#imagine them starting as this small scrappy channel

[ridiasfangirlings]

1) Yata has two YouTube channels - one about skateboarding, the other is dedicated to everything else (challenges, live videos, and so on). He is the face of the channel, and Fushimi is engaged in editing, and very rarely appears in the video. Yata meets Homra and becomes part of their YouTube family, without learning Fushimi's opinion. Yata enthusiastically starts shooting twice as many videos (for Homra)

“There goes your follower count, Misaki.” (doesn't have quite the same ring to it does it XD) So say Fushimi and Yata are childhood friends and Fushimi of course has his quiet crush on Yata that he refuses to admit actually exists. Yata develops a thing for social media and quickly becomes popular for his dynamic skateboarding videos and his outgoing personality, like originally he just made cool skating videos that Fushimi filmed but soon he started branching out to lifestyle stuff too. Fushimi does all the video editing and production work, he normally avoids being on camera but he probably does make rare appearances and Yata will talk to him while filming too so anyone who follows him for any length of time probably has at least a decent idea of who 'Saruhiko' is.

Eventually Yata gets scouted by this team known as Homra, they produce similar videos to what Yata does and maybe they do a lot of challenge videos and things like that, like doing dangerous stunts and all that. They think Yata would be a good fit for their channel and Yata can't help but be a little starry eyed, Homra's leader Mikoto is a majorly popular influencer and one of Yata's heroes and being asked to do videos with him is like a dream come true. Yata agrees to join them without even consulting Fushimi at all and Fushimi's annoyed by that (maybe they even have a small fight about it and Yata ends up impulsively stating that it's his decision because he's the actual star of their channel and Fushimi just does the video work. Yata feels bad about it almost as soon as he says it and he quickly apologizes, saying that they're a team right, and even though Fushimi shrugs and says it's fine really this just fuels his fears that Yata's moving away from him).

Once Yata becomes part of Homra's channel he's constantly busy doing videos, like before this was a side gig and he had an actual job but Homra is popular enough that Yata can do this for a living and it's like every day there's something new and cool going on. Yata invites Fushimi to come with him to Homra's parties and stuff but Fushimi always refuses, saying he has editing to do or going over filming issues, things that Yata doesn't need to worry about. Fushimi's been given a ton of responsibility by Homra's 'manager' Kusanagi, who trusts Fushimi to handle their camerawork and is always praising him for his skills, but even so Fushimi feels like he's not really part of Homra – it just makes him think again about Yata's outburst over being 'the real star' and it's like now Fushimi really is just the behind the scenes help. One day Homra does some question and answer thing as part of a game for a video, where they need to see how well they know each other. Fushimi isn't even supposed to be part of it but Homra's other cameraman, Totsuka, pulls him in. Yata ends up scoring unexpectedly low on Fushimi but does better with the other Homra guys, while Fushimi pretty much sucks at everyone except Yata where he's almost a perfect score. This just hammers home to Fushimi that Yata only cares about Homra now and just sees Fushimi as like an outside worker rather than a partner.

Around this time Fushimi gets an offer by Munakata Reisi, who runs a very popular channel around science and technology. Munakata has noticed that Fushimi's skills are being wasted in just setting up Homra's cameras and editing their crude videos and he feels Fushimi would do much better as an active part of Munakata's channel Scepter 4. Fushimi initially is wary but eventually feels like there's no point in staying with Misaki if all Yata cares about is Homra's vision rather than his own. He tells Yata that he's leaving Homra and moving out of their apartment, breaking a flash drive that contains like all their early rough videos and precious memories before storming off and stating he doesn't want anything to do with Yata ever again.

Of course this being Fushimi and Yata that doesn't happen and they have a whole rivalry going on for a few years before their respective teams step in and help them reconcile. By now Fushimi is in front of the camera as often as he is behind it and he's like an unexpected star for Scepter 4. Yata's realized at this point that he has feelings for Fushimi and wants to date him but he doesn't know how to say it. Maybe what happens is Yata asks if Fushimi will edit a video for him just like old times, like this video is Yata's and not Homra's and that's why only Saruhiko can edit it. Fushimi agrees and Yata hands him a flash drive, telling him to watch the video all the way through. Later back at his own apartment Fushimi starts to play the video and it's Yata confessing his feelings and coming out to the world as bi, stating that he's in love with Fushimi and has been for a while, and that he just wants Fushimi to be by his side again from now on if Fushimi will be his boyfriend. Fushimi in reply ends up making his own video and uploading it, sending Yata the link where Fushimi also comes out and calls Yata a stupid idiot and a hotheaded moron and also the guy Fushimi's loved since middle school, and the answer is 'yes.'

[fandomwriterstuff]

Traumtänzer (Pt. 6)

Rated T

German Translation:

Nein - No

Und ich bin erschöpft - And I am exhausted

Das Erste - it's a German television/news channel

Part 5

Part 7

When you’d reunited with Sam and James, they were with a blonde woman.

“And who is this?” she had a gun in one hand, and it was giving you anxiety. Mein Gott, but she looked familiar.

“This is Maus, ” James elected to keep your name a secret for now, a gesture for which you were grateful. “ Maus, this is-”

“Sharon Carter,” you breathed. “The people who held me captive, they were afraid of you. An American agent with no leash. They were afraid you’d come set us experiments free,” you raised an eyebrow at her. “I always wanted to meet you.” You sniffed at her, not much for a woman HYDRA was afraid of.

“I hope I live up to your expectations,” she said darkly, the gun in her hand twitching.

“ Tread carefully, we want her on our side,” Helmut whispered in Sokovian when you barked out a harsh laugh at her comment. You paused before replying, thinking over your next words carefully.

“I suppose I’ve only just met you, I can’t make any decisions,” you finally said, not willing to get on her bad side.

“So,” Sharon turned to James and Sam. “You’ve got Zemo, an international fugitive, and a former… what? HYDRA agent?” She looked at you from the side and you narrowed your eyes before nodding. “Alright,” she shook her head. “I have a place in High Town, you should be safe there for a while,” when she turned, you nervously side-eyed Helmut. You didn’t trust her, no matter how starstruck you were. You supposed you were supposed to catch on and start following her, but you didn’t realize that until Helmut placed his gloved hand on the small of your back and gave you a gentle push forward. Your legs were like jelly from teleporting so many people, and you were exhausted.

You found yourself feeling heavier and heavier, leaning more of your weight on Helmut’s arm as you walked. Eyelids heavy, when you got into the car (in the back middle seat because you were the smallest) you leaned your head on Helmut’s shoulder. You were sure Sam, on your other side, was curious about the nature of your relationship with the Baron.

Hell, so am I, you thought to yourself as the car lulled you into relaxing. You wrapped your arms around Helmut’s right one and sighed deeply.

You were hoping none of them would mention your powers in front of Sharon, she was a wild card, but your expectations were too high.

“Have you ever teleported that many people before?” Sam asked from beside you, eyeing up your posture and half-closed eyelids.

“ Nein,” you breathed the word. “ Und ich bin erschöpft,” you figured you had defaulted to the language you were most used to speaking.

“Please, for the love of all that is holy, try to explain in English,” Sam let out a soft chuckle, trying not to scold you.

“She said,” Helmut replied pointedly. “No, and that she is exhausted.” His thumb stroked over your hand and you let your eyes slip shut completely. Sam didn’t say anything else after that but you felt his arm move beside you, so maybe he was nodding in acknowledgement.

It was a short while before the car stopped, and Helmut patted your hand with his own.

“ It’s time to move, schätzchen,” Helmut’s voice rumbled in your ear, and you followed him out of the car, your energy slightly returning to you.

Sharon’s place was suspiciously beautiful.

“Looks like breaking all those laws is treating you well,” there was an accusatory tone in Sam’s voice, but you couldn’t help but think that Sharon was doing the best she could under the circumstances.

“Well, at some point I thought if I had to hustle I might as well enjoy the life of a real hustler,” she commented nonchalantly. “You know how much I can get for a real Monet?” You glanced at all of the art as you passed it by. You wanted to be more cultured and care about the fine arts but you’d lived such a bare and scrappy life up until this point, you couldn’t care less. You zoned out a bit until Sharon raised her voice.

“Come on, you guys need to change. I’m hosting clients in an hour,” you were all ushered upstairs where Sam and James changed. Helmut stayed in his luxurious coat and you… Well you weren’t sure what you were all supposed to be doing so you sat down across from James, crossed your legs, and observed.

Sam was disappointed in Sharon, but he also felt extreme guilt for not helping her out. You wondered what their previous working relationship was like. She seemed very straightforward and badass, very powerful. You couldn’t imagine her working with the Avengers. You eyed Helmut as he took a sip of some dark liquor and winked at you from across the room.

You only tuned in when you heard about the ‘new cap.’

“Wait there’s a new one?” You finally interjected.

“Don’t get me started,” James grunted across from you.

“Look I have a television but I only get the BBC and Das Erste . I barely ever get news of Avenging,” you sighed.

“Name’s John Walker,” Sam supplied. “He’s a real prick.”

Prick? You mouthed the word. Was it a colloquialism?

“ He means that Walker is an asshole,” Helmut provided in Sokovian and you nodded sagely. That made sense. Well, it didn’t make sense that the kapitän was an asshole, but it did make sense that you didn’t know the English colloquialism.

You watched back and forth as Sam and Sharon hashed out their issues and… Well, you should have been paying more attention. Helmut asked you to put your shoes back on, apparently you were going to a party downstairs.

The music was booming, the bass was in time with your fluttering heart. You’d never been to a party before. You were supposed to ‘blend in.’ Whatever that meant.

Helmut’s hand was on your lower back again as you wandered into the fray, and in the dark room with the flashing lights he looked breathtaking.

