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startofamoment · 6 years ago

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to all the WIPs i’ve loved before

rules: post your favorite parts of 3-5 fics that have been sitting abandoned in your drafts for ages. (for extra shame, throw in when you last worked on each thing.) tag 5 other writers to reflect on their life choices.

a pen pals au of sorts in which jake and amy share a desk and communicate via post-it notes (last edited: december 2017)

Amy is going to murder her deskmate.

The literal trash heap that greeted her last Monday was one thing, the sticky orange soda stain from last month was another thing, but this – this blatant disregard of property and boundaries and the sanctity of office supplies – is the Last Straw.

Spread out across her entire desk is a good fourth of the Post-it notes from the brand new assorted set she got from her brother Tony. They’re all arranged to look like various Star Wars icons, and a few of them are filled in with marker for apparent color correction. It’s horrifying.

Grumbling, she begins taking apart Post-It Yoda, keeping the salvageable pieces in a stack and throwing out the rest. When she’s cleared her entire table, she grabs her favorite pen and a fresh sheet then writes:

Hi, Please refrain from wasting my Post-its in the future. Thank you. - Det. Amy Santiago

She stares at it for a moment and decides, since this is probably the only passive aggressive note she’s going to write her deskmate, she might as well add:

PS: I would appreciate it if you would leave our desk clean at the end of your weekend shifts.

After checking it over once more, she places it in the center of her desk, ready to be read the following Saturday.

a dianetti cake shop au in which rosa owns and runs a store called arlo’s (last edited: june 2017)

Gina takes a moment to look over some of the cakes on display before clearing her throat and leaning over the counter. “’Scuse me, can you help me get a custom cake order started?”

“Sure.” The baker wipes her hands on a dish towel before grabbing a small notebook and pen from one of her pockets. “What’s the occasion?”

“Some old geezer’s leaving our precinct to enjoy retired life, or something like that.”

“Retirement party? Cool. Tell me about this guy.”

“Oh, sweetie, I don’t know or care about him. I’m just here cause my boss told me to order a cake.”

A smirk forms on the baker’s lips. “Ha. Do you wanna just do a standard cake order then? I usually do the custom cakes for more personalized, special events.”

“That’s probably smart. Which one of your standard cakes say: ‘Congrats on being old and rich enough to never work another day in your life, but sorry you’re almost dead’?”

She snickers. “I don’t know about that first part, but how ‘bout an angel food cake as a ‘hope you go to heaven when you die’ sort of thing?”

Gina grins and fishes through her purse for her wallet. “Oh, you should know my expectations on this cake are out of this world high. I’m only here because Yelp told me you’re the Beyonce of baking.” (Actually, she’s here because at least three reviews claimed the baker-slash-owner was “terrifying” and “gorgeous.” – They were right, on both accounts.)

a sequel to i could listen to you all day // the “after ever after” story in which jake and amy navigate their first year together as soulmates (last edited: march 2017)

Jake’s phone buzzed on his desk, breaking him out of his happy daydream. He picked it up and opened a new message from Gina.

“god, quit making heart eyes at the new girl!! your conscience would be v disappointed, kiddo.”

Gina, who had been watching him like a hawk from her desk, expected him to get all flustered and to text or yell back something overly defensive. She raised a single eyebrow when his face instead broke into a goofy grin and he straight up giggled.

Across from him, Amy looked up from her case files. “What’s so funny?”

He shook his head and mumbled something about memes and the internet.

She rolled her eyes, but the corners of her lips curled up into a smile. After he redirected his attention to his computer screen, her expression morphed into the same openly adoring look he had on his face the entire morning.

And then it all clicked.

If Gina had stopped to think about it, she would have recognized the new disappointment she felt in both herself (for taking this long to put two and two together) and her childhood best friend (for not keeping her in the loop). As she had not stopped to process anything, she instead yelled across the bullpen: “OH MY GOD. JAKE AND AMY ARE SOULMATES!”

All work stopped, and everyone fell silent. For a good minute, all that could be heard was the faint snoring from Captain McGintley’s office.

“Gina,” Rosa half-snarled, half-whispered. “You can’t just say that.”

“Oops, my b. Y’all know I have no conscience now so…” She giggled, winked at the leather-clad detective, and went back to her game of Kwazy Cupcakes.

Jake let out an awkward laugh. “Well, uh, that was -”

Out of nowhere, Charles appeared right in front of their desks. “Is it true, Jakey? Was Amy the voice in your head all this time?”

“I -” He glanced at Amy for help.

She bit her lip and shrugged.

This wasn’t at all how he envisioned making the announcement, but there was no use denying it. Still looking straight at her, his face softened into a smile. “Yeah… We’re soulmates.”

Charles squealed loudly. “You said the S word! Does that mean it’s official?” He gasped. “Have you said ‘I love you’? Have you met each other’s parents? When’s the wedding? What are you naming your first child?”

pretty much a crack fic inspired by the media’s post-olympics obsession with tessa and scott // my spin on a vm au bc i still refuse to write jake and amy as ice dancers (last edited: may 2018)

Like many of the other bizarre situations he’s found himself in, this all started with Gina. Over the last year or so, she’d been posting random photos and videos of all of them at the precinct. (“I’m devoting my energy to my new project, Ginazon,” she’d declared to the entire bullpen. “It’s a one-stop online portal for my legions of followers. I’m just giving the people what they want!”) Given that this was Gina of all people, Jake wasn’t at all surprised to find out that each post garnered hundreds of likes, but he’d never bothered to venture into the comments section. He’d never known about the apparent niche following that had formed, the group of fans – for lack of a better word – waiting with bated breath for him and Amy to get together.

Charles had only spurred them on, what with all the various Easter eggs on his culinary blog. (“This place has everything,” he’d written once. “My co-workers Jake and Amy even gave it their stamp of approval after they’d shared a quick lunch there before a long stakeout. Make sure to ask for the winter salsa; it’s wonderful!”) He’d sworn that none of it was intentional and that he would never do anything to sell them out, but everything he’d written had still been catalogued and analyzed by the pseudo-experts of the fandom. At this point, Jake’s main regret is not reading Charles’ weekly email blasts.

Their downfall – or rise to viral glory – came when someone from the so-called G-Hive happened to be in just the right place at just the right time, catching their (second) completely-platonic, spur-of-the-moment, done-in-the-name-of-justice kiss on camera. By the next morning, “Undercover Cops Lock Lips Before Locking Up Wanted Criminal” had been viewed on YouTube over a million times.

With everything about the entire situation already being so weird, they’d decided to just ignore their newfound fame in the same way they’d pretended the kisses never happened. (“We’re a great team. We work great together. Nothing should mess that up,” he’d said, repeating nearly his exact words from the night before.)

