#i really thought watcher would be one of those channels that did amazing for a very long time

[billowyy]

.

[imjusttpeachy]

she's a rae of sunshine (c.h.)

okay so this was a request but i completely read it wrong so i’m gonna write it again but i finished this one anyway so here take it

so sorry to the anon who requested it bc u were so fuckin sweet i’ll have it up asap i promise

playlist

ralph castelli - morning sex

crumb - bones

jorja smith - teenage fantasy

summary: balancing college life and wanting to support your best friends online endeavors was difficult, but reader regrets trying a little harder when she finally meets one of her newer stream-mates

word count: 2, 828

WARNINGS: she/her pronouns used, coarse language, lowkey OOC Corpse, that needs its own warning i’m sorry,

•••

“Look you knew I had to stream before I said you could come over ya fuckin idiot.”

“Yea I knowwwww, I just wanted to spend more time with my super-hot best friend forever.”

Being the best friend of an online personality had its perks— the amazing trips you got to hitch a ride on, the adoring fans that seemed to latch on to you as well, the sponsorships that would always send you something along with the original PR package, and especially the way she was able to choose their own work hours.

Well... mostly.

As much as you adored spending time together during the day, whether it be shopping or going out for brunch, those late nights that always seemed to hold the most memories you held so dear were few and far between. Of course, you couldn’t blame her; responsibilities were responsibilities, and fuck if you’d let your selfish wants override the way she chooses to get her work done. You really couldn’t be one to judge either-- having to call off dates because you’d underestimated the time you needed to complete a school paper, or when a last-minute lab was called in and you’d have to leave her sitting alone in those cafes with your half-finished mocha and a promise to Venmo her the money to cover it later. What left you feeling the most guilty, though, was the fact that you weren’t able to watch her content as much as you’d like to. Sure, you’d catch a few minutes of a stream here and there but any time you spent apart was usually spent with your head buried in a book, mind bleary with countless espresso shots trying to keep your tired eyes focused on the seemingly unending work in front of you.

But, a distraction every now and then couldn’t hurt. Right?

Having had enough of your current assignment, any coherent thought was long gone, you’d decided to pay your favourite person a little visit. You knew she’d probably be busy as she hadn’t replied to your previous text for a few hours, but knowing her presence alone and any passing comments would lift the heaviness that had found its home in your head and chest, you shot her a message to let her know that her office couch would be occupied by you for the next few hours. Normally, you’d just show up so you knew she wouldn’t have a problem with it; so when that fateful message popped up on your phone giving you the go-ahead you completely ignored the warning of her work schedule and drove right over.

So now here you were, sprawled haphazardly on her couch clad in sweats and a sports bra scrolling through your phone as you watched her finish her final touches so she could start her stream.

“You’re gonna be in the background of my face cam if you wanna sit there y’know.” Groaning in response to her warning not wanting to move from the comfy spot you just found, you looked over at her with the best puppy eyes you could muster. She chuckled softly, raising her hands in surrender as she turned back to her setup. “Hey I really don’t care, just warning ya bug. The thirst comments and screenshots are outta my hands.”

Scoffing under your breath at her comment, you turned your head back to your phone as a Twitter notification popped up at the top of your screen.

Corpse Husband: streaming among us in a few mins, join in on youtube

Heartbeat picking up slightly, you scrambled for the purse you’d thrown at the base of the couch for your headphones. Ever since you’d found this handsome-voiced stranger’s channel on your late night horror binges, you had fallen completely in love. While you weren’t typically the type to watch video game commentary outside of Rae, his voice got you completely hooked and you couldn’t get enough of it. Yeah, maybe you were a bit of a simp, but that sweet and genuine personality that hid behind that gravelly tone had you melting completely into his clutches. You tried to convince yourself to get over it, you didn’t even know what he looked like. But, y’know, a little crush wouldn’t hurt anybody right?

“Going live in T-minus 30 seconds babe.” Jumping slightly as Rae’s voice knocked you out of dreamland, you mumbled out a small “got it” as you once again got focused on getting your headphones connected to your phone. You’d never been able to watch one of his lives before, his horror commentary videos usually playing as background noise as you did schoolwork or while you were falling asleep. Practically shaking with excitement, you opened your YouTube app seeing the live at the very top and tapping on it immediately only to be met with that sweet laugh ringing through your headphones like music to your ears. You grinned to yourself, grabbing the throw pillow you had previously tossed to the floor and hugging it to your chest while your eyes remained glued to your phone screen, completely forgetting what was happening around you as you zeroed in on the gravelly tone you’d fallen oh-so in love with.

“Hey (Y/N) wave hi.” You startled slightly as the faint voice of your friend sounded from across the room. Glancing up from your phone, you pulled an earbud from your ear and furrowed your brows at her before slowly processing what she said, lifting a hand in greeting to her watchers. She laughed at your confusing antics, turning slightly in her chair to look over at you. “What the hell are you so smiley about?”

“…Nothing..” You grinned widely as her laugh once again resounded around the room, shaking her head at you before turning back to her screen with a scoff, muttering something under her breath so only her watchers could hear. Smile still plastered across your lips, you settled back down into the comfiness of the couch and popped your earbud back in, zeroing in again on the screen in front of you. Watching as Corpse moved his character around the lobby as he waited for his friends to join, a small giggle escaped from under your breath; trying your best to be mindful of Rae’s stream but not being able to hold back the flustered feeling welling up in your chest, mind giddy with the thought of finally being able to see one of his famous live streams, well, live. It had only been a few seconds later when you heard Rae’s voice once again, only this time, not as muffled as before.

“What’s up motherfuckers.” Brows furrowing in confusion, you lifted your hand to your earbud and pulled it from your ear once again, hearing her voice from across the room but from your other earbud as well. No, there was no fucking way. All your questions were answered, though, as you glanced back down at your phone screen seeing a red character move around the game lobby along with Corpse’s, the gamer tag ‘Valkyrae’ floating just above it. Blinking hard at your screen trying to convince yourself that your eyes were lying to you, you slowly pulled your hand to cover your mouth in shock. How… How could you possibly not know they knew each other? With the way they spoke to each other in sarcastic comments, poking fun at the other it sounded like they were close too. Body finally catching up with your thoughts, you scrambled at your phone, shaky hands moving as quickly as they could to pull up your texts with Rae. Your fingers tapped furiously at the screen, anxious to get back to the live stream to listen in more but also needing to know what the fuck was going on.

TO my rae of sunshine: care to explain what the fuck is going on??! how the fuck do you know corpse husband?????!??!

“Oops sorry guys, guess I forgot to turn off my phone ringer-“ Staring up at the back of her head helplessly, you watched as she picked up her phone seeming to read out the text before bursting into a peal of laughter. Tossing a look at you over her shoulder, you looked back down at your phone bashfully, seeing the three loading dots in your message thread indicating that she was messaging you back.

my rae of sunshine: lol what about it? you gotta crush on him or something?

TO my rae of sunshine: …no

Hitting send you rushed back to the stream, anxious to see what Corpse was saying in response to Rae’s absence, not thinking anything about your brief conversation and thinking you would discuss it after she had logged off for the night. Though, as you heard her phone chime again from across the room followed by another bark of laughter, you knew you weren’t getting off that easy.

“What are you laughing about?” Corpse’s honeyed voice sounded from your earbud, hearing Rae’s giggles from what you presumed to be their discord voice chat. Glancing anxiously between his stream and the reflection of Rae’s face cam in one of her monitors, your heart began to sink as you watched that familiar mischievous grin tugging at the edge of her lips.

“Oh just my friend (Y/n) sent me a funny meme”

“Wait, is she the one in some of your Instagram posts?” You swear your heart stopped beating at that moment, eyes glued to the screen in front of you as you tried helplessly to process the conversation happening right in front of you. He knew who you were? You thought you’d always be lost among the hundreds of thousands of his new adoring fans, left in the anonymity of your Twitter tag in his subtweets, or just another subscriber that fawned over him silently behind a keyboard. Knowing that he’d actually seen your face you could feel your own beginning to heat at that moment; you brought your hands your mouth again, unknowingly curling your body tighter around the pillow in your lap as you tried to hide your face behind it as you become more and more flustered from the words nonchalantly escaping his mouth.

“Yea that’s her, pretty thing isn’t she? She’s my absolute favourite.”

That’s it, you were gonna fucking kill her.

“I mean, yeah... I guess..” The timid words followed by a soft awkward chuckle had your breath hitching in your throat. There was no fucking way this was happening. This had to be a dream, that was the only possible explanation. You were just about to pinch yourself when Rae’s voice startled you from your thoughts.

“She’s actually over right now. She insisted on getting wine drunk later tonight because her professor’s been on her ass lately. I’ll get her to come say hi.” Rae had barely turned around in her chair when she was met with your wide-eyed gaze, panic painted across your features as you shook your head wildly. You were in no state to be talking to your long-time internet crush in such a casual setting. But with the look Rae shot you from her chair as she started to plug another headset into her PC, you knew you had no choice and begrudgingly pulled yourself from the couch almost tripping over your own feet as you shakily walked over to Rae. Shooting her another pleading look, she only shoved the headset in your direction in return as she grinned up at you. Finally biting the bullet, you pulled on the headset and leaned down toward the mic.

“Hi, how’s it going?” Cursing at yourself for how quiet and shaky your words came out, you barely had any time to think it over before a chorus of greetings sounded through the headset. A small giggle escaped your lips as you watched the different Discord icons appear and disappear from the top of the screen. You knew most of these people already which made you even more confused as to how you managed to miss that voice from all the discord chats and voice calls. Well, knowing them was a bit of an overstatement anyway; you knew /of/ them, and they knew /of/ you in the other times you popped up in the background or in passing conversation during Rae’s streams. They did know you well enough, though, to know this was not the way you usually spoke around them.

“No way, that can’t be the (Y/N) I know!” The voice you recognize as Sean echoes through your headset, another chorus of knowing laughter following quickly after. Taking a deep breath you managed to force out a few words that would get them off your case.

“…Shut the fuck up”

“There she is!!” As the group erupted in laughter yet again, all you could focus on was the faint deep chuckle that resounded through your headset. Feeling your face start to heat up, you covered your wide grin with your hand as butterflies burst through your stomach; you could listen to that laugh all day. Before you were able to speak again, though, that heavenly voice piped up and wiped all train of thought from your mind.

“Nice to meet you (Y/N).”

“It’s nice to meet you too Corpse. I gotta be honest ‘n say I’m a pretty big fan of your no-sleep work.” And... there’s the word vomit. Fuck, you could feel your cheeks starting to heat up with the ongoing realization of who you were talking to.

“Aha thank you, I uh really appreciate that. I’m sure you just heard, but I guess you could say I’m a fan of yours also.”

No.

No, there’s no fucking way.

Is he...

Flirting with you?

Before you could even think about what to reply to that with, the rest of the group beat you to it.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, what is happening.”

“CORPSE! You SIMP!”

“Is- Is Corpse really shooting his shot right now?”

You didn’t realize you were frozen in place until you felt Rae’s hand on your elbow, snapping you out of your bewildered trance as you tried to comprehend what was happening yourself. As your thoughts finally caught up to the present, you could feel your cheeks start to burn; pulling your hand up to cover your face you stepped out of the view of the face cam. Rae’s laughter filled the room as she watched your flustered antics, shooting you a sly grin as she started scanning the monitor displaying her live chat.

“Wait, wait, chats telling me (y/n)’s blushing right now?” Sean’s voice echoed through the discord chat, only making you flush further as you tried desperately to find a way out of this.

“Okay, okay, leave her alone.” Corpse’s voice finally piped up amid all of the chaos causing everyone to immediately pipe down. God, you didn’t even want to begin to think of the mess this has already made, you just needed to get out of there before you caused any more damage.

“Yeah, I uh- see- see that the lobby’s full so I’ll just uh- leave you guys to it.” Quietly thanking the stars that Corpse finally got you out of this mess, you went to pull the headset off your ears when that fateful voice piped up again.

“Wait, don’t let these nerds make you leave. You should stay- I mean, only to help Rae y'know? She needs it.”

“I do not!”

“I- I mean yea sure, as long as I’m not intruding,” Cursing yourself again for stuttering before forcing yourself to swallow the knot in your throat, “I mean, she really does need the help.”

“Okay just because you want to flirt some more doesn’t mean you can bully me-“

“Okay, I’m starting the round!” The booming accented voice cut off everyone else in the call as you all stared as the screen began to count down to the game, and before anyone had the chance to say anything else a chorus of laughs resounded, and then the lobby fell into silence.

•••

And it went on like that, the not-so-subtle flirting followed by relentless jabs from the group immediately after. The game was almost forgotten with how much of each lobby was taken up by teasing words and endless laughter, but every audience was just eating it up. You didn’t even want to think about the mess social media was going to be after this stream but right now you were having fun with your friends and that’s all that mattered. The grin was practically plastered on your face as you laughed along with Rae the chat during the gameplay portions and you knew everything from this moment on was gonna be different, but you couldn’t find a single thing within you to care.

Especially when you logged onto Twitter right after the stream and saw that little message right at the top of your requests.

@.corpsehusband: wanna hear some of that no sleep work in person?

•••

beep bop here u go,

[snkpolls]

SnK Episodes 73 & 74 Poll Results (for Manga Readers)

The poll closed with 135 responses. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Please note that these are the results for the Manga Readers’ poll. If you wish to see the results for the Anime Only Watchers’ poll, click here.

---

RATE EPISODE 73: SAVAGERY 129 responses

As expected, this highly anticipated episode didn’t fail to deliver and fans absolutely loved it, with over 95% giving it a 4-5 star rating. 

I loved the episode 73. The fight between Levi and Zeke was spectacular! The animation was 10/10, definitely worth watching. Good, old Kenny's theme brought memories back. I have to admit that Mappa made Levi look hundred times better and definitely more masculine. 

RATE EPISODE 74: SOLE SALVATION 128 responses

While episode 74 generated slightly less enthusiasm across the board, it still managed to garner a high rating from respondents. 

when i read the manga version, i wasn't that much moved by zeke's backstory. but with the music, voice and color additions... it's fucking heartbreaking. mappa did an outstanding job. and the tension when he activated the thunder spear???? the animation? we were blessed. ALSO! the movement of the bodies when they threw the ball looked so realistic! it's a tiny detail that i loved. 

Zook

WHICH WAS THE MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT OF EPISODE 73? 128 responses

Levi vs. Zeke 2.0 got the largest piece of the pie, getting 23.4% of the vote. Behind that was the moment when Levi had to kill his comrades in titan form (14.8%), Armin punching Eren in the face (14.1%), Eren disparaging Armin and Mikasa (11.7%), and at 8.6%, that one screenshot of Armin the entire fandom was thirsting over. Shoutout to the person in the comments who wanted Mikasa to pin them down (the pollster writing this feels the same!).

💥🐒 mOnKe and Lebi 🍄and Jean go BOOM 🐎💥

For me, the real gem of EMA talk isn't that one Armin frame that everyone's going crazy about. It's the frame before it, that low angle of Mikasa half sitting on the table holding Armin down. Holy...I wanted to be Armin so bad right at that moment.

WHICH WAS THE MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT OF EPISODE 74? 127 responses

35.4% felt the most memorable scene from this episode was the ending scene where Zeke triggers the thunderspear and sends Levi flying. Behind that was the moment where Zeke listens to Grisha yelling through the door (18.1%), Zeke and Ksaver coming up with the euthenasia plan together (8.7%) and Ksaver telling Zeke to sell out his parents (7.9%).

EPISODE 73 IS TITLED, “SAVAGERY.” OF THE OPTIONS BELOW, WHICH CHARACTER DO YOU THINK BEST EXEMPLIFIED THIS WORD? 128 responses

In an episode filled with both verbal and physical violence, we asked which character you thought best exemplified the episode’s title. 35.2% felt that Eren was the worst offender with his words and actions against Armin and Mikasa. 29.7% felt that Levi’s violent acts against Zeke were deserving of the title “savagery.” Only 22.7% felt that Floch most suited the episode title, while just a small handful, 12.5%, felt that Zeke is the one most deserving of the term.

HOW BADLY DID YOU FEEL ABOUT LEVI HAVING TO KILL HIS OWN SQUAD? 127 responses

The majority felt, on at least some level, sorrow for what Levi had to do in order to survive and catch up to Zeke. Though a small handful didn’t feel too bad for our Captain.

ON A SCALE OF 1-5, HOW WOULD YOU RATE LEVI VS. ZEKE 2.0? 127 responses

In general, the fight received positive reception. Though it wasn’t all hype, as the highest ranking was actually a 4 and not a 5. It was hype, but not quite hype enough for us manga readers. 

