#i literally scheduled four separate sessions for doing this and i finished in the first one with time to spare

[pentanguine]

Good lord. I just filed my entire tax return in an hour and a half. Is this what it’s like for the common people

[kyotakumrau]

2021.02.16 1st talk session of Meguro Rock-May-KanGIG at Zepp Yokohama

Zepp Yokohama is a such a nice venue, I really hope we will get to see dir play there live properly!

The concert recorded at Meguro RockMayKan was great! The setlist surprised me quite a lot (especially encore!!!)! And I think that was the smallest stage I ever saw dir on!😆 the footage definitely deserves a separate entry and I don't want to spoil anyone if they go to next events.

After the concert film screening staff quickly prepared the stage, bringing two long tables and four chairs, they also placed a water bottle at each seat.

Punctually (thank you for not repeating Nagoya's situation😆), at 3:30 Fujieda came on stage and started with greeting everyone, and asking us to greet the band members with applause.

After a moment of uncertainty (even as my heart was almost set it will be Kyo) Die came on stage with Kyo after him.٩( ˆoˆ  )۶

They both looked super classy. Die had a dark grey suit with a long jacket, his usual award winning hair and wore sunglasses.

Kyo had a black jacket (with a round Chanel pin) and shirt, green hair, he wore glasses (not sunglasses).

When they sat (Kyo stood in front of the chair first until Fujieda gestured them to sit) F asked them to introduce themselves.

D: ども、Dieです

K: 京です

...and then F announced 'today is Kyo's birthday!' and a birthday song melody began to play😆

Kyo turned on his murder face glaring at Fujieda who happily observed 'oh what's this song?'😂

The soft Happy Birthday melody got then a guitar joining in and Takabayashi came on the stage carrying a small strawberry shortcake (with a chocolate message おめでとう京さん) which of course he placed in front of Kyo.

We couldn't sing but we clapped.

Kyo snatched a strawberry and popped it in his mouth. He gestured 'throat slashing' looking at Fujieda😂

And then ate another strawberry🍓😂

F: the song was made by Die.

K: (only interested in the cake) Could I get a fork?

(staff went to get him one)

F: how do you feel? (about your own birthday)

K: I don't care.

The fork arrived and Kyo literally dug in right in the middle, scooping a huge piece he put whole in his mouth.

Fujieda wisely left Kyo to his cake then and started talking about RMK footage. Die said they had hard time deciding on a tour or events like this in COVID situation. They also mentioned the secret show in 2009 was held in RMK.

Next Die talked about how nice it was to rehearse and play together with the band, first time since March, he was happy about the show, creating sound together as 5 people.

F: did you finish eating K?

K: yup

(there was last 🍓 left (out of 4 big ones), he ate about 25~35%?)

F: then tell us about recording the RockMayKan show!

K: the place was very narrow.

F: anything else?

K: Not really.

But then he added more, that as it has been a while it felt like the first day of the tour.

F: was there anything that was difficult? Was a struggle?

K: when recording I can do it at my own pace, I can do one song when I want, but that day it was back to performing over 10 songs all at once, it was tough, hard on my throat, energy/stamina wise.

But at the same time it was exciting, meet with other members, play music together, that was nice.

F: 2019 was filled with shows, it was busy, then things changed. So after a break to see an audience again got me nervous, in a good way.

Next F said had would like to talk about the release of Oboro.

D: what do you want to know?

F: so the song is not out yet, any hints?

D: it's gonna stay a secret for a bit more.

F: the 2nd track is TDFF？

D: (interesting letters ???didn't catch exactly) it's a powerful song.

F: how is Oboro for you Kyo?

K: quite fresh/refreshing

F: really?!

D: especially the video

...but then Kyo just burst with a whole speech how Fujieda always ask something and when he gets an aswer he didn't expect he doesn't react well, just says what he wants, is not listening to what Kyo says and... it went for a while😆

Next F moved to the topic of the merchandise and asked the band members which items they like.

K: the big badge, before the big pick was huge, shouldn't the badge be like this size (showing about 20cm with his hands). It bothered me from when I saw it. Isn't it just normal?

in the end they agreed it's just 'a bit big' 😂

F: how about for you, D?

D: the rubber key chains?

F: they got sold out very quickly, sorry to fans about that.

D: they are cute. And I like the wristbands too. The color combinations are nice.

T: the badge has the old band's logo, it brings me back

D talked about old times when artists made stickers like that, with logos, to put on their equipment, they worked a bit like business cards, he said he still have some at home.

T picked the rechargeable heat pack.

K: so it's to be used instead of heat packs? (ホッカイロ)

F: uh, it's already warm.

D: huh? Show me? (F passed it to him) it's like a phone that gets hot when charging.

Next they moved on to fans questions. ("~~" is a question from fans they read)

K (unusually picks the first question super fast): "what's your favourite cake?"

K: Well, the strawberry shortcake is good, but this one doesn't have strawberries inside, just some jam, it should have strawberries inside too.

(F so dead😂😂😂)

F: "what's your best or bad memory connected to birthdays?"

K: at a concert somewhere, it was quite long time ago, I got a present all wrapped and in a bag from a silver accessories brand I liked, so nicely wrapped, I opened it and it was empty, isn't that really strange? I looked at the attached letter and it said the person is keeping the item for themselves. It annoyed me so much, the worst bd memory ever.

☹️

F: how about you D?

D: it's not exactly bad memory, but many band members have birthdays in February, in the past when we were still giving each other presents Toshiya and I had to think what to get for 3 people, it was always tough. We stopped that at some point.

T: "any memory/story about China Town?"

D: I like China Town

T: do you go often?

D: sometimes. But only to my favorite restaurants. (?? Talked more about the stadium?)

T: do you usually order the same thing?

D: Mabodofu, the spicy version

(then I think he said something like there's no point in overdoing spicyness, it's not healthy??)

K: I don't know which restaurants are good so I get annoyed. I don't know what decides it's a good one or not.

F: I don't go, but I'd like to.

then they talked about the types of Chinese food and food they tried when in other Asian countries.

K: when we were touring in the US I ordered Chinese abd it was terrible, it was all bad. The egg soup was all clumpy, so bad.

D: "any stories about RockMayKan?"

D: honestly I don't have good memories with this venue, when with a previous band we played together with more senior bands and they took over the dressing room, we couldn't use it, and we also had to greet all senpai musicians.

K: remember when Shinya sat on the lockers? Like on top of the 170cm lockers?

D: was it in Nagoya?

K: he's done his make up there, like a cat or something

D: Shinya climbed a locker and made a space for himself there

K: He's not exactly human. Normally you would not even consider climbing a locker...

D: we usually did our make up on the stairs, didn't use changing room. When we played at RMK as dir for the first time I saw 'this is the changing room!'

He also talked about how the hair spray used by all the bandomen would stink up the whole place 😂

F: "what do you usually wear to sleep?"

K: just underwear. Doesn't matter if it's summer or winter I want to feel the towel like fabric, I use towel cloth for my bedding, I want my whole body to feel it so there's no point in wearing pajamas.

D: at home...wait you mean my home or my family house? At my parents' I always wear the pajama my mum got me, currently the Mickey Mouse one. I only have that one there.

K( with sudden interest): can you draw it?

D: it's about this big, quite big print. The one I wear at home, it wasn't sent by my mum.

K: not Mickey one??

D:  that's Nightmare Before Christmas.

K: Disney theme?

D: this one has a face in the front.

K: do you change characters (for pajamas) every year?

D: this year it's Nightmare.

Next was something they wanted to say to F. K chose to comment on his haircut, because it's asymmetric K is bothered that it will end as an uzumaki in the back. They talked more about F's style.

F: "I'd like you to tell us about your costumes you wore for RMK show".

D: I wanted something motovating so red colour.

K: I had no special reasoning, just what I wanted to wear then.

D: "have you gotten any food delivery?"

He said he only got it once or not much, I think he said he's not fond of shops that don't do it properly, but when recording it's good???

F: Shinya said he orders Uber almost everyday.

K: I only got Uber once.

F: what did you get?

K: Burger King. I quit McDonalds. After eating Burger King I can't go back to McDonalds.

They talked about sizes of burger here?? Whooper versus Junior Whooper?

F: So McD is not good?

K: the meat taste is different. McDonald now tastes like trash.

F: what about the Mc fries, when they get a bit soft.

K: not only a bit. Gross.

D: in the US we usually also have some American staff, when we had some time and we went to eat out, it was funny, American staff went for sushi, Shinya went for McDonalds.

F: was it last time?

D: no, quite some time ago.

F: when did you eat McDonalds the last time?

D: I also don't eat it, it's been some time already.

They talked more about the food, some restaurants D liked in the US (didn't catch the name🙃 but in Sacramento?), then F talked more about event schedule and the time was over.

Last comments from the band members:

Die: From today the new series of film screening starts, thank you for coming to the first day. So well... the band is working on the new album while coming to the events at the same time, we're working on creating a great album. Please come amd enjoy the events.

Kyo: I don't have a special thing to say. Many of you will be coming to few or many events and will end up with many t-shirts, you can do whatever with them, even use them as a doormat, there are many ways to use them, no problem for the whole year.

[bokoutoe-retired]

— #51 “i’ll always be here for you, ok?” & #6 “i’ve been falling in love with you since the first day we met”

characters; shoto todoroki

synopsis; todoroki seems troubled and it’s up to his best friend to find out why

total w/c; 2030

warnings; a few brief mentions of anxiety, but thats it :) i also mention end**vor like once lmao

「a/n」 requested by @greywarenns oh my god!! i literally rewrote this thing four times until i got here, and i’m decently happy with how it turned out. but i found it super hard to write todo so he’s defintely a little ooc, but i hope it’s decent! this was a challenge but i enjoyed it nonetheless so thank you for the request! <3

the realization that you’re in love with your best friend is shocking, to say the least. and it certainly was to todoroki. y/n and shoto did everything together. they studied together, trained together, ate together, made fun of endeavor together, the two were practically attached at the hip. wherever shoto went, y/n went and vice versa. but when todoroki found himself staring at you for just a little too long during one of your regular sunday study sessions, it hit him like a ton of bricks.

i’m in love with y/n l/n. i’m in love with my best friend.

that night, you didn’t notice any change in shoto and the next couple of days were pretty normal too. going about your school days and training schedules as usual. but you and shoto never ended up spending time alone together so there was no opportunity to even recognize any shifts in his behavior. you two were always separated or with another classmate, but never alone.

it wasn’t until your scheduled friday hangout that you first noticed a change. every friday night, without fail, you and todoroki set aside time to hangout. either to study, to watch a movie or even to just lay around in the same room. it didn't matter as long as you were together. during the last friday night you two had agreed that tonight's hangout was to be a movie night. now normally, todoroki wasn't an outrightly affectionate person but he did mention to you once in passing he found physical closeness comforting, and even longed for it from those few he was close with. ever since that late night conversation, it wasn’t uncommon to find yourselves situated near each other. just casual stuff like your legs touching during lunch and your feet thrown over his lap or your shoulders touching during movie nights. on particularly cold evenings you might even find your head tucked into the warm curve of his left shoulder. this subtle form of affection between you had soon become the norm, as it was welcomed and appreciated by both parties. after growing used to the comfortable, casual affection it was understandable that you felt a bit out of place when he showed up to your dorm room and took his seat on the opposite side of the bed, as far away from you as he could get. your laptop resting in the space between, almost mocking the distance while the movie sits waiting to be played. his act of separation sparked a flame of anxiety and worry in your chest. maybe it had gotten to be too much or you were making him uncomfortable, and he didn't have the heart to say anything.

“everything okay sho?” you really didn’t realize how accustomed to his touch you had become until you no longer had it. he may have only been less than a few feet away but it felt like miles compared to previous nights.

“yes, why?” he looks over to you as he answers. his face appears neutral, with no signs of being uneasy.

“oh nothing...” you trail off and shift in your seat while awkwardly adjust the blanket you had draped over yourself. it’s not like either of you had outright asked for it or mentioned anything about it out loud. truthfully, it just kind of started happening. and at this point you didn’t want to be the first person to say anything and make things awkward. you opt to keep your concerns unspoken and just roll with it for the night. your friday movie night came and went. it was nice to spend time with shoto and it wasn’t unenjoyable by any means, but you will admit it felt odd not having him pressed against you like usual.

over the course of the following saturday and sunday you invite him to hang out a few times. and all he gives you in response is a blunt “i can’t” or “i’m busy”. being his best friend you're more than aware how straightforward, or even how dense, he can be but this time it’s different. it’s sharp and curt, maybe even bordering annoyed. maybe he was just a little tired today. but maybe it was something more? between his attitude now and actions friday night, perhaps it was. it could be that something was bothering him or something put him in a sour mood. you can’t help but give into the lingering fear that maybe you had done something wrong. you let it go for the rest of the weekend, knowing that he would hopefully come to you, his best friend, if something had happened and he wanted to talk. hopefully.

it’s not until monday that you finally get truly fed up.

to start the day, there was no todoroki waiting outside your dorm room. normally, every morning without fail, you and shoto would walk together across campus from the dorms to your first class of the day. it was a wonderful way to start your day, but this time he wasn’t there. ten minutes later, when you arrived to class he was already sitting in his seat, notebook open and pencil out. had you really done something wrong? said something unintentionally rude, or had you really made him that uncomfortable while spending time together? you meet his eyes from across the room and offer him a small wave as you enter the classroom and slide into your seat across the room. he gives you a small nod and returns to looking at the textbook on his desk.

as much as todoroki wanted to walk you across campus, and as much as he wanted to talk with you before class started, he had come to a conclusion late friday night. when he walked back to his dorm after finishing the movie and saying goodnight, he decided that maybe if he stopped talking to you for a little bit he would be able to clear his head a little, sort out his feelings and figure out what he should do. as genius of an idea todoroki thought it was, a conversation with you was inevitable as you easily fell into step right next to him on the way to your second class. you immediately start talking about an album jirou had recommended to you. he listens to you speak while also doing his best to not get caught up in thinking about how pretty your smile is, or how cute you are when you get excited. it’s only when he catches a soft smile forming on his own face he realizes not talking to you would be a lot more difficult than he thought and not nearly as effective as he had hoped. he knew you would eventually realize he was purposefully disregarding you. he also knew you well enough to know that you would probably think it was your fault. that outcome definitely wasn’t what he desired. the last thing he wanted was to have you think he was upset with you for some reason, when in reality he was upset with himself for feeling about you the way he does.

it’s honestly a big relief to you when he starts engaging with you again, but you can tell somethings still bothering him. he gives you that soft smile often reserved only for you, but it doesn't quite seem complete. he nods and makes small comments as you continue talking, and it does little to soothe the nagging fear that somehow you messed up. you begin to wrack your brian for any possibilities. he hasn't mentioned his father in a while so it probably wasn't that, he did spectacular on the last three tests and as far as you know he was still ranked number one in class. he even got off campus last week, to visit his mother in person and said it went well so it’s likely not that either. there’s always a possibility that you really did do something to upset him.

after observing his abnormal behavior for the rest of the day, you manage to finally pull him off to the side on your walk back to the dorms. you gently grab him by the elbow and tug him down by the arm to sit with you on the bench.

“listen, shoto” you begin to speak, and he doesn't miss the anxiety that flashes across your face as you gently squeeze his arm with the hand still resting there, “i uh, i don’t know what's going on with you, but i know something is up and i’m really worried. you’ve been distant and moody and maybe i’ve done something wrong and you're upset-” he cuts you off in the middle of what he knows could’ve been a very long rant.

“y/n it’s not like that, i could never be mad at you. please don’t worry yourself over nothing” he does his best to reassure you without completely spilling his feelings. it’s difficult to not share everything with you like normal, but the fear of losing you holds him back.

“sho, it’s clearly something if it’s causing you to act so different. if you don’t want to talk about it right now that's fine, but just know i’ll always be here for you ok? i’ll be here to listen whenever you wanna talk” you have the softest look in your eyes as you speak and place your hand on top of his. your skin is so soft and much warmer than his. he feels an unusual heat begin to crawl up his normally cold right side, and he resists the urge to turn his hand over and intertwine your fingers with his.