Evidently, there was no escaping this though. A formal press conference was set up, which wasn’t too out of the ordinary for cases that caught the general public’s attention, except they’d ended up having to say more about their dating lives than the investigation or arrest. He can still feel his heart lurching in his chest at the first relationship-related question, still hear Amy loudly stammering out some vague answer about being “very professional.”

a smutty soulmate au in which jake and amy unknowingly share dreams every now and then (last edited: november 2017)

At this moment in time, Amy Santiago is undeniably, incomparably, drop dead gorgeous.

More specifically: she’s in the hot red dress Kylie convinced her to buy on their last post-trivia night celebratory shopping spree; she’s wearing a matching killer shade of lipstick picked out by her fashion-forward, shockingly sexual 13-year-old niece; and she’s got her hair swept into that one elegant yet fun side ponytail that caught her eye in a magazine a few weeks back.

Normally, she’d be proud of herself for managing to pull off such a look, except–

It’s been a good several hours since she tossed her dress into the hamper, wiped the makeup off her face, and tugged the elastic tie from her hair. She’d buried her head into her pillow and wheeze-cried herself to sleep shortly after changing into her pajamas, so overwhelmed with shame and disappointment over the night’s party-gone-wrong.

The thick haze shrouding her current surroundings tells her she’s in another one of her soulmate’s dreams, which helps a tiny bit in explaining her current appearance but really opens up more questions than answers.

tagging: @santiagoswagger @three-drink-amy @do-me-decimalsystem @arnie-santiago @sergeant-santiago

for the record, this was inspired by @disruptedvice and @elsaclack’s responses [x,x] to the writing meme!! i thought it was super clever of them to feature little snippets from various works and felt this would be a good way to give unfinished/abandoned fics some love!

#writing meme #wip meme #tag game #b99 au #i'm honestly shookt at the last edit dates on these #why am i like this #ngl i just wanted an excuse to post some of these bc i'm fairly certain they won't ever be finished RIP #if anyone else wants to do this pls feel free!!!#my stuff

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santaprofit5-blog · 6 years ago

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Vegan cookie sandwiches

Hope you guys are having a good weekend? After a bit of a miserable two weeks, my energy levels are finally almost back to normal and I am almost well. It feels amazing to be able to do simple, everyday things without flopping out in between tasks. Being ill really does give you a renewed perspective on life and on what’s truly important. I am sure you can all relate?

Thursday saw me bouncing off the walls as I was finely able to wash my mega greasy (eugh) hair without the fear of making myself ill again and then the good day continued as we found out that our house purchase is finally going through! We are likely to get the keys by the end of the month! Hooray!

We are both so excited about this one as it was taking so long that I started having doubts about it actually ever happening. We are both thoroughly fed up with renting, especially that we found that having a cat makes it impossible to be able to rent a nice, modern place in the UK, no matter how well-behaved she is.

We cannot wait to make the place our own and we are also super excited for Tina as, while our current place with its large garden was chosen with her in mind, we have been extremely unlucky. There is an un-neutered tomcat next door who attacks Tina every time she ventures out and his owner isn’t a nice person either. Not only does she refuse to do any kind of time share arrangement, but she actually spreads rumours that it is out cat attacking hers! Poor Tina. Seeing her sniffing around and poking her head into things in our new garden is probably the sight we are both looking forward to most! We can only hope that our new neighbours don’t have an aggressive cat too.

While I was ill I was often dreaming of cookies – I dream of cookies a lot, generally 🙂 . Luckily Duncan’s words of wisdom ‘sugar is really not what your body needs right now’ did stop me a few times and I managed to distract myself with a book rather than shoving sweets into my mouth just because I was feeling miserable and sorry for myself. Now that I am well though, I’ve decided that a new cookie recipe is in order and so I bring you these delicious amaretto (I want to use up the bottle before we move) sandwiches filled with an indulgent ganache. They are not difficult to make and they make delicious coffee companions, perfect for the weekend in this stormy (it’s blowing a gale and chucking it down massively as I write this) weather. Enjoy!

PS: If you make my vegan cookie sandwiches, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram as @lazycatkitchen and use the #lazycatkitchen hashtag. I love seeing your takes on my recipes!

makes: 15

prep: 20 min

cooking: 15 min

Ingredients

FILLING

150 g / 5.25 oz vegan dark (70% cacao) chocolate

80 ml / 1/3 cup coconut milk

3 tbsp / 45 ml maple syrup

3 tbsp / 45 ml amaretto liqueur* (I used Disaronno)

Method

In a bowl, whisk up maple syrup, oil, vanilla and almond essence until well combined and sort of gelatinous.

Place a fine sieve over the bowl and sift in flour. Fold it well into the wet ingredients together with salt.

Finally fold in ground almonds / almond meal until fully combined. You may need to go in with your hands at the very end. The dough should be thick and sticky.

Refrigerate the dough for 30-60 minutes at least.

Pre-heat the oven to 175° C / 350° F and divide the dough into 30 even (17 g each) portions.

Place the dough balls on a baking tray leaving some room around each cookie. Flatten each ball with the palm of your hand or an upside down glass.

Bake for about 15 mins. Remove the biscuits from the oven, transfer them to a cooling rack and let them cool down completely.

Place a teaspoon (or so) of ganache at the bottom of half of the cookies and top with the other half. Store in an airtight container for a few days.

FILLING

Place roughly chopped up chocolate in a large glass or metal bowl together with coconut milk.

Place the bowl over a pot of water (make sure the water does not touch the bottom of the bowl) and bring the water to a gentle simmer.

Simmer gently, without stirring, until all the chocolate has melted.

Take the bowl off the heat and whisk the coconut milk / chocolate mixture until combined. Mix in maple syrup and amaretto. If your ganache seizes – becomes thick and loses its shine – you can recover it by whisking in a tablespoon of boiling water.

When the mixture cools down, cover the bowl with cling film and leave it in the fridge for a few hours (or overnight) until it has hardened. Let it sit at room temperature for a bit before filling the cookies.

Notes

*If you don’t want to use alcohol, substitute amaretto for almond milk. You could add a few drops of orange essence and a zest of one orange to the ganache for chocolate orange flavour instead.

My cookie recipe is inspired by this recipe and my ganache recipe is adapted from this recipe.

If you want more info on some of the ingredients that we use in our recipes, check out our glossary.

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Source: https://www.lazycatkitchen.com/vegan-cookie-sandwiches/

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ninjagoestogreece · 8 years ago

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SCRIBES OF THE TIMES

When you hear “Greece”, what do you see? An olive grove? An evzone, one of the soldiers in traditional garb with the pom-poms on their shoes?The Acropolis? The white houses and impossible cerulean sea in Santorini? I don’t. If I had to identify most iconic part of Greece -- the first thing I would picture in my mind to capture the magic of this semester in my mind -- I would point to Delphi. Smack in the center of the country, Delphi is nestled between the Corinthian Bay and Mount Parnassus. The city, once renowned for its sanctuaries and oracles in antiquity, has since shrunken to six streets and traveled slightly west to expose the ruins of the treasuries and temples of old underneath. A tall cliff separates the upper, larger sanctuary from the lower, and another still drops down into a valley some five hundred meters below. Behind the two, the alpine mountain hulks. The natural surroundings alone strike visitors dumb; it’s no wonder that it was once revered as a spiritual center for the Ancient Greeks. (You can view some photos I took from the top of the mountain below the cut.)

