#i just randomly see them on twitter and go: its obvious that they are connected?

[jaspbi]

Putting the Ryokugyu post aside for now since something came up and I NEED TO TALK ABOUT IT.

The new vivre cards came out, and they confirmed the 95% chance that Hibari is Akainu's daughter.

To explain:

At first, the only real proof of evidence that we had for this theory was that they were the only 2 characters in the whole entire series that spoke with the Hiroshima dialect (and the fact that they're both marines along with a few other things). Many pointed out that this could coincidence...

But then Hibari's vivre card was revealed:

She has the same blood type and her origin is from the North Blue, the exact same as Akainu's!

At this point it can't be a coincidence, and I will be making a post about all the evidence, since more is starting to pop up

[minggukieology]

So I have a question that requires an open mind and perhaps a “tin hat”. I was reading about Jimin referencing 2315 during PTD so I looked at dates. This is a reach.., but.. well here goes, lol.

If you calculate the number of days between Nov 8, 2015 and Feb 1, 2023 -excluding both Nov 8th and Feb 1st, it equals 2641 which added together is 13 :) Not sure if that is how date the calculations are done? Do you omit the starting and ending dates when calculating anniversaries etc?

Coincidence most definitely? Or not? If I did the calculations correctly, a nice coincidence?

Hi there! Thanks for your message.

First off, let me start by being very honest and saying I don't personally entertain this type of narrative no matter who it is done by and who it is about. Seeing some meaning in a set of numbers and then proceeding to throw random ones into the mix just so that they fit into your own presumed context is hitting QAnon level of conspiracy thinking. Alas you admit it yourself, yet proceed to pull strings from all possible corners to arrive at any satisfying (to you) conclusion. That being said if it makes sense to you and makes you happy, go ahead and enjoy it. But from my point of view, you just wrote a bunch of numbers and dates and drew connections that are void of reason.

Anyways to add a bit more cultural context, yes numbers and dates are important in Korean culture, esp when it comes to dating life, fortune etc. Korean couples celebrate their 100/×00th day anniversary, their yearly anniversary, their 1000th day anniversary; Peppero day, Valentines day, White day etc those are also all important in dating culture. So, yes counting days from when the couple officially got together is also a thing. To add, it is typically a young people thing, as they are prone to follow trends and show off their couple looks and gifts etc.

In context of BTS or specifically now Jimin and Jungkook, 13 has been mentioned a lot and yes there is a signifance for this number that is justified and logical, as they themselves referred to it on multiple occasions and emphasized its significance. It is also justified and logical to ascribe meaning to different dates that were pronounced and even mentioned by them, such as "Jimin day" or "Jungkook day." Similarly, we also have 지민+시 = 지민시 (Jimin+si) as 10:13 Jimin o'clock. However, anything beyond that is just fanmade narratives. And yes, I am fully aware a lot of those narratives come from Korean fans. But it is important to emphasize they are also just fans. Meanwhile the fandom might feel like their cultural background gives legitimacy to whatever they say and whatever patterns they see, they are no less prone to cognitive dissonance and logical fallacies as any other group of fans or group of people really.

This is now a whole meta discourse that could be dissected in pages and pages. But to sum up, I don't look for hidden meanings in the dates of their posts, and especially not the hour and the minute they post at, or try to analyze numbers they mention (in my opinion) pretty randomly (and even if not by random, anything that is not given context by them is just pure speculation, fantasy)

Once again, this egregiously long reply might feel like sort of an attack so let me reiterate: if these types of posts, theories, coincidences bring you joy, go ahead and indulge in them (I myself do sometimes as well)!! but please don't get too lost in the sauce. I understand, many jikookers are set out to *always* find some kind of connection or link in between Jimin and Jungkook even in completely unrelated scenarios, but make sure to be aware of this echo chamber and think critically.

(sidenote: I apologize if I am missing some obvious connotation that has sprung up on Twitter or some other corner of the Internet recently, I am not so active within the fandom anymore)

[steelycunt]

ridi thoughts on prongsfoot? it’s blowing up on twitter and personally i’d rather eat my own hand than imagine sirius in love in with anyone other than remus. because what about my little man? :(

hi bab yes!! so my thing with j/s is that well i get it but i absolutely hate it!! it makes sense to me, i see why people are into it (especially think. if you like r/s but you're an s girl), i don't dislike it for the reasons i dislike most other pairings (usually that they just seem randomly thrown together for no reason + have no. connection 2 me). absolutely i get it but well. i just dont like it at all at all. and mainly it is just because i am an r girl as as you say i just personally would not want to entertain any version of s being that in love with anyone else!! like where is r while all this is happening? on his own? eating a bowl of cereal? i WOULD rather be dead!! i cannot think of anything worse!! and even though i love s + j's dynamic i love writing them i love that in their own way they are freakyobsessed with each other i do tend to lean towards the whole 'brothers' dynamic and am personally just a bit bored by them as a romantic pairing. it is just not very interesting to me and r bias aside (or at least as aside as i am capable of putting it) i do genuinely think r/s is a thousand times more interesting i truly do. even j + r is more interesting to me...idk j+s feels so obvious and easy which is why i see that theres so much 4 people to go on (more than r/s its true) and i see why it makes sense but. i think i said before they are just a matching pair of socks which is freaky in its own way, but r/s are an odd pair of socks that have been worn together so often that theyve become a weird sort of makeshift pair that dont go together and yet are together idk i think there is so much more in there so well. all in all!! i think it makes enormous sense i absolutely see the appeal i have no notes no genuine problem with it except for the personal and unfortunately personal problem that i. DO hate it xx

[newtedison]

my thoughts on the crank palace

i touched about this a bit on twitter (@newtedison_) but i figured i would Try and touch on my points more here (spoilers obv) again, its sort of lengthy

1. im gonna start with talking about the ending because i need to get it out of the way. either i havent read the books in a while and i forgot some canon (which could very well be true, i literally forgot that Bliss was a thing) or this ending makes no sense and is (somehow) setting up for a tdc sequel? so first off, newt was shot in the Head with a Bullet and somehow didnt immediately die? i know that that can happen in real life but it just seems so unlikely that not only would he not die, but he would survive long enough for someone from WCKD to transport him back to their labs and try to revive him. and who the fuck was he talking to? did thomas get newt’s journal at some point and i just dont remember? like i said, either im forgetting stuff or this ending doesnt make sense and is setting up a sequel which...i’ll get to later

2. why was this written? like, what was the point? i understand that this wasnt going to be all sunshine and rainbows but i feel like i was reading torture porn. like, literally all that happens is newt gets tortured (which is described in detail) by WCKD soldiers, has bouts of insane-fueled rage where he KILLS MULTIPLE PEOPLE, and then he dies. ??? what did this contribute to the canon? what was this trying to accomplish? truthfully, i never really wanted a newt-POV...well, anything except for maybe those little nuggets he wrote some time ago. but even if i HAD wanted a newt-POV novella, this is not what i would have wanted. he KNOWS that newt is almost universally the most loved character in this franchise. you can tell because he constantly uses him as a way to get fans in his good graces again. so why on earth would he take that character that so many people love and write a novella where its torture porn and a descent into madness before death? i am not interested in that At All. i’ve read fics (and even written a drabble) where newt is a Crank, and those were more respectful and easier to read than tcp. the parts where newt is having bouts of the Flare were literally exhausting to read; it was described in such vivid and torturous detail that it made me sick reading it. and it didnt help that newt is a character i care a lot about. i didn’t need to know what becoming a Crank felt like. the way it was described in the other books (and even the movies) told me everything i needed to know. the way thomas and everyone found newt at the crank palace in tdc and hes described as obviously not well, but not knowing what exactly happened to him...thats good enough on its own. the mystery of what exactly newt had to endure is part of what gives his journey more emotional depth. not everything needs to be written out and explained. not every gap needs to be filled in. 

3. me saying “the characterization felt off” is going to make some people roll their eyes because ‘duh, sami, the characterization will be off because he’s going insane’ to which i say...exactly. we weren’t really reading a newt-POV novella, were we? even if he isn’t past the Gone in the beginning, hes clearly not the same person we knew him as. the whole novella felt like an uncanny valley situation; i knew i was supposed to be reading about newt, but it felt like i was reading about someone else who looked like him. and that is part of what made this such a disconnect and made me lose interest at parts. not only that, but the world building and lore is inconsistent. newt makes a comment about how it used to rain in the glade, and apparently (as ive been told) that is simply not true. keisha having somehow working cell phone that magically connects her to her family also doesnt make sense. how would they have each others’ numbers? what are the odds that they BOTH found working cell phones in an apocalypse? i get that its a novella but you cant just throw something that crazy in there as a plot convenience. actually work on your plot and world building in a cohesive way, please. and another thing that doesnt make sense...