I loved Levi vs Zeke 2.0 but they really should have used the instrumental version instead of K21, I laughed out loud when I heard that beacuse I felt like it took all the seriousness from the scene

levi and zeke goat

WHY DO YOU THINK FLOCH MADE THE RECRUITS BATTER INSTRUCTOR SHADIS? 128 responses

The majority of respondents feel that Floch’s motivations are a mix of factors. For those who did think there was a more specific reason, though, 16.4% felt it’s simply a matter of Floch having a massive ego trip. 10.2% feel that Floch truly believes what he says about taking out the old and bringing in the new, and 7.8% believe Floch simply wanted to make an example out of Shadis (presumably alluding to the fate of those who resist the Yeagerists). 

He was testing if the recruits can go this far

He wants to intimidate people into joining his cause by using violence and threats of arrest and also make them feel empowered by his ideals.

Standard protocol when there's a change of regime, you'd want to eliminate the old guards' influence ASAP.  

That's how fascism works

All of the above and the fact that he's a fascist.

HOW CUTE WAS BITTY ZEKE? 130 responses

After a long time waiting, we finally got to see child Zeke in animated form. The vast majority think he was cute as a button, ready to pinch his little baby cheeks! Only a small handful think bby Zeke is anything but cute.

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT GRISHA’S TREATMENT OF ZEKE? 130 responses

This chapter created more controversy surrounding Grisha after it’s publication. In general, fans still aren’t particularly proud of Grisha’s behavior. 36.9% felt that Zeke didn’t deserve any of the treatment he got from his father, and 24.6% outright want to give Grisha the award for worst parent in the entire series. 24.6% don’t approve of Grisha’s behavior, but they do empathize with the way Grisha must have felt. 10.8% feel that while he could have treated Zeke better, he also could have been much worse. 

Zeke was a sweet child but no child deserves to be treated like that regardless of how nice or well behaved they are. Grisha is disgusting.

Grisha was a large dick and asshole and he deserved the all punishment he got. 

Grisha is a terrible father but such a well written character 

it's crazy to me how people really thought grisha wasn't that in the wrong in terms of how he raised zeke.

DO YOU FEEL THAT ZEKE WOULD HAVE GROWN INTO AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT KIND OF PERSON IF GRISHA HAD TREATED HIM BETTER? 129 responses

Just over half of respondents think it’s possible Zeke could have become a different kind of person if he’d had a brighter and happier childhood, though they didn’t want to say for sure as they feel that Grisha’s treatment wasn’t the sole reason why Zeke sees the world the way he does. 41.9% believe that the outcome of Zeke’s mindset would have been completely different. Only a few think that he would have come to the same conclusions about the world either way. 

Unless Grisha gives up being a restorationist I don't see it as better treatment, if he does then yes

Yes. The whole point for the euthanasia plan was that Eldian children don't have to go through what he went through.

WHO DO YOU THINK HAD A BIGGER IMPACT IN SHAPING ZEKE’S WORLDVIEW? 126 responses

When it comes to “father figures” in Zeke’s life, 65.1% believe that Ksaver holds much more responsibility than Grisha does when it comes to the way Zeke views the world.

WHO TURNED OUT MORE LIKE GRISHA, IN YOUR OPINION? 128 responses

Between Grisha’s two sons, 68% of respondents feel that Eren is the brother who turned out much more similarly to Grisha, leaving only 32% who feel the opposite and think Zeke ultimately turned out more like Grisha in the end (For those who are curious, 81% of anime-only fans feel that Eren is the one who turned out more like Grisha).

WHO WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO PUNCH IN THE FACE AFTER THESE EPISODES? 129 responses

There was a lot that happened in these episodes that could have bred resentment from fans. From the options provided, 35.7% of respondents would most like to punch Floch in the face. 22.5% wish to channel their inner Armin and give Eren a sock to the face. 14.7% felt more visceral toward Grisha. 11.6% don’t want to punch anyone at all. For those who wanna punch the pollsters, meet us out back at 16:00 hours.

Floch sucks

HOW DO YOU FEEL FINALLY GETTING TO SEE THE PAINFUL EMA CONVERSATION IN ANIME FORM? 127 responses

A lot has happened since chapter 112 published, but the chapter still continues to stick with us and spark conversation. With such a highly anticipated scene finally being animated, we wanted to know how you felt seeing the scene reimagined with music, voice acting and color. 29.9% just felt that the chapter hits much differently now after the contents of chapter 138. 25.2% had a much harder time watching the scene in anime form than they felt reading the manga. 12.6% felt even more strongly, expressing extreme heartbreak over E/MA’s breakup. Only a handful of respondents felt the scene hit much harder in the manga.

I'm over it, I felt nothing. Props to Yuki Kaji though, his voice acting is as amazing as ever.

I liked both manga and anime versions, but hearing Armin's sharp intakes of breath from being hit ;~; MY POOR BABY!

M M G H, boi

mmgh

There is no pain, only support for whatever horny animator drew that shot of Armin.

I love EMA emotionally destroying each other and Mappa made it SO FUCKING GOOD, I watched this scene like 100 times

Eren = me | Armin's fist = EMA scene punching me across my expressionless face | Mikasa = my anime-only gf

BEFORE THE FINAL CHAPTER HITS, WHAT DO YOU THINK WAS EREN’S “TRAIN OF THOUGHT” IN REGARDS TO HIS WORDS IN THIS CONVERSATION? 126 responses

With the last chapter just over a week away, we’re hoping to finally get some closure in terms of Eren’s characterization and the choices he’s made. 42.9% believe that Eren chose to be cruel to his friends in the hope it would drive them to be willing to put an end to Eren’s life. 24.6% felt the opposite, hoping that Eren would push them into a corner where they wouldn’t interfere with his plan at all. 18.3% still aren’t sure what to think. Will we get answers, Isayama?!

He wants to "free" Mikasa and armin from himself because he knew he was gonna die

Probably the first option but there might be some truth to what he was saying.

He definitely wanted to push them away and antagonize them but I'm still not completely sure why. I don't feel we've gotten a satisfying explanation. 

He chose to be cruel to Mikasa and Armin in an attempt to make it so they wouldn't mourn him when he was dead and could be free of him entirely.

Eren still has heart warming feelings to Mikasa and - by being cruel - he wanted her to let him go (and most likely) kill him. His feelings to Armin however are much colder and they don't seem to like each other anymore. They are way too different. Armin and Eren are like two deities who will always fight each other.  

Like he said in 138, he wanted to push them away so they would move on from his death and live happily without him.

SOME DIALOGUE FROM THE EMA CONVERSATION WAS CUT OR SHORTENED. WHICH PART(S) DID YOU MISS THE MOST? 125 responses

Due to time constraints, the EMA conversation took a big hit in terms of how much content was cut from it. Of the cuts we noticed, the dialogue snippets that were most missed by manga readers were; Eren bringing up Armin’s good judgement when they were younger, Eren telling Mikasa that the “real her” disappeared in the mountain cabin, the mention of Ackermans being a “byproduct” of titan science, and the mention that Ackermans manifest the power of titans in human form.

OVERALL, HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE AFOREMENTIONED CUTS? 123 responses

When it comes to how manga readers actually felt about the cuts in the EMA conversation, 35% agreed that they felt bitter about them, while still understanding that there was probably little other choice. 22% think it was just too watered down and cut down the impact significantly. 14.6% didn’t care, 11.4% felt the cuts were actually a positive thing, and 10.6% feel that the manga is simply just the superior medium for this series.

I find it interesting that the titan science stuff was cut and wonder if maybe Isayama agreed to those cuts bc he knows he won't have time to really explain in the last chapter of the manga.

Oof, too many important informations have been cut. 

I'm okay either way!

Although I would've loved to see all of those aforementioned cuts animated, I understand why they had to be cut in the first place, so I'm not bitter by it at all. I still think the conversation still had the impact it was intended to have.

I kind of understand why some dialogues would have to be cut but it lessened the impact of how Eren tried to hurt his friends which I personally think is too much even if he might have good intentions in doing so. I also like how MAPPA rearranges scenes to better fit the airtime limitation of each episode.

MAPPA CHANGED EREN’S EXPRESSION AFTER HE WAS CALLED OUT BY ARMIN. THOUGHTS? 127 responses

A small change can impact a lot… or perhaps not. 34.6% felt let down by the change in Eren’s facial expression after Armin calls him out for hurting Mikasa, feeling that his original expression spoke volumes about his true feelings about what he’d done. 28.3% didn’t notice any change at all and so are unaffected. 15.7% are on a similar page and feel that there really wasn’t enough of a difference to gripe about anything, and 9.4% actually preferred the way MAPPA handled Eren in this snippet. 

as they did when mikasa calls him out in liberio, they harden his expressionstry to make him look like a heartless monster with no empathy for his friends. this expression hinted that he was hurt by telling all of that to his friends, so his self sacrifice motivations can be misunderstood by anime onlies, or worse: they may even think it comes out of nowhere.

The manga was just superior here, from his expression to the fact that Armin did manage to make him bleed. It was disappointing.

I read this chapter way too long ago, I don't remember this stuff 

He looks a lot more hurt and regretful in the Manga. Anime just looks annoyed.

Not a big deal to me. Manga is definitely superior though.

In the manga Eren was more human, while here we can clearly see his anger towards Armin's words.

THE ANIME ADAPTATION CUT OUT A BIT OF CONTEXT IN REGARDS TO LEVI STATING THAT THEY WILL FEED A YEAGERIST TO HISTORIA AFTER SHE GIVES BIRTH. DO YOU THINK THIS MAKES THINGS CONFUSING FOR THE ANIME-ONLIES? 123 responses

Historia’s pregnancy plot continues to get the shaft (for better or for worse), with the mention of her eventually eating the Yeagerist that eats Zeke being cut out entirely. 39% of respondents felt that this was a poor choice on MAPPA’s part, feeling that it will make things confusing for anime only fans (“why would they feed Zeke to a Yeagerist?”). 26% feel the opposite, and think anime only fans should be able to put 2 and 2 together to realize where Levi was going with his idea. 22% aren’t sure if it actually makes things confusing, and 10.6% just don’t care. 

I'm not sure how confusing this makes it for anime-onlies but them cutting out mentions of her pregnancy makes it seem even less important than it already does.

That plan was shut down so quickly it doesn't matter

I don't/didn't really understand this. None of the Yeagerist have royal blood... maybe I'm missing something. I figured he was just joking? Bc, tactically, what does Historia eating a Yeagerist do or have to do with anything?

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE ADAPTATION OF THE ZEKE RUNNING PANEL? 124 responses

When Zeke ran from Levi in the manga, the scene was memed to death. 46.8% of respondents weren’t disappointed in MAPPA’s adaptation and felt it was just as enjoyable as it was in the manga. 29.8% felt even more strongly, thinking MAPPA did an even better job than Isayama had done. 17.7% still prefer the manga version. 

It was funny in the manga but not in the anime and that's probably for the best given the weight of what's about to happen.

I  honestly don't remember the running panel lmao

Funny monke

HOW WELL WAS ZEKE’S BACKSTORY ADAPTED, IN YOUR OPINION? 126 responses

60.3% felt that MAPPA did an incredible job with executing Zeke’s backstory in the anime, with the impact feeling even greater than it did in the original manga. 37.3% agree to a lesser degree, simply being pleased that it was faithful to the source material and feel thankful enough for that. Only a sliver of the pie felt that MAPPA didn’t deliver well on this or didn’t care. 

Made him too sympathetic/made grisha look even worse

MAPPA REPLACED THE MONKEY PLUSHIE WITH A RAM PLUSHIE IN KSAVER’S VISION. THOUGHTS? 125 responses

We got a couple of Easter Eggs in this episode, with one of them being the inclusion of a ram plushie in place of the monkey doll that was in the manga. Knowing now that Ksaver’s Beast Titan was a ram, we were curious how many of you caught this. 55.2% absolutely loved the easter egg, and 31.2% just felt that it was neat. A few were confused, missed monke, or wanted to squish the adorable plushie. Baa!

I jumped out of my seat seeing that little fecker. I was literally like "...!!!! THE RAM!!! WE KNOW KSAVER'S TITAN NOW SO THEY PUT IN A RAM!! YOU..!!! ISAYAMAAAAA!!" It was hilarious XD

THE DOLLS IN KSAVER’S VISION APPEAR TO RESEMBLE ARMIN, MIKASA AND HISTORIA. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS? 121 responses

Aside from the ram plushie were also dolls that some thought seemed to resemble Armin, Mikasa and Historia. We got very mixed responses on this question. 20.7% felt that it was simply just a fun easter egg and didn’t hold any kind of narrative meaning. 19% were unsure what to think at all. 16.5% think the third doll actually represents Ymir Fritz and not Historia. 15.7% felt it was meant to represent the three people Eren is working hardest to protect, and 9.1% didn’t think they represented anything. 

i thought that was ymir fritz, zeke, and either eren or levi

I think the two dolls inside the box look more like Gabi and Falco but I'm not sure who the doll with the pink dress is, Ymir Fritz maybe?

I didn't even notice this, lmao. I'm bored of overthinking things like this, there's one chapter left y'all.

Oh, I thought it was Eren, Zeke and Ymir lol.

Reminds me of the Eren doll in the Lost Girls OVA. 

The box represents those who we will see in the final chapter. Sorry Historia :'(

All of the above xD

The doll isn't Historia - It's Ymir Frtiz - and her position under the wagon means that Eren values Mikasa and Eren more than Ymir/anything else. I think the wagon is also significant to that bit where Eren confessed to the squad that they were the most important people in his life, and that he doesn't want anything bad to happen to them.

EREN TELLS ZEKE, “I’LL PUT AN END TO 2,000 YEARS OF TITAN DOMINATION.” EVEN AFTER EVERYTHING, DO YOU BELIEVE IT’S POSSIBLE THAT THIS WAS HIS TRUE INTENTION, AND THAT HE CAN STILL BE THE ONE TO MAKE IT HAPPEN? 122 responses

Will there be a final twist in the series finale? 34.4% seem to think so, hoping that Eren’s words will ring true and he will somehow abolish titans from the world. 23% feel similarly, though they think he knew his actions would lead to the catalyst to rid titans from the world, rather than him doing it himself. 12.3% feel the opposite, and think Eren was simply just lying to Zeke about bringing an end to the titan power, and 9.8% think he’s just too dead at this point to accomplish anything. 19.7% aren’t sure what to predict. 

Yes, ending the era of titans and setting Eldians free is one of Eren's goals.

GIVEN THAT ZEKE’S FLASHBACK ELEMENTS FROM 115 WERE ALSO ADAPTED IN THIS CHAPTER, DO YOU THINK THE FINAL EPISODE WILL HAVE ANY ANIME-ONLY SCENES? 124 responses

The episode has already aired and we can now confirm that there were no additional scenes. 41.9% were correct in their hunch that the remaining contents would be enough to fill an entire episode - in fact, they didn't even end up animating all of it! What about Levi and Hange?!

Since we won't reach Ch. 121 or 122 I don't really care. 

Since Mappa took over, not anymore :(

What tou MEAN ”the final episode”?!

HOW DO YOU FEEL KNOWING THAT ANIME ONLY FANS WON’T HAVE A SOLID ANSWER ON LEVI’S FATE FOR MONTHS? 127 responses

We didn’t expect this question to come off as cruel as it now feels after MAPPA didn’t even throw us a bone in episode 75 about Levi’s fate. That being said, 29.1% are ready to snack on their popcorn while they watch anime onlies worry and theorize over Levi’s fate. 21.3% are simply feeling mischievous. 9.4% think it’s cruel to take any delight in anime watchers’ woes, as we also had to experience the same thing for several months. 33.9% think it will be next to impossible for anime only fans to avoid being spoiled about Levi’s fate. 

It should be fairly obvious he's alive when they show Hange jumping in the river with him next episode.

Good. I think most of them will assume he's not dead yet though.

Maybe it will inspire some of them to read the manga to find out.

Ugh, I hope they won't be complaining as much as the manga readers did even though it was obvious he's not dead.

THE PREVIEW ONLY REVEALED ONE SCENE TO US. SO INSTEAD, WHICH MOMENT FROM CHAPTER 115/116 ARE YOU MOST ANTICIPATING? 126 responses

31% of respondents were most looking forward to the moment where Pieck declared Eren as the enemy. 23% had most anticipated seeing Ymir revive Zeke (rip) and 19.8% were most looking forward to seeing Hange dive into the river with Levi’s injured body (double rip). 10.3% were most anticipating the scene with Eren, Pieck and Gabi in the jail room, and 7.1% were most hyped about Marley’s airships showing up onto the scene.

WE’VE ONLY GOT ONE EPISODE LEFT FOR THIS RUN! HOW ARE YOU FEELING ABOUT IT? 125 responses

59.2% were feeling hyped to get an announcement about a part 2 of the season. 24%, on the other hand, are bummed out and have a new void to fill in their heart while they wait. 11.2% feel similarly and on a greater level… the seasons between the SnK anime seasons are just the worst anime seasons of all!