Personally, I live by “come for the monuments, stay for the mountains”, but none of our classes focus on Greece’s environment. Instead, the history and archaeology departments have been leading our field trips through Greece -- Olympia, Nafpleio, Sparta, Delphi, and everywhere else in between. Dr. Pitt, a lanky, bitter Brit, heads my group. He specializes in epigraphy, or the study of ancient script -- though I wouldn’t have known it unless he brought it up, what with his love of moldings and buttresses and other, grander, more visible structures. He strides ahead of us, only stopping when he finds a building or inscription or statue worthy of his commentary. “This treasury of Athens,” Dr. Pitt states, bouncing on the balls of his feet, “is the singular most inscribed building in the whole of Greece. Back in antiquity, the marble would have been painted red to see the lettering on the walls better. The walls sport the names of major victories in battle. Anywhere you see a laurel wreath -- like those two, just there, look closely, yes -- there should also be the name of an Olympic victor. Such an incredible thing. Right. And that wall, back there ...” He spins, pointing to a wide set of marble slabs on the next terrace up. “Yes, that actually has the names of slaves and their owners’ orders on when to release them from their bonds. Religiously important? Well ... no, not at all, really. But Delphi was a center of international power, one that was open nine days a year, so you could check the terms fairy and the whole of Greece would be able to have access to that information to identify freed slaves or enforce special instructions.”

I already have enough trouble with Modern Greek, so I was stuck just taking the professor’s word on the details of the translation. This wouldn’t stop me from making connections though. As I scanned over the letters, I thought back to modern Athens and the colorful graffiti coating the whole of the city. The content differs quite a bit (antifascist commentary vs public record), as well as the sentiment, but I suppose they’re somewhat similar in technicality. At the end of the day, it’s all just words and paint on a wall, right? I guess writing on walls simply is inescapable here. From the center of Syntagma to the rural towns we drove through for hours to get here, words on a wall stand proudly. I glance around again. Come to think of it, though, I don’t see any paint that survived out here. It isn’t until later, when I am staring at the etched inside of a bathroom stall in the Delphi Archaeological Museum between the sanctuaries, that something clicks. Sharpie coats the teal door, nearly all of it boasting English sentiments and state names. I understand in one moment exactly why I love the sites in Greece, and Delphi in particular -- part of its preservation includes it being free of modern influence, damage, or graffiti.

Greece has extensive laws regarding historical preservation. Why shouldn’t it; some sites date back past the Bronze Age, and the many classical sites in the country are internationally recognized as some of the best preserved and studied in the world. Even in Athens, you can see the Acropolis presiding mere kilometers from our academic center; history is central to everything here in Greece, and has been since its founding as a sovereign nation in 1830. School-age kids are required to study Ancient Greek for a minimum of six years, and all the classic authors -- Aristotle, Euripides, Plato -- are studied intensively both in their source language and modern form. If you find an old clay pot in your backyard, it must be turned over to the police. Public service projects, like the metro, can be postponed for years to excavate if a Roman grave is found while digging the tunnels. A swiped spearhead could land you in prison if you are caught. Even posing with a statue is forbidden here. The reverence of time gone by borders on quasi-religious, shrouded in a web of myth and archaeological fact. No Greek would be caught dead defacing a historical site, and so even the public restrooms near them are free of incriminating documentation of their presence. They have become masters of “leave no trace” in order to preserve the sanctity of their history.

Such heightened respect does not exist in America. Perhaps because of our relative newness to the international arena, or perhaps because of bravado, or even because of our general cultural focus on the present and entertainment, Americans do not cling to the past in such a tangible way. In fact, as a people, we have actively discarded the native narrative of our land and not once tried to restore it or educate our children about it. The government does not protect our history so precisely, save a few exceptions. Few laws are in working knowledge about protecting monuments or sites. The worst you’ll find is likely an ornery security guard. American monuments can be parodied, drawn in comics, or shrunken down and placed on the Las Vegas strip. And even still, as any Philadelphian can tell you, you’ll still see someone carving into a tree or penciling on a wall nearby. No land is sacred -- including the land of others, which is why I’m staring at Becky from Tennessee’s cheerful smiley in the middle of a Greek mountain range. The one exception I can think of for this kind of disregard for a cultural narrative or history is relatively displaced from a singular story or purpose, existing only symbolically -- the American flag. While there are no laws prohibiting disfiguring a flag, there are a lot of official procedures for raising it, pledging allegiance to it, displaying it with other flags, and retiring it. People for decades have tried to forbid flag-burning and other disfigurement of the stars and stripes, but to no avail. Such adoration of a nationalistic piece of cloth is unheard of abroad. Furthermore, the evil step-sibling to Old Glory, the Confederate Flag (which, for the record, isn’t even an official flag), has a similar level of respect placed upon it by many. Yes, for those born in the south or out of southern aristocracy or military families, it’s considered the most major emblem of heritage, the one most tangible to non-native populations in this hemisphere who never knew of the European nation they descended from. However, it is also emblematic of a deep-rooted hatred for Africans, African-Americans, and other enslaved persons, over which the Civil War was fought.

I am thankful for all that Greece has preserved and shared with our modern world. The details of Ancient Greek life indicate that man has always been attuned to their relationships with one another, and that our relationship with the unknown is ever-evolving. Their dedication to truthfully presenting all that was separate from what is and presenting it objectively is an admirable venture. I can only hope that other nations will attempt to preserve the stories of others into the future, so that the narratives of people unlike ourselves will be appreciated as they are and understood, instead of lost to an incomplete history.

PS: My pal, Andrew is pictured above! He hiked all 8.8 miles with me to and from this point. He’s pretty cool, I guess.

#ninja goes to greece #writing #photos #multimedia #study abroad #greece #3/20/17

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fideliscorvus · 6 years ago

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What is impossible in the minds of mortal men is possible with the Men (and Women) of God.

“With God All Things Are Possible.”

Being born into a Physical Body is an interesting experience. It has been said that we are Spiritual Beings having a Human Experience.

Growing up, I was first taught Christianity. There is much to learn from the Holy Scriptures.

In my youth, I played many Role-Playing Games (RPGs), taking the role of the Hero, leaving Home, and venturing forth to Save the World.

After taking a Metaphysics Class at Dowling College, in addition to Eastern and Western Philosophy, I began studying Yoga and adopted a Healthy Lifestyle. More than once, I have tried to live a completely vegan lifestyle, although I know that on a journey, we take our food with Grace. I packed my car with my Surfboard, Skateboard, Yoga Mat, Drum, Laptop, and Clothes and drove to California on a Spiritual Journey. Although I returned to visit Home and Family, I returned to California four more times.