4. ...is newt finding out that sonya is his sister. if there was anything i would have wanted from a newt-pov novella, it would have been this. him finding out that not only is sonya his sister, but he already knows her post-WCKD. something that would have made this novella actually captivating, contributing something worthwhile to the canon that i would actually want to read, is if newt found out while in the crank palace that sonya was his sister; the Flare would remove that part of the Slice in his brain, and he would realize it was her. then, knowing that he couldnt go past the Gone before seeing her, he would try to find a way to get back to her. he could learn this after thomas and everyone originally see him, so it could match up with the canon. and then, by the time 250 comes along, hes lost all hope of that actually happening, and lashes out to thomas in a fit of rage. the journey of him trying to find his ACTUAL sister would have meant more to me than the story of keisha and dante. trust me, i love a found family trope as much as the next girl. but this series is FULL of the found family trope. it pretty much is the backbone of the franchise. so to see a blood family dynamic would have been a refreshing change of pace that i actually would have been interested in reading. also, the way that newt DOES find out about sonya is...underwhelming. he just randomly says “you remind me of my sister, sonya” to keisha in the WCKD truck. first of all, sonya is not the name you would actually know her by. you would know her by her birth name (which is lizzy? elizabeth?). second, why does he act like he didnt already meet her in the series? when the WCKD doctor tells him sonya is his sister and is alive, hes so surprised. wouldn’t he have known that already? why is there not more emphasis on the fact he already met her? that would have been a really interesting dynamic to explore, and im sad they didnt

5. the pacing and dialogue of tcp is so dragged out. i remember specifically there was a section where newt goes to talk to keisha after she starts abandoning dante, and i swear to god there was a page and a half of text before anything ACTUALLY happened or anyone ACTUALLY said anything. dashner described a launcher at one point as “the energy dependent electric firing projectile device.” that’s SIX words to describe a stun gun. a fucking stun gun! we know what it is! why did you have to use six words??? it just felt like everything was dragged and stretched to the longest it could possibly be and it added to the exhaustion i felt while reading it

6. okay i cant end it without talking about newtmas. its very obvious by now that newtmas is a VERY large part of this fanbase. its clearly the most popular ship and what keeps a lot of people interested in this series. even the marketing team for the MOVIES used newtmas as a advertising tactic (i.e.; using thomas and newt standing face to face as a thumbnail for the trailer, emphasizing newtmas based questions in interviews, even making a fucking facebook memories video for them. yes that last one is real). not only does dashner use newt as a way to lure fans in; he also uses newtmas. the parts that were sprinkled into this were so obvious that it didnt feel authentic. i cant speak for the original trilogy; i dont know the culture around ships back then, and i dont know how much it influenced his writing at the time. but the scenes in those books felt more genuine than tcp. by genuine i mean; he wrote scenes without a relationship in mind, but the chemistry had noticeable subtext that, while unintentional, was largely agreed upon by the larger audience. the parts of newtmas he added into tcp felt artificial and forced, likely as a way for people to take snippets of and use as a free marketing tool for him. one example you might have already seen; “he had already gotten used to his post-thomas, post-WCKD life.” the fact that dashner SPECIFICALLY used the phrase “post-thomas” rather than “post-his friends” or something similar shows that he is using newtmas as a hook on purpose. not only that, but to make newt’s last thoughts as he died “tommy. tommy will understand...” is...wow. first of all, i never wanted to know what newt’s dying thoughts were, but thanks, i guess? and second, when we all initially thought newt died underneath thomas with a gun to his head, i was pretty much inferred that newts last thoughts would probably be about thomas; they would sort of have to be, given the circumstances. so adding that in gives me the same feeling that “i’m coming for you, newt” at the end of the fever code gave me. not as offensive, but written very much on purpose. and the ending is implying that there will somehow be a sequel where thomas gets newt’s journal from...someone. at this point, i can only think that this sequel will retroactively make newtmas canon somehow. now that newt has been confirmed as gay, it could happen. which brings me to my last point...

7. hearing dashner confirm newt is gay was already mind-boggling before. now that i’ve read the crank palace...im angry. im very angry. i think its safe to say that newt is the character that suffers the most in this series. you can argue with me but hes definitely high on the list, if not #1. so; you take this character. you give him a horribly sad arc in the original trilogy, then decide to expand upon it and tell us, your largely QUEER fanbase, exactly how painful and torturous his last days were, in detail. and then you tell us he’s gay. something that is never mentioned in the canon, only in an offhanded reply to a tweet of someone calling you out. on a base level, i can understand why people would be happy. representation (i guess), seeing themselves in the character, having their headcanons be confirmed. great. but what i see is you telling your largely queer fanbase “hey, you see the only confirmed gay character? im going to literally write torture porn about him before killing him off and offer it to you like im providing a service to your community.” how fucked up is that? “hey, kids, if youre gay, you WILL be violently tortured and become violent and a danger to the ones you love. then you will die and your love will never be reciprocated.” what a message! and if he DOES end up retroactively making newtmas “canon” in some weird sequel...i will start foaming at the mouth. THIS is an example of how not all queer representation is good or genuine.

i’ve definitely forgotten some points but this is long enough already. let me know if you agree or if theres anything else you want to add! im interested in what you guys think

(8. I JUST REMEMBERED!!! if WCKD needed to study newt so bad bc sonya is his sister and is immune while he isnt, why did they let him run around the crank palace in the first place??? you cant test his vitals or anything you’re literally just watching him. what is the point????)

[twdmusicboxmystery]

When a Grady Actor Confirmed TD and Other Reasons the Spoilers Don’t Spoil TD

Okay Everyone, I’m gonna cover a few of things today that I hope will help everyone to continue feeling at least somewhat better about the spoilers. 

***More spoilers below (same ones as yesterday, actually) but don’t read if you don’t want to know. You’ve been warned.***

1) Could the spoilers be fake?

I got plenty of messages and comments yesterday, too. Some of them claiming these spoilers aren’t even true and the person who spoiled them is a troll and unreliable. 

Now, before everyone starts messaging me and commenting about how you “know” these are true and the screeners are out, please note that I’m not making a claim either way. The account that spoiled this isn’t one who normally gets and reviews screeners, which means they could be false. That doesn’t mean that account didn’t get these from a reputable source, which means they could be true.

As I said yesterday, overall, I think they’re probably true. I think they were probably intentionally leaked to hype up the fandom and gauge our reactions. And I would rather you all make your peace with them being real rather than holding out hope that they’re totally false. But I think it’s worth reiterating that they haven’t been 100% confirmed, yet.

2) There’s a whole other person involved in this Leah arc that we don’t know about yet.

You know how yesterday I went on and on about how we don’t have anything near all the details of this arc? Well, someone pointed this out to me. Don’t feel bad if you totally missed it, because I did, too, and I haven’t seen anyone talking about it.

Look at the picture of Leah below carefully. Look at what’s behind her. If you look closely, there’s someone kneeling on the ground. They’ve got one knee resting on the floor, and the other one pointed toward the ceiling with their foot flat. You can see one shoulder to the left of Leah’s hip.

Spoilers make no mention of this person. We have no idea who they are or how they fit into the story.

This looks to me like it’s when she and Daryl first meet (hence, she doesn’t trust him and is holding him at gunpoint) and she seems to be protecting this person from him. Whoever it is, it probably has to do with why she’s out there to begin with, and will probably factor in how/why she disappears.

And I have no doubt that this shot is purposeful, guys. If they wanted us to know about this person directly, they would have given us a more obvious shot of them. And yet, they have put hints of the person in the shots they DID release. Isn’t that just like them?

But my point is, this is proof that there is a lot about this episode the spoilers are leaving out. So please keep that in mind.

3) When a Grady actor directly addressed TD.

So, for the past few days, as you can imagine I’ve been talking with and consoling people about these spoilers. I just keep going back to the stuff we KNOW. Like that there are missing scenes Emily was in from S5. Those have nothing to do with Leah and suggest Beth’s return. And if she’s returning, I promise you, Bethyl will be a thing.

The other thing I mentioned to people is when Jarod Thompson (guy that played one of the Grady cops) addressed TD directly. 

I quickly realized I needed to repost this because no one seemed to have any idea what I was talking about. Then it took me an hour to find it because I didn’t give it its own post when I first posted it. It was buried at the bottom of this Rick’s Fate post from S9 and not properly indexed. But I did finally locate it.

So, here’s the rundown. Right after the episode where Jadis took Rick away in the helicopter, Jarod Thompson tweeted this:

I’m pretty sure you can’t find this tweet anymore. It was taken down. But let me make a couple of points here. 

First, the obvious. TD has nothing to do with Leah. She wasn’t even on anyone’s radar back then. So what he’s telling us here has nothing to do with Leah. He’s basically telling us that Beth will return. 

Translation: Leah doesn’t matter. Beth is coming back. 

This is just one (of many) things that keeps me strong in TD. Because the actor actually confirmed this for us. And then it was quickly taken down, which is always suspicious to me. Why? Well, I’m sure some people will be quick to counter with the argument that maybe he was just trolling or making fun of us. But I don’t see that as a terribly logical argument. 

He’s never done it before or since. 

We have other evidence (HERE) of him working with Emily post-season 5, and possibly in the hospital setting. 

The timing is suspicious. This happened after Rick left. And I personally think that what he referred to here was the CRM. 9x05 was the first time they really came front and center, an active part of the story. So I think he was hinting that Beth is inside that organization as well and that now that the audience knows who they are, the stage is set and things are in motion for her return.

For the record, it was not long after this that we started getting the massing amount of Beth/Emily promotion on social media. 

Most importantly, his tweet was removed, probably by him at someone else’s request. Think about this really logically, guys. They don’t remove tweets about Caryl happening. They don’t remove teases about Daryl and Connie. They only remove suspicious posts that might tell us something about Beth’s return. There’s a reason for that. 

Furthermore, consider this. He’s kind of a small-time actor on the show. Of course I don’t mean that in a negative way. He’s fabulous. But I mean he’s not a main character on the show like Andy or Norman or Lauren. And HE knows all about TD, what we want, obviously what is going to happen, and which events in the show constitute room for us “to breathe.” 

So what does that tell you about other actors on the show, the writers, and any higher-ups connected to the show?

Yeah. Exactly.

Which leads me to my next order of business:

4) Kirkman’s Post/Poll

I think most people saw this last night, but if you didn’t , here it is. 

You can still vote HERE. I took the screenshot last night. I just checked again and the percentage has gone down a couple of points (still at 47%) with more than 9500 votes at this time. So the ‘bring Beth back’ option is still the runaway winner.

Here’s the thing. The timing on this is super-suspicious to me. When was the last time Kirkman tweeted something about Beth? I have no idea, and don’t care to go digging through his Twitter account to find out, but I promise you he hasn’t done it in a long time. He’s said things about her and Bethyl during interviews and such, of course, but he doesn’t just randomly tweet about her. Like...ever.

So you’re telling me that on day 2 after these spoilers leak, when the fandoms are loosing their collective minds, Kirkman just so happens to post this? No way. I don’t buy it.

Look, I know most of us don’t like Kirkman. And I’m not defending him. I don’t like him either. But after watching his interaction with tptb all these years, I have come to believe that they do use him. 

Gimple (and now Kang, I’m sure) are very careful about what they say. Guys, I’ve watched and analyzed this VERY closely over the years, which is why I always say that they never directly lie to us. Misdirection? Yes. Hyperbole? Of course. But they never look into the camera and tell us something blatantly untrue. 