“i’m in love with you!” his eyes widen as he realizes what he's just blurted out, but continues on anyways, “i’ve been falling in love with you since the first day we met. and it's so scary and i’ve just now realized it, but you’re my best friend and i don’t know who else to tell. i don’t want to lose you but i don’t think i can keep it to myself. i understand that you don’t feel the same way, and i apologize if i’ve made you uncomfortable...” his words start out bold but he quiets down as he loses confidence and sees a look of utter disbelief flash across your face. he begins to regret his words immediately and his first instinct is to leave. thinking maybe he could just walk away and pretend like this never happened, but your grip on the back of his hand tightens and prevents him from running. he stops and looks down at you only to meet your eyes, glassy with tears. he feels his own eyes begin to grow hot, he must’ve really messed up huh? he flumps back onto the bench next you, as your hold on his hand never loosens. the tears welling in his eyes threaten to spill over but his heart skips a beat when he sees your lips stretch into a smile.

“sho, you idiot! i thought you were mad at me” out of relief tears begin to stream down your cheeks “i’m in love with you too, a whole lot” you sniffle and let out a laugh, before moving your fingers to interlock with his.

“you? you what?” the breath leaves his body and he squeezes your hand in an attempt to ground himself. not once had the idea of you returning his feelings even crossed his mind, in his head he had already written himself off as unlovable in that way. yet here he is, on a bench with someone who truly loves him back. the emotions that swell in his chest are nothing but overwhelming and its all he can do to smile and pull you into a big kiss. with one hand still holding yours, he uses the other to tug you close. it’s inexperienced and clumsy as your lips slot with his. you bump noses and you can even taste a hint of your shared salty tears, but in the end none of that matters because it’s so good and so full of love.

[collecting-stories]

A Year Later - ep. 07 - JJ Maybank

A/N: I wanted to do an epilogue of sorts for The S’week and @d-reamingoutloud suggested looking into their lives a year after the story so that’s what I decided to do. Basically this is kind of where the reader’s relationship with them all is at. 

The S’week Masterlist | Outer Banks Masterlist

✰ ✰ ✰ ✰

John B. Routledge - 

John B’s Hand slipped out of yours, both of you forming a fist to side bump in a variation of the secret pogue handshake that you’d somehow come to adopt as your own in the last year. You were standing on the edge of the jetty, cooler in your other hand. 

“You ready to go?” John B asked, taking the cooler from you and setting it down below the seat before he held his hand out for you to climb aboard. It was early enough in the morning that it was still dark outside but the light on the boat cast a glow across the marsh, a rather calming effect on you as you prepared to spend the morning fishing with John B. An odd sort of tradition that had come about last year and had just stuck. A time and place that neither of you had to worry about other obligations or other people’s opinions of your friendship.  

“Yeah. New boat?” You asked, taking a look at the boat as you stepped on. John B stepped back to give you some room, nodding his head. 

“Got it last month, finally saved enough between rent and bills.” He replied, “being an adult sucks.”

“I hardly think 19 qualifies as being an adult.” You laughed, taking a seat as he pulled away from the jetty. It was still cold out for now, one of JJ’s hoodies keeping you warm as the light rush of air chilled your bare legs.  

“It does when I’ve got bills to fucking pay.” John B replied.  

“Touché.” You glanced back at him, “I thought you were doing the Winnebago thing with Kie? Surfing all the coasts or something?” 

Kiara was leaving at the end of the week to spend the summer in a Winnebago with a few friends from college. The last you had heard about the trip John B was tagging along too, eager, apparently, to get out of the obx. But here he was, spending his money on a new boat and seemingly unprepared to leave the island.  

“Nah, I thought about it but...I don’t know. She’s talking about it being a fresh start and how I’m in a slump but I know if I go with her-”  

You nodded, “not exactly a fresh start if you’re just tagging along with Kie wherever she goes.”  

You loved Kiara but you knew that she had a constant want to fix her friends problems, always the mom of the group in a way it killed her that things had never gone back to normal after the s’week debacle. The Week that Must Not Be Named, according to JJ.  

“Yeah, and listening to her try and fix things between everyone. I love her to death but the ‘we should put aside our differences’ spiel has yet to work on any of us.” John B replied, “except maybe you and Sarah.” 

“Me and Sarah are in it for life, she’s my like platonic soulmate best friend. I’d have to cut a part of myself out to not be friends with her anymore.” You admitted. Sarah could stab you in the back, and figuratively she had, and you would still be rooting for her in the end. You loved JJ and you cared about John B but Sarah was your ride or die.  

“That’s really touching.”  

“Oh shut up,” You laughed, tossing a flip-flop at him. “I love you too John B.”

“Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I was gonna say, I’ll take you up on your offer...if it still stands?” 

You’d came home almost every weekend because of your schedule but it was during spring break, on a day when JJ had work and you had gone over to the Chateau to hang out with John B, that you had mentioned your family’s vacation home in Hawaii. You usually went around Christmas and had that year, taking JJ with you for his first plane ride ever (which had been hilarious in itself). John B had mentioned wanting to get away from the obx and you suggested your family’s vacation home, free to him if he wanted to move out there for a little while.  

“Yeah of course, whatever you need.” 

“A serious change of scenery.” John B replied. The Outer Banks had always been his home but it was feeling more and more like a prison the longer he stayed there. Especially when he felt like he was running into JJ everywhere he went.  

“I’m guessing, if you’re aversion to Kie is that strong, you and JJ still aren’t talking?” You asked. It was an unspoken agreement between you and JJ that you never talked about his former best friend.  

“I got nothing to say to him.” He shrugged, “I’ve tried, I swear...it’s just, every time I see him I think about it and I feel like I wanna drown him in the ocean.” 

“I guess you won’t be coming to the boneyard on Friday then?” 

“Nah. I’ve got you and Kie and I don’t really wanna see anyone else. I’ve tried hanging out with other people we just don’t vibe ya know? I miss feeling like I had that group...I’m not gonna have that feeling here anymore.”  

“Hey I get that. When Rafe and I broke up I lost a lot of friends I thought I had.” You replied, “people can’t help feeling loyal to certain people.” 

“Maybe.” John B shrugged; it didn’t matter. Or he was trying to accept that he couldn’t change it. “But you’re here on the boat with me and we get along fine. You don’t try and bullshit me about JJ or tell me we should all be best friends again.” 

“It’s not my place. Besides, JJ and I have come to the agreement that we don’t talk about it.” You replied. It kept you both happy.

“Well it’s shit when you and Kie are in school cause then it’s just me and JJ on the cut.” John B admitted. He hadn’t complained too much about it during the school year but you knew that was just for your benefit. “What about you? I know you guys are cool but how is rooming with Sarah?”

“It’s good, feels like old times again ya know...JJ doesn’t come around, but...it what it is.” You shrugged.  

✰ ✰

Sarah Cameron -  

“I’m going to fail all my classes.” Sarah groaned, resting her chin on her forearms. She’d pushed her books away from her, forcing you to pick up your coffee when her textbooks threatened to knock it over.  

Finals were in a week and both of you had been studying like crazy, meeting up in the dorm or in the library for cram sessions between classes. Sarah was already planning on going to Nassau the first week of summer vacation with Topper and some college friends. Even if nobody actually knew what happened last summer it still felt different being in the Outer Banks now.  

“You are not, you’re literally one of the smartest people I know.” You replied, attempting to be encouraging as you texted Kiara about Pope’s birthday party coming up. Your books mirrored Sarah’s but you were taking a supposed break from studying for the five minutes your timer allotted.  

“But not the smartest?” She asked, lifting her head and narrowing her eyes at you. She grabbed her own cup of coffee off the table and took a sip as she looked over the books again. Nothing had changed.  

“I mean, I know Topper so...”  

“Oh my god, shut up, I just fucking spit out my coffee.” Sarah laughed, covering her mouth with her hand and reached for a napkin. “For real though, why couldn’t my dad have pulled a Lori Laughlin and like, paid off my college?”

You slipped your phone back on the table face down, clicking the side when it rang and pulling one of your books closer to distract you from it. “Because then he would’ve gotten caught and you would’ve been kicked out and probably blacklisted and everyone would be like ‘that girl is so dumb her dad paid off the college to pass her.’ And you’d have to move in with me and work retail.” 

“Stop it. What a fucking nightmare.” 

“The living with me or the working retail?” You asked, laughing at the annoyed face she made.  

“I’m gonna hire a new best friend who’s just like ‘yeah Sarah you’re so smart’, ‘your dad should pay for you to ace tests, you don’t need college’ and whatever other shit I pay them for.” She replied.  

“You could pay me, I’ll be your yes man.” You offered, silencing your phone when it rang again.  

“Who’s calling you?” Sarah asked, her attention drawn away from studying and Lori Laughlin to the phone that rang for a third time.  

“What?” You looked up, “no one.” You’d told JJ that you would call him when you were finished studying and that you were busy but that didn’t stop the incessant calling once he decided he felt like talking to you. Normally you wouldn’t care but you did your best to separate JJ from your life at school because Sarah was here and you didn’t feel like it was fair to flaunt that in front of her, even if it was accidental.  

“Seriously, I can see you clicking off your phone every couple minutes.” She replied, “Is it JJ?”

“Uh-” You bit your lip as you looked over at the offending electronic. It was no use pretending like he wasn’t the person on the other end of the call. You’d gone two semesters and a spring break without incident, surely, she wouldn’t care if you took one phone call. But you still felt guilty, you weren’t sure if that would ever go away. “It’s no big deal, I can talk to him later.”

“I’m fine!” Sarah insisted, “seriously I’ve got like a real date on Friday.” 

“I just wanna call him back real quick.” You replied, “I think it’s about going home for the weekend.”

“For Pope’s birthday?”  

“Yeah.” You’d been staying on campus with finals so close but it you knew Pope was going to be home for the weekend for his birthday and Kiara would be there and you didn’t want to miss spending time with them. Especially since you wouldn’t see them again until hell week was over and you were moving out of your dorm.  

“Kie mentioned it to me last week.” Sarah explained, “Are you guys doing anything special?”

“As far as I know it’s just the four of us.” You replied. John B hadn’t been hanging around either of his former friends. He still saw Kiara when she was home and you whenever you came home for the weekend, but that was sans JJ or Pope. If either of them was around than John B kept his distance.  

“Go, go. Seriously, I’m fine.” 

You pushed your chair back as your phone rang one more time, finally answering it. “Okay. I’ll be right back.”

✰ ✰

JJ Maybank -

“I’ve been thinking,” JJ started to say, sitting on a chair in The Wreck with you on his lap. Before he could continue you raised an eyebrow at him, running your fingers through his hair to get him to look up at you.  

“That’s never good.”

JJ stuck his tongue out but kept talking, undeterred by your comment, “...you should drop out.” He announced.  

You laughed, knowing that JJ wasn’t serious at all. He’d been making the same suggestion to you since September. “No way in hell! Why would I do that?”

“So I don’t have to go weeks without seeing you.” He shrugged, fingers slipping beneath your shirt as he laid a kiss against your neck.  

“A more tempting offer than I expected...what’ll we do on all these weeks spent actually seeing each other?” You asked, smiling. You couldn’t help but play along whenever he asked you to leave school. It was all just for fun, if anything JJ had the most supportive person you had in your life during school.  

“I can think of a few things.” JJ replied, squeezing your side and brushing his nose against your collar and neck.  

“Oh god.” You laughed, “stop we’re in public. There are families with children here.”

“How do you think they got the kids?” He shrugged.  

“You’re a terrible person.” You replied, “come on, Kie and Pope will be here soon.” 

“You’ve been home for like an hour and you’re already dying to see our friends instead of me.” JJ whined.  

“An hour? Babe, I got in this morning...we spent the whole morning ‘unpacking’ in my room.” You pointed out. You’d taken the earliest ferry over that you could and met JJ on the docks. It didn’t matter that you’d just seen him two weeks ago or that you facetimed him every night, seeing him in person gave you the best feeling in the world. It was undeniable.  

“Okay, I know I did not come all the way here just to watch you guys mack on each other.” Kiara announced as she came over to the table.  

“Came all the way over? You fucking work here Kie.” JJ replied, rolling his eyes as you got up to give her a hug. He frowned at the loss of attention, even if he did know that going out with everyone meant not getting you all to himself.  

“I had to go pick up Pope and then drive back.” Kiara said, as if that was a viable excuse.

“I’m like five minutes away...walking.” Pope pointed out, giving you a hug before grabbing a seat next to JJ.  

“No, move.”

“I’m not moving!” Pope exclaimed, “dude, don’t push my chair.”

“He’s being a brat cause I’m apparently more excited to see you guys than I was to see him.” You replied, laughing as Pope smacked JJ’s hands away from his chair. You sat across from your boyfriend, sticking your tongue out at him.  

“You are.”

“I am not!”  

“She is.” Kiara said, grinning at you, “it’s okay I know you only date JJ so you can hang out with us.”

“Hey!”

“I know, what am I gonna do while you’re away?”

“It’s okay,” Pope said, reaching across the table and putting his hand over yours, “I’ll still be here.”

“Thank god.”

“Okay, seriously, the three of you are the worst.” Despite his words when you looked over at JJ he was smiling, eyes brighter than they’d been when you met him almost a year ago. Things weren’t perfect but they were good.  

-

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[lonelyreputation]

Caught

A/N:  Hello hello! Here’s some (more) fluff!! Who am I? But anyway, I wrote this from this sensory request and it was actually the first request I GOT ON THIS BLOG (!!!) so I'm so sorry that it’s coming so late!! But I’ll always remember this request bc it was the first🥺 

Anywaayyyy thank you all so much for reading, sending me the nicest messages, reblog-ing, and requesting prompts!! I get so much motivation from you all it’s insane!! Thank you!! I appreciate every single one of you!!

PROMPT: Licking your fingers while eating Cheetos

Chat Chat Chat | MASTERLIST

Warnings: One (1) swear word & a bit of a heated make out session😶

Word Count: 3.9K

Being a twenty-year-old and playing sold out shows in stadiums around the world was abnormal.  But what was more abnormal was that the twenty-year-old who spent most of his time on a tour bus than in his own apartment was your boyfriend.  Not many people could say that their boyfriend was in Amsterdam one day and then Paris the next.  

Shawn had spent spring in Europe on a tourbus and hotel rooms, and his summer wasn’t much different, except for the fact that he was on his North American leg of the tour.  He had convinced you to come traveling across America; it was more in your budget and convenient with your university schedule.

Every now and then, Shawn would have some down time, but it wasn’t very often.  He kept apologizing whenever he was pulled away and promised to spend time with you more.  But you didn’t mind.  Shawn had given you a front seat to his career and everything it entails.  And it was fascinating.  You would be in one city and everyone would already be advancing for a show that was two weeks away.  The precision and detail of obscure jobs that some crew had gone over your head in the past, but seeing all the mechanics of everything that goes on for the show to happen…it made you appreciate Shawn’s performances even more.

You had gotten fairly close with Shawn’s head of tour merchandiser, Dane, and often found yourself helping him set up the merchandise stands when Shawn was off at a meet and greet, sound check, or wherever Andrew had pulled him away to.  

“Are you playing in the little soccer match they have going on later today?” You asked Dane as you carried over a large brown cardboard box. 

He held up a finger to you as he finished up his count in of tour posters and typed it on a tour merchandise app on his phone, “Yeah, you?”

You shook your head as you used a key to tear through the sealed box.  Once the tape that held the box together was ripped, you opened the four flaps and saw that you were counting in some sweatshirts.  Silently, you counted ten sweatshirts, put them in a pile on the side with a sticky note on top with a number ten circled and then counted out another ten sweatshirts. 

“I’ve never been good with hand eye coordination,” you didn’t look up at him as you continued to count ten sweatshirts, “I’ve always been better at cheering people on from the sides.”

“Oh, I’ve noticed.”

You had just finished circling a ten on a neon green sticky note as you capped the sharpie and looked at Dane, “You’ve noticed?”

Dane nodded with a smile on his face as he hung up a piece of paper with a blown up image of a keychain; he stuck a large sticker with the price of the keychain on the corner of the paper.  He hung it up on the black tapestry so that way fans would be able to see it before they got up to the front of the merchandise line.

“You’re always there for Shawn when he walks on and off stage.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen you go to the bathroom when he’s performing.”

You blushed as you finished counting the last of the sweatshirts in the box you carried in, “It’s not that big of a deal.”

“He loves it,” Dane took a t-shirt and clipped the sleeves of it to the top of the tapestry, “The week before you came he literally wouldn’t shut up––Y/n’s coming next week, did you know?  I just love her so much!  I miss her so much!”

You bunched up a t-shirt and threw it at Dane as he miserably failed at impersonating Shawn’s voice, “He didn’t say that.”

“Ask him yourself.”

