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dbh-bb · 7 months ago

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Yet More Questions

As we come up to the final sign up deadline for Artists we've been receiving a lot of questions about how much we expect by June 1st, so we wanted clarify some information for both artists and writers

ARTISTS

Oh my god, how much do I have to have ready to submit by 01 June? What will the form ask for?

The form will ask you to submit the following things:

Identifying info (obvs), including whether you are a minor

Your willingness to be paired with a minor

A sketch, layout, or concept of your art

The premise of your concept for the story

Ratings you’d be happy with on the story

Things you really don’t want to see in the story

Let’s break down a few of those.

Sketch, layout, or concept of your art:

This should be substantial enough to get your idea across to the writer. It does not have to be finished or near-finished (although it can be if you’re there). If you work in a medium that takes significant time to generate, or where the concept of a “sketch” is hard to apply (such as 3D render art, gifs, or fanvids), do your best to express what the idea is. This could include a storyboard, a rough sketch, stick figures, and/or references/examples to show what you mean. We want the writers to get the general idea of what the final art will look like.

We will ask these submissions to be in standard formats (i.e. .png, .jpg, .gif, etc) that can be accessed on anyone’s computer without the use of special software. Your final art can be in your preferred format.

There will also be a text box where you can describe what the final art will be, like you might for an alt-text.

Premise of your concept for the story:

Artists aren’t just sharing a sketch, they’re sharing the concept behind that sketch. The concept of your story should be enough to give your writer a good direction to head in, without being so limiting that you’re ‘ordering’ a story rather than planting an idea. Yes, you can give ideas for bits of dialogue, and scenes, and major story beats and character dynamics. We want you to be either providing a jumping off point that a writer can build from, or full on working with the writer to tell a story. You need to give them enough that they can write ten thousand words from it, so we want more than the idea for the scene you are depicting yourself and a pairing.

That being said, this isn’t an opportunity to demand a very specific story out of a writer; that’s called a commission. There should still be room for the author to help shape the story as well. As Atro said, you’re giving them the blueprints; they’re building the house.

Things you don’t want to see in the story:

This is where you can let writers know anything you really don’t want added to the story. Including your personal specific do-not-wants is a way to help writers pick which stories they want to bid for. For example: “No X/Y, I prefer X and Y as platonic,” or “Please no background A/B.”

Keep two things in mind: first, writers are not allowed to add any of the AO3 Big Four to a story unless the artist suggests it first. Second, we do expect writers to work with the artist’s concept. So you don’t need to list out every single possible thing you don’t want.

What if my idea is risque, or even extreme?

We’ll make sure you get into the version not provided to minors, and you’ll have the same space to explain your concept as everyone else. Sometimes having a more extreme concept makes it harder to find a writer …but sometimes, you find that one person who does see your vision! All we ask is that you remain flexible in case the idea has to evolve to find you a match.

I’m not a writer. How much do they need for 10,000 words?

In writing terms, 10k and up is a novelette or a novella — either way, a short novel. Significantly, this will introduce plot. Now sometimes people think “plot means an entire movie” and it might not — sometimes the plot is “X and Y on a date.” Sometimes the plot is porn. But 10,000 words gives you both room to play with moving pieces.

Example for artists who don’t write: Let’s use a very generic concept: a heist fic. You want the Jericrew on a heist. THESE ARE ESTIMATES DONT COME AT ME based on mods being old enough to remember when a drabble was 100 words exactly, but in general:

~3000 words will get you a scene. A dramatic scene or a confrontation! Cool! But a single scene.

5000-7000 words is a bit of the plot. Maybe the heist itself. Or a bit after the heist. More details, some repercussions.

~10,000 words will cover… let’s say planning the heist, executing it, and a bit of what comes after.

A full mystery novel is usually 70,000-90,000 words.

I’ve seen heist fics that break 200K.

This is why the minimum is 10,000 words — we want to generate deeper works where things happen. And the artists get to start the process this year. For those of you who wanted to make multiple arts and are limited by our writer count: this is your chance to think of other artworks you’d like to make within this concept!

WRITERS

How much information / freedom am I going to have?

First: We ask that writers do not add any of the AO3 Big Four to a story unless the artist suggests it.

Second, see above for the information artists are being invited to share, to get a feel for it.

Third: There will be a variety of offers to choose from. Some artists might have a much more vague concept, while others might have a lot of the story in their head already. Remember that writers get to pick in this scenario. So if you prefer jumping into a fully-formed idea, look for those. If you prefer a less-firm idea where you can really collaborate with your partner to flesh it out, look for those.

Artists are expected to understand that their concept is a suggestion, not a commission. So even if an artist sounds like they have a narrow view of the story they want, they know that they need to work with their writer to make it belong to both of you. Even at low levels of collaboration, we’ve seen this work out so that both contributors can be happy. So if there’s an idea you love but/and have suggestions for, go for it — there’s a good chance your artist will be happy with all your enthusiasm.

#detroit: become human #detroit become human #dbh #dbhrbb2024 #reverse big bang #fanart #fanfic #big bang #dbh big bang #detroit become human reverse big bang

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krunal-vyas · 2 months ago

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Boost Your Real Estate Business with SEO Nova Scotia Tips

As a real estate professional in Nova Scotia, you know the competition can be tough. Whether you're an agent, broker, or property developer, it can be hard to stand out. Many of us struggle to understand how SEO (Search Engine Optimization) works and how to reach local buyers online.

That’s why I’m excited to share some simple SEO Nova Scotia tips just for you. In this post, you’ll learn how to improve your online presence, attract more local buyers, and grow your business. Let’s dive in and see how SEO can help you succeed!

SEO Nova Scotia: Key Tips for Real Estate Professionals to Succeed

1. Understanding SEO Basics

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SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It helps your website show up higher in search results on Google and other search engines. Think of it as a way to connect with buyers who are looking for properties in Nova Scotia.

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Local SEO is essential for businesses, especially in real estate. It helps you reach buyers in your area, making it easier for them to find your listings and services. Since many people search for homes online, knowing how to do local SEO is key to getting noticed.

How Do Search Engines Work?

Search engines like Google look for and rank web pages based on several factors, such as relevance and authority. By learning how search engines operate, you can better optimize your website and improve your chances of being found by potential clients.

2. The Nova Scotia Real Estate Market

Current Trends in the Nova Scotia Real Estate Market

The Nova Scotia real estate market is always changing. Newcomers are moving in, and tourism is strong. Keeping up with these trends can help you adjust your SEO strategies to meet buyer needs.

Who Are Your Buyers?

Knowing your audience is crucial. Many buyers in Nova Scotia are young families looking for a great place to live, retirees seeking peace and quiet, or investors looking for good deals. By understanding who they are, you can better target your SEO efforts.

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Local SEO helps you connect with buyers right in your neighborhood. It ensures you show up in local searches, making it easier for clients to find you.

3. Keyword Research for Real Estate in Nova Scotia

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Start by thinking of keywords that potential buyers might use, like “homes for sale in Nova Scotia” or “buy property in Halifax.” These keywords can be the backbone of your SEO strategy.

Tools for Keyword Research

Use tools like Google Keyword Planner or SEMrush to find keyword ideas. These tools show you how many people search for certain terms and how tough the competition is.

Long-tail vs. Short-tail Keywords

Long-tail keywords are specific phrases (like “oceanfront homes for sale in Nova Scotia”) that have less competition. Using these can help attract buyers who are more likely to convert.

4. On-Page SEO Best Practices

Why Optimize Your Website Content?

It’s important to make sure your website content is optimized. This means using relevant keywords while providing valuable information to visitors.

Tips for Writing Good Meta Titles and Descriptions

Create catchy meta titles and descriptions that include keywords and accurately represent your page content. This can help increase clicks from potential buyers.

Use Headings for Structure

Organize your content with headings (like H1, H2, H3, H4). This makes it easier for readers to follow and helps search engines understand your content better.

Best Practices for Image Optimization

Optimize your images with descriptive file names and alt text. This not only makes your site more accessible but also helps with search rankings.

5. Creating High-Quality Content

Types of Content That Attract Buyers

Mix up your content. Write blog posts, create market reports, and share video tours of properties. High-quality content shows you know what you’re talking about and builds trust with potential buyers.

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When you list properties, use detailed descriptions, high-quality images, and point out unique features. Help buyers imagine themselves living in the home.

Local Guides and Resources

Make local guides about neighborhoods, schools, and amenities. This not only enhances your content but also shows you’re a local expert.

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Why Google My Business is Important

Google My Business (GMB) helps you appear in local search results and on Google Maps. It’s a must-have for local visibility.

Tips for Optimizing Your GMB Listing

Complete Your Profile: Fill out every section, including business hours and services.

Use Keywords: Add relevant keywords in your business description, like “SEO Nova Scotia” and “Halifax SEO services.”

Post Updates: Share news and special offers regularly to engage your audience.

Getting Customer Reviews

Ask happy clients to leave reviews. Positive reviews not only boost your credibility but also help improve your local search rankings.

Building Local Citations and Backlinks

Citations and backlinks from other local websites can help improve your site’s authority and search rankings. Collaborating with top SEO agencies in Halifax can strengthen your local backlinks.

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Why Mobile-Friendly Websites Matter

More buyers use mobile devices to search for properties. A mobile-friendly website is essential to keep visitors engaged.

Tips for Mobile Optimization

Responsive Design: Make sure your website looks good on all screen sizes.

Fast Loading Times: Optimize images and scripts to improve loading speed.

Tools for Testing Mobile Responsiveness

Use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to check if your website is mobile-optimized.

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Social media can bring a lot of traffic to your website. Engaging content shared on platforms like Facebook and Instagram can enhance your SEO efforts.

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Use Visuals: Share high-quality images and videos of properties to catch attention.

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Connecting with the Community

Join local community groups on social media. Connecting with residents can lead to new business opportunities.

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Tools for Tracking SEO Performance

Use Google Analytics and Google Search Console to track how your website is doing and find areas to improve.

Key Metrics to Monitor

Organic Traffic: Check how many visitors come from search engines.

Bounce Rate: Track how many visitors leave your site without taking action.

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Regularly review your data to see what’s working and what’s not. Change your SEO strategies based on this information to improve results.

10. Continuous Learning and Adaptation

Staying Updated with SEO Trends

SEO is always changing. Keep learning about new trends and updates to stay competitive in the Nova Scotia real estate market.

Resources for Ongoing Education

Subscribe to reputable SEO blogs, attend webinars, or take online courses to keep your skills sharp.

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Be ready to change your strategies based on shifts in the market or changes in buyer behavior. Flexibility is key to long-term success.

Conclusion

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I encourage you to put these SEO Nova Scotia tips into action and see how they can help your business grow. Whether you tackle these strategies on your own or work with a trusted SEO company in Halifax, the important thing is to start now.

#seo #realestate #realestateseo #novascotia #seonovascotia #seotips #realestateseonovascotia #business #iqlance #seoforrealestate #seotipsforrealestate

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public-hazard · 5 months ago

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it’s the windows rant. (the operating system.)

This post is:

subjective

(subjective, in case that is hard to read)

this my opinion. as a person.

TL;DR: I’m a fucking nerd & i hate windows 11 in particular

Now, for the record, i am not going to discuss versions of windows i have personally used ever. which is everything before 7. I also may have a lot of nostalgia for windows 7, being the main version of windows i was ever exposed to. let’s move on, shall we? i will also do my best to provide alt text for images of these, if it matters any. not that I think anyone will read this (at all) but: accessibility matters and should be THE NORMAL STATE and can help people even if it was not intended for them!

windows 7:

Released in 2009 and the successor to Windows Vista. It still looks beautiful, even in its older age. If it weren’t for a lack of support, I’d use windows 7 until i fucking died. it’s beautiful. the startup chime, the way everything looks and feels! detailed but not cluttered with useless bullshit. a time when windows was simpler and didn’t give you so much software you didn’t ask for. if i had to describe a texture for this I’d say probably smooth, cold glass. a well made cup or a coffee table.

windows 8.1 (i am not sure how much it varies from 8):

it feels like cheap plastic. it strays away from a lot of the look and feel of windows 7 but somehow is not my least favorite because windows 11 exists. I’ve also used Windows 8.1 a lot, but i can safely say i don’t have a real opinion on it. it feels experimental, a step in a different direction and like a child learning to draw. the sketch for Windows 10. not too bad about stuff i wanted to instantly uninstall. No image for this one, since the desktop and start menu are separated. Sorry.

Windows 10:

it’s fine. looks fine. minimalist, not much character. it feels like more high-quality plastic. it’s also when windows really started giving you software you didn’t want, i believe. I’m not super familiar with this one.

Windows 11:

what the fuck is wrong with this thing.

thanks, i hate it! i have WORDS

it takes most of the things i felt were unique about the way windows looks, looks me in the eye, and smashes everything and everyone i love beneath its heel.

You can, however, make the taskbar go back in its rightful place, the left corner.

it feels so similar to ChromeOS in a sense with its default center taskbar and simple icons. and.. what is that logo. no really, what the fuck is that. It’s just four fucking squares, at least windows 8.1 and 10 made it look like a fucking window by slanting then a little

it’s not even that i hate minimalist design, I promise

it just feels completely and utterly industrialized and removes any sense of fucking uniqueness and whimsy

And for what, applications and and shortcuts I didn’t want or need. do you know whenever I use a windows 11 how many applications i look for in task manager to kill? At least 3!

i can’t even give this thing a texture! it’s smooth, cheap plastic and deceptively thin aluminum that bends if you insult its mother

AND DONT GET ME STARTED ON WINDOWS 11 S MODE oh wait no i guess I should anyway

In case you’re unaware, Windows 11 S mode only allows you to install things from the Microsoft store. This is really good for… kids, the elderly, and anyone who isn’t technologically inclined or savvy or whatever. that’s the use case. but not gamers. this is not for gamers. sorry; you want steam? get fucked. I believe you mostly encounter when it’s preinstalled.

luckily this is completely and entirely removable. it is not able to be put back on (As far as I know).

iirc, it’s a bit awkward to remove? and not very intuitive (windows? being intuitive? in your dreams!)

i should not have to research how to undo a feature on a computer because i wanted to play portal. Not to mention at some point the method changed it appears? last I remember, but again; it’s been a while.

to conclude: windows 11 is the devil and i hate it.

