, I mostly wanted her to be a Skywalker just because it would’ve established a foundation for her and Luke’s relationship, but I guess it wouldn’t really be necessary. I just wanted something substantial between these two, and... I didn’t get much of anything. And okay, I’ll just throw this out there: What I really, really wanted was for it to be revealed that Rey had been one of Luke’s padawans along with Ben when she was very young (and she later lost her memories of this via plot contrivance), and she was the only one Luke managed to save when Kylo went on his rampage. And instead of.... any number of better choices, Luke decided to hide her on Jakku and then go into hiding himself. And honestly, if there’s a fic with that premise, I want to read it. Hell, I’ll forget all about this movie’s canon and sub that in, I don’t care.

All that said....... We ever gonna learn anything about Finn’s lost family or what?

lol this write-up is all over the place, but that’s kind of how I feel about this movie: It’s all over the place. There are some good twists and nice moments, but god, you’ve gotta slog through all the forced humor and casino subplots and Holdo-Poe spats and everything else to get to to the good stuff. I’ve ping-ponged back and forth over whether or not I liked this movie as a whole, lol. A lot of fans seem to either love it or hate it, and I think I might be somewhere right in the middle.

If nothing else, though, it made me appreciate TFA that much more.