“ You’re very handsome, you know?” You inquired in Sokovian. For once, you were glad for your time in HYDRA as you had no filter and felt no shame saying what you meant to say. Helmut looked down at you, gaze warm and inviting.

“ And you are very beautiful,” he replied in the same tongue. It was so nice being able to speak it again. You said as much to him and a warm smile lit up his face. “ It has been a long time since I could speak Sokovian to anyone, it is such a pleasure to hear you speak.” This time you did blush a bit, but you hoped he didn’t notice as he ushered you further into the swarm of bodies. You’d never been touched by so many people before, some of them just brushing up against you.

You wish the Baron would touch you , your brain supplied and you chided yourself. You were here on a mission, not a conjugal visit. Though he was looking devastatingly handsome and you could imaging those leather gloves gripping your hips, those soft lips on your neck, he would take his gloves off to-

You stopped yourself there. This was not the time to fantasize.

When you took account of your surroundings again, the Baron was dancing in a sort of awkward way, but it endeared him to you even more. The pounding music and the warm touches from all angles were heating you up inside, and you scoped out a dark corner nearby where you’d be shielded from everyone’s view, including James and Sam.

You hooked your fingers into Helmut’s and dragged him over. As you maneuvered your way into the corner and your back hit the wall, you pulled Helmut in, shielding you from view.

“Helmut,” you purred his name and dragged your hand up his arm and to his neck. His pulse was racing just as your own was.

“ What could you have possibly drawn me back here for, little mouse?” He smirked, looking down at your bright eyes through your long curled lashes.

“ I was getting quite overwhelmed,” you admitted softly. “ I was hoping you could… distract me.”

He raised an eyebrow and his smile grew.

“ And how would you like for me to distract you?” His lips were only a hair’s breadth away from your own and it barely took any effort at all to press your lips against his. You’d been waiting to taste him since you’d kissed in the dressing room earlier on.

You slid your other hand into his coat and lay it on his side, feeling the warmth of his body as he cupped your face with one hand, deepening the kiss as you let his tongue slide into your mouth. You assumed that taste was the liquor he’d been drinking before, maybe whiskey? Whatever it was, you were feeling drunk on his taste and you were eager to keep kissing him if it meant you would feel this light and airy.

“ Mein Gott,” he groaned as you pulled him even closer, your bodies pressed against one another’s. His hand reached to cup your breast tenderly, stroking his thumb over your nipple. You were glad you hadn’t worn a bra with this dress, everything felt more intense.

“Helmut,” you breathed his name against his lips when you finally parted, eyes closed and foreheads pressed together.

“ What is it that you want, schatz? I would give you the moon if you asked it of me,” he whispered to you. Everything felt so safe and warm in this little corner of the world. You just wanted to stay within his arms for the rest of the night.

The warmth was broken as Helmut was yanked away from you, and your eyes shot open.

“James!” You hissed angrily, eyes narrowing at the man holding Helmut with his metal arm.

“We found Nagel,” he spat, looking at you with a disappointed look in his eyes. You rolled your eyes at him and sighed.

“Alright, let’s go.”

Masterlist

[esteflynn]

『 lindsey morgan. twenty seven. cis woman. she/her. 』 oh heavens, is that ESTELLA FLYNN from CHESTNUT DRIVE i see roaming around mapleview? minnie may’s always calling them -COARSE & -HUBRISTIC. i happen to think they’re not that bad! they’re a pretty cool FIREFIGHTER and every time i’ve seen them, they’ve always been +HONEST & +ENTHUSIASTIC. i hope i see them around again! 

@mapleviewstarters​

hello hello hello, it’s amie again (i also play bethanie). i decided i’d bring my little sparky slightly battered fuse box here and so... yeah that’s what this is i suppose. drop this a lil like or hmu in the messages/on discord (silly goose#0914) if ya wanna. 

❂ estella was born in mapleview. her father left her mother before she was born and moved abroad, leaving her mom to raise her all alone. it was difficult for them both and estella was often shipped off to stay with other people and play with new kids whenever her mother had to go to work, but she was doing everything she could to make sure ends at least touched. 

❂ even from a young age, estella was a scrappy kid. her mother would be called into school because she’d been distracted or have started on one of the other children and as time went on... her mother lost her patience. the house dynamic shifted when her mother met a man - oh a lovely rich man as she called him - and suddenly estella was a ghost to them both. that girl needs to be taught a lesson... she’d hear her mother’s boyfriend shout and worst of all, her mother would agree. when she was twelve, she was sent to boarding school in virginia.  

❂ estella still acted out but now she was far away enough that her mother could ignore the letters and emails from the teachers concerned about este’s welfare. she was told she needed to channel her anger and eventually she found some respite in a hobby not many of her female friends shared... boxing. this meant that she often worked out alone, hammering her fists into a pad until they stung. and then she’d punch harder. 

❂ years went by and estella did feel herself improve. she bit back less and focused on her boxing. she made friends, she fell in love for the first time, and she totally fell out with her mother and her... male friend. all they did was pay for her to keep going to school. just enough money to keep her at arm’s length so her mother’s child didn’t ruin their little pipe dream life wherever in the country they were.

❂ by 23, estella could confidently say she’d found herself. she was a well-known boxer in amateur circuits and had discovered a small passion for singing. she’d had a band during college and it gave her another outlet. after leaving college she moved all over the place, singing in bars and competing in fights and then... eventually, she found her way home to mapleview.

❂ coming home didn’t hit her with waves of nostalgia. in lots of ways it was uncomfortable but her mother was no longer there. another family was in her childhood home and if this was where she was supposed to be... she had time to make up on. brief visits in the summer had been few and far between so everything felt fresh. 

❂ estella had now been in town for almost three years and still competes in fights on occasion and can be found training often. she can also be found enjoying karaoke or performing at any open mic just for the kick of it but her main focus is on her job as a firefighter... sometimes that gives her purpose.

possible connections:

❂ friends (old old friends or new ones or summer friendships) ❂ training/gym rats ❂ drinking buddies ❂ angsty exes/one night stands/unrequited ❂ voices of reason ❂ anything you can imagine 

[stevethemaker]

Being a Maker.

This is something I like being. I like to make stuff out of things I can gather together.  I have learned to look at things in a different way, for example, I dropped a wine glass and the stem and foot broke off leaving the top of the glass completely intact. I saw that it was like a glass dome and although only small I have saved it to make something like a small bedside light - I will probably use an LED bulb for this and cut a circle of oak, mahogany or pine (because that is what I have) as a base.  I have also kept a sink strainer (the thing your plug fits into) - I want to use it as the back drop for clock handles because I like the colour of it and the pattern it has in it.  I have taken, with permission, scrappy bits of wood out of skips because I Have learned that under the paint and the stains there is still perfectly good, use-able wood. To me this is a good thing because I don't earn a lot of money and making things can be expensive!  Of course there are times when I need to buy things, but I try not to where I can and often projects have changed part way through because I couldn't afford what I needed and found a free alternative.  Does this mean I am cheap? a tight arse? Greedy? Maybe....I wouldn't call anyone in my financial position any of these names, I would call myself (and others) resourceful, creative, imaginative, smart.  Having, or learning, the ability to use items for a purpose other then what they were intended is actually a great skill!  I also think it makes projects a lot more fun and interesting - even the planning part is a lot more fun when trying to make something out of nothing - when you turn a bakers hand whisk into a light shade for example.   Making, be it out of wood, metal, cooking, knitting, drawing and so on is all forms of art. Art is a matter of taste and opinion - is that piece good? Well, that depends who you ask, right? To put it simply,  take two men, pick out a random lady in the street - one man may say she is attractive, they other may not.  Does it mean she is ugly? I suppose this is why some YouTube channels are HUGELY successful yet other seem to find it hard to get off the ground - it all depends on the audiences perception and taste.  I have seen several channels with literally a handful of subscribers/view counts and I am sat there thinking "Why hasn't this channel exploded in activity? It is amazing!"  That may be simply because myself and a handful of others like it, yet so many more don't.  Does it really matter though?  I suppose subscriber/view count numbers are important to some degree, I myself use to be hugely hung up on this to the point of checking the numbers many times a day! So much to the point that I pissed myself off! It was like I became addicted to the numbers!  It still matters a little bit, I DO like to see my channel grow and the view count rise but I think I have learned (or am learning) that this is NOT the important part.  The important part is, or should be in my opinion, the creative process - from planning, to making, filming, editing and uploading.  Not only that but the community that watch my videos - when someone clicks Like or share but mostly when they comment - the subsequent conversation from that first comment is also very important to me.  I do not get 100's of comments and in a way I am glad I don't, if I did I would never be able to keep up and would automatically lose part of that community that I currently have and enjoy - CONVERSATION! These are just some of the rambling thoughts I have when I am sat quietly and just thinking. If you have managed to read through without falling asleep, then, well bloody done! I bore the shit out of myself some days! So thank you for reading, when I have other thoughts, I may or may not put them up here again....you never know it might start a conversation or argument! All the best, Steve Maker. www.youtube.com/c/stevemaker

[jessgartner]

2019 Life Olympics

At the end of 2018, I was fried: emotionally, physically, financially. It had been a brutal year that took a huge toll on my health and home. I kept having these episodes where I woke up in the middle of the night with my heart racing so fast that I worried it would explode. My GERD was the worst it had ever been, I was head-cold sick more than not, and I was literally struggling to breathe. The past few years of work were catching up to me and my body was showing it. I was honestly starting to feel like I would certainly die of some stress-related disorder before I turned 40. And then one of my friends died from a heart-attack and I made the decision that some things had to change. My friends tease me that I only do things in my personal life when they benefit Allovue and in many ways, this was true here, too. I realized last year that I wanted to do this work for a long time to come. And I realized that my life's work would be cut pretty short if I killed myself from stress before I turned 35. When I shared this with my exec coach as well as how past attempts to prioritize my health had always fallen by the wayside she said, "Well. I think you're just going to have to make up your mind to... do it." So I did it.