#this is a long ass rant. i don’t want to know how long #this is again more about laptops because i am more familiar with them.#this is a post about hating windows 11 #fuck windows 11 #i hate it and it’s the devil #you get the point

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loonyoz · 6 months ago

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Idk I guess I should make a pinned post? Sideblogs, links to my art posts, and info about me below the cut

@hezele is where I’m attempting to write fanfiction

I might make a sideblog for my art someday? Idk

My Art:

Right now I just have very random bg3 art

Wyllstarion Howl’s Moving Castle AU:

Wyll making a pact

Wyll and Astarion

Sketch of Wyll in demon bird form

Sketch of fem!Wyll

Strictly Ballroom Wyllstarion

Sketch of Branwyn, @/odessa-castle 's oc from their lovely fic Nothing Like the Sun. (highly recommend giving it a read!)

Used to have supernatural art and non fan art posted but got self conscious and deleted it lol.

Other notes and info about me:

I would list all my interests (like books, shows, etc.) but uhhh that list is way too long. Honestly I feel like I love most things/genres/media and am always looking for more art to engage with and appreciate.

I try to put alt text on all my posts that have images but I’m pretty sure I’m ass at it lol. Lmk if you have suggestions for me on how to make my posts more accessible or my alt text better and I will do my best to implement it.

This is the internet so I really don’t want to share much about myself, but I think it goes without saying I’m very neurodivergent and queer lol. I use way too many terms but genderfluid, transmasc, and nonbinary are the best descriptors for myself.

Branching off of that I want to say the internet is a difficult place to navigate, especially socially. I’m sure I make lots of mistakes on how to communicate best with people online, but I try my best to do so as respectfully and kindly as possible. The internet is a great way to get information and have discussions about important topics, but there are many pitfalls and problems that can occur that are too numerous and complicated to get into here (although I’m sure anyone whose been on the internet for all of 5 seconds is familiar with them).

I use tumblr mainly to discuss creative media and I also don’t feel I’m qualified or informed enough to speak on most serious/real world topics. So I try to avoid bringing up alot of real world issues on my blog because I worry I would only be detrimental to these causes. Of course, creative media is not off in its own bubble from the real world and so real life problems are bound to be part of the art or discussions.

I bring this up for two reasons. One, I don’t want people to see my lack of activism and feel uncomfortable, or that I don’t care. This is unavoidable but perhaps this alleviates some people’s worries. Two, I want people to know I’m open to constructive criticism and learning new things. If I post something that you think is misinformed or hurtful, and you’re willing to tell me, I want to know about it and what I can do to improve. And on lighter note, I love to analyze stories and art and provide my thoughts and opinions on it. My favorite thing is to have discussions/arguments about interpretations of stories and ideas. So as long you approach me in a respectful/kind way I would be overjoyed to chat.

Anyway if you read this far, thanks for slogging through the wall of text :). Tumblr is glitchy but Im pretty sure most of my followers are bots I need to block 🤷

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squarespaceadacompliance · 2 years ago

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cock-off-the-rock · 2 years ago

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Too bad I’m showing you anyway-

I also have an entire written out backstory if anyone would like to read that :)

(Alt text below cut :) )

TEXT:

So with König’s voice actor being a Sigma male I’ve decided I should introduce my Cod oc so…

THIS IS LUCKY! (And his dog Molly!)

About 30 years old, mentally ill, and gay. (Just like me for real)

He’s a mechanic for tanks and other armored vehicles. He also occasionally works in demolitions.

To understand his story you gotta understand a few things first:

I’ve sort of created my own au for the cannon characters. In this universe, all of the operators (both specgru and kortac) are affiliated with 141 and live at one of Alejandro’s bases. They function out of there, tying up loose ends and going on different missions.

Their main opposition is the remnants of shadow company and their allies (other private armies and task forces)

He was abused by his hyper religious mother until age 9 where he went to live with his dad and brother (both in the Navy)

He transitioned under his dad’s care and just decided not to tell anyone he had ever been trans to begin with. He does the same with his diagnosis (ADHD, Autism, Paranoid Schizophrenia.)

His dad died of a heart attack the day he enlisted in the Navy, giving him no time to grieve. He started hallucinating his father as a deer with a gunshot wound in it’s forehead. His brother died a year and a half later and he also became a deer.

He decided the next step was to join the special forces (aka private militaries) like his father and brother had done. He ended up joining an ally organization of Shadow Company’s. He stuck with them until they abandoned him, thinking he was a traitor. He was saved by his bomb dog Molly.

141 captured him, intending to get info out of him then kill him, but he ended up proving useful as he had fully given up on his previous troop (they treated him like shit anyway).

They decided to give him a chance and he started working in the garages- repairing vehicles and other tech.

The trust he had with 141 grew over a few months. (This is where he met everyone- including König who I will get to in a bit). Eventually, he had heard that ghost team was going to hit his old base and wipe them out. He begged to go with to see their downfall, but they wouldn’t let him.

They put him on house arrest with König stopping him from leaving, but he managed to escape, bringing König with him. He convinced the other to clear the base with him and they did so. König provided sniper cover while Lucky snuck his way in and blew everything sky high with a tank he found.

He ended up getting put on house arrest for 6 months after that, but he was content with the destruction he had caused. He works with 141 whenever they need him, mainly staying on base to work on repairs.

The two met because König was supposed to bring him meals and watch him every other day when he was on house arrest/technically a prisoner. König ended up being really the only person in that few month period that didn’t interrogate him like a prisoner but instead seemed genuinely interested in what he had to say. He also brought Lucky a few home cooked meals and even a case of alcohol once so Lucky was absolutely smitten for him immediately.

König liked him because Lucky didn’t immediately start assuming things about him because of his build. Lucky also understood pretty well the other’s anxiety and tried his best to help him work through it. During their mission to destroy Lucky’s old base, Lucky was patient and made sure that König was safe and secure. He would off himself before he hurt König

Here’s a few facts about him:

He plays violin fairly well!

His old task force used to call him “Nest”. He got “Lucky” from his dad.

He’s really good at imitating voices and accents.

He likes photography.

Weapon of choice? Shotguns.

He like leaning into the Irish stereotype because 1. He thinks it’s funny and 2. It helps him avoid derealization. Also he just fits it. My little alcoholic.

Most of his tattoos are for good luck

——

Do you guys want to see my CoD oc

#cod mw22 #call of duty modern warfare #cod #call of duty modern warfare 2 #call of duty #codmw2 #headcannons #könig cod #könig #könig mw2 #original character #please I’m not cringe

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qitwrites · 3 years ago

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⬅ Previous || 20 || Next ➡

Kirishima stays behind in the gym most evenings. This is not news to anyone, nor is it uncommon.

He usually outstays everyone actually. His stamina seems to be endless, and his quirk relies on his physical health and his ability to increase and extend his limits. So, Kirishima stays, and he trains, and he smiles the whole time. He pumps iron like a madman but makes sure to stay (barely) within his limits.

Tokoyami is aware of Kirishima’s gym habits, so he isn’t surprised when he backtracks one day to pick up a towel he’d left on one of the stands, only to find Kirishima in the room even though it’s late evening. It isn’t anything worth noting.

What is weird though is seeing him sitting cross-legged on the floor, right in front of the floor to ceiling mirrors, his face almost glued to his reflection. He’s leaning with his hands on his knees, and Tokoyami’s sure his forehead is touching the mirror.

The red head just stares at his reflection, and Tokoyami realizes that Kirishima is so absorbed in whatever it is that he’s doing that he doesn’t even realize the beaked hero is in the room. Tokoyami cocks his head to the side and decides to wait a minute before making his presence known.

Moments later, Kirishima hardens himself. More specifically, he hardens himself from the neck up, his arms and legs still soft and unchanged. It’s still nothing too out of the ordinary, except the face-plastered-to-the-mirror-while-on-the-floor bit.

7 seconds later, Kirishima takes a deep breath and grunts, hardening further. Layers and layers of hardening stack up like a deck of cards, and Tokoyami swallows back a chirp of amazement as he witnesses Kirishima go into Unbreakable form, his face and neck jagged and sharp. It’s mesmerizing almost, his diamond like appearance, the way it makes the vertebrae on the back of his neck jut out like a protective armor, the way even his hair hardens, though he’s left it in a pony right now.

And his eyes. Kirishima’s eyes look fierce, fiery, and so menacing. Tokoyami watches him in awe.

Kirishima continues to stay on the floor, staring at his reflection in Unbreakable. Reading his expressions might be difficult when his face is literally like a slab of well sculpted marble, not soft or malleable enough to form expressions and convey emotions, but Tokoyami can tell he’s furrowing his brow. He can see the frustration dancing in his brown-red eyes, and a few more seconds later Kirishima drops his quirk entirely. His vertebrae melt back into his neck, his cheeks are soft and fluffy, his hair puffy, and his eyes-

Sad. Thoughtful. Frustrated.

Tokoyami clears his throat. ‘Excuse me.’

Kirishima whips his head around with a surprised look on his face. He breaks into a grin when he sees Tokoyami.

‘What’s up man?’

Tokoyami points at the stands near Kirishima, slowly making his way towards it. ‘I seem to have left my towel here, I wish to pick it up so I may wash it before our next sessions.’

Kirishima looks at the stand and nods in understanding. ‘Gotcha! Please go ahead.’ He gives him a thumbs up.

Tokoyami picks up the familiar black towel with its deep purple border. The material is familiar and deceptively soft, and it smells like him. He hugs it to his chest and takes a step back before turning to look at Kirishima. The redhead catches his stare in the mirror and looks up, throwing him a quizzical smile.

‘Pardon the intrusion,’ Tokoyami starts softly, fidgeting with the towel. ‘I happened to walk in while you engaged your quirk, and I am unable to understand your intentions.’

Kirishima’s face pales instantly. ‘Oh shit, you saw that? I swear, I’m not using my quirk for anything weird, I know we aren’t supposed to use it outside of hero stuff yet but please don’t tell anyone, I really don-‘

‘Ah, you misunderstand,’ Tokoyami interrupts. ‘I do not believe you’re doing anything improper or unsafe. I merely wish to inquire about your intentions as I could not decipher them for myself. That is, of course, if you wish to speak about it. With me. If not, I understand completely and will gladly drop the subject.’

Kirishima immediately deflates with a relieved sigh. He looks away from Tokoyami and watches his own face in the mirror. Tokoyami moves his gaze to Kirishima’s face, and they look at each other through the reflective surface. Kirishima gives him a small smile, tentative and uncertain and very un-Kirishima like.

‘I don’t like talking about it cause it sounds super dumb but it’s not like I don’t want to talk about it. Um. Just. Don’t laugh? I guess?’

Tokoyami nods. ‘I would never do anything to intentionally hurt you. I am honored that you would trust me enough to open up about whatever it is that seems to plague your mind.’

Kirishima laughs softly. ‘I don’t think it’s anything quite so dramatic. It’s just, I’ve been doing some quirk training, I guess? Not the kind I can do during our Hero course though. This is more personal?’

Tokoyami nods in understanding, silently urging him to continue.

‘I’ve read so many things about my Unbreakable form. Most people love it. And I love it! I mean, it’s definitely a work in progress, and I know I can develop it more and get better and stronger and everything, but it’s a good move for sure. So, like, I know we all get our criticisms about our quirks, that’s normal and that’s ok.’

Kirishima clenches the fists in his lap, eyes dropping down to watch them. ‘I’ve read that my Unbreakable form is scary. Ugly. Menacing. Frightening.’ He purses his lips. ‘I don’t think those are bad things, not at all. And I don’t really mind what it looks like, it gets the job done!’

Kirishima looks back up, twisting to catch Tokoyami’s eyes with his own, omitting the mirror altogether. ‘But I wonder if my face is too scary for the kids, you know? And when I’m in the middle of a rescue in the future, I don’t want to add to their stress. I don’t want to scare them anymore than they already probably will be. But I can’t really drop Unbreakable all the time either.’

Tokoyami nods again, understanding Kirishima’s problems and feeling it ache in his core.

‘So, I wondered if there’s any way for me to make Unbreakable just a little more humane while preserving its functionality. I was thinking about softening just my eyes, so they’re not quite so jagged and scary.’

Kirishima’s eyes move back to the mirror, and he punches his thigh roughly, mouth twisting into a grimace. ‘Fine control over small portions of my body is hard though. I have a tough enough time maintaining Unbreakable on its own. To fine tune that even more seems impossible. And like, I’m not even sure it’ll work. I don’t know. I don’t have any idea what I’m doing Tokoyami. Not a damned clue.’

Tokoyami trills in thought, his hand moving up to support his chin.

‘While I do not wish to move the subject away from you, I would like to convey my empathy for I too face similar challenges.’ He gently prods Dark Shadow from within before continuing, ‘I do not have a conventional appearance. I do not look scary either, but Dark Shadow is, I have been told, a formidable presence.’

Dark Shadow peeks over Tokoyami’s shoulder and waves enthusiastically at Kirishima. The redhead breaks into a huge grin and returns the gesture with gusto, more than used to Dark Shadow’s appearance and antics. He really likes the guy.

‘I appreciate that our classmates have gotten used to us, and to him, but I also question how many civilians would like to be rescued by an individual with an ability like mine. I too would not like to add to their distress.’

Kirishima nods in understanding, the look in his eyes softening immeasurably.

‘I am unsure of how to help, but I would be happy to provide you with any moral support or even some simple company while you embark on this quest.’

Kirishima pats the spot next to him. ‘Sure thing Tokoyami, I really appreciate it man!’

Tokoyami nods and takes a seat on the floor. The two boys move to face each other, and Tokoyami spends the next half hour watching Kirishima engage his quirk, engage Unbreakable, and then struggle to soften his eyes.

He watches as Kirishima softens a cheek instead sometimes, watches as his forehead ripples uncertainly, watches his neck pulse with his quirk, and watches as his eyes sometimes go soft and warm. He encourages the best he can, celebrating the victories and pushing Kirishima to try once more when he fails. They burst into laughter more often than not, and it’s honestly a lot of fun.

Even Dark Shadow hangs around, somehow procuring pom-poms to celebrate and cheer.

When Kirishima finally calls it an evening, they get to their feet and start heading to the dorms.

‘If you require company, please do not hesitate to approach me. If I am able, it would be an honor to cheer you on and watch you succeed in this endeavor.’

Kirishima places a large, warm hand on his shoulder and squeezes. ‘I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this Tokoyami! I don’t practice it every day, but I’ll shoot you a text whenever I get the time to practice, and we can try to coordinate and make it work!’ He gives him his big sunshine smile. ‘Thank you for talking to me about it by the way, I really do feel a lot better.’

Tokoyami gives him another nod, and the boys walk back, enjoying the evening breeze and some light banter.

In the following weeks, Tokoyami and Kirishima swap messages and meet a lot more often. Tokoyami keeps tabs of his progress and gently pushes him to do better, and Kirishima laughs around with Dark Shadow when they take breaks. Sometimes they meet, decide they’re too lazy to quirk train and just watch old horror movies that leave Kirishima hiding behind Dark Shadow instead. Sometimes they listen to alt rock or do bicep curls. It’s a refreshing change of pace for both of them.

