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what2finish · 4 years ago

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Creators & Bidders Information

If you do not find the answer to your question here, send an ask or email us as [email protected]

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Creators:

What counts as a WIPs?

The short answer is anything. It can be a work you’ve started or a prompt you thought was neat. It can be an idea of an alternative universe you want to work your fandom into. You can offer anything you wanted to try, but maybe have no concrete ideas for, as well (ie: a pairing you’re intrigued by, but have no WIP/HC for).

This event is to encourage you to make something you have wanted to do as a priority.

How many WIPs/prompts can I have?

There is no limit to how many WIPs and/or prompts you can list. We do ask that if you have a good chunk, around 5 or 6 longer ones, that you provide a link to a folder of them on your GDrive. You can always go into details or summaries of some of your favorites in the WIPs/prompt section of your creator post.

Can we include published WIPs as well - or is just stuff that hasn’t yet been shared for public consumption the only WIPs?

Sure can! Anything you want that little boost to help you cross a goal off your bucket list is welcomed!

Can I just have my bidders tell me what they want me to do?

Yes! You could just put your likes and dislikes/do not wants and ask potential bidders to contact you about their ideas or say you’re open to whatever bidders want (with exceptions of your DNWs).

Does the creator-winner relationship work like a commission?

No. You are under no obligation to give anything for credit anything to your winner, although we ask that you do notify your winner of the posting at least. However you want to work with your winner is up to you. If you would like to use this as a way to motivate you to finish something or as a way for someone else to decide what you work on next, and nothing else, that is up to you. As a kindness, we recommend putting your feelings of collabing/working in your winners like/etc. into your creator's notes.

What if I decide to add, drop, or change an auction?

If you decide to add or change anything in your auctions, please DM an admin or send us an email ([email protected]). This also needs to be done if you change something on the Sign Up form. Just as long as you have contacted us to let us know if you’re redoing the form or doing a second add-on auction form, we will accept it.

If you do not contact us to tell us you are doing a redo form or doing an add-on form, your current information may not get updated.

If you wish to drop a second auction or drop out as a creator during the Sign up stage, please email us IMMEDIATELY. We understand that these are uncertain times. You do not need to give us a reason, you can simply write an email stating “I do not wish to have a second auction” or “I do not wish to be a creator anymore”.

What should I do for the starting bid?

We suggest starting your bid off low as it encourages bidders to bid.

Please feel free to do tiers for your bids. For example for fanfiction:

“If bidding reaches $20, I will write two of my smaller WIPs for the auction and at $30, two of my longer WIPs. If it goes pass $50, I’ll do two WIPs of bidder’s choice and one small fic that’s under 5k of the winner’s prompt.”

Also, consider your own commission prices or what others’ commission prices are. Your Art Path has a great section of advise for commission prices here.

Still uncertain of your starting bid? Talk to friends in your discord, tumblr, and/or fandom who participated as creators in other fandom charity auctions to ask if they can help you with your starting bid/bid increment. You can also check out Marvel Trumps Hate or Fandom Trumps Hate FAQs for their recommendations.

Keep in mind, all of the winning bid will be going towards charity.

What should I put for my second auction if both will be for the same creation?

We recommend separating your auctions by fandoms so that your lesser known fandom has it’s own auction to shine in.

If you have multiple fandoms we want to work with, you might separate your auctions by more popular ships in one auction and less popular ships in another.

In reality, you don’t need to have two unique auctions.

What should I put in my “Creator Notes” section?

You can put your tiers here. You can put your limitations on how big or how many of your auction you will do. Be aware if you have something that states “For every $10 past $30 I will write 2k” and the final bid gets to $100, you have now promised at least 14,000 more words to what you initially offered.

What is the deadline for completing my winner(s) works?

The soft deadline for completed works is going to be December 1st, 2021. If you do not think you will be able to meet this deadline, please just keep us at WTF informed.

There is no hard rule for finishing. ‘Finished’ can just mean moving the ball down the court. If it’s another chapter or comic page, etc is up for bid, that’s fine. This event is to encourage you to work on things sitting in your WIP/prompt piles.

We recommend putting the information in your Creator Notes for your auction.

Can I bid as well as be a creator?

Yes! Please feel free to do both. We would love to have you bid to your heart’s (or wallet’s) desire. Join a podbid! Or Seven! Hype up other creators! Ask one of your favorite fandom creators if they’re interested in joining the fun too!

Where and how do I post my completed Auction work?

You can complete it however you prefer! You can post it on tumblr and link the @what2finish blog if it’s a shorter story. You can post on Ao3 in the collection WTF Philippines Relief 2020. If you are posting anywhere else that we ask that you make a tumblr post with a link to the story so we can reblog your story on our blog and mark your Auction work completed.

There are no posting rules to your completed work besides to tag for anything nsfw or possible triggers. You can post it all together or one chapter at a time. You can post multiple series, it’s all up to you.

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Bidders:

Do I need to sign up to bid?

No. You will need a working email address so we can contact you if you win an auction. Just fill out the bid form during Auction week; November 22nd to November 28th, 11:59:00pm CST.

What name do I use for bidding?

You can use a fandom name or a nickname, whatever name you are comfortable with.

What is Preview Week?

Preview week is the week when all the creator posts will be upload and the Masterpost of creators will be released on the tumblr. It will give bidders the chance to browse all the auctions before Auction Week to find creators and auctions they want to bid on. This will also give last minute creator sign ups and the mods a chance to make sure everything is spick and span for Auction Week.

Can I contact creators before Auction Week?

Please do! Ask after their auctions! Ask about their WIPs or ideas! Ask about pairings! Clarify their wants and do not wants with them!

In fact, if you have a creator in mind for this charity event, ask them to consider joining!

The Auction ends when I’m unavailable, what do I do?