This year was all about getting my body, mind, and heart in a place that allows me to do work that I care about for the rest of my life if I want to (and ensuring that the "rest of my life" is actually a good long time). 2019 was about setting boundaries on my time and energy so that I could be a fully-functioning whole healthy person. And it turned out that in a year in which my general mantra was to "do less" (no more setting +30 annuals goals and working myself into a stress-addled mess), my life felt the fullest. Here we go:

2019 Life Olympics Recap

Career - Gold

Please try not to laugh at my extremely "duh" realization that the more I took care of myself, the more the company thrived. My exec coach deemed my transition from December 2018 to January 2019 a "DOS to Windows" level upgrade in my general approach to business strategy. In no small part, this is because we were raising money and it's just a little easier to feel confident with $4M in fresh funding in the bank. But I took that gasoline and poured fire on it - unleashing ideas and plans and ambitions that I had been holding back on for years. One Board member asked me in December, "Do you want to be a large chicken or do you want to be a 10-ft tall murder bird?" 

Let's not psychoanalyze this too much but for some reason this image really resonated with me and I spent the better part of this year channeling this vibrant Cassowary:

Don't ask me why, but it worked. Allovue had a banner year and we're on track to fulfilling a vision that I have been working towards for 7 nearly years.

Sharply juxtaposed with my murder bird imagery, it's worth mentioning another consequence from this year of being a whole person: I was kinder. It turns out that sleep and exercise and proper nutrition increase your capacity for patience and kindness, too. I made more time for people and I felt less reactive. I was able to process setbacks more quickly and productively. I had energy for more team outings. I started doing weekly CEO Chats where I spend 30 minutes 1:1 with every member of the company. It's my favorite part of the week. I even noticed this in small ways, like having the energy to make friendly conversation with Lyft drivers. Being too tired to be friendly is a state of being that I plan I leave in the dust of this decade.

Lastly, this year I felt like I led the company with the most love. Love for the work, love for our team, and love for our partners. While there are many forces and headlines in this capitalist world that may lead you to believe that love and success are incompatible, I humbly, flatly disagree. Leading from a place of love and kindness is the only way that feels right to me. And if the past few years have taught me anything about business: if it feels right, it is right. They don't call it the golden rule for nothin'.

Home - Silver

This was a tricky one! First: there were no catastrophes this year! After 2018's cascade of house-related disasters (ceiling caving in! flood! awful tenants! roof leaks!) I was hoping the gods of hearth and home would leave me alone this year. As a peace offering, I gave my bedroom a little makeover and finalized my will. For good measure, I cleaned up my backyard and built a little porch. And my property manager has been an actual gift from the heavens. All was quiet on the homefront this year.

But, um. Finance is also in this category. And on matters of personal finance this year? Well, this was an area of my life considerably devoid of boundaries. Dinners, drinks, wine clubs, concerts, personal training, specialists, massages, travel, shopping, new hobbies, home improvements - I did it all. I was a pure hedonist this whole year, as you probably already know if you follow me on Instagram. So why did this spending spree year not plunge me into the depths of "Did Not Place"? Because I believe in balance in all things. Since starting Allovue, I've been very scrappy. In the first year of Allovue, my gross income was $9K. The following year, it was about $20K. It's risen to more livable wages over the past 5 years, but I've still been at-times frugal to a fault. So this year, I let loose a little. I indulged. I explored. I released myself from fretting about whether I should splurge the extra $4 on the meal I really wanted. I tipped very generously. I had a LOT of fun. But I still did all of this within my means, so it's not as though I drove myself into debt on fancy dinners. I had many wonderful experiences this year and no regrets about a year of limited saving. Next year, though, is going to be a year of saving and mostly free fun. I already canceled the wine club memberships.

Health - Gold

GOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLDDDDDDD. I've never given myself Gold in this category before! I'm actually tearing up a little bit right now because it took me 10 years of working at this entirely self-constructed, self-imposed framework for adult living to feel like I did a good job taking care of my own physical health but I did it and I feel great. I had so much help, though! I worked with an allergist who helped with my persistent colds (non-allergic rhinitis from years of not treating my allergies effectively)

and

GERD (apparently sinus health is closely connected with digestive health). I worked with a personal trainer to help me learn more about strength training and increased my muscle mass by about 5%. I worked with a nutritionist who helped me identify food triggers and get rid of the GERD entirely and get off all the prescription meds I had been using to treat it. I started working with a therapist to take care of my mental health. I increased my physical activity by 250% and had the most consistent year of exercise ever. I slept well. I took vacations and breaks when I needed them. I reduced my sugar intake. I learned about protein! I figured out the daily breakdown of fat, protein, and carbs that makes me feel best. And perhaps most importantly, I didn't allow my energy to be drained by things that I had no power over. There is really something to that serenity prayer and I can't overstate the benefit to physical and mental health by learning to recognize the things that are out of my control and letting that shit go.

So this was a categorical improvement for me this year, but there is still a lot of work I need to do in the next decade on my body image. It's hard for me to admit this but I think it's important to be honest about challenges as much as celebrating successes. For as long as I can remember, I have struggled mightily with body dysmorphia, disordered eating, and general body image. At times, I have starved myself on as little as 800-calories a day; I have tried every fast, juice-cleanse, colon-cleanse, fad diet, and magic pill on the market. The negative self-talk is constant and vicious; I often wonder what on earth I could accomplish if I ever managed to free up all that mental energy. I have a near-phobia of taking pictures because I am so paranoid about how I will look. I have a complicated relationship with mirrors. I have extreme anxiety about bread. In the summer of 2016 I contracted a food-borne illness on vacation and couldn't eat or drink much of anything without vomiting for two months. I had a parasite and it was the best I had ever felt about my body.

I'm not utterly lacking in self-confidence: I have confidence in my ideas, my ability to solve problems, my judgment, my ability to love, and my capacity for creativity. But I live in a world that constantly reminds me that what's in a woman's head doesn't count for much if we can't count her abs. I have been thus far unsuccessful at squelching that narrative internally. For a while, I was under the impression that this was just a narrative of immaturity. I imagined that when I turned 30, I would suddenly be very wise and self-accepting. When that didn't happen, the body-hate somehow intensified instead: How are you over 30 and still obsessing over this? Why can't you let this go?

This is a work in progress and something I'm going to prioritize with my therapist and nutritionist in 2020. My goal is to someday be able to look in the mirror or at a picture of myself and feel proud. Please do not interpret this as an invitation to tell me that I look good or that you think I'm thin or pretty or whatever. It is not invited and it will not help. I do not need any external validation on these matters; this is an inside job. I don't feel comfortable sharing all of this, but if there's anyone else out there who always feels like they are 10, 15, or 100 pounds away from happiness, know that you are not alone.

Soul - Gold

Picking up the thread on spending, you can see that I really enjoyed myself this year. I indulged in everything that brings me pleasure and joy this year: delicious gastronomic experiences; travel to Cancun, London, Amsterdam, Vancouver, Miami, and Tulum; concerts; plays; museums; singing. I felt creatively on fire this year and attribute a good chunk of that to surrounding myself with creative energy at every occasion. I also rediscovered a love of camping this year. I bought some new gear and enjoyed several camping trips around Maryland before it got too cold this Fall. My only failing/complaint in this category is that I had a lackluster and uninspired year of reading and writing. I think it was offset enough by my other creative experiences but I do want to reprioritize reading again next year.

Relationships - Gold

I know this category is the only one you care about and that's why I save it for last. Hopefully, I tricked you into caring about the rest of my life, but if you skipped to the end I'll forgive you. As many of you know, this year I took a big hiatus from dating. I quietly started my hiatus around September of 2018 and broke my hiatus in August 2019 when I met someone in real life who I actually wanted to go out with. Probably because I was fried in other realms in my life, I was beyond exhausted with dating last year. It became something I completely dreaded and I decided I needed a long hard break from trying. Did it work? Yes. Better than I imagined.

Up until hiatus, dating felt like something I needed to do to fill a missing part of my life or myself. I was operating from a deficit standpoint. I felt like lots of things in my life were great but my singleness represented some hole or flaw that needed correcting. As a result, the act of dating felt extremely high stakes and I always felt anxious and insecure about it. Giving myself the freedom to not care or not try at all was truly liberating. Suddenly, I was not worried about reserving time and space in my life for something or someone that may or may not materialize. I made plans with friends, I went on trips, and I planned my evenings and weekends with zero regards to men who may or may not commit to plans; who may or may not cancel at the last moment. My life felt instantly larger. Time and space just expanded. Instead of feeling like a restriction, my world opened up. I spent so much time with friends this year. And did I mention how much fun I had? I also made more time for my parents and enjoyed trips and concerts and other activities with them, too.

I'm dating again but it feels completely different now. I learned that my life and my heart are already full. Nothing at all is missing or broken. Now dating is a value-add activity only and that is a completely different game - one that doesn't make me feel anxious at all. I also learned to expand my definition of love this year. All the romantic rhetoric about finding "the one" or finding love "at last" or "saving love" are really... limiting. Taking romantic love off the table for a year allowed me to receive and give love in so many other ways: friend love, parental love, coworker love, self-love, city love, etc. In a year that I thought would require an absence of love, I actually experienced the greatest abundance of love. My definition of love had been narrow; I was being far too precious about it. As I expanded my definition, I experienced love and gave it more abundantly. So I guess it's true what they say: you find love when you stop looking for it - it just looks and feels differently than I expected.