All their training does pay off though, sooner than they could’ve anticipated.

Aizawa brings Eri with him to hero training one day, and the young girl sits on a chair out of the way, watching with wide, amazed eyes. Aizawa stays close to her, watching over training with keen, knowing eyes. When he sees Kirishima doing some resistance training in Unbreakable form, he thinks of some pointers.

‘Riot!’

The redhead whips around to look at his teacher. Aizawa makes a come over here gesture with his hand, and Kirishima drops his quirk as he starts walking.

‘Come over here with your quirk engaged,’ Aizawa says. ‘You need to keep working on how long you can maintain your Unbreakable form, so don’t drop it right now.’

Immediately Kirishima engages his quirk and walks over to Aizawa, and every step is filled with the sharp sound of friction. Tokoyami watches as they talk, and he sees Eri looking at Red Riot with big wonderous eyes.

When they’re done chatting, Kirishima looks over at Eri. She flinches slightly, though no one can blame that on Kirishima’s appearance- Eri still flinches with most people.

Still, Tokoyami watches as Kirishima gets on his knees in front of her, still in Unbreakable form, and he sees Kirishima soften his eyes. They become liquid ruby, and he can feel the warmth almost from halfway across the gym.

He can’t hear what they say, but he sees Eri smile bright and even giggle, and he sees Aizawa appraising the situation with raised brows and an impressed sort of half smile.

Tokoyami gives Kirishima a pat on the back in his mind and bumps fists with Dark Shadow.

They all definitely have to celebrate later with some old horror movies and popcorn.

#bnha #bnha: thicker than blood #boku no hero academia #boku no hero fic #mha #my hero headcanons #class 1a headcanons #kirishima eijirou #tokoyami fumikage #kirishima is best boy #sooooo i had this theory #that kirishima would be a bit insecure about how scary unbreakable is #so he'd try to make it less scary!!#and tokoyami gets him on like a spiritual level so he's like #perfect #they're both perfect #bnha eri #aizawa #this got a lot longer than i expected but I LOVE THEM

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accessibleaesthetics · 4 years ago

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It looks like that beta text editor Tumblr was teasing is with is no longer an option for now, so I wanted to show you guys how to add alt text to your roleplay icons (or any other images in your posts) with the current text editor.

For this example, I took the content from the main body of the answer to this ask on my main blog and stuck it in a new post to make things a bit cleaner. As with some of my previous posts, the images in this guide are all decorative, Tumblr just won’t let me make them properly invisible to screen readers. So if you’re a screen reader user, rest assured that everything meaningful about these images is described in the text of this post. And though it’s not that important, if you’re really curious about the content of the sample roleplay post I’m using, you can read it in the link I provided earlier in this paragraph.

Now the, when you make a post, most of us write it up and add images in the default setting of Tumblr’s text editor: Rich text. This just means that it displays your post as it will display on the dashboard once you post it, formatting, spacing, images, and all.

If this is the way you like to write your posts, I’d recommend getting everything ready before you delve into this alt text stuff. This is because switching the post back to “Rich text” editor mode after the edits I’m about to show you undoes pretty much all of your work.

So, once you think your post is ready for the world, go to that little gear at the top-right corner of the page. This is where can switch your text editor view from Rich text to HTML.

Once you select that from the dropdown and return to your post-in-progress, it will probably look something like this:

If you, like me, aren’t terribly code-savvy, this mess of black, purple, and blue text with all those numbers and letter strings is probably pretty daunting to look at. But don’t worry! You don’t need to understand all that. Just save the post as a draft, go to your Drafts folder, and open it again to edit.

At first glance, this might look exactly the same as that mess I just told you not to worry about. But take another look:

Each image now has an alt text attribute in the coding that Tumblr added automatically when you drafted the post. I’ve outlined all three here for ease of finding it. The “alt=” is in light blue, but the actual alt text attribute “image” (and the quotation marks around it) are purple. This color can help some users (like me) more easily differentiate different parts of the code.

The issue is, Tumblr giving each image the alt text “image” isn’t very helpful for screen reader users. Screen readers already know to tell users it is an image because of the file type, and “image” certainly doesn’t tell the user anything useful about the image. Unlike with normal HTML, removing the word “image” from between the quotation marks in the alt text attribute will not make a screen reader skip over the image entirely—it will still read “image” when a screen reader comes across it. So for the time being, the only way to prevent these images from being an annoying mystery to screen reader users is to add alt text to them, even if they’re arguably decorative (or put a disclaimer at the start like I did for this post, but that’s not something you’re probably keen on doing for every single post you make). If the images are simple enough that alt text is an option, it’s usually best to go with that.

Start by highlighting the word “image” between the two quotation marks after the “alt=” part of the code.

Replace it with some text that actually describes the first image in your post. For example, here I changed the “image” to “Pearl smiling with mild amusement” instead.

Make sure to put something meaningful for the other two alt text attributes as well! In this case, I used “Pearl smiling excitedly with eyes closed” for the second image and “Pearl smiling with eyes open and a gentle admiration” for the third. Once you’re done adding your alt text, you’re ready to post!

#roleplay #alt text #accessibility

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faofinn · 4 years ago

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Febuwhump Day 4 - “I can’t lose you too” (Alt Prompt 2)

@febuwhump

Part 1 // Part 2

Sheila was working when the call came through, her phone buzzing uselessly in her locker. By the time her break came round, it was a long while later, her battery nearly dead and several missed calls from a number she didn’t recognise. Food in the microwave, she perched against the bench and pressed play.

“Sheila? Sheila ‘m sorry. They asked me who I wanted to call an’ -and I didn’t know who else. ‘m really scared and I’m in hospital and you always said I could call.” Her heart sank, fear taking over. “I’m sorry. I lost my phone an’ I couldn’t remember your number. I don’t even know if this is your number still. I fucked up and I’m sorry. You an’ Fred were the best family an’ you did so much for me an-and I’ve done this. I didn’t have time to do anything and then I was here. You were a mum to me, and Fred was the best … best dad I had...I’m sorry. I don’t wanna be alone, Sheila. I know you’re busy and you’ve probably forgotten me and I’m sorry, I’m just scared.”

The beep sounded and she didn’t move. She couldn’t breathe. It had been a few months since she’d heard from him, and even then it was just a passing text to tell her happy birthday. He was still her child, one of her first fosters, and still family. He sounded in a bad way and she could hear the flurry of activity in the hospital around the panic in his voice. It took no time to make her mind up, briefly telling a colleague she was going before disappearing, her lunch still in the microwave.

She tried Fred on the way, to no avail, leaving him a slightly more composed voicemail than had been left on hers. The hospital was no luck either, stuck on hold until the dialing rang out.

The car was left abandoned in the carpark as she rushed through to the ED, pushing past the queue at the desk. “Hi, sorry, my son was brought in earlier - Jason Hardy - I got a phone call from him.”

“Just a second ma’am, there’s a queue.”

“Yeah, it’ll take two seconds. Jason Hardy. Can you tell me where he is?”

With an irritated sigh, the receptionist tapped away on the computer, face falling slightly. “I’m just going to get a nurse.”

Sheila knew it was bad, she’d heard the panic and desperation in his voice, and seeing the look on the receptionist’s face...it only made it worse.

A nurse arrived to greet Sheila quite quickly, a forced smile on her face. “Sheila Daniels?”

“Is he still alive?”

“He is. He’s in a bad way, but he’s alive. We’re gonna take you through now.”

She followed her through. “How bad is he? I got the phone call…”

“It’s touch and go, I’m afraid.”

She swallowed thickly. “What happened?”

“There was a car accident.”

“No.”

“I’m afraid so.”

“But he’s going to be okay, right?”

“We’re doing our best.”

She knew what that meant. “So, no.”

“You know we can’t make any promises. But we’re doing our absolute best to give him the best shot.”

“I’ve been through it before with my other two. You don’t need to lie to me.”

“I'm not lying to you, I promise. We're doing our best for him.”

"I don't doubt you are, but I know what it means, when you say that. The look you all have…"

“I’m sorry. It’s a difficult situation.”

"He was one of my first fosters." Sheila said quietly. "Stayed with me a long while, and then would come and stay for reprieve occasionally."

“That’s very admirable of you. Foster parents are such a lifeline. I’m sure he’ll appreciate you being here.” The nurse said, letting herself into the ICU.

"He said he couldn't remember my number. I should have been here."

“You’re here now, that’s what counts. No use dwelling on the ‘should haves’.”

She shook her head. "That doesn't make it better."

“I know it’s difficult, but we can’t change the past. You’re here now, and he’ll appreciate you being here.”

Sheila hesitated. "How bad is he?"

“Critical, but he’s been improving gradually.”

"Surgery?"

“Hopefully later, if he’s stable enough.”

"If."

“With the way things are going, he’ll be in surgery later this afternoon. But it’s the surgeon’s decision when they see him.”

She nodded. "Okay. Thank you."

“His bed is just down here.” She said, leading her down the ward.

Sheila thanked her again, stood outside Jason's bay. He'd grown since she'd last seen him, a beard growing on his face and his blond hair a mess. She couldn't help but frown; it was parted wrong, and he'd always hated that.

"Jason?" She took his hand. "I'm sorry it took so long, but I'm here now. I've got you, yeah?"

The nurses gave Sheila as much space as they could, giving her time to sit with her old foster. He was in and out of consciousness, and definitely very, very poorly, but there was no doubt he knew she was there. His obs even improved a little.

She sorted his hair, adjusted the specs on his nose, and then waited. She'd get the occasional response from him as she chatted away, promising him they'd have a room for him to get him back on his feet.

After a while, the surgeon arrived, startled by Sheila in the bay. “Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't think there was family with him.”

"I've not long been here, sorry."

“Well, I'm glad he has someone. I'm Dr Knight, one of the senior surgical registrars on his case. I'm happy to have a chat with you?”

She nodded. "Do you need to go somewhere else? Or can we stay here?"

“No, absolutely fine to stay here.” He said, taking a seat. “Are you his mother?”

"Uh, I guess. I was his foster mum for a long, long time."

“Well, that's good enough in my books. Unfortunately, as I'm sure you've been told already, he's very unwell. We've been trying to get him stable enough for surgery for a while now, I've just come to do some final checks before we make our decision.”

"If you don't take him to surgery, what's the prognosis?"

“Not good, I'm afraid. He had a procedure after he was admitted to control his internal bleeding, but unfortunately it's not worked as well as we'd hoped it would. He's very weak.”

"And if you wait a few days, let him get some strength up?"

“We think it's more likely he'll deteriorate in that time. We have a small window of opportunity here.”

"And this surgery, how...how likely is it to succeed?" She barely dared to ask.

“It's a hail mary, I'm afraid. But it's better than doing nothing. His best shot at recovery.” He reached out to rest a hand on her knee in what he hoped was a comforting gesture. “I understand this is incredibly difficult to hear. This isn't a decision we're taking lightly. But he's young and he deserves the best possible chance, even if the odds are slim.”

She shook her head. "It isn't fair on him."

“You don't agree with our decision to do this surgery?”

"Oh, no, no. Not that. All of this. He shouldn't be here. He was meant to have his life sorted and be living. Not stuck in limbo." She sniffed, trying to stop the tears.

“Ah. I understand this is upsetting - nobody deserves to be in this situation. We're going to do our absolute best for him. We have been doing our absolute best for him from the start. None of us would be considering this surgery if we didn't believe it was in his best interests.” He handed her a tissue, neatly folded in his pocket. “I know I said we have a window of opportunity, but there's time for you to spend with him now. We're not going to rush in just yet.”

"If he needs it, if it's his best chance, then he should go now though, right? So he can come out sooner, and start to recover?"

“We still have some preparations to do first. I'm just here to assess his condition. He seems to have improved since you've arrived.” He said gently. “We'll take him as soon as we're ready for him. But I just wanted to make sure you knew that you have time to spend with him now.”

She forced a smile. "Thank you. For everything."

“Not a problem. I know how difficult this is. Please don't hesitate to grab the nurses if you need anything at all. Can I get someone to bring you food? Something to drink?”

"No, thank you. I'm okay. I'll just stay with him for the time being."

He nodded. “That's absolutely fine. But we can provide you with food, tea, anything. This is probably harder for you than it is for him.”

"Yeah. He'd tell me off for crying, sorry. It was just a bit of a shock."

“Of course, of course. Don't apologise, please. In your position I'd be a sobbing mess.”

"I've had a bit of practice over the years." She laughed slightly. "Normally always the boys, too."

“Other fosters?”

She nodded. "Quite a few. Some of the scraps they'd get themselves into...I'm just being a pain, don't let me keep you."

“Not a pain in the slightest. I just need to do a few checks, yeah?”

"Go ahead. Don't let me get in the way."

He nodded and stood up, though rested a gentle hand on her shoulder before he moved to check Jason over. Thankfully he had improved, and he was happy they were making the right decision.

“I ought to go now, and make sure things are being sorted. But you're more than welcome to ask the nurses for me, or any of his team. We'd be happy to come down and speak with you again if you need.”

"Thank you." She glanced at him with a small smile before turning back to face Jason. He was her priority.

The surgeon left her alone again, save for the occasional nurse popping in to check on him. She apologised again, in his brief moment of consciousness, smoothing his hair back down. Fred still didn’t answer his phone, leaving her alone, dealing with the mess herself.

They gave Sheila as much time as they could. It wasn't ideal, but she needed all the time she could get. Eventually they had no choice, though, and they had to go ahead with the surgery. They sent in a nurse with a porter, as much as Chris wanted to be there, he couldn't. He had too much to do.

Sheila held her tears in as she said her goodbyes, promising him she’d be there when he came round. She held his hand as long as she could, pressing a kiss to his forehead as she was forced to leave.

“I love you, yeah? It won’t be long and then it’ll be okay. I love you.”

They took him after that, the nurse sending Sheila a sad smile.

The surgery was difficult, and unfortunately it didn't get easier as they went on. He was just too unstable, they couldn't do what they wanted to do. They were thwarted by low blood pressure and arrests looming before the inevitable occurred. They tried and tried, but his body just wasn't strong enough. They had to call it a day, in the end. It wasn't fair to try and keep going when his body had had enough.

It was Fao who called time of death, and so it was him who took the responsibility of speaking to next of kin. He headed out of theatres, heart heavy, and round to the relatives room to find them.

He couldn't help the way his heart dropped when he saw who was sitting waiting. Sheila. He stumbled slightly, pain flaring in his knee, and he forced himself to keep going.

“I'm looking for family of Jason Hardy?” He said, trying his best to stay sounding professional.