We understand that with the time difference all around that world, there are bound to be some who are in a time zone that doesn’t align nicely with Central Standard Time. In this case we suggest getting a proxy bidder to help you out. If you cannot find your own, you are more than welcomed to contact us (ask or email) and we will put out a call to our followers for someone who is willing to be a proxy for you.

When will I get my confirmation email I won?

The mod team will be working to get the winner’s emails out to them as soon as the auction ends. Please keep in mind that gmail only allows a certain number of emails to be send out at a time. This means the emails will be sent out in batches and depending on the auction, it might take a few days to get your winning confirmation email.

Please do not get in contact with the creator or donate until you get your confirmation email you have won the auction.

What do I do if I win an auction?

You will get an email within the next two to three days after the auction closes confirming your win and asking you to donate to one of the charities listed. As stated in the last answer above, please do not donate or contact your creator for the auction until after you have received your confirmation email and you have donated.

But, once your have gotten your confirmation email and you have donated, the mods will send an email with both you and your creator. From there, it will be up to you guys to figure out the auction win from there.

Can I donate more than my winning bid?

Yes! The more the merrier. There is no limit to the donations you can make.

I would like to have the craft/artwork or be part of the creation process as the winner, can I?

That will be between you and the creator you won. If they do not specifically state they will give you their work, they are under no obligation to give it. If you are unsure of their stance, or it is not listed that they are looking to work with the bidder, please reach out to the creator to ask them.

#wtf mod answers #creator & bidder faq

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xxgoblin-dumplingxx · 5 years ago

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Tempest in a Teacup: Two

Clint watched you remembering how to be alive again with a smile. You were staring at a bowl of Rice Krispies like you’d forgotten what they were for as you curled like a question mark around a cup of coffee.

“Barton, I think you can cancel the DNA test,” Bucky snorted, smacking him on the shoulder as he passed. Clint snorted, “I could never deny her, that’s for sure.”

“Thank god she doesn’t look like you, though.” Steve teased, prompting Clint to flip him off casually.

Clint kisses the side of your head and swaps your bowl of now soggy cereal that he knows you won’t eat for French toast he knows you will eat and you look up at him and smile your thanks sleepily.

For a second, you’re five again. Five and homesick. It was almost this time of year. Right before you started kindergarten. You had a cute little liting voice. Like a little silver bell. He couldn’t cook, not really and you’d eaten nothing but sugary cereal and carrot sticks and animal cookies for a few days. It was Saturday morning and you’d been awake and scared all night. Worried about your mom. ... The french toast had been a lot less pretty but that smile was the same.

You were bigger now. Stronger. Smarter. The most beautiful thing he’d ever seen still. And sometimes, he missed your accent. He hated it after you went to school and your voice got more Americanized. But you were his girl. He chucked you under the chin and handed Nat the other plate. She was taking you shopping. You needed school clothes anyway. And, as long as she’d been around, Nat had always taken you school shopping, for which Clint was grateful. Especially when you hit your teens. He got a bit lost after boys cargo shorts and plain t-shirts weren’t your standard gear. “Nat,” Clint teased, “no more platform boots. Seriously.” Natasha winked at you, “Not unless they’re on sale.”

You pick up a fork and lean into Clint’s side for a second as he stands there sipping coffee. You missed him. Between saving the world and just living far away, there was no such thing as enough hugs. Clint draped an arm over your shoulder casually and Natasha feels her heart ache just a little.

She knew. Probably better than anyone how scared Clint was that he wasn’t the parent he should be. But she wished she could show him this. A picture didn’t do justice to just how happy you looked when he hugged you just a little tighter. Maybe he wasn’t the parent he should be. Teaching you how to do some slightly illegal things, letting an assassin take you shopping, giving you back your fake ID; but, he was exactly the parent you needed. He was unfailingly supportive. He dealt with feelings and self-doubt and little heartbreaks in stride. He knew you. And he loved you with no conditions.

Clint gave the spy a look and Natasha only shrugged. You had a style. You liked what you liked. And frankly, it was cool. Distinctive. It suited you. Natasha knew damn well that as long as you bought age-appropriate clothing and you weren’t running around half-naked or in bondage gear, he really didn’t care what you wore. You went to an Academy for artistic kids. Weird clothes were expected. Nay. Encouraged. And New York. Land of Punks and Aging club kids, was the place to go. Nat look forward to this most of the year. It was fun. You were picky but not like... annoyingly picky. It was just an “I already know what I want and this is... actually close enough” kind of picky. “Got any Art supplies you need, kid?” Natasha asked. You frown, thinking, “Depends. Do you want me to make you some new wall clutter?”

“Did I hear Wall clutter?” Tony asked strolling in for coffee. “Y/N has offered to make Wall Clutter for the cost of Art supplies,” Clint said, tugging a stray lock of hair.

"Oh!" Pepper said, stealing the coffee mug out of Tony's hand and handing him water, "Could you do something neat we can Auction off After everyone signs it? It always brings in a ton of money for the cleanup fund." You take a bite of French toast and nod, thinking, "I could probably pull something together... It depends on how big a piece you want. And what medium. And subject matter."

Clint frowned but didn't say anything. You were a good kid. He knew you'd do hours of work for free. He also knew that it gave you something to do in all the downtime. That he could pester you while you worked as easily as he could while you were bouncing around the tower at warp speed. But, it rubbed him the wrong way. And then he remembered why. You did amazing artwork for them and you had. For years. Big pieces that went for literally millions. And you never got the credit for it. Nothing but your tiny little signature in the corner most people put a potted plant in front of. "I'll let her do it," Clint said, clearing his throat, "As long as she starts getting some form of actual recognition for it... Most people just think those things are put together by a whole ass design studio. They don't realize it's one punk kid with some chalk and some aquanet." Your artistic shit was your superpower.

It was all the attention to detail and the effort.