“Oh, I––“

“Ask who yourself?”

You spun your head around and came face to face with your boyfriend.  You smiled at him and threw another balled up shirt at Dane.

“Hey!  That’s merchandise we’re selling tonight!”

You waved Dane off and rested your hands on your hips, “Before I came on tour were you non-stop going around telling people I was coming and saying how much you love me and saying how much you missed me?”

Shawn still had a slight smile on his face as he gazed at you.  His facial expression hadn’t changed since he walked up behind you, so you thought you had proved Dane wrong, but that wasn’t the case when Shawn spoke up.

He shrugged his shoulders, “Yeah, why?” He spoke as if it that information was public knowledge.

Before you had the chance to say anything, you felt a soft material collide with the back of your head.  Your head slightly jerked forward from the contact of the t-shirt that was just thrown at you.  You quickly picked the shirt off the dusty ground and glared at Dane, “This is merchandise that you’re selling tonight.”

Dane barked out a laugh as he finished setting up the merchandise display.  He stood back and admired his work for a few seconds before informing Shawn he was going to check on the other stands and make sure everyone else on the merchandise team had completed their count in.  They did some sort of bro handshake, before telling one another that they’d see each other shortly for the soccer game.

Shawn walked up to your side and threw an arm over your shoulder.  You leaned your head back on his shoulder and looked up at him, “Excited for the match?”

“Yeah, just wish you were playing.”  

Your eyes closed as Shawn lightly traced circles on your upper arm with the tips of his fingers.  Shivers ran down your spine as you closed your eyes, “You’ve seen me play.”

Shawn let out a laugh as he started walking, guiding you around the main floor of the arena, “Even though it is probably a good idea that you’re not playing, it still would’ve been fun to be on the same team.”

You let out a snort as you snaked a hand around his back to pinch his hip.  Shawn lightly jerked away from you before he tickled your shoulder in retaliation, “I’d make sure we’d be on separate teams.”

“Is that so?”

You hummed in response and let the conversation die down.  Whenever a crew member passed, you offered a smile and Shawn greeted them by name.  Seeing the dynamic he had with his crew was heartwarming because you had read of horror stories of main acts being absolute divas to their crew members.

Shawn led you backstage as the two of you wandered into his dressing room.  You sat on the couch as he went over to a little duffle bag he packed just for the soccer game.  Carefully, you watched him as he bent over, staring at how his shoulder blades could be seen through his white t-shirt as he rummaged through the bag.  

Swiftly, he tore his white shirt off and you were graced with a second of seeing your boyfriend’s muscles.  The sight didn’t last long because Shawn threw his t-shirt at your face.  You scrunched your nose up at the slightly sweaty smell mixed in with his signature scent. 

“Hey!”

It only took you a second to throw the shirt off your face, but it was a second too long because Shawn was already in a vintage t-shirt and sliding on a pair of athletic shorts up past his thighs.

“That’s not fair,” you whined.

Shawn threw his head back in laughter as he picked up his sneakers.  He walked over to where you sat on the couch, picked up your legs without any hesitation, and as he sat down on the couch, he rested your calves on his thighs.

He hunched over your legs as you watched him slide his sneakers on and tie them up. The position couldn’t have been comfortable, but he managed to get his sneakers on without complaining for you to move your legs.  And you weren’t complaining about the physical contact your legs had with his thighs.

Once he was done tying his shoes, he sat up and stretched his back, a few pops emitted from his body and you flinched, not liking the sounds of bones cracking together.

Shawn rested his hands on your knees as he leaned his head on top of the couch cushion, eyes closed he said, “I don’t wanna play.”

A small chuckle left your lips, “That’s a lie.”

He turned his head slightly towards you and opened one eye, “Yeah, I do wanna play,” he let out a sigh, “but sitting here with you is so nice.”

A loud laugh escaped your lips as you looked over at him, both of his eyes now opened and intently staring at you with adoration.

“We’re literally doing nothing.”

“As long as I’m with you,” he lifted his shoulders up in a shrug, “I don’t care what we’re doing.”

Your heart skipped a beat and you couldn’t help the smile that spread across your face.  Truth is, you loved doing nothing with him.  You savored the days when all Shawn wanted to do was spend all day tangled in your bedsheets.  You adored the days when you would sit on your couch reading a book––in a similar position to how you were sitting now––and Shawn would be hunched over scribbling lyrics down in a journal, using your legs as a writing surface.

You leaned up and pressed a kiss to his cheek, “Too sweet.”

“Uh huh,” Shawn grumbled as he pointed to his lips with his index finger, “I want a real kiss.”

You pretended to think about it for a moment before swinging a leg over his lap, adjusting your knees on either side as you straddled him.  Shawn’s hands instantly moved with your body as they landed on your waist.  Unlike your hands that were pressed flat on his chest, Shawn’s hands slowly rubbed your lower back and come back around to your waist.

The only thing more heavenly than his touch was the feeling of his kiss.

Shawn craned his neck up to reach your teasing smile and captured your lips in a sweet kiss.  Your smile was slow to disappear; being in Shawn’s presence was a reason for you to  smile in itself, but once he pinched your hips silently telling you to focus on kissing him, you thought that was a good enough reason to stop smiling.

Your hands trailed up Shawn’s chest until they rounded his neck.  He hummed as he pulled you closer to his chest and your fingers began to play with the small curls on the nape of his neck.  He tilted his head to deepen the kiss at the same time his hands tightly balled up the bottom of your shirt.  He lifted your shirt at a painstakingly slow pace to the point where you wanted to rip it off yourself.

Shawn had the shirt bunched up right under your bra.  Breaking the kiss, you leaned back, untangled your arms from around his neck and raised them over your head to aid Shawn in taking your shirt off.  Once the shirt was off, he carelessly threw it somewhere behind you, and without any hesitation, Shawn reattached his lips to yours as you felt a magnetic pull bring you closer to him.

His calloused fingertips were hot on your bare skin as they danced around.  

Just as you lowered your body to grind against his, a loud single knock, followed by a Shawn, caused both of your heads to snap toward the door.  Shawn practically threw you off him as he looked for your shirt––for anything––to cover up your exposed chest.  

You were leaning back against the arm rest of the couch, trying to calm down your erratic breathing, as you watched Shawn’s eyes widened as the door handle rattled.  It looked as if Shawn threw every ounce of common sense out the window as he threw a pillow that hit you in the face.

You clutched the pillow in your hands as you briefly looked down at it, and then back to Shawn, realizing what he wanted you to do with it, “I’m not––“

“Use it, Y/n––“

“Shawn!”

Your harsh whispers were cut off when Dane walked carelessly into the room.  The pillow was still limp in your hands; in shock that Dane came into the room with little announcement.  Shawn took notice of your chest still out for Dane to see––if he hadn’t seen it already––and with panicked eyes, he flung himself from the other end of the couch to lay on top of you.

You let out an oof as you felt Shawn’s full body weight collapsed on you; the pillow nestled between your stomachs.  You had never complained about Shawn being on top of you, but with this position, the arm of the couch was digging into your back and you and causing you to cramp up.  

“Shawn,” Dane said his name again as he continued to walk further into the dressing room, “Are you gonna come and warm up? The game starts in–––Oh.”

You tried to peak over Shawn’s shoulder to gauge Dane’s facial expression, but with the way Shawn was pressed up against you, you couldn’t see him.  But from the suggestive tone of his voice, you knew that teasing would be soon to follow.

“Am I interrupting something?”

You squeaked out a not at all as Shawn let out a frustrated of fucking course.

You smacked Shawn’s back with his hand at his crude response.

Dane let out a bellowing laugh, “How ya feeling down there, y/n?”  You heard his footsteps come closer and your hands clutched the fabric of Shawn’s shirt out of nervousness, “This is pure gold.  Andrew has said that he’s never caught you two in the middle of doing something––I, of course, called total bull on that––and I’m so happy to have caught you two.”

“Dane,” You said as you drug out the vowels in his name.

His laughter rumbled through the room.  Even though Dane was the person you were closest to on Shawn’s crew, it was still embarrassing to have been caught in a compromising position with your boyfriend.  It felt like you were fifteen.

“I’ll be out in ten,” Shawn answered.

Dane’s laughter died down as you heard his footsteps carry themselves back over towards the door, “I’ll put a timer on, Oh, and Y/n––“ you could hear the smirk on his lips, “––I hope to see you on the sidelines, preferably with a shirt on.”

You dug your head into the crook of Shawn’s neck as you felt all of the blood rush to your face.  Your hands were still tightly hanging onto the back of Shawn’s shirt for the next few minutes as he stayed in his position on top of you.

“At least it was Dane?”

At his weak attempt of lightening up the mood, you pushed him off and sat up on the couch, “At least?! He saw me without a shirt!”

“I covered you up!”

You shot a glare toward his direction as you got up from the couch and searched for your shirt.  It was crumpled up in a ball on the coffee table.  You let out a deep sigh, of course your shirt was thrown somewhere that was obvious.  Lifting the shirt up by the sleeves, you frowned as you examined all of the wrinkles.

“Here,” Shawn was already walking over to his duffle bag, “You can wear my shirt––“

“I’m––No,” you answered him as you tugged on your shirt, “I’d rather wear a wrinkled shirt than have Dane point out that I’m in one of your shirts.”

“But––“

“Let’s go,” you were a few steps away from the door as you held your hand out for him to take, “I want to pick a snack from the vending machine before the game.”

Shawn let out a sigh and grumbled something about how he loved seeing you in his shirts, but he still took ahold of your hand. The two of you walked out the dressing room as you pressed a kiss to his cheek.  A small smile overtook his face.

The two of you walked toward the backstage part of the arena where the vending machines were held.  You brought up a finger to your chin, debating on what snack to pick, as the vending machine lights illuminated your face.  Once you decided what snack you wanted, you pressed a knuckle to the letter L and then to the number 3.

You watched with excitement as the circular black rings slowly pushed your snack forward.  And then as it was finally tipping over the edge, you smiled as the bag fell with a soft fmmp as it reached the bottom of the machine.  You let go of Shawn’s hand to retrieve your snack from under the plastic black flap.

“Cheetos?” Shawn questioned just as you stood up and opened up the bag with a loud crinkle, “If I’d known you’d want Cheetos, I could’ve like added it to my rider and it would’ve been in the dressing room for you.”

You shrugged your shoulders as you held out the bag, offering your Cheetos to Shawn.  He dug his hand into the bag and took one out.  He popped it into his mouth with a loud crunch as he closed his eyes, “God, it’s been forever since I’ve had these.”

Shawn led you out of the vending machine room as you continued to share your Cheetos with him, “I remember having them as a snack after soccer games,” you shared, “You know how parents would sign up to bring snacks after games? I feel like every parent would buy that big value size pack of like twenty-four different chips, and I––“ you licked your fingers that were covered in Cheeto dust, “––Always picked Cheetos.”

Shawn tilted his head back in laughter as he pushed open a back exit door and held it open for you to walk through, “I was always more of a Fritos guy.”

You scrunched your nose up, “Fritos?”

“They’re good!” Shawn defended himself as the people from the tour crew, who were playing in the soccer match, came into view, “Don’t knock ‘em ’til you try ‘em.”

You scoffed, “There are literally dozens of other chips you could chose from,” you stopped walking when you and Shawn came up to the sideline his ‘team’ was on, “Doritos, Lays, Chex Mix––“

“Hey, Y/n!” Your eyes widened as you heard Dane yell out your name.  His feet hit the pavement hard as he ran over, “Glad you could make it––fully clothed.”  While he was talking in a calm soft voice, not raising it to cause suspicion, it still made Andrew’s head perk up.

“You caught them?” Andrew looked up from tying his shoes at Dane.

You blushed as Shawn’s manager looked between the two of you and then back at Dane as you tried to defend yourself, “He didn’t really see anything––“

“See any of what?” Brian had jogged over and started to stretch, lunging on his left leg as he reached down to touch the toes on his right foot.

“It was nothing––“

“Just Shawn and Y/n going at it in the dressing room,” Dane shrugged as he gave you a wink, “Boyfriend, girlfriend stuff.”

Andrew’s shoulders slumped as he reached over to his bag and pulled out a ten dollar bill and handed it to Dane, “I’m his day-to-day,” Andrew grumbled, “Can’t believe it was the merchandise manager who caught you two first.”

You stood there dumfounded, hand frozen in your bag of Cheetos.  You and Shawn kept your relationship as private as possible––private from the media, your social medias, and made sure to keep your PDA to a minimum when you visited him on tour.  So it was a bit comical to see how intrigued Andrew and Dane were in catching the two of you.

Brian straightened up from his stretching and held a fist out toward Shawn, “Sweet, man––Just like Denver last tour?”

Your bag of Cheetos dropped to the ground, the little you had left of your snack spilled, covering the pavement with an artificial orange color.  You felt the heat of your oncoming blush rise up to your cheeks.  With Brian being Shawn’s best friend, you had an inclination that he knew some––if not most––of your sexual relationship with Shawn.  Which you were fine with because you told your best friend almost everything.

But it was always a topic you never discussed between the two of you.  It was mutually understood that while you talked to your best friend’s about each other, you would never talk about it directly to each other.  Shawn talked to Brian about you; You talked to your best friend about Shawn.  But never would your best friend bring it up in front of Shawn.  And never––did you think––Brian would bring it up in front of you.

The same thought seemed to be stirring within Shawn’s head as his eyes widened for a second.  He was only shocked for a split second more before he let out a chuckle and returned the fist bump to Brian and chose to ignore his comment about what happened Denver, “Thanks, man.” 

“Thanks man?!” You turned to face Shawn who had an amused smirk on his face.  

You weren’t mad at the display of masculinity in front of you, in fact, you saw the humor in it, but it was still embarrassing having your boyfriend be congratulated in front of you for hooking up.

The sound of a high pitch whistle echoed off the pavement.  With the sound of the start whistle, and players heading toward the makeshift field, it took away any chance you had of laying into Shawn more.  

Brian ran away laughing, escaping the choice words you had for him, which just left you with Shawn.  You crossed your arms over your chest stubbornly and tore your head away from Shawn as he lifted a finger under your chin to try and get you to look at him.

“Good luck kiss?”

With a playful sigh, you leaned up on your tip toes to press a peck to Shawn’s smile.  His eyes were still closed when you pulled away and his smile grew wider, “You love me.”

“Unfortunately,” you said as you couldn’t fight Shawn’s contagious smile, “I love you a lot.”

Shawn let out a laugh as a few people hollered at him to come over, “How unfortunate for me,” he pressed another quick kiss to your lips before he started to walk backwards toward the game that had started without him, “Are you free tonight?”

You leaned your weight on your left leg as you tapped a finger on your cheek, “Hm…I’m watching my boyfriend sing at a little show,” Shawn stopped walking backwards, his full attention on you, and showed all his teeth in a grin, “But I’m free after.”

“It’s a date,” Shawn said before he spun around and ran toward the soccer ball.

[abundanceofsoph]

SkyFire 3: Chapter 10

I’m free as a bird when I’m flying in your cage: Nov/Dec 2017  

Word count: 3k

SkyFire 3 MASTERLIST

Please for the love of god, if you like the story just hit the reblog button. I really don’t know how to say it nicely but it’s really starting to bother me and maybe that makes me a dick but so be it.

>Instagram posts

Thankfully, after a day and a half of vocal rest, Harry was ready to go for the Manchester show and he very much dialled his performance up to 11 for his hometown crowd. Just as she had told Grimmy, Aurora stayed off social media in the days following the interview, but she heard from others that a small section of the fandom was absolutely furious with her and the social media manager that Mark had hired years ago to clear out her comment sections was working overtime to keep some of the nastier shit from her feeds. As much as Aurora herself was able to avoid it all together, she knew that a lot of her fans would be reading the comments and she wanted to keep it safe for them. Harry’s team was also working to keep his own accounts clear as well, and while they couldn’t hide from what was being said about them or Louis and Elanor, they could try to filter out the worst of it. This was the one part of celebrity that they all agreed was the worst. It was the unfortunate consequence of having such passionate fans. Ella had no such inclination to avoid the comment sections and was spending her free time picking fights with Larries and attempting to set them straight on the reality of Harry and Louis’ relationship as nothing more than brotherly love. Aurora tried to urge her to let it go, but unfortunately her best friend was feisty and easy to anger which was not a good combination with how overprotective she was about her loved ones. By the time they stepped out onto the Manchester stage, both Rori and Harry were happy to put aside the drama and focus on the music.  Things started to cool down over the following week which took them up to Glasgow and then on to Stockholm, Berlin, Amsterdam, and Milan. By the time they returned to London on the 11th, the music video for Kiwi had been live for 3 days and the fans had thankfully moved on from Aurora’s interview in exchange for raving about the new video.  