Sheila raised her head, she knew that voice, knew that tone. "No."

He cleared his throat. “Would you mind coming with me?”

"Fao this isn't real, he's still okay, right? You just had to stop it early for a different reason."

“I'm sorry. Come with me? We can go somewhere quiet to talk.”

She swallowed thickly, standing on shaking legs. It was all just a dream. He was fine, he had to be.

He led her into a small, private room, shutting the door quietly behind him. He took a deep breath, and sat down opposite her.

“We did our very best. We made some good progress, but unfortunately he was just too weak. Despite our best efforts to try and stabilise him, he went into cardiac arrest. We tried for some time to resuscitate him, but unfortunately we were,” he paused to clear his throat, “unfortunately we were unsuccessful. He passed away. I'm so sorry.”

She already knew, could tell from the look on his face, the tone in his voice. It was still something else to be told it outright, and worse further that it was her own son telling her. She wrapped her arms around herself, forcing herself to breathe past the lump in her throat.

Fao cleared his throat again. “I know this is difficult to hear, and I'm sorry I don't have better news for you. I assure you that we did everything we could for him.”

"Are you sure it was him?" Her voice cracked.

“I’m sure. I’m so sorry for your loss.”

"You're lying."

“I know this is difficult to process. I promise you, I’ve told you the truth.”

“You’re wrong. You’re lying. You’re wrong.”

“I understand this is hard to hear. If you’d like, you’re welcome to go and see him?”

“You don’t understand.” She frowned at him. “You don’t understand anything.”

“Can you help me understand? I’m willing to explain everything, if that would help?”

“He’s gone.”

“I’m afraid so.”

She shook her head. “He’s gone.”

“I can assure you, he wasn’t in any pain.”

“But he was.”

“We did our best to keep his pain well managed.”

“He was in pain and terrified.”

Fao swallowed thickly. “My colleagues did our best to reassure him and ensure his pain was well controlled. He was under anaesthesia, I can assure you he wouldn’t have been in pain when he passed.”

“You didn’t hear the voicemail.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t. If you want to take the matter further, I can give you the number for the hospital PALS department? But I can assure you we did our best to make him comfortable.”

"You don't mean any of that." She frowned at him. "You're just reading off a script. You don't care."

“I care about every patient I treat.” His voice wobbled. “I did everything I could for him, as did my colleagues.” He forced himself to take another deep breath. “I know I’m not the person you want giving you this news. But I would never do any procedure if I didn’t think it was in the patient’s best interests. I wouldn’t have suggested this option for Jason if I didn’t think he could benefit from it.”

Sheila rubbed her eyes, trying to wipe away the tears. The wobble in Fao's voice broke her and she reached out for him.

He handed her a tissue. “Here, it’s alright. I know this is hard to hear.” He said, moving closer to her.

She pushed the tissue away, choosing instead to grab onto Fao and pull him close. Her fingers tightened around his scrubs and she buried her face in Fao's shoulder.

Instinctively he held her close, rubbing her back. “It’s alright. I know this is hard, I know. It’s okay.”

“He’s gone.”

“I’m sorry, he’s gone.”

Her legs buckled as she sobbed, the pain completely overtaking her.

“It’s alright, I’ve got you.” He soothed.

She gripped onto him tighter. “I should have been there for him.”

“You were. You were right there with him. Chris and the nurses said the whole time you were there, his obs improved.”

“But he didn’t make it.”

“His odds were slim the minute he came through our doors. We all knew that - he knew that. We gave it our best shot, but…” Fao had to clear his throat again, “but his body told us that he’d had enough. Sometimes despite everything, there’s nothing more we can do.”

She was quiet a moment. “I’m glad it was you.”

“If I’d have known…”

“But I know you’d have done everything.”

“Of course. We all did.”

“Thank you.”

“I’m sorry there wasn’t a better outcome.”

“Can I see him?”

“Of course.”

“Can...Can you stay with me?”

“Absolutely.”

“Fred wouldn’t answer and I dont know what Finn’s up to.” She sniffed. “They need to know..”

“Do you want me to try Fred?”

Sheila nodded. “Please.”

“Alright. Can I get you anything? Tea? Water?” He offered, digging in his pockets for his phone.

“Just you.”

“I’m right here. Not going anywhere.” He said, finding his phone and quickly calling Fred.

She leant into him, tears still falling and her chest aching. She couldn't quite believe it, he was gone and there was nothing she could do.

“It’s alright, it’s okay.” He murmured gently, praying Fred picked up the phone.

The phone rang through, like it had so many times with Sheila. She shook her head as she heard the voicemail, pressing closer to Fao. Deep down, she knew that she should be there for him, not the other way around. He shouldn't be having to tell her that her son was dead.

“I bet he’s left it somewhere.” Fao said, trying to make his tone light. “You know what he’s like. Come on, why don’t we go and get some fresh air? And then I can take you to see Jason when they’re ready.”

"You're still working."

“I’d say I was due a break, wouldn’t you?”

She nodded with a shaky breath. "Okay."

He stood, and offered her his hand. “Here.”

“Thanks.” She took it, gripping him tight. “I’m sorry.”

“God, why are you sorry?”

“You had to work on him.” Her voice cracked and wobbled. “I know that’s hard.”

“I didn’t know him, Mum. I didn’t even know you were here.”

“I know you beat yourself up over these things.”

He hummed. “We all did our best. I’m sorry there wasn’t a better outcome.”

She bit her lip to stop her sob, bringing a hand up to cover her mouth. The grief was overwhelming, stirring up so many more unwanted emotions.

“Hey, it’s alright.”

She shook her head, dropping Fao’s hand in favor of hugging him. “Promise me you won’t leave.”

“I’m not going anywhere, máthair. Promise.”

“I can’t lose you too.”

Fao made a noise in the back of his throat. “I’m here. You’re not going to lose me.”

She pulled back to look at him, tears flooding her face. “I can’t lose you. You’re my son.”

Fao pressed a kiss to her cheek. “I’m not going anywhere. I love you, yeah?”

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bladekindeyewear · 4 years ago

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HS^2 bloggin’ mainline 2020-05-19

Figured an upd8 was coming, it’s felt like enough time has passed for one.

Huh, looking at my last post I’d completely forgotten I was supposed to play through Pesterquest sometime... work is busy and stressing me out a bit, I’m not sure when I’ll have the energy on the side to do that. (Maybe I’ll livetweet it like I did Undertale a while ago, but this time not looking at my twitter replies so I don’t get spoiled by One Guy™?)

Also, including bonus commentary on A Threat Sensed.

Okay, going in completely blind. I’d guessed from context that we’re hopping over to Meat side to get a chapter there before we can come back to actually see Yiffy?

Yep. Okay, what is this about exactly?

(Agh, dammit, I’ve been copying and pasting so much at work remoting into Windows lately that now I’m automatically trying to hit control-C instead of command-C to copy.)

> CHAPTER 9. How Goes The Eulogizing, Dear?

CONTENT NOTE: This chapter contains Child Abuse.

Which one???

Wait

JANE: (Where is he?) JANE: (It's a question I've found myself asking many times in recent days.)

Holy SHIT we get two Candy chapters in a row??? So we might see her right away?? No, it’s gotta just be another tiny glimpse.

(Has two Candy chapters in a row happened before? Future Boots, scroll back up and put this here. FUTURE BOOTS: “I forgot to scroll back up and put that here.” EDIT: Also, not the first time with two in a row, but it IS the first time with THREE in a row, huh.)

So Jane has to be talking about either Tavros or Dave. --Oh, if this was a Candy Side chapter title, I guess Rose or Jade is eulogizing Dave for John?

> (==>)

JANE: (Where now is our merry savior?) JANE: (Where is the horn that was honking?) JANE: (Where is the cape and the codpiece, and the...) JANE: (The...) JANE: (Oh, fiddlesticks.)

What? Is she reading a childrens’ book? --Oh. She’s eulogizing Gamzee. So that gives us a third option, where the rebellion crashes the funeral somehow, probably audiovisually rather than in person. (Which would make sense, given Candy practically began with Gamzee crashing Dirk’s funeral.)

> (==>)

Ah never mind, she’s still writing it.

That sure is a single button drama-remote that’s going to be pressed at some point. Oh, and who the fuck keeps a spork in a pen cup??? --No no, don’t say it’s one of those pens with a spork at the eraser end, either ready-made or rubber-banded to the side. That would make sense. You totally know it isn’t that and is just a spork.

JANE: (Okay, poetry is out.) JANE: (What else?) JANE: (Hrm...) JANE: (I've always been pretty good at crying on cue.) JANE: (Could I try staging an emotional breakdown?) JANE: (That could work; playing to people's humanity.)

Why were you crying in Jake’s arms about his death if you didn’t care that much? Did you just want him to hold you and kinda make him feel in on things again? Or did you just cry yourself out about him?

JANE: (Or whatever is the more inclusive term.)

I bet the rest of Earth C figured out a more inclusive term millenia ago FUCK I accidentally added millennia to my dictionary misspelled instead of correcting it hold on--

...There, killed the entry for it. ...Huh. Take a look at my Chrome dictionary’s custom-added words over the years, apparently:

Caliborn Eridan Kanaya Matriorb Meenah Tavros alchemiter dichotomic nephilim reblogged uncaptchalogues uncaptchaloguing

That’s fun.

Okay back to reading. Millennia. Phew! Where was I.

JANE: (One really good and calculated weep could do it, I think.) JANE: (But then there's the danger that I might get carried away and do it for real.) JANE: (And I can't risk that.)

So still feeling something, just too used to calculating over the past years.

JANE: (What can I say about him that will stir up their emotions?) JANE: (Do I mention the stuff about the milk?) JANE: (Think Crocker, think.)

WHY would you-- how much did Gamzee normalize adult breastfeeding?!

JAKE: Ahoy over there!

Not the best time.

(The thing with the divorce papers from the Epilogue and John implying he was planning with Jake to execute something that sounds like a divorce... is that going to be sprung here? Did her lawyers send the divorce papers way back when she was in a fit of pique, and he just had them available to sign now at the tactical moment? Or... let me pull the exact text...)

JOHN: now, harry anderson, i know that you and tavros haven't always gotten along. JOHN: but i am going to have to ask you to try and look out for him for the time being. JOHN: your uncle jake and i... well, i'll explain later. JOHN: let's just say that gamzee isn't the only family member jane is losing today.

(So is John going to submit the papers? Or did they already go through a while ago and default custody to John or something who’s going to adopt him too or some nonsense? And did he plan this out with Jake NOW, or a while ago, and if only a while ago, is Jake going to KNOW whatever John’s about to pull in that respect is about to happen??)

> (==>)

Butte

Janepalme

> (==>)

JAKE: Er... how goes the eulogizing, dear?

Gah. I completely forgot again that capitalized-first-letter chapter names don’t mean KANAYA is saying them. That probably makes a lot more sense out of my wondering about the chapter title earlier to those of you who didn’t realize I was making that mistake.

JANE: It turns out that it's mighty difficult to find touching things to say about a person, the relationship with whom was predicated on deep-seated mutual loathing.

Hah!

--A loathing you regarded as largely more important to you than Jake ever was, by the way. You asshole.

JANE: I imagine this is one of the reasons no funerary tradition was ever established on Alternia, besides the barbarism of their culture. DIRK: Jesus christ. JANE: Not only did a significant proportion of their interpersonality depend on romance in the form of hatred, but it was a society based on cruelty and violence. JANE: What reason could they have had to provide for the dead? JANE: What kind of last rites could they have even imagined?

I wondered for a moment why (bg!)Dirk of all people would react to a single line of her starting to bring up prejudices, but then I realized that (1) Brain Ghost Dirk is a little more Jakey, and (2) Dirk knew that more ranting would follow the first line.

JANE: I can't think of anything good to write about him because deep down, I hated his guts. JANE: But he was and is beloved of the multitude, so I have to think of something regardless. JAKE: Im not sure i understand. JANE: Don't worry your pretty little head about it. JANE: This is politics, Jakey. JANE: Lying through your two front teeth about people you hate is about as good a definition as it's possible to get. JANE: But, by gum, is it tiring work.

Mm. It’s a position Jane put herself in, but it’s still a legitimate position once you’re there.

JANE: The funeral is tomorrow, after all.

Got it.

DIRK: Dude, the bowl. JAKE: Hm? JAKE: Oh, right. JANE: What is it now, Jake. JAKE: I brought something for our guest as well. JANE: You mean the prisoner. JAKE: Y...es.

Wait, bowl?

Oh god damnit which of you had the idea to feed her with a DOG BOWL. Either of you could have thought of it, and either of you would be horrible for it.

> (==>)

Huh, that outfit on Yiffy looks familiar, like a reference to something. And a black tail? This definitely isn’t quite the look I was expecting from Jade Plus Rose, but I suppose the snazzy tie is a Roseish vibe. Also reminiscent of Jade’s old Dead Shuffle dress. Formal wear and soccer cleats??

JANE: She's over in the corner. JANE: Don't worry, she won't bite. JANE: I've seen to that already.

WHAT THE FUCK DOES THAT MEAN. I don’t see anything over her mouth! Did she stick something in it, or drug her? File her fucking teeth???

I mean I did forget the Child Abuse trigger warning to be fair. Hoping whatever would be on her mouth is just not shown in-panel yet for stylistic reasons.

> (==>)

JAKE: Its only mac and cheese, sorry. JAKE: Its all I know how to make, haha. JAKE: ... JAKE: I um... hope you can safely partake of cheese? JAKE: ... JAKE: Well, JAKE: Bon appetit.

How the fuck did Jake eat on his island then? --Oh right, preserved food cans that Grandma Jade stored up, I think I remember. Why would cheese not be a thing for them, if it’s fine for Jade? I know he’s probably not just worried about lactose intolerance.

Either way, if she’s drugged here, that’ll mean we won’t get a good idea of her for a while, so which is it...

> (==>)

DIRK: Bon appetit. DIRK: Seriously dude? JAKE: (What? Did i pronounce it wrong?) DIRK: Jake. DIRK: You put the food in a fucking dog bowl. JAKE: (It was all there was, ok???) JAKE: (I feel awful enough as it is without you getting on my case about it.)

Ah, missed the bone pun. AND, yeah, Jake, you’re a fucking idiot, you could have put it in a cup or something.

JAKE: (So far ive yet to see anything come of that brilliant plan of yours.) JAKE: (Are you sure sending that message to the others was enough?)

Okay, so he IS coordinating this slightly.

> (==>)

Horrifying image to contemplate, eh Jane?

Or anger-inducing?

> (==>)

Seems about right!

> (==>)

Oh that’s a GREAT exasperated Jane face.

JANE: I hope you're not expecting dessert, young lady.