Pepper gasped, "Have they really never put her name anywhere?" Tony frowned, "That's unacceptable." Your cheeks color slightly, "It's not that big a deal... I mean part of the money they make is because people think it's like Banksy or some shit." You do set work. You paint sets, make costumes, and run tech. You're pretty sure no one but your dad even realizes that someone has to make it all look good. He comes to the show and has tacos and good coke, the kind in glass bottles from Mexico, sent back to the crew while everyone fusses over the actors. And he sends you purple roses for opening night. You love purple.

"It is too a big deal!" Pepper says stomping her foot, "Four years you've been making us stuff to sell off and never once gotten even a mention on the program?" You shrug, "I don't get them for the shows I do sets for either. None of the crew really gets much beyond our names in a massive list." Pepper doesn't hear the explanation, she's already on the phone. She's halfway through shouting at someone. Something about back pay and other things that hurt your head to think about. So you take your plate to the sink and start cleaning up, working around Tony where he's standing directly in your way.

"Do you think you could do Asgard? Like long ways." he asked thinking. "Panoramic?" you ask. He nods and you think, figuring out logistics. "Medium?" you ask. Tony smiles a little, "What about spray paint?" Clint smiles a little from his spot, watching goings-on and relaying information to Pepper. You're planning things out in your head. Like a goddamn chess grandmaster. He can see pieces being moved around. "Photorealistic or stylized?" you ask. Tony snorts, "Let's say stylized. Wouldn't want Thor to try and walk through it." That makes you smile a little, "I can probably do that... What do you want me to put in on?" That makes Tony stop for a second, "Let's see what people will really buy," he said mischievously, "I'll get you a sheet of drywall to play with... And all the colors of spray paint you could ever need." You nod, "I can do that but I might need some time... and a large patch of grass you don't mind getting paint on. I don't really do Spray paint inside if I can help it."

Tony nodded and raised his coffee cup in mock toast, "You might be the least temperamental Artist we ever commissioned."

That made Natasha snort, "Clearly, you've never heard her backstage during a show. "Fuck Muppet" became my new favorite epithet after the last one." Tony chokes on his coffee and Clint snorts, "That's great," he laughed, "I changed my mind. Just make a giant thing that says Fuck Muppet." Steve pinched the bridge of his nose, "Y/N please don't."

"Now I'm gonna," you say, "And I'm gonna dedicate it to you, Steve." The laughter that follows you out of the room is satisfying. You don't need to turn around to Know that Steve's face is probably snapchat worthy. Or that your dad probably looks way too proud of you for talking back to a literal National Treasure. But, he had it coming honestly. No living creature should be that fucking uptight. It wasn't healthy. You were willing to bet that if you made him swallow a piece of coal he'd shit a diamond. But there wasn't time to Dwell on that. You and Natasha had shopping to do. At least some of it.

When you come back downstairs in jeans, your boots, and a red croptop with "You inspire my inner serial killer" written on it in pretty script, Clint shakes his head, "Another Forray into fashion design?" You shake your head and stick the last bobby pin into your right space bun, "Nah. Parker made me this one." Nat smiles a little. You don't look 17. You look 21 and Clint is about 4 seconds from a heart attack. But, aside from your midriff and a belly button piercing he already knows about, there's no other skin showing. And it's summer. "Cute," Nat says, "But please. Please don't make me have to stab some stupid frat boy today." You grin, "Nah... They're all more trouble than they're worth."

Natasha grabs you by the hand and drags you out of the room before Clint can think too hard about that last comment and he retroactively tries to ground you until you're 83.

Steve watches Natasha flounce out of the room with you and Clint pour coffee like nothing just happened, "Have fun! Don't kill anyone!" Clint shouts after you. You half turn and sign "Love you, dad" to him and he smiles, "Love you too, punk" he answers.

"You really don't have a problem with her dressed like that?" Steve asked. "Like what?" Clint counters mildly, "Like a 17-year-old girl? In this year of your lord in the 21st century when ankles aren't sexy anymore unless you're weird? No. No, I don't" Steve winced, "I just meant," he started. Clint quirked an eyebrow, "She's 17. Not 7. She's my child. Not yours. It's just a shirt. Those are just comfortable jeans. And those boots are probably just comfortable too... If the worst thing she does is dress like that, get piercings I know about, and flirt with muscle-bound idiots until she gets bored with them, all things considered, I'll take it." You're a pretty girl. Really Pretty. And men tended to stare and they had since you were 12. It was gross but Clint didn't see any point in making you dress like a Nun when it was much more satisfying to break noses. Steve stayed quiet and left shortly after that. And honestly, Clint was grateful. It wasn't the first time someone had tried to tell him how to parent you.

But, he didn't think it was that bad. You were older now than he'd been when you were born. You made good grades. You had good friends. You called to talk to him and if you didn't call you texted. Truth be told, half the time he didn't know what to do with you and the rest of the time he just did the opposite of what his parents would have done. It was still better than Reggie did. She'd just sort of left you with her mom and fucked off to go help the CIA destabilize countries. Clint considered that job security. Reggie made the Warlords and Petty Despots and Clint helped put them down. It worked.

Outside, he watched as Tony made good on his promise to set you up. Paint, Drywall, tables, Brushes, attachments. Anything you could ever want were being delivered. Stark seemed intent on making up for his oversight and Clint was happy about it. You deserved credit for the cool shit you did. Maybe it would help drown out all the comments from people that looked down their nose at you. He drifted away to get some target practice in and you and Natasha wander the city, looking for the perfect new pair of platform boots and some little pieces of flair for your school wardrobe.

By the time you return, Clint has been doing more looking at his phone than working. Natasha sent him pictures. Lots of pictures. And he saved them all. His personal favorite was one Natasha had taken of you both. Huge sunglasses and feather boas, pouting for the camera. You looked like you were having a blast. He couldn’t wait to hear about it, even if he didn’t actually want to participate.