Too distracted by manga-ending-anxiety to feel much about it

Disappointed. It's not actually the final season.

I'm ready for this season of heartbreak to be over thank you just put me out of my misery and stop dragging me along behind the car

I can't believe it's near ending already

DO YOU THINK WE WILL GET AN ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT THE NEXT ANIME INSTALLMENT NEXT WEEK? 122 responses

54.1% of respondents were hopeful for a part 2 announcement and the good news is that MAPPA didn’t let them down. 19.7% were right on the nose with this one!

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE EPISODES?

GOAT

The scene with Levi's comrades turning into Titans was one of the most visually stunning moments for me; the whole panning out throughout as they all started turning sort of gave me chills. Levi's reaction to it all, and ultimately having to kill them too was heartbreaking. Honestly that entire scene was quite gripping. I hate to admit that watching it in anime form has sort of solidified me resonating with Zeke in regards to his relationship with Grisha. Dude just wanted to spend time with his freaking dad and instead went through all of that, I don't blame him for the resentment at all. Still a douche for some of the stuff he's done. And ersonally I prefer him over Eren. Eren never went through that kind of treatment from Grisha and ended up... like that. Also!!!!!! Love me some Bertholdt crumbs, thank you Mappa! God, I miss him. :(

The removal of mostly anything mentioning titan scientists/research and Ackermans being a byproduct of titan science makes me wonder if Isayama regretted introducing that. I was already disappointed the manga didn't expand on that and the anime made it worse. Almost nonexistent tbh. Loved seeing Zeke's backstory, like all the other children in this series, he deserved better.

The ost during Floch's speech was brilliant. Young Zeke and Grisha VAs also. Makes me want to adopt Zeke right there. Not sure if Pieck and Porco already appeared as background characters (in ep 13&14) there were some figures that looked like them so I can't wait for the next episode! 

Nah, I just loved them 

These were one of the best of the season!

i just want more, also i loved MAPPA's style so far

In those episodes, the emotions weren't as strong as in the manga. I didn't feel much. And for the EMA talk... well, I liked Eren's neutral expression in the manga better, it was more fitted. And the animation of his "fight" with Armin was absolutely terrible, and it's sad to say that when you know that Mappa can do so much better.

*points at Zeke* WITNESSED!! 

MAPPA stans Armin, it shows, and I am 100% here for it. 

Being aware if latest chapters, I see young Zeke with different eyes

Mappa has done a fabulous job so far. The only thing I hoped for is that they should not have made the face difference so obvious from previous seasons to the last one, for the benefit of anime-only people. Yes, they stayed true to the manga, but their animators had to have control over it, which is what happened in S1 where girls had some sort of gloss on their lips and Yams requested for them to be removed in succeeding episodes.. that tells me that the animators/mappa have some semblance of control over how the characters look 

I think MAPPA is doing a good job with the episodes.

Feels. That is all.

I really loved how Mappa executed that scene wint Ksaver's wife's murder/suicide. In the manga, they just outright depict it happening in the room. In the anime, they blended it in with the present surroundings. It literally gave me the chills. I do worry that the missing dialogue from the EMA scene, especially Eren explaining how Mikasa's dedication to him is nothing but science. I also worry about him not mentioning the slave/freedom thing, bc afaik the dialogue in the leaked panel of 139 says ""you are free"", and I always thought it was gonna be related to that. 

WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 118 responses

Thanks again to everyone who participated! We will post the poll for episode 75 soon!

In the meantime, please feel free to send us up to 5 of your favorite characters via ask or submission for our ongoing popularity poll - that poll will close on the 10th of April! :D

[mdwatchestv]

Love Em or Leave Em - My Favorite Shows of 2017 (And the ones I ditched along the way)

If there is one kind of list I love it is a year end best list. That way I can easily see everything I utterly failed to watch and consume in the past year, as well as feel the intoxicating rush of vindication at the shows I correctly identified as being ‘best of’ and actually watched. Anyway the point is you can go anywhere for an objective “ten best” list written by “paid writers” who “write professionally”. Instead what I have to offer you is two-fold, both my favorite shows of the year (and yes there is some ten best crossover) and all the shows I gave-up on, set aside, or completely emotionally abandoned. So without further ado, and without any particular order, and with the understanding that I’m writing this before Black Mirror premieres, love Black Mirror so much, here are my ten favorite shows of 2017 (ugh you guys I can’t wait for Black Mirror):

ORPHAN BLACK The Final Season aka Season 5 (BBC America)

Orphan Black might not have always been the most consistent show, it boasted a complex science fiction plot that often veered into the unintelligible (I’m still not completely sure about a lot of what happened) and had more than a few missteps (boy clones was a bad call, it just was). BUT what Orphan Black also had is perhaps one of the best acting performances, in any medium, ever. Tatiana Maslany’s turn as no less than twelve distinct characters was masterful, magical, completely transporting acting. Watching her every week was surprising, glorious, and will be heart-breaking to give up. Its a performance every actor should attempt to greedily dissect and replicate. We will quite simply never see its like again. 

MINDHUNTER Season 1 (Netflix)

True crime, check. Jonathan Groff, check. Moody period drama, check. Austere David Fincher mis-en-scene, check. Surprisingly feminist leaning commentary on the destructiveness of male toxicity, check. Shiny period cars, check. Fantastic turns from character actors, some of which new to me, check, check. All my dreams for a television show, check.

LEGION Season 1 (FX)

What can I say about Legion that I did not already say in a one thousand word blog post written breathlessly after the first episode? In a land of sub-par superhero content Legion stands alone as a pillar of aesthetic beauty, sweeping narrative vision, and general weirdness. This was also without question my favorite sequence on TV this year.

THE GOOD PLACE Season 2 (NBC)

If you are not watching The Good Place, you have made some kind of unfortunate mistake in your life. Season 1 of this comedy ended with a shocking twist that essentially changed everything we knew about the show. That seems like a daunting place to build from for a season 2, but the second outing of this philosophy-driven single cam just keeps getting better and better. There has never been a show that has been able to provide a thoughtful dissection of the trolley problem as well as a dozen solid clam chowder puns. Also, Jason.

SEARCH PARTY Season 2 (TBS)

Search Party is Nancy Drew for the Millennial in constant existential free fall. Search Party sees your anxiety, your social media addiction, your desperate desire for, and paralyzing fear of, adventure. Search Party makes you laugh until you cry and then keep crying because even though life is inconsequential, you are still fucking it up somehow. Also, John Early.

DIFFICULT PEOPLE Season 3 (Hulu)

If Search Party made me feel seen, then Difficult People made me feel SEEN. I mean it’s literally about a red-head who recaps television, hates almost everyone, and makes her boyfriend bring her snacks on the couch. Difficult People blasted a hundred smart jokes a second right into your face, and had been calling out (now exposed) serial abusers and shit heads for years. Also by far my favorite casting scenes on television (why do they always making casting directors so mean in movies?). It’s cancellation caused me physical pain so deep I had to work through it in therapy.

BROADCHURCH Season 3 (BBC, but also very accessibly on Netflix)

If you have never seen Broadchurch do not jump in at season three, go back to season one and do it properly (although be warned the series deals with pretty intense themes like child murder and rape). A really good show can deliver a powerful storyline with emotionally driven twists and a satisfying conclusion. But only a great show can deliver that caliber of storytelling three seasons in a row. Broadchurch is dark, compelling, moving, funny, and emotionally devastating. It’s led by the always wonderful David Tennant and Olivia Coleman who may be the greatest actress in the world. If you are one of those people who is like “Oh well I watched Gracepoint (the American bastardization of this show), is this really that much better?” Yes, yes it is.

THE CROWN Season 2 (Netflix)

Speaking of the glory of Olivia Coleman, she will be taking over Queen duties from the luminous Claire Foy in season 3 of The Crown! Probably the best casting news I heard all year because I couldn’t imagine another actress who could deliver the caliber of performance Claire has turned in for the past two seasons. This season Queen is more secure in her role, but she still has to deal with the greatest threat to all women in power: men’s bullshit. When I am not marveling at the lusciousness of the images on screen, I am yelling, “DRAG HIM” at it. Also feel like no one is talking about how amazing Vanessa Kirby is this season, so this is me talking about it.

AMERICAN GODS (Starz)

American Gods was like nothing else on TV this year, and after the shocking announcement that show creators Bryan Fuller and Michael Green would be leaving the project, there will probably never be anything like it again. Sure the first season had it’s ups and downs, but when it hit the mark it was a bullseye. Bryan Fuller has never been afraid to get weird, bless his boots, and American Gods got WEIRD, resplendently so. One of the rare instances where an expanded adaptation of a literary worked actually improved on the source material, American Gods felt like Odin’s lightening in a bottle. Beyond a stellar cast, the series also had two of my favorite characters of the year in Bilquis and Laura Moon.  I recapped the entire season on this very blog and you can read it all here.

ALIAS GRACE (Netflix)

Alias Grace was the less publicized of the Margaret Atwood adaptations this year, but in my opinion, the better one. While Handmaid’s Tale was filled with soaring moments and a tour-de-force performance by Elisabeth Moss, it often achieved its high drama at the cost of trampling the subtler moments of the novel. Alias Grace on the other hand perfectly captured the creeping unease of Atwood’s work, slowly submerging you in the insidiousness and uncertainty of the patriarchy until you realize you are drowning, have been drowning, the whole time. Super relatable right?  While Handmaid’s Tale was bold and triumphant, Alias Grace was delicate and haunting. Only six episodes guys, make the commitment.

RIVERDALE Season One (The CW)

When I first heard The CW was making a sexy teen version of the Archie comics my first thought was “Who on Earth wants to watch THAT?” Turns out the answer is me, more than anything. Was Riverdale the BEST show this year? No. But it was without question one of the most enjoyable. As a watcher of prestige TV there is a lot of serious subjects ™ to deal with. I mean almost every show on this list, including this one, deals with death and murder. Even the comedies are built around philosophic crisis for goodness sake. Sometimes you just need 45 minutes of sexy (really really sexy) teens solving mysteries and cracking pop culture quips. Let KJ Apa’s orange hair and rock hard abs lift you up out of the gutter of 2017.

Honorable Mentions:

Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu)

Fargo Season 3 (FX)

Humans Season 2 (AMC/Channel 4)

Brooklyn 99 (Fox)

The Magicians Season 2 (SyFy)

And while there was a lot to love this year, there were also shows that I consciously uncoupled from, in one auspicious case, whilst in the middle of blogging it.

Shows I gave up on:

Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency Season 2 (BBC America)

I loved season one of this show, to the point where I would still recommend it as a standalone viewing experience. I recapped season one as one of my first endeavors of this blog, and attempted to do the same for season two. Perhaps you noticed that I just completely abandoned my posts. Season one was a fantastic whirlwind adventure, a bright zany distraction that was as clever as it was captivating. But sadly the second season couldn’t deliver on, and perhaps didn’t realize, what made the first season so great. During episode six of season two I finally realized that the spark was gone. Literally as I sat down to work on this today I saw that Dirk Gently had been cancelled, so consider this opinion rubber-stamped.

The Walking Dead Season 8 (AMC)

When the Walking Dead premiered eight long years ago I couldn’t believe it. A zombie SHOW! Zombies EVERY WEEK. I loved The Walking Dead, it delivered some of the finest undead content ever partaken by the living. But this season when Negan walked out of his warehouse, unarmed, in front of 100 machine gun wielding Rick soldiers and the first word out of his mouth was “cock” (or equivalent, I had blacked out) I knew simply, without regret or reservation, that I was ready to lay this show to rest. I only wish I could have held on for Carl’s death but such is life (or…ya know).

Twin Peaks: The Return (Showtime)

I just couldn’t.

American Horror Story: Cult (FX)

This was a hot mess. Will I be back for the first three episodes of next season? You betcha.

Better Things (FX)

This one was fraught for me, and I have not laid it to rest forever. Better Things is an absolutely brilliant show, and this season was an even better thing than season one. But interacting with vulnerable art is itself a vulnerable experience, and the brilliance of this show is its ability to access raw emotion and intimacy. As much as I’d like to, I can’t go where this show wants to take me. Maybe next year.

And that’s a wrap on 2017! We had a lot of good TV, and we still have new Black Mirror and a lady Doctor Who to look forward to. Thank you everyone who read this blog this year, I treasure you. As always if you want to argue with me, or pet my hair and tell me everything will be okay, I am on twitter @marthadee.

[just-a-thought29-blog]

The Answer isn’t Original Content.

Original Content. This seems to be the two new words in today’s language. Every time you turn around you can read or hear that some company, site, some form of media is working on getting, producing and creating new and original content. Something that only about 10-12 years ago was pretty much left up to basic cable channels. Everyone looked forward to the new shows coming to ABC, CBS or NBC etc. This was the norm. This was where most, if not everyone, go their entertainment from. It started in the Fall, mini break around winter, and picked back up and finished in the Spring. This was the cycle. We accepted it and it worked. But things they are a changing. And some of them may not seem for the better.

Netflix. This entertainment outlet has become just as big a household name, if not bigger, than cable. It started as a great way to get movies sent to you directly. No more having to go to the video store and seeing that recent release you wanted was out of stock. Just pick the movies you wanted and wait, usually no more than 2 days, and there was the movie. Watch at your convenience. No need to worry about those cash grabbing late fees Blockbuster charged you. And when you were done, seal it back up in the prepaid envelope and mail it out. It was the greatest thing to happen to movies in years. But then...things changed again. Netflix moved to a streaming service. Going head to head against the cable companies biggest weapon: On Demand. Netflix had upped their game. Now they could put an app on devices, customers can log in, and pick through a catalog, though small in the beginning, of movies and watch instantly. They had struck gold. The catalog of movies got bigger every month. But what was a huge grab? Televisions series! Cable companies started to make deals with them allowing for past seasons to stream right into people’s homes. And THIS, this was where it went from great to amazing. People weren't having to worry about catching that show on ABC. They knew eventually it would get to Netflix. People could take a couple weeks, or a dedicated watcher maybe just few days, and watch an entire season from beginning to end. And the term Binge Watching was born. And what a fantastic thing it was. We were able to catch up on those episodes we missed. We could see an entire series was on Netflix and become a fan of a show we never gave a shot over night. Thanks to Netflix I became a fan of The Office. A show I never looked twice at when it was on regular tv. It was a new way to get entertainment and we were living! 

Cable was noticing this migration.  Not only to just Netflix, but to its competitors as well. Over the years streaming had come to Amazon, and Hulu was starting to get a little more traction. People were beginning to realize that maybe watching tv wasn’t the way to, well, basically watch tv. Why sit through commercials? Why wait for that hiatus during the winter? And since when the hell did tv shows start to have spring breaks too? People were soon realizing that it was taking too much effort to keep up with a basic television show. In so many words, cable was losing a battle that it didn’t even know it was in! They were willingly handing over rights to these companies pretty much in hope to get viewers to come back and watch their content!  But people didn’t want to go back to the stone age of tv shows. They loved the new form of On Demand and couldn’t get enough! We didn’t think it could get any better. And honestly, if you take a step back, it really hasn’t.

Cable saw what was happening and wasn’t sure how they were losing? Could it be that their bundles were too expensive? No, can’t be. Everyone wants to give their first born to cover the cable bill. Could it be that there wasn’t enough sports? No way! With about 3 dozen dedicated sports channels, there was a game on somewhere! So what could they fight back with? Oh yea! Original Content! Netflix didn't have that! Amazon didn’t have new shows every season! Hulu was just a site that aired shows from the past week! Soon reruns were gone! Original content was coming to the summer line up. If you wanted to catch up on that last season, go to Netflix or Hulu! We have the original stuff! We have the content that will first air with us. And maybe it won’t show up till a couple weeks before a new season comes out...next summer! That was their ace in the hole. And then...Original was The New Goal. Netflix announced new and original content. Orange is the New Black was taking viewers by storm! Anyone who was any one was watching this show! But it came at a price. Netflix was becoming big. Bigger than the people who were just getting dvd’s shipped to them even thought they could. So what happens when a company becomes bigger? Price hikes! In order to combat the cable companies with their tv show rights and now adding original content. Netflix needed to start charging more for its product. And that came with unanimous uproar. Customers were not happy and it showed. Many subscribers cut the stream and said goodbye to its once favorite binge watching buddy. Cable would suffice. Just use On Demand. It was kind of the same thing right? Netflix saw this and internally panicked. So to keep the waters calm for awhile, some would be grandfathered in to the price scheme for some time and later would be given the increase. That was enough for some, especially with the hopes of this new and original content! 