I like how Jane didn’t notice, comment on, or care about the bowl. How can you hate a kid so much??

> (==>)

Oh I know why I felt like I recognized the outfit style, it’s because it’s ANIME AS FUCK. Feels like some Persona 4 Arena nonsense, and I say that not having played any of those games or even remembering what they looked like. Also, white hair, black fur’d dog parts? Nice change of pace.

YIFFY: GRRRRRRRRR... JANE: Oh no you don't.

Red text? What color exactly... “#D00009”? Huh. That’s nowhere near Alt-Callie’s #FF0000, and darker than Dave’s #E00707. In fact, let me go back and check those spilled color pins the commentary pointed out from an update or two ago... no, the red pin is #E63225, closer to Dave’s color. (Also, is Yiffy blocking the doorway out? That’s a pretty slack chain then.)

Did Jane see to it that she wouldn’t bite with like, a water spray bottle?

(EDIT: Oh my FUCKING GOD, THAT's why it's #D00009...)

> (==>)

FUCK I didn’t notice the shock collar in the Yiffy image! FUCK YOU, Jane.

> (==>)

Keeping someone in line with collars, especially ones that punish whenever one strays out of line, has always been a decent way for her to mix in some Doomy control of others to show how she’s “grown” to balance her main role and her Tiara-controlled-like inverse for more power. Doom in part represents boundaries that you can’t cross without getting hurt or punished.

> (==>)

FUCK, those little buck teeth!? D’:

JANE: That's more like it.

She HAS to have more of a reason for hating her than hating her parents, right? Like, more than that and general racism applying to partdogfolk?

> (==>)

Hey fuck off with that!

> (==>)

This is a pretty cool ima-- are those piercings on her dog ear? I didn’t notice that in the first shot, neat.

JANE: You've been a thorn in my side ever since I agreed to enroll you at the academy, little madam. JANE: Back then, I was doing a favor for two old friends who made a disgusting mistake. JANE: I'm no longer going to play nice with you just because of your parents, however. JANE: That truce is over. JANE: Do I make myself understood?

What the fuck? WHY would you do that? Why does Jane run "Ms. Paint’s Home for Inconvenient Girls”? What did Yiffy do to piss her off so much there, how much trouble could she have caused?

I don’t know if she’s referring to the behind-Kanaya’s-back part as disgusting or she’s just being MORE racist.

> (==>)

JANE: We don't want you passing out during the ceremony, do we?

Oh, just showing the hostage off during the clown funeral, huh? Classy much?

> (==>)

JANE: Now, be a good hostage and get some rest, Yiffany dear. JANE: We've got a big day tomorrow.

For a politician, Jane’s not good at looking at herself in a mirror.

> (==>)

JANE: Night night. JANE: Hoo hoo.

> (Yiffy: Lights out.)

Huh, dream stuff is gonna be relevant out in Candy then? *click*

Okay, dark background all of a sudden. Properly dramatic? You even have to highlight the non-link “>” part of the Next link to see it.

> (==>)

-- thespiansGlamor [TG] began pestering adamantGriftress [AG] --

Well, I don’t know WHY it’s happening, but the white-backed pesterlog suddenly on the dark site framing is certainly evocative. Of like, a mood, or something.

TG: i thought he was pretty quiet down there. TG: we'll make a rebel of him yet! AG: Lol. AG: I think it's more that he can't sleep. AG: I know how he feels. TG: yeah. TG: today was a lot. AG: ... TG: do you wanna talk about it? AG: Ugh, not you as well.

It’s really jarring to transition between Homestuck’s “kids jarringly mentally resistant to freaking out about the end of the world” to HS^2′s more realistic “kids traumatized by their first firefight even though it was an overwhelming victory-escape”.

TG: but seriously, do you? AG: Not really. TG: not even about... you know? TG: her? AG: No. TG: ... are you sure? AG: A8solutely. AG: What are you, my moirail? AG: Just leave it, Harry. TG: ok.

Are they about to have an “I wonder what Yiffy’s like” talk?

> (==>)

Very similar Tav/Vrissy convo to the previous one.

GG: I havent ever shared a bedroom before,,, GG: Not even for a slumber party,,, AG: Tavvy, you are just a8out the saddest person I've ever met.

Well, we have an even better idea how horrible Jane can be with kids, now. From Nanna to THIS is quite jarring. I wonder how the double Nannasprites that must still be around here somewhere feel?

> (==>)

TG: nothing about my dad is cute. TG: what are you even saying. AG: Lmao. TG: seriously! TG: i think he has something against that word, even. he gets super weird about it. AG: He's a strange and funny m8n. TG: yeah. TG: ... TG: i think something bad must have happened.

...um. What? Why would John have some sort of trauma about the word cute or being called it?

Did John dress up as a hint of his buried June ambitions as a kid and Dad lavish him with “SO CUTE” praise in an epic supportiveness backfire that caused him to shelve the idea of wearing non-masc clothes and being happier on the flipside of gender ever again??? Because if that’s how June gets canonized as promised, it’s a little harsher than the back of my mind was hoping. I guess it kind of had to be though from the premise of how it was read into his childhood for the original idea, though. Fuck, I hope this Cute business is about something different from that (like a Terezi reference or such) just to get less John Sads. (But still June. Definitely still want to get June.)

> (==>)

Oh, and now Vrissy is doing nothing but talking about what she said she didn’t want to talk about, of course. (Also I like how JANE’s now being called the Batterwitch.)

AG: And the worst part was they didn't even fight a8out it! AG: That made me madder than 8nything else. AG: It felt like I was the only person who even W8S mad! GG: I dont think thats true,,, AG: What would you know a8out it?! GG: Maybe nothing,,, GG: Sorry,,, GG: Its just,,, GG: To me,,, all the way through the conversation,,, aunt kanaya looked even angrier than you,,, AG: ... AG: Adults are so fucking weird.

Guh, I don’t want to be reminded how hurt a good chunk of the fanbase is by Kanaya getting hurt this badly.

Original Tavros was always SLIGHTLY perceptive of others sometimes, but maybe perceptiveness is being hinted at as a Tavros specialty? We still don’t know his classpect/hero-title or have any firm guesses based on purely him evidence. (Also, frightened kids of abusive households tend to learn to get perceptive pretty fucking quickly I hear.)

> (==>)

TG: dad was sitting in the cafeteria with aunt jade and your moms. TG: it looked like they were discussing something important... they were whispering and stuff.

[etc etc] Alright, the what-happened-to-Dave bit. And I imagine they’re kind of helping John grieve there, since Rose and Jade have talked that out already.

TG: aunt kanaya's was the only face i could see. TG: she was standing next to them, but she wasn't looking at what was going on. TG: almost like she couldn't bear to. AG: I doubt it. Kanaya's got a8out as much Emotivity as a very reclusive stone. TG: ok, i think that is bullshit but whatever. TG: she saw me standing there, but didn't say anything. she just shook her head slightly, and pointed back out into the hallway i came down.

Yep, giving them some space to grieve. Also-- gosh, shouldn’t Vrissy have the same emotive senses that Aranea implied Vriska shared with her? Kanaya isn’t that EXPRESSIVE but she’s certainly full of emotion. Also, I hope part of her not bearing to watch wasn’t lingering anger toward Jade and Rose mixing with that, but there probably was a bit of that too, though Dave being gone is so much harsher than that. --I just realized they might not have broken the news to Karkat yet, either.

AG: I guesadxcxzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz TG: vrissy?

Put to sleep by someone slumping down on your phone keypad, or surprised by something about the other conversation?

Oh shit, “other conversation” reminded me I didn’t look at Tavros’s chumhandle:

glutinousGymnast [GG]

HHHHHhhhhuh. Hm... huh? hhhh. huh? what, but. Why would. ?????

I really don’t understand what that chumhandle or any of its entendres should signify in this context.

Also, this means for our new four kids we have TG, GG, AG, and ??.

> (==>)

GG: I think she might have succumbed to sleep quite suddenly,,, GG: It would explain the,,,,,, interesting messages I've been getting for a while,,, TG: hehe. TG: i guess that tracks. TG: she does that from time to time.

That’s... strange. Homestuck’s taught us to be suspicious of that.

TG: ... TG: tav? GG: Yes,,, harry anderson,,,? TG: what does it feel like to know someone who's died?

Who is Harry referring to? (EDIT: Yes I know Gamzee for Tavros, but I meant Harry talks like he's worried he'll have to feel that way soon?) Is he just kind of inferring that something bad might have happened to Uncle Dave? Got that perceptive “parents are about to tell me about a death in the family” vibe? Or did he overhear more than he let on to Vrissy?

...alright, that’s the last page of this update. Looks like this chapter is going to continue to have a good bunch of grieving, or talk around it.

---

Now for Bonus Commentary for A Threat, Sensed. For some reason I have a dim memory of like... reading this myself without commenting on it? Or skimming it? But I’m pretty sure I didn’t do that. Weird. Must have imagined doing it.

Ah, I think I saw the opening paragraph scrolling Patreon, and my mind kinda filled in the blanks, this is still looking new to me.

Okay, mostly banter and japes in the commentary here. About Dirk “throwing a huge tantrum in his philosophy cave”.

We’ve had quite a bit of speculation on whether this is “really” Andrew. To that, I think we’d say that it doesn’t “really” matter.

Really? That was speculated about? :/

Here we discover that Dirk has not, as some people have speculated, been directly intervening into the Candy timeline, or influencing it in any way. In fact, he has a very hard time seeing anything going on there at all.

Mhmm, and that was a pretty important thing to learn.

A couple of years ago I might have agreed with the take that everything happening in Candy is simply too outlandish to ever happen naturally, without direct, villainous interference, but that was before literally every fucking batshit insane thing that has happened on Real Life Earth started going down, and now I will believe literally anything.

This is a nice bit of distraction from the idea that at least the opening parts of the Candy story were written/narrated by Original, Alive Calliope over on meat side. To refresh your memory of what was pointed out to me:

ROXY: back when jade first got all effed up callie saw somethin and it made them freak out ROXY: it took me weeks to convince them that it was safe to come home ROXY: but now we got the opposite problem and they arent leavin the house at all ROXY: they stay home all day with the blinds drawn paintin some weird ass shit on the walls TEREZI: WH4T? ROXY: its not as bad as it sounds i promise ROXY: some of it is like ROXY: weird and violent?? ROXY: like lotsa nasty purple blood and um ROXY: nudity???? TEREZI: >:? ROXY: yeah yikes ROXY: but MOST of it is cute stuff like... various combos of all of us being happy and gettin married and shit ROXY: anyway thats kept callie kinda busy

Which tracks with the initial out-of-character-seemingness of almost everyone at the start of Candy, and how they kind of tried to railroad things back onto the “Happy??” track after Dirk derailed it with his weird self-accumulation suicide, along with some of the flowery-idyllic descriptions of characters seeing each other bathed in a halo of light and such.

Of course, they’re not going to out-and-out STATE that Calliope was at fault for that narration, helping the Candy story not necessarily fall out the way it did “naturally”, until we finally get a glimpse of her on the heroes’ ship in Meat probably still painting the continuing Candy events, inspiring them into the void of the singularity with her latent powers. Til then, it’s a bit of misdirection whenever the topic is to be brought up. Along with a mix of Roxy’s late-Candy point to John of more or less “why COULDN’T we have done this naturally? you don’t know”.

He might even think that he has more direct power over the narrative than Hussie does himself. Surprise, motherfucker, you are a fictional character.

I’ll quote this next part in full:

There’s been talk of whether or not this bonus was written in the two days between its release and the Yiffy reveal chapter. The answer is--no. It was written over a month ago. But I think the things it addresses were not difficult to suss out. Obviously, Dirk is highlighting the issues that the readership are having with Yiffy, in his typical Dirk fashion. If it seems a little defensive, well...I suppose it is. Yiffy is one of the two hard lines drawn in the sand, and all of us love her, and we’re hoping that everyone else will love her too. But more than that, it focuses on the fact that update culture has a rhythm to it--shock, revulsion, acceptance (or not), and then excitement (or not). Will it follow that pattern this time? Who knows. I guess we’ll find out.

Yeah, given what was going to be dropped on us I expected they would have had exactly this lined up, especially because Andrew specifically mandated Yiffy. --I wonder why they aren’t mentioning that somewhere in the commentary and only on one of their Twitters?

Also quoting this:

There’s something both incredibly “cringe” and self-indulgent, as well as philosophically intriguing, about the author arguing with his villain, especially since he’s writing both halves of the conversation himself. You are, for all intents and purposes, trying to solve a problem that you have created for yourself. You are looking an aspect of your personality in the eye and asking, hey, what the fuck, man?

But in the end, isn’t that what every story is? Trying to untie knots that you put in the rope yourself?

Since it’s part of the central struggle of this story, and kind of the question Andrew’s tried to imply with every Homestuck work about what right we have to keep these characters trapped in a story, and if they’d be better off escaping it.

I’m really trying to avoid quoting so much of this, since the commentary is paid... but I think we can make an exception here? I’ll have only quoted about half of it; just, the really plot-important half. Plus, I left out a LOOOT of japes.

Dirk has a certain idea of how stories are supposed to go. That’s pretty much what the Epilogues is about. The audience also has a certain expectation of how a story is supposed to go. In a way, the Epilogues were also about that. They were taking a story that had reached the traditionally “acceptable” happily ever after, and saying, wait, no. What happens next? Thinking past happily ever after in any story is a terrifying prospect. Once Cinderella marries the prince, what then? Sure, she got what she wanted, but who knows that it will be everything she dreamt it would? What if she changes her mind, if not today, what about ten years from now? What if the prince dies of malaria?

And I’m...

Yeah I don’t have anything else to add here, I’m kind of out of brain juice to think about this tonight. BUSY day I had. Y’all take care!

#Homestuck #hs2 #Homestuck Liveblog #upd8 #Homestuck^2 #bladekindeyewear #blastyoboots #spoiler #spoilers #Homestuck Commentary

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yeojaa · 5 years ago

Text

SUGAR HIGH, chapter xiv. (w. JJK)

You're not entirely sure when it happened, though you'd come to terms with it. You'd counted the days, waiting for the inevitable. You'd truly thought you'd be okay, but by the broken, half-beating thing in your chest - you knew you'd never really been prepared.

alt summary. You thought you’d known real love and maybe you had - it just wasn’t with who you thought.

pairing. jeon jungkook. mentions/involvement of ot7.

tags. angst, break up, post-break up, comfort, OT7, slow burn, friendship, moving on, hurt/comfort, emotional hurt/comfort, emotional baggage, fluff, canon compliant, jeon jungkook is bad at feelings, jeon jungkook is a good friend, jeon jungkook is a sweetheart.

rating. general (for now?)

word count. 2500

chapter 14. Right Here

When you finally meet his gaze, he wonders if you see him at all.