I believe that’s because they don’t want the fans to be able to point at anything they say and accuse them of falsehood. That’s why they can’t ever say much, because it’s either give spoilers (which they won’t) or lie (which they also won’t). That’s why their answers are always so vague and general and very, very irritating. 

But Kirkman isn’t one of the showrunners. He’s connected to it, of course, and I think he knows a lot about what’s coming down the pipeline, but if he says something that’s untrue, tptb can simply shrug and say, “he’ doesn’t make executive story decisions.” Because of that, I believe they use him to sew discord and misdirection. 

And again, I’m not saying this isn’t troll-ish. I’m not saying I like this tactic or that it’s a good thing. I’m simply saying this is what they do. 

So when Kirkman says anything TD-related, I pay attention. Not because I think we should take it at face value, but because the timing, context, how he frames it, and what’s going on in the fandom at the time can tell us a lot about it and give us some clues. 

So, in this case, I think tptb are watching the fandom’s reactions to the spoilers and trying to do a little damage control. But here’s what really gets me: he only mentioned Beth, and specifically in the context of bringing her back. I mean, ALL the shipping fandoms are freaking out right now. All of them are hating these spoilers and losing their shit right now. But he ONLY mentions Beth.

I truly believe that this is tptb, through Kirkman, addressing TD specifically, and just kind of throwing us a bone. They’re not addressing the others because there isn’t any hope for those other ships. 

I know there will be people who disagree with him and think he’s just making fun of us. I understand why people think that. But guys, if that were the case, we’d see at least SOME comments about other characters or ships. There aren’t any. And hey, look through the comments on his tweet. There’s a ton of Beth support (which is why she won the poll) and a few haters, but there are also lots of people who are kind of mystified, saying things like, “How about bring back Glenn? Or Rick? Or Carl?”

See what I mean? 

5) The time Gimple Confirmed Something that was NOT Going to Happen on the Show

Okay, gonna end by reminding you of just one more thing. Just a couple of months ago, before the finale of The World Beyond, S1, one of the actors teased on TTD that we might see Rick in the finale. 

Now, that was totally false. The finale came and went with no Rick (obviously). The actor was just trolling and trying to get people riled up, which he succeeded at. A few days later, Gimple was giving an interview to a clickbait site and they asked him about it. Gimple started to give his run-of-the-mill, vague answer but stopped mid-sentence and said this:

ComicBook.com asked Gimple if World Beyond was working up to a Rick Grimes reveal. 

“You know what? I’m very happy to say… I’m not happy to say the answer,” he said, clearly aware he was about to disappoint people. “I’m happy to be definitive with people. It is not.”

That’s one, I don’t know if people are being cagey about that. But I feel that one’s important not to be cagey about…I think people could watch this show and learn a lot about the mythology that Rick Grimes is caught up in. And they might even see places where Rick Grimes has been. But yeah, he’s not swinging around the corner. And I don’t even know if I’m making people upset saying that, but I just don’t like people watching it, sort of expecting Rick.”

Full article HERE.

Guys, they’ve never done that with Beth and TD. EVER!!!

I’m just saying.

And I can already hear counter arguments about how they’ve never shut down other ships like C@ryl or Donnie either. You’re right, but those characters are still front and center on the show. If Beth is dead and not coming back, why wouldn’t they put her to rest for us the way he did with this Rick rumor? (And I’m also going to argue that they’ve given us very clear indications in the show about a few of these ships, and the shippers just don’t want to accept them. But that’s not entirely relevant here.)

Thoughts?

[reinahwanggg]

I Miss You》 Park Jisung

credits to gif owner

pairing: jisung park x reader

word count: 1.9K

warnings: slight angst (not really)

genre: established relationship, idol au, fluff, slight angst, jisung being a caring boy, boyfriend!jisung, reader misses him, but doesn't wanna admit it

a/n: i envisioned myself in this position haha, sorry

"good night honeybee. i love you."

"good night angel! i love you always."

jisung sleepily replies, yawning into the phone, before he closed his eyes to be guided into slumber. although he knows comeback seasons does take a toll on his body, and sometimes mentality, he makes sure he calls you every night. whether it be to tell you he'll be in the dance studio until the next day, or before bed, he always tries to find time for you in his extremely busy schedule, especially since he is quite worried about you.

although it's been a few months since the entire debacle, he always wants to make sure you're safe and well. he knew that you didn't mind all of the sudden attention, and you didn't care about what everyone thought about you and him together, but sometimes he just wants to make sure you're okay.

it's obvious that he's the more vocal one in the relationship; always saying what's on his mind, telling you whenever he felt you should say or stop this, or whenever he felt angry about something petty and wanted to say it to get over it. he just has more experience in expressing his feelings to those close to him.

you, on the other hand, always kept everything bottled up inside, not necessarily saying anything, even when it bothers you, because you wouldn't want to be a bother to others, unless it ticked you off. you were always the one to express your anger for some complicated situations, but rarely to others. you find yourself as your own confidant, as your own provider, as your own push to help you through the tunnel of life.

the way you handle things, often than not, got you in some heated arguments with jisung. he just wants you to tell him when it's too much pressure. especially that day when the camera crew came in, setting a gazillion cameras inside your house, saying that the fans would love to see how you and jisung interact. he saw how uncomfortable it made you, and seeing as it's been two weeks, and you still jump when you walk in your sleepwear at 7am and see the camera following you, it's enough evidence.

yet, whenever he asks you, you brush it aside. ''i'll get used to it'' you'll always tell him, knowing fully well, you sometimes can't stand it. waking up, and pretending to be a youtuber making a get ready with me video, only for it to actually be posted, it ticks you off. yet, all you tell him is that you'll get used to it.

this situation, was no different. for the past three months, jisung has had activity after activity to go through, while trying to record content for this stupid youtube segment. most times it would split videos of him and you on the phone, laughing about some stupid meme you saw on twitter. you know, every single piece of your body misses your boyfriend; dying to be back in his arms, and snuggled with him on the couch, watching random TV shows while he randomly kisses your hair and pulls you closer.

you know that you miss him, and yearn for the day he comes and tells you that promotions are over and the frequent break in between has begun, but you don't tell him that. you don't tell him how much you miss waking up in the morning to see him dancing around the kitchen to a video of you singing one of his songs in the best voice you can muster, unintentionally burning the eggs on the stove.

you don't tell him how much you miss coming home from an interview with other artists, only to see him fixing his hair, humming puzzle piece, smiling goofily at the thought of you. you don't tell him how much you miss your rant sessions; him ranting about how close fans get sometimes, and you ranting about how much you wanna punch your coworker in the throat for her unbearably cocky attitude.

you don't tell him how much you miss last minute packing for a day trip to the other side of the country. you don't tell him how much you miss sulking on the couch, only for him to plant a million pecks and kisses on every corner of your face, until you smiled and playfully pushed him away.

before you knew it, you're sitting up in your bed, crying to yourself about how much you miss him. and for once, you want to let him know, desperately throwing away your pride and wanting him to know how much you ache for his presence, and his quirky habits, and his killer smile, and just everything he has to offer. you miss him so much, your cries get a little too loud, your breath gets a bit too heavy, and your body shakes a bit too much, but you don't care, you just miss him so much it physically hurts you.

the little lamp in the corner of your room shines a somber gold around the room, you oblivious to the fact that the cameras are on 24/7 and is catching this very moment, of your vulnerability. you are also oblivious to the fact that he didn't hang up the phone, him obviously being too tired to actually hover his finger, as he was out like a light, his little snores in the background evident to the entire thing.

"honeybee, i miss you so much. so much it hurts."

you start, your voice choked up, coming out cracked, and scratchy.

halfway through your rant, jisung wakes up, blinking a few times to himself, trying to adjust to the bright light amidst the dark room, the slightest sound of hiccups ring in his ear, an extremely nasally voice ringing out sobs and muffled words, and he automatically sits up in concern. he wants to immediately ask you what's wrong, but instead just listens to what you have to say.

"i miss how, every time you hug me, it feels like placing the last piece of the puzzle in its rightful place. honeybee i just miss how much you check up on me when i'm sick. how sometimes we take turns nightly to sing each other to sleep, you laughing when my voice cracks, or me teasing you with praises for a run you mastered. i miss playful mornings, both of us being too lazy to move, but somehow ending up dancing around the room to various artists and songs. i miss when i wake up, and you're already staring at me, the loving gaze in your eyes as you slightly smile, immediately going to plant a kiss on my big ass forehead. i miss pushing you away, and telling you to brush your teeth before you could give me a good morning kiss. i miss when you and the boys would all pile up in my house, and i would get to show you a bit of my country's cuisine, and laughing when you guys scarf it down like you haven't eaten in years. and i want to tell you all of this, but i don't want to be a burden to you. you already have a lot, with some overbearing fans, promotions, and the occasional run ins. i don't want you to focus on me only and put your feelings on the backburner like i always do. i wish i just had to courage to tell you all of this."

by the end of your rant, jisung has to wipe a few tears from his eyes, smiling sadly on the other end of the phone call, wanting to just pack his overnight bag and come to hold you, tell you that he misses you just as much, and scold you for keeping everything bottled up, like he always does.

he goes to check the time, 2:16 am it says, and he knows that he has to be up by 4am in any event, and he suddenly thanks literally everything for the sudden off day his boss gave them, because he knows for sure, after what you just confessed, he's going to surprise you. he hears some ruffling on the other side of the call, the sound of bedroom slippers hitting the tile floors, and a door opening and closing. he just hopes you're okay.

you, on the other hand, walks into your kitchen, quite starved after crying your heart out for what feels like all night, which in truth was about three hours. you flip the switch, your kitchen suddenly illuminated, and you put your hand in front of your eyes, the quick headache taking effect, and you blink repeatedly at the sudden light. you then smile, before going to your dishes, taking out your favorite bowl, and pouring some lucky charms to the brim of the bowl, before going in your refrigerator, and grabbing your milk, pouring it in as well, and grabbing a spoon.

you walk back towards the exit of the kitchen, towards the corridor that connected both the living room and the stairway in separate mazes together. suddenly flinching once you see the infamous moving camera, following you, and you roll your eyes. 'do they not need new batteries or something?' you thought to yourself, before walking upstairs to your room.

you look up at the camera on top of your vanity, and smile and tight lipped uncomfortable smile, before showing the big bowl of lucky charms and chuckling.