I love Movies about Super Heroes, although I really don’t watch much television. I got an apartment on the East End of Long Island, worked in Culinary Prep helping Local Farmers, watched, “Fawlty Towers,” and all 9 Seasons of, “The Office.” As a second part-time job, I stocked beer at the local shop. I continued to seek a Great Career, and always wanted to work with the Sony Team in the PlayStation Division to help in all things related to Square Enix, Atlus USA, and Konami. I would love to entertain and welcome Business Guests to America and also travel to Japan and make new friends while Mastering my Japanese Fluency. Though even to pursue these goals, I would once again have to leave my Home State of New York, which I Love, yet understand that sometimes we have to embrace a rare opportunity. Also, I know that just because you relocate, does not mean that attaining that Dream Job is guaranteed.

I am rather selective with my music, especially when it comes to lyrics. I embrace positive words and energy, and I warn, be careful what you seek and choose to manifest for yourself. When I was 15, I came across this album art.

Heart and Mind are Important to Remember.

As for Malice, "I bear no malice toward anybody".

Complacency though, was the particular word that stood out to me.

Ever since, it may be the fight against complacency that drove me to do something more with my life. Perhaps one of the reasons I had no problem with leaving dead-end jobs and seeking a better life. It is up to us to change our circumstances. It is rare that a person will do something to change another person’s life in such a way. We ourselves must choose to understand that we deserve better. Some jobs are like a stepping stone, helpful for a time, though not the job that someone should actually be expected to do for 20 or 30 years with no change—perhaps being a Grocery Store cashier is a good example. I, too, have collected the shopping carts as a second job to make ends meet for a time, though being the cart collector for all of my life as a primary achievement was not a goal.

When I graduated High School, I went into the Bartender’s Academy the following week and became a New York State Certified Mixologist—I have Zero Strikes and although I love a good party, responsibility comes first. Maybe one day when I am older, I would like to own/manage a nice Club.

In the meantime, the Adventuring Spirit was calling me. As the Summer Work came to an end and the weather was getting colder, I began researching Career/Work Opportunities. It came down to LA and Miami this time. So as my Apartment was Month-to-Month, I put my things into storage and booked a flight with Delta to Miami.

It was 3AM—As I Übered into South Beach, I felt great satisfaction that I was following my dreams. I walked one block over to the ocean sand, took of my shoes, and stepped into the clear water. I felt great Peace and a Deep Connection with Nature and God. Also, Paris Hilton was throwing a Party at The Wall that Night and I already had my Ticket to get in. She is a really Awesome DJ and during the course of the Night, I had the privilege to buy her a FIJI Water. It was a Phenomenal Experience.

I loved the Club and sought employment immediately, I also began applying to some really High-Class Sushi Restaurants to simultaneously attain a Day Job. I landed an Interview at Tanuki and was told that there may be an opening within 2 or 3 weeks. I still continued to look.

I found out that my Friend Nobu, has a Hotel and a Restaurant in the Area, so I contacted him as well to see if he needed any help. In the meanwhile, I explored the area thoroughly.

As I was fully satisfied, I decided to check out the neighboring Area and travel to Surfside to see how the Surfing was, while making my way to the Temples I had planned to visit. I did not meet any Surfers that weekend, although I made some friends along the way. I continued to the Temples.

Almost all the way, I walked, choosing to do so as a Spiritual Pilgrimage and also to enjoy the scenery and Nature. Eventually, I was at a Starbucks near one of the Hilton Hotels and I made a new friend who offered me a ride the rest of the way, which I gratefully accepted. He was so kind, that he also bought me a coffee and a sandwich.

The Temples were welcoming and receiving and I stayed in the Area for a few days. I made some friends and a place called, “Wynwood,” was recommended as a cool place to check out, so I am on my way.

An Adventuring Party is not for lazy people. It takes Great Strength and Courage to travel in such a way, seeking work, helping others, and making friends along the way. It takes Honor, Integrity, and Respect to make new friends in a new town.

I consider the Path of the Paladin. Although traditional rules are that only Humans can become Paladins, I follow the path of rare exceptions.

Paladins are warriors devoted to law, justice, piety and chivalry and are an example to others in society. For this reason paladins can only have an alignment of Lawful Good. They can use all kinds of weapons and armor and have special abilities to fight and protect others from evil.

Lawful Good is known as the "Saintly" or "Crusader" alignment. A Lawful Good character typically acts with compassion, and always with honor and a sense of duty. A Lawful Good nation would consist of a well-organized government that works for the benefit of its citizens. Lawful Good characters include righteous knights, paladins, and most dwarves. Lawful Good creatures include the noble golden dragons. Lawful Good outsiders are known as Archons.

I have made many good friends along the way, and they too, are unique in their own ways. I love them for who they are.

Jesus spoke much wisdom as recorded through the Apostles—He also spoke in a way that guarded one against complacency.

PS: I chose to put my nostalgic items into a storage unit.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bible.com/bible/1359/MAT.19.16-30.ICB

One could stay in their home town forever and work at the local grocery store. One may even love their parents and family so much, that they could literally stay forever and just be a good kid, forever helpful. These are choices that we must make. I do believe that we should follow our dreams however.

As for Wealth, there is a great difference between Serving God and receiving the Blessing of Abundance compared to selfishly chasing riches. Charity conquers Greed.

https://www.biblestudytools.com/genesis/13-2.html

Be careful not to waste food!

https://www.biblestudytools.com/john/6-12.html

https://www.biblestudytools.com/proverbs/10-22.html

If you have gained Wisdom, share Wisdom. Teach the Children well.

https://www.biblestudytools.com/proverbs/11-14.html

God pays back Generosity.

https://www.biblestudytools.com/proverbs/22-9.html

https://www.biblestudytools.com/proverbs/28-22.html

Seek God First.

https://www.biblestudytools.com/matthew/6-33.html

http://www.biblestudytools.com/proverbs/passage/?q=proverbs+3:9-10

http://www.biblestudytools.com/psalms/passage/?q=psalm+121:1-2

http://www.biblestudytools.com/2-corinthians/passage/?q=2-corinthians+9:6-8

In the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, archons are a type of creature. In 1st and 2nd edition, they are powerful lawful good creatures from the upper planes, and in 3rd edition they are celestials. These creatures are sent by higher powers striving for good to aid in battle against the forces of evil.

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metastable1 · 6 years ago

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It's easy to make big plans and ask big questions, but a lot harder to follow them through. Find out what happens to Harry Potter-Evans-Verres, Hermione, Draco, and everyone else once they grow into their roles as leaders, leave the shelter of Hogwarts, and venture out into a wider world of intrigue, politics, and war. Not official.