And that brings us to here. The problem we face today. Everywhere you go, we have new and original content. And I’m sure you’re thinking “are you friggin serious?! How the hell is having too much original content a bad thing? Why would any one hate having this many options?” And my answer? Because we technically had all these options...with cable. We had, and still have, all the original content we could imagine,  and we ran back to were reruns. Think about it. How many times have you sat through reruns of a show you know and love verses giving a new one a chance? How excited were you to see the entire series or a movie  hit Netflix or Hulu or Amazon and you could watch it all over again any time when nothing was on. That’s what these services were for! Reruns and giving current shows a chance. Like I said before, that’s how I got to be a fan of The Office. Netflix also got me in the FOX’s series Gotham and CW’s Arrow! All these shows were taking too long to get into, but with binge watching, it was easy pick up and follow along. Now, that is becoming harder and harder. Just in the last 2 months, Netflix has lost the rights to Bob’s Burgers and soon American Dad and most, if not all those seasons will be gone. And probably no new ones coming either. So the purpose of Netflix has changed so what? Well, has anyone started to see another small shift in entertainment lately. Hulu and YouTube just in the last couple months have announced a way to watch live television, just not having to use cable companies. Playstation launched Playstation Vue as another option. Sling TV and Direct TV Now have launched with bundles to watch the live shows cable offers.  But what about all their original content? That’s what the people want! It must be. Why else would these streaming services keep pushing it? Well, Hulu has original content, so why is it worrying about live tv? YouTube was nothing but original content! Its where original content is supposed to thrive and yet they are working on getting cable channels to its viewers.  And as the cliche saying goes, history is bound to repeat itself. And its slowly starting to. People flocked to Netflix and these streaming services cause it was the cheaper option. They got the same shows, mind you a little later, that cable offered for way less money. They didn’t flock to these services cause they had original content. They flocked cause they had an easier and cheaper way to watch the shows and movies they wanted to see. 

Now think about it. Between having a Netflix account, Hulu and Amazon, these services are adding up. If you have all those you’re already up to over 100 dollars (if you have prime. Amazon does offer the streaming service separately i think). And don’t forget about the internet you have to have in order to stream any of that content. History is repeating itself and it’s getting just as expensive to have the cheaper services as it is to have cable. Even cable companies are seeing the price issue and starting to come up with cheaper internet based cable bundles for consumers to pick from. Price hikes I’m sure are in the future for some if not all of these services. With Netflix churning out original content almost every month, that has to come at a price. Hell, I think Brad Pitt has a Netflix movie coming out. He had to cost a pretty penny no? And even though those shows and movies might be good, hell even great, they too could fall victim to a mass migration back to “cable” just in its new form. Soon cable will be able to be streamed over the internet through boxes, even phones, some of us already have cause we needed them to get the streaming services. Some cable companies have changed their apps so that you can get past shows entire season lineups like ABC, CBS or HBO has. It seems the tide is slowly shifting again, and maybe no one is noticing it.

I can’t stress this enough, we had all the original content given to us. It just got too expensive and exhausting to keep up with. And the same thing could be happening again. With so much "new and original” content being  thrown at us on so many different services, there’s no way to keep up. Apple recently bought the rights to Carpool karaoke and are working on documentaries all so they too can have original content. Just this past week, both Snapchat and Facebook have announced they are going to start getting original content to its subscribers. That is all beyond unnecessary! None of those companies need original content. It’s just getting too much! And god forbid you want to see all that’s offered. At least with cable it’s all pretty much there in the same spot, just depending if you have the channel. But with these services you need each individual app, with individual accounts and passwords and all taking small portions of money that eventually add up over time. It all could end up costing just as much and become even more exhausting to keep up with than what people were trying to get away from in the beginning. 

Original content, in my option, was never the problem or the solution. Getting that content was and in some ways still is.  I think only now are some beginning to realize that and some good, however small, progress is being made. Who knows? Maybe a few years from now we’ll roll our eyes at people who watch Netflix like some of us do to the ones that still enjoy basic cable tv shows. Original content does not have to be everywhere. Good content just has to be affordable and easily attainable. 

[robbyrobinson]

What I Want to See from the Loud House

When I was a kid I loved cartoons. Now, I'm not going to be that guy and say that all 90s cartoons were amazing, when clearly not all shows airing at that time were smash hits. I was a frequent watcher of Cartoon Network where I could find an assortment of cartoons to watch ranging from Ed, Edd n Eddy, Dexter's Laboratory, Johnny Bravo, the list goes on. However, that was nothing compared to Nickelodeon. I was a Nicktoon fanatic to the point that you could say that it was my religion. Everything from Hey Arnold to Rugrats, I fondly remembered all of the episodes even to this very day. That was how much cartoons shaped my childhood. To me, the last good show on Nick was Avatar: the Last Airbender, and once that ended, I was slowly turned off by the network. I even had wanted to be a cartoonist so that I could work for Nickelodeon one day. Well, that was until someone (whom I will not name) over at deviantART said that they could do better, and I found out how Nick treated its employees. I mean just look at what the network did to C. H. Greenblatt - creator of the show Harvey Beaks a show that I had neglected to watch.

I hadn't really watched cartoons for years. After graduating from high school, my interest in the genre reignited when I turned my attention over to Cartoon Network. After it had went through a few changes, they released Adventure Time. Now, I watched the show for quite some time, and I grew to love it, though admittedly, it was going down in the most recent of years. And then came Steven Universe. I had kept myself off of the show for a few years, because I felt that it would suck. However, I decided to give it a try one day, and I grew to love it. I loved the characters, the songs, the animation...my only complaint is that its schedule is extremely sketchy. I also began to watch Gravity Falls, only to realize that the show was to end before I could get into it. After the show ended, I began to watch Wander Over Yonder, but it was to be canceled, not because of low ratings, but because the network thought that eighty episodes were enough. The current show I'm watching on Disney XD is Star vs. the Forces of Evil, which is actually pretty good.

Unfortunately, I could not say the same for Nickelodeon. My childhood television network was going down in quality as it was made more evident that the executives conducting the station valued quantity over quality. Several of their past cartoons were crappy, even though they would make a huge deal about them by promoting them. However, if a show didn't turn out to be a smash hit, the studio would immediately forget it, and condemn it to Nicktoons Network, which is practically a death sentence for any cartoon. My heart was broken into millions of pieces at seeing the condition of the network, so I decided to swear myself off of any of its shows for good. That is, until I saw the promotions for the Loud House. I didn't watch the show then, because it seemed to be another bomb that Nick would desperately try to remove posthaste. Sometime after seeing the announcements, one of my watchers requested for me to draw some characters from the series. Since I had no idea who any of those characters were, I went to good ol' Google for reference. I was fascinated by their designs. They seemed simple, yes, but I also admired the comic strip style animation. Whilst browsing through the channels to see what to watch, I came upon the Loud House yet again. Seeing as their wasn't anything else good to watch anyway, I thought, what the hey, let's give this a watch. Sure enough, it was "The Butterfly Effect." You know, that episode where Lincoln accidentally wrecks Lisa's experiment causing all hell to break loose? Well, that was my introduction to the show. To be perfectly honest, I actually really enjoyed the episode in question. Yes, I know that this episode is divisive to other fans of the show, but I hold this episode close to my heart. If the episode was trying to reel me in to check out more of the series, I can gladly say that it succeeded with flying colors.

I immediately fell in love with all of the characters. I could actually see myself relating to Lincoln in a few ways. Much like Lincoln, sometimes I feel like a burden, and that there isn't anything special about me. I tried to be an artist only to be told that I was mediocre, I tried to be a writer, but hardly anyone reads what I write. This was the problem that I have had on my deviantART account. I do draw quite often, though I won't say what type of drawings I do. Needless to say, many people began to watch me, because I appealed to their urges. However, I didn't want to be known as the guy who did that type of work, so I began to review episodes from the series to garner their interests. Unfortunately, they didn't express my affection for the show; some even stopped watching me because I no longer did what they wanted. Just recently, I asked that deviant who dissed my art those years ago on whether I improved. He told me that I slightly did. I shouldn't have cared about his opinion, but I did. I wanted to prove that I was a competent artist, only to be told that for all of my efforts, I made slight improvement. I even did drawings for the jerk, and he never thanked me for any of it. Because of all this, I felt that I was a failure at everything I did, because no matter what I did, I knew that there was always someone better. As such, I actually did feel sympathetic towards Lincoln's plight in "Making the Case," though I did not approve of him secretly video taping his sisters. I also loved the show, because truth be told, I am an only child. I always wanted a younger sibling because I always felt mighty lonely. However, I do have baby cousins that look up to me as though I were their big brother, so that's a plus.

I can go on and on about how whenever I'm feeling down, the show almost always manages to lift my spirits. I seriously get giddy every time that upbeat theme song plays. However, I am not going to do that. While I enjoy the show, there are some glaring problems that I have with the series. Well, not glaring as that would suggest that it ruins the show for me. I meant it more as there is some room for improvement. Without further ado, here's what I want to see from the Loud House.

What I Want to See from LH

No More Lincoln Torture Episodes: This goes without saying. Basically, this is the equivalent to the infamous Squidward torture episodes. Normally, Lincoln ends up getting the short end of the stick, but there are some episodes that take this too far. I know that I may be in the minority, but I actually kind of liked "Girl Guru" and the "Longest Yard." (guns are pulled) OK, before you shoot, I'd like to explain why I do. Both episodes had Lincoln be in the wrong, thereby the punishment he receives in the end was justified. Many forget that in "The Loudest Yard," Lincoln was a lazy bum who took advantage of Lynn so that he wouldn't be made to play foot ball. Granted, Lynn didn't mind, but still. And in "Girl Guru," Lincoln gave terrible advice on how to get girls, so again, he set himself up for a fall. These two episodes I have no problem with. But then there's episodes like "Sounds of Silence" in which his sisters make up stories about Lola, and what was Lincoln's crime? He was wanting some peace and quiet so that he could read his comic books. That's it. I mean I understand that you shouldn't ignore family, but everyone wants some quiet now and again. They also make Lincoln do demeaning stuff just so he could be on Lola's good side. While that was bad, "Garbage House" was even worse: for one, Lincoln is never made aware of the "sister protocol." I don't get that; Lincoln is a member of the family, and yet he doesn't know anything about it? Even Bobby knows about the protocol, so why is Lincoln the only one in the dark? Lincoln is prohibited from going into the kitchen to get a snack, he couldn't even watch television (he also gets pummeled in his attempt of getting the remote), and the bathroom is off limits. The episode wants you to see Lincoln as a villain for trying to get involved, but he clearly was not in the wrong in this episode. They even make him idiotic as he was incapable of solving their problem when in countless episodes, Lincoln was the first one to come up with a solution. He was even kicked out of his own room for little to no reason, and he is cruelly told by his sisters that they solved their problem the moment he left. This episode made me lose any respect I had for them as they fought over meaningless things. As to keep my sanity together, I'll leave it at that. Overall, I want the series to stop punishing Lincoln if he didn't do anything to deserve the repercussion. It's not funny, it is irritating, and it only makes me feel more sorry for Linc.

More Character Development: Now, don't get me wrong, I love all of the characters. Nearly all of them have interesting personalities, and they are genuinely entertaining. However, what's more to say about them? Take Luan, for example. She's the comedian, yes, but is there anything else to her? What about Lucy? The characters suffer from the fact that they're one-dimensional. They have unique personalities, yes, but their character shouldn't be defined by just that. This is where the premise of the show is the problem. Eleven siblings having to share one house is promising in theory, but the Loud House suffers from the fact that it boasts a large cast of characters. Because of this, they really don't have time to develop the characters, or add more depth to their character traits. Well, in "For Bros About to Rock," it does actually give some insight into Luna's love for music, but that's besides the point. A character should be defined by their depth, not just their traits.

Stop Rehashing Plots and Morals: Another problem I noticed with the show. In my previous blog, I mentioned how while I loved "Back in Black," its moral was "always be yourself." While this is an important lesson to learn, they had already used that lesson in "Toads and Tiaras" in which Lincoln tried to change Lana into something that she was not only to realize how wrong he was. This is the same idea that "BIB" has going for it; Lucy tries to change herself to win this boy's affection, when he really liked her for herself. Additionally, the episode's ending was predictable. Heck, I would've bet a huge sum of money if I was proven wrong. Or then there's the episodes where a sibling pretends to be the other. Wow, how original! This is my main fear for the show. The show is a fresh start for Nickelodeon, but whenever they recycle episodes or use the same obvious moral, it just screams that they're running out of ideas.

Give Minor Characters More Respect: Normally, we have episodes centered around Lincoln or one of his sisters. We've seen several episodes from their perspective is where I'm getting at. Once again, I do love all the characters, but I feel that more attention should be given to relatively minor characters. For instance, remember that episode in which Luna, Luan, and Lucy set Lincoln up on dates for the dance? I was actually intrigued with each of the girls, so much so, that I wanted to see more out of them. Or how about Maggie, the emo girl who was introduced in "Funny Business?" Despite appearing once, she's had several fan art dedicated to her. Heck, some fans even ship her with Luan even though I scarcely remember them sharing a line of dialogue with each other. Well, I guess this is one of those instances of the internet being itself. Besides her there was Haiku. I personally found her interactions with Clyde cute, especially when they bond over the fact that they both had unattainable love interests. In fact, why doesn't Clyde just drop Lori altogether and start a relationship with her? Start working on that fanfic, people! In all seriousness, I found myself liking the minor characters, and I wish that the show would do more with them.

Stop With the Running Gags: To me, some running gags work, some do not. Clyde nosebleeding and fainting in Lori's presence is funny at first, but over time it got old. I mean, really, sometimes I wish that the show had a crossover with Gravity Falls only so Dipper can talk to Clyde about giving up on Lori. Also, maybe cut back on the toilet humor surrounding Lily.

More Ronnie Anne: Once again I may be in the minority, but I actually like Ronnie Anne. Well, at the very least, I like her post-Heavy Meddle. I like how the show doesn't treat it as a big deal that she's in a relationship with Lincoln, and I also found myself liking their interactions with each other. As such, I would like to see more out of her.

If there is ever a sequel to "April Fools Rules," make it to where Luan gets punished, or is forced to dial back her pranks: I actually don't hate Luan. She's not my favorite of the Loud sisters, but she isn't my most disliked either. The only real time I was annoyed by her puns was in "Suite and Sour," but they normally get a chuckle out of me because of how bad they were. "April Fools Rules" is a divisive episode as it portrays Luan as a psychopath who has no regards for her family when April Fools Day comes a'knockin. While I didn't hate the episode myself, even I was horrified by how far Luan would go for a cheap laugh. Her pranks are well-thought out and crafted that even the Joker would be impressed. However, she never once thinks to tone down her pranks, and doesn't express any remorse if any of her family members got seriously hurt or maimed because of her pranks. She is also a total karma Houdini. Yeah, Ronnie Anne pelts her with a pie, but that's like giving a criminal a smack on the wrist and telling him to not do it again. Seriously, that was no punishment in all of the senses of the word. She costs her family possibly hundreds of dollars in damage, she is never held accountable for going too far, she never feels guilty for what she had done, etc. By all means, I can see why several LH fans hate her. Suppose that a sequel were to be made to the episode; how I see it, it can go in either two ways. Either Luan is forced to realize how destructive her pranks are by accidentally injuring one of her siblings, or they band together to take Luan down by beating her at her own game. A user had actually written a fanfic with the latter idea in mind. In it, Lincoln's arm gets mangled when one of Luan's failed pranks causes the refrigerator to fall on his arm. Unlike in the episode that the fanfic was based on, Luan actually feels guilty for harming Lincoln, and she promises to tone her pranks down. I don't want any of the characters to seriously get hurt, don't misinterpret what I'm saying. All I'm saying is that Luan needs to be made aware of how dangerous her pranks can get if she goes too far.