"Earth to Park Soomi. Earth to Park Soomi." It barely registers even on his last try and Jungkook can't help but sigh, curling his fingers and spreading them in some wonky, squid-like wave in front of your face.

You're back at your apartment - his request, not yours - and seated alongside one another on the loveseat. Your blanket is draped over your laps, more effectively centred over your legs that rest over his thighs. He's been flipping through Netflix for the better part of five minutes, tossing suggestions out to silence. You weren't even doing anything - just staring off into space like you were seeing the future.

"What?" You snap out of it with a jerk of your head, nearly colliding your nose with the tips of his fingers.

"What do you want to watch?" He repeats for what is the fifth time. There's an edge of exasperation to it that has you frowning. He immediately softens, because he hates when you're anything but sunshine and summertime. "I was thinking something scary, for old time's sake?"

He doesn't call you on the way your eyes glitter, mischief pouring honey into the depths.

"Let's watch Midsommar." Neither of you have seen it - as far as you know - but you've been dying to watch it. You'd tried, once, with Yejin and Minji, but the former had torn out of the room, ranting about how she didn't want to have nightmares for days. You'd given up, after that.

"Okaaay." The single syllable is dragged out as he selects the chosen film, tossing the remote onto the opposite chair like he's some kind of basketballer. You watch as it bounces off the cushion and lands on the floor, nudged out of view by a furtive foot.

"I saw that."

Jungkook pretends as if he has no idea what you're talking about, individually covered toes - god, why did he wear those stupid weird socks? - disappearing back beneath the cover of blanket. He casts a cursory glance your way, the picture of innocence. If he weren't so cute, you'd probably make him pick it up. "Saw what?"

You can't stop the smile that spreads like butter, sinking into every little crevice and warming you from the inside out. It pools in your lopsided grin and the lines at your eyes, reflected right back at you by your childhood best friend.

"Nothing," you hum, ignoring the way your stomach flips at his self-satisfied grin.

As if to push his luck – he loved to do it, had all his life – he hooks his arm over your stretched legs, his left hand snaking around the small space between your back and the couch, and pulls you closer. You try to ignore the way it ignites heat, spreading warmth beneath the soft material of your shirt. You can’t.

“What’re you doing?” It comes abrupt and demanding. A little sad, too. (You hope he doesn’t notice.)

It somehow feels worse when he draws his hand away, as if you’d burnt him and not the other way around. His expression slips, falls, and he doesn’t try to fix it, allowing it to slide into something begrudging and hurt.

When he speaks, it’s a hard line imposed between the two of you, a verbal barrier. “I just wanted you to be comfortable.”

You have no right to be upset and yet you are. Jungkook thinks he sees a flash of it in your eyes before you’re facing forward yet again. You’re closed off and it makes his heart ache but he’s not about to apologize for who he is – who he’s always been.

Even if he’s dying to know why you seem to suddenly hate it.

Instead, he lets the movie roll, carefully contained in his little section of the couch. He loathes it. Your knees over his, a weight that drag his heart into the pit of his stomach and burns it in acid. You don’t relax, hands locked in your lap like you’ve got your secrets hidden between them.

It’s only when your phone buzzes, face-up on your living room table, that you move at all. Your movements are a marionette’s, unnatural and unforgiving; you’re holding a world of tension within your bones and he’s afraid they’re going to snap like strings. You never check your phone when you’re hanging out. It was kind of a rule of yours and one Jungkook did his best to abide by, despite his responsibilities.

“Is everything okay?” He finally asks, reluctant, after you’ve been staring at your phone for far too long, completely disregarding the scene on the television. He’s staring right at you, a million questions on the tip of his tongue.

He wonders if he’ll get an answer to even this one.

You don’t immediately respond. He can’t read the tone of your voice when you do. You won’t even look at him. “It’s just Hoseokie’s friend.”

When you finally meet his gaze, he wonders if you see him at all.

The next few weeks seem to fly by and while Jungkook loves the distraction, it's a reminder of your distance.

He hasn't seen you since that night and there's this distinct hole in his mind and in his heart, each thought of you repeating tenfold like in an echo chamber. He hates it more than he can say, the loneliness sinking into his bones when he least expects it.

Like now, for instance, in the car ride home. Jimin sits beside him, singing along to what blares through the speakers, and stares out the window, completely at ease. On the other hand, Jungkook can't focus on anything, his gaze locked on the leather console between the two front seats.

He wonders what you're doing or if you're still awake. (It's just past nine.)

"Are you okay?" The question forces its way into his thoughts, drawing him from his reverie with a harsh hand, despite the gentle delivery. His hyung's face is soft, worry framed into the slope of his eyebrows and the way his full lips purse.

He's not quite sure what to say. Lie? Or verbalize things he'd rather not? He hesitates, tongue slotting into the space of his cheek as he considers the question.

The silence seems answer enough. "Is it about Soomi?" There's no demand in Jimin's voice, no pushiness or reproach to be found. He wants to express his support for his friend but toes the line of too much and not enough, head canting to the side as he studies the younger - and yet bigger - member.

"Yeah." His admission is quiet, almost lost among the melody that filters through the speakers. Truthfully, he wishes it had.

"Did..." A pause, because Jimin wants to be very careful. He's seen the bond you two have - know how precious it is, cradled in the cavity of Jungkook's chest like a treasure. "Did something happen?" He hopes its innocent enough; he knows his maknae would never do anything to jeopardize your relationship.

"I don't know." Jungkook sounds wrecked when the words come, anguish coating each syllable like a fine dust. Still, there's more to be found in the spaces between them - in everything that's left unsaid. "She's just been distant." He shrugs, the line of his broad shoulders - ones that could hold the world up but faltered with this misery - rising beneath his black bomber. "I'm not sure if I did something wrong but I'm too afraid to ask."

That, and you'd been near avoiding his communications, providing brief - though never cruel - responses and only answering his calls at half the consistency you'd used to.

To anyone else, it wouldn't have been bad but to him - it was like a knife to the heart.

Jimin mulls over the revelation, turning it over and over in his head. He's spoken to you here and there, sending hilariously filtered photos over Snapchat and new songs over KaTalk. He hadn't noticed anything amiss in your own friendship with him but then again, he wasn't Jungkook.

He wasn't the person missing his other half, somehow, despite you being right there.

He doesn't bring that up, though, steeling knowledge of your regular responses behind the enamel grate of his teeth. Instead, he gives what advice he hopes he would receive. "I think you should talk to her."

"I've been trying." It's almost a whine - very Jungkook-like in its delivery. He's even pouting in that way he does best, lips curled in.

"No, I mean, tell her you want to talk about whatever it is."

As if the mere thought might be worse than death, Jungkook flinches. "I can't do that!"

"Why not?" Jimin's not always this way, but he feels like the other needs a solid push in the right direction.

"Because what if I did do something wrong?" There's suffering in every word, colouring them in a mosaic of blue and purple like a moulted bruise. "What if she doesn't want to talk to me and I just make it worse?" He sounds so small, Jimin's heart aches for his friend.

"The alternative is never addressing this and having it become something more than it is." He's not sure if this is the right approach - realism wasn't something people often appreciated in times of distress - but he presses on anyway. "What if it's all just a misunderstanding but because you aren't talking to her, she stops talking to you? How silly would that feel?"

By the ticking in Jungkook's jaw, he knows he's struck a nerve.

"You're right," the brooding brunet is finally relenting, the heaviest of sighs escaping his soft pink lips. "I'll text her when we get back."

"You mean you'll call her." Emphatic, because Jimin can practically feel the nervous energy rolling off of the other in waves.

"Yeah." It's not the most believable but he's trying. "I'll do that."

Instead, he does one better - standing in front of your apartment like he doesn't feel sick to his stomach, tension spread across his limbs like venom and rooting him to the spot. It feels too heavy in his veins, weighted lead that sinks into his feet and keeps his hands curled.

He just needs to knock. One knock. That's it. Easy.

So why can't he do it?

"Get it together, JK." The grumble is quiet but pierces the evening air, seemingly bleeding into the wood grain of your door frame. With a sharp inhalation, his fist meets with three loud raps. He doesn't immediately hear anything on the other side - why he thinks he would, he's not sure - but it does nothing to alleviate the bile that boils over and rises in his throat.

This was a bad idea, he thinks, when the silence stretches on for longer than a second.

And yet, the door opens, flies open in the next and he can't help the surprise from affixing like a mask. It shoots into the curve of his brows, arches disappearing into his mop of multi-colour. His lips curl around a greeting, though the sound falls short when you speak first.

He's relieved that there's no anger there - only bewilderment and confusion. "Jungkook? What're you doing here?"

Your question seems to spur him into action, his broad palm moving to brush over his ear. A default action, a tic he's had since he was a kid. It teases at the intensity that sits just beneath his facade of a smile and makes you regard him more carefully. He's still got makeup on, shadow around his pretty eyes highlighting the doe-like quality of them. Even his hair is still done, neatly curled into place across his forehead, though it looks like he's swiped his hand through it a number of times.

Another nervous habit, you think.

"I wanted to see you."

You can't help the way the words stir something in your chest. First, delight. Pure unadulterated joy at being wanted by the person you want most. Then, concern. Because it's late on a random Tuesday and he wouldn't be here without reason. He'd have called you. But then his next words are a nail in your coffin, sinking you six feet under beneath his clunky black boots.

"I think we need to talk."

You say nothing as you step back, turning your body to allow him over the threshold. You're the picture of calm, gently clicking the door shut when he's manoeuvred his way inside and goes about untying the intricate laces on his shoes.

Inside, you're in full turmoil, a kerosene-soaked rag held dangerously close to a flame.

"Can we sit?" Even now, with the possibility of brutalizing your heart in two - yes, you were a cynic - he's so polite. The best boy you've ever met, a sweetheart full of good intentions. He extends a hand to you, taking a step back in the same instance. You hate - love? - the confidence with which he moves, like this is his home, too.

You suppose it is. Tu casa es mi casa, or something.

"What do you want to talk about?" You ask because you can't help it but you don't really want to know. Not right now, when your poor heart is about to leap out of your chest and throw itself at his feet. No, you'd much rather do anything but talk. Watch a movie, take a nap, sit in silence. Anything sounded better than the great unknown.

"Uh," he stumbles over himself - a decidedly un-Jungkook thing to do - and settles himself into the comfort of your loveseat. He waits for you to alight yourself alongside him, knees pulled to your chest as you face him sideways.

He looks nervous. Somehow, that doesn't help your own frayed nerves.

When he speaks, it's with all the care of someone in a delicate position. Each word is carefully chosen, handpicked and pruned with unrelenting shears until it's exactly what he wants. "I feel like something's changed." No malice, no blame. Just a statement of fact, cloaked in sadness and misunderstanding. "I don't know if it was something I did but if it is, I'm sorry." The apology for nothing comes easily, because he's willing to give you anything if you asked. "I feel like you're so far away and I don't know how or why, but I don't want it go on." He's gnawing on his lip, his cheek - anywhere he can find purchase. "Please talk to me."

Your heart breaks a little more with every syllable. You want to reach out, hold him as gently as he's always held you. Instead, you twist your fingers in your lap, clasp and unclasp them in quick succession. You don't trust yourself - not yet.

"Soomi." Whether he intends for it, your name falls like the prayer of a dying man.

"I'm sorry," you croak before you can figure out anything further. You need to get this out now - anything to alleviate the sadness that burns him to the core.

notes. i'm sorry this is so severely overdue! i finally found my inspiration again and will be (hopefully) getting some chapters queued now that i have an idea of where/how i want this to go. thank you for sticking around. xo

#bts #bts fanfic #bts fic #bts fluff #jeon jungkook #jungkook #jungkook fanfic #jungkook fic #jungkook fluff #jungkook x you #jungkook x reader #jungkook x oc #work.zip #bestfriends.zip #sugarhigh.doc #jungkook.doc

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bioticbadass · 4 years ago

Photo

[Alt Text: Screenshot taken from Mass Effect Andromeda Cinematic depicts a young woman with brown skin, pixie cut curly hair styled to her left and dyed in lilac. She sits in a room with cold blue and darker tones, facing the camera but with slumped shoulders, as if the whole world’s responsibility was suddenly fall on her. A futuristic panel on the left depicts a spaceship with a text that is too small to read. Behind her, in a large glass tube like column a shimmery blue formation resides.]

Year 2819, Day 2 of Arrival to Andromeda Galaxy Aboard Ark Hyperion - Habitation Deck, Alec Ryder’s Personal Quarters

...fuck.

*deep sigh*

I... I think I need a drink.

SAM: There is a bottle in the cabinet under the coffee machine. Your father said it was for unwinding after a long day of work.

Did he now.

SAM: He consumed a very little amount of it from what I have observed.

Oh, that burns.

SAM: Do you require medical aid?

No, no. This is a... good kind of burn.

SAM: That’s actually your own body temperature.

My what?

SAM: Alcohol lowers the tolerance of certain heat receptors in your mouth, causing them to activate at 34 degrees Celsius instead of 42 degrees Celsius, and thus dropping their activation threshold below your own body temperature.

SAM: Apologies Mara, I wanted to provide a distraction.

*tired chuckle* Yeah, I guess you did. Thanks SAM.

SAM: You are welcome. I will let you continue you with your log. If you need anything, I’m here.

Thank you SAM.

Alright, okay.

This is... wild. I guess there is no easy way to say this, right mom? You... you probably already know it.

Dad's dead, he is gone. Maybe he is with you now, I hope he is. He loved you so much.

He... he apparently told Cora that if he died he would want to go among the stars, I’m... I’m not surprised.

But... I never heard him say anything like that, I mean it does sound like dad, still... did you... did you know it, mom?

I wonder if Scott does...

*sigh*

He tried to save me, mom. I mean I died too, apparently... but I’m back, they... they brought me back.

First to Die — Alec and Mara Ryder

*bitter chuckle*

Scott better not one-up me on this one. I also got the first scars, he also better not one up me on this one too, I am the cool twin.

First Scars — Mara Ryder

*sicker followed by a sigh*

He is... he is in coma, technically. And dad... they said it was too late for him. I-- He... he made me his successor, I’m the new Pathfinder.

I don’t know what to do... it all feels like some bizarre nightmare that I can’t wake up.

It was supposed to be Cora, the new Pathfinder, if-if something happened to dad, it was supposed to be her, not me. I don’t even have half the training she had.

Nexus is a bust and none of the so called Golden Worlds are golden or habitable in any case.

*groans*

I may need more than two drinks.

Mom, I saw you. In dad's memories. He... he passed SAM to me, their connection was unlike anything I saw.