2020

So that's a wrap on 10 years of the Life Olympics! Next year, I am planning to bring lots of energy inspired by Baby Yoda and Moira Rose. My theme for 2020 is Intention because I want to take the energy I feel right now and deploy it with more intentionality next year - bringing increased mindfulness to how I spend my time, money, physical and mental energy. And because I love wordplay, I also literally want to spend more time camping "in-tent" to enjoy more peace and quiet and beauty in nature.

When I started working with the nutritionist she gave me a list about "Mindful Eating" which I scoffed at for having tips like "Chew your food" but decided to try anyway. As it turns out, I was not really chewing my food at all, so much as just quickly and eagerly swallowing whole bites - much like the rest of my life. In 2020, instead of swallowing life whole, I'll learn to chew it.

[not-another-imagine-blog]

Prince Charming (Brendan Gallagher)

Anonymous said:

I love your imagine. Oh my god ❤️❤️😂😂 could you make an imagine with anyone from the Habs? And basically they get into a fight that night and they don't come out of it very good and they have to go to the hospital but since it was at their rink you were watching the game and it just becomes all fluffy? (If that makes sense. ❤️❤️❤️)

Word count: 2035

Fights are a normal part of the NHL. You, as a hockey fan, like the fights a little more than the average person. Fights give teams that spark that they need to tie the game up. Enforcers are a vital part of the team; they boost the morale when the game just isn’t going that well. You carry a level of respect for the men that are able to go out on the ice and take a few punches for the good of the team.

However, when one of those men just happens to be your boyfriend, you’re a little less enthusiastic.

Brendan throws one hell of a punch, and he knows how to defend himself, but you still can’t help but to cringe whenever the gloves go flying off, or chide him as you hold an ice pack to his newest bruise. You know that you’re being a tad overprotective, but it’s not like anyone enjoys watching their boyfriend get beat up as thousands of people cheer him on.

Tonight’s game has been a scrappy one, that’s easy to see by the penalty minutes racked up and the dirty shoves between teams whenever there’s a stoppage in play. There’s already been a couple of fights, so you’re not all that surprised when Brendan and another player start yelling at each other, smirks plastered across their faces. You say a small prayer to anyone listening that Brendan doesn’t do anything stupid as you watch intently. Suddenly, Brendan’s eyes steel and his jaw clenches as his opponent insults him. Brendan drops his gloves and gestures as his new best friend does the same.

You gasp as Brendan immediately grabs a hold of the other player’s jersey and starts punching him, the crowd jumping to their feet around you and pounding on the glass, urging him off. His opponent suddenly gets a grip on Brendan and starts whaling on him, blood flying onto the ice now. Brendan, from the glimpses you catch, already has a black eye, a couple of cuts on his face and a bloody nose. Suddenly, the other player hits him on the side of his head. Hard. Brendan immediately goes down as you jump up, frantically watching him.

“Get up, get up, get up!” You yell as trainers immediately run across the ice while refs pry the other player, still swinging, off of Brendan. The stadium goes silent as trainers start tending to Brendan. His eyes are closed and his face is bloodied. You can’t tell if he’s passed out or just in pain, but you know that it can’t be good when the trainers bring out the neck brace. Carey Price skates away from the throng of players surrounding your boyfriend and moves towards you.

“Sounds like they’re gonna take him to the hospital!” Carey mouths to you. You can almost feel the blood drain from your face as you nod, shakily gathering your things and immediately racing to the player area. In the time it takes you to get to the parking area, where there’s an ambulance already waiting, the trainers have already gotten Brendan onto a stretcher. You flash your credentials to security and push past them just in time to see Brendan. His face is still bruised and bloodied and his eyes are still closed, all of the medical staff surrounding him talking hurriedly.

“Brendan!” You yell out. Everyone looks towards you before one of the members of PR for the team comes racing up to you.

“(Y/N), I’m gonna give you a ride to the hospital, okay? There’s no room in the ambulance.” You nod, numb, as you watch Brendan get loaded up.

“Is he passed out? Please tell me he’s not passed out.” You say desperately, allowing her- Molly? Mary?- to lead you to her car. Whatever her name is, the nice PR lady thinks for a moment, choosing her words carefully.

“It seems that the hit to the side of his head knocked him out, and as of now the medical staff hasn’t been able to wake him up.” You groan loudly as the car starts, Molly/Mary right behind the flashing ambulance.

You’re a nervous wreck the whole way to the hospital. You can’t stop checking your phone, hoping that he’s woken up and sent you a reassuring text. Molly/Mary tries to make small talk, but you can only make small noises of acknowledgment, sure that if you were to actually try to speak a word, you’d start sobbing. Finally, after the longest car ride of your life, you reach the emergency room. The car barely rolls to a stop before you’re already throwing open the door and clambering out, forgetting to thank the PR lady. Unfortunately, no miracle has happened, and you’re told to wait in an uncomfortable ER chair until more news can be given to you. You fall back into a chair, hopelessly stranded, waiting for any sort of confirmation that your boyfriend is going to be okay.

Brendan’s teammates show up about an hour after you’ve arrived. You’re staring dully at the small TV in the corner, which is playing the Weather Channel, of all things to have on, when you hear the doors whoosh open and the sounds of hockey players trampling into the room fill your ears. You look up and see at least half of the team, all with wet hair and disheveled suits. Alex is the first one to notice you, walking over and, thankfully, blocking your view of the weather.

“Any news?” He asks quietly. You shake your head, looking up at him.

“It’s been an hour, Chucky.” You mutter, not able to keep your eyes off the the ER doors for too long. Alex gently grabs your hand and tugs it away from your mouth. You glance at your hands in shock, seeing that you’ve unintentionally been chewing on your poor fingernails the whole time.

“(Y/N).�� He says simply. That’s all it takes for you to break. Tears start welling in your eyes as you throw yourself into Alex’s embrace. He hugs you tightly as you furiously try to stop crying.

“He’s never been hurt like this before! What if he doesn’t wake up? What if he can’t play anymore? What if-”

“Hey, don’t think about that.” Carey lays a hand on your shoulder. “He’s going to be fine, alright? Brendan’s going to be just fine and back to annoying us all tomorrow.” He jokes. You let out a half-hearted laugh, wiping the tears away from your eyes.

“I’ll let him annoy me for the rest of my life if that’s what it takes for him to be okay.” You say seriously. “God, I’m sorry for crying. That’s embarrassing.” You complain. Alex laughs, hugging you again.

“That’s usually the reaction from ladies.” He jokes. All of the boys take turns talking to you, trying to get your mind off of your injured boyfriend. Shea’s in the middle of telling you a story about his kids when you hear the doors open. You immediately turn to look at the doctor.

“Brendan Gallagher?” You breathe a sigh of relief as you stand up, the whole team standing with you. The doctor looks bewildered at the size of Brendan’s party.

“Only family for now, please.” She requests politely. The team urges you on as you feel yourself walking towards the doctor.

“I’m his girlfriend.” You say quietly. She nods and swipes her keycard, unlocking the doors. You follow her down the winding hallways, waiting for her to give the diagnosis. She stops in front of what you assume to be his room, grabbing a chart and quickly reading it.

“He’s awake.” She tells you. You let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding as you smile.

“Is he…?” You trail off.

“He’s aware of what happened. He has a pretty bad concussion, but he doesn’t seem to have any amnesia. His nose is fractured, and he’s going to have some pretty nasty bruises, but he’s fine. He’s been asking for you.”

“Can I go in?” You say timidly. The doctor nods.

“I’ll let you two talk for a few minutes.” The doctor walks away as you open the door, bracing yourself.

Brendan turns his head at the sound of the door opening. He grins at the sight of you, but the only thing you can pick up on is his wince from turning his head. Your smile falters at his black and blue face, butterfly bandages holding his cuts closed.

“Hi, baby.” You say quietly, sitting down in a chair next to him. He lays his hand out and you gently take it, not wanting to hurt him any more than he already is.

“Look at all this fuss over a hockey fight.” He says, gesturing to the I.V. poking out of his arm. You frown.

“Brendan, this was not just a hockey fight.” You tell him seriously. “You were out for half an hour. That’s not a normal fight.” Brendan shrugs.

“I didn’t think he packed that much of a punch.” He says.

“What happened? Why did you fight him like that? I saw the way you looked; he did something to piss you off.” Brendan chooses to look away from you, instead gazing out the window.

“He just said some stuff that I didn’t like.” He says finally. You snort and lean back in your chair.

“What? What could he have possibly said? Did he insult your hair?” You say sarcastically, causing him to roll his eyes. He removes his hand from yours to sit up, cringing in pain. You help him up, gently making sure he’s settled.

“He was insulting you.” You’re pretty sure that your heart stops.

“Like how?” You ask lowly, glowering. Brendan nervously chuckles.

“It’s nothing, he was just joking, saying that he had, y’know, seen you last night.” You gasp at the innuendo before Brendan continues. “That I wasn’t man enough for you. But then he called you a slut, and said that he was surprised you weren’t off canoodling with every other guy on the team. That’s when I fought him.” You can’t even laugh at Brendan’s use of the word ‘canoodle,’ you’re so furious.

“That dick!” You spit out. “He’s lucky that I had to come save your ass, or else I would’ve bashed his head against a wall.” You’re absolutely pissed right now. The fact that this man had the audacity to say these things about you to your boyfriend during a game is infuriating to you. Your boyfriend. You look over at the bruised man who suffered a concussion and fractured nose just to protect your honor.

“You got yourself knocked out just for me?” You ask quietly. Brendan nods.

“Of course. I’m not gonna let anyone talk about my girl like that and get away with it, especially not him.” Your eyes well up, but for a different reason.

“That’s the sweetest thing anyone’s ever done for me.” You’re only half-joking; no one’s ever gotten a concussion just because someone called you a slut. Of course, you’ve never been called a slut before, but that’s besides the point.

“I’d do it again, too. Every time.”