Pepper knocked on the doorframe and leaned on it casually, “So,” she said, holding out a check, “Since the work she did for us would have made her some money... Probably a lot of money. Tony and I agreed that it’s bullshit that she didn’t get credit.” Clint took the check and just blinked, “Holy Shit.” was all he could say and Pepper smiled a little. “We figure that doing that work for anything Stark affiliated would have made her about that much in commissions for other rich people with more money than sense.” Clint snorted, “She is really good, isn’t she.” he said with a note of pride.

“Especially for all the crazy things Tony pitches at her,” she said nodding, “I have no idea how she’s going to do Asgard in spray paint but if anyone can.” Clint nodded, “She can,” he agreed. “So why are you giving this to me?” he asked, not following. “Because,” Pepper said smiling, “No 17 year old should have that much money... I figured you’d best hang on to it for now.” Clint nodded, “Thanks, Pepper.” he said.

She squeezed his hand, “I’m sorry we didn’t realize it sooner. It feels like we were taking advantage of her... but. We’re taking care of that oversight now. We planned a full showcase of the work she did for us previously to go along with the Auction of this piece. And I’m going to see if she minds us putting some of the dress designs she’s done for Nat and I on display too.” Clint nods slowly. It sounds like a lot. Maybe even too much. You’re still in school and he desperately wants you to finish, not just rabbit off and start cranking out art until your fingers bleed. So he says as much to Pepper.

The woman thinks for a moment and nods, “We’ll stick to the previous art pieces then. Just those for now... Later I will happily wear anything her little heart designs and send work her way.” That makes Clint feel better. A lot better.

You’re a kid. A gifted, talented kid. And you’re his. It’s his job to protect you until you can protect yourself. But as Pepper walks away and he stares at the staggering sum of money on the check, he knows he’ll probably never stop.

Tags: @lancsnerd @stevieang @golddaggers @blameitonthecauseway @qxeen-of-hearts @process-pending @xmarveled @beautybyfire, @etherealwaifgoddess, @mschellehitt

#clint barton #natasha romanoff #tony stark #steve rogers #Dad!Clint #teen reader #pepper potts

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chadalexa · 6 years ago

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Hello and welcome to the introduction of my character: Chad Andersen Alexander!

[ steven strait, male, he/him, 32 ] LANDSCAPE by LOW-PASS? whenever i hear that song, it reminds me of CHAD ALEXANDER. maybe because they’re DOWN TO EARTH but also SCATTERBRAINED. they’ve been living at mulberry apartments since FEBRUARY of 2014 in 107 and have 0 ROOMMATES. ( POSTCARDS FROM ITALY ) [ toki, she/her, 18+, PST ]

Background - (Insanely) wealthy background. Didn’t grow up in the most loving, supportive family, but they treated him alright. Had a cousin he was immensely close with and thus regarded his cousin both a brother and a best friend. - Throughout his career as a student, he never excelled and struggled to pass classes. Parents hired many tutors to help him.

- However, he found that he possessed extreme athletic prowess and proceeded to spend most of his time playing sports with his cousin. Was on his high school's varsity football team along with his cousin.

- Initially planned on going pro. However, Chad saw his first fashion show when traveling abroad with his family for vacation and immediately developed an interest for fashion design. This led to his decision to enroll at an art college where he majored in fashion design. Parents weren’t too fond at his lack of interest in the family business, but figured that he wouldn’t be persuaded so easily.

- Quickly discovered he had a penchant for abstract art instead (translation: really wasn’t great at drawing).

- At first, Chad was frustrated at how his artwork was coming out. Though a professor taught him that beauty can be found in all works of art and he developed a fondness for the abstract.

- Currently, Chad creates artwork to submit to museums. Occasionally he’ll take commissions or create works to be auctioned off.

Personality - Copious usage of bro, bro.

- Fundamentally, Chad is mostly a stereotypical jock: athletic, enjoys any kind of athletic activity, has muscle mass thanks to a consistent workout routine, protein shakes, Letterman jackets all day every day, not the sharpest tool in the shed. His personality tends to deviate from the stereotype, however.

- He’s a pretty down to earth guy, and tries to go with the flow despite not knowing what’s happening around him sometimes. Doesn’t have much of a temper, if at all.

- An optimist through and through. It takes a lot to bring him down. Complete extrovert-- he enjoys making new friends and hanging out with people. Social gatherings are hubs of fun to him. However it takes him awhile before he’s completely got someone’s name down.

- Kindhearted, and despite his memory not being the best he will never forget a promise. If it’s one he made, he’ll make sure he makes good on that promise one way or another.

- Fact of the matter is that if it’s not a promise or a personally significant event, he will forget. He forgets things all the time-- keys, deadlines, phone, phone password. Chad isn’t sure why that is, so he tries to compensate by writing a lot of notes, utilizing the reminders feature and calendar app on his phone, and trying to keep up a daily routine. Pretty good about remembering his wallet though.

- He can appear to be quite distant, like his mind is always wandering because in a way it is. Chad is usually trying to remember something, but occasionally he’ll have art projects on his mind.

- Despite not being very book smart, he enjoys learning a lot. In his free time, he tries to read books on subjects beyond his understanding. Whatever he does understand he tries to incorporate into his art in some way. Chad is quite inquisitive as well.

- Once he’s managed to become somewhat close friends with an individual, he’s your ride or die, bro for life, there for you no matter what, etc. Chad takes his friendships very seriously and cherishes each one dearly.

- However, due to his somewhat stereotypical upbringing, he doesn’t enjoy being vulnerable himself. Chad will do his best to solve his problems by himself no matter what the problem is-- asking for help is rarely an option. Mostly because he doesn’t want to burden others, not necessarily because of pride.

- Overall, Chad’s a total bro who means well and loves art.

#soundintro #hello!! i hope this came out alright #i read this through many times so sorry if there are any typos or other errors that escaped me :(#sdhfkjsdfl this took so long to come out too ugh sorry guys i died

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occasionalfics · 6 years ago

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We did it!