"cereal hits different at 2am after an emotional breakdown."

you say, chuckling once again, and happily eating your food, humming along to love again, as it plays inside your head, liking the way it sounds, and suddenly asking alexa to play it for you. it's not as loud as it would usually be, considering what time it is, and the fact that your neighbor just came back home from her long ass business trip (which you're lowkey suspicious of, because her boss came looking for her halfway through, saying if she didn't come in tomorrow then she'll be fired) and doesn't like k-pop for the life of her.

you rest your bowl by the foot of your bed, honestly too lazy to go back downstairs and place it back inside the sink. you then go to your phone, and open it, seeing as it was still on the book you were reading before jisung demanded for your attention, only to then fall asleep on you ten minutes later. you read until you notice the sun up, suddenly hearing my first and last playing around you. the doorbell ringing frequently, and you check the time.

9:48 am it reads, and you realize you read about 10 books in the span of seven hours. you shout that you'll be down in a minute and make sure jisung's hoodie is low enough, before placing your bedroom slippers back on and walking down the stairs, turning into the living room and left, towards the separate entryway (it's kind of a big ass house), opening the door, before tears blurred your vision, and you immediately scooped up from the floor, and spun around on your porch, inhaling the scent you missed for the past three months. quite happy that you were in jisung's embrace again.

you didn't question it one bit, in fact you didn't question anything, just told him to come inside and told alexa to play the song louder. coincidentally, it was Quiet Down, making both you and jisung laugh boisterously, before walking into the kitchen, and dancing to his songs, as you both made pancakes and gossiped about anything and everything, just like you missed and loved.

[zedecksiew]

Troika!

When I got Daniel Sell’s Planescape-meets-Fighting Fantasy-but-odder RPG Troika! in PDF I screenshot-ed its intro paragraphs:

“ excuse me but I think @Ignus1 has written the best introduction to roleplaying games ever I think the rest of us can go home now ” 

was what I said about it on Twitter.

When I got it in hardcopy -- book arrived this week -- I read it cover to cover. One sitting. This rarely happens with books, for me, and never with RPG books.

I’m a little bit in love, maybe.

+

Three things stand out.

One: the prose has a real ease to it.

There’s no door-stopping chapter about Troika!’s setting. All its world-building is done via available character background options; the item and spell and monster lists; the odd intro adventure in the back of the book. 

Here’s one of the player-character backgrounds you could roll:

“65 YONGARDY LAWYER

Down in Yongardy they do things differently. They respect the Law. Every day there is a queue outside the courts to get a seat to see the latest up and coming barrister defend their case with three feet of steel. The people follow the careers of their favourite solicitors, watch all their cases, collect their portraits, and sneak into the court after hours to dab the patches of blood on white handkerchiefs.

In Yongardy, they love the Law.”

Here’s how the “Befuddle” spell is described:

“A wizard’s touch can shake up someone’s mind like a snow globe. The target makes all rolls at a -1 penalty until their head clears. Lasts for 3 minutes.”

This isn’t 100% natural language. But even when Daniel is explaining the rules for armour or initiative (initiative being the ruleset’s weirdest feature) his style is pithy, evocative, a pleasure to read. " ... like a snow globe.”

Like Luka, I do think that RPGs could be written better. And I think Troika! does that.

+

Two: where Daniel designs from.

Not sure how else to put this; I’m not a rules or design person. Maybe some examples will help.

There’s the introductory salutations above. Here’s a bit in character creation:

“Roll randomly to determine your starting Background. Notice that they only touch the edge of specificity: it is up to you to tailor them to the worlds you play in. Rework them or remove them entirely and replace them with your own unique vision of the spheres. Boldly lay claim to the games you play, create content recklessly, and always write in pen.”

The following is from a Q&A section that starts off Troika!’s intro adventure, “The Blancmange & Thistle”, essentially a six-floor walk up a hotel full of weirdos:

“I don’t know what’s going on! None of us do. Ride it out and see what happens! You can apply meaning and history to everything in your next session in light of the events of the first. Encourage the players to connect the dots for you.”

The whole book has a: “You’ve got this! I believe in you! YES!” tone to it.

As a system Troika! is pretty loose. It provides just enough for a foundation, then exhorts the GM and players to build upon that foundation.

I know this will rankle the kind of players who need boundaries to optimise up to and argue against --

But I like it. It is game design that springs from a sense of trust. The system assumes players can and will find their own fun; resolve conflicts in ways that are considerate to each other. In the absence of a higher Designer-God to enforce balance or scold bad behaviour, you only have each other.

Patrick, in his review, observes:

“You could, if you wanted to, make a kind of soft social-justicy, vaguely anarchist, James C. Scottish argument here about very rules-light systems minimising authority structures and necessitating flat and collaborative social arrangements because there is simply not enough to argue about and because the necessary lacunae in rules description silently urge the players and DM to work together to resolve problems of mutual description without ever demanding that they work together in a flat social structure. Guidance through silence and opportunity rather than through warning and control.”

That rings true, to me.

Considering my past experience with tightly-wound, defensive rulesets meant to prevent exploits or steer play along “correct” tracks -- like Torchbearer -- it should be obvious which kind of design I prefer; which kind I think is more humane.

+

Three: how the damn book feels.

Have come to realise that if I only have a book in PDF form I never read it closely enough to write about it. Guess a book’s hand-feel is really important to me?

Troika! feels damn good. I love the matte softness of its pages, the warmth of its colours. Something about its palette really edifies the art -- by Jeremy Duncan, Dirk Detweiler Leichty, Sam Mameli, and Andrew Walter; a veritable dream team. (The non-digital pen-work looks particularly nice.)

I’ve got a new book to show off to my friends.

+

GET IT HERE. (And get it in dead-trees format. So worth it.)

[kiiexo]

so this nascar au i came up with a few months ago turned into this huge thing in the k2 server and i’ve been goaded into sharing it so buckle up bitches this is gonna be long (under read more cuz its,,, its fucking long)

also thanks @pcolada and @kylestagram for helping me come up w all this shit and being genuinely interested ily guys

-kenny is an up and coming driver who keeps placing better and better in each race he's in and ends up with a small but ever growing following of fans

-kyle is a news reporter who keeps getting put on sports assignments much to his annoyance (he'd much rather be reporting on international issues but his luck is shit)

-he gets assigned to follow these nascar races at the beginning of the season and specifically this underdog driver taking the nascar world by storm

-kyle is the most passive aggressive reporter kenny has ever seen and every time he's interviewed by him he makes it a goal to get some kind of reaction out of him

-stan is kyle’s cameraman (they met during college and are basically the best of bros)

-karen is kenny’s number one supporter and travels with him for every race

-she wouldn’t have an official role in his career but she does manage his public twitter account

-cartman is there too. Has been racing for a few years and has quite a few wins under his belt and is not very happy when kenny starts placing better than him in races

-it’s blatantly obvious even in kyle’s interviews with kenny that they have some kind of connection

-at first kyle just tries to blame it on the fact that he finds kenny attractive but then he can’t stop thinking about him no matter how hard he tries

-he can’t stop thinking about kenny’s goofy smile, or his laugh when kyle says some funny off-handed comment in an interview or the way kenny really seems to care about the people who support him

-one day kyle just stares off into the distance like he’s in the office and goes “oh fuck i think i like this idiot”

-after this kyle starts spending more time with him outside of the racetracks. He starts randomly bumping into him at the hotel they’re staying at or running into each other at fast food joints

-kenny ends up giving his number to kyle one night and they basically never stop texting each other

-when kyle and kenny finally get together the three of them are basically best friends

-kenny and stan love teasing kyle and once the two start hanging out w each other kyle knows its over for him. he’s never going to have another normal day in his life

-(kenny and stan would drive kyle crazy with all their meme references)

-kenny and stan would try to do jackass style videos and upload them onto youtube and they also love to fuck around on snapchat

-u can always see kyle in the background in case anything goes wrong or the dumbasses hurt themselves

-one time kenny tried to jump over his race car with a skateboard and ended up face first into the pavement

-u can hear kyle screeching “you idiot!!” in the background and stan recording on kenny’s phone just losing his shit

I gotta stop talking about this au this has become too long i’m so sorry

[takethepresent]

August 20, 2018 - Open

Looking back, I am actually surprised I was as open and vulnerable as I have been these last few posts. I hid a lot in. I bottled it up. In the moment, it seemed so natural. Now that this part of myself has surfaced, it seems so foreign to be open about anything.

Even as I type this, my throat randomly started hurting for the last hour. I started coughing. I guess it’s time for me to open up. Truthfully, these feelings surprised me too. I think I didn’t realize I felt this way back then either. They were just there, and I was numb.

I have been pondering on why I manifest drama in my life. It is very unlike someone like me to be involved in drama at all. I am so chill and go with the flow. I normally smile at drama and move along.

However, I manifested the most dramatic person I have ever met in my entire life in a romantic relationship. I know she mirrored me, so I have been pondering on what this truly meant.

At first, it sounded like a foreign concept. Me? Dramatic? I literally hear about suicide and depression on a daily basis and don’t bat an eye. I see the most violent, aggressive, hurtful things on social media, and it doesn’t faze me at all. I react so calmly to angry or aggressive people.

However, my relationship was filled with so much unnecessary drama. It felt like she wanted to start drama for the fun of it. It almost seemed like she liked the attention. It seemed like the liked the thrill of it. I meditated on this and got some answers.

For one, I was a very dramatic person before my conscious journey. In my family life, I complained about everything. I was the pickiest eater ever. Part of me relates that to my mom. She was very particular about things. My dad was also a big critic. I feel like complaints have been a core part of my experience. I don’t really know what it means to be in at peace externally. This part of me doesn’t know what it means to be at peace internally. It has experienced strife its entire life (ironically, the last card in my tarot readings was “Rest From Strife”).