“Even though I totally could have kicked his ass myself.” You point out. Brendan chuckles, motioning for you to get on the bed. You do as he says, letting him wrap his arms around you.

“If that’s what makes you feel better, then sure, yes, you totally could kick his ass. In fact, you could kick every single NHL player’s ass.” You fall silent, playing with Brendan’s fingers.

“I love you. Thank you for doing that for me.”

“What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn’t do that? I’d take a bullet for you, (Y/N).” He leans in to kiss you. You’re gentle with him, not wanting to hurt him, but also wanting to kiss your very own Prince Charming.

“God, I really hope the team doesn-” Brendan’s cut off by the door being thrown open and the sounds of his teammates guffawing at the sight of you and Brendan squished in the tiny hospital bed. You groan.

“Speak of the devils.”

[entergamingxp]

Remembering a golden era in Dark Age of Camelot • Eurogamer.net

I never understood why people would race towards a level cap until I played Dark Age of Camelot. Why on earth would someone sacrifice sleep to power a character to maximum level? Why the rush – we’ll all get there at some point. You’ll run out of things to do. You won’t have people to play with.

I was missing the point. It started to sink in when I had sunk in, inadvertently becoming a part of the race myself. I hadn’t meant to. I started the game without any real idea of what I was doing or where I was going. To me, everything was new. But as I grew, and the game encouraged me towards other people, I began to learn about the wider world.

Everyone knew there was a war. It was the premise of the game. It was on the box. Three kingdoms all at war with one another. Hibernia, the realm based on celtic folklore, Midgard, the realm of Norse mythology, and Albion, home of Arthurian legend. I knew, the moment I entered the world, as a cleric in Albion, who my sworn enemies were, but it would be a long time before I actually saw them. The war was a long way off. My day-to-day was a tedious grind.

An old-school grind, I’ll have you know. Progress in Dark Age of Camelot wasn’t based on going quest to quest as in World of Warcraft. Oh no. In Camelot, levelling meant finding a monster spawn and staying there. You didn’t have private dungeons, so you had to jostle for positions, and good groups were – always are – hard to find. When you found both, you clung to them. You could be in the same spot with the same group all day. It gave everyone a lot of time to talk.

War – from an Albion perspective. Notice the Midgardian enemies are referred to by race and rank, not name. Pictures courtesy of Kardinal, a friend, and the paladin very much in trouble here.

Talk did a lot in Dark Age of Camelot. It spread rumours, it spread legend, and until I’d been out to the frontline and seen it for myself, it fuelled my imagination. Had I heard about this norseman skald called Rastaf? They say he’s nearly level 50 – already! He appears out of nowhere and kills anyone he comes across. God he sounds cool. And did I hear about the lurikeen enchanter Greyswandir? He hadn’t slept for three days to get to level 50.

What if one day people talked about me like that? My desire to level more quickly increased. But I was a long way off. I was in my late 30s and had exhausted the barrows dungeon under Stonehenge, which I liked very much – I was fond of the gangly wights. At this rate, I’d never catch them.

Then I got my lucky break. Did I want to join a group of level 40s? They were stuck for a healer. Had I been a damage-dealing class, it wouldn’t have worked. I wouldn’t have been able to hurt the enemies they were fighting – I’d miss more, be resisted more and barely make a scratch when I did hit. But as a healer it could work, just about. Of course I wanted to join!

It was my bridge from the chasing pack to the frontrunners, and I found myself called up for healing duty more often and by more people. I found myself rubbing shoulders with the heroes of our realm. I revelled in it, giddy with the pace of progress and the idea I was becoming one of them. These people had been to the front. These people encouraged me to go to the front. These people took me to the front.

I’ll never forget my first time beyond the border keep. I was on my own, curious, and given all I’d heard, nervous. I expected to be pounced at any moment, so I skulked through Snowdonia flinching at any sign of life. Then an arrow hit me and I shit my pants. I’m being attacked! I’m being attacked! Hardly the picture of heroism.

A line of Albions, probably on a relic raid, all following the leader. I might be in there somewhere!

I turned and ran, bolted through the trees. Where are they where are they?! I spun the camera looking for them. I spun the camera around so much, in fact, I failed to notice I’d barrelled into a monster camp. While I lay on the floor, face down, dead – a good time for contemplation in Dark Age of Camelot – I looked through my combat log to see what had happened. An elf had shot me. An elf! I was thrilled… until I looked around and realised they were computer elves, there to make the zone more exciting. It hadn’t been an enemy player at all. And to think: I’d even screamed in guild chat.

My first real taste of action came in Emain Macha, the Hibernian warzone, which was very green. I was very green. Emain Macha was where everyone would go for a pile-up at the end of the night. We’d fight at the mile wall not far from our portal keep and it was always utter chaos, hard to make anything out. All I really knew was there was a mass of them behind, and on, the wall, alternately Hibernian or Midgardian thems depending on who held the other side – the joy of having three kingdoms. Either noseman, trolls, kobolds and dwarves; or celts, furbolgs, lurikeens and elves. It was pandemonium. Sometimes we’d manage to charge through, sometimes they would come charging through, and all of the time, people died.

What those chaotic first impressions did were introduce the big players, the people dominating the kill feeds, the people barking orders. The legends. I even came across the notorious Rastaf for the first time, and true to legend, he appeared out of nowhere like lightning. I remember clicking on this norseman enemy, seeing the name Rastaf and squealing. Then he snared us, killed us one by one and ran off. It was like being hit by the SAS – I couldn’t have been more impressed.

All of this propelled me to level faster. I had to get there, I had to join them. Levels made all the difference. While Rastaf was levels ahead, I could never hope to challenge him. Levels made you strong, made you famous. I doubled down and spent entire days killing forests-worth of evil trees in Lyonesse. It was agonisingly slow. But eventually I got there. From being a clueless nobody not bothered about my place in the world, I had become a level 50 somebody obsessed with it.

Messing around with the enemy. A moment of calm in the war as players from all three realms lark around together.

I was the third cleric on the Percival server to reach level 50. It’s an embarrassing claim now but it was a proud one at the time. It earned me some respect among my peers and, I hoped, some trepidation among my enemies. I meant I could hold my own on the fields of Emain Macha and get my name in the kill feed.

I imagined people looking at me while I was idling on the portal to the enemy lands, thinking what I once thought about the people I had looked up to. Cor, look at him. I imagined people seeing me running around, smiting and wanting to be like me, or looking to me for guidance or protection during busy keep sieges or battles.

What I loved more than anything, though, was going it alone. Logging on at a time when everyone else was asleep (being a Euro on a US server had its upsides) and roving the snowy tracks of Odin’s Gate, or the grassy hills of Emain Macha, looking for ragtag groups to tussle with. Away from the din of the battlefield, other stories could emerge. Stories of personal rivalries and close-fought one on ones. Stories, even, of friendship. We couldn’t understand each other – a masterstroke of Dark Age of Camelot was how it garbled enemy talk – but we could point and bow and laugh, we could communicate through gestures.

That’s how I came to know the people I fought with, learn their names, build a rapport. And I became fascinated by them. I’d see them during sieges and single them out, pointing and waving, or see them on the busy battlefields, waving as I charged by. One friendship in particular stood out.

It started one night as I sacrificed myself on an enemy keep – it was the quickest way home. As I got within range, enemies came charging out to take me down. All but one, that is. One elf sat on the hill, not budging, and as I was pummeled, she stood up and waved. I was taken aback. I’d never seen anyone forego a chance to kill before, never seen anyone do anything like that. It stuck in my mind, that moment, evidently forever, and I made a pint of waving to her every time our paths crossed after.

A view from a keep. A small Midgard force thinks about attacking an Albion hold.

At the same time, I discovered a forum where people from all of the realms talked and, through it, an IRC chat channel where they hung out. They were all in there, all the people I’d been fighting for weeks and gesturing to – even the elf on the hill. We all became friends. We even went on a sojourn to a new server to make a guild there and play together like we hadn’t been able to on Percival. It was a lot of fun – I have some wonderful memories – but it didn’t last.

Slowly, the game changed. The scrappy era of ragtag groups came to an end and organised groups took their place. Disciplined, eight-person gank groups, as they were known, moving at speed and decimating anything but equally disciplined groups in their paths. I drifted away.

I often wonder whether anyone remembers me now, nearly two decades later, or whether each subsequent era paints over the last with legends of their own. Deciding to force the issue a bit, I posted in the Percival Facebook group about a hazy memory of mine. I wasn’t sure what I’d get back, I hadn’t heard a peep from the group in years. Was it just me clinging onto old memories of a game, or did people care as I did?

I shouldn’t have worried. Within moments, replies came. Yes, they remembered and much more besides. Old friends and enemies came out of the woodwork to share the memories they had clung onto. The memories of a community making a game more than the sum of its parts.

Take the Alarm Clock Raid, for instance. The raid the Midgardians had meticulously planned. They had groups of stealthers whittle down the doors of our frontier keeps to breaking point, so when the horde awoke in the middle of the night, at the planned time of 3AM, hence the alarm clocks, they would steam through in the space of minutes. And they did. Five minutes it took them to get to our relic keep, and before we could wipe the sleep from our eyes, they’d made off with the Scabbard of Excalibur. It was a chef kiss of an operation, a perfectly executed sweep, and it fuelled our war effort for weeks.

It’s in remembering times like these I remember why Dark Age of Camelot was so special. We made the game special, the people who played it. It was memorable because of the wars we created for everyone to join in on, or the rivalries we cooperated in establishing. It wasn’t because there was a new tier of armour added, or a new monster. That was just fluff around the core. It’s why I think World of Warcraft, however much it may have been better in other ways, lacked the same spark. The magic.

And those golden times in Dark Age of Camelot, they were – they were magic.