Y’all, thank you so, so much. I did not expect to hit this so quickly, but I’m so happy about it! I just tweeted to the Incorrect Thor twitter today about how the Thor fandom is abundant, but we’ve been kind of overshadowed in the overall Marvel fandom for years before Ragnarok, and now we’ve got something to FLOCK to. I wouldn’t still be writing fan fiction without my Thor Thirster friends and I love each and every one of you for it 💖💖💖

As promised, in celebration of making it to this milestone, I’m gonna post the notes I’ve written for an upcoming Thor fic! Honestly this whole thing wouldn’t have happened without @samanthasmileys, who tagged me in this post! And maybe I’m not going ham in the concept, but I liked the basic idea and I have rolled with it! I love it, not gonna lie.

So below the cut are the notes! Feel free to let me know what you think (so far, I know it’s not the full fic), and if you’d like to be tagged in it (or tagged in anything I write), click here!

Working title: Sugar (if it’s too tongue-in-cheek, I don’t actually care?)

Working playlist: sugar

A Real World/kinda Sugar Daddy AU that takes place in Malibu, California because...I felt like it. LA feels crowded (just the thought of it does), and I like the Beach?

YN’s a big fat fatty (in Queen’s words, not mine) (Y’all, whenever I hear this song now, all I think about is Thor...and it’s my own fault). Y’all, we need that Plus Size Representation and, as a Plus Size woman I am GOING there.

She’s an artist. She works on commissions at night/weekends, but during the day she’s a social media manager/graphic artist for a gallery

Her favorite artist is a one Steve Rogers, who does a lot of portraits and war pieces but everything has EMOTION

Steve’s married to Bucky, who works for Stark Industries, despite his mixed and often negative feelings for his boss. Their boyfriend Sam just moved in a few weeks ago.

She does not know Steve yet...but Thor does.

Yes they’ll meet at an art show. That is too good to pass up.

Coulson is YN’s uncle, used to work for Odin

Her parents died a few years ago, so she lives with Coulson, May, and Daisy. So she and Thor bond over being orphans.

He commissions her to paint Mjolnir, a family heirloom

Then he commissions another piece for a charity auction?? Or maybe this one’s it???

Thor’s family is mostly made up of lawyers and businessmen, but he’s really a jack of all trades. Like he has six bachelors degrees - business, law, architecture, French, Spanish, and Portuguese. And he served in the Australian Army.

He’s practically Australian Royalty. The Prince Harry of the Land Down Under. He has the money to do whatever he wants, but he donates a lot of it and earns his keep. He does a lot of architecture work for people in Malibu, he acts, he invests in personal projects. Definitely a model on occasion.

He has a dog named Fenrir, but really he’s Loki’s dog. Loki just sucks so Thor keeps him.

Thor sold Odin’s company when he inherited it because he wanted nothing to do with it, which is why Coulson retired

YN was really young when she first met Thor so she doesn’t really remember her, but he remembers a scrappy little kid with scabs and freckles and spunk and now she’s a lady (or she puts up a lady-like front) (an intro working this out to come prior to the first chapter of this going up)

YN thinks this is gonna be a pretty stereotypical You became a beautiful swan from an ugly duckling story but really Thor has fond memories of her and encourages her to be herself around him

He LOVES the thunder thighs. This is just a Thor headcanon but it is 100% in character, even if he’s not actually a Norse God in this one.

He has to go to his ex’s wedding and wants YN to go with him as his date

She thinks he’s asking for her to fake date him, but no he really wants her to go as his date. She only thinks it’s fake because they’ve only gone on three dates together.

Also this wedding is in Sweden.

If y’all wanna guess who it is I’m putting together for the sake of this fic, send me your THEORIES

Loki is the troublemaker. Thor is a genuinely good person who wants to use his privilege for good. YN has to learn all of this while unlearning all the things she’s thought about him because he’s rich.

Loki is really a problem. In an out of jail, a schemer until the very end, never really shows that he loves Thor, but he does. YN doesn’t get why Thor is so protective of his younger brother until they talk about their families.

Hela, their estranged, super conservative sister never shows up. They don’t talk. But he does tell YN about her

Either Loki is gonna get them into trouble with the paps or something is gonna happen with Daisy (I vaguely mention Grant Ward so...maybe? Something is gonna happen that they have to fix together before the happily ever after bc u no me)

Idk it feels too in-MCU to include Hydra with spies but also...Grant...and what if he has information about YN’s parents’ death? oOHHH

#sugar inspo #800 followers!!!#thor x reader #thor x plus size reader #upcoming fic #sugar fic

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sintijaviksnite · 3 years ago

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GoDaddy Web Host

Making a website is not an easy task it requires idea and purpose, why in the first place you need it? It doesn’t matter if it is for yourself, your company, business, or maybe some other idea why you are building it, but the main goal is that you need it and you are looking for some hosting and website builder company. In this GoDaddy Web Host review I will talk about GoDaddy. What it is and how it can help you, also we will count the plus and minuses that are coming with this hosting provider and what you as a beginner website owner should know about GoDaddy? In the review end Don't miss my experience with GoDaddy Support team and read more. Out there are more than a thousand hosting providers, but only a few of them are good, really good and GoDaddy in My opinion are one of them, yes they are something that I dislike and I will disclose that little later in this review but right now let's find out what is GoDaddy?

GoDaddy Web Host : What It Is?

GoDaddy is a web hosting and domain registration provider that was created in 1997, Baltimore, Maryland, United States. From the very beginning, it was called Jomax Technologies, but in 1999 they wanted to change their name and then a company employee came up with GoDaddy and stick with it. Yes, GoDaddy came a long road, and now they are one of the most popular companies that provide web hosting and domain registration. But if you are starting to read in internet customer reviews and feedback it can be quite shocking? So in this aspect – let's find out Why or Why Not you need to choose GoDaddy Web Host Provider?