In high school, I was very dramatic. In fact, I often enjoyed being at the center of the drama. The drama I was apart of wasn’t the relationship kind of drama. It wasn’t related to my relationships with people necessarily. Rather, I was more into the publicly embarrass you on Twitter type of drama.

I was known for this. People even feared me. Some called me a legend. Some hated me.

I have vivid memories of certain things that I did. These memories were when I went too far. To me, it was all fun and games. However, I remember seeing the look on this girl’s face when she saw me the next day. She hated me so much. I had teamed up with one of my friends to “expose” her on Twitter.

I think part of myself felt justified. Some of these people really were bullies. I put them in their place. I never really picked on anyone who I thought was truly innocent.

I did this for three years. It only made sense that I would experience three years of unnecessary drama in my relationship.

I bullied people for three years. It only made sense that I got bullied for three years in my relationship.

I pushed everyone away for three years. It only made sense that I would get pushed away for three years in my relationship.

I watched myself self-sabotage for three years. It only made sense that I would watch my significant other self-sabotage for three years.

I think part of me enjoyed the drama. For once, I got the attention I always wanted from my family. I finally felt heard. The entire school heard me and feared me. The power of feeling heard was very real to me.

I think I also enjoyed the drama because it was an escape from my routine lifestyle. Rather, it wasn’t my daily choices themselves that were routine. It was the mask I wore was boring to me. I sought out ways to make it fun or adventurous or interesting. People-pleasing really is so fucking boring.

I watched my ex try so hard to please others for three years at the expense of our relationship. I watched myself try so hard to please others for three years at the expense of my relationship with myself.

Part of me likes how messy and chaotic drama can be. I think I liked it because for once, my external reality matched my internal reality. For once, I felt like I had a valid reason to feel the way I did inside. For once, I felt like others could feel what I felt for so long.

For so long, I felt like a broken mess inside. I felt a dark chaos inside of me. I was so scared of ever confronting it though. I bottled it up and threw it in the ocean that is my subconscious. I tied weights to it and hoped it would sink to the very bottom. It did.

I had to dive to the bottom of my subconscious to uncover it.

Inside the bottle, I find the familiar dark chaos. I find the familiar feelings of helplessness. I find some familiar memories. I find memories of me surrounded by people and feeling lonely. I find memories of me at the wildest parties and feeling so numbingly depressed. I find memories of me so afraid to be my true self. I remember caring so much what key people in my life thought of me. Many of those memories involved girls. I was “close” friends with so many girls, and all of those friendships faded.

I find the familiar feeling of abandonment. I find the familiar feeling of wanting to runaway. I find the familiar feeling of wanting to cut everyone off. I find the familiar feeling of feeling so misunderstood. I was living a lie.

I am a scorpio sun and moon. For a scorpio to suppress its emotions is the fastest way to self-destruct. It will stop at nothing to feel those emotions in the most intense way possible. It will stop at nothing.

I always loved The Weeknd’s music. I could always feel the pain in his music. It reminded me of that inner chaos.

I am going to feel it now. Perhaps I will write some more after that.

Well I felt it. I felt it a lot. It was incredible. A lot of ugly crying for so long, lying on the floor of my shower. It was incredible. Truly. Wow. A lot of truth uncovered.

I was raging in my apartment. It was triggered by thoughts and feelings about my ex. I quickly released it in whatever way it wanted to come out. By the time I hit the shower, I had my sacral chakra playlist on shuffle, and the anger was fading. I could feel the sadness.

I distinctly remember saying, “I hate that I love you” many times. I’m sure that “I hate you” always means “I hate that I love you” in some way. At first, it was about my ex. Then it was about me. What happened?

Once again, I realized how my relationship with my ex mirrored me.

I was attached to my ex because she mirrored my inner crazy. I thought she was beautiful though. I loved her for who she was despite her feeling like nobody would ever love her for who she truly was, hence why she hid herself from everyone. Even when she revealed herself to me, she became secretly afraid that I would suddenly abandon her like she abandons herself every day trying to please others.

I released my attachment to my ex in loving my inner crazy.

As I did this, I found the most beautiful person ever. I found the most beautiful mind. I found so much beauty. I was blown away. How crazy did I have to be to judge this part of myself as crazy? I was no longer numb. I could finally feel again. I could feel what I have done to help others. It was incredible. I could finally feel all of the things I have ever done. Wow. I am such an amazing person, truly. I inspire myself. I love myself so much, I even wrote myself a love letter. I posted the last part of the letter on my blog as well. The love letter could easily apply to my ex in that it mirrored all of the ways that she loved me. She loved me so much, so much.

I picked up on so much mirroring. Most of this was in the initial sadness I felt as I first stepped in the shower.

Initially, I thought about how it was so blatantly obvious she was running from herself. I thought about how she is trying to act like I never existed in every way possible. That mirrored the way I treated this part of myself. I tried to act like it never existed in every way possible. I felt so much sadness from this part of myself from that.

My ex really had no issues with the relationship literally a week before. She was so happy. However, fear made her suddenly self-sabotage. The same applied to me. This part of myself that I cut off and judged as crazy was never crazy at all. There were literally no issues with my relationship with it. It was perfect, but I cut it off suddenly out of fear. Our relationship was amazing in so many ways.

My ex is trying to replace me but it would never work. I filled all of her voids. I gave her every bit of love she could ever desire. I loved her in every way that a person needs to be loved in order to find inner peace. I opened her up to new dimensions of consciousness. I helped her out of her most destructive times. She was flourishing. I showed her the beauty of life. I helped her learn so many things like how to stand up for herself, how to say no to manipulative/controlling people, how to feel her emotions, how to form genuine connections with people, how to rebuild her relationship with her family, how to appreciate the parts of herself that she judged as crazy, how to forgive herself for her most shameful behaviors, etc. Now, she is likely seeking out people on social media. I noticed that the lonelier she felt, the more she replied to people’s stories on Snapchat and Instagram. I even noticed how when she wasn’t getting attention from me, she would seek out attention from other men. I noticed how when she wasn’t with me, she would settle for the most surface level, empty interactions with people. She would act like it was fulfilling, but it never was, not like her interactions with me at least.

The same applied to this part of myself. It gave me everything. EVERYTHING. It literally exposed me to higher dimensions of consciousness, and it still didn’t feel like it was enough. I literally cut it off. It completely changed my life, and I cut it off like the coward I was, just like my ex. Incredible. I had the nerve to call it crazy. Was I not crazy for repeatedly cutting off the best thing in my life for years? I tried to replace it. I even tried to use my ex to replace it. It worked for 3 years. That’s how beautiful my ex was inside and out. However, before my ex, I had settled for so much empty, surface level stuff. I settled for surface level interactions that could not possibly fill the void. I did this so much. I settled for mediocre content and activities and relationships that could never replace this part of myself, not even close.

My ex is all about self-care now apparently. I was annoyed because that is so hypocritical of her. How can you talk about self-care, but you just cut off the person who enhanced your mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health/well-being in so many ways? That sounds a whole lot like self-sabotage.

The same applied to me. How could I post about self-care tips on my Twitter, but I was still cutting off the part of myself that enhanced all of those parts of my life? I was a hypocrite.

I felt so sad that nobody would help me with my ex. She was so obviously running away and self-sabotaging. She obviously still loved me so much. This was the 5th time she has done this. Everybody acted like it was healthy. Everybody acted like pretending like I never existed was healthy, as if I was not the most important person in her entire life.

Then I realized that they were running away just as much. The way she framed the breakup to people made them think she was doing it in a healthy way. No, you actually had to be present to notice the signs. If you listened to her on the surface, you would never bat an eye.

The same applied to me. This part of me felt the exact same way. It felt so alone. It felt so hopeless. It felt like nobody would listen to it or help it. I was so obviously self-sabotaging, and nobody else would help because they were running away just as much. This reminded me a lot of high school. I was literally exposing people’s worst secrets on Twitter, and nobody around me said anything. I was so obviously depressed. It was obviously a huge cry for help. I was so depressingly numb and empty. Everybody else in my friend group was numb and empty too. They just laughed and thought it was funny. We just continued on, just like my ex is doing. Her friends probably think it’s not a big deal at all.

What they don’t realize is that my ex will literally not progress in life until she reconnects with the part of herself she cut off. She irrationally cut me off, blocked me on everything, and acted like I never existed. She cut off so many forms of love that she was dependent on me for. This part of herself she cut off, the part of herself mirrored by me, is so important for her well-being. Without it, she will surely experience a downward spiral. Anyone who knows this and doesn’t do anything about it cannot call themselves her friend. It is the same as passively watching someone with an extremely unhealthy addiction.

Speaking of which, I realized that when we become deeply attached to people, they become more like drugs to us. They are just a way for us to feel a certain way. We no longer see them as people. We see them as another way to avoid ourselves.

Anyhow, life is so fucking amazing. I love you all. I am going to spend more time with this part of myself. I missed this so much.

[obsidianarchives]

Worldbuilding and the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Last September, I embarked on a mission that somehow didn’t seem as ambitious as it actually was once I started. I decided to watch the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe -- including the television shows. I wanted to watch in the chronological order of the universe, meaning not the order the movies came out in our world, but in the order of events that take place in the universe. I’d done MCU marathons before, but never like this. The main reason I did this is because I love worldbuilding. While I went into it knowing some of the early movies are rough (hello Incredible Hulk where it rains every time they want us to feel emotional), I went into it more interested in the way Marvel built a world for the screen in a way that encompasses so many movies and television shows.

Setting up was fairly easy. I randomly expressed an interest in doing this watch and pretty quickly after, I was sent a very detailed list outlining the correct order (shout out to Amani Herron). I chose to live tweet it (which I wouldn’t do again because live tweeting makes it hard for me to focus and the thread became ridiculous). I started with Captain America: The First Avenger and decided to end with season 4 of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., since the newest season would be starting soon and I didn’t want to fall behind. Because Marvel never stops putting out content, I ended up skipping more recent series at the time (The Punisher and Inhumans), but by some stroke of luck I was able to include Thor: Ragnarok at the right moment.