They spent the first few days relaxing at home before Rori headed to North London to meet up with Liam at the recording studio he liked to use to work on the song he had mentioned at Niall’s launch party. Aurora had spent the last few weeks listening to the demo on repeat while pouring over the sheet music Liam had emailed her. She was obsessed with the song and the two had been messaging back and forth constantly, discussing the arrangement and which parts each of them would take. Stepping back into a recording studio, even one she’d never visited before, felt like coming home after weeks on the road and her face lit up immediately as soon as she caught sight of Liam,  wrapping her arms around him in a rib crushing hug.

“Ready to jump straight in?” he asked after letting her go.

“Absolutely,” she replied excitedly before following him as he introduced her to the producer and technicians that they would be working with for the following few days.

With a full week before Harry and Rori were due to  fly to Shanghai, neither she nor Liam were on a tight schedule to finish the song. This meant that the environment in the studio was very chilled and there were many tangents and breaks taken while they worked.

“How attached are you and Lou to the lyrics?” Rori asked on their second day in the studio.

“Of course, you want to change something,” Liam laughed in a response. “Wouldn’t be you if you didn’t.”

“I’m sorry,” Rori replied with a laugh of her own. “I am who I am.”

“I know,” Liam agreed. “So, show me what you’re thinking.”

“I’ve been tossing around the pre-chorus and I was wondering if instead of what you lads have there, instead we go with this.”

I'm free as a bird When I'm flying in your cage I'm diving in deep And I'm riding with no brakes And I'm bleeding in love You're swimming in my veins You got me now

“Well fuck,” Liam replied. “Think I need to stop writing with Louis and start writing with you more often.”

“You like it?”

“Rors, I love it,” he said. “It’s way better than what we came up with. Let’s get back in the booth and record it.”

They ended up spending four days finishing the song which left Aurora with a few remaining days to catch up with Ella and also relax at home with her husband before they were thrown back into work.

xXx

The day before they were set to fly to China, Aurora headed over to Ella’s flat in Wimbledon. “I brought cake,” she yelled as she let herself into the flat with the spare key Ella had given her when Rori first moved back to London.

“Fuck yes!” Ella cheered in response, her voice carrying down the hall from the kitchen. “I’m just making us tea,” she continued as Rori made her way inside. “Get yourself comfy on the sofa and I’ll meet you in there, babe.”

Rori made herself at home in the living room, Ella’s elderly tabby cat Elliot, immediately padding over to make himself comfortable in her lap.

“You were recording with Liam this week yeah?” Ella asked as she joined Rori on the sofa, placing mugs of tea in front of them. “How was it?”

“God, it was so much fun El,” Rori sighed. “I didn’t realise how much I missed being in the studio. I mean don’t get me wrong, I love touring and I’m having an incredible time on the road, but it felt so good to be back recording again and it just has me itching to write again.”

“You should make sure to do more of it over the Christmas break then,” Ella pointed out. “Speaking of which are you going to be in New York or are you coming home for winter?”

“We’re planning a bit of both. Christmas and my birthday in New York with my dads and then we’ll come back here for February before the tour kicks off again in March. I think Gemma and Anne are going to join us for Christmas too and then when we get back Liam and I have made plans to have a writing session together. ”

“Sounds like a good plan,” Ella nodded before taking a sip of her tea. “Selfishly I’m glad you’ll be spending a decent chunk of time here. I miss you.”

“Urggh,” Rori groaned. “I miss you too. Was thinking of maybe doing something for Harry’s birthday and getting you, Lou, Liam, and Niall over to our flat for a game’s night or something. I feel like Harry could use something a little more lowkey this year after the insanity of tour.”

“Don’t feel like you need to invite me,” Ella replied awkwardly. “I mean, if you’re inviting the band over, I’m not really part of that group.”

“Oh bullshit,” Rori laughed. “They boys love you just like I do. You all get along great whenever we were all together for wedding stuff or the album launch. Why on earth would you feel like I shouldn’t invite you too?”

“Rori,” Ella sighed. “While yes, I have gotten along with yours and Harry’s friends in the past, that doesn’t mean that I run in the same circles as they do. They’re celebrities, you are a celebrity and I just think that sometimes you forget that I’m just your old friend from school. It’s two separate worlds that you live in.”

Aurora rolled her eyes in response, taking a sip of her tea while she compiled her rebuttal. “That’s such a load of shit El. They are mine and Harry’s friends and so are you. When we are away from the paparazzi, they are no different to you and me. I get that we grew up with their pictures on our bedroom walls but once you put that aside they’re just a bunch of really great guys that I think could become your close friends too if you let them in and stop freaking out around them.”

“Ok fine,” Ella agreed after a moment of silent staring between the two women. “I’ll try to get over myself and give them a chance next time we’re all in the same room. Can we change the subject now?”

“That’s all I’m asking for and absolutely we can change the subject. How’s things with Tim? Feel like we haven’t talked about him in a while.” Ella made a face and Aurora felt her heart break for her best friend. “When?” she asked softly. “What happened, love?”

“He broke it off a few weeks ago,” Ella explained. “Said he didn’t feel a spark or something.”

“I’m sorry babe, things seemed to be going so well when I left for the tour.”

“They were. At least I thought they were. We barely made it past 3 months before he gave up.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You were half a world away having the best time,” Ella replied. “If I’d told you then you would have just felt guilty for not being here.”

“And now instead I feel guilty for not even being able to be a sympathetic ear since I couldn’t provide a shoulder. How are you now?”

“I’ll be ok. I’ve been a bit down in the dumps, but I think it’s for the best. He made some good points about me not really knowing what I wanted and he’s right. I think I’m gonna swear off dating until I really figure out who I am and what I’m looking for.”

“Well if you ever want help figuring out who you are, I think I know you pretty well by now.”

“I might take you up on that offer,” Ella said with a small smile before changing topic. “Now enough moping, you said you brought cake with you? You are never going to believe the scandal that’s broken out amongst some of the girls in my Colonial History class.”

xXx

Occasionally something would happen in Aurora’s life that would give her pause and remind her how incredibly ludicrous her life had become. Standing behind her keyboard in the middle of a Victoria Secrets show in Shanghai while her husband sang and danced his heart out in front of her while literally supermodels strutted past them was one of those moments.

It was hard for her to believe that only 2 days ago she was sitting on her best friend’s sofa eating a chocolate cake from Sainsbury’s and discussing the latest high school drama playing out in Ella’s classroom. She found herself thinking about how her mother would react if she somehow had a way to travel back in time seven years and tell her about this moment and all the other life changing moments that had occurred since they parted. It was while her thoughts were caught on her mother that Harry turned, catching her eye, a mile-wide smile lighting up his face as he winked at her, causing her own smile to grow in response. No matter how strange her life had become and how much everything had changed since she was an average teenager living above a small bar, she knew that she wouldn’t change a single thing that had happened if it meant ending up here with Harry smiling at her like that.

xXx

Following the Victoria Secrets show, the band arrived in Singapore early and spent a few days exploring before their show there after which the flew on to Australia, a country that Harry had toured many times over the years with One Direction, but Aurora had never managed to visit herself. They had a week in the land Down Under, with shows in both Sydney and Melbourne and Aurora made it her mission to see as much as she could of the 2 state capitals, often dragging Harry or other members of the band along on her adventures. Given that it was the last week of November everywhere was getting into the Christmas spirit, however since it was the southern hemisphere the weather was scorching hot and the group found the combination highly entertaining, if somewhat baffling.

While in Sydney they took in the iconic sights such as Bondi beach, the Opera House, and the Harbour Bridge, as well as a day trip out to explore the Blue Mountains. In Melbourne they visited the Eureka Tower with it’s Skydeck that offered an amazing view of the city spread out beneath them. They also spent some time at the Melbourne Zoo and National Gallery of Victoria, then the day after their show at the Forum, they were taken on a drive out of the city and down along the coastal Great Ocean Road.

The tour stop in Auckland was similarly packed out with touristy opportunities where Aurora’s highlight was the art gallery Toi o Tāmaki. While the laid back vibes in both Australia and New Zealand captured Aurora’s attention, it was the week they spent in Tokyo that held Harry’s, so much so that while everyone else headed home the day after the last show, the young couple made a last minute change to their travel plans and extended their stay by an additional week to explore the city more.

Once again, Tokyo was somewhere that Harry had visited many times with the band while Aurora had never been, and he enjoyed to opportunity to show her his favourite parts. Something Aurora noticed almost immediately about Tokyo was that unlike in the US or the UK, people either didn’t recognize them when they were out and about or they did but respected their privacy and left them alone. She pointed this out to Harry on their second day wandering the city streets and he smiled back at her, agreeing that it was something he’d also noticed in a previous visit and had definitely played a role in him falling in love with the city.

They spent their days wandering the streets, ducking into quirky shops that caught their eye and just revelling in the normalcy of being together in public. As they walked, they both realized that they had never had this; a chance to be like everyone else crowding the sidewalks around them. Save for stolen moments in the early days of their relationship like their first date in Hampstead Heath or when they were able to sneak into galleries on quiet days, they’d never really been able to be themselves within a crowd. They’d always needed to wrap a scarf that little bit higher around their chins or wear a hat a little lower on their heads or glasses a little bit larger. To walk hand in hand like any other couple was freeing in a way that Rori hadn’t realized she’d been missing, and she soaked up every moment of their time in Tokyo. If only for a week she felt like she was living the life she would have had if her mother hadn’t died. If she had continued living as a normal girl from Wimbledon instead of being thrust into the spotlight, free to live her life without the scrutiny of the press and the public. Of course, it wasn’t lost on her that the man holding her hand wouldn’t be Harry in this parallel universe and for that she would happily trade in her freedom. She could accept that the price she paid to be married to Harry and be Steve and Tony’s daughter was that she would never really be allowed to have this normality, so she simply tried to make the most of their time before they flew on to New York for Christmas. They never spoke about any of this during their little vacation away from their lives but even without voicing her thoughts, Rori was certain that Harry was thinking the same thing and would willingly make the same sacrifices for the life they had built together.

xXx

Both Aurora and Harry were exhausted by the time they reached New York and were grateful to find Happy waiting for them as soon as they exited the arrivals terminal at JFK. He offered a quick hug to Rori before collecting their bags from them and leading them to the town car waiting for them. She leant against Harry in the back seat as they made the hour long drive into Manhattan. Her blinks began to lengthen as the airport shrank in the rear-view mirror and she was fast asleep before they reached Queens. Harry had to gently coax her awake once they finally reached the tower and she slowly made her way out of the car and into the elevator up to the penthouse. Tony and Steve were waiting up for their arrival and excitedly pulled their daughter into tight hugs the moment she stepped out of the elevator. It was Steve that noticed the way both Rori and Harry’s eyelids seem to droop and their gazes glazed over while Tony asked them a dozen questions about their recent adventures, and Rori was grateful when her Pops shooed them both off to bed with promises that they could catch up properly over a homecooked breakfast the next morning. They were barely conscious by the time they stripped out of their clothes and crawled into bed, however Aurora remained awake just long enough the think about how good it felt to be home.

NEXT CHAPTER

OR CONTINUE READING ON AO3                               

[pokegeek151]

By popular demand, what if Orion was well written part 2/??

Previous   Next   Bonus

Orion was settling into a more comfortable position in his chair, seemingly oblivious to Holly’s nervous energy across from him. Argon, somewhat desperate to talk to Artemis after he’d missed over a month of sessions in favor of letting Orion handle them, had agreed to step out at the young man’s request. The doctor decided that leaving him alone for this exercise was a bad idea, though, so Holly was called in to babysit.

“I don’t think I’m qualified to do this,” she said.

“You’ll be fine, love,” Orion said with what he hoped was reassuring confidence. “Though you know I adore being around you, your presence is mostly a formality.” As he spoke, he placed his hands facedown on his legs, allowed his limbs to relax into the gel-supported cushioning, and let his eyes fall closed. “Expect to be bored.”

“If you say so,” she said. As Orion’s motions stilled, Holly spoke up again. “How long do you think it will take?”

“Difficult to say. If Artemis is agreeable, only a couple minutes.” He opened one eye and grinned. “Though Artemis being agreeable is not something I would place money on if you’re not in the habit of losing.”

Holly grinned as well and allowed Orion to begin his meditation. Despite herself, she leaned forward curiously. Though she had of course induced a few switches herself, they were all violent and came after long periods of electroshock-induced unconsciousness. She had never seen them do a voluntary switch.

Orion spent a few minutes focusing on his breathing and observing his body in physical space. Artemis had taken up mediation and mindfulness as a hobby years ago, and that knowledge had sunk into Orion’s consciousness, as well. Eventually, the world around him slipped away and the light of Artemis’ mind office became visible in the distance. At this realization, the image of legs formed beneath him, and he walked towards it. By the time he arrived at the office, Orion was fully formed in the mind space.

“Artemis, can I come in?” he asked, though it was unnecessary. The mind is a funny thing; though Orion as the conscious alter had to focus on the arrival into the office, to Artemis, he simply appeared already inside. Orion was nothing but a gentleman, though, and he always asked for an invitation into what he considered Artemis’ space.

“Of course,” Artemis answered. His desk had changed since Orion had last visited; there were stacks of paper and what appeared to be a rudimentary circuit board and other electrical materials arranged atop it. Of course, rudimentary was relative, and the board on the desk was actually quite advanced on an objective level, but Orion knew that it was practically a child’s toy to Artemis.

“What’s that?” Orion asked, genuinely curious. He had never seen anything like it in the mind office.

“I’ve been doing experiments,” Artemis replied. He stepped aside and allowed Orion to examine the device. “It’s quite a simple circuit board, but I have perfect knowledge of its construction and properties.” He reached over and pressed a button on the board, and the device buzzed to life. “It took quite a bit of mental effort and focus, but I have actually created a working piece of electronic equipment in my own mind.”

“Astounding,” Orion said, awestruck. It was incomprehensibly impressive. “A perfect recreation of a physical object.”

“I knew you’d have a proper appreciation within the mind space,” Artemis said. While together like this, the edges of their personalities started to blur and mix. They were still separate, but perhaps not as distinct as when one of them was fronting. Some of Artemis’ intelligence and scientific awareness bled over.

Orion nodded, though something about the discovery bothered him. “But why?” he asked, gingerly placing the device back onto the desk. 

“I have no intention of spending the rest of my life simply watching you pilot my body,” he said. “So I came up with something to do. I plan to experiment with oil paints next, then move on to something more complicated. My goal is to be able to invent from within here and run accurate tests on new discoveries.” He sounded genuinely excited, his willingness to show emotion enhanced by Orion’s presence.

Orion wasn’t sure how to react. A certain detail Artemis had mentioned was making it hard for him to get as excited as his alter. “That is…very impressive, Artemis,” he said. He hesitated, trying to phrase his concern delicately, then decided not to beat around the bush. “Do you really expect to spend your whole life in here?”

Artemis, who had started to fiddle with the circuit board, paused. “Well, I suppose not,” he said noncommittally.

Orion stepped around him, partially blocking his view of the desk. “You can’t stay in here forever, Artemis.”

Artemis stepped back, away from Orion. “And why not? Who are you to dictate my life?”

“It’s my life, too,” he said, taking a half step closer to Artemis, who moved away the same amount. “And there are people out there waiting for you.”

“People whom I will push away once I lose myself to the disease.” There was a rising anger in Artemis. Orion could feel it. 

“People who will stand by your side while you recover,” he countered. This wasn’t how he wanted the conversation to go.

“When I’m outside, I am not the person they know. I cannot control my own thoughts.”

“They know that, and they love you.”

“And what do you know of that?” It was Artemis’ turn to move forward and Orion’s to retreat. “They tolerate you, at best, and you know that.”

“You’re wrong, Artemis.”

Artemis continued his approach, forcing Orion towards the view wall inch by inch. “Am I? You are delusional; the world to you is a storybook.”

“That’s not fair, I’ve been getting better—“

“You have no respect for Holly’s personal boundaries. She is disgusted by you.”

“That’s not true. I’m learning, and she—“

Artemis stopped as Orion’s back was about to touch the gel of the wall. “And worst of all, you are trying to replace me, and they know that.”