GoDaddy Web Host : Domains.

Let's start with Domain. When it comes to choosing a domain GoDaddy comes with quite stunning pricing for newcomers and is not lagging, because you can purchase a domain from 1.00 Euro/mo. For most newcomers this is cheap and affordable and they can start their own business. If you are new and don’t know what your domain and website will be.

Then let's count what you should think about before purchasing your domain: - What your niche will be in another world what you will be promoting or what your website will be about, is it some blog about dogs, coffee, maybe you want to make your online shop. - Second what you want? There you need to think if you want only a blog or you want to promote your business? You need to know if your website will be for fun or your Business. - When you are done choosing your niche, think about the domain name. It needs to be something that will reflect your product or service. Not only GoDaddy allow you to choose a domain, but also you can: - Search your Domain name. - New domain extensions - Domain Broker-if your chosen domain is taken. - Generator your domain name You can search and find your exclusive domain name, that will present your business, blog, or affiliate site. If your chosen domain is already taken, but you want it, domain brokers are coming to help, they will negotiate with the owner of the domain to get it for you. But you need to remember that they are not working for free they ask for a 20% commission. In domain generator, you can generate keywords or put your niche, and then it will offer some related domain names for you.

Domain Services.

Under domains, Godaddy offer 3 services - Domain Transfer - WHOIS - Domain Value Appraisal GoDaddy Web Host : Domain Transfer. In some cases when you are not happy with the current domain provider, if the pricing is too high or supports bad, or maybe you want some change and try other domain registrations, Then you want to change and transfer your domain. The GoDaddy run to help you. The goal is to make the transfer process easier not only for you as a customer, but also for GoDaddy. GoDaddy help to make the process as easier as possible it can be, so that you can work as always, without worrying about changes. GoDaddy offer automate transfer process, fast, and no risk for clients, so you can continue your previous work. How does the process happen? - Open your domain which you want to transfer to your current registrar. - Using the GoDaddy transfer tool search your domain. - Enter an authorization code to confirm that you want to transfer your domain. - Your transfer will be completed 5-7 working days, in others cases, it can take a little longer, but mane time is 5-7 working days. Not only you can transfer your domain, but also your email and website. For more information read here. GoDaddy Web Host: WHOIS Database. In WHOIS Database you can find information about the domain owner. This is helpful if you don't want a broker, but contact the domain owner by yourself. GoDaddy Web Host: Domain Value Appraisal. This section is helpful if you have a mind to sell your domain and you can know how much it can cost, there can be many reasons why you want to sell your domain –domain are not used or you buy it, work for many years, and changed your niche and right now want to sell it. How it looks from GoDaddy Domain section you can see that I already put my domain.

Example of my other domain: When you use GoDaddy domain Value Appraisal to see actual price of your Domain.

GoDaddy Web Host Auctions.

If you are one of the people that purchased a domain but don't use it then maybe you can earn on it, by selling it on GoDaddy auction. First what you need to do to put your own domain in GoDaddy action - you will be to ask to pay 4.11 Euro/year it like membership of GoDaddy Action user. After that you can fill all necessary information that they are asking about domain and how you wanted to get paid. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weSHX_iCxJ8&t=13s

GoDaddy Web Host Websites.

When you purchased your domain, the next step is to create your website. In GoDaddy, you can choose from 2 types: GoDaddy Original website+ marketing and WordPress website. Let's Start With The GoDaddy Website + Marketing. For people who want to start to build their own website, want it to be simple as possible and already phone friendly. A simple blog or website will exactly be what GoDaddy offers with marketing. This GoDaddy website type comes with 4 plans: Basic, Standard, Premium, Ecommerce. All four plans have 6 common features that include: - Website security (SSL) - Custom domain connection - On-the-go editing - 24/7support - Guidance and analytics - Branded content creator With this feature you can manage all your website in one place. Mobile design and editing You can use any devise website you want. Because your site will look great in any device and if you don't like something you can easily edit it. Choose and use 20+themes for your website, you can change layouts, fonts, and colors. Ensure that your site runs fast and without any problem, with reliable hosting. Page load fast and without any delay. Basic Plan. Price 5.99 Euro/mo. What includes: - 1 social media platforms - 5 social Post & Responses/mo. - 100 email marketing send/mo. Standard plan. Price 9.99 Euro/mo. What includes: - Search Engine Optimization(SEO) - 3 social media platforms - 20 social Post & Responses/mo. - 500 email marketing send/mo. Premium Plan. Price 14.99 Euro/mo. What includes: - Search Engine Optimization(SEO) - Unlimited social media platforms - Unlimited social Post & Responses/mo.. - 25,000 email marketing send/mo. Ecommerce Plan. Price 19.99 Euro/mo. What includes in this plan: - Search Engine Optimization(SEO) - Unlimited social media platforms - Unlimited social Post & Responses/mo. - 25,000 email marketing send/mo. - Product listings - Flexible shipping options - Flexible payments - Discount and promotional features.

GoDaddy Web Host - Hosting.

If we start talking about GoDaddy hosting, then this is the place where we create and host or website, the most important place where we create and make or business and contest. GoDaddy offers many packs of hosting: website hosting, Linux hosting with cPanel, VPS hosting, and much more. Because this is theme is popular and people look up to GoDaddy hosting. I have created a special review Web Hosting GoDaddy which you can read. There you will find what is GoDaddy hosting, what plans it haves, Pros and Cons, also questions and answers what may likely be useful for you my reader.

Make Your Store With GoDaddy.

In your store, you can add more the 5.000 products, with 5-10 images per product. Also, you can maximize your sales with the marketing tools, that GoDaddy offers. You can sell more by letting your customers easily find you and engage with your store. GoDaddy helps you to optimize your website to make sure that it shows up in Google searches. And integrated emails and social media tools help you connect and made more sales. The best thing is that you can connect your store to the Facebook page shop and make more with both.