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/02/remembering-a-golden-era-in-dark-age-of-camelot-%e2%80%a2-eurogamer-net/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=remembering-a-golden-era-in-dark-age-of-camelot-%25e2%2580%25a2-eurogamer-net

[xavierdominico-blog]

Widowmaker guide by Me

he very short and easy means to explain Widowmaker would be to state she is Overwatch's sniper extraordinaire. Have you got something of a propensity to find the shakes under stress? Can you frankly - fight to hit on the side of quite a big barn with a rocket launcher? If you answered yes to either of these questions, then you need to probably look elsewhere to your Hero of option - not our in depth Widowmaker manual will have the ability to assist you glow with this specific Hero.

She has got a convenient grapple hook which she can use to zip around to some of those sneaky hiding holes on each map, a remarkably strong long lived weapon, and she has a couple of private defenses in the kind of mines, that is put beforehand to make sure she does not get flanked too tough.

Or , these mines kind of assist her to remain alive. Like numerous FPS snipers, Widowmaker is very vulnerable when she is laser-focused on anything appears to be lying right along her landscapes. To mitigate these types of dangers, she is able to provide her staff - and herself with intel through her Infra-Sight skill, which lights up the job of enemy Heroes - through barriers in the environment. Throw a small teamwork to the mixture and this ought to allow you to live to fight another day...

In the following of our comprehensive Overwatch Hero manuals, we are likely to have a peek at the way you need to play Widowmaker to make sure you get the maximum from your own time with her. We have got a good look whatsoever her heart skills, along with a few really handy hints and ideas on how to use them, followed by some overall plan strategies for enjoying with this one-shot assassin. In the weeks ahead, we will also be adding some advice on what Heroes counter Widowmaker on the battle, together with a couple of clever tricks you can apply on each the game's most maps.

There is currently more strategy suggestions and what's currently bang current!

Widowmaker skills and plan tips The most experienced sniper would do really well to devote time under the hood of Widowmaker's mechanics and abilities. Here is how she works in conflict, and you'll get a few tips for getting ahead of the match farther down the page.

You do not wish to use this from targets at range - clearly - but it might save your skin from fast moving wearers such as Genji and Tracer.

It takes just a minute or so to have completely billed, and you must wait for it to do so, but should you have to decide on a near-death goal off fast then by all means shoot quickly and until they could flee to safety.

This can be excellent for darting from point to point after you have been seen, for fleeing an extremely undesirable intimate experience, or for getting into the thick of conflict quicker. Do not expect to be registering for Cirque de Soleil anytime soon as a new participant, but should you practise enough you're going to be dancing away your away around each single map until you know it.

Do not put them someplace obvious in which the attacker will watch them and rather consider tucking them in doors or on overhangs, or perhaps on the ceiling. Just be sure to create a keen ear to their detonation sound so you're all set to change to Widowmaker's secondary shooting mode if you will need to.

[Q] - This can be an unbelievable Ultimate skill and when it is prepared, there'll very seldom be a lousy time to fire this up. Clearly if all your staff are dead, as an instance, then it is less powerful, but light those suckers up like Christmas trees. See the hints section farther on for information about getting more from the wonderful Ultimate.

To get an Notion of how these skills actually perform in conflict, have a close look at the review Made by Blizzard when the match was declared:

It is going to take some time and practise to genuinely master Widowmaker, as she is among the very precision-focused Heroes to perform in Overwatch. That said, we believe we could get you ahead of the package somewhat by highlighting a few of those tried and tested tips for enjoying this Hero.

You may believe you're better off sticking to a single place and scoring more kills, but the greenest enemy Hero knows the significance of shooting you down. Should they determine where your shots are coming out of, you are likely to be more targeted. Travelling isn't downtime, it's part of playing Widowmaker efficiently so as to ensure increased uptime all around. Do not worry if your Grappling Hook fails to find purchase on whatever, since the cooldown won't begin ticking down until you have ever made a relationship. Obviously if you strike another part of the scene compared to the piece you had supposed to, then you had likely to have to await the ability to recharge. You can just have a single Venom Mine out in any 1 time, but it's effective at hitting multiple enemies. Take note, however, that enemy Heroes could take your mines should they spot them until they are triggered. On this note, when they do move boom, they could actually inflict harm against Widowmaker herself, so observe your own positioning.

It is always correct to wait around for your rifle to bill up to maximum advantage before shooting off a shot. The only time you would not wish to do so is if the goal is in a really low wellbeing level and therefore are at risk of tripping to security. When that occurs, let rip and expect you select'em fast. If you aren't the sharpest shooter on the planet - however you recognise that the group is in desperate need of a sniper - goal for the chest as you're learning the ropes. Overwatch moves at quite a clip, so it is crucial that you land whatever harm you can. Remember though that - article nerf - the harm delivered through headshots is considerably more powerful. Symmetra's Teleporter could be a royal pain in the buttocks in any point of a game, but Infra-Sight really picks up them on the review in addition to the enemy Heroes. Get in the habit of scanning fast for these gadgets that are annoying, and prioritise carrying them out in the event that you've got line of sight onto them. Due to the sheer power of your charged-up rifle, focus on obliterating squishier backline personalities before focusing on tanks. You will really fight to shoot these chunkier personalities down until you are seen. If you are on defense and also the enemy group has made any progress, make certain that you're the first to begin heading back and placing up place for another phase of the strategy. Any place that grants both security and line of sight into the Payload or goal is a fantastic spot to be. Just be certain to move frequently. Keep 1 eye peeled for Reaper in any way times. You have got a moment to take him dead until he teleports into a place and takes you out having a few shotgun blasts! Here are a few more special hints for enjoying Widowmaker across Overwatch's numerous maps.

When attackingan Widowmaker may very quickly create light work of their enemy's guards that are official. As soon as you've improved from the spawn area, however, you are likely better off turning out to some more competitive - at least before a debatable situation requires exact long-term harm, that's. When that occurs, let your staff know that you are targeting the issue and attempt to convince them to not hurl themselves head-first to precisely the exact same thing that just killed them...

Start looking for places that give a blend of clear eyesight, height benefit and local cover for if things get hot. Hanamaura has lots of such hidey holes, Volsakay Industries B comes with a wonderful rear balcony, and also the left wing station of Anubis B - because you confront the attackers - supplies amazing field of sight chances.

We are slowly including a choice of great sniping places to our personal map guides. Until thenyou have to devote some time scoping maps out in practise mode if you would like to actually master Widowmaker. Locating your personal preferential hiding stains and learning how to re browse the map will provide you a strong advantage.

We would say playing Widowmaker on command channels is not a perfect, unless you have got unbelievable aim, we would say it is ideal to refrain from choosing her in many instances. She is constructed to pick enemies off from space, needs a very clear line of sight to be able to achieve this and does not actually bring any usefulness to the table she's fairly linear in this regard.

The ebb and flow of a game on Ilios or even Lijiang Tower is not especially smooth . It is largely chaotic affair which centers around scrappy struggles for the control stage. Widowmaker can not hunker down someplace and put pressure on a chokepoint without the fear of being pushed.

Escort is where Widowmaker actually shines as she is in a position to benefit from her extended range insta-kill possible. When attacking it is ideal to put yourself behind the frontline, or away at the background and endeavor to line up any catastrophic headshots. Keep a look out for any exposed injury traders or healers and shed them.

Having said that, you do not wish to become predictable. Constantly change your position to maintain the enemy group imagining, acquire the highground, place yourself on the flank or just hide behind your tanks.

It is vital that you put up yourself in the backdrop, line up some huge hits on enemies and prepare to escape back into your teammates if competitions begin swarming you.

Attacking as Widowmaker on those maps is generally more workable than defending as you are in a position to take liberties with your own positioning. Again, it is your job to pick off some enemies unlucky enough to step into your line of sight and also employ a continuous pressure on the competition. Make them feel uneasy lowering defenses or repositioning, and punish them if they do this!

Defending with Widowmaker on those maps is, yet more, a bit less forgiving. Stay with your staff and aim to select off any harm traders or healers that step out online.

There are particular enemy Heroes which Widowmaker only likes to select off in a clean shot, however there are naturally other personalities that specialise in carrying down her. This is the method of Hero layout in Overwatch.

From the table below, you will discover the top few threats and goals for Widowmaker, together with additional explanation beneath.

In case a Hero enjoys to remain out of sight or out of scope, then Widowmaker's made to pick off them. She is great at handling the likes of Bastion, Torbjorn and Pharah as a consequence, and is the first choice counter to get those annoying Heroes. Flanking characters such as Tracer, Genji and Reaper really are a small problem with this sniper, however, and she will also battle with lots of the tanks at the sport - those defenses are excellent source of frustration all around.

[centiplex]

Acquisitions are out: How companies like GE and General Mills partner with startups to avoid self destruction

Most established enterprises haven’t invented anything truly dynamic in decades. Procter & Gamble, the perennial most admired company (and my alma mater), has produced no transformational new brands since Swiffer and Febreze back in the early 2000s, although they have strengthened core brands with initiatives like Tide PODS, Gillette Fusion, and Pampers Swaddlers. As in many mature companies, P&G’s people are more preoccupied with their career progression as P&G’s top-line growth has slowed. Promotions are few and far between. Leaders are drawn to the safe, the sure, the proven, the known. Blow themselves up? Many are afraid the tiniest failed experiment could stall their career. At the same time, they know deep in their bones that something has to give. Among established enterprise companies, there is something akin to entrepreneurial envy. They covet the speed, scrappiness, vision, flexibility, and—let’s face it—“cool” factor of the best startups, the ultimate magnet for new talent. They realize they need to somehow capture it, reclaim a long-lost knack, without giving up everything that’s core to their business. In other words, imagine if Procter & Gamble had an amazing water-free technology to get clothes clean: how would they commercialize it without sacrificing Tide, Downy, or Bounce? The hope is that by bottling some form of entrepreneurship, a mature company can rejuvenate itself. The classic way to seize the startup spirit is to acquire it, but a lot of executives at established companies I’ve talked to are now treating acquisitions more as a last resort. The bolt-on acquisition is very old-school. When it comes to dealing with startups, the new paradigm is partnerships.