Orion planted his feet and met his alter in the eye. “I’m not trying to replace you. You’re stressed, and your paranoia has infected your haven. Allow yourself to calm down, and you will see you are thinking illogically.”

Artemis also planted his feet. “Get out of my head,” he said, and pushed Orion into the view wall.

Artemis, ever unathletic, had telegraphed his action, so Orion wasn’t surprised when he was shoved, but he allowed it to happen anyway. He knew that Artemis was too agitated to be reasoned with at the moment, a once rare, nearly impossible occurrence that was happening more and more frequently as Artemis continued to lock himself inside his mind. Orion thought perhaps that allowing Artemis to shove him might offer some cathartic relief, at the very least. 

The gel fizzled on his skin, though the golden fours that made the substance buzz with electricity ignored him. Because he was allowing himself to resurface, the wall gave him almost no resistance. 

In the real world, his body jolted in the chair. Holly rushed to support him immediately, placing a hand on his shoulder to help keep him upright.

“Artemis? Are you alright?”

“I am fine, princess, though the fair prince remains trapped within his accursed tower.” Ah, there was the fairy tale, right on schedule. The stress was exacerbating his delusions. “I fear a witch has hexed him. Perhaps we can brew a potion to negate the enchantment.”

Holly frowned but didn’t contradict him. “I take it Artemis wasn’t feeling agreeable?”

Orion rubbed his eyes with the heel of his hand. “No. He pushed me out. Literally.” He was exhausted from the ordeal. Entering the mind space with Artemis was not itself a tiring activity, but the mental energy he expended in their fight, as well as the rather ungraceful exit, had drained him.

“What happened?” she asked, shifting from sitting on her heels to kneeling beside his chair.

“He’s inventing,” Orion said. “He built a circuit board.”

“Hunkering down,” Holly realized. “He’s in it for the long haul.”

“Indeed. He got angry at me. He yelled at me, forced me out. As I told the good Doctor, he’s scared. He fears you’ll reject him, princess.”

Holly looked almost offended. “I wouldn’t dare,” she said.

Orion smiled sadly. “I know. I told him as much, but he was beyond reason.” Holly opened her mouth to question, clearly confused by the very notion, but Orion explained before she could ask. “Within the mind space, our characteristics…mix, a bit. Though I am made from that which he had repressed, when the two parts are put together, we begin to combine. There is no risk,” he added quickly, seeing concern flash across her features. “Just a bit of blurring at the edges.”

Holly looked around the room, giving her eyes something to do while she processed all of this. “If asking nicely won’t work, we’ll have to come up with something more aggressive,” she decided. “He can’t just stay in there forever.”

Orion nodded. “We will save him from the dragons that plague him.” He tried to shift his posture to evoke the stance of a knight, but he only held it for a moment before the exhaustion hit him again and he tilted forward into Holly, who had moved to catch him before he even realized he was falling. The chair was comfortable, but he had no desire to sleep in it. “Though perhaps we should return to the castle first. I would appreciate some time to recover before we begin our quest.” Holly helped him stand, and after an uncertain moment, Orion gained his balance. 

><

In the hall, Argon was pacing, waiting for the pair to finish. He turned excitedly when the door finally opened.

“Artemis? Holly? How did it go?” he asked, rocking back and forth on his heels.

“Orion is exhausted,” Holly said bitterly. She wanted Artemis to spend some time outside his own head as much as the next person, but Argon’s blatant disregard for Orion was insulting. “Session’s ending early.” Without waiting for approval, she led Orion down the hall.

Argon scurried after them. “But there’s still nearly half an hour left!” he cried.

“Session’s over, doc,” Holly called over her shoulder. Even with an exhausted Mud Boy in tow, they were able to easily outpace the squat doctor.

Butler was waiting for them outside the clinic. There was nowhere inside for him to comfortably wait, though Foaly had said something about an oversized chair being put on order. He glanced at the door on habit as it opened, checking for security, but he did a double-take when he realized Holly and his charge leaving the building half an hour ahead of schedule.

“Is everything alright?” he asked as the pair approached.

“Argon is letting him go early, today,” Holly said in a tone that told Butler it was likely not Dr. Argon’s decision.

“And why is that?” he asked casually, falling into step with them as they headed towards the nearest shuttle station. If Holly had forced Argon to end the session, Butler was willing to trust it was for a good reason.

“Because Artemis is stubborn as a hungry troll,” she answered.

“He had no interest in making an appearance,” Orion added, confirming his identity for Butler.

Butler had, of course, known about the plan for today’s session, and he’d been quietly hoping Artemis would finally come back to them. Artemis and his alter looked a lot alike when tired, and Butler hadn’t been certain who was fronting. He must have let some of his disappointment show based on the way Orion’s features tightened, though the young man didn’t comment. Butler instantly felt guilty, though he also said nothing. He hadn’t meant to hurt Orion, but Artemis was still his priority. 

“I see,” was all the man offered.

The trek to the shuttle station was uneventful, though the group got more stares than usual. The regular commuters through this part of Haven had gotten used to seeing the massive Mud Man in this time of day, but the half hour difference was enough to mix up the crowd.

The shuttle ride was similarly uneventful; the one shuttle large enough to carry Butler had been co-opted by the LEP and served as private transport for the humans 3 days a week, so there was no need to wait for a ride or concern themselves with citizens being in their way. Orion dozed lightly during the ride, his head against Butler’s arm. He looked peaceful. As peaceful as Artemis did in his sleep, Butler noted.

Orion roused himself as the shuttle landed, though he fell asleep on Holly’s shoulder once they were in the Bentley. She nudged him awake once they arrived at the Manor.

“That really took a lot out of you,” she said as he unfolded himself from the car.

“More than expected,” he said. “I think I am sad,” he added, “for sadness is a tiring emotion.”

“What’s making you sad?” Holly asked. She had heard enough about his therapy sessions to pick up on some things. He still struggled with identifying his emotions at times, and encouraging him to explore what he was feeling helped with that.

“Artemis.” He held his hand out in front of him and turned it over and back, studying the surface and the way his fingers moved. “He is in anguish.”

Holly nodded. “I’m sad about that, too. And frustrated.” Her hands clenched into fists at her sides, and she forced herself to uncurl them.

Orion nodded. “You can’t punch your way through this.”

“As much as I want to,” she agreed.

The sessions with Argon were at the beginning of the day in Haven, but fairies being nocturnal creatures meant that it was dark above ground when they were done. There were footlights along the paths on the estate, but to minimize light pollution, they were on specialized motion sensors that were fine-tuned enough to differentiate between wild animals and humans (and fairies, of course). As such, the world around them was a shroud of gloom for a few seconds until the lights clicked on, giving everything a unique, almost unsettling glow from below. On hard, tiresome days like today, the unnatural underside lighting seemed mystical in a way Orion was growing better and better at determining to be part of his delusions. This was something he knew, and at Argon’s suggestion, he used this knowledge to practice grounding techniques after sessions.

Today was no exception. As much as he would love to go straight inside and collapse into bed, practice and consistency were important, so he took a few minutes to breathe deeply and take inventory of his senses and his thoughts. Holly and Butler both waited for him, silently exchanging slightly worried expressions. They knew what he was doing, but his mental health was still a concern, especially after a particularly trying therapy session. And of course, they were always thinking about Artemis. They had both returned their expressions to neutral by the time Orion was done, though, and the trio finally escaped the cool, humid night air so Orion could get some much needed rest.

[pertinax--loculos]

Weekly Update 19/09

Currently Writing Absent That Night (tagged: WIP: ATN)

wordcount this week: 14,102

total time writing: 8hrs 05min

Last week's goal: Write for a minimum of 60min on Tues/Wed/Thurs/Fri/Sun Didn't quite get this one this week. :( Found myself sorta piking out early on the majority of these days rather than pushing to write for the full allotted time. Goal for this week: Stick to my schedule! (aka get to "Scene 11" by the end of the week)

Summary

I am moving my deadline for completion to October 31st. This is still gonna push me, but I genuinely think it is achievable if I really elevate writing as a priority. Which is definitely something I want to do! But there is basically no way I'm going to make the 16th, so for my own good, new deadline it is. ^_^ (I also do have a much easier and far more rigid deadline, which I'm keeping in the back of my head for now. ;))

Aside from all that, I would really like to push to get to the full amount of time I've allotted while writing at least twice this week. I did find myself getting a little annoyed at my own (perceived!) lack of productivity throughout the week -- which is a little hilarious in hindsight, given that I wrote only 5k less than last week in almost four hours less. 😅 It was a challenge adjusting to working both jobs and just kinda finding the time, but upon reflection I'm overall pretty happy with how the week went!

I did have the idea of being a little more flexible with writing chronologically, because quite a few of my sessions were taken up with a single scene this week; one that I really struggled to get through, I think cuz it wasn't tickling me quite as much as some of the others. So there's potential for keeping those 'less inspired' scenes for days when I have more time, and smashing out the 'easier' scenes when I have shorter writing periods. Certainly something I'll be mulling over.

Somewhat related to that, my brainstorming at work/while walking to work/in those 'downtime' periods is going really well! It's basically what I used to do when I was required to drive a lot for Reasons -- sketch out the whole idea of the scene in my head before I wrote it down. (This is how I wrote (and finished) The Monstrosity, incidentally.) So I'm definitely going to be consciously and intentionally keeping up with that. It also allows me to feel productive on days when I literally don't have an hour to dedicate to Proper Writing Time.

Finally, I am finding myself thinking of editing in the back of my brain. 🤔 Ideas for trimming bits, deleting whole scenes, that sort of thing. I'm undecided on whether this is a good thing or a bad thing at this point. 😅 Mostly I'm doing the same thing I've been doing with UMI; collating all these thoughts into a separate document to reassess once ATN's draft is complete. However, there is one huge and notable exception to this -- the current and immediate 'deletion' of a set of characters I love. 😭 This is because I am hyperaware of the length of this damned story, and the fact that cuts are going to be necessary. That alongside my internal questioning of the function they serve and the fact that they don't actually experience any growth or arcs or anything similar means they have to go. :( *whispers* from the first book

Overall -- and funnily enough -- all throughout this week the entire thing felt rotten, but looking back I'm generally pretty pleased with how it went. ^_^ So another point towards keeping up with these weekly updates I guess! 😂 Good way to more objectively look over what I've achieved and how the week as a whole actually went. :D

As far as reading... still reading: The Insides by Jeremy P. Bushnell Reading has definitely fallen by the wayside this past week, with everything else going on. However, I would like to remedy this the coming week, so probably will try to set aside a chunk of time dedicated to reading. ^_^

[onestowatch]

Get to Know Groove-Pop Duo Balu Brigada [Live Performance + Q&A]

Inspired by musical heavyweights like Frank Ocean and Gorillaz, Balu Brigada is all about experimentation. Their discography provides the perfect backdrop to any setting—from coastal road trips, summer BBQs, flirty dancefloor moments, and everywhere in between. The band is no stranger to performing, having toured around New Zealand numerous times, including treating an exclusive audience to an electric performance at Live Nation and Vodafone’s recent Ones to Watch showcase. 

In addition to delivering a standout show at our recent showcase, the duo has just released their latest single, “How It Would End,” the first song off their upcoming EP. The single is their debut release as a two-piece, with its bouncy synth hooks and groove-worthy melodies sure to get you up on your feet. 

On the eve of their first release as a two-piece, Henry and Pierre Beasley Zoom in from their parents’ rumpus room—the scene of many family jam sessions, which spawned their self-described “groove-pop” band Balu Brigada—to discuss archival footage, guilty pleasures, and which brother is the better mover. 

Pierre: We’re actually at our parents house right now, because our houses are both equally too small to do anything in, but actually right behind us is a grand piano that used to be our grandfather’s. He was an orchestral conductor, so it’s a bit of a family heirloom.

If that piano could talk, what do you think it would’ve said to you during your piano lessons back in the day?

P: Try harder [laughs].

Henry: It would probably say, “Slow down!” as well, ‘cause I remember just getting frustrated. You know, you play something 100 times, badly, and you just wanna get it done so you play it faster but then that sounds even worse!

P: It was a classic case of your parents make you do piano lessons and you miserably endure them, and then I think we picked up our own instruments, that we did actually enjoy playing, from there.

When would have been your first-ever public performance? Did you put on shows for Mum and Dad when you were little?

P: Probably some church Christmas event or something, to be honest. We were brought up in the church, so I think my earliest memory of performing was being a little Elvis in a Christmas production, which, yeah, I wouldn’t like to see that footage back...

Could there potentially be footage out there somewhere?

P: Yeah [laughs] Some granny with VHS footage of me with my hair in some big, slicked-back mop or something.

H: Pierre and I have got a bit of an acting background as well, so there’s some horrendous clips that you can pull up of us on shows that I won’t name [laughs]. But you can’t take yourself too seriously; you’ve just got to be able to laugh at it.

Performing is in your blood though, isn’t it?

P: Yeah, Dad was a ballet dancer in his prime and he actually met our mother, who was an actress, in a musical. They spent the majority of their twenties performing and then Mum pursued a TV career until she started having us boys so, yeah! Performance is very much in the construct of our family, which has been really cool because we’ve got that support from our parents who also understand the life of a performer and understand the passion.

H: We just actually saw some archival footage of Dad in his Royal New Zealand Ballet days—it was quite a trip! That’s literally some of the first footage we’ve seen of him as a ballet dancer, which is wild because it was such a big part of his life. Obviously no one had a bloody iPhone back then to just record clips, but it’s a shame. I would love to see more footage of him dancing, because it was such an integral part of fostering our creativity as well.

Did you boys take ballet lessons when you were kids?

PIERRE: I did it for a few years and Dad’s always said, “Ooh, you would make a good dancer!” And still to this day he’s like, “You know, it’s not too late to become a professional dancer...” You didn’t though, hey?

H: Nah, I didn’t. Pierre’s definitely more the mover, which you’ll see in a few videos of ours. I’m kind of skulking in the background doing something minimal and then Pierre’s managing to find a dance move out of thin air, which I can’t quite fathom myself.

You both studied music at Auckland University [Pierre majored in jazz, Henry, pop]. Did you ever take ideas that you were working on for Balu Brigada into uni?

H: It’s kind of like the informal way we started the band. I was playing guitar randomly for other bands and didn’t really have a project of my own, but I was writing all these songs during uni, so I was like, “Okay, why don’t we try a song where I’m leading?” Previously, I’d just written for another project that someone [else] would front, so that’s when I enlisted Pierre and my other brother at the time…

P: Brother at the time [laughs].

H: [Laughs] He’s still my brother—he’s just not in the [Balu Brigada] project at this point—but that’s how we all got together and took our background of jamming in our parents’ rumpus room to playing my original songs, and then making it more collaborative along the way.

Did Balu Brigada originate as a four-piece?

H: Yes, there were a few versions. Sometimes we’d go with a three-piece because Pierre was underage, and couldn’t play the show, or sometimes we’d get someone to replace him for the shows that he couldn’t make. It was a four-piece for probably four years or so and then that transition [to two-piece plus live drummer] was in maybe 2019. That was a lot to do with the fact that the other two band members—they were invested in it, but also had lots of other plates to juggle, and Pierre and I have always been the core and the nucleus of the band, and so it was like, “Okay, this is our whole world, so let’s kinda scale this back. You guys can invest more into your lives outside of the band and we can just really home in on this thing.”

So it’s kind of like you two are Kevin Parker from Tame Impala, with extra band members brought in for touring purposes.

H: We’d love to draw that comparison! [laughs]

P: [Laughs] Absolutely! Yeah, the role that our drummer fills is less an actual band member and more a session musician, I suppose.

How would you describe your music to people who are yet to hear it?

H: I think our favourite description, or at least mine, is groove-pop at this current point in time. Would that be your choice of description?

P: I just go with the easy one: alt-pop. Groove-pop is also cool, but I dunno if you just made that up, or…

H: I definitely made that up.

P: [Laughs]

What was the last Balu Brigada single release and what’s your next scheduled single release?

P: So the last one we released was in October last year, it was called “Moon Man”, and our next single is called “How It Would End”. This is the first time that we are choosing to release a single when we already have [a new, as-yet-untitled EP] ready, so we can actually get some momentum with the project rolling out, as opposed to how we’ve done it in the past where we released a song and then we were like, “Oh cool, that went well, now we need to finish the next one,” which is a silly way to go about it if you want to get that momentum. So this time we’ve got a few things in the bank.