Though it forced me watch Iron Fist, doing a complete viewing helped me understand all of the moving pieces, meet and learn about different aspects of the universe and its characters, and really get to see how planned and fleshed out the world is. Having to switch so frequently between different stories, most notably Daredevil Season 2 and Luke Cage season 1 because they happen around the same time, could sometimes be jarring because of the different tonal shifts. It also quickly began to feel like an Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. binge but with breaks for the movies and Netflix shows, because at that point they were 88 episodes in. This wasn’t a problem for me, not least of which because I do a S.H.I.E.L.D. binge before a new season drops anyway, but also because seeing how one story, or multiple, fed into another was amazing, and especially paid off in time for Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War.

One of the fun things about doing a chronological binge is picking up on the easter eggs and small worldbuilding moments that bring all of the properties together. Even obvious moments like mentioning Stephen Strange in Captain America: The Winter Soldier long before he gets his own movie, or attributing the evacuation hellicarriers from the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron to Phil Coulson at S.H.I.E.L.D. tie the world together in a way that doesn’t feel forced but also provides other points of entry for people who are interested in the stories but may feel intimidated about diving head first into the world. Watching them so close together also helped me catch small things that I’d somehow missed, especially on S.H.I.E.L.D., which is really good at using tech introduced in other properties to connect themselves to the current events while continuing with their own stories. Moments like the Centipede organization using the explosive serum from Iron Man 3 to create super soldiers or the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. being attacked by the Judas bullets introduced in Luke Cage really work to make the world feel smaller even as our heroes are putting out a thousand separate fires at the same time.

Having watched all 18 films and 179 (at the time) television episodes, the hot takes about Infinity War relying on previous stories while setting up the next Avengers film got on my nerves. Infinity War has always been marketed as part 1 of a sequel to the 18 other movies. However, while I do think there are certain stories you need to see to understand what’s happening, I don’t think you have to watch every single property to be a fan of the MCU or to even understand the Avengers movies. I do think you should come prepared in some way; there are interviews and recaps on YouTube and all over the internet to help you understand what’s going on, and which are way less time consuming than watching almost ten days worth of television and movies. And, of course, some of the movies and TV are just not good and you shouldn’t have to subject yourself to them if you already know better. I do think it’s essential FOR ME because of the commitment I’ve put in to see this universe through, and because I love the worldbuilding at this magnitude. While it means that I will eventually watch Inhumans and season 2 of Jessica Jones, suffer through bland romances, and the movies pretending the TV shows don’t exist, I still feel like I get something out of it. I’ve already decided I’m going to do another chronological rewatch in the future, though not anytime soon and definitely not on Twitter.

Have you watched every single movie and TV episode of the current MCU? If so, what was your experience? If not, what percentage are you at and will you give watching them all a try? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter at @weblackandnerds.

[sharkiegorath]

On Elias

[this is the third (3rd) time I’ve tried posting this since Tumblr’s mobile search/tag search keeps eating the post. because it’s perfectly fine with showing untagged personal posts and spam whenever you search for something, but randomly decides when to show Actual Content]

ok look I know people don’t always read the OP’s tags but I keep getting “I’M SURE HE’S EVIL” comments on a pair of gifsets with fairly obviously positive parallels and reblogging something just to definitively say “that mysterious character is eviiiiiiil” is Not Cool, even if it’s in the tags.

Yes, recent commentator, Elias definitely broke into the house. It's probably why he suggested that the Johnsons go out in the first place! But the common assumption is A) that he planted the books and B) that he did so for a malicious reason. It seems as obvious as it could possibly be while remaining unconfirmed. It seems so obvious in such a twisty show that I think it isn’t that straightforward.

Gosh, where to begin? Firstly, names and etymology are pretty good theory fodder and Easter eggs, e.g., ‘Hap’=haphephobia and all its ‘hap’-prefixed variants; ‘Khatun’ is both an old title of nobility and a modern word referring to any woman. 'Rahim' means ‘merciful’ or 'servant of the merciful'. 'Elias' is a cognate of 'Elijah'. Elijah was the Abrahamic prophet who sort of had a special connection with women and children; who was cared for by an angel; who resurrected the dead; who entered Heaven without dying at the end of his earthly life; who is sometimes believed to have become an angel. All of this information is available on Wikipedia! So even if Elias did plant the books, I don’t automatically assume he’s malicious.

There’s this interesting bit in an interview with The Atlantic:

Marling: [...] I think one of the original stories that was influential actually comes from Jewish mysticism. Do you know it?

Kornhaber: Is this leaving the door open for Elijah at Passover?

Marling: Yeah. It’s so beautiful. I think it’s amazing to try and use that as a reminder of trying to stay open. I struggle with that all the time. You get scared and you close the door. But I think The OA, she’s inviting them to let a new thing in.

(Principal Gilchrist's first name is another cognate of Elijah - 'Ellis' - and his surname means 'servant of Christ'. People have made the connection between Ellis and his "water under the bridge" comment to Ellis Island and the nearby Statue of Liberty, plus he has a snow globe of the latter.)

Elias’ potential connection with an ‘evil’ Rachel was probably debunked early by Zal Batmanglij on Twitter: the plants in her cell died because she refuses to water them as an act of rebellion. I'm too lazy to go through the whole thing about why her name being on the office wall in large Braille doesn't automatically mean she works there in the first place. I think she and Elias are connected (because of his car crash analogy and the “[My brother] never got to hear it”/”I’m a listener” lines), but I doubt it’s as evil agents.

Elias is shocked and defensive when he bumps into French in the house - but the scene follows French, so of course we aren't shocked and suspicious about French’s presence. Basically, the audience has had the same reaction to Elias breaking in as Elias initially has to French breaking in. Part of what makes Elias seem suspicious is his reaction. IMO Elias doesn't even imply or confirm that the OA was lying  - he just doesn't correct French. The other 'suspicious' thing he does is...move his eyes while hugging French, which isn’t incriminating on its own since the emotion is ambiguous.

There's confusing reasoning behind why Elias would place the books in the first place. The books seem tailored to match major aspects of the OA's story. The immediate assumption is that if someone planted the books, they meant for the Crestwood Five to find them and conclude that she based lies upon them. But if that's the case, Elias likely had no way of knowing that French would break in, go to her room, thoroughly search her room, and look where he did. There was no guarantee that any of the Five would find the books, jump to the conclusion that OA was lying, then share the discovery with the others.

Alternatively, you could argue that Elias planted the books intending for someone else to find them during an investigation and use it as proof that OA was making up stories, and the Five would fall for it in the process. But in that case, why did he let French leave with all of the books? And remember, Buck kept one and the rest let him. It’s possible that they submitted the other books to the FBI offscreen, or that Elias replaced the books. But I’ve never seen the theory cover what happened to the books after the reveal, so I won’t play with that hypothetical situation here.

Maybe Elias planted the books for someone else to find and didn’t know French took them. After all, we don't know what happened after the hug. But that introduces a new set of logical problems. How would French sneak a big, heavy box out of the house? He could take it if Elias had already left or wasn’t watching him...but why would Elias leave French unsupervised? Does anyone think that Elias ensured French left, then French broke in again not long afterwards and took the books, all offscreen? And couldn’t his presumably nearby car be a potential giveaway?

So, the books don't make much sense as an attempt to disillusion the Five. Some people think French's reaction stretches audience suspension of disbelief, right - I think it's an even bigger stretch that the FBI would predict a break-in and his reaction. To a lesser extent, the books also don't make sense as an attempt to frame OA, because they end up with the boys and don’t seem to play a role beyond breaking their faith. As for how French took the books while Elias was there, Elias advocates strategic passivity and avoids direct persuasion; I don't find it outlandish that French would say something like "I need to show proof to the others" then take the box, and Elias wouldn’t protest because it's not part of his agenda either way.

The next most obvious explanation for the books is if they really are OA’s. They weren’t necessarily used to construct a lie.  

In the previous episode, OA had a conversation with BBA about how cultures that suffer more loss tend to have more totems. OA knew this because of an exhibit that she loved so much as a child that she made her parents take her back twice. It made a lasting impact on her, as evidenced by the wolf hoodie that reminds her of Homer’s. BBA is not with the boys when French reveals the books, so she doesn't even have the chance to recall that conversation. We don’t know if BBA learned about the books after the boys did. And the books were specifically stored beneath the wolf hoodie. The Five may not be aware of the hoodie’s significance; Elias wouldn’t know the hoodie’s significance unless OA wore it to a session and he asked why she has a hoodie with a wolf on it, or she spontaneously told him, both of which seem a bit far-fetched. (Onscreen, at least, she never wore it to a therapy session.)

Ehh, miscellaneous notes:

It’s uncertain that OA can read English text. But the conversation with BBA says that the Thing Itself isn't as important as what it symbolises. (“Objects carry meaning in difficult times.”) She doesn't need to be able to read the books in order for them to mean something. Anyway, she might’ve been bilingual from a young age; she was 7 or 8 when she went blind and she seems fluent in English by the time we see her in the American boarding school. (There might be proof that she can write in English, since she signed the bottom of the note she left for her parents? It’s been interpreted both ways so idk.)

The Five getting discovered in the abandoned house probably wasn’t set up by Elias. BBA had previously slipped and told Principal Gilchrist about it while driving to save Steve.

I don’t strongly rule it out, but I don’t think Elias spied on the Five, because he only realises who French is when he tells him his name. Unless he’s pretending.

Why were the books under OA’s bed, under the hoodie? Maybe she hid her totems in case her parents found them, since Nancy already thought she had delusions that could easily be linked to The Oligarchs and The Iliad. It’s unclear to me, but there might be a moment in the first episode where OA shoves the video camera under her bed (starts at 29:15-ish), foreshadowing that she might’ve done the same thing with the books later.