Significant Digits by Alexander D is an unofficial continuation of Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality by Eliezer Yudkowsky. Despite being better crafted (from the wielding and richness of language standpoint, at least in the first half) it’s not as fun or funny as HPMoR, however, those rare moments when humor comes back, or when the author takes pokes at Rowling’s Harry Potter, make it feel exactly like the previous fic). Although the author abandoned heavy references made by Yudkowky to the heuristics and biases, it still feels like a rational fic and maintains ratfic’s qualities. One thing that I miss severely is a didactic tone of HPMoR - in Significant Digits, it comes back only for brief moments. I understand that it would be difficult to incorporate that when dealing with older and more experienced characters but still…

The thing I most respect about this fic is the amount of effort that clearly went into writing it, as well as the level of skill represented by the author, who, without a doubt, did a tremendous amount of research and is clearly quite an erudite. As one commenter said:

It saddens me a little that there is not a long discussion below this chapter. You are a good writter. I guess you are just too deep into the rabbit whole.

I admit that probably 95% of references, easter eggs and clues went over my head.

We spend most of the time inside Hermione’s head as if the author was afraid to write extensively from a perspective of Harry or Draco but when he does, he nails it. Alexander D did a really good job of writing more experienced and matured versions of the trio. Their dialogues also work well and one of them is my favorite fragment of the fic - I like it so much that I posted it below.

Fic is rich when it comes to fight scenes - there are a lot of fight scenes. The author deserves a great amount of praise for handling them so well - descriptions are really good and somehow he managed to not make them tedious or repetitious. If you wondered what would look like descriptions of duels featured in Harry Potter movies (they are quite different from those in the books) then wonder no more. Also, for the benefit of those with low tolerance level for violent scenes, I should note that continuation is a lot more gore-y than HPMoR.

Another aspect that deserves praise are awesome moments and lines of dialogues or internal monologues that stayed with me long after I took time off from reading. And then there are the Moments: those epic and deeply satisfying moments that the reader is often waiting for and when they arrive and unfold, there is this feeling of appropriateness and fulfillment; an exhilaration and “this is the way it should be” sensation. There were such moments in Rowling’s HP, in Yudkowsky’s HPMoR and they can be found in Significant Digits.

Now about the main plot and ending: I think that the idea for the main antagonist was pretty great, their motivations were solid. I think what failed was execution but I don’t have a good idea how intrigue should be lead or concluded instead. Don’t get me wrong - it’s still really good, I enjoyed it, don’t regret reading SD and its ending is quite unique and very risky, and despite that, it works! However, I feel that there was a greater potential that could be realized. Events leading to the main conclusion felt a bit clunky. On the other hand, the fic has a ”reread value” - with a benefit of hindsight readers can discover new things hidden by the author and spot hints that they missed during their first reading.

Overall, in my opinion, Significant Digits is a worthy successor of Yudkowsky’s fic. If you liked HPMoR give it a shot.

My favorite chapters:

Chapter Two: Buffering Conflicts and Chapter Nine: Boxes - for Harry’s perspective

Chapter Sixteen: Protagonists - for bringing back the spirit of J.K. Rowling’s HP

Chapter Thirty-Three: Walpurgisnacht - for a great ending of an arc and that dialogue

Chapter Fifty: Ultimate - for that final confrontation

PS. Important note: my comprehension of English let me understand HPMoR on my reread without much problem, however, Significant Digits has much richer language - it is possible that I missed some positive qualities because of this.

And now, my favorite fragment:

Wearily, Harry mounted the stairs to the workroom of the Headmistress. In his pocket were four phials of blood from Vincent Crabbe, obtained after two hours of intimidation and veiled threats. Moody had helped, along with two aurors Moody had trained himself -- an older one named Hedley Kwannon, and one barely out of training named Nymphadora Tonks. The glass phials, filled with the blood of Hermione’s enemy, clicked against each other as Harry climbed the stairs. He pushed open the door. It was silent inside. Reddish light from the dawn illuminated the alchemical diagram on the floor: nested and interlaced circles and pentagons surrounding a central pentacle. He’d been here once before, when he first demonstrated partial Transfiguration -- so long ago! -- and the room didn’t look to have been used since that visit. “Mad-Eye’s not here yet. We have to wait,” said Draco’s voice from his left. Harry started, and stepped forward to see that the boy was sitting at the base of the circular wall, head slumped forward. “How are you, Draco?” asked Harry, quietly. “This was your fault,” Draco replied. “I know.” “No, you don’t, you stupid piece of arrogant filth,” said the Slytherin boy, but there was no anger in his voice. It was disconcertingly flat, with nothing but weariness and sorrow -- the sorrow of someone who had been required to endure too much, too soon. “You think that you just made a mistake. You’d do the same thing all over again, but you’d just be sure to include one more trap. One more level of manipulation or cleverness. You don’t see that the entire thing is… impossible. It’s just impossible, and you won’t see that, and Hermione just keeps listening to you, and now she’s paid for your stupidity.” “I know.” “And even worse, this is just another reminder of why I was stupid to ever trust you -- to ever get involved in this asinine little play. Your goals are… mad. Insane. But you don’t recognize that, since you don’t recognize any limits to… to… to anything.” It was more than that, of course. It was even more than the terrible suffering and temporary absence of Hermione, as badly as that, too, had hurt the other boy. There was something more. You’re worried that I can’t deliver on my promises… that you’ve placed hope in false prophecies and a false prophet. You’re wondering if I am just a freak prodigy of Muggle science who looked really impressive in schoolyard antics, since he had a whole other world of tricks to steal, and who got lucky once… but who might just not be able to cut it in the real world. Draco looked up at him, and the boy looked unspeakably sad -- like he’d lost something precious. You’re worried I’ll never be able to bring your father back, after all. “Draco, there is--” “Shut up,” interrupted Draco, his voice hardening. “Shut up and let’s just wait without talking. You’re always talking, but it didn’t help her, did it? Her phoenix burned and she burned. And now she’s dead, again, just like she was afraid would happen.” Draco’s eyes were red, but dry. “She told me that… those months when she was trying to get her Patronus. To meet your expectations. She told me that she was terrified of dying again and that she thought that was probably the reason she couldn’t do it. ‘I wake up screaming sometimes, Draco,’ she said.” “Stop,” said Harry, squeezing his eyes shut. Draco sounded more like he was scolding himself than Harry. His words were black and bitter. “And now she’s all burned up and dead again, and it’s your fault again. Because you don’t understand what is possible, and you talk and you push -- oh, Merlin, it always sounds so insane when you first start talking, but by the end of the conversation it’s the rest of the world that seems insane, and how could I ever think that made sense? How could anyone be that damned arrogant?” Harry turned away, blindly. His eyes burned with hot tears. For a moment, despite all of his resolutions, he almost called on his dark side: to cool him and calm him and solve this problem. The cold emptiness of Voldemort’s thought patterns would have been preferable to this. Null was better than negative. But he didn’t, because one did not abandon carefully-considered decisions during the exact sort of situation for which you had prepared them. All he could do, instead, was sink to the stone, slick with dust under his fingers, and cry. After a time, his shoulders stopped heaving, and his breathing slowed from great shuddering gasps into quiet evenness. Draco had said nothing, and hadn’t moved. When Harry pushed himself up into a sitting position, he saw through a smear of tears that the other boy was just staring at him, dully, with red-rimmed eyes. “I…” began Harry, but he found that he didn’t have any words. He fell silent again. Eventually, he stood up and drew his wand. “Scourgify,” he cast, his voice heavy. The spell cleared away the dust. Putting away his wand, Harry opened his pouch and reached in. “Cauldron,” he said to it, and felt the metal lip of a small cauldron leap into his hand. He pulled it free of the pouch, which distended to permit its passage, and set it in the center of the diagram. Harry sat down next to it, and took the phials of blood out of his pocket. He set them down next to the cauldron. Draco pushed himself to his feet, and walked over. Digging into the pocket of his robes -- still the same burned ones, had he not had a chance to change? no, of course... he left them on for effect -- he pulled out a small bag of soft bicorn skin and dropped it down next to the other objects. The flesh of a servant, willingly given by Odette Charlevoix. Moody would be here soon, with a piece of bone from Hermione’s father. He had insisted on doing this part himself, saying that he didn’t trust anyone else to invisibly infiltrate Happy Smiles Family Dentistry, stun one of the owners, extract a chip of bone while the man was unconscious, and fix any memories afterwards. It was a thankless task, and Harry thought that some part of Moody’s insistence was probably repentance. Moody blamed himself for the attack, almost as much as he blamed Harry. “We weren’t paranoid enough,” he had said, bitterly. It was as heavy an indictment as he could deliver. They waited in silence. Finally, Harry spoke again. “I tried. I tried as hard as I could. I thought through everything and planned it out and assembled every bit of information… I counted forty-three known threats and planned for eight kinds of unknowns. We had just… layers of security and plans.” Draco knew most of them, of course. He’d helped, along with Moody and Hermione and Bones. There were fat folders, stuffed with parchments -- or had been, anyway, before the fire ate the hidden boltholes that had been serving as safes. Dossiers on people and information on countries: CHINA. Overview: Continued worries about European and British dominance in magic, may seek to strike before new regime rises. Often isolates self and seeks to extend power over Ten Thousand, but pragmatic leadership points to a willingness to shift tactics, if seems advantageous. Traditional value for immortality, connected to long specialization in potioneering. Informal and formal power structures largely mirror each other; little vulnerability to factionalization but suggests opportunity to shift key functionaries and alter trajectory of entire country. And so on. Plans within plans, contingency upon contingency: living and adaptable Matryoshka dolls whirling in a furious dance. A location that couldn’t be stormed by force, allies watching other allies, security measures and magical wards that could cut off the life of an attacker in moments. And none of it had done any good when the mind of a powerful wizard had broken. He had died, but so had others. So had Hermione. “It’s not your fault that you can’t do the impossible. It’s only your fault that you try the impossible, and other people pay for it,” replied Draco. He stared down at Harry. “You can’t plan for everything. The world is dark and people are vicious. Even the good ones are vicious, and the bad ones are worse, and the crazy ones do things you couldn’t possibly predict. You can’t control the universe, Harry Potter-Evans-Verres, you miserable, arrogant little scrub.” Harry was silent once more, and looked away, unable to meet Draco’s gaze. He hugged his knees. Draco turned away, walking heavily towards the door. There’s too much evil and too much madness in the world, Moody had said. Too much damn randomness. You can’t control the universe. “I don’t accept that,” he whispered, as much for himself as for Draco. “What?” demanded Draco, turning back around, his voice incredulous -- angry now, where he hadn’t been before. “I don’t accept that,” Harry repeated, more loudly. He looked up. “I do not accept that.” “You can’t--” Harry lurched to his feet, swaying slightly, his kneecaps popping from the sudden shift. There was iron in his voice, now. It wasn’t cold iron; it wasn’t the chill metal of his dark side, icy with hateful clarity. It was iron at a white heat. He glowed with it. “No,” Harry said, his voice as certain as a hammerblow. “No,” he repeated. “No,” he said again. “I do not accept that. I do not accept death. I do not accept decline. I do not accept madness. I do not accept randomness. They are all part of the universe, and they are all important… but I do not -- mankind does not -- have to accept them,” said Harry. “If you want out of this, then say so. If you want to lead a different life, then you know I won’t begrudge you that. I will make that happen, and that choice I once gave you will always be yours: you may choose another path and you will not hear a word of regret from me. Your preferences are sacred. So if you think this can’t be done… go.” Harry’s face was grim. “But I’m not going.” Harry walked towards Draco until he was inches away from the other boy. Iron was bright in his words. “Right now, there is a little girl somewhere in the world. She’s a small thing for her age, with big eyes. She loves her big brother. She wants to be just like her mother when she grows up. But tonight, there will be an accident. A rotten tree will collapse as the little girl climbs it, and she’ll tumble to the ground, and she’ll land badly. And she’ll die. And then her big eyes will be gone, and her brother will never see her again, and she’ll never grow up to be like her mother. Everything she ever was or will be: gone and dead and buried. “Her brother will deal with his grief, in time, and may even find solace and strength in stories about how death is necessary. Her mother will cry and hurt, but in time it will hurt less, and she’ll focus more on her son, and eventually the loss will fade until it’s just a nagging ache in her heart -- that never quite leaves. And the world will go on, because it’s happened every day in every way, and we have learned how to manage the loss. “But it doesn’t have to be that way. And I don’t just mean saving that little girl, or Hermione, or even your father, Draco, but every little girl and friend and father. People die every day and they always have but I do not accept it.” But something of Harry’s heat had communicated itself with his words, and Draco’s eyes were lit as bright as the red glow of Fiendfyre. He seized the front of Harry’s robes, twisting his fists in them, and shoved as hard as he could. Harry stumbled backwards, foot skidding, and only barely kept his balance. “Do you think I want them to die, you sanctimonious idiot? Are you even listening to me? I’m saying that it doesn’t matter how much you want them to live, because the world is too complicated! You’re denying the data! You want to do things that no one has ever done, and do them all at once which no one has even dreamed of doing. Not Dumbledore, not Salazar Slytherin, not the Peverell brothers, not even Merlin the bloody First Enchanter himself! The greatest wizards in the history of the world only barely attempted some tiny fraction of your insane fever dream! You want to rule the world and end death, good and fine, and you want to end poverty and sickness and make everyone equal and put goblins and other trash up on a pedestal and all that other fluffy nonsense, fine!” Draco was shouting, now. “But it is impossible! It is just impossible! To do any one of them was beyond anyone’s power, even those who tried, much less all of it at once! And by trying to do it, you’re going to burn down this world and everyone in it, and it is just beyond arrogant and stupid to look at the world and declare that you are going to change it so much and so fast, and we are all suffering because of that!” Harry roared back at Draco, his voice larger than himself, as though it were echoing the cries of others, of legions, “I don’t give a damn if it is impossible! I don’t give a damn if no one has ever done it or tried it or dreamed it in the history of the world! ‘Impossible’ is a little word and a petty one -- it’s the word of small minds and small imaginations, and I reject it.” Draco opened his mouth to say something, but Harry continued over him, shouting now, white iron in his words and eyes and heart, a white glow suffusing him as a glow from his wand waxed brighter and brighter. “We are standing on the brink -- at the moment of crux between peril and paradise, Draco! We are caught at the edges of two singularities, held equipoise at their event horizons, and it is terrifying, but when they offer you the Ring you don’t reject it with the word ‘impossible!’“ Draco shouted back, lunging forward to stab a finger into Harry’s chest: accusatory. “Not everything is possible in this world!” And Harry replied, quietly, caught with a sudden stillness as clear as the sweet ring of a tranquil bell, “Draco. There are more worlds than this one. We’ll find one where we can save everybody." His voice caught with emotion. "Impossible just means you haven’t figured out how to cheat.”