[sophronisba]

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

2019 could have been written by Gary Shteyngart. The president tried to buy Greenland this year. Who could have imagined reading that sentence four years ago? In 2019 the septuagenarian president’s staff photoshopped his head onto the body of a young Sylvester Stallone and then got all huffy when none of us believed it was real. In 2019 an Oscar-nominated actress went to prison for paying someone to sweeten her daughter’s SAT score. 2019 gave us an eight-way tie for first in the National Spelling Bee. Twenty-eight different people decided to run for the Democratic nomination for president in 2019.1 In 2019 Jeffrey Epstein–credibly accused of sex-trafficking minors to a number of high-profile men–died while in police custody, spawning a thousand different conspiracy theories that spanned the entire political spectrum.2 Britain and Israel both spent most of 2019 trying to sort out who should run the countries and neither of them seem to have come up with a satisfactory answer, although Britain did manage to find time in its busy schedule to yell at its newest duchess–a biracial divorced American–for various imagined transgressions. In 2019 someone inexplicably agreed to marry Stephen Miller.3 And it wasn’t just the news that was weird: in 2019 my personal life was also extremely–well, let’s just say eventful. In April, right before the Game of Thrones premiere, my husband and I were smugly congratulating ourselves on weathering some family medical storms when we got a phone call that sent everything spiraling into chaos all over again.4 And still there was more: If you had told me on January 1 of 2019 that in less than a year I would be living in a different house in a different city with a different job, I would not have believed you. And yet here we are. And so in 2019 I used reading mostly as an escape: with a couple of exceptions, I responded most strongly to non-fiction that allowed me to imagine a different reality and fiction that held out the prospect of a happy ending or, failing that, that offered me a pleasantly whimsical world to inhabit for a few hours. 2019 was not a year when I went in search of deep character development or narrative realism or emotional truth. In 2019 I wanted to play pretend. Do not take that to mean that my favorite books of the year offered nothing more than escapism. No, the best books gave me everything: a different world, yes, but also beautiful prose and vividly drawn characters and original thoughts that made me put the book down and stare dreamily into the distance. What these books all have in common is that I’m still thinking about them now, weeks or months after I read them. The list, in the order that I read the books:

Bowlaway, by Elizabeth McCracken. It’s about candlepin bowling, and family, and marriage, and love. Some people didn’t like it because it isn’t super-plotty, but I loved hanging out with McCracken’s characters

L. E. L.: The Lost Life and Scandalous Death of Letitia Elizabeth Landon, the Celebrated “Female Byron”, by Lucasta Miller. If you read Miller’s The Bronte Myth, then you know to expect great things from her latest. I have never been a scandalous woman, to my eternal regret, but this book let me imagine what it might be like to be one.

Golden State, by Ben Winters. I have been a Ben Winters fan since his Last Policeman trilogy. In this book he pays as much attention to plot and story as he does to world-building and the result is a captivating thriller in a world where lying is one of the most serious crimes you can commit.

City of Girls, by Elizabeth Gilbert. Look, I get it, Gilbert is not everyone’s cup of tea. But I love her characters and I found this book wildly engaging, a story about a fun, naughty girl who unashamedly loves sex. It reminded me a bit of Sarah Waters’s Tipping the Velvet, but to be totally honest, I enjoyed this one more.

The Impeachers: The Trial of Andrew Johnson and the Dream of a Just Nation, by Brenda Wineapple. Does impeachment even matter if the president is not removed? In this account of the impeachment of Andrew Johnson, Wineapple makes the case that it does. She must have started this book before January 2017, because there’s a lot of research here — but it still made for awfully comforting reading while the debate over the current president’s impeachment swirled.

The Testaments, by Margaret Atwood. A follow-up to Atwood’s classic novel The Handmaid’s Tale. Is there a bit too much fan service in this novel? Does Atwood channel Katniss Everdeen to an excessive degree? Yes and yes. I loved it anyway. I liked the way Atwood bounced off the television series, making some plot points canon while refashioning others, and you know what, the hopeful ending may not be realistic but I’ll take it.

Sontag: Her Life and Work, by Benjamin Moser. There are few things I love more than big fat literary biographies. This one is smart and insightful and well-written, and will make you–as Jamaica Kincaid says–never want to be great. Sontag was a marvelous writer who was also a toxic parent, friend, and lover, and this book will make you consider, among other things, whether the one was worth the other.

Olive, Again, by Elizabeth Strout. OK, this one wasn’t escapism so much. On the other hand I think this is the first time I’ve ever had a best book list with two sequels on it.5 Maybe in 2019 I was trying to travel back in time? At any rate, this is Strout’s follow-up to Olive Kitteridge, a collection of short stories centering on one difficult woman that was my favorite book of 2008. The first book was insightful about love and marriage; this one is insightful about old age, loneliness, and coming to terms with yourself as you approach the end of your life.

Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland, by Patrick Radden Keefe. This is a pretty amazing account of a murder in 1972 that would only be solved thirty-plus years later. I cared about the victim, and I especially cared about her children, and I even found myself caring for the murderers. Along the way I learned a great deal about the IRA and “The Troubles,” about which I knew virtually nothing before.

The Enigma of Clarence Thomas, by Corey Robin. I have been angry at Clarence Thomas since I watched his hearings in my dorm room in 1991.6 Now that I have read Robin’s analysis of Thomas’s judicial philosophy, I am not less angry, but I do take Thomas more seriously as a thinker. Robin’s argument is that far from being a faint echo of Antonin Scalia, Thomas has developed his own strain of conservatism grounded in black nationalism. Maybe this is not an uncommon thesis among Supreme Court watchers–I don’t read legal journals so I don’t know–but it was new to me and I found it fascinating. Another book that wasn’t really an escape to a different world, but there’s nothing I like more than a fresh perspective on a subject I thought I’d made up my mind about.

1 Although that may seem like a humorous exaggeration, it is the actual number. 2 I have to be honest, you guys, I think he probably killed himself. 3 This seems like a life mistake on par with marrying Anthony Weiner, but the heart wants what it wants. 4 Pro tip: Never smugly congratulate yourself on weathering a storm! It only tempts the universe. 5 It’s probably also the first time my list has featured three Elizabeths, but I haven’t actually checked. 6 I am also still mad at Joe Biden for the way those hearings were run, but that’s a story for another day.

My very favorite books that were published in 2019, featuring two sequels and three Elizabeths. 2019 could have been written by Gary Shteyngart. The president tried to buy Greenland this year. Who could have imagined reading that sentence four years ago?

[wuffielover]

Good Omens GOOD OMENS GOODOMENS!!!!!!! (Long post warning but Read Mores are for weaklings)

Okay, now that’s out of the way, have somewhat coherent thoughts about the miniseries of one of my favorite, if not my absolute favorite book. First, some backstory: 

Good Omens was recommended to me by a group of girls I met on a band trip to Disney World in High School, I believe I was a sophomore at the time? It was a crazy time where I completely ditched my band ‘buddy’ that I was supposed to be staying with all day, found a group of nerd girls and became instant best friends with them for 4 hours, then never spoke with any of them again. Also the band bus almost left me at Disney World because I missed the last check in of the day... REGARDLESS I went out and got Good Omens the next week and it was AMAZING, and introduced me to Pratchett and Gaiman for which I am forever grateful. My first copy of Good Omens fell apart after repeated readings and loaning it to everyone I could beg, cajole, or entice into reading it. I LOVE THIS BOOK OKAY.

Getting a miniseries, a real thing with real actors and people making music videos and gifsets and whatnot... it’s surreal. It’s SUCH a good adaptation too, which can rarely be said for my favorite books (Golden Compass movie, I’m looking at you). But it feels like... like something old having a resurgence, I guess, instead of something new?? It’s so nostalgic and the miniseries has only been out a week! Anyway, enough rambling, here are my lists of THINGS (okay I’ll use a Read More, fine):

GOOD THINGS:

Crowley and Aziraphale CROwley AND AZIRAPHALE CROWLEY AND AZIRAPHAAALE holy SHIT they went SO HARD on their relationship, it was like fanfiction coming to life before my eyes! Crowley BLOWING THE STAIN off Aziraphale’s coat was my first eye-opener (I went back and confirmed that was NOT in the book) and it got gayer and gayer from there. Like, I know it’s still technically subtext, but they AMPED IT TO ELEVEN and I loved EVERYTHING about it. I was skeptical when they cast David Tennant but he was amazing and in hindsight I have no idea why I was worried. Michael Sheen CHANNELED the essence of Aziraphale to the point that I actually liked the character MORE after the miniseries and I already loved him dearly!! 

So much of this adaptation was SO faithful that I could quote line-by-line, and all the additions were so true to the spirit of the original, there wasn’t one that I felt shouldn’t have been in. On the flip side, most of the stuff they cut was understandable and didn’t detract much, if anything, from the story (sorry Four Other Horsemen gag, ye were not overly missed by this watcher).

ON THE FLIP SIDE:

These are not TERRIBLE things, necessarily, just observations.

The narration was good in spots, unnecessary in other spots (telling us about the dog’s growl while it is growling on screen? Look I know you are proud of that turn of phrase but calm down. Also the M25 sequence was over-narrated IMO). There were places where I felt there SHOULD have been narration and wasn’t. We lost the ‘gayer than a tree full of monkeys on nitrous oxide line’ and there was a perfect place for it to go while Aziraphale is reading Agnes’ prophecies!! Maybe they were worried it was a bit offensive?? It wasn’t IT WAS HILARIOUS PUT IT BACKKKK. Also I think we should have had the ‘He ought to tell Crowley, no he WANTED to tell Crowley, he OUGHT to tell Heaven’ either as Aziraphale’s worried muttering to himself or in the narration. There are a couple of other places but those are the ones I recall off the top of my head.

Look, y’all, if it’s not plain from above, I LOVE Crowley and Aziraphale. I loved ALL of the scenes they added with them, their backstory, the pining, the lines (’You go to fast for me, Crowley’ is the SHIT). BUT I felt like we should have had more focus on Adam and the Them. I loved this bratty kid gang in the book, and Adam came across way nicer and more sympathetic then he did in the show, where he was just kind of... blank, and then scary, and then had maybe some sympathy in the end, but was still kind of blank. I don’t think it was Adam’s actor’s fault either, they just didn’t give him a lot to work with. There’s a great scene in the book, I was just rereading it a bit, where they talk about the Them vs the Greasy Johnsonites (their rival gang of kids in town) as a metaphor for Heaven vs Hell and Adam says at the conclusion of this conversation that ‘you can make your own side’ and look, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN A GREAT TIE IN WITH CROWLEY SAYING THE SAME THING OKAY!!! I would have (gladly, it’s my least favorite part) sacrificed the weird awkward scene with Newt and Anathema under the bed for more Adam and the Them, building their characters and their little world.

Speaking of which, Neil, my good sir, I know you wanted to make this super faithful to the book but did we HAVE to keep Newt and Anathema’s Awkward Heterosexual Obligatory Sex Scene in this Year of Our Lord 2019?? Couldn’t we at least have had a tasteful FADE TO BLACK, the way it was in, oh, THE BOOK? Blegh. That had so little build up, and maybe it’s just me being ace, but I was literally like ‘oh, come on, they’re not really going to do this, there’s no sensible way...oh, oh no, okay they’re just... that was dumb’. 

ALSO this is a small nitpick, really, but.... the scene where Anathema is dowsing in the town and looking at everyone’s auras should have been BEFORE the scene where she’s talking to Adam about auras. And she shouldn’t have even mentioned it to Adam, because by switching that scene order we’d already GET that she can see auras, and that Adam doesn’t have one, and that’s weird. Then we could keep the narration about why she can’t see it without it being too much exposition.

IN CONCLUSION: GOOD OMENS WAS AMAZING, ONE OF THE BEST ADAPTATIONS I’VE SEEN, AND I’M INCREDIBLY BIASED TAKE THAT!!!

[itsworn]

Greetings from the Grave with Mark Worman

Living the Dream

Greetings to you, my ghoulish Mopar-loving friends …

I want to start, as always, by thanking all of you for your support of Mopar Muscle magazine, Graveyard Carz, and Motor Trend. I wouldn’t be living the dream without the help, support, and feedback from each and every one of you. Yes, even negative feedback can be put to good use. My mom always said, “Truth bears investigation.” When I read something that isn’t positive, I try to be optimistic and consider it feedback. I don’t take personal offense; I use it as a constructive tool to assist me in improving the show and my articles.

Now, not all “non-positive” feedback is helpful. For example, last month MoparRick55 wrote me a direct email. This is an excerpt: “You have a huge nose and your stupid. You can’t dance and your not funny. You look like a Tucan Sam.” There’s more, but I won’t bore you. Normally, this wouldn’t bother me except that he misspelled “your.” I hate that. “Assman1970” tweeted me just before Christmas: “Since you dance so great, why don’t you dance your ass off TV and do us all a favor. Oh yeah, I hope you get canceled.” OK, just one more. “Nutsack4u” sent me a private message on Facebook that read, and I quote: “I have been a Mopar fan my entire life. I’ve owned lots of them and one thing is for sure, YOU SUCK! Your level of SUCK is only exceeded by your ability and desire to SUCK.” So you see, there’s really nothing I can do with that type of feedback — other than veer into oncoming traffic.

OK, let’s get this show on the road …

In recent years, I’ve noticed I’ve become more reflective, more nostalgic, perhaps even more sappy, as mom would always say. I don’t mean that in a self-deprecating way; it’s not meant like that, it’s just an observation forced on me. I find myself putting more thought into things of yesterday, rather than things of today. We build memories every day, no question, but without the advantage of reflection, we don’t always see details. I suppose it’s meant to be that way, kind of a cerebral filing system, I suppose. Whatever the purpose or intent, I’m here to say it works. Not only does it work in my case, but I’ve been fortunate enough to create a lot of files and so far, knock on wood, remember where they’re kept.

A special fish …

For those of you who’ve been avid watchers of the show over the years, you might remember a certain, adorable, little 1970 Barracuda convertible that we restored and unveiled in Season 4. It was EF8, Ivy Green Metallic, with a black manual convertible top, and black bucket seat interior. It may not have been the most expensive Mopar we’ve restored in our tenure on the show, but it certainly is one of my most memorable — not only for me, but the owners as well.

Tommy and Kimberly reached out to me in August of 2012, just two months after our series premiere on Velocity. They had seen the show and had a special car that needed to be helped along. The car had belonged to Kimberly’s father, Stan, who had bought it in the ’70s. He loved the car, which we all do to a degree if we’re pure-hearted car folks, but this car meant more to Stan. So since it meant so much to him, inherently, it meant the world to Kimberly.

During our hour-long phone call I learned about the car and Stan. He had just lost his battle with prostate cancer on August 31, 2011. His Barracuda had been parked for a long time and wasn’t driveable. As his illness progressed, Kimberly thought it was important for Stan to drive his beauty again, before time ran out. So she quickly found a local shop that could rebuild the engine and get the car roadworthy for him. And that’s precisely what happened.

Approximately a month or so before he died, Kimberly was able to take her father for his last ride in his beloved Barracuda. He was too sick to drive the car himself, so Kimberly drove him. He loved that car, and I can’t think of a more wonderful gift he could have received from his daughter and son-in-law — a memory that’s sure to last for lifetimes to come.

It wasn’t long after that we had our first telephone call. I know that in a world of “money matters,” the restoration needed on the car would’ve been, in truth, possibly more than that car’s value. That didn’t matter! It didn’t matter to Tommy and Kimberly, and it didn’t matter to me. Believing in their story and the dream, I made the necessary concessions to keep the restoration cost affordable. I asked for help on parts and materials, and our amazing vendors came through for us.

Big-hearted companies like Auto Metal Direct, PPG, Legendary Interiors, Instrument Specialties, and Tony’s Mopar Parts helped make this dream a reality. There was much more work ahead of us, but in the rearview mirror, I wouldn’t have traded the experience for gold.

The car itself was in pretty darn decent shape. It did have some rust that needed to be addressed, but not bad for its age or being a convertible (BH27). AMD supplied us with right and left foot wells, left and right quarter-panels, trunk floor, trunk floor extensions, and rear body panel. Tommy and Kimberly also wanted to upgrade the hood to the performance sport hood (J54); it was a standard flat hood car originally. The convertible top is a manual unit; yes, you read that right, no power top here. Although, power top (P37) was an option on the Barracuda. The top was in pretty dire straights, which isn’t unusual for the drop-tops. We disassembled the unit, cleaned, lubricated, and adjusted it, then installed a new top, compliments of Legendary Interiors.

This was an air conditioning car as well (H51), so we had our friends at Original Air Group help with restoring the components. New interior, rebuilt and restored original 383 2bbl engine, rebuilt and detailed transmission and rear axle — all just part of the job. One of the most notable items we had restored was the dash assembly. Our friends at Instrument Specialties outdid themselves. This was a standard, non-Rallye dash but air-condition style. The work was impeccable and truly a work of art. I could go on for hours about what’s involved in a restoration of this level, but I’ll let the pictures and our reputation speak for itself.

In the end, the dream was fulfilled. We revealed the car to Kimberly and Tommy in a very special episode of Graveyard Carz that aired on the Velocity channel during Dream Car Week. We thought it was appropriate to make a special episode to air during a special event on the network, because of the backstory of the car and the love Stan had for it. To date, it’s one of our highest-rated episodes of our 10 seasons and counting.

I lost my mother in April of 2018 after a five-month battle with the same selfish, heartless, soulless, effing disease: cancer. There are no words, no condolences, nor empathy to ease the pain or help cope with the loss. The death of a parent is monumental, and it changes us. We may not recognize the change because our gut-level value system is obdurate; nonetheless, we change. The good news is we have those wonderful memories that we carry close to our hearts, always.

Perhaps our present is different now, but our past will always be the same. For Kimberly and Tommy, they’ll always have the fond memories of a wonderful father and the years they had together. And equally important, the ability to forge new memories, as the three of them set off every summer for new adventures in the family car.