The issues I have with my own theory are:

According to the label on the Amazon box, the books were delivered in September. That's at odds with how OA's video was posted in February 2016. But the FBI (or another organisation) ordering the books also doesn't make sense: they would’ve been planning to discredit her months before she returned or assembled the Five or told her story. Even if they knew about the experiments, Hap dumping OA on the road in February seemed entirely spontaneous; that itself was the result of a seemingly random event (getting caught by the sheriff). More importantly, I’d question why the boys didn't notice the discrepancy in dates, and why the FBI didn't realise it themselves. (Like, all they had to do was remove the label or use a different box.) How can they predict a very specific chain of events yet not be smart enough to remove a label? It’s not impossible in the broader scope of the story - maybe they have reality-warping powers, maybe there’s time travel involved - but right now it’s a big stretch just to support the basic theory that Elias planted the books. So I suspect the label is a minor production oversight. Considering exactly how briefly the date is onscreen and difficult to read even when the scene is paused, I think it wasn’t meant to be read by the audience. (Compare the length of the date’s visibility and its readability to earlier in the scene, when French looks at the newspaper clippings, or whenever a phone/computer screen takes up the frame.)

How did OA order the books? The hardest part is how she went online, but she could’ve placed the order sometime in the first episode before the router was taken away. It’s possible to order things from Amazon without a credit card and have them sent to a pickup point or post office, so that’s not a big issue if she had money somewhere (or stole it from her parents, which is 100% in-character for her). Sneaking the package into the house is another problem - but, then again, she’s cunning and her room is conveniently located so things can fairly easily go in/out of her window.

Elias suggested that the Johnsons go out for a family dinner. That somewhat complicates the timeframe he would’ve had for breaking in; if the outing had gone 'normally' they would've returned home before it was very late, yet still at an unpredictable time. (Again, he probably had no way of knowing they’d choose French's workplace, that it’d go badly, etc.) He was unable to break into the Johnsons' home on the night the OA finished her story, which is why he broke in later on, when French did. I guess Nancy and Abel went home after the incident at the Olive Garden and Elias saw the house was occupied, so he waited, and luckily for him they left the next day?

I’m not sure whether Elias lies when French asks if OA told him about Homer, the mine, and Hap’s studies. She told Elias specifics about the first and third premonitions, but it’s unclear how much she explained the second, Homer wasn’t mentioned by name onscreen, and we don’t know if she talked about the movements and angels. It’s worth noting that right after their last session, Elias does lie. OA explained her dreams, including the previous night’s. Afterwards, Nancy assumes Elias knows what happened last night...but he says no, seemingly to see how Nancy explains it. He’s capable of minor lies to Learn Things for ambiguous reasons. (Does he lie to Nancy for OA’s benefit? Or is it because he doesn’t trust OA, or is it simply an effort to hear different sides? I think the tone of the scene suggests he’s trying to help OA, but you might think it’s deliberately misleading. Anyway, they’re not all mutually exclusive motives.)

If the books really were OA’s, what was her reaction when she returned home and they were missing? She probably wouldn't tell her parents. But what would she think happened? Possibly she might be able to put two and two together since she’d previously helped Steve sneak into her room. Maybe she doesn’t seem sad right before the shooting because she deduced that the Five wanted to help her, and she didn’t know that the boys concluded she was lying.

We might be able to get general sense of where The OA is headed by examining Brit and Zal's previous work. Sound of My Voice is the most similar. One of the most common (and plausible) theories for SOMV is that Maggie was telling the truth and the 'FBI agent' wasn't actually an FBI agent. But there are other reused elements that were subverted: OA is much less intimidating and more personable than Maggie; the Five are inclined to believe her without being cult-like; the agent was trying to catch Maggie without her knowledge instead of possibly pretending to help her. I kinda hope it's a meta Red Herring planted for people who've watched both.

Elias was in the house for a reason. I think the video camera and all of the tapes might be a Chekhov's Gun. Brit Marling said something along the lines of "it’s worthy to question Elias’ motives"; he doesn’t necessarily have Good intentions. However, him planting the books isn’t a sure thing and we know nothing about whatever he did in the time gap before the shooting; there’s no indication that he helped or hindered OA in any way, if they’re still in contact, etc. So I think it’s a Bit Much to leap to "ELIAS IS EVIL" Not everyone who thinks he planted the books assumes he’s evil, which is nice. But it's Tiring seeing the evil accusation treated as if it's rare or a new theory, especially considering the depth of analysis that the rest of the show receives.

[milenasanchezmk]

5 Suggestions for Becoming Less Civilized (and a Giveaway)

Civilization has given us great gifts. Infectious diseases rarely kill us anymore. We have hot running water that’s safe to drink (usually). We can go down to the market and buy a thousand different foods. Things are, for the most part, safe and comfortable. Of course, many of the benefits of civilization have been solutions to problems it introduced. That we rarely die from infectious disease is significant because the high population densities of early civilizations created such high infectious disease burdens; nomadic hunter gatherers didn’t have that issue. But there are benefits.

Civilization has also harmed us. There’s the usual laundry list of maladies, like industrialized diets, sedentary lifestyles, dysfunctional circadian rhythms, skyrocketing rates of obesity, diabetes, and cancer that we discuss on here all the time.

But there’s also our wildness. For a civil society to function, it must tamp down excessive wildness among its citizenry. Someone’s got to maintain the roads, fix the plumbing, drive the buses, and get up and go to work on time. Yet, the call of the wild persists….

Humans have always represented the intersection of wildness and order. We have animal urges and instincts, and we have reason and logic. We’re subject to the natural world, and we mold and shape it. We’re civil, but with an edge. It’s that precarious balance between chaos and order that helps us do incredible things. The crazy vision of stepping foot on the moon and the discipline necessary to get us there safely. When we become “too civilized,” we lose that edge. On the balance, I’ll take the civilization, but we can do it better by reintroducing wildness into our personal lives.

“Wild” isn’t “crazy” or “savage” or “violent.” It can include ebullience, but it’s mostly about loosening the shackles of what civilization expects you to be and do.

Besides the obvious and dependable ways to become less civilized, like taking wilderness skill classes, flouting conventional dietary wisdom, camping, and hiking, what are some other suggestions?

Adjust Your “Create:Consume” Ratio

To consume is to be passive, comfortable, civilized. Civilization needs consumption. It’s necessary. But civilization and the humans who populate it also need creation, and that’s a bit more wild. It’s pushing the boundary, riding the edge. This isn’t an either-or situation. Everyone consumes. Everyone should create, too. How’s your ratio?

You don’t have to start a blog or write books. You don’t have to become an oil painter or sculptor. Although those are all great options for cultivating wildness via tweaking the create:consume ratio, they’re not the only way.

Creation can be almost anything as long as it introduces something new to the world. It can be minor or monumental. If you’re reading a blog and a thought comes to you, write a comment. If you’re scrolling through a Twitter conversation and have something to contribute, do so. Participate. You could be dungeon master for a Dungeons and Dragons group—that’s creating a narrative for others to inhabit. You could convince your buddies to start training with you—that’s creating good, healthy habits in people who didn’t have them. Direct your energy outward, rather than be a passive recipient of exogenous energy.

Learn a Martial Art

There’s a real human predilection toward violence that, if ignored or repressed, often explodes into tragedy. Martial arts can be a good outlet for that. Now, I don’t know this first-hand. As a kid, I got into my fair share of mostly-friendly scrapes and rough and tumble play, and it was great. Every kid should do that (few do these days). But I don’t have any real experience with martial arts. Not learning one is actually one of my major regrets in life. In recent months, however, I have done some very easy grappling drills with an acquaintance who’s been training for most of his life. It’s been awesome. Nothing too serious or intense. But I get a real sense of how I’d respond in a violent situation.

Don’t do what I did. Learn a martial art. There’s an element of wildness—you’re learning how to do and avoid violence, how to face another human being in simulated mortal conditions—tempered with control and the boundaries of civilization—no one’s going to die or get seriously hurt. From my limited experience, I’d say try a grappling art like Brazilian jiu-jitsu or wrestling.

Indulge Your Fandom

Humans have a sense of tribalism encoded in us, a desire for allegiance toward and acceptance from a group. For some, that manifests as ethnic or religious hatred. There are obvious problems with those manifestations. Could there be a positive outlet for our tribalism? Research shows that diehard sports fans see physiological benefits when their teams compete, such as boosts to testosterone and increased empathy. Sports fans even have a higher-than-average sense of meaning in their lives, something many modern humans lack.

I’m guessing this may apply to more “nerdy” allegiances, like Star Wars vs Star Trek, Marvel vs DC, or Playstation vs XBox, though I have to draw the line at adult My Little Pony fans. Sorry.

It goes without saying that you shouldn’t let these tribal allegiances consume your life. Don’t spend every waking moment following sports, politics, or pop culture. That’d be like engaging in perpetual warfare with a rival tribe—no good.

In fact, I think some of these “open-ended” tribal conflicts are the most dangerous. In sports, as on the battlefield, there’s a definitive, objective conclusion to the conflict: Your team either wins or loses. Everyone accepts the outcome, because the outcome is undeniable. In politics or pop culture, the battle never ends. It drags on, and drags you down with it.

Get Your House In Order

When chaos envelopes us at home—dirty dishes in the kitchen, clothes strewn around, papers everywhere, bills unpaid, responsibilities mounting—we devote most of our creative energy to blocking it out, to ignoring it, leaving us little energy left over to embody our true, wilder selves. Don’t do this.

Instead, deal with the issues directly. Clean the place up. Address all the energy suckers. You’ll probably find that most of them resolve rather quickly, and you have far more time and energy left over to create, learn, play, and indulge the call of the wild.

And, yes, I think there’s an argument to made for minimalism here.

Interact With the Environment In Atypical Ways

Civilization has created neat, linear environments with walkways and paths and boundaries. Normally, we stay between the lines, stay off the grass, and generally follow the rules. Try not doing that.

Climb trees, randomly. Do so in full view of others; it may inspire them to do something similar.

Walk or bear crawl along the backs of park benches. Be cautious about it.

Take shortcuts. Vault over fences.

Sprint up stairs.

Do pullups at crosswalk light posts, overhead branches, ledges, anything that you can grip and hang from.

Be a weirdo, not a jerk.  You shouldn’t walk through wilderness protection zones or trample someone’s garden. Don’t trespass.

I’m curious how you foster de-civilization in your life? Any comments, reactions, responses? I’d especially love to hear about martial arts more experienced folks can recommend.

Now For the Giveaway…

As we wrap up this kickoff month of 2018, the question becomes: how do you take your intention to the next level? Today I offered up some ideas for those often neglected but still essential “other” foundations of a healthy and fulfilling Primal life.