I wonder if you knew about this.

I can access some of dad's memories but there are blocks I need to unlock, in time.

I feel like dad was hiding something and he left bread crumbs for us.

*deep sigh*

We... we have arrived at Nexus, but it's a bust. It's not completed, there is news from other Arks and on top of everything none of the so called Golden Worlds are golden or habitable in any case.

600 years sure changes a lot, isn't it?

We knew there was a possibility of things not going the way we planned for them to be but did we really? Jien Garson is dead, dad's dead, all the Arks but the human one are missing-- I'm...

I am repeating myself.

They are giving me a ship, it is getting ready for departure. I'm... I'm going to stay at dad's quarters till that happens. I have some files and reports to go through.

He still has the coffee machine you got for him, I think that and the bottle in the cupboard under is going to be my new best friends.

The track I'm picking this time is for the sake of irony, I'm sure you'd appreciate it, mom.

Metric - Help, I'm Alive | Lyrics

SAM: Mara...

Yes, SAM?

SAM: May I ask you a question?

Sure, go ahead.

SAM: I noticed that in all your private logs you spoke as if you are talking to Ellen. Why is that?

It's... it's kind of tradition.

SAM: Tradition?

Yeah, when I was with the peacekeeping I would send mom voice or video logs regularly, and in return she did the same.

Like mails.

We would talk to each other about how our day went, what we did, how's everyone doing and so on.

I think... I think I kept doing it after she died because it helped me deal with my grief.

Losing her wasn’t easy... it never is. I haven’t even started to process that dad is gone as well.

*sigh*

Anyways, now even though I know she will never get these, it helps me calm down and assess things better. I guess I can say, at this point, they are for me more than they are for her.

But it also keeps her memory alive for me and I can imagine as if she is watching over me and Scott from wherever she is. With... dad now, I hope.

SAM: I see. Thank you for answering Mara.

Anytime SAM, anytime.

End of record.

#CW Alcohol #TW Alcohol #CW Death #TW Death #Mara Ryder #Private Logs #Day 002 #Mass Effect #Mass Effect Andromeda #Chapter 2: Nexus #SAM

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asphaltapostle · 5 years ago

Text

What I have long predicted is now coming to pass: Google believes it should assume control.

Out of all the technology companies that have made my knees knock and my voice hoarse and my [Tweets manic](https://twitter.com/search?f=tweets&q="google" %40ficklecrux&src=typd) as a technoheretic in the past several years, Jumbo Google would easily take home the winning trophy for Dystopian of the Millennium. I have been rehearsing an especially dear pet prophecy of mine, unsolicited, to family, friends, and podcast guests since 2011 in which I end up arguing quite convincingly that Google is a dead ringer for the 16th-century Vatican: an inherently self-isolating organization with an absolute monopoly yielding gargantuan levels of essentially passive income from a service which nearly everybody transacts with, but only Google understands (and is therefore assumed to be its only possible provider,) which inevitably develops such a distance from the rest of the populace and their way of life (in tandem with total notoriety and celebrity among them all) not intentionally out of malice, but from the delusion of mythically-bestowed philanthropic duty that is borned of and compounded by this economic and cultural isolation in a perpetual accumulation of power and wealth that radicalizes the monopolizers — the majority already highly predisposed to zeal as they would’ve needed to be in order to find themselves in this singular, universally powerful position over every other class — and leaves their egocentric minds to wander exempt from all criticism save for that of fellow radicalized monopolizers, who together begin to feel more and more comfortable wondering aloud about themselves in increasingly fantastic presumptions: what if all of this was bestowed upon us because we are superior to them? What if it is our divine responsibility as superior beings to take charge and shepherd the common people as our sheep — for they cannot possibly know as well as we what is truly best for them?

You see it, right? And you can feel a very specific flavor of terror that is both awed by the scale of the circumstances created by so few human minds and sincerely amused by the absoluteness of your own inability to alter them in any way. Perhaps you even recognize this taste as one perfected by Christianity’s ancient advertising business, but Google knows so much about you that it’s rumored to’ve been selling user data to the Judeochristian God for some time now at a 10% discount, and so we extrapolate and anticipate, yes?

Of course, it’s admittedly satisfying for me to deliver you to this godfearing place in the most perverse look what I saw first that you didn’t see because you’re just not as bright but lucky for you, I’m so fucking generous with my wisdom sort of thinking around which the entire personas and livelihoods of fringe movement fanatics are built upon, but this is my one thing, okay? I’ve been waiting years for the right time to formally argue this theory in depth, and — thanks to this year’s public spotlight finally pivoting on the giants who’ve been silently swallowing their competition and relentlessly forcing their already ridiculous margins higher and higher in relative obscurity for decades, the time has come, indeed. The common people’s trust in Google had a godawful week.

Don’t Be Evil

On Monday, Gizmodo reported that twelve frustrated Google employees were quitting the company in protest of their work assisting the Department of Defense to “implement machine learning to classify images gathered by drones” for the detail fleeting Project Maven, despite some 4000 employee signatures on a letter addressed to CEO Sundar Pichai requesting (in full) that he “cancel this project immediately,” and “draft, publicize, and enforce a clear policy stating that neither Google nor its contractors will ever build warfare technology,” citing the infamous “Don’t Be Evil” motto, which Google then proceeded to remove from its code of conduct for the first time in 18 years the day after the New York Times article went to press, on April 5th.

On initial approach to the abstract of this story, from the ass to our thoughts arrives an easy narrative of a Silicon Valley mutiny comprised of twelve brave, conscientious souls who’ve been eaten up inside by their complicity in the filthy deals made by their power-obsessed CEO over scotch and cigars in a dark D.C. study — kept awake for months by the sound of his puffing cackles at satellite images of dead toddlers in a bombed-out street.

Ah ha, we say. That man is no good, and he just wouldn’t listen! They knew they didn’t have a choice… They only did what they had to do…

The reality of internal disagreements at Google, though, manages to be even more theatrical. The sheer volume of correspondence must surely be beyond anything capable of the enduser’s imagination, so let’s phone a friend: my favorite peek into the day-to-days of inter-Google existence is an old blog post by Benjamin Tilly on his first month at the company in which he was compelled almost immediately to describe in great detail how best to “deal with a lot of email in gmail” at peak efficiency using shortcuts and labels. “As you get email, you need to be aggressive about deciding what you need to see, versus what is context specific.”

Now we have a bit better idea of the aggressive emailing that was a sure constant on a normal workday at Google in 2010, so it must’ve been deafening after 8 years of Gmail development as 4000 employees no doubt vented, debated, and decided to organize last month, though without making much headway because the leadership’s response was apparently “complicated by the fact that Google claims it is only providing open-source software to Project Maven,” this new knowledge having significant effect on our mind’s image of Sundar Pichai’s activities in Washington: he is now swapping seats with a frustrated Colin Powell in order to install OpenOffice onto his desktop from a flash drive, and we recall that Google’s Googleplex headquarters resembles nowhere in modern life more than a brand new playground built in a design language borrowing heavily from Spy Kids. And though these Twelve disciples are unnamed for the moment, a few of them could immediately land book deals by going public, and every single one would always have by default not only the badge of “I landed a job at Google,” (which is really to say I have hit Life’s maximum level cap,) but “I worked at Google for a while, but ended up quitting to do something else,” which is guaranteed to make you the most interesting, intellectually superior person present in whatever crowd for the rest of your life. The ultra-cool Sarah Cooper quit Google to become a comedian and even got to talk to Kara Swisher! I won’t pretend to understand big tech’s diminutive bastardization of prestige, but “more than 90 academics” jumping to publish an open letter (adjacent to a huge DONATE: Support the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots button) in which they “write in solidarity with the 3100+ Google employees” who’s terrible boss decided to help some lackeys in the Pentagon set up their email and didn’t text back for a whole hour doesn’t sound 100% sincere. Notably, I don’t know how or why the fuck 90 people would go about collaborating on a single document, but if it really was managed, they definitely used Google Docs… At one point, it was fun to think about the history of the friendly side-scroller-playing garage ghouls and dorm dorks who gave cooky, wacko names to their dot com startups in parody and defiance of the lame-ass surname anagrams on the buildings of their established competitors, but those who’ve stuck around have only done so by becoming expert at SUCKING UP EVERYTHING around them, and it pisses me off every day how worried I am that my species will finally be done in by a company with a name like Yahoo! and be known only to a bunch of adolescent interdimensional silicon blobs 30 million years in the future as that bipedal race who remained dignified until the last 0.01% of their reign on Earth, when in way less than a single generation, they all just went FUCKING INSANE and blew themselves up because they suddenly hated all sense.

“Google” is perhaps the worst of these to have to shout in fear and/or anger in your last moments as it sounds in American English like you’ve startled your subject with a ticklish pinch followed so immediately by an esophagus-busting chokehold that the two events appear simultaneous, and in real English English, it almost always sounds like a parent speaking of a character on a pre-K children’s television programme whom they find quite foul and upsetting, but will manage to refrain from expressing so otherwise because they know that Teletubbies shit is the most quickly forgotten stage of television viewership. It’s fascinating how exclusive the word “Google” is to American English because in everything else it really is complete nonsense, but lets halt all etymological discussions right now because we’ve only now just finished with Monday.

The Soul Ledger

On Thursday, all of my Google experiences, suppositions, and soul-detaching screenshots were usurped when a thoroughly alarming internal company video called The Selfish Ledger was leaked to The Verge, which I watched once then and do not want to watch again for the sake of this piece, but I will. Though the big V has been disappointingly timid for years about editorializing — when tech journalism desperately needs some confident, informed opinion more than ever — Vlad Savov’s accompanying article should be read in its entirety, to which I can add my own terror where he perhaps could not. The production style is technically identical to that of the very popular thinkpiece-esque, motion-graphics-paired-with-obligatory-sharpie illustrated videos which you find playing at max volume on your mom’s iPad from where she’s fallen asleep on the couch at 9PM, but the repeating stock string soundtrack multiplies one’s discomfort as such that we would all end up in the fetal position without remembering the transition were it not for the appearance of trusty old Dank Jenkins, who’s face I thankfully associate heavily enough with his infamous down-and-out Tweet to be a welcome respite in attention before the very scary hypothesis for which it’s been buttering me up, as best summed by Vlad:

> The system would be able to “plug gaps in its knowledge and refine its model of human behavior” — not just your particular behavior or mine, but that of the entire human species. “By thinking of user data as multigenerational,” explains Foster, “it becomes possible for emerging users to benefit from the preceding generation’s behaviors and decisions.” Foster imagines mining the database of human behavior for patterns, “sequencing” it like the human genome, and making “increasingly accurate predictions about decisions and future behaviors.”

The next time the what if they do something scary question comes up in a casual conversation about Google, you’ll have something a lot more substantial than just speculation. Or will you? The Verge reached out for comment and got an awfully convenient response.

> This is a thought-experiment by the Design team from years ago that uses a technique known as ‘speculative design’ to explore uncomfortable ideas and concepts in order to provoke discussion and debate.

Wow! Leave it up to grand ole Googe to reveal the ultimate excuse for just about any suggestion or behavior, though it does seem almost deliberately uncomfortable, doesn’t it? No matter — whether or not this video was ever about a project or tangible product development, or simply to explore uncomfortable ideas because it is proof that the company has reached that critical Vatican stage — if you’ll remember — where they now feel comfortable exploring Very Bad, but Very easily made Real Ideas amongst themselves about what would happen if they allowed their system to nudge its users around a different, slightly less optimal route to the bar, let’s say — without their knowledge — in order for the system to collect traffic data for the sake of its own interests? Which would be, technically, in the interest of all Ledger users now and in the future, so why not?

> The ledger could be given a focus, shifting it from a system which not only tracks our behavior, but offers direction towards a desired result.”

This, my dear privacy-obsessed friends, is the real issue with data collection — its power over huge groups by way of their behavior and it is never going to be remedied in any significant way by ad-blockers or VPNs because the EndUser shall always out number you 50 to 1, even decades from now. EndUser does not understand — or, crucially, have any desire to understand anything technical about what leads to the PewDiePie videos playing on his filthy screen. Here’s a great opportunity to escape Silicon Valley’s technolibertarianism and resign your Darwinian empathy in favor of meaningful and truly-effective action: if you want to avoid a future Google Church (or Google Government, more worryingly,) you should invest your time, effort, and knowledge into electing officials more capable of understanding and regulating Big Tech.

Google Government

The internet as it stands is made possible by Google as the goto resource for online advertising. In 2016, “Google held 75.8 percent of the search ad market, bringing in $24.6 billion in revenue from search ads,” according to Recode. By 2019, “that’s expected to grow to $36.62 billion in revenue, or 80.2 percent of the market.” Google’s edge in user behavior and targeted advertising combined with their extensive resources available developers to integrate independent platforms with Google’s software services at various levels makes it very difficult for any advertising-funded individual or organization to compete online without dipping in to the Google universe. YouTube — a Google property since 2006 — has actively invested in and supported a new career path entirely within their own platform that is rapidly becoming popularly aspired-to by young children, while the reality of existence as a full-time YouTuber is far less glamorous than the immediately-visible surface would indicate, and the effort already expended by my generation in its pursuit has already made us insane.

So, what would the internet look like if Google didn’t exist? We know they’ve been working with the government now on various projects, but what if some terrible exposed transgression of theirs suddenly warranted an immediate shutdown and seizure of all Google properties? Well, we know from a post on Quora by Googler Ashish Kedia that even 5 years ago, the sudden absence of Google for “2–3 mins” set the internet into a bit of a panic, reducing overall traffic by 40%. In the time since, we’ve all grown exponentially more dependent on Google properties: billions of people rely on Google Maps for directions and, thousands of companies (including the Pentagon and other government institutions) rely on Gmail and GSuites for intercommunication, file sharing, task management, etc., and more and more academic institutions rely on Chromebook devices running connection-dependent operating systems. It’s not much of a stretch to argue that Google’s sudden disappearance would constitute a Civil Emergency in the United States, which will only become a stronger and more serious incentive for regulatory bodies to look the other way.

Though the tangible results of advertising have been quantified significantly in the past 20 years, one can’t help but wonder after watching YouTube ads for the new Mercedes-Benz S-Class on toy unboxing videos if the companies who spend big bucks on Google advertising understand where their money is going, but they know that if they don’t advertise there, their competitors will. This, of course, is a fundamental practice of a monopoly, and it’s yielded Google so much fucking money that they cannot possibly spend it fast enough, as evidenced by their investments in life extension — so that, perhaps, they will have more time on Earth to figure it out.