Put differently, the old archetype is about getting married: acquire a company until death—or divorce—splits you asunder. The new model is about having affairs: fool around with partners—a lot of them—in order to suit your different needs. Why settle on one relationship when you can have many of them? But for what purpose? Almost as many reasons as there are companies that engage in them. To acquire expertise in a particular area, for sure. Very often to add to a line of core businesses. But a surprising number of these companies use partnerships with startups in order to fish in new waters and see what the tides kick up. More remarkable still, the most forward-leaning legacy corporations are trying to remake themselves from within, relying on young companies to teach and reteach some basic lessons in how to innovate better, take risks again, reach decisions without painful complexity, develop new products and services more quickly, and recapture enough flair to draw the best and the brightest—both new hires and new customers—to the company. A CASE STUDY IN CONTRASTS There’s probably no better illustration of the partnership experience than a comparison of the efforts of General Mills and General Electric, each wrestling with the gargantuan labors of transforming themselves. Legendary companies both, they are at different points on the continuum when it comes to scaling the lessons of entrepreneurs across the enterprise. Created in 2012, 301 INC started out as a new-product incubator for General Mills. But after launching eight new food products—one of them Nibblr, a snack-by-subscription service—the enterprise “hit a brick wall.” What happened? “We concluded we couldn’t ‘out-entrepreneur’ what was happening in the marketplace,” says John Haugen, a twenty-five-year veteran of General Mills and the boss of 301 INC. His team is tasked with reinvigorating the $17 billion (in sales) food company. More soberly, they realized the company was not creating new businesses at the pace it needed. “It’s not that you can’t find ideas; it’s that you don’t let enough great ideas in.” To be sure, it’s hard to think of a true blowout category General Mills invented—not something it acquired or bought into with another company—since Hamburger Helper, which was first introduced in 1971, or Nature Valley granola bars in 1975 (though Haugen does mention the company’s leadership in products like Go-Gurt, or Yoplait in a tube, and in bringing whole grains to many cereals). What accounts for this kind of protracted dry spell? Haugen, who has spent half his life at General Mills, ticks off the usual reasons that innovation falters, ones that I have heard over and over again at large, mature corporations: The wrong people are put in charge of innovation. The right people parachute in, but they never have a chance to produce something great because, like everyone else, they’re constantly rotated in and out of divisions. Both time and investment are insufficient. There are “sandbox” issues, where the venture is too isolated from everything else at the company. There’s a lack of authentic stories of trial, error, and success to help kindle excitement throughout the organization. The corporate sword of Damocles—aka the constant threat of spending cuts—discourages innovation. SMALL INVESTMENTS, BABY STEPS So 301 INC morphed into a venture group. Now led by a team of fifteen, it rapidly invested in a handful of startups, including Epic Provisions (which it bought), Good Culture (an organic, high-protein redo of cottage cheese), and Rhythm Superfoods (kale chips, beet chips, and other “nutrient-dense” snacks). Recently it added to its portfolio D’s Naturals (plant-based performance products), Farmhouse Culture (probiotic foods and drinks), and Purely Elizabeth (ancient grain granola, oatmeal, muesli). “We want to be an indispensable partner to these companies,” Haugen says. General Mills helps them with developing their sales channels, creating consistency in product quality, and building marketing and branding strategies, as well as strong overall operations. Often General Mills brings the new brands into their internal store, giving employees a chance to sample the new wares. At the same time, says Haugen, “I firmly believe this”—investing in startups—“is an important strategic tool to identify future growth for General Mills.” This is toe-dipping into unknown waters, for sure. But aside from testing potential new product extensions, General Mills is enabling some bilateral learning when it brings these startups into the organization. Higher-ups start to understand what it is about their corporate climate that drives startups nuts—and sometimes out the door: the “black-hole” syndrome into which so many ideas disappear; the glacial pace when it comes to getting anything done; the fact that contacts, to say nothing of champions, constantly change and you never know whom you’re going to be dealing with next; and that executives can sometimes behave with incomprehensible arrogance. General Mills employees—especially millennials—get a boost, too. The more they get wind of what’s going on at 301 INC, the more likely they are to believe the company has ongoing relevance and staying power in the future. A pretty lithe group, 301 INC operates with an internal committee of a half-dozen people who discuss key areas for investment. There’s a range of capital to deploy each year; the ante amount flexes to the shape of the idea and the scope of opportunity. Every investment still needs approval from the top. “I do this within the company balance sheet; we’re not a standalone,” says Haugen. He believes his team brings other benefits to the organization at large. A broad selection of General Mills folks can participate in biweekly “sample days,” to review products sent by startups and send back their unvarnished opinions. Overall, Haugen believes 301 INC “helps protect the company’s flank” by investing in brands that align with and might possibly bring new areas of growth to existing brands. A LEAN, MEAN REJUVENATION MACHINE We’re now going to explore what’s been going on simultaneously at GE, where its large-scale reinvention is a few years ahead of General Mills. The changes at GE are neatly embodied in a massive, company-wide movement called FastWorks, already in its fifth incarnation. The term embodies both a rough-and-tumble declarative goal, with an emphasis on speed, and a nod to its past—as in Edison Machine Works, a predecessor company to GE dedicated to electric motors and dynamos. The company has been moving away from its earlier history as rapidly as an organization with 170,000-plus salaried employees and numerous multibillion-dollar businesses can. It has jettisoned its real-estate portfolio, its appliance unit, and its finance arm. And it recently decamped from its pastoral headquarters in Fairfield, Connecticut, to set up in gritty, tech-happy Boston, in a twelve-story glass building that connects two old brick warehouses. The design by the architectural firm Gensler, which will be completed in 2018, is meant to marry history with the future. All this signals a profound transformation of purpose. Long-serving CEO Jeffrey Immelt has said that GE will become one of the world’s leading software companies by 2020. That was laughable back in 2011, when he first went public with that ambition. Today, with a focus sharpened toward industrial businesses—aircraft engines, locomotives, power generators, oil and gas equipment, medical imaging—and cloud-based applications to make them run smarter and more efficiently, that goal isn’t so laughable anymore. Along with this colossal realignment, GE Ventures has been partnering with one hundred or so startups, some working on products of strategic importance that are clearly in sync with its business, others engaged in helping the corporation rediscover agility and velocity. “I know from the partnerships we’ve had, we’re relearning the ability to be fast,” says Beth Comstock, the company’s vice chair, who oversees GE Business Innovations and has spearheaded FastWorks. “When you’re a startup, you don’t have a lot of resources, so you have to make decisions quickly—and based on what you have on hand.” The multi-fronted efforts began in early 2011 with the hiring of William Ruh, a recruit from Cisco Systems, who took a $1 billion grubstake and set up a software subsidiary in San Ramon, California, to develop an operating system for GE’s industrial operations. That was its first big flag planted in Silicon Valley. Things quickly kicked into higher gear. That fall, Comstock attended a signing of Eric Ries’s new book, The Lean Startup, and told Immelt about its premise: that successful entrepreneurs quickly produce a minimum viable product (MVP) or service, seek customer feedback, and tweak accordingly. Commonplace practices for many startups, perhaps, but startling advice for GE and other established companies. Immelt invited Ries, a tech entrepreneur, to present at GE’s Crotonville management campus. Soon after, GE co-opted him for several months. “We identified fifteen projects and incubated workshops in Crotonville, where Eric coached us,” recalls Viv Goldstein, GE’s global director of innovation acceleration and cofounder of FastWorks, which was launched in the summer of 2012 to codify lean principles. FastWorks 1.0 was an attempt to provide “a customized GE framework for new services, products, and processes, and to market faster with customer testing,” explains Goldstein, a Brit whose decade at GE has immersed her in the disciplines of customer loyalty and corporate learning. “It was a big challenge. Back at their day jobs, people didn’t get it.” But GE quickly tested the proposition. “We had a power generation turbine, a diesel engine that a team was going to launch,” remembers Comstock, whom I’ve known since the early 2000s when we shared best practices as chief marketing officers of P&G and GE. “The team said, ‘It’s going to take us five years to get us to market.’ ” But she was eager to discover whether lean principles, which worked so well in software development, could be applied to manufacturing. Talking to engineers, “you could just see the thought bubble over their heads: ‘Okay, smarty pants, I’m building gas turbines, I can’t make one change order in a year. So yeah, this is cute, but it’s never gonna work in the hardware world.’ ” But it did: GE created the machine in a year and a half. “We have many other examples where working with startups, they’ve been able to help us move faster,” Comstock says. “Entrepreneurs are great at providing new products and services that extend existing lines.” But they’re even more potent as change agents. “We needed to go outside ourselves to be reminded that we actually had capacity within ourselves all along,” Comstock explains. That might as well stand as a mantra for all mature enterprises. Companies who have successful startup partnerships are three times more likely to see major positive impact company wide. GE is a poster child for this finding. Click to Post

[centiplex]

Acquisitions are out: How companies like GE and General Mills partner with startups to avoid self destruction

Most established enterprises haven’t invented anything truly dynamic in decades. Procter & Gamble, the perennial most admired company (and my alma mater), has produced no transformational new brands since Swiffer and Febreze back in the early 2000s, although they have strengthened core brands with initiatives like Tide PODS, Gillette Fusion, and Pampers Swaddlers. As in many mature companies, P&G’s people are more preoccupied with their career progression as P&G’s top-line growth has slowed. Promotions are few and far between. Leaders are drawn to the safe, the sure, the proven, the known. Blow themselves up? Many are afraid the tiniest failed experiment could stall their career. At the same time, they know deep in their bones that something has to give. Among established enterprise companies, there is something akin to entrepreneurial envy. They covet the speed, scrappiness, vision, flexibility, and—let’s face it—“cool” factor of the best startups, the ultimate magnet for new talent. They realize they need to somehow capture it, reclaim a long-lost knack, without giving up everything that’s core to their business. In other words, imagine if Procter & Gamble had an amazing water-free technology to get clothes clean: how would they commercialize it without sacrificing Tide, Downy, or Bounce? The hope is that by bottling some form of entrepreneurship, a mature company can rejuvenate itself. The classic way to seize the startup spirit is to acquire it, but a lot of executives at established companies I’ve talked to are now treating acquisitions more as a last resort. The bolt-on acquisition is very old-school. When it comes to dealing with startups, the new paradigm is partnerships.