#fiction #hpmor #book

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filipeteimuraz · 7 years ago

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How to Build Links When No One Will Link to You

Are you frustrated that no one will link to you? Have you tried all of the basic link building methods like email outreach to find out that none of them are working for you?

Don’t worry, we’ve all been there.

Everyone says you need to write amazing content to build links. And although that helps, what if I told you it isn’t a requirement.

Yes, link building is hard, but not impossible.

And if you are struggling to build links, here are the tactics you need to follow… even if your website, product, or content aren’t as good as your competition, these tactics will work.

Tactic #1: Link Intersect

If you email a site asking for a link, the chances are they are going to ignore it. I get these requests all the time… and I ignore them too.

But on the flip side, if you emailed someone that linked to 3 or 4 of your competitors there is a good chance they will also link to you.

When someone links to a few of your competitors, this tells you that they don’t mind linking to sites within your industry and that they are more open to linking to more sites as they already link to 3 competitors.

So how do you find sites who link to at least 3 of your competitors?

The way you do this is by heading over to Ahrefs and selecting their “Link Intersect” feature (it is under the “more” navigation menu option).

You’ll want to enter your 3 closest competitors and then your domain at the bottom. This will generate a report of sites that link to your competition but not you.

From there you’ll want to drill down to specific pages to see what pages are linking to your competition.

As you find common sites that link to a few of your competitors, you’ll have to dig in to figure out in what context they are linking out.

For example, if someone is linking to your all of your competitors’ blogs in a resource page, you have to make sure you have a blog before hitting them up. Because if you don’t, why would they add you to the list?

Once you find a handful of sites that are a good fit, you should email the site owner, build a conversation, and then ask for a link.

Here’s an example that my team used for a site that I own:

And here was the response we got:

We use this tactic at scale. For every 100 websites that we emailed we picked up 9.7 links. We got this ratio for sites in a competitive niche and we aren’t using my name.

Tactic #2: Image link building

People love images… just look at social networks like Instagram. They’ve built a multi-billion-dollar company by encouraging people to take more photos.

As you’re blogging, you should consider using custom images on your site. If you aren’t a great designer, no worries, you can just use tools like Canva. Or if you have a bit of money to spend, you can always head to Fiverr and spend a few bucks paying someone to create custom images.

A good example of this is how I created a handful of custom graphs about Facebook for this blog post. The graphs look something like this:

Over time, you’ll notice that other sites will take your images without linking to you. This may sound bad, but in reality, it is great because you can reach out to each of those sites and tell them to give you credit and link back.

Note, I am not telling you to “ask,” I am telling you to enforce that they need to link back to you.

Here’s how you find all of the people who have taken your images.

First, head over to Google Image Search. Once you land there, click on the camera icon.

Once you click it, you’ll see a box that looks like this:

From there you will either want to paste in the URL with your custom image or upload it. And once you hit search you’ll see a list of sites who have taken your image.

Some of these sites will have linked to you while others may have not. For the ones that have not linked to you, email them something that goes like this…

Subject: Copyright infringement – [name of their site]

Hey [their first name],

I noticed on this url [insert the url on their site that has used your image without linking back] you used an image that I created, and the rights of that image are owned by me.

I don’t mind you using it, but please link to back to [URL on your site where the image could be found] and give me credit. I spent a lot of time and money creating the images on my site, and I would appreciate it if people knew that it was originally created by me.

Please make this change in the next 72 hours.

Thanks

[insert your name]

Out of all of the link tactics mentioned in this post, this one has the highest success rate. It’s close to 100%.

If you email someone and they don’t link back, try them a few more times.

As your site grows in popularity, more people will steal your images, which will make it easier to build backlinks.

Tactic #3: Link reclamation

As your website gets older, you’ll notice that people will naturally mention you and your company. But when they mention your company name they won’t always link to you.

So why not email all of these people and ask them to turn the mention into a link?

It’s a simple strategy, and it works really well.

Just think of it this way, if someone has mentioned you or your company without you having to convince them, it typically means they already like what they see.

So, when you email them, not only will they feel flattered, but there is a high probability they will respond as well.

This means it will be easy for you to convince them to link to you.

But when you shoot off the email, I highly recommend that you also share the content that mentions you on the social web and let them know that you did this.

Here’s an example email:

Subject: I’m honored, thanks [insert their first name]

Hey [insert their first name],

I’m flattered! I really appreciate you mentioning me on your site [insert link to the article that mentions you but doesn’t contain a link].

I just wanted to let you know that I shared your article on Twitter to show my appreciation.

On a side note, I would appreciate it if you adjusted the mention of my name, “[insert your name]” and turned it into a link that pointed people to [URL of your site].

Cheers,

[insert your name]

PS: Let me know if I can do anything for you

Your success rate should be well over 50%. For me, my rate is close to 83%, but again a lot of people in marketing know who I am, so your success rate will be lower.

The key to leveraging this tactic is to email people right when they publish a post that mentions your site but doesn’t contain a link.

If you ask people to add a link to a post that is older than 6 months, you’ll find yourself generating only 1 link for every 5 or 6 emails you send.

In other words, if you want a high success rate, you need to be on top of it. The easiest way is to create alerts using Buzzsumo.

Just sign in and click on “monitoring.” Then click on “create new alert.”

Then click “brand mentions.”

Fill out the name of your site or company. Make sure you also add any misspellings.

Select how you want to be notified anytime someone mentions you.

Click finish, and you’ll then see a see a report that shows you how many mentions there are over the last week, month or even 2 months. As well as a list of sites that mentioned you.

Again, I can’t emphasize this enough, but you should try and email people within 24 hours of having a brand mention. That’ll give you the highest chance of generating a link.