When you build a collection of the world’s smartest people in a self-sufficient environment that discourages exploration of other lifestyles and ideas, and you sustain the society with a gargantuan, relatively low-maintenance revenue stream, you create a culture which is not only well-primed for isolationism, but is also extremely inefficient. In fact, with its vast collection of abandoned products and properties, Google must surely be one of the most inefficient companies in history. Thinking back on recent software releases along with its recent entries into the hardware space, Google is also one of the worst competing tech companies. Very little aside from Gmail, Google Photos, Google Maps, and Chrome have found their place or garnered significant usership. Google Play Music is unintuitive and impossible, Google Allo and Google+ are all but forgotten addendums to other services, and Google Search — its core, original function — has been out of control for years, and all of them are designed blandly and excruciatingly tiring to look at.

Google Shun

If this all has stirred nothing more in you than a desire to eliminate Google from your own online life as much as possible, there are alternatives in almost every one of the sphere’s they dominate. As of late, DuckDuckGo has accumulated a fair amount of buzz and coverage as a private, more relevant alternative to Google’s plain old search engine. Though it is clever enough to list us as the first result for “extratone,” I’ve found it simply insufficient as a replacement in my own life because, essentially, it rarely delivers what I’m looking for. By contrast, Dropbox Paper is such an elegant cloud notetaking and word processing software that it makes Google Docs look simply idiotic (and warrants its own review very shortly.) For getting around, know that MapQuest is not only still around — it’s now a very competitive mobile navigation app.

I, myself, have allowed Google as complete of access to my information and behavior as possible because I believe “privacy” is a completely futile endeavor if one wishes to be a part of society, though I do often use alternatives to Google services simply because I fucking hate the way they look. If you want a more complete list of services and software that allow one to shun the Google God entirely, you’ll be forced to seek out less dignified sources like Lifehacker and Reddit and decide if the additional time you’ll spend using most of them to accomplish the same tasks is really worth your digital angst.

If Google were to be more explicit with its users and staff about its aspirations to take over control of our lives, there will be little to do but accept the future they intend to create because they’ve long been too powerful to control. In the meantime, I’d suggest you continue to use whatever software works best for you and refrain from wasting your time fretting on conspiratorial suppositions of what the tech industry may be doing to “invade your privacy,” because there is no longer any such thing, nor will there be ever again. However, I would also urge to you worship your own Gods, whomever they may be, for Google will never be worthy. I, for one, shall only pray to our Mother Sun.

#social #google #future #web #privacy

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haveclotheswilltravel · 6 years ago

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This is a great time of year to head to New Orleans – the temps are nearly perfect for walking and exploring, and you won’t have the crowds from Mardi Gras or Jazz Fest. 4 days in New Orleans is plenty of time to get a good feel of the city at a relaxed pace. I’m sharing how we spent our 4 days here and a few tips for planning your New Orleans itinerary. Plus, I’ll share some suggestions if you have more or less time to spend in NOLA.

*Note: Regular readers, I was in New Orleans a few years back. I’m taking a look back at this trip because I never wrote an itinerary post and have been receiving some requests to do so.

How to Spend 4 Days in New Orleans – The Ultimate Itinerary

Bourbon Street in New Orleans.

Day 1 – Arrive & Take a Walk Down Bourbon Street

We arrived in New Orleans our first day in the afternoon. We got checked into our hotel and then took a walk down Bourbon Street. Our hotel was right on Bourbon Street, so it was an easy walk! There is a lot to see down here. We stopped at a few bars and restaurants before making our way back to our hotel that night. Bourbon Street does look completely different at night – so, it was fun to see it in both the day time and night.

Day 2 – Food Tour + Shopping + Haunted History Tour

If you only come to NOLA to do one thing – it should be to eat! There are so many yummy foods down here. I highly recommend taking a food tour (like this one) and maybe even a cocktail tour.

The food tour will only take a few hours maximum, so we used the remainder of the day to shop in the French Quarter and do a little exploring. There are tons of fun shops in this area.

Another highlight of this trip was taking a walking haunted history tour (like this one). This is best done at night + you can bring alcoholic beverages along for your haunted walk through the city! (They even let you stop to refill your beverages halfway through, haha.)

Day 3 – Cemetery Tour + Garden District + Jazz Bars

AHS Coven Mansion!

For day 3 we didn’t have any tours planned ahead of time. My goal was to see the AHS: Coven Mansion in the Garden District – which I did. Then we walked over to Lafayette Cemetery No.1. We ended up doing a half hour walking tour here. As morbid as it may sound, you should visit at least one cemetery while in NOLA. They are beautiful, unique and full of history.

We then headed over to a fun jazz bar called “The Three Muses.” We wandered back to our hotel and hung out there to watch even more jazz performances!

Click here to for more information on this day, and click here for my complete list of bars and restaurants to visit while in NOLA.

Lafayette Cemetery No. 1

Day 4 – Tarot Card Reading – Depart

We woke up and went to a tarot card reading at Rev. Zombies Voodoo Shop this morning – it was a fun experience! I’m not really a believer in this stuff, however, I do have to say, the reading was eerily accurate. We also did a cheap reading on the street afterward – this was also fun, but also not as “accurate,” shall we say. Marie Laveau’s House Of Voodoo is probably the most popular place to get a reading, but it was completely booked for the 4 days we were here, so be sure to call and book ahead of time!

Our flight left late that afternoon.

Do You Only Have 3 Days in New Orleans? Here are Some Tips…

You could easily condense this into a 3-day itinerary as well. For example, you could do your food tour, cemetery tour and haunted history tour all in one day – no problem! They are short tours. And there would still be time when you arrive on your first day to do a little shopping and exploring, and maybe even do a tarot card reading if you’re interested. Plus, 3 days is a great amount of time to sample all the different cuisine and beverages in New Orleans!

Another Option…

Another interesting option, if you have more time, is to take a cruise to New Orleans. Little did I know, but there are actually a few cruises that leave from Florida and dock in New Orleans for a few days, before sailing to Mexico. If you find yourself on one of these cruises – you could definitely use this itinerary!

Where We Stayed

If you won’t be taking a cruise to New Orleans, there are still plenty of hotels to choose from for a wide range of budgets! Click here to see them all.

We had stayed at the Royal Sonesta Hotel. It was right on Bourbon Street and was a nice hotel. Pro tip: If you don’t want to wear earplugs at night, don’t request to stay on the Bourbon Street side of the hotel like we did! We thought it would be fun to see the action for our hotel at night – and it was fun! But we did have to sleep with earplugs in because the partying doesn’t stop until nearly 6 am in NOLA! Booking.com (function(d, sc, u) { var s = d.createElement(sc), p = d.getElementsByTagName(sc)[0]; s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.async = true; s.src = u + '?v=' + (+new Date()); p.parentNode.insertBefore(s,p); })(document, 'script', '//aff.bstatic.com/static/affiliate_base/js/flexiproduct.js');

*Thank you to Celebrity Cruises for sponsoring this post.

Have you ever been to New Orleans? If so, what are some things you would add to this itinerary? Let me know in the comments!

*Click here to see all of my New Orleans blog posts.

If you liked it – Pin it!

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*Disclosure: some of these links are affiliate links. Meaning, if you click a link and make a purchase, Have Clothes, Will Travel gets a very small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting the brands that make this blog possible! I am also a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

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rubiconproject.com, 19398, DIRECT, 0bfd66d529a55807

pubmatic.com, 157599, DIRECT, 5d62403b186f2ace

pubmatic.com, 157599, RESELLER, 5d62403b186f2ace

openx.com, 537100188, RESELLER, 6a698e2ec38604c6

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districtm.io, 100600, DIRECT

How to Spend 4 Days in New Orleans - The Ultimate Itinerary This is a great time of year to head to New Orleans - the temps are nearly perfect for walking and exploring, and you won't have the crowds from Mardi Gras or Jazz Fest.

#itinerary #New Orleans #New Orleans Itinerary #NOLA #Travel Tips

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un-chat-sauvage-blog · 6 years ago

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On-Page SEO for 2019 - Whiteboard Friday

Posted by BritneyMuller

Whew! We made it through another year, and it seems like we're past due for taking a close look at the health of our on-page SEO practices. What better way to hit the ground running than with a checklist? In today's Whiteboard Friday, the fabulous Britney Muller shares her best tips for doing effective on-page SEO in 2019.

Click on the whiteboard image above to open a high-resolution version in a new tab!

Video Transcription

Hey, Moz fans. Welcome to another edition of Whiteboard Friday. Today we're going over all things on-page SEO, and I've divided it into three different sections:

How are crawlers and Googlebot crawling through your site and your web pages?

What is the UX of your on-page content?

What is the value in the content of your on-page content?

So let's just jump right in, shall we?

Crawler/bot-accessible

☑ Meta robots tag allows crawling

Making sure your meta robots tag allows crawling is essential. If that's blocking Googlebot from crawling, your page will never be in search. You want to make sure that's all panned out.

☑ Robots.txt doesn't disallow crawling

You want to make sure that let's say this page that you're trying to get to rank in search engines, that you're not disallowing this URL from your robots.txt.

☑ URL is included in sitemap

Similarly you want to make sure that the URL is in your site map.

☑ Schema markup

You also want to add any schema markup, any relevant schema markup that you can. This is essentially spoon-feeding search engines what your page is about and what your content is about.

☑ Internal links pointing to your page with natural anchor text

So let's say I am trying to rank for chakra stones. Maybe I'm on a yoga website and I want to make sure that I have other internal pages linking to chakra stones with the anchor text "chakra crystals" or "chakra stones" and making sure that I'm showing Google that this is indeed an internally linked page and it's important and we want to give it some weight.

☑ HTTPS - SSL

You want to make sure that that is secure and that Google is taking that into consideration as well.

User experience

☑ Meets Web Content Accessibility Guidelines

Does it meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines? Definitely look into that and make sure you check all the boxes.

☑ Responsive mobile design with same content and links

Is it responsive for mobile? Super important with the mobile-first indexing.

☑ Clear CTA

Is there one clear call to action? A lot of pages miss this. So, for this page, maybe I would have a big "Buy Chakra Crystals Here" button or link. That would be a clear CTA. It's important to have.

☑ Multimedia: Evaluate SERP and add desired media

Are you providing other desired media types? Are there images and video and different forms of content on your page?

☑ Page speed: utilize CDNs, compress images, use reliable hosting

Are you checking the page speed? Are you using CDNs? Are you compressing your images? You want to check all of that.

☑ Integrate social sharing buttons

It's the easiest thing. Make sure that people can easily share your content.

Content and value

This is where it gets really fun and strategic too.

☑ Unique, high-quality content

Are you providing high-quality content? So if you go to Google and you search "chakra stones" and you take a look at all of those results, are you including all of that good content into your page? Then are you making it even better? Because that should be the goal.

☑ Optimize for intent: Evaluate SERP and PPC, note which SERP features show up

You want to also optimize for intent. So you want to evaluate that SERP. If that search result page is showing tons of images or maybe videos, you should be incorporating that into your page as well, because clearly that's what people are looking for.

You also want to evaluate the PPC. They have done so much testing on what converts and what doesn't. So it's silly not to take that into consideration when optimizing your page.

☑ Title tags and meta descriptions

What are those titles? What are those descriptions? What's working? Title tags and meta description are still so important. This is the first impression to many of your visitors in Google. Are you enticing a click? Are you making that an enticing call to action to your site?

☑ Header tags

H1, H2, and H3 header tags are still super important. You want to make sure that the title of your page is the H1 and so forth. But just to check on all of that would be good.

☑ Optimize images: compress, title file names, add alt text

Images are the biggest source of bloat of on-page site speed. So you want to make sure that your images are compressed and optimized and keeping your page fast and easily accessible to your users.

☑ Review for freshness

You want to review for freshness. We want to make sure that this is up-to-date content. Maybe take a look at popular content the last year or two of your site and update that stuff. This should be a continual wash and repeat. You want to continue to update the content on your site.

☑ Include commonly asked questions

It's such an easy thing to do, but it's commonly overlooked. AnswerThePublic does a great job of surfacing questions. Moz Keyword Explorer has a really great filter that provides some of the most commonly asked questions for a keyword term. I highly suggest you check that out and start to incorporate some of that.

Find common questions now

These help to target featured snippets. So if you're incorporating some of that, not only do you get the extra traffic, but you find these opportunities of getting featured snippets, which is great. You're expanding your real estate in search. Awesome. PAA boxes are also a great way to find commonly asked questions for a particular keyword.

☑ Add summaries

Summaries are also hidden gems. We see Google seeking out summaries for content all of the time. They are providing summaries in featured snippets and in different SERP features to help sort of distill information for users. So if you can do that, not only will you make your content more easily scannable, but you're also making it more accessible for search, which is great.

☑ TF-IDF (term frequency-inverse document frequency)

TF-IDF stands for "term frequency-inverse document frequency." It sounds a little intimidating. It's actually pretty simple. What's the number of times that "chakra stones" is mentioned in this particular page divided by the number of times it's mentioned anywhere? This is basically just a calculation to determine relevance for the term "chakra stones." Really cool and commonly used by Google. So if you can do this on your on-page, it will just help you in the long term.

☑ LSI (latent semantic indexing) for relevance

Similarly LSI or LSA, it sometimes referred to, is latent semantic indexing, and it's also for relevance. This helps determine, okay, if I'm talking about chakra stones, it may also incorporate those other topics that are commonly related to this topic. Relevant.

☑ Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test

What is the readability of this page? The easier it is to read the better, but you just want to keep an eye on that in general.

Bonus tip!

One final tip that Kameron Jenkins put on Twitter, that I love so much, and Kameron is a world-class writer -she's one of the best I've ever had the privilege of working with - mentioned this on-page SEO trick. Find the top three ranking URLs for your target keyword.

KW research tip 1. Search your target kw & pull the top 3 ranking URLs 2. Compare URLs in @Moz KWE 3. Click on the areas of most overlap 4. See KWs that top-ranking URLs for target KW also rank for 5. Use ideas to optimize your own page! pic.twitter.com/FxJjOxn7DJ - Kameron Jenkins (@Kammie_Jenkins) November 7, 2018

So if I were to put in "chakra stones" in Google and pull the top three URLs, put them into Moz Keyword Explorer and I see what they're ranking for, I see what those three URLs are specifically ranking for, and I look at what they're commonly ranking for in the middle here. Then I use those keywords to optimize my page even better. It's genius. It's very similar to some of the relevant stuff we were talking about over here.

Discover new keyword ideas

So definitely try some of this stuff out. I hope this helps. I really look forward to any of your comments or questions down below in the comments section.

Thank you so much for joining me on this edition of Whiteboard Friday. I look forward to seeing you all again soon, so thanks. Have a good one.

Video transcription by Speechpad.com

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