Fender Tag read left to right, bottom to top:

E61 383-2 290hp D32 727 3-speed A/Trans BH27 Barracuda Convertible L0B 383 2bbl-1970-Hamtramck Michigan 194905 VIN Sequence EF8 Ivy Green Metallic H6X9 Vinyl Bucket Seats Black 000 Full Door Panels B19 Scheduled Production Date November 19, 1969 011375 Vehicle Order Number V3X Convertible Top Black B51 Power Brakes C16 Center Console C55 Bucket Seats G33 LH Outside Chrome Racing Mirror Remote H51 Air Conditioning M91 Luggage Rack R11 AM Radio-AM Music Master Y05 Build to specifications for the U.S. 26 26-inch radiator EN1 End of sales code

  The post Greetings from the Grave with Mark Worman appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

from Hot Rod Network https://www.hotrod.com/articles/greetings-grave-mark-worman/ via IFTTT

[samuelpboswell]

CMWorld Interview: How Tamsen Webster Drives Irresistible Change in Marketing

Few things are more inspiring than the before-and-after weight loss photo: two drastically different figures juxtaposed against one another, usually connected by an impossibly short span of time.

It’s not just the physical transformation that is striking in these portrayals. Even more so, it’s the mental transformation. Something clicked in that person’s head, causing them to fully commit and make the difficult changes necessary to turn their goals into reality. Then, they did it.

Branding expert Tamsen Webster saw this dynamic play out, in various forms, time and time again during her many years as a leader in the Weight Watchers organization. And it’s a big part of what drove her to create Red Thread, a messaging framework focused on tapping into those deep, uniquely human motivations that spark action (or, as she puts it, make inaction impossible).

At Content Marketing World in September, Tamsen will speak about How to Make Your Ideas Irresistible. In anticipation of her session, we chatted with her about uncovering shared values with your audience, eliminating “one-size-fits-most” messaging, and aiming to change perspectives rather than beliefs.

What does your role as Founder and Chief Messaging Strategist at Find the Red Thread entail? What are your main areas of focus and key priorities?

Well, the nice thing about being a solo practice is that it means what I need it to mean at the time! My days are spent in a mix of work with clients, business development, and product/content development – I go where my energy, inspiration, and needs take me.

How would you succinctly describe the “Red Thread Method” and why it makes sense for today’s content marketers?

We can’t change what people do until we change how they see. The Red Thread Method helps you uncover that link for a particular audience and business goal so you can build content and messaging around it.

What did your experience as a Weight Watchers leader teach you about the fundamentals of creating irresistible messaging?

Pretty much everything. I know that sounds like a joke, but it’s not. Week in, week out at Weight Watchers, I saw what did and didn’t move people to make changes – what kinds of information they needed, and in what combination. When I took those lessons and looked at the marketing around me (including marketing I had helped produce!), I realized how often we focused on what we wanted people to do differently more than what they needed to hear to see the differently. Once I started switching my marketing to match the framework of messaging I built for myself at Weight Watchers, lo and behold, I became a much more effective marketer.

How can marketers stop seeing change as a barrier and start seeing it as an opportunity? What’s required to drive this shift in mindset?

That all depends on why they see change as a barrier in the first place. The only thing that will shift that mindset is understanding how it puts both something marketers want and something they believe is in jeopardy. For example, if a marketer wants to be seen as an expert in social channels, they likely see change in those areas as something to be overcome – the constantly shifting landscape makes it impossible to expert in all things all the time. If they also believe, however, that “the only constant is change,” making inaction impossible: they’ll either need to change their goal, their attitude toward change, or how they go about being seen as an expert. The key is always in finding that combination of wants and beliefs that makes inaction impossible.

Some find it counterintuitive that in order to increase your reach and impact, you need to narrow your message. Why is this important in today’s environment?

It’s all about fit for the message. Think about the last time you bought something that was “one size fits all.” Did it fit? Probably yes – you could get into it. Depending on your size it was cavernous, achingly tight, or in the category of “this’ll do.” But did fit like it was yours? Could you identify it blindfolded? Of course not. Now imagine you’ve had something tailored to fit you – like a jacket or a pair of pants. Done well, it should fit like a glove. If you put it on, you’d know instantly that it belonged to you.

Messages operate the same way. We way we want customers to feel a part of the brand. We want them to feel like the brand belongs to them. But then too often we send out “one size fits most” messages… and wonder why we don’t get that sense of belonging that’s a hallmark of great brands.

Your brand is not for everyone. It isn’t. It’s for the people who want something you can help them get, who value the same things you do, and who see the world the same way you do. And that’s not everyone. Full stop.

How do the tenets of giving great presentations and speaking sessions apply to the bigger picture of content marketing?

Any truly great presentation doesn’t just inform and inspire… it implants a new way of seeing. It gives you something that you can’t unhear. Something that creates a permanent shift in thinking, and thus in behavior. Most content marketing doesn’t need to inspire (at least not in the go-climb-a-mountain or be-your-best-self sense), but it does need to create that same shift.

I’ll say it again: you can’t change what people do until you change how they see. There’s no better example than TED Talks that a very short piece of content can do just that. (The longest TED Talks are only about 2500 words – not long!) The more content marketers can adopt those lessons from great talks, the more powerful their messages will be, no matter the subject.

But hear me on this: those lessons aren’t just the surface things like “give it an SEO-friendly title” or “tell a personal story.” Both of those techniques can be helpful.

But the lessons marketers really need to learn are around where the greatest levers in messaging are. And here’s what’s counterintuitive: the most powerful levers at our disposal are the ones that don’t move – people’s wants and beliefs. Yet so much of marketing focuses on trying to get people to want something they don’t actively want or believe something they don’t currently believe. The only things we’re likely to change in the short term are perspectives. And that’s what great talks – and great content in any form – do.

Looking back, is there a particular moment or juncture in your career that you view as transformative? What takeaways could other marketers learn and apply?

It started with a mystery. See, I spent the first 15 years or so of my marketing career working in and with nonprofits. Here in Boston, where I live, those nonprofits share a lot of donors. What was fascinating to me: why would one donor give to so many different organizations? And what tied those different organizations together in the donor’s mind? Was there a pattern I could see?

I wanted to know the answer to that question because, at the time, I was in charge of the fundraising communication strategy at Harvard Medical School – and convincing people to give one of the world’s richest institutions even more money was a none-too-simple challenge. I’ll spare you the whole story, but what I discovered was this: while there wasn’t a usable pattern for why people gave money at all (that could range from self-serving to altruistic), there was something I discovered I could use.

There was a pattern to what kinds of things they gave money to – even across very different nonprofits. There was a pattern to what they wanted to accomplish through their gifts. So, for instance, if someone tended to give money at one institution to solve a specific problem (say, to a hospital help cure cancer), they tended to always give to solve a problem (to a museum to improve access for underserved youth). If they gave at one institution to expand the scope of impact, they tended to always give to expand the scope of impact, etc.

Once I figured that out, it became simply a matter of putting what we did at the Medical School into terms that matched what they were looking for. I could, for instance, take the same need we had at the medical school (say, to fund a new type of high-powered microscope) and frame it through multiple lenses. It could help solve a specific problem (age-related hearing loss), it could help expand scope (because it could help us understand the mechanisms that caused hearing loss), it could improve training of medical students (because they could better see the mechanisms in questions).

The lesson for all marketers is this: what people want tells you what they’re looking for out in the world. Our job isn’t to shift their attention to something new. It’s to show people how we fit in that existing line of vision.

Which speaker presentations are you looking forward to most at Content Marketing World 2018?

Tina Fey, of course. The panel on longform content with Ann Handley, Mitch Joel, and Dorie Clark looks amazing. I’d love to see Brian Massey and his talk on behavioral science talk, since I’m such a junkie for that stuff. Ahava Leibtag’s session on lessons from songwriters is sure to be great, too. I wish I could see Kathy Klotz-Guest – she has such amazing content and I’ve yet to see her speak in person (but she and I are speaking at the same time!). I’m also excited to Nichole Kelly coming back on the speaking scene, and with an important perspective – something she calls “conscious marketing.”

Follow the Thread

We really appreciate Tamsen sharing these thoughtful and substantive responses. Make sure to catch her live on September 6th in Cleveland; although she writes eloquently, there really is no substitute for the energy and passion she brings onstage.

She’ll be joined at CMWorld by dozens of other speakers. You find thought-provoking nuggets from her and many others by exploring the slides below.

These insights probably won’t change your fundamental beliefs… but they just might change your perspective.

Gain a competitive advantage by subscribing to the TopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter.

© Online Marketing Blog - TopRank®, 2018. | CMWorld Interview: How Tamsen Webster Drives Irresistible Change in Marketing | http://www.toprankblog.com

The post CMWorld Interview: How Tamsen Webster Drives Irresistible Change in Marketing appeared first on Online Marketing Blog - TopRank®.

from The SEO Advantages http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/OnlineMarketingSEOBlog/~3/GDQMBSibtCA/

[itswomanswork]

CMWorld Interview: How Tamsen Webster Drives Irresistible Change in Marketing

Few things are more inspiring than the before-and-after weight loss photo: two drastically different figures juxtaposed against one another, usually connected by an impossibly short span of time.

It’s not just the physical transformation that is striking in these portrayals. Even more so, it’s the mental transformation. Something clicked in that person’s head, causing them to fully commit and make the difficult changes necessary to turn their goals into reality. Then, they did it.

Branding expert Tamsen Webster saw this dynamic play out, in various forms, time and time again during her many years as a leader in the Weight Watchers organization. And it’s a big part of what drove her to create Red Thread, a messaging framework focused on tapping into those deep, uniquely human motivations that spark action (or, as she puts it, make inaction impossible).

At Content Marketing World in September, Tamsen will speak about How to Make Your Ideas Irresistible. In anticipation of her session, we chatted with her about uncovering shared values with your audience, eliminating “one-size-fits-most” messaging, and aiming to change perspectives rather than beliefs.

What does your role as Founder and Chief Messaging Strategist at Find the Red Thread entail? What are your main areas of focus and key priorities?

Well, the nice thing about being a solo practice is that it means what I need it to mean at the time! My days are spent in a mix of work with clients, business development, and product/content development – I go where my energy, inspiration, and needs take me.

How would you succinctly describe the “Red Thread Method” and why it makes sense for today’s content marketers?

We can’t change what people do until we change how they see. The Red Thread Method helps you uncover that link for a particular audience and business goal so you can build content and messaging around it.

What did your experience as a Weight Watchers leader teach you about the fundamentals of creating irresistible messaging?

Pretty much everything. I know that sounds like a joke, but it’s not. Week in, week out at Weight Watchers, I saw what did and didn’t move people to make changes – what kinds of information they needed, and in what combination. When I took those lessons and looked at the marketing around me (including marketing I had helped produce!), I realized how often we focused on what we wanted people to do differently more than what they needed to hear to see the differently. Once I started switching my marketing to match the framework of messaging I built for myself at Weight Watchers, lo and behold, I became a much more effective marketer.

How can marketers stop seeing change as a barrier and start seeing it as an opportunity? What’s required to drive this shift in mindset?

That all depends on why they see change as a barrier in the first place. The only thing that will shift that mindset is understanding how it puts both something marketers want and something they believe is in jeopardy. For example, if a marketer wants to be seen as an expert in social channels, they likely see change in those areas as something to be overcome – the constantly shifting landscape makes it impossible to expert in all things all the time. If they also believe, however, that “the only constant is change,” making inaction impossible: they’ll either need to change their goal, their attitude toward change, or how they go about being seen as an expert. The key is always in finding that combination of wants and beliefs that makes inaction impossible.

Some find it counterintuitive that in order to increase your reach and impact, you need to narrow your message. Why is this important in today’s environment?

It’s all about fit for the message. Think about the last time you bought something that was “one size fits all.” Did it fit? Probably yes – you could get into it. Depending on your size it was cavernous, achingly tight, or in the category of “this’ll do.” But did fit like it was yours? Could you identify it blindfolded? Of course not. Now imagine you’ve had something tailored to fit you – like a jacket or a pair of pants. Done well, it should fit like a glove. If you put it on, you’d know instantly that it belonged to you.

Messages operate the same way. We way we want customers to feel a part of the brand. We want them to feel like the brand belongs to them. But then too often we send out “one size fits most” messages… and wonder why we don’t get that sense of belonging that’s a hallmark of great brands.

Your brand is not for everyone. It isn’t. It’s for the people who want something you can help them get, who value the same things you do, and who see the world the same way you do. And that’s not everyone. Full stop.

How do the tenets of giving great presentations and speaking sessions apply to the bigger picture of content marketing?

Any truly great presentation doesn’t just inform and inspire… it implants a new way of seeing. It gives you something that you can’t unhear. Something that creates a permanent shift in thinking, and thus in behavior. Most content marketing doesn’t need to inspire (at least not in the go-climb-a-mountain or be-your-best-self sense), but it does need to create that same shift.

I’ll say it again: you can’t change what people do until you change how they see. There’s no better example than TED Talks that a very short piece of content can do just that. (The longest TED Talks are only about 2500 words – not long!) The more content marketers can adopt those lessons from great talks, the more powerful their messages will be, no matter the subject.

But hear me on this: those lessons aren’t just the surface things like “give it an SEO-friendly title” or “tell a personal story.” Both of those techniques can be helpful.

But the lessons marketers really need to learn are around where the greatest levers in messaging are. And here’s what’s counterintuitive: the most powerful levers at our disposal are the ones that don’t move – people’s wants and beliefs. Yet so much of marketing focuses on trying to get people to want something they don’t actively want or believe something they don’t currently believe. The only things we’re likely to change in the short term are perspectives. And that’s what great talks – and great content in any form – do.

Looking back, is there a particular moment or juncture in your career that you view as transformative? What takeaways could other marketers learn and apply?

It started with a mystery. See, I spent the first 15 years or so of my marketing career working in and with nonprofits. Here in Boston, where I live, those nonprofits share a lot of donors. What was fascinating to me: why would one donor give to so many different organizations? And what tied those different organizations together in the donor’s mind? Was there a pattern I could see?

I wanted to know the answer to that question because, at the time, I was in charge of the fundraising communication strategy at Harvard Medical School – and convincing people to give one of the world’s richest institutions even more money was a none-too-simple challenge. I’ll spare you the whole story, but what I discovered was this: while there wasn’t a usable pattern for why people gave money at all (that could range from self-serving to altruistic), there was something I discovered I could use.

There was a pattern to what kinds of things they gave money to – even across very different nonprofits. There was a pattern to what they wanted to accomplish through their gifts. So, for instance, if someone tended to give money at one institution to solve a specific problem (say, to a hospital help cure cancer), they tended to always give to solve a problem (to a museum to improve access for underserved youth). If they gave at one institution to expand the scope of impact, they tended to always give to expand the scope of impact, etc.

Once I figured that out, it became simply a matter of putting what we did at the Medical School into terms that matched what they were looking for. I could, for instance, take the same need we had at the medical school (say, to fund a new type of high-powered microscope) and frame it through multiple lenses. It could help solve a specific problem (age-related hearing loss), it could help expand scope (because it could help us understand the mechanisms that caused hearing loss), it could improve training of medical students (because they could better see the mechanisms in questions).

The lesson for all marketers is this: what people want tells you what they’re looking for out in the world. Our job isn’t to shift their attention to something new. It’s to show people how we fit in that existing line of vision.

Which speaker presentations are you looking forward to most at Content Marketing World 2018?

Tina Fey, of course. The panel on longform content with Ann Handley, Mitch Joel, and Dorie Clark looks amazing. I’d love to see Brian Massey and his talk on behavioral science talk, since I’m such a junkie for that stuff. Ahava Leibtag’s session on lessons from songwriters is sure to be great, too. I wish I could see Kathy Klotz-Guest – she has such amazing content and I’ve yet to see her speak in person (but she and I are speaking at the same time!). I’m also excited to Nichole Kelly coming back on the speaking scene, and with an important perspective – something she calls “conscious marketing.”

Follow the Thread

We really appreciate Tamsen sharing these thoughtful and substantive responses. Make sure to catch her live on September 6th in Cleveland; although she writes eloquently, there really is no substitute for the energy and passion she brings onstage.

She’ll be joined at CMWorld by dozens of other speakers. You find thought-provoking nuggets from her and many others by exploring the slides below.

These insights probably won’t change your fundamental beliefs… but they just might change your perspective.

Gain a competitive advantage by subscribing to the TopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter.

© Online Marketing Blog – TopRank®, 2018. | CMWorld Interview: How Tamsen Webster Drives Irresistible Change in Marketing | https://ift.tt/faSbAI

The post CMWorld Interview: How Tamsen Webster Drives Irresistible Change in Marketing appeared first on Online Marketing Blog – TopRank®.

from WordPress https://ift.tt/2v4Q3aU via IFTTT

[unixcommerce]

CMWorld Interview: How Tamsen Webster Drives Irresistible Change in Marketing

Few things are more inspiring than the before-and-after weight loss photo: two drastically different figures juxtaposed against one another, usually connected by an impossibly short span of time.