GoDaddy Web Host Search Engine Optimization.

If you want to start rank in Google search you need SEO Optimization for your website. Let's find what GoDaddy offers us with Search Engine Optimization and what you can expect: - Boost your site higher at Google and other search engines. - Suggest your necessary keywords for your website and pages. - You can track your ranking. - With Google My Business – it tells more people about your company The price that GoDaddy Offers is 6.99 Euro. Noting special about this offer. I don't use it and in this aspect I can tell if it is Good and if it can help to rank in Google search.

Email Marketing With GoDaddy.

GoDaddy also offers you to create emails and communicate using them. You can create signup forms and connect them to your website. Everyone who wants to create a successful online business- what every it is an online store, business or blog needs to start email marketing because if want to grow your business you need to more give to your clients information, news, coupons, and email is the best option to do that. GoDaddy offers 3 plans: Beginner, Up & Running, and Pro.

First, let’s find out wall all plans offer: - Report that shows which email is opened clicked and shared. - Protect your subscribers from spam emails. - Create your stunning emails with an email editor and Drag and drop function. - NEW- Clickable buttons to get better engagement - Tools to connect website builder and online store. - A gallery full of High-quality stock images to make your emails look more professional.

Alternatives For Email Marketing.

I am not one of the people that is using or used the Email function with GoDaddy, because why I should use it in the first place. From one point of view if you use the Email Option with GoDaddy you definitely make your work much easier, you don't need to integrate anything and don't need to worry about others email software, but why in beginning you need to started paid option if they are free online like Mailchimp and Aweber that offers free plans for beginners. Mailchimp. Offers a free plan for beginners and it includes up to 2000 contacts. You get emails, 1- step automation, 1 audience, and much more, but I don't recommend it for affiliates or people who make money with Affiliate Marketing, because Mailchimp has its own rules about Affiliate Marketing. Aweber. I use Aweber and it works just fine for me. Aweber also offers beginners free plan, up to 500 subscribers and you can send up to 3000 emails/mo. 1 list and you can build 3 landing pages to start your business. Also, I can say that in my view dashboard is easy to use. It offers much more than that, for more information read here. Okay then let's go back to our GoDaddy Web Host Review.

What Is SSL And How It Works?

When you have installed a website server or in other words, you have your website, SSL Certificates activates a padlock and HTTPS protocol that secures your connection from a website server to a browser.

SSL Certificates more uses to secure credit card transactions, data transfers, and logins. Right now it is already normal for browsing Social media sites with more security that offers SSL Certificates . I will say honestly, if I visit a website, I would rather see the green light than the inscription that this site is unsafe, and I believe that many think that way? Because when you see an unsafe site you as a client will unlikely open it. SSL Certificates. There are 5 SSL certificate types that GoDaddy offers: EV SSL Certificates, OV SSL certificates, DV SSL Certificates, SAN SSL Certificates, Wildcard SSL Certificates. Plans, Pricing, and what it meant for? EV SSL Certificate. EV or Extended Validation is the Highest class of SSL Certificates that is available in GoDaddy. It uses the same power that other SSL Certificates, but getting it one thing requires a thorough vetting of the customer business. If you want EV Extended Validation Certificate you need to pass this process. What GoDaddy support team verifies if you apply to EV. - If you are legally registered - Currently in operation - Own the website domain - In Adress listed - Telefon member listed Every two years you need to pass this Validation Process. With the EV SSL Certificate, clients get more confidence and increase scrutiny rules if some hacker tries to hack the website. It is more used for eCommerce websites. The price starts at 93.99/year if you renew it then the price is 187.99/year. OV SSL Certificates. Organization Validation or OV Certificates take your website more secure and require human verification. The website who are protected with OV Certificate shows HTTPS prefix and small padlock in visitor browser. OV SSL Certificate is the best option for organizations and business websites. Price start from 87.99 Euro /year if you renew it price will be 109.99 Euro/year DV SSL Certificate. DV or Domain Validation SSL Certificate is the most basic SSL Certificate in GoDaddy what you can find DV SSL Certificate is different in that way that requires only one step, also when GoDaddy grant Certificate it verify that domain name on the application is validated by proving control of your DNS. Price start from 55.99 Euro /year if you renew it price will be 69.99 Euro/year SAN SSL Certificate. Subject Alternative Name or Unified Communication Certificate offers the same protection as others SSL certificates, but only for multiple domains, subdomains, and environments. REMEMBER : If you are a Business owner that has many websites but doesn't want to show a connection between them then this SSL Certificates isn't for you, because it connects sites and domains. SAN SSL Certificate Standard version can cover up to 5 websites while a high version of SSL up to 100 websites. You save time, money and will be sure that all your websites are protected. Pricing starting from 115.99 Euro/year. If you renew it price will be 144.99 Euro /Year Wildcard SSL certificate. The price starts at 199.99 Euro/ year. If you renew it the price will be 299.99 Euro /year. Encryption –is the strongest what you can find. GoDaddy Wildcard SSL certificate feature SHA-2 and 2048- bit encryption-that is strongest will help you to forget about hacker attacks. From a single dashboard, you can secure all your subdomains and servers.

Security For Your Website.

Right now let's talk about website protection from welfare to keep visitors safe and website always protected. Website security is a service that provides you with tools that can help to keep your website always protected from malware hackers and other dangerous threats that can be. With your website, you are making money that why it is so important to be safe and make your website feel safe and protected. All website security plans come together with an SSL certificate – what is coming with Free SSL Certificate- it is coming with GoDaddy Website Application Firewall(WAF), that allows your site to get HTTPS What you get : - Protect site from DDoS attacks - Fix and prevent attacks from malware - Improv website search ranking - Increase your website speed - Boos site load time by 50% Prices and Plans. Standard Plan. Price 4.67 Euro/ mo. ( 33% save) If you renew price will be 6.99 Euro/mo. - Firewall prevents hackers - SSL Certificate included in the firewall - Protect one website - Malware scanning - Annual site cleanup and remediation Advanced Plan. Price 9.99 Euro/mo. Read the full article

#webhosting #sharedhosting #dedicatedservers #domainhosting #digitalmarketing #webhostingcompanywebhostingcompany #domainregistration #website #review #marketing #onlinemarketing

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makeextramoneyfromonline · 4 years ago

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Easy ways to make money quickly

1. Online surveys

An increasingly popular way for students to make money is to fill out online surveys in their spare time. Research companies are always recruiting new members around the world to answer surveys and test new products.