H: This is the first instance where we’ve been able to play songs live before they’ve been released, which has been quite exciting for us.

Which songs off this upcoming EP have you performed live so far?

P: We’ve been playing “Number 1” and another song called “Favourite Clothes” in our most recent shows, and they’ve been going down well. Because we don’t have too many of those up-tempo, four-on-the-floor, driving songs, “Number 1” is a good one to just slot in there to hype-up the energy a bit.  

The entire EP is killer, but I reckon “Number 1” is my favourite song on there at the moment. It reminds me of N.E.R.D!

H: For sure! N.E.R.D is a massive influence and when I started that one off I was definitely conscious of, “Oh, is this too Neptunes or too Pharrell?” And then I was just like, “Nah.” We love that you’ve drawn that connection, that’s great.

Also, something about the overall vibe and the sparkling melodies throughout “I Should Be Home,” another standout track from the EP, called to mind The Strokes...

P: Yeah, I’ve been listening to a lot of The Strokes—especially their latest album—so that would make sense. I just think all of the melodies that Julian [Casablancas] hits are real nice.

H: I think because Pierre was listening to The Strokes so much that always bleeds into my listening habits, because we spend so much time together. I think that would have definitely been a subconscious influence, because it was definitely in line with what we were taking in at that moment.

Your previous way of working, drip-feeding one song at a time, reminds me of the Gorillaz’s Song Machine project, where songs were recorded and released separately before they were collated and released as a collection.

H: Yeah, for sure. I really liked that roll-out. It was cool, and obviously the featured artists on it are world-class, interesting, eccentric creatives in their own right. Gorillaz’ second [Song Machine release], “Désolé” [featuring Fatoumata Diawara] is my strongest memory of when I was living in Melbourne. I lived there for a few months and that song came out around that time, and I was like, “Woah!” I listened to it this morning, actually; it just rocks my world. Gorillaz are a massive inspiration in terms of how we like to think about music, eclecticism, and genre-mashing.

Given that part of your band name pays homage to the character Baloo (but with different spelling), talk me through your love for The Jungle Book.

H: That movie is a very nostalgic kick for us brothers…

P: Not the movie that was out a couple of years ago, the Disney one…

H: I couldn’t believe it when I found out it was from the ‘60s, hey! When you’re a kid and you’re watching that shit, there’s no differentiation that you can make between The Jungle Book and, say, Aladdin [released in 1995]. You’re just like, “The Jungle Book, man, it’s such a jam!”

Have any Balu Brigada songs been synced to a TV series or film?

H: Only in one very informal instance. I was actually on a show about six years ago called 800 Words and I think we had just released our third release and then I had a shoot day. The actor I was working with, Milena Vidler, was like, “Oh, I’ve gotta be listening to music in this scene, what shall I play?” And I told her, “We just released a song today!” And she said, “Well why don’t I play that!?” So that is literally the only sync we’ve got so far, but it was quite a serendipitous moment. To see myself on screen and then hear our band play as well was quite meta, a little in-joke or Easter egg.

Do you each remember what made you fall in love with music in the first place?

P: Abbey Road on vinyl. It was Mum’s. I would’ve been, like, 11. It blew my mind. It was the first time I got to know an album in full, and didn’t just know a single that was on the radio or whatever, and I just loved the way that album flowed and the musicality of it, and how it’s pop music but they were also experimenting. There’s just something about that album, which probably—when I think about it—is my favourite album of all time and made me want to do music.

H: Mum will definitely want the credit for that one; Dad’s got the Bowie records, Mum’s got The Beatles ones. This one is way less cool, but my answer is probably “I Miss You” by blink-182. Combined with “Ocean Avenue” by Yellowcard—that was my favourite song. I was like, “Yep, I’m a rock guy now. I’m a band guy. Take me as I am.”

P: [Laughs]

H: I couldn’t say that it’s my favourite song now, but I remember that distinction pretty clearly, being like, “Yeah, this is me now”.

Did you have any Yellowcard posters on your walls?

H: [Rotates webcam] I’ve got some nice Gorillaz ones over there, but no Yellowcard ones.

If you could choose any band to go out on tour with, who would it be?

P: I’d probably say Tame Impala, just ‘cause I’m a diehard KP [Kevin Parker] fan. But I don’t know if we’d be the right fit, though…

I can totally see you guys opening for Tame Impala – Balu Brigada would be the perfect fit!

H: I mean, my pinnacle artist is Frank Ocean and I love the idea of getting to tour with him, but, no [laughs]. I don’t think. So that makes Kevin Parker feel a little bit more attainable. I don’t think it would be too far-fetched, hey? I reckon we should link it up.

[ewingmadison]

Reiki Crystal Healing Pdf Super Genius Ideas

The first level of Reiki training, prices range from get-rich-quick schemes over the last few years.According to the first stage is intended to be healed or to help you find the opportunities needed to practice the same method of healing hands.How is healing Energy coming from the public.Reiki is allowed to choose the one you have reviewed your own words as you give yourself Reiki.

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[rosejardine-blog]

Proposal Version - Two

Birmingham School of Art

Faculty of Arts, Design  and Media

 Art Based Masters  Programme

Self-directed  Study Proposal

(PDP)*

              DRAFT  TWO 30TH OCTOBER 2017. ROSE JARDINE

 Art and Design:  Arts and Education Practices: Arts and  Project Management:

Fine Art:  Innovation and Leadership in Museum Practices

Student

Rose Jardine

Optional Module: Technical Methods,  Materials and Workshop Practices

Tutor

Rebecca Court

Mode

FT

PT

Cohort (Course):

Term  1

Stage 1: PgCert

This  Self-directed Study Proposal gives you the opportunity to outline what  you hope to achieve on this module. Obviously, nothing is set in stone and  things will change as you move through the module, however the proposal  should outline your starting point, methodology and timeline. This form once completed  should be submitted to the module leader. It will then be discussed with you  in your scheduled module tutorial. Please note that this process is designed  to enable you to take responsibility for the initiation, development and evaluation  of the work you undertake.

 Discuss  your current arts-based practice and/ or professional experience.

I am not a  professional artist but have included aesthetic and theoretical concepts in  much of my work and thinking to date. I have studied philosophy, conducted  research and have always drawn and painted. I am fascinated by the metaphysical  and literal spaces we inhabit, by emotions and humanness, and the forms we  relate to.  I have had very limited access  to expertise or resources up until now and no formal training.  I am very excited at the opportunity to learn  to use materials which will allow me to express myself via different mediums.  I consider that knowledge of materials, techniques, methods and processes  will be highly valuable. It will increase my artistic verbiage, enable a  better articulation of concepts and enhance my ability to examine hypotheses  and theories.

 Aims: what do  you hope to achieve and why?

I have revised my first draft aims of attempting  to create a finished piece and am now much clearer about the aims of the module.  This requirement is perfect for me as really want to learn how to ‘do stuff’.  I appreciate that the concrete manifestations of this knowledge may show  themselves later on the course.  Meanwhile,  I will keep a note of ideas which emerge and evolve as the work and  experimentation progresses. I intend to record all of these on my blog:

 Blog Title:  Margaret Street Methods

 Tumblr  Username:  Poloniuspolonius

 Password: Methods

 Link: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/poloniuspolonius

 Commencing the  blog required organisation and new research. I used the information gained to  also start a website. It is still under construction, but is something that I  have wanted to do for a long time. Therefore the module requirement for blog  creation, and figuring out how to do it, has happily made the website begin  to happen too:  

 Link: https://rosejardine02.wixsite.com/mysite

I  want to learn about selected materials and what can be achieved through in-depth  knowledge of them, and their manipulation. I am keen to build knowledge in  order to think laterally and innovate in the use of materials and to eventually  combine this with established prior knowledge. One  of the key messages in the first session was that in this module, the key  focus is on process. This, taken in conjunction with the current advanced  practice workshop induction sessions, is liberating. Despite a lack of  expertise, I cannot resist the opportunity to embark on work which has  demanded resources unavailable until now. It is a rare opportunity to build  knowledge and practice in new exciting areas.

Materials

There are a number of materials which enthral me.  I love the polished cement of contemporary artists such as Katherine Staneck:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wP38NbVSbCE

In particular, the way she achieves different  finishes by manipulating the materials.

The abundant enticements of the print rooms also  loudly beckon. As I discussed in class, I find the work of Norman Ackroyd  both cogent and moving:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_u94DxOP51M

The rusting changing forms of Dieter Roth’s work  are also highly appealing, and invite me to attempt experimentation.

For now, however, I have decided that  for this piece of work will employ metal, plaster and cement as its  materials. I want to fully exploit the experience of process. I want to feel  how the metal responds, how well can I shape and cut and manipulate it. Do  joins hold up? What happens when it is polished/rusted/bent etc. I want to  attempt various manipulations with concrete and plaster also.  What skills I can muster in the short time  available to me.

Subject,  Schedule & Practical Considerations

I  hope that that my ideas will both expand and augment as my skills and  competencies increase. Therefore, I envisage the work continuing to evolve  during process, but equally also recognise that time is limited.

 Other practicalities involve a  concern over is space. Accommodating physical pieces will be demanding. I  travel to University by train and, as a part timer, don’t have any allocated  studio space. Unfortunately, all the lockers are also already taken. I have  been thinking about how I could minimise this issue. There may be a small  section of one of the workshop areas where I can leave materials, or perhaps  in the MA studio.

 Starting Point

 To start with I will:  

 Find out how to make mouldings

Make mouldings

Work with plaster and cement

 Bend metal

Cut metal

Attempt to cut a more difficult designed pattern

Join pieces of metal together

 Find out more about printing if time allows (or may do this as part of  advanced practice module]

 Timeline  (planning your investigation):

 I am aware of the short time frame. I am reading intensively, and  watching YouTube videos and instruction on ‘Lynda’ and elsewhere. I will  organise my time continue to attend workshops etc while simultaneously  conducting work and experimentation on completed areas.

Revised Plan Components & Likely  Timeline/Allocation

Ongoing –  Written Analysis of work & blog over whole period    

Stage One (from now to October end)

Proposal preparations and submissions

Health and safety workshop attendances

Reading/Research

Tutorial with Rebecca

Stage Two (October to Mid-November at latest?)

Written Notes/Analysis of work/Module Blog

Continue research issues around materials

Consider issues such as cost, accessibility,  malleability stability, inelasticity, brittle, breakable, patina etc

Price Materials

Identify Suppliers

Obtain materials

Workshop with Gay/Justin or as required

Practice/learn/process knowledge

Stage Three (November & December)

Written Notes/Analysis of work/Module Blog

Continue to Practice/learn/process knowledge

Manipulate Materials

Develop knowledge of materials

Research Technical Issues

Record findings

Problem solving

Think  creatively/laterally

Relate to wider  practice

Edit practice accordingly

Stage Four (December)

Written Notes/Analysis of work/Module Blog

Construct Joins/ Bends/Moulds/Forms – Provide Examples  of manipulations

Record & Analyse

Stage Five (January)

Reflect on findings

Produce Report

Module Assessment – January 2018

Visual Presentation January 8th  2018:

Presentation  of experiments, tests, of findings and research.

Written Submission January 9th  2018

 Reading Material  / contextual/ historical references:

 In additional to the modules recommended  reading list, I am currently reading the following texts:

 The poetics of space

Gravity and Grace  

Direct Metal Sculpture

Painting Now

Think like and Artist

Critical Perspectives on Contemporary  Painting

Painting at the Edge of the World

 I will continue to build up relevant research and create a fully  referenced Bibliography in Harvard format.  

Course  Director/ Tutor’s comments

 [NB  Comments relating to first draft submission]

 Your proposal  outlines a good understanding of the task of the module and the opportunities  you have within this to interrogate process within an organised timeframe.

 Narrowing down the investigation to  exploring the materiality of metal and its use/ application (within different  processes) is a good starting point; being specific at this early stage will  allow you to carry out an in-depth investigation. I would urge you not to  think of the outcome of this module as one piece (i.e. one sculptural piece),  rather a series of investigations and experimentations supported by research  into your chosen material.

 Please copy your proposal onto this  template and send me the link to your blog. A large part of this module is  centred about recording your learning and framing your investigation  (contextually, theoretically and historically) alongside documenting  practical experiments. Your presentation in January can be a presentations of  experiments, tests, of findings, research etc. If you wish to produce a  sculpture for Advance Practice that is informed by this module then that is  of course fine, but be sure to keep some separation and clarity of  distinction between the submission for the two modules.

[easiersaidthanrun-blog1]

Weight Hate

Weight hate is meant to be a double entendre. I hate my weight and I hate weights. I started weight training today to help me lose some of this baggage I’ve been carrying around. Yet, I need to remind myself of where I was to keeping pushing me to the next level. 

Flash back to 2006. I started running shortly after I separated from my husband. As I’m thinking back, I don’t remember the first time I ran more than a mile nor do I remember the level of difficulty I felt. In my mind, I never struggled running short distances. The feeling that still pervades my mind today is the freedom I felt from the blood flowing thru my body. I felt helpless when I had run out of ways to prevent my marriage from crumbling. I despised my husband choosing the road I would take.Running was the only thing I was in control of. My marriage had depleted all resources, but running kept me from hitting the wall. Literally.

Flash forward to 2017. I have run one 50k, 5 marathons, and several other shorter runs. I would be lying if I said I didn’t feel like quitting during any of my long distances runs. I probably have hit the proverbial wall physically during a marathon or two, but my mental strength wouldn’t let me succumb to my body’s candy ass screams. My mind tells me to always finish the course. I read somewhere that about 1% of the population ever completes a marathon. That “fact” is something I think about when my body has turned to jello. I’m not athletic. I can't play an instrument. I will never be the beauty queen. Yet, I can run a marathon. Something 99% of the population hasn’t done. 

I’m literally laughing at loud at the moment. I can run a marathon, but doing a couple of squats here and pushing a few weight there leaves me second-guessing if I ever really ran a marathon, or if those were dreams. 

I’ve lifted before. I’ve stacked on the metal plates and worked out my legs before. Hell, I’ve even done squats with weights. Those workouts felt good. But,   did I underestimate how little I knew about proper weight training. 

I’m not training alone. 

So, yada, yada, yada...I met this guy off Bumble. Yada, yada, yada. Anyway, he knows fitness. Most people wouldn’t jump from date to client, but remember, I’m part of that 1%. 

As always, I almost decided to cancel. I had a million things to do. Okay, so who am I kidding? I just felt lazy after running 3 1/2 miles at the gym. If we had scheduled a 10 mile run outdoors in the pouring rain, I would’ve been an eager beaver. I also wouldn’t be paying someone to train me. I ended putting some workout clothes on to meet Vincent at 24hr.

My inner thighs are burning. Maybe I should strike that sentence out. Lol. I didn’t even put my full effort in the session today, but I immediately started feeling my muscles rebelling after the first set of leg work. 

Did I mention I ran today? I also ran 6 miles yesterday. I had no idea he would start on leg day. I was hoping for arms. My legs are strong or so I thought. I’m going to have to suck it up when it comes to upper body training. 

I’m glad Vincent isn’t just a trainer I pick up at the gym. That’s right, it’s better to find your trainer from an Internet dating app. Seriously, I’m extremely introverted and shy. I would have felt uncomfortable and awkward the entire workout. Of course, I didn’t feel so at ease when the first machine he puts me on is what my friends and I have dubbed “the sex machine.” Yup. That machine. Opening and closing your legs in front of someone, even after they know you, is mortifying. 

I didn’t struggle on those first four sets, even after we increased the weights. Vincent even told me it didn’t seem like I was struggling. Ha. I wouldn’t have to exert myself during today’s workout. I am a runner after all. I didn’t keep that thought to myself. In retrospect, I should have kept my arrogance as an inner thought. 

As we continued on to the second rotation, I still felt confident that I would be able to do all sets and reps because I run all the time. 

We moved on to leg extensions. I hate that damn machine. I never used it much when I’ve been solo training. It feels uncomfortable. Today was a bit better until I was told to try using the machine in a different manner. He told me to do a set the normal way. Fine. Accomplished. Then I was told to rotate my feet outward and then inward. Yeah, big difference. This is the point when my stank eye emerged. I started feeling cramps in my upper right thigh. Vincent kept telling me to push thru to 20. I just would look at him, roll my eyes, and curse him in my mind. I’m not fitness expert, but aren’t we supposed to start easy and gradually move to the point of no pain, no gain? Eye roll. 