And I want to offer one random commenter on today’s post something to help in that regard—a copy of The Primal Connection and a $50 gift certificate to PrimalBlueprint.com to apply to other books (or anything on the site) that might support his/her next steps.

Just tell me some thought inspired by today’s post—or something you’d like to see me cover about these “extra” essentials of Primal living: play, sun, sleep, nature, barefooting, etc.

Be sure to comment on today’s post by midnight tonight (1/31/18 PST) to be eligible.

Take care, everyone. Be well!

Want to make fat loss easier? Try the Definitive Guide for Troubleshooting Weight Loss for free here.

[filipeteimuraz]

How to Run a Profitable Giveaway

Running a contest or a promotional giveaway is one of my favorite ways for a company to connect with their customers.

But like so many other aspects of business, I see too many people doing this wrong.

That’s OK – for now.

While it may sound simple, promotional campaigns like this aren’t as easy as just picking a name out of a hat.

You want to run a giveaway that creates brand awareness and generates a profit for your company.

When done correctly, this won’t cost much at all.

Contests can even generate some free advertising for your brand.

This is especially true if you use social media as the platform for your giveaways.

89% of marketing experts said that social media increased exposure for their company.

In addition to exposure, social media marketing:

generates leads

increases website traffic

improves customer relationships

helps search rankings

That’s what you need to remember.

Giveaways are a marketing tactic.

So if you’re not using these tools to promote your brand and ultimately increase profits, you’re doing it wrong.

I’ve got plenty of experience in this space.

I’ll show you how to run a profitable giveaway and provide some examples for you to follow as well.

Figure out what kind of contest you want to run

All promotional contests are not the same.

There are three main types of promotions that you can do.

Contest

Sweepstakes

Lottery

If you’re running a contest, it means that the participants are doing something that requires some sort of skill and effort to win a prize.

Some popular contests may include a photo, video, essay, or caption.

The winners are selected by some sort of vote or judgment.

Here’s an example.

The picture that has the most likes will win this contest.

A sweepstakes, on the other hand, requires no skill, and it’s based completely on chance.

Winners get determined randomly.

Purchases, payments, and other considerations cannot determine the winner of a sweepstakes.

A lottery means that contestants made some sort of purchase or monetary consideration in order to participate.

For example, buying a ticket for a chance to be selected would count as a lottery.

Don’t do this.

In fact, state and federal laws have restrictions against these kinds of giveaways.

So it’s in your best interest to just stick to contests and sweepstakes.

Before you get started, ask yourself if you want to just give something away randomly or if you want there to be skill involved.

There’s nothing wrong with a sweepstakes, but personally, I think contests are more effective.

When your customers know that their efforts will increase their chances of winning, it gets them more engaged with your brand.

Choose the right platform

Now that you’ve decided whether or not you’re going to run a contest or sweepstakes, it’s time to figure out how where you plan to host it.

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Your website

Email

All of these are viable options.

In fact, you could potentially run the same contest through multiple platforms.

Select a winner on each one.

That could get your customers to participate more than once and increase your brand exposure even more.

Here’s an example of a website contest from Fairmont Hotels & Resorts.

It’s very professional and well written.

With that said, you don’t want to limit yourself by running a giveaway solely on your website.

How often do people visit your site?

Probably not as often as they use social media platforms.

That’s why I recommend using social media as the primary platforms for your giveaways.

It’s a great way to establish brand loyalty.

The people who follow you on social media are already interested in your business.

Running a giveaway here will peak their interest even more.

Plus, any actions that they take such as liking, commenting, posting, or sharing will get viewed on the newsfeed of all of their friends.

Set a deadline

It may sound simple or obvious, but you would be surprised how often I see this mistake.

Your deadline needs to be clear, for a few reasons.

Let’s say a customer or prospective contestant wants to enter your giveaway.

If they don’t see a posted deadline, it could turn them away.

This person may just assume that the deadline has passed, even if you haven’t chosen a winner yet.

You’re missing out on a chance of getting more exposure if this customer was going to share the information on their social media platforms.

Another reason you’ll need to post the deadline is to avoid late entries.

Pretend you’re running an Instagram contest where the winner is selected by the most number of likes on a photo.

You choose a winner but a few days later someone posts a picture that gets more likes than the one you selected.

This contestant contacts you for their prize.

Now what?

You’re put in a tough situation, and overall it’s not a good look for your company.

Adding a deadline to your giveaway is too easy for you to forget.

Look at the example above.

See how easy that was?

Next time you run a promotional giveaway, make sure the deadline is clearly posted.

It will save you some headaches down the road.

Make sure the rules are clear

Piggybacking off of my last point, you don’t want to have any confusion while you’re running the contest.

Depending on your location, rules may vary from state to state.

So you’ll want to make sure that whatever you’re doing falls within legal regulations.

Here are some things are commonly included as rules for a contest:

Eligibility (age, location, etc.)

No purchase required

Purchases don’t increase chances of winning

Dates (winner chosen and winner notified)

Judging criteria (for contests)

Privacy laws regarding the winner identity

Odds of winnings

If you’re running a contest on a specific platform, make sure that you’re compliant with those rules and regulations as well.

Here’s a link to the Facebook guidelines for running a promotion, which is definitely something that I recommend you review before getting started.

For example, you must acknowledge that your promotion is not endorsed, sponsored, or affiliated with Facebook (the company) in any way.

Facebook also prohibits using phrases like:

“share on your timeline to enter”

“post this on a friend’s page to enter”

“tag your friends to increase chances of winning”

So while you want to encourage posts and shares, just make sure you do it within the rules.

Here’s a snippet from TMZ’s contest rules and regulations.

The full page is much longer, but they clearly and thoroughly post everything to avoid any potential confusion, liability, or legal trouble.

If you have a long page of rules, consider providing a link to your website for a full explanation.

That’s more efficient than trying to post something as long as the above example as your Instagram caption.

The prize needs to be relevant

What are you giving away?

It needs to be related and appropriate for your brand and image.

Let’s say you’re a company that specializes in snowboarding and ski equipment.

Running a contest that gives the winner round trip tickets to the Bahamas doesn’t really speak to your audience.

Flying them out to a ski lodge in Colorado would make much more sense.

If you’re giving away a physical product, include a photo of it.

Telling the contestants that you’re giving away a new camera isn’t as effective as showing them the camera.

Here’s an example of a giveaway from Ticket Master.

It’s relevant.

You can buy tickets to sporting events on their website, so they’re giving customers a chance to win a trip to the Super Bowl.

Although they didn’t include an image of the actual tickets, the Super Bowl logo is just as effective.

Visuals speak to people more than words.

That’s why it’s important to incorporate them into your promotion.

Create a customized hashtag for your giveaway

Hashtags are one of the best ways to promote your brand on social media.

So come up with something unique that speaks to your company as well as the promotion.

If you’re having trouble coming up with something, you can use an online resource like Hashtagify to come up with related tags and trends for your industry.

Use that as a guide to create your own, but make sure nobody else has used it before, so there’s no confusion.

For those of you who already use hashtags successfully to promote your brand, make sure you come up with a new one for each contest.

Here’s a great example of how High Society Freeride used a unique hashtag to promote their giveaway.

Notice how they effectively used capitalization, so the hashtag pops and is easy to read.

#OneLifeMakeItCount reads much better than #onelifemakeitcount.

The hashtag can be the way you find a winner of a contest.

Just click on the hashtag to view all the pictures, videos, and posts.

That’s the easiest way to review and judge which entries were the best.

The hardest part about using a hashtag is just coming up with a creative one in the first place.

After that, it doesn’t require any effort or money from your company.

Hashtags can also increase engagement and make it easier for you to spread the word about your giveaway.

Make sure mobile users can access and participate in your contest

I mentioned earlier that you shouldn’t just run a giveaway through your website.

Keep mobile users in mind when you’re coming up with this marketing strategy.

Mobile users spend the majority of their time using apps.

So consider using platforms that are strictly for apps.

Instagram is a top choice for this.

Facebook and Twitter also have mobile applications, which is why earlier I recommended social media platforms as the top resource for giveaways.

If your company has its own mobile app, run your giveaway through there as well.

You can send users who downloaded the app notifications of the promotion directly to their phones.

Allow contestants to share the contest with friends and family

To get the most exposure, your giveaway needs to be shareable.

Earlier I mentioned that some platforms, such as Facebook, prohibit you from using certain statements to encourage sharing.

With that said, you can still include social sharing icons on your website.

Here’s a great example of how Fatherly did this to promote their sweepstakes.

Again, the whole idea behind this giveaway is to turn a profit for your company.

Allowing users to share this content will drive more traffic to your site and potentially improve conversions as well.

Notify everyone when you’ve selected a winner

This relates back to what we talked about earlier about establishing a timeline.

Take your deadline one step further.

For example, the date for participants to enter your promotion may be the last day of the month.

However, it could take you up to a week or two to go through all of the entries and select a winner, especially if it’s a contest with lots of participants.

So make it clear when a winner has been announced.

Look how Starbucks does this to announce the winners of their red cup contest.

Make sure you have the winner’s consent if you’re going to reveal their identity.

All of that should be clearly outlined in the rules (which we discussed earlier) to avoid any problems or confusion.

Conclusion

Don’t run a giveaway without a clear goal or reason.

Like every other business decision you make, this will require some thought and planning.

First, you need to determine which kind of giveaway you’re going to run.

If you want the winner to be completely random, you should hold a sweepstakes.

Contests are better if you want there to be some sort of skill, voting, or judgment involved in determining the winner.

Run the contest on multiple platforms.

Social media works best for establishing customer loyalty and increased brand awareness. It also makes the promotion more shareable.

Set a deadline and clearly post all of the rules for your giveaway.

Make sure your prize is relevant to your brand.

Creating a unique and customized hashtag will help you promote your brand and get more recognition.

When it’s over, make sure you announce to everyone that a winner has been selected.

What do you do after that?

Continue to run more contests!

If you follow these tips, it will be profitable for you every time.

What unique hashtag will you come up with to promote your giveaway on Instagram?

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