Put differently, the old archetype is about getting married: acquire a company until death—or divorce—splits you asunder. The new model is about having affairs: fool around with partners—a lot of them—in order to suit your different needs. Why settle on one relationship when you can have many of them? But for what purpose? Almost as many reasons as there are companies that engage in them. To acquire expertise in a particular area, for sure. Very often to add to a line of core businesses. But a surprising number of these companies use partnerships with startups in order to fish in new waters and see what the tides kick up. More remarkable still, the most forward-leaning legacy corporations are trying to remake themselves from within, relying on young companies to teach and reteach some basic lessons in how to innovate better, take risks again, reach decisions without painful complexity, develop new products and services more quickly, and recapture enough flair to draw the best and the brightest—both new hires and new customers—to the company. A CASE STUDY IN CONTRASTS There’s probably no better illustration of the partnership experience than a comparison of the efforts of General Mills and General Electric, each wrestling with the gargantuan labors of transforming themselves. Legendary companies both, they are at different points on the continuum when it comes to scaling the lessons of entrepreneurs across the enterprise. Created in 2012, 301 INC started out as a new-product incubator for General Mills. But after launching eight new food products—one of them Nibblr, a snack-by-subscription service—the enterprise “hit a brick wall.” What happened? “We concluded we couldn’t ‘out-entrepreneur’ what was happening in the marketplace,” says John Haugen, a twenty-five-year veteran of General Mills and the boss of 301 INC. His team is tasked with reinvigorating the $17 billion (in sales) food company. More soberly, they realized the company was not creating new businesses at the pace it needed. “It’s not that you can’t find ideas; it’s that you don’t let enough great ideas in.” To be sure, it’s hard to think of a true blowout category General Mills invented—not something it acquired or bought into with another company—since Hamburger Helper, which was first introduced in 1971, or Nature Valley granola bars in 1975 (though Haugen does mention the company’s leadership in products like Go-Gurt, or Yoplait in a tube, and in bringing whole grains to many cereals). What accounts for this kind of protracted dry spell? Haugen, who has spent half his life at General Mills, ticks off the usual reasons that innovation falters, ones that I have heard over and over again at large, mature corporations: The wrong people are put in charge of innovation. The right people parachute in, but they never have a chance to produce something great because, like everyone else, they’re constantly rotated in and out of divisions. Both time and investment are insufficient. There are “sandbox” issues, where the venture is too isolated from everything else at the company. There’s a lack of authentic stories of trial, error, and success to help kindle excitement throughout the organization. The corporate sword of Damocles—aka the constant threat of spending cuts—discourages innovation. SMALL INVESTMENTS, BABY STEPS So 301 INC morphed into a venture group. Now led by a team of fifteen, it rapidly invested in a handful of startups, including Epic Provisions (which it bought), Good Culture (an organic, high-protein redo of cottage cheese), and Rhythm Superfoods (kale chips, beet chips, and other “nutrient-dense” snacks). Recently it added to its portfolio D’s Naturals (plant-based performance products), Farmhouse Culture (probiotic foods and drinks), and Purely Elizabeth (ancient grain granola, oatmeal, muesli). “We want to be an indispensable partner to these companies,” Haugen says. General Mills helps them with developing their sales channels, creating consistency in product quality, and building marketing and branding strategies, as well as strong overall operations. Often General Mills brings the new brands into their internal store, giving employees a chance to sample the new wares. At the same time, says Haugen, “I firmly believe this”—investing in startups—“is an important strategic tool to identify future growth for General Mills.” This is toe-dipping into unknown waters, for sure. But aside from testing potential new product extensions, General Mills is enabling some bilateral learning when it brings these startups into the organization. Higher-ups start to understand what it is about their corporate climate that drives startups nuts—and sometimes out the door: the “black-hole” syndrome into which so many ideas disappear; the glacial pace when it comes to getting anything done; the fact that contacts, to say nothing of champions, constantly change and you never know whom you’re going to be dealing with next; and that executives can sometimes behave with incomprehensible arrogance. General Mills employees—especially millennials—get a boost, too. The more they get wind of what’s going on at 301 INC, the more likely they are to believe the company has ongoing relevance and staying power in the future. A pretty lithe group, 301 INC operates with an internal committee of a half-dozen people who discuss key areas for investment. There’s a range of capital to deploy each year; the ante amount flexes to the shape of the idea and the scope of opportunity. Every investment still needs approval from the top. “I do this within the company balance sheet; we’re not a standalone,” says Haugen. He believes his team brings other benefits to the organization at large. A broad selection of General Mills folks can participate in biweekly “sample days,” to review products sent by startups and send back their unvarnished opinions. Overall, Haugen believes 301 INC “helps protect the company’s flank” by investing in brands that align with and might possibly bring new areas of growth to existing brands. A LEAN, MEAN REJUVENATION MACHINE We’re now going to explore what’s been going on simultaneously at GE, where its large-scale reinvention is a few years ahead of General Mills. The changes at GE are neatly embodied in a massive, company-wide movement called FastWorks, already in its fifth incarnation. The term embodies both a rough-and-tumble declarative goal, with an emphasis on speed, and a nod to its past—as in Edison Machine Works, a predecessor company to GE dedicated to electric motors and dynamos. The company has been moving away from its earlier history as rapidly as an organization with 170,000-plus salaried employees and numerous multibillion-dollar businesses can. It has jettisoned its real-estate portfolio, its appliance unit, and its finance arm. And it recently decamped from its pastoral headquarters in Fairfield, Connecticut, to set up in gritty, tech-happy Boston, in a twelve-story glass building that connects two old brick warehouses. The design by the architectural firm Gensler, which will be completed in 2018, is meant to marry history with the future. All this signals a profound transformation of purpose. Long-serving CEO Jeffrey Immelt has said that GE will become one of the world’s leading software companies by 2020. That was laughable back in 2011, when he first went public with that ambition. Today, with a focus sharpened toward industrial businesses—aircraft engines, locomotives, power generators, oil and gas equipment, medical imaging—and cloud-based applications to make them run smarter and more efficiently, that goal isn’t so laughable anymore. Along with this colossal realignment, GE Ventures has been partnering with one hundred or so startups, some working on products of strategic importance that are clearly in sync with its business, others engaged in helping the corporation rediscover agility and velocity. “I know from the partnerships we’ve had, we’re relearning the ability to be fast,” says Beth Comstock, the company’s vice chair, who oversees GE Business Innovations and has spearheaded FastWorks. “When you’re a startup, you don’t have a lot of resources, so you have to make decisions quickly—and based on what you have on hand.” The multi-fronted efforts began in early 2011 with the hiring of William Ruh, a recruit from Cisco Systems, who took a $1 billion grubstake and set up a software subsidiary in San Ramon, California, to develop an operating system for GE’s industrial operations. That was its first big flag planted in Silicon Valley. Things quickly kicked into higher gear. That fall, Comstock attended a signing of Eric Ries’s new book, The Lean Startup, and told Immelt about its premise: that successful entrepreneurs quickly produce a minimum viable product (MVP) or service, seek customer feedback, and tweak accordingly. Commonplace practices for many startups, perhaps, but startling advice for GE and other established companies. Immelt invited Ries, a tech entrepreneur, to present at GE’s Crotonville management campus. Soon after, GE co-opted him for several months. “We identified fifteen projects and incubated workshops in Crotonville, where Eric coached us,” recalls Viv Goldstein, GE’s global director of innovation acceleration and cofounder of FastWorks, which was launched in the summer of 2012 to codify lean principles. FastWorks 1.0 was an attempt to provide “a customized GE framework for new services, products, and processes, and to market faster with customer testing,” explains Goldstein, a Brit whose decade at GE has immersed her in the disciplines of customer loyalty and corporate learning. “It was a big challenge. Back at their day jobs, people didn’t get it.” But GE quickly tested the proposition. “We had a power generation turbine, a diesel engine that a team was going to launch,” remembers Comstock, whom I’ve known since the early 2000s when we shared best practices as chief marketing officers of P&G and GE. “The team said, ‘It’s going to take us five years to get us to market.’ ” But she was eager to discover whether lean principles, which worked so well in software development, could be applied to manufacturing. Talking to engineers, “you could just see the thought bubble over their heads: ‘Okay, smarty pants, I’m building gas turbines, I can’t make one change order in a year. So yeah, this is cute, but it’s never gonna work in the hardware world.’ ” But it did: GE created the machine in a year and a half. “We have many other examples where working with startups, they’ve been able to help us move faster,” Comstock says. “Entrepreneurs are great at providing new products and services that extend existing lines.” But they’re even more potent as change agents. “We needed to go outside ourselves to be reminded that we actually had capacity within ourselves all along,” Comstock explains. That might as well stand as a mantra for all mature enterprises. Companies who have successful startup partnerships are three times more likely to see major positive impact company wide. GE is a poster child for this finding. Click to Post