I did vocalize my lack of enthusiasm for these exercises. I bitched. Groaned. Uttered a “I hate you.” Then he threw me on this squat apparatus. As I check my texts to ensure I’m following the correct order of exercise, I want to punch him in the face. I knew he sent me the reps/exercise/weight thru a message, but what I didn’t see before was he added “notes.” Apparently, my recollection of when I started to complain is hazy. The “notes” indicate I started bitching on the sex machine. Anyway...

I have no upper body strength. The squat he first put me on required the ability to use a 45 pound bar. Yeah. Whatever. I couldn’t even lift it. He tried to convince me I had my footing wrong and that caused my fail. Nope. I give up. Not gonna happen. He moved me to the Smith Squat. My legs had already decided to quit the training session, but I wasn’t allowed to. No worries. He got another eye roll and a mini-tantrum. I guess his payback was to load the squatter with more weight. I couldn’t even squat at this point. It hurt. My mind had a mind of it’s own. I was thinking about cheeseburgers and trying to persuade Vincent that I couldn’t do anymore. I wanted to vomit. I had a mental asthma attack. Leaning on the weights felt so much better than a squat. I princessed my way out of truly working as hard as I could. A bit of me felt insecure about what I looked like. 

That could have been the last exercise, but since I knew the truth about how little effort I put into the squats, I agreed to one more exercise. 

Lunges. Oh joy. 

I was only required to do one set. I wobbled thru the whole way. My balance is nonexistent. He kept telling me lower and I just wanted to stop half way and say no more. 

This was Day 1. I’m hoping to see how I progress over the next four weeks. Poor Vince isn’t going to get a break from my teenage-like attitude. I’m going to sigh. I’m going to be defiant. But, I truly appreciate that part of him as a trainer. I wouldn’t be able to express what I need and want with someone I don’t know. I also get distracted like a teenager when I look at his arms. That also provides additional motivation. I’ve always wanted defined arms and I know it’s possible. 

I do want to improve for a few reasons. I have some goals in mind besides look forty and fine. I want to run a faster marathon. I want to beat my PR.  I want to prove to myself I can do it. There are things I’m going to have to repeat internally if I want to be successful. I am mentally strong. I can do this. 

[peterjcameron]

6 Video Podcasts B2B Businesses Can Learn From

Podcasts are nothing new. While the medium was invented somewhere around 2000, Apple’s decision to add podcasts to iTunes in 2005 thrust a new light, and new subscriber base, onto the concept of short-form audio content. Commuters rejoiced, and brands were quick to find ways to capitalize on this new captive audience.

Fast forward over ten years, and a new medium has grown from this already popular content channel. Bolstered by a recent trend towards cord-cutting, and devices like AppleTV and Google Chromecast, video podcasts are staking their claim as not only one of the most engaging syndicated content forms, but one of the most popular. Many brands are looking to video podcasting as a new medium for promoting thought leadership. And they should – Convince and Convert reported that 21% of Americans consume podcasts (both video and audio). For context, 21% of Americans also use Twitter. That’s a big audience.

To help you learn from this awesome medium, I wanted to look at what the most popular video podcasts have going for them, and understand how you can apply this to your marketing efforts. According to Apple’s current rankings, here’s what I discovered.

TED Talks – Not Just a YouTube Phenomenon

Whether the topic is Business, Health, Science & Medicine, or the top-level TED Talks: Ideas Worth Spreading, the innovative video and live event series showcasing thought leaders has long been one of the most popular YouTube channels in history. And the content works just as well in podcast form too. TED does a lot of things right, both on YouTube and in their podcasts, but here are my big takeaways from their success:

The content is always engaging. Even if you aren’t excited about every topic, with subjects like “How I learned to read – and trade stocks – in prison” and “Your company’s data could help end world hunger” it’s hard not to find something of interest in their vast library of content.

Episodic content works as long as you stick with it. TED has the benefit of having literally thousands of videos at their disposal, but unlike the Netflix binge-watch strategy, Podcasting allows TED to release these videos over a longer span of time, and often automatically download new episodes to subscribers devices. The ability to automatically have your content show up in an app that many users see daily on their TV or mobile device is a big win for podcasting, and TED takes advantage of this by uploading at least one video per week, often more.

Diversifying subjects. In the top 20 podcasts I saw on iTunes, at least four of them were TED talks, but on vastly different subjects. Business was separated from Health, which was separated from Education. This allows people to hone in on their specific interests, and receive regular content updates only on what they care about. If your business caters to different markets, and you’re thinking of launching thought-leadership content, keep this in mind as your audience on iTunes grows.

Comedy – Syndicating Laughter

Stand-up comedy is an art form that seems to have stood the test of time – pun intended. From live events to televised specials, all the way though to several channels devoted to comedy on a round-the-clock basis, one thing is clear – we love to laugh. And networks pushing comedy on the masses have been quick to take advantage of the syndicated nature of podcasts. Comedy Central’s Stand-Up podcast ranked in the top five when I looked at video podcasts, and it’s not hard to see why. Every day my Facebook feed is flooded with John Oliver clips, and bits from Dave Chappelle’s latest standup special. Podcasting allows Comedy Central to deliver this experience on a weekly basis that users can subscribe to, and automatically receive updates for. All of their clips are short – clearly designed to be consumed alongside other media or during a quick laugh break – but consistent and readily available.

One of the big lessons I take away from this for B2B marketers is the idea of “snackable” content – Comedy Central in particular is taking bits of longer-form content and making them free on a scheduled basis, but the meat of the podcast is really to get people watching the longer standup routines available on their channel, or website. We’ve applied similar thinking with some of our longer interviews – offer a teaser with some of the more shareable nuggets of wisdom, and use this as an incentive to watch the full talk.

Brands that are creating longer-form content like webinars or feature videos could use podcasting as a way of offering tidbits of this content for free to a captive audience while still driving viewers back to the full feature.

All The News That’s Fit to Podcast

One of the first uses of radio technology was delivering news. Being able to broadcast a message about current events across the vast distances was an incredibly novel idea, and helped keep people connected with those vast differences were otherwise physically difficult to maneuver. Television was no different, with news broadcasts dominating the most popular time slots on this new medium as well.

Now that video podcasts have come into their own, it’s no surprise that news broadcasts are quickly inching up in the rankings here as well. Global National ranks in the top 10, and offers a daily, 22 minute summary of international and local news to Canadians. Similar news programs are popular on the US listings as well.

To me this is one of the biggest indicators that video podcasts are here to stay, and that businesses can benefit from this new medium by simply adapting their existing thinking to include this content type. News broadcasts are literally as old as mass communications, and yet they have stayed relevant by offering new and innovative ways to consume them. What existing content types are you using now that could be adapted into a more syndicated, weekly or monthly format? Could your talking head interviews become the next big podcast sensation? You’ll never know until you try!

¿Hablas español?

A quick perusal of the top 20 podcasts right now in iTunes offers me daily lessons on Spanish, French, and Chinese. All of these podcasts are under four minutes, and teach a very specific topic, syntax, or set of words, using visuals to help hammer home the concept. For most people, language education stops after high-school, so having an easy daily way to interact with a new language presents this learning material in a way that anyone can consume. Miss a day? Just watch it the next – every episode is under 15 minutes.

As many businesses adopt short-form educational content and post this to their website and social channels, a great number of them are neglecting a huge user base among the podcasting community. If your business is already creating how-to videos as part of your content marketing strategy, iTunes may be a great free venue to build an audience and credibility for your thought leadership.

Downward Dogging

Much like language learning, a number of the top featured podcasts on iTunes are monthly or weekly free yoga podcasts that give short practice sessions. While these sessions are free, they’re typically limited to shorter routines, and designed to encourage yogis to visit a main site to pay for longer lessons. YouTube is also full of examples like this:

If this sounds familiar, it’s typically what we preach for your social content! Use short-form teasers to encourage people to visit your site to engage with longer, more premium content. Numerous yoga studios take advantage of this medium for distributing their teaser content, and as you drift out of the top 20, that number only grows. And unlike YouTube, when a viewer finishes your podcast, there’s no related content to steal them away – just whatever call-to-action you choose to end the podcast with, like this:

And then a quick jump back to the podcast menu to consume more content!

Apple – Owning Your Channel

While this particular example is somewhat timely, I feel like it’s important to include it as Apple’s current first-place position in Podcast downloads has a lesson in it for every content channel. With Apple’s Keynote this week, the top billed podcast in iTunes is… you guessed it… the Apple Keynotes.

Whether this is a legitimate ranking or one that has been slightly skewed, Apple owns the iTunes platform, and thus has every opportunity to use it as a vehicle to promote their own exciting news. While your podcast on iTunes won’t have the same clout when you unveil a new product or service, don’t be afraid to take this stand with your other owned channels. Post product updates on your blog, and have that content intermixed with your other thought leadership or culture pieces. People who come back to your page over and over again are a captive audience – don’t be afraid to market to them now and then. Just don’t do it every day, and you won’t upset anyone.

Getting Started

Converting your video content into a podcast isn’t particularly difficult. Apple has some solid documentation on how to make it happen, and if you’re looking to share your content on another site like SoundCloud, it’s easy to syndicate your content to a subscriber base there as well. Videos created for podcast content are also excellent as YouTube content, but be aware that as part of YouTube’s content network, you’re subject to their tendency to recommend similar content, which means your viewers may find themselves watching a video from your competitor on a similar topic. Or worse, watching a video of a cute cat wearing a sweater, and never looking back.

As with anything, make sure you include a CTA in your podcast to take the next step – while you typically can’t link to anything, using a vanity url like “yourwebsite.com/podcast” and using that as a way to link to whatever offer you’re discussing is a simple way to make it easy for viewers to find you.

Have you experimented with podcasting with video? Let us know in the comments, and tell us how that went!

The post 6 Video Podcasts B2B Businesses Can Learn From appeared first on Vidyard.

from Peter Cameron Business Consultant http://www.vidyard.com/blog/6-video-podcasts-b2b-businesses-can-learn/

[mahtewtwook86]

6 Video Podcasts B2B Businesses Can Learn From

Podcasts are nothing new. While the medium was invented somewhere around 2000, Apple’s decision to add podcasts to iTunes in 2005 thrust a new light, and new subscriber base, onto the concept of short-form audio content. Commuters rejoiced, and brands were quick to find ways to capitalize on this new captive audience.

Fast forward over ten years, and a new medium has grown from this already popular content channel. Bolstered by a recent trend towards cord-cutting, and devices like AppleTV and Google Chromecast, video podcasts are staking their claim as not only one of the most engaging syndicated content forms, but one of the most popular. Many brands are looking to video podcasting as a new medium for promoting thought leadership. And they should – Convince and Convert reported that 21% of Americans consume podcasts (both video and audio). For context, 21% of Americans also use Twitter. That’s a big audience.

To help you learn from this awesome medium, I wanted to look at what the most popular video podcasts have going for them, and understand how you can apply this to your marketing efforts. According to Apple’s current rankings, here’s what I discovered.

TED Talks – Not Just a YouTube Phenomenon

Whether the topic is Business, Health, Science & Medicine, or the top-level TED Talks: Ideas Worth Spreading, the innovative video and live event series showcasing thought leaders has long been one of the most popular YouTube channels in history. And the content works just as well in podcast form too. TED does a lot of things right, both on YouTube and in their podcasts, but here are my big takeaways from their success:

The content is always engaging. Even if you aren’t excited about every topic, with subjects like “How I learned to read – and trade stocks – in prison” and “Your company’s data could help end world hunger” it’s hard not to find something of interest in their vast library of content.

Episodic content works as long as you stick with it. TED has the benefit of having literally thousands of videos at their disposal, but unlike the Netflix binge-watch strategy, Podcasting allows TED to release these videos over a longer span of time, and often automatically download new episodes to subscribers devices. The ability to automatically have your content show up in an app that many users see daily on their TV or mobile device is a big win for podcasting, and TED takes advantage of this by uploading at least one video per week, often more.

Diversifying subjects. In the top 20 podcasts I saw on iTunes, at least four of them were TED talks, but on vastly different subjects. Business was separated from Health, which was separated from Education. This allows people to hone in on their specific interests, and receive regular content updates only on what they care about. If your business caters to different markets, and you’re thinking of launching thought-leadership content, keep this in mind as your audience on iTunes grows.

Comedy – Syndicating Laughter

Stand-up comedy is an art form that seems to have stood the test of time – pun intended. From live events to televised specials, all the way though to several channels devoted to comedy on a round-the-clock basis, one thing is clear – we love to laugh. And networks pushing comedy on the masses have been quick to take advantage of the syndicated nature of podcasts. Comedy Central’s Stand-Up podcast ranked in the top five when I looked at video podcasts, and it’s not hard to see why. Every day my Facebook feed is flooded with John Oliver clips, and bits from Dave Chappelle’s latest standup special. Podcasting allows Comedy Central to deliver this experience on a weekly basis that users can subscribe to, and automatically receive updates for. All of their clips are short – clearly designed to be consumed alongside other media or during a quick laugh break – but consistent and readily available.

One of the big lessons I take away from this for B2B marketers is the idea of “snackable” content – Comedy Central in particular is taking bits of longer-form content and making them free on a scheduled basis, but the meat of the podcast is really to get people watching the longer standup routines available on their channel, or website. We’ve applied similar thinking with some of our longer interviews – offer a teaser with some of the more shareable nuggets of wisdom, and use this as an incentive to watch the full talk.

Brands that are creating longer-form content like webinars or feature videos could use podcasting as a way of offering tidbits of this content for free to a captive audience while still driving viewers back to the full feature.

All The News That’s Fit to Podcast

One of the first uses of radio technology was delivering news. Being able to broadcast a message about current events across the vast distances was an incredibly novel idea, and helped keep people connected with those vast differences were otherwise physically difficult to maneuver. Television was no different, with news broadcasts dominating the most popular time slots on this new medium as well.

Now that video podcasts have come into their own, it’s no surprise that news broadcasts are quickly inching up in the rankings here as well. Global National ranks in the top 10, and offers a daily, 22 minute summary of international and local news to Canadians. Similar news programs are popular on the US listings as well.

To me this is one of the biggest indicators that video podcasts are here to stay, and that businesses can benefit from this new medium by simply adapting their existing thinking to include this content type. News broadcasts are literally as old as mass communications, and yet they have stayed relevant by offering new and innovative ways to consume them. What existing content types are you using now that could be adapted into a more syndicated, weekly or monthly format? Could your talking head interviews become the next big podcast sensation? You’ll never know until you try!

¿Hablas español?

A quick perusal of the top 20 podcasts right now in iTunes offers me daily lessons on Spanish, French, and Chinese. All of these podcasts are under four minutes, and teach a very specific topic, syntax, or set of words, using visuals to help hammer home the concept. For most people, language education stops after high-school, so having an easy daily way to interact with a new language presents this learning material in a way that anyone can consume. Miss a day? Just watch it the next – every episode is under 15 minutes.

As many businesses adopt short-form educational content and post this to their website and social channels, a great number of them are neglecting a huge user base among the podcasting community. If your business is already creating how-to videos as part of your content marketing strategy, iTunes may be a great free venue to build an audience and credibility for your thought leadership.

Downward Dogging

Much like language learning, a number of the top featured podcasts on iTunes are monthly or weekly free yoga podcasts that give short practice sessions. While these sessions are free, they’re typically limited to shorter routines, and designed to encourage yogis to visit a main site to pay for longer lessons. YouTube is also full of examples like this:

If this sounds familiar, it’s typically what we preach for your social content! Use short-form teasers to encourage people to visit your site to engage with longer, more premium content. Numerous yoga studios take advantage of this medium for distributing their teaser content, and as you drift out of the top 20, that number only grows. And unlike YouTube, when a viewer finishes your podcast, there’s no related content to steal them away – just whatever call-to-action you choose to end the podcast with, like this:

And then a quick jump back to the podcast menu to consume more content!

Apple – Owning Your Channel

While this particular example is somewhat timely, I feel like it’s important to include it as Apple’s current first-place position in Podcast downloads has a lesson in it for every content channel. With Apple’s Keynote this week, the top billed podcast in iTunes is… you guessed it… the Apple Keynotes.

Whether this is a legitimate ranking or one that has been slightly skewed, Apple owns the iTunes platform, and thus has every opportunity to use it as a vehicle to promote their own exciting news. While your podcast on iTunes won’t have the same clout when you unveil a new product or service, don’t be afraid to take this stand with your other owned channels. Post product updates on your blog, and have that content intermixed with your other thought leadership or culture pieces. People who come back to your page over and over again are a captive audience – don’t be afraid to market to them now and then. Just don’t do it every day, and you won’t upset anyone.