It’s not just the physical transformation that is striking in these portrayals. Even more so, it’s the mental transformation. Something clicked in that person’s head, causing them to fully commit and make the difficult changes necessary to turn their goals into reality. Then, they did it.

Branding expert Tamsen Webster saw this dynamic play out, in various forms, time and time again during her many years as a leader in the Weight Watchers organization. And it’s a big part of what drove her to create Red Thread, a messaging framework focused on tapping into those deep, uniquely human motivations that spark action (or, as she puts it, make inaction impossible).

At Content Marketing World in September, Tamsen will speak about How to Make Your Ideas Irresistible. In anticipation of her session, we chatted with her about uncovering shared values with your audience, eliminating “one-size-fits-most” messaging, and aiming to change perspectives rather than beliefs.

What does your role as Founder and Chief Messaging Strategist at Find the Red Thread entail? What are your main areas of focus and key priorities?

Well, the nice thing about being a solo practice is that it means what I need it to mean at the time! My days are spent in a mix of work with clients, business development, and product/content development – I go where my energy, inspiration, and needs take me.

How would you succinctly describe the “Red Thread Method” and why it makes sense for today’s content marketers?

We can’t change what people do until we change how they see. The Red Thread Method helps you uncover that link for a particular audience and business goal so you can build content and messaging around it.

What did your experience as a Weight Watchers leader teach you about the fundamentals of creating irresistible messaging?

Pretty much everything. I know that sounds like a joke, but it’s not. Week in, week out at Weight Watchers, I saw what did and didn’t move people to make changes – what kinds of information they needed, and in what combination. When I took those lessons and looked at the marketing around me (including marketing I had helped produce!), I realized how often we focused on what we wanted people to do differently more than what they needed to hear to see the differently. Once I started switching my marketing to match the framework of messaging I built for myself at Weight Watchers, lo and behold, I became a much more effective marketer.

How can marketers stop seeing change as a barrier and start seeing it as an opportunity? What’s required to drive this shift in mindset?

That all depends on why they see change as a barrier in the first place. The only thing that will shift that mindset is understanding how it puts both something marketers want and something they believe is in jeopardy. For example, if a marketer wants to be seen as an expert in social channels, they likely see change in those areas as something to be overcome – the constantly shifting landscape makes it impossible to expert in all things all the time. If they also believe, however, that “the only constant is change,” making inaction impossible: they’ll either need to change their goal, their attitude toward change, or how they go about being seen as an expert. The key is always in finding that combination of wants and beliefs that makes inaction impossible.

Some find it counterintuitive that in order to increase your reach and impact, you need to narrow your message. Why is this important in today’s environment?

It’s all about fit for the message. Think about the last time you bought something that was “one size fits all.” Did it fit? Probably yes – you could get into it. Depending on your size it was cavernous, achingly tight, or in the category of “this’ll do.” But did fit like it was yours? Could you identify it blindfolded? Of course not. Now imagine you’ve had something tailored to fit you – like a jacket or a pair of pants. Done well, it should fit like a glove. If you put it on, you’d know instantly that it belonged to you.

Messages operate the same way. We way we want customers to feel a part of the brand. We want them to feel like the brand belongs to them. But then too often we send out “one size fits most” messages… and wonder why we don’t get that sense of belonging that’s a hallmark of great brands.

Your brand is not for everyone. It isn’t. It’s for the people who want something you can help them get, who value the same things you do, and who see the world the same way you do. And that’s not everyone. Full stop.

How do the tenets of giving great presentations and speaking sessions apply to the bigger picture of content marketing?

Any truly great presentation doesn’t just inform and inspire… it implants a new way of seeing. It gives you something that you can’t unhear. Something that creates a permanent shift in thinking, and thus in behavior. Most content marketing doesn’t need to inspire (at least not in the go-climb-a-mountain or be-your-best-self sense), but it does need to create that same shift.

I’ll say it again: you can’t change what people do until you change how they see. There’s no better example than TED Talks that a very short piece of content can do just that. (The longest TED Talks are only about 2500 words – not long!) The more content marketers can adopt those lessons from great talks, the more powerful their messages will be, no matter the subject.

But hear me on this: those lessons aren’t just the surface things like “give it an SEO-friendly title” or “tell a personal story.” Both of those techniques can be helpful.

But the lessons marketers really need to learn are around where the greatest levers in messaging are. And here’s what’s counterintuitive: the most powerful levers at our disposal are the ones that don’t move – people’s wants and beliefs. Yet so much of marketing focuses on trying to get people to want something they don’t actively want or believe something they don’t currently believe. The only things we’re likely to change in the short term are perspectives. And that’s what great talks – and great content in any form – do.

Looking back, is there a particular moment or juncture in your career that you view as transformative? What takeaways could other marketers learn and apply?

It started with a mystery. See, I spent the first 15 years or so of my marketing career working in and with nonprofits. Here in Boston, where I live, those nonprofits share a lot of donors. What was fascinating to me: why would one donor give to so many different organizations? And what tied those different organizations together in the donor’s mind? Was there a pattern I could see?

I wanted to know the answer to that question because, at the time, I was in charge of the fundraising communication strategy at Harvard Medical School – and convincing people to give one of the world’s richest institutions even more money was a none-too-simple challenge. I’ll spare you the whole story, but what I discovered was this: while there wasn’t a usable pattern for why people gave money at all (that could range from self-serving to altruistic), there was something I discovered I could use.

There was a pattern to what kinds of things they gave money to – even across very different nonprofits. There was a pattern to what they wanted to accomplish through their gifts. So, for instance, if someone tended to give money at one institution to solve a specific problem (say, to a hospital help cure cancer), they tended to always give to solve a problem (to a museum to improve access for underserved youth). If they gave at one institution to expand the scope of impact, they tended to always give to expand the scope of impact, etc.

Once I figured that out, it became simply a matter of putting what we did at the Medical School into terms that matched what they were looking for. I could, for instance, take the same need we had at the medical school (say, to fund a new type of high-powered microscope) and frame it through multiple lenses. It could help solve a specific problem (age-related hearing loss), it could help expand scope (because it could help us understand the mechanisms that caused hearing loss), it could improve training of medical students (because they could better see the mechanisms in questions).

The lesson for all marketers is this: what people want tells you what they’re looking for out in the world. Our job isn’t to shift their attention to something new. It’s to show people how we fit in that existing line of vision.

Which speaker presentations are you looking forward to most at Content Marketing World 2018?

Tina Fey, of course. The panel on longform content with Ann Handley, Mitch Joel, and Dorie Clark looks amazing. I’d love to see Brian Massey and his talk on behavioral science talk, since I’m such a junkie for that stuff. Ahava Leibtag’s session on lessons from songwriters is sure to be great, too. I wish I could see Kathy Klotz-Guest – she has such amazing content and I’ve yet to see her speak in person (but she and I are speaking at the same time!). I’m also excited to Nichole Kelly coming back on the speaking scene, and with an important perspective – something she calls “conscious marketing.”

Follow the Thread

We really appreciate Tamsen sharing these thoughtful and substantive responses. Make sure to catch her live on September 6th in Cleveland; although she writes eloquently, there really is no substitute for the energy and passion she brings onstage.

She’ll be joined at CMWorld by dozens of other speakers. You find thought-provoking nuggets from her and many others by exploring the slides below.

These insights probably won’t change your fundamental beliefs… but they just might change your perspective.

Gain a competitive advantage by subscribing to the TopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter.

© Online Marketing Blog – TopRank®, 2018. | CMWorld Interview: How Tamsen Webster Drives Irresistible Change in Marketing | https://ift.tt/faSbAI

The post CMWorld Interview: How Tamsen Webster Drives Irresistible Change in Marketing appeared first on Online Marketing Blog – TopRank®.

http://www.toprankblog.com/

The post CMWorld Interview: How Tamsen Webster Drives Irresistible Change in Marketing appeared first on Unix Commerce.

from WordPress https://ift.tt/2KgTBeY via IFTTT

[jboden0408]

Last week I had to travel for work to San Francisco, CA. To help hold myself accountable and show that healthy traveling can be done I decided to document my journey for you – both what I ate along the way and all the activities I got up to.

Just as a disclaimer: I was not 100% on Ideal Protein protocol phase 1 during this trip. I tried the best I could, considering I couldn’t cook my own food while in a hotel. The point of this post is to prove that you can make the healthiest choices for yourself (whether on protocol or not) and choosing not to completely fall off the wagon while doing so. Don’t fall down the rabbit hole of bad food choices! Just make the best choice you can at the time and hop right back on whatever food plan you have. 

Ok, now that the disclaimer is out of the way, let’s get to the good stuff! First of all – San Francisco is an amazing city! This was the first time I had ever been! So while I had to spend the first part of my trip in meetings, I did extend it a couple of days to be a true tourist in the area. It was awesome and if you ever get the chance I highly recommend it!

MONDAY

My first food choice of my trip was at the airport on my way to San Francisco. My flight was early in the morning and I had to get some breakfast before boarding. I opted for Starbucks (even though I really wanted a Chitople breakfast burrito! Yes, they do have those in select airport locations). Anyway, I got a coffee with skim milk and Splenda and a turkey bacon breakfast sandwich – minus the English muffin.

During the flight, I had water, some Ideal Protein packs, celery, and hard-boiled eggs.  However, I should have thought this choice through because a 6ish hour flight is a long time to not have a real meal. I should have brought a salad or something more substantial…by the time the plane landed I was starving.

After getting my rental car I took a trip to my favorite place on the west coast – In N Out Burger 🙂 The protein style burger, wrapped in lettuce, was even better than I remember. Evidently, distance really does make the heart (or stomach) grow fonder!

After getting In N Out, I found my hotel, unpacked, and did some work. Then, it was time to find some dinner. I was really feeling salad so I was hoping to find a Whole Foods, but unfortunately, there wasn’t one close by. So I Googled “Salad Bars Near Me.” A lovely little place about 10 minutes away came up called Sprout’s Farmer’s Market.

I had never heard of this place before, but it’s basically an organic market with a salad bar and hot food options. Think of a smaller Whole Foods – or if you are near where I live the Common Market Co-op. It was definitely what I was looking for! I got a salad and grilled jerk chicken – all for under $10. Plus, I got a super cool bag that you can see over on my Instagram.

  TUESDAY

The next morning I had to be up and ready for a day full of meetings. Fortunately, because of the 3 hour time difference, I was up at 5:00am (ugh!) even though I didn’t need to be at the office until 8. So, I decided to get up and go to the hotel gym. I ended up doing this every morning I had to go to work.

I did about a half hour on the elliptical. Then, went and got ready for the day. As far as breakfast, I had grabbed some hard-boiled eggs at Sprout’s and I had an Ideal Protein pack. Then to top all this activity off I ended up walking to the office which was about an 8-minute walk from the hotel.

Then, there were meetings, meetings, meetings all day…with work provided lunch. Work provided lunches are the bain of my existence. For some reason, they always want to serve pizza or sandwiches. This time around it was sandwiches….and I just deconstructed them and ate all the insides 🙂

That evening we did a team building activity that included a hike and dinner. We hiked up the hill at Bernal Heights Park and got beautiful views of the city skyline. Then we went to a sushi dinner…

Again, sushi is not the best option for me, but I made it work. I decided to stick with 2 rolls with no tempura. I hadn’t had sushi in a really long time so it was quite the treat, but I made sure not to go overboard.

WEDNESDAY

The next morning was exactly the same as the one before it. Elliptical, eggs, walk, and another day full of meetings.

There was another dreaded work lunch. However, this one worked out better. We had 2 types of pasta…and SALAD!!  Yay! I found the cafeteria in the office and supplemented my salad with some other vegetables and protein.

That evening we did another team building activity. This time we went to Urban Putt. This place was awesome. Basically, the owners took an old funeral home and turned it into an indoor miniature golf course. They have a bar and offer food, with a restaurant upstairs. We played a round of golf and had a buffet style dinner. There was spinach salad, empanadas (I had 1/2 of one), sliders (I ate without the bun), tacos, and pizza (which I didn’t eat.)

I had so much fun with this activity. It was probably the best game of miniature golf I have ever played! Our team came in second out of five teams.

THURSDAY

Thursday morning looked the same as all the others. However, my meetings only ran until about 1:00. So no dreaded work provided lunch! And I got to actually start my “vacation” part of the trip.

I was headed down to San Jose so I needed to grab a quick lunch….so I visited In N Out again. I mean you really can’t beat a lettuce wrapped burger for like $4.

Then I made my way down to San Jose. I had two objectives – 1) Visit the Winchester Mystery House and 2) Go to Apple Headquarters (my techie mecca).

The Winchester Mystery House is a San Jose landmark. It is a mansion that was once owned by Sarah Winchester. She was the widow of William Winchester of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. After her daughter and husband died Sarah believed that she was haunted by those that had been killed by a Winchester firearm. To help with the supposed spirits she visited a medium who advised her to move West and continuously build a home for them – The Winchester Mystery House is the final result. It has 160 rooms, doors to the ceiling, doors to nowhere, etc.

It was a weird and eccentric little tour that I went on. Would I do it again? Probably not. But I think its something different that you can only visit while in San Jose. Also, if you are a history nerd or Travel Channel watcher you will already know about it and definitely want to experience it for yourself.

Next, I was off to Apple! I feel like you can’t drive through Silicon Valley and not stop by. I am a lover of pretty much all the Apple products and wanted to see the place where Steve Jobs used to work. The staff in the Apple Store there were awesome and willing to share lots of information and stories about Steve and the surrounding area.

Finally, that evening I made it back to Sprout’s for dinner and had the same thing I did on Monday night! It was so good…and a pretty healthy choice, so I knew I couldn’t go wrong there. Plus, I didn’t want to tempt myself with anything else.

FRIDAY

On Friday, I was up bright and early to fit in some hiking in the Muir Woods. I had never seen Redwood trees before and I wanted to experience it. I had researched the Muirwoods prior to going and decided to do the 2-mile hiking loop.

So, with some eggs, protein pack, and water on board I went for a beautiful, peaceful morning hike.

After my hike, which took about 2 hours (after walking, taking pictures, and visiting the gift shop) I also visited the nearby Muir Woods Beach.

After the beach, I made my way over to Tiburon, CA to catch a ferry to Angel Island.

Angel Island is the much larger island that sits behind Alcatraz. It served as an army base during WWI and WWII. Also, it was an immigration post for those coming from Asia – kind of like the Ellis Island of the West Coast. I learned a lot about its history and got to see some great views of the San Francisco Bay.

After my tour of Angel Island, I was super hungry! I hadn’t had lunch because I was having so much fun. I did snack along the way on celery, tomatoes, and cucumbers – but that was it! So I made way over to Sausalito, CA to have dinner.

I had researched where to eat in Sausalito and decided on the Napa Valley Burger Company. They had a bunch of different types of burgers with the option to wrap them in lettuce and they came with a side salad – it was perfect! (Also, I realize there seems to be a lettuce wrapped burger theme to this trip haha!)

I went for the Spicy Chicken Burger and it was so good!

SATURDAY

Saturday was another jammed packed day of fun activities – this time in the city! I  decided to do breakfast at the hotel. They offered an egg white frittata that was pretty good….and of course some coffee!

After fueling up for the day, I headed into the city. The hotel, luckily, had a shuttle right to Union Square. I did all the stereotypical San Francisco tourist things – Fisherman’s Wharf, Trans American Building, Golden Gate Bridge, Ghirardelli Square, the cable cars, etc.

The city is packed with things to do and fun things to see. Everyone I encountered was super nice. I especially liked this storefront that I had to take a picture of…because we are all a little weird 🙂

Now here is where things get a little dicey. I had been pretty good food-wise this whole week. I had skipped bread and pasta just for this moment. I was at Ghirardelli Square buying some chocolate for some friends at work. That place hands out chocolate like crazy. Every door I walked through they would hand me a piece of chocolate. However, I said no to those pieces and shared them with people when I got back. No….I went straight for the sundaes…..

Now…I am sure some of you think of this a failure, but I don’t! I consciously made the decision to eat this beautiful hunk of ice cream. I knew that I would probably never have the chance again – and this is why I had been so good the rest of the week.

To me this is the reason this isn’t a failure: Before I got on my healthy lifestyle journey I would have put anything in my stomach without thinking it about it. But this time I thought through the consequences and I accepted them.

And just to note: I wasn’t able to finish that sundae (at one point in my life I would have been able to murder that whole thing!) Also, I didn’t gain weight….or lose any weight. I was able to have fun and feel satisfied but still maintain everything.

And that is the end of my trip! Thank you for coming along with me! I hope that seeing how and why I made my decisions help you on a trip in the future!