For a few minutes of filling out the form, you can make a couple of pounds which are paid out in cash or prizes. You can rack up to £ 3 ($ 5) for some surveys!

A Few Good Serveys: Toluna, LifePoints, Branded Surveys, InboxPounds, Onepoll, i-Say, Opinion Outpost, YouGov, Pinecone, SurveyBods, Panel Base, Valued Opinions, The Opinion Panel, Prizerebel, Opinion Bureau, Marketagent, Survey Junkie, Swagbucks

2. Paid for searching the web

Are you interested in earning money doing what you already do online? This has to be one of the simplest ways to make money online without any effort or change in your behavior.

This innovative idea from Qmee.com rewards you for searching on Google, Bing, Yahoo, Amazon and eBay. You just need to install a simple add-on in your browser and when you do a search there may be some sponsored results next to your normal search.

Each Qmee achievement has a cash reward attached - if you're interested, click on it and collect your reward.

Best of all, there's no minimum to cash out - our first was only 72p wired to our Paypal account. You also have the option to donate it to charity.

3. Review websites & apps for cash

Well, it seems like you're pretty good with a web browser, so maybe it's time to go pro and browse websites as a paid and fun job!

Introducing UserTesting.com, a new platform that pays ordinary people to review all types of websites. Each review takes around 20 minutes and brings you $ 10 (£ 6.50) via Paypal.

4. Affiliate marketing

If you have a good social media presence or maybe even have a blog or website, you can start making money instantly by promoting all kinds of businesses, products, services and offers online.

Register as a publisher on the Awin network, check their offer blog or browse merchant listings to find something you think your friends might be interested in, grab your affiliate link and share it. If someone buys (can be within a maximum of 90 days) using your link, you will earn a nice commission.

5. Review music for money

If you love music, make your business by reviewing unsigned bands and artists online for money with Slicethepie.

It can take some time to build your reputation, but some site users have claimed to earn £ 40 per month. It may not sound like much, but if it's something you like, it shouldn't be hard work and it's another thing for your CV. The money earned will be in US $ but anyone can sign up and review.

6. Buy and sell domain names

A domain name is just a website address (eg "Savethestudent.org" or "mysite.it") and there are many extensions (.com, .net, .co.uk etc.).

They only cost $ 0.99 to sign up at GoDaddy.com, but premium domain names can fetch $ 1,000 if not millions when sold. VacationRentals.com earned $ 35 million in 2007!

Now you probably won't come across anything like this, but you can still make a quick profit with a little research. The trick is to find available domain names that have commercial value, hook them up, and then put them up for sale on a site like Sedo.com.

7. Sell your photos

If you think you have a good shot and a little creativity, try uploading your photographs to stock websites for free. A good place to start is Adobe Stock or Getty Images.

Earn more by selling photographic subjects that have fewer search results but feel they would have some questions. It might be a good idea to try them out in print first

8. Sell clothes on eBay

Everyone's best friend when it comes to getting rid of junk is eBay. Online auctions are a surefire way to turn that sleeveless jacket (which came in and out of style in a week) into cash.

Some eBay sellers look at the trends and try to predict what's going to be big before the market. If you're good and don't mind taking a risk, you can buy in bulk at first and sell when the craze hits.

9. Sell your stories and videos

If you have an interesting story, you might want to try selling it to the newspapers. It could be anything from sleeping with a professional footballer to being trapped in a clothesline!

One of the Save the Student team members was unlucky enough to fly a pigeon and smash his window at university and sold the story to The Sun for £ 50.

You could also film your friends at any time and send it to You've Been Photographs to earn £ 250 and seconds of fame.

10. YouTube videos

According to recent statistics, we now watch more videos on YouTube than Google searches.

And with the recently introduced YouTube Partner Program, you can now profit from creating and uploading videos. You will receive a percentage of the advertising revenue collected per 1,000 views.

Depending on your success (virality, subscriber base and topic) you can make a lot of money and every week there are many stories of more and more YouTubers making their careers.

Learn YouTube Mastery and Monetization..

11. Watch videos

If making videos seems like too much work, getting paid to watch videos online must be one of the easiest ways to make money, ever.

Swagbucks and InboxPounds are the most popular websites as they literally pay you to sit down and watch things like advertisements and videos that hope to go viral.

For more engaging and rewarding opportunities, consider branching out as a freelancer by typing in movie subtitles or writing movie reviews.

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mangokiwitropicalswirl · 7 years ago

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Gillovny and Buyer’s Remorse

I don’t know if this is necessary or even helpful. We probably don’t need anymore voices weighing in on the state of things in the fandom, so if you’re sick of things and want to look past this, please do. If you venture below the cut, please take this in the spirit you know I intend it -- as a longtime X Files fan with a sometimes-too-soft heart that was weaned on MSR yearning, but who is also striving for a clear-eyed grasp of reality. Here goes:

Since the events of last October, we have had two stark options. 1. To believe that G and D were in a romantic relationship that had come to an abrupt end sometime in September (factoring in Chicago Con, Schmoopie shirts and kind comments about “new incarnation of friendship” uttered at cons early last fall). Or, option 2. To accept that what we saw, read and observed between D and G over the preceding 2 (3?) years was literally nothing more than their typical handsy BFF behavior and a liberal dose of fandom