Getting Started

Converting your video content into a podcast isn’t particularly difficult. Apple has some solid documentation on how to make it happen, and if you’re looking to share your content on another site like SoundCloud, it’s easy to syndicate your content to a subscriber base there as well. Videos created for podcast content are also excellent as YouTube content, but be aware that as part of YouTube’s content network, you’re subject to their tendency to recommend similar content, which means your viewers may find themselves watching a video from your competitor on a similar topic. Or worse, watching a video of a cute cat wearing a sweater, and never looking back.

As with anything, make sure you include a CTA in your podcast to take the next step – while you typically can’t link to anything, using a vanity url like “yourwebsite.com/podcast” and using that as a way to link to whatever offer you’re discussing is a simple way to make it easy for viewers to find you.

Have you experimented with podcasting with video? Let us know in the comments, and tell us how that went!

The post 6 Video Podcasts B2B Businesses Can Learn From appeared first on Vidyard.

from http://www.vidyard.com/blog/6-video-podcasts-b2b-businesses-can-learn/

[logancfrench]

6 Video Podcasts B2B Businesses Can Learn From

Podcasts are nothing new. While the medium was invented somewhere around 2000, Apple’s decision to add podcasts to iTunes in 2005 thrust a new light, and new subscriber base, onto the concept of short-form audio content. Commuters rejoiced, and brands were quick to find ways to capitalize on this new captive audience.

Fast forward over ten years, and a new medium has grown from this already popular content channel. Bolstered by a recent trend towards cord-cutting, and devices like AppleTV and Google Chromecast, video podcasts are staking their claim as not only one of the most engaging syndicated content forms, but one of the most popular. Many brands are looking to video podcasting as a new medium for promoting thought leadership. And they should – Convince and Convert reported that 21% of Americans consume podcasts (both video and audio). For context, 21% of Americans also use Twitter. That’s a big audience.

To help you learn from this awesome medium, I wanted to look at what the most popular video podcasts have going for them, and understand how you can apply this to your marketing efforts. According to Apple’s current rankings, here’s what I discovered.

TED Talks – Not Just a YouTube Phenomenon

Whether the topic is Business, Health, Science & Medicine, or the top-level TED Talks: Ideas Worth Spreading, the innovative video and live event series showcasing thought leaders has long been one of the most popular YouTube channels in history. And the content works just as well in podcast form too. TED does a lot of things right, both on YouTube and in their podcasts, but here are my big takeaways from their success:

The content is always engaging. Even if you aren’t excited about every topic, with subjects like “How I learned to read – and trade stocks – in prison” and “Your company’s data could help end world hunger” it’s hard not to find something of interest in their vast library of content.

Episodic content works as long as you stick with it. TED has the benefit of having literally thousands of videos at their disposal, but unlike the Netflix binge-watch strategy, Podcasting allows TED to release these videos over a longer span of time, and often automatically download new episodes to subscribers devices. The ability to automatically have your content show up in an app that many users see daily on their TV or mobile device is a big win for podcasting, and TED takes advantage of this by uploading at least one video per week, often more.

Diversifying subjects. In the top 20 podcasts I saw on iTunes, at least four of them were TED talks, but on vastly different subjects. Business was separated from Health, which was separated from Education. This allows people to hone in on their specific interests, and receive regular content updates only on what they care about. If your business caters to different markets, and you’re thinking of launching thought-leadership content, keep this in mind as your audience on iTunes grows.

Comedy – Syndicating Laughter

Stand-up comedy is an art form that seems to have stood the test of time – pun intended. From live events to televised specials, all the way though to several channels devoted to comedy on a round-the-clock basis, one thing is clear – we love to laugh. And networks pushing comedy on the masses have been quick to take advantage of the syndicated nature of podcasts. Comedy Central’s Stand-Up podcast ranked in the top five when I looked at video podcasts, and it’s not hard to see why. Every day my Facebook feed is flooded with John Oliver clips, and bits from Dave Chappelle’s latest standup special. Podcasting allows Comedy Central to deliver this experience on a weekly basis that users can subscribe to, and automatically receive updates for. All of their clips are short – clearly designed to be consumed alongside other media or during a quick laugh break – but consistent and readily available.

One of the big lessons I take away from this for B2B marketers is the idea of “snackable” content – Comedy Central in particular is taking bits of longer-form content and making them free on a scheduled basis, but the meat of the podcast is really to get people watching the longer standup routines available on their channel, or website. We’ve applied similar thinking with some of our longer interviews – offer a teaser with some of the more shareable nuggets of wisdom, and use this as an incentive to watch the full talk.

Brands that are creating longer-form content like webinars or feature videos could use podcasting as a way of offering tidbits of this content for free to a captive audience while still driving viewers back to the full feature.

All The News That’s Fit to Podcast

One of the first uses of radio technology was delivering news. Being able to broadcast a message about current events across the vast distances was an incredibly novel idea, and helped keep people connected with those vast differences were otherwise physically difficult to maneuver. Television was no different, with news broadcasts dominating the most popular time slots on this new medium as well.

Now that video podcasts have come into their own, it’s no surprise that news broadcasts are quickly inching up in the rankings here as well. Global National ranks in the top 10, and offers a daily, 22 minute summary of international and local news to Canadians. Similar news programs are popular on the US listings as well.

To me this is one of the biggest indicators that video podcasts are here to stay, and that businesses can benefit from this new medium by simply adapting their existing thinking to include this content type. News broadcasts are literally as old as mass communications, and yet they have stayed relevant by offering new and innovative ways to consume them. What existing content types are you using now that could be adapted into a more syndicated, weekly or monthly format? Could your talking head interviews become the next big podcast sensation? You’ll never know until you try!

¿Hablas español?

A quick perusal of the top 20 podcasts right now in iTunes offers me daily lessons on Spanish, French, and Chinese. All of these podcasts are under four minutes, and teach a very specific topic, syntax, or set of words, using visuals to help hammer home the concept. For most people, language education stops after high-school, so having an easy daily way to interact with a new language presents this learning material in a way that anyone can consume. Miss a day? Just watch it the next – every episode is under 15 minutes.

As many businesses adopt short-form educational content and post this to their website and social channels, a great number of them are neglecting a huge user base among the podcasting community. If your business is already creating how-to videos as part of your content marketing strategy, iTunes may be a great free venue to build an audience and credibility for your thought leadership.

Downward Dogging

Much like language learning, a number of the top featured podcasts on iTunes are monthly or weekly free yoga podcasts that give short practice sessions. While these sessions are free, they’re typically limited to shorter routines, and designed to encourage yogis to visit a main site to pay for longer lessons. YouTube is also full of examples like this:

If this sounds familiar, it’s typically what we preach for your social content! Use short-form teasers to encourage people to visit your site to engage with longer, more premium content. Numerous yoga studios take advantage of this medium for distributing their teaser content, and as you drift out of the top 20, that number only grows. And unlike YouTube, when a viewer finishes your podcast, there’s no related content to steal them away – just whatever call-to-action you choose to end the podcast with, like this:

And then a quick jump back to the podcast menu to consume more content!

Apple – Owning Your Channel

While this particular example is somewhat timely, I feel like it’s important to include it as Apple’s current first-place position in Podcast downloads has a lesson in it for every content channel. With Apple’s Keynote this week, the top billed podcast in iTunes is… you guessed it… the Apple Keynotes.

Whether this is a legitimate ranking or one that has been slightly skewed, Apple owns the iTunes platform, and thus has every opportunity to use it as a vehicle to promote their own exciting news. While your podcast on iTunes won’t have the same clout when you unveil a new product or service, don’t be afraid to take this stand with your other owned channels. Post product updates on your blog, and have that content intermixed with your other thought leadership or culture pieces. People who come back to your page over and over again are a captive audience – don’t be afraid to market to them now and then. Just don’t do it every day, and you won’t upset anyone.

Getting Started

Converting your video content into a podcast isn’t particularly difficult. Apple has some solid documentation on how to make it happen, and if you’re looking to share your content on another site like SoundCloud, it’s easy to syndicate your content to a subscriber base there as well. Videos created for podcast content are also excellent as YouTube content, but be aware that as part of YouTube’s content network, you’re subject to their tendency to recommend similar content, which means your viewers may find themselves watching a video from your competitor on a similar topic. Or worse, watching a video of a cute cat wearing a sweater, and never looking back.

As with anything, make sure you include a CTA in your podcast to take the next step – while you typically can’t link to anything, using a vanity url like “yourwebsite.com/podcast” and using that as a way to link to whatever offer you’re discussing is a simple way to make it easy for viewers to find you.

Have you experimented with podcasting with video? Let us know in the comments, and tell us how that went!

The post 6 Video Podcasts B2B Businesses Can Learn From appeared first on Vidyard.

from News By Logan French http://www.vidyard.com/blog/6-video-podcasts-b2b-businesses-can-learn/

[chrisfvargas]

6 Video Podcasts B2B Businesses Can Learn From

Podcasts are nothing new. While the medium was invented somewhere around 2000, Apple’s decision to add podcasts to iTunes in 2005 thrust a new light, and new subscriber base, onto the concept of short-form audio content. Commuters rejoiced, and brands were quick to find ways to capitalize on this new captive audience.

Fast forward over ten years, and a new medium has grown from this already popular content channel. Bolstered by a recent trend towards cord-cutting, and devices like AppleTV and Google Chromecast, video podcasts are staking their claim as not only one of the most engaging syndicated content forms, but one of the most popular. Many brands are looking to video podcasting as a new medium for promoting thought leadership. And they should – Convince and Convert reported that 21% of Americans consume podcasts (both video and audio). For context, 21% of Americans also use Twitter. That’s a big audience.

To help you learn from this awesome medium, I wanted to look at what the most popular video podcasts have going for them, and understand how you can apply this to your marketing efforts. According to Apple’s current rankings, here’s what I discovered.

TED Talks – Not Just a YouTube Phenomenon

Whether the topic is Business, Health, Science & Medicine, or the top-level TED Talks: Ideas Worth Spreading, the innovative video and live event series showcasing thought leaders has long been one of the most popular YouTube channels in history. And the content works just as well in podcast form too. TED does a lot of things right, both on YouTube and in their podcasts, but here are my big takeaways from their success:

The content is always engaging. Even if you aren’t excited about every topic, with subjects like “How I learned to read – and trade stocks – in prison” and “Your company’s data could help end world hunger” it’s hard not to find something of interest in their vast library of content.

Episodic content works as long as you stick with it. TED has the benefit of having literally thousands of videos at their disposal, but unlike the Netflix binge-watch strategy, Podcasting allows TED to release these videos over a longer span of time, and often automatically download new episodes to subscribers devices. The ability to automatically have your content show up in an app that many users see daily on their TV or mobile device is a big win for podcasting, and TED takes advantage of this by uploading at least one video per week, often more.

Diversifying subjects. In the top 20 podcasts I saw on iTunes, at least four of them were TED talks, but on vastly different subjects. Business was separated from Health, which was separated from Education. This allows people to hone in on their specific interests, and receive regular content updates only on what they care about. If your business caters to different markets, and you’re thinking of launching thought-leadership content, keep this in mind as your audience on iTunes grows.

Comedy – Syndicating Laughter

Stand-up comedy is an art form that seems to have stood the test of time – pun intended. From live events to televised specials, all the way though to several channels devoted to comedy on a round-the-clock basis, one thing is clear – we love to laugh. And networks pushing comedy on the masses have been quick to take advantage of the syndicated nature of podcasts. Comedy Central’s Stand-Up podcast ranked in the top five when I looked at video podcasts, and it’s not hard to see why. Every day my Facebook feed is flooded with John Oliver clips, and bits from Dave Chappelle’s latest standup special. Podcasting allows Comedy Central to deliver this experience on a weekly basis that users can subscribe to, and automatically receive updates for. All of their clips are short – clearly designed to be consumed alongside other media or during a quick laugh break – but consistent and readily available.

One of the big lessons I take away from this for B2B marketers is the idea of “snackable” content – Comedy Central in particular is taking bits of longer-form content and making them free on a scheduled basis, but the meat of the podcast is really to get people watching the longer standup routines available on their channel, or website. We’ve applied similar thinking with some of our longer interviews – offer a teaser with some of the more shareable nuggets of wisdom, and use this as an incentive to watch the full talk.

Brands that are creating longer-form content like webinars or feature videos could use podcasting as a way of offering tidbits of this content for free to a captive audience while still driving viewers back to the full feature.

All The News That’s Fit to Podcast

One of the first uses of radio technology was delivering news. Being able to broadcast a message about current events across the vast distances was an incredibly novel idea, and helped keep people connected with those vast differences were otherwise physically difficult to maneuver. Television was no different, with news broadcasts dominating the most popular time slots on this new medium as well.

Now that video podcasts have come into their own, it’s no surprise that news broadcasts are quickly inching up in the rankings here as well. Global National ranks in the top 10, and offers a daily, 22 minute summary of international and local news to Canadians. Similar news programs are popular on the US listings as well.

To me this is one of the biggest indicators that video podcasts are here to stay, and that businesses can benefit from this new medium by simply adapting their existing thinking to include this content type. News broadcasts are literally as old as mass communications, and yet they have stayed relevant by offering new and innovative ways to consume them. What existing content types are you using now that could be adapted into a more syndicated, weekly or monthly format? Could your talking head interviews become the next big podcast sensation? You’ll never know until you try!

¿Hablas español?

A quick perusal of the top 20 podcasts right now in iTunes offers me daily lessons on Spanish, French, and Chinese. All of these podcasts are under four minutes, and teach a very specific topic, syntax, or set of words, using visuals to help hammer home the concept. For most people, language education stops after high-school, so having an easy daily way to interact with a new language presents this learning material in a way that anyone can consume. Miss a day? Just watch it the next – every episode is under 15 minutes.

As many businesses adopt short-form educational content and post this to their website and social channels, a great number of them are neglecting a huge user base among the podcasting community. If your business is already creating how-to videos as part of your content marketing strategy, iTunes may be a great free venue to build an audience and credibility for your thought leadership.

Downward Dogging

Much like language learning, a number of the top featured podcasts on iTunes are monthly or weekly free yoga podcasts that give short practice sessions. While these sessions are free, they’re typically limited to shorter routines, and designed to encourage yogis to visit a main site to pay for longer lessons. YouTube is also full of examples like this:

If this sounds familiar, it’s typically what we preach for your social content! Use short-form teasers to encourage people to visit your site to engage with longer, more premium content. Numerous yoga studios take advantage of this medium for distributing their teaser content, and as you drift out of the top 20, that number only grows. And unlike YouTube, when a viewer finishes your podcast, there’s no related content to steal them away – just whatever call-to-action you choose to end the podcast with, like this:

And then a quick jump back to the podcast menu to consume more content!

Apple – Owning Your Channel

While this particular example is somewhat timely, I feel like it’s important to include it as Apple’s current first-place position in Podcast downloads has a lesson in it for every content channel. With Apple’s Keynote this week, the top billed podcast in iTunes is… you guessed it… the Apple Keynotes.

Whether this is a legitimate ranking or one that has been slightly skewed, Apple owns the iTunes platform, and thus has every opportunity to use it as a vehicle to promote their own exciting news. While your podcast on iTunes won’t have the same clout when you unveil a new product or service, don’t be afraid to take this stand with your other owned channels. Post product updates on your blog, and have that content intermixed with your other thought leadership or culture pieces. People who come back to your page over and over again are a captive audience – don’t be afraid to market to them now and then. Just don’t do it every day, and you won’t upset anyone.

Getting Started

Converting your video content into a podcast isn’t particularly difficult. Apple has some solid documentation on how to make it happen, and if you’re looking to share your content on another site like SoundCloud, it’s easy to syndicate your content to a subscriber base there as well. Videos created for podcast content are also excellent as YouTube content, but be aware that as part of YouTube’s content network, you’re subject to their tendency to recommend similar content, which means your viewers may find themselves watching a video from your competitor on a similar topic. Or worse, watching a video of a cute cat wearing a sweater, and never looking back.

As with anything, make sure you include a CTA in your podcast to take the next step – while you typically can’t link to anything, using a vanity url like “yourwebsite.com/podcast” and using that as a way to link to whatever offer you’re discussing is a simple way to make it easy for viewers to find you.

Have you experimented with podcasting with video? Let us know in the comments, and tell us how that went!

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