Where are you traveling soon? How will you try to make it a healthy trip? Would love to hear from you in the comments!

Traveling Healthy in San Francisco! Come along on my overview of my trip and see the food choices I made and all the fun stuff I got up to! Last week I had to travel for work to San Francisco, CA. To help hold myself accountable and show that…

[northshoregadgets]

How to Crush Overwhelm, with the Author of The Joy Plan

When you’re a blogger, you have to churn.

You’re churning out content, marketing copy, pitch emails, comments, and so much more. A lot of times what started out as a passion can slip into a source of overwhelm along the way, especially if you’re successful at it!

To address this ugly little issue of overwhelm, Wendy Toth, Director of Content for PetSmart’s lifestyle websites, petMD and PawCulture, reached out to super-successful blogger and author, Kaia Roman, to share her secrets for crushing overwhelm before it crushes us!

WT: Tell us a little about yourself.

KR: I’m a mother, a wife, a writer, a mindfulness teacher to elementary school children, and a lot of other things. My new book, The Joy Plan, covers the neuroscience of joy, as told through an entertaining memoir. Before I wrote a book, I started blogging for a number of health and wellness blogs, like mindbodygreen, Thrive Global, and Livestrong. In fact, my book started out as a blog post, but just kept going and going until it became a book.

WT: Many of us began our blogging or writing journey out of a sense of passion and excitement, but the constant workflow can get old. How do you keep the joy in it?

KR: In The Joy Plan, I talk about a brain behavior theory called resonant wave patterns. Those of us that have chosen writing, especially if we started doing it for a passionate cause, often gravitate toward the research and problem-solving brain wave pattern. Writing can be a soothing way for us to organize our thoughts and communicate our passions to a wider audience.

The challenge is to focus on the joy of the process of writing, rather than the stress of the deadlines or other pressures. Come back to the desire that drew your fingers to the keyboard in the first place—that “writer’s high” or rush of dopamine that we get when we finish a job that we not only enjoyed, but know will help someone out there in blog land.

WT: How do you balance the demands of promotion and putting yourself out there, with the need to do what I call the “real work”– the research and writing?

KR: While on the one hand, it’s amazing that we can communicate in so many different ways, we also face the pressure to do so. Many of us feel the pressure to be on all the social media channels, sending out emails, keeping up a blog, creating videos, and continuing to churn out constant content.

It’s important that we check in with ourselves regularly to make sure what we’re doing feels balanced and joyful, or if it’s tipping toward causing more stress than joy. At times, we may need to readjust how we’re spending our time and energy, or seek help and delegate when it comes to the ancillary work that keeps us from our true passion.

WT: If you could go back and give yourself advice from when you were just starting out as a writer, what would it be?

KR: Writers I admire like Elizabeth Gilbert and Anne Lamott talk about planting your butt in the seat and writing, every day, no matter what. Whether it’s good or bad, whether anyone else ever sees it or not, just keep writing. Write what you know, write from the heart, and back it up with research. Like anything else, good writing comes from practice, like strengthening a muscle.

WT: What’s one tool or tactic you use that bloggers can copy today, to help avoid overwhelm?

KR: Feeling overwhelmed is both a mental and a physical experience. When we perceive an event or set of events as more than we can handle, our amygdala (the fear sensor in the brain) activates and sounds the alarm throughout our bodies. When you’re feeling overwhelmed, it’s important to recognize that you are having a physical response (your amygdala is active, your body is going into fight-or-flight mode) to a mental reaction (“I can’t handle this!”).

At those times, you really need to take a break and tend to your wellbeing first. Even a quick walk outside or mild indoor exercise can provide a shift in your mental, emotional, or physical state. It will induce endorphins, which calm the body’s reactionary stress response and provide motivation to move forward with your day.

Get some fresh air (amygdala-soothing oxygen!), give yourself a change of scenery, and see your situation from fresh eyes once you’ve had a bit of respite. You’ll most likely find that you can accomplish more, in less time, and with less angst, once you’ve taken a break. You’ll be ready to divide and conquer with renewed energy and a clear head.

WT: Last question. Many pet bloggers do their work for a cause, but even that can get daunting when you are faced with the scope of the issue again and again. Do you have any tips for facing this sort of fatigue?

KR: Make sure that your passionate writing about animals doesn’t keep you from your actual time with animals in real life. Get your fix of furry cuddles, volunteering, or whatever it is that fills your heart and emotional reserves (and also boosts your oxytocin levels!).

Most of us bloggers draw from our day-to-day life experiences to inspire our writing, so we have to make sure we aren’t writing more than we’re living, or we’ll have nothing left to write about.

Wendy Toth is Director of Content for PetSmart’s lifestyle websites, petMD and PawCulture. She has written for The New York Times, Parents Magazine, Weight Watchers Magazine, NBC, and more. You can find her on her image and confidence blog for overachievers, Power Suiting and on Twitter.

Kaia Roman is the author of the new book, The Joy Plan (Sourcebooks, July 2017). She teaches Mindfulness to elementary school students in Santa Cruz, California and is a blogger for minbodygreen and other sites. She writes about how she went from joyless and anxious to grateful and optimistic so she can remember how she did it if she forgets. For everyday joy and mindfulness tips, sign up for Kaia’s newsletter at TheJoyPlan.com. You’ll also find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

The post How to Crush Overwhelm, with the Author of The Joy Plan appeared first on BlogPaws.

from BlogPaws http://ift.tt/2vFbDnu via IFTTT

[jesicajparksuk]

How to Crush Overwhelm, with the Author of The Joy Plan

When you’re a blogger, you have to churn.

You’re churning out content, marketing copy, pitch emails, comments, and so much more. A lot of times what started out as a passion can slip into a source of overwhelm along the way, especially if you’re successful at it!

To address this ugly little issue of overwhelm, Wendy Toth, Director of Content for PetSmart’s lifestyle websites, petMD and PawCulture, reached out to super-successful blogger and author, Kaia Roman, to share her secrets for crushing overwhelm before it crushes us!

WT: Tell us a little about yourself.

KR: I’m a mother, a wife, a writer, a mindfulness teacher to elementary school children, and a lot of other things. My new book, The Joy Plan, covers the neuroscience of joy, as told through an entertaining memoir. Before I wrote a book, I started blogging for a number of health and wellness blogs, like mindbodygreen, Thrive Global, and Livestrong. In fact, my book started out as a blog post, but just kept going and going until it became a book.

WT: Many of us began our blogging or writing journey out of a sense of passion and excitement, but the constant workflow can get old. How do you keep the joy in it?

KR: In The Joy Plan, I talk about a brain behavior theory called resonant wave patterns. Those of us that have chosen writing, especially if we started doing it for a passionate cause, often gravitate toward the research and problem-solving brain wave pattern. Writing can be a soothing way for us to organize our thoughts and communicate our passions to a wider audience.

The challenge is to focus on the joy of the process of writing, rather than the stress of the deadlines or other pressures. Come back to the desire that drew your fingers to the keyboard in the first place—that “writer’s high” or rush of dopamine that we get when we finish a job that we not only enjoyed, but know will help someone out there in blog land.

WT: How do you balance the demands of promotion and putting yourself out there, with the need to do what I call the “real work”– the research and writing?

KR: While on the one hand, it’s amazing that we can communicate in so many different ways, we also face the pressure to do so. Many of us feel the pressure to be on all the social media channels, sending out emails, keeping up a blog, creating videos, and continuing to churn out constant content.

It’s important that we check in with ourselves regularly to make sure what we’re doing feels balanced and joyful, or if it’s tipping toward causing more stress than joy. At times, we may need to readjust how we’re spending our time and energy, or seek help and delegate when it comes to the ancillary work that keeps us from our true passion.

WT: If you could go back and give yourself advice from when you were just starting out as a writer, what would it be?

KR: Writers I admire like Elizabeth Gilbert and Anne Lamott talk about planting your butt in the seat and writing, every day, no matter what. Whether it’s good or bad, whether anyone else ever sees it or not, just keep writing. Write what you know, write from the heart, and back it up with research. Like anything else, good writing comes from practice, like strengthening a muscle.

WT: What’s one tool or tactic you use that bloggers can copy today, to help avoid overwhelm?

KR: Feeling overwhelmed is both a mental and a physical experience. When we perceive an event or set of events as more than we can handle, our amygdala (the fear sensor in the brain) activates and sounds the alarm throughout our bodies. When you’re feeling overwhelmed, it’s important to recognize that you are having a physical response (your amygdala is active, your body is going into fight-or-flight mode) to a mental reaction (“I can’t handle this!”).

At those times, you really need to take a break and tend to your wellbeing first. Even a quick walk outside or mild indoor exercise can provide a shift in your mental, emotional, or physical state. It will induce endorphins, which calm the body’s reactionary stress response and provide motivation to move forward with your day.

Get some fresh air (amygdala-soothing oxygen!), give yourself a change of scenery, and see your situation from fresh eyes once you’ve had a bit of respite. You’ll most likely find that you can accomplish more, in less time, and with less angst, once you’ve taken a break. You’ll be ready to divide and conquer with renewed energy and a clear head.

WT: Last question. Many pet bloggers do their work for a cause, but even that can get daunting when you are faced with the scope of the issue again and again. Do you have any tips for facing this sort of fatigue?

KR: Make sure that your passionate writing about animals doesn’t keep you from your actual time with animals in real life. Get your fix of furry cuddles, volunteering, or whatever it is that fills your heart and emotional reserves (and also boosts your oxytocin levels!).

Most of us bloggers draw from our day-to-day life experiences to inspire our writing, so we have to make sure we aren’t writing more than we’re living, or we’ll have nothing left to write about.

Wendy Toth is Director of Content for PetSmart’s lifestyle websites, petMD and PawCulture. She has written for The New York Times, Parents Magazine, Weight Watchers Magazine, NBC, and more. You can find her on her image and confidence blog for overachievers, Power Suiting and on Twitter.

Kaia Roman is the author of the new book, The Joy Plan (Sourcebooks, July 2017). She teaches Mindfulness to elementary school students in Santa Cruz, California and is a blogger for minbodygreen and other sites. She writes about how she went from joyless and anxious to grateful and optimistic so she can remember how she did it if she forgets. For everyday joy and mindfulness tips, sign up for Kaia’s newsletter at TheJoyPlan.com. You’ll also find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

The post How to Crush Overwhelm, with the Author of The Joy Plan appeared first on BlogPaws.

from News And Updates About Pets http://blogpaws.com/executive-blog/how-to-crush-overwhelm-with-the-author-of-the-joy-plan/

[lexieduranyoung-blog]

In Other News (no.1)

The biggest news of this week, President Trump's Inauguration! Some cheered, some whined - but what's still unclear is exactly how many people were there, in person, for the inauguration. CNN says there was five attendees. I personally am so over the media, that I really didn't watch much of the inauguration coverage. I don't have to though - I watched every coverage, possible, during the election. I've seen what I needed to. I voted for the man! I think that he will do a good job, as our POTUS. It's clear that a huge part of America doesn't agree (thank God for the voting system). That's okay, everyone has the right to their own opinion. However, nobody has the right to unlawfully damage things in "protest". That seems to be the new running trend... and yet, Mr. Trump is still the President. Strange how that works, huh? Enough of politics, I will save that for another day - when I have enough time to solely ramble and rant all about that.

We finished another week, with no meltdowns and still the regular potty usage! For that, Jude got a new Disney Cars die cast car, Nigel Gearsley! I don't know about all of the other parents out there, but I think our kids' love for certain toys becomes more of a love (or obsession) for the parents, eventually. When you find a rare die cast car and you're more excited about it than your kid is... guilty.

Our 2016 year was extremely busy and eventful, so we have been really looking forward to the nothingness that January has brought us. The laziness that has gone on in our house, the past three weekends, is incredible. Pajamas, til noon, have been our sole fashion statement. This weekend, we put a bit more pep in our step! Saturday mornings, my husband works in Little Rock, which means this is usually the morning of my weekly house cleaning. I probably would've put it off until Jude's afternoon nap, but my parents arrived at 7:30am with Krispy Kreme donuts and chocolate milk, for Jude. Needless to say, I was awake and got the house cleaned in no time! Jude likes to help me dust, so that's always a plus.

Side Note: Our son is a ginormous Mickey Mouse and Disney Cars fan. The Disney Channel just started a new animated Mickey Mouse series called "Mickey and the Roadster Racers". Let's just say, he's in heaven. We don't let him watch a whole lot of  television shows (strange, I know, as we are avid television watchers), but he loves Mickey and will sit for most any Disney movie. For all parents out there, with Mickey lovers - I recommend this new series.

Saturday, it just happened to be gorgeous outside! If we'd let him, Jude would probably live outside. I'm not always the biggest outdoor enthusiast, but when there's beautiful weather - I'm out in it. While Daddy worked, Jude and I went for a walk. No, Jude doesn't like to ride in the stroller anymore. He prefers to walk (or do most everything) himself. I'm pretty sure that most of the time, I was trying to catch up to him. He loves "the big water", so luckily we live by the lake! We got to count some ducks and he got to throw in some rocks. Usually Daddy is the one who takes him "exploring", so this was fun for me.

We most always do our grocery shopping as a family. Saturday evening, we made our bi-weekly trip to Walmart, list in hand - and extra snacks inevitability were thrown into the basket. I'm sure most of you aren't surprised, especially if you follow the "People of Walmart" Facebook page... but, cue the morons! While waiting to check out, due to long lines and our cashier needing to fill her cash drawer, an older couple got in line behind us. Jude was sitting there with his blanket, watching them closely. Of course, they ended up speaking to him, as most people do. The man says to our son, "you're the prettiest girl that I have ever seen". It's important to note that Jude has shoulder length hair and at times, rocks a "man bun". It's also important to note that not only does he have the thickest and most beautiful curly hair, but he probably is the prettiest boy you will ever see. But, a girl? No. He would be a manly girl. That and the fact that I dress him in boys' clothes still never detours people from calling him a girl. I corrected the man by saying "He is a boy". The man's eyes got huge, of course. He's holding a giant-ass box of Ninja Turtle gummies, for goodness sake. Sometimes I just want to look at people and say "we are not about that toddler trans life".

Anyway, after waiting about 15 mins for the cashier to get her drawer filled, finally it was our turn to check out. At that point, another cashier had stopped by to chat it up. Our cashier mentioned, to the other, that she thought the previous customer was about to "cuss her out", due to the wait time. The other cashier told the girl, "well it wasn't your fault" - to which my husband jokingly said "it's always you guys' fault". Now of course he was being sarcastic, as we have seen many customer meltdowns blamed on the poor cashiers (most of which, we try to step in and calm down, in favor of the cashier). I laughed, the other cashier laughed. We got it. Clearly our cashier did not. She answered with "That doesn't feel very good". I'm pretty sure my resting bitch face made an appearance, in that moment - as I'm thinking to myself "did she really just take offense to that?" She then looks at me and says "You're total is $240.83. How does that feel?" This is when I silently prayed, "Dear Lord please put your arm around my shoulder and your hand over my mouth". I just kind of looked at her and smirked, as I swiped my card. Inside my mind I was thinking two things: -"Cash me ousside, how bout dat" (if you're a meme fan - you get me) -"It feels pretty good to be able to drop $250 on groceries for my family, little cashier girl".

It just truly never shocks me, the stupid things that people say. I have a much larger bark, than bite. When it comes down to it, I remind myself that I am an adult and an above rude behavior - and pick my battles. However, I'm certainly not above thinking about what I want to do or say. Haha!

Saturday was also the Women's March in DC, with sister marches all around the world. That's a whole other topic that I could rant about, for days, falling in the political category. Don't worry, it's coming soon, to a blog near you - this one! Right now, I will say this: Not all of those marching women speak for me and for my gender. Some I am even ashamed to say were there representing my gender, as a whole. There is a group of women, though, that marched for something that I truly stand for. They marched for it at the Women's March and they will march for it again, at the March For Life on Jan. 27th - they marched to stand against abortion! The media may not have mentioned that, this past Saturday, and the media may be completely scarce when it comes time to report the March For Life. I assure you, though, you will hear a report from me!

My mother has begun a new Sunday tradition, with our family - Sunday Family Lunch. My mother is an amazing cook, so no convincing was needed, to join in! Plus, the company is pretty fun too. Last week, it was a taco pie. This week, we had chicken and dumplings. Both meals were accompanied by amazing homemade desserts. I'm not sure how long it had been since I had chicken and dumplings, but they were delish. My son is not a very picky eater, so he of course devoured them and then ran off to play batman.

We are slowly working on re-decorating our home and remodeling a few things, so I'll be sharing bits and pieces of that, soon, as well. All in all, it was a pretty nice weekend! They always end too quickly, but weekends are what I look forward to most. They give you something to work towards, during the week. Rain or shine, we always seem to find something to do - in between our spouts of couch lounging, of course!