Tactic #4: Performance-based press

Do you want mentions on sites like TechCrunch and Entrepreneur? And no, I am not talking about guest posts.

Well, of course, you want to be mentioned on those sites. But how?

There are companies like PRserve that offer performance-based press. If they get your press, then you pay. If they don’t, you won’t spend a dollar.

The cool part about PRserve is that it is a real legitimate PR agency. They don’t sell links, they aren’t familiar with link building, and they don’t leverage author accounts or guest posts. They pitch editors to write about you and your company.

These editors will either say yes or no. If they say no, again, you don’t pay a dollar. If they say yes, PRserve charges you a performance-based fee that ranges depending on the site (you’ll negotiate this rate with them in advance).

Now, there is one big thing to note about PRserve. There is no guarantee that when they get you an article there will be a link to your company. For example, if they convince TechCrunch to blog about you, there is no guarantee that TechCrunch will link to your site. They will mention you, but again there is no guarantee of a link.

But if you take this strategy and combine it with tactic 3, you should easily be able to turn that mention into a link.

As for all of the tactics, this one is my favorite. The reason being is that it drives revenue.

When sites like Venture Beat and TechCrunch cover you, expect to get more leads, sales, and traffic.

The guy I’ve dealt with at PRserve is named Chris. He typically knows before taking on a project what he can produce and how long it will take. As a heads up, things move a bit slow, but that is because he is actually pitching editors of big publications who tend to have busy schedules.

Tactic #5: Infographics

You’ve heard me talk about infographics before, but this tactic has a slight spin.

See, whenever you create content (whether it is blog posts, videos, podcasts) there is no guarantee that it will do well.

Here’s a screenshot of some my latest blog posts…

As you can see from the image above, some posts have done much better than others. You can tell by the number of comments on each post (the higher the comment count, in general, the more popular the post was).

Can you guess why some posts have done better than others?

I put in a lot of time to each of my posts, so that’s not it. To be honest, no one really knows the answer. Content marketing tends to be a hit or miss, in which some of your content will do really well and others won’t.

You are going to have many more misses than hits, which is why I am about to explain a strategy that will only produce hits (at least from a link perspective).

I want you to go to Ahrefs, click on “content explorer,” and type in keywords related to your space.

Ahrefs will show you all of the popular articles based off of social shares and links. Look for articles that contain at least 100 backlinks.

Here’s an article I found in the content marketing vertical that has over 3,600 backlinks.

What’ll you’ll want to do is read that post and turn it into an infographic.

You’ll need to cite the original source. You can easily do this by adding their logo to the footer of the infographic and include the text “data provided by.”

If you don’t know how to create an infographic, you can pay people on Fiverr or you can use tools like Infogram.

Once you create the infographic, publish it on your blog and, of course, link to the original source. Now you’ll want to email each of the sites that linked to the original article and mention how you have turned it into an infographic. You’ll even want to give them the embed code.

The email would go something like this…

Subject: I think you need to see this

[insert their first name], would you agree people are more visual learners?

Well of course you do. We all tend to learn better from looking at visuals than reading text. 🙂

I noticed you linked to [insert the article they linked to] and I get why. It is an amazing resource for your readers. I also enjoyed it, which is why I turned it into an infographic.

[insert link to your infographic]

If you think it will help your readers digest the information, feel free to embed it within your blog.

Oh, and if you are wondering where you linked to [name of the article they linked to], it’s here [URL of on their website that links out].

Cheers,

[insert your name]

PS: Let me know if I can do anything for you.

This approach to link building requires a bit of work, but it works really well. The reason being is you are taking out the guesswork of what people love.

As long as you pick informational articles that can be turned into infographics and these articles have at least 100 links, you’ll be able to generate links.

Again, I can’t emphasize this enough, but you need to go after articles with at least 100 links. Some of the sites linking in will be junk and not everyone will embed your infographic… so going after a site with 100 links, in general, should help you build 16 or 17 links.

If you also don’t know how to create an embed code for your infographic, just use this WordPress plugin.

A good working example of this strategy is this science of social timing infographic we created. The data was originally gathered by Dan Zarrella. We just turned it into a visual graphic. This strategy helped me generate 1,070 backlinks.

Tactic #6: Moving Man Method

Do you know how many businesses shut down each year? I don’t know the exact number, but it has to be a lot because 7 out of 10 businesses fail.

When these businesses shut down it opens up a lot of link opportunities… hence broken link building exists. But today I’m not going to teach you about broken link building as you are already familiar with it.

Instead, I am going to share with you a similar strategy, that has a slight twist, called the Moving Man Method. It was created by my friend, Brian Dean and it has helped him generated high domain authority links.

If you want to leverage the Moving Man Method, you need to find businesses who:

Changed their name

Stopped updating resources

Discontinued products and services

Are slowly letting their business die as they are running out of money

Have announced that they are going out of business (but haven’t yet)

Brian used this strategy to get a DA 87 link.

If you want to leverage the Moving Man Method you need to first find sites within your space that have done one of the 5 things above.

For example, in the marketing space, Search Engine Watch used to be a popular research site within the marketing community, but since they got bought out years ago the current owners haven’t done much with it. The business isn’t doing well, and they don’t put much time into it.

And Blueglass was once a popular SEO agency until they shut down their main US operations. Here are some sample emails Brian sent to gain links.

In most cases, people respond because you are helping them ensure their site stays up to date by not linking to URLs that won’t benefit their readers and, secondly, you are giving them a new option to link to, so they don’t have to waste time finding a replacement.

And here’s the response Brian got:

This strategy works similar to broken link building. All you have to do is take the link that meets one of the 5 requirements above and put it into Ahrefs.

Conclusion

I know link building is hard. I’ve been where you are today. You spend countless hours trying to build links, but for some reason, you just can’t convince anyone to link to you.

No matter how tempting it sounds, don’t take shortcuts by buying links. Focus on long-term strategies as it will ensure that you will do better in Google in the long run.

And if you are struggling, start off with the first tactic I mentioned in this post. It tends to be effective and you can leverage it at scale.

Tactic 2 and 5 take a bit more effort, but they also work really well. For example, the infographic I showcased in tactic 5 has more backlinks than the original article. 😉

Tactic 3 and 4 also work, but they won’t generate you hundreds of backlinks. You should still leverage them as the more links you get the better off you are. You just have to be patient with these two.

And lastly, tactic 6 works well too, but you can’t always control the timing. Reason being is you have to wait for sites within your industry to meet one of the 5 requirements I gave you in tactic 6.

If you are struggling to build links, use all of these tactics. They work well and you’ll notice results within 30 days.

Are you struggling to build links? Have you tried any of the tactics I mentioned above?

The post How to Build Links When No One Will Link to You appeared first on Neil Patel.

Read more here - http://review-and-bonuss.blogspot.com/2018/10/how-to-build-links-when-no-one-will.html

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ericsburden-blog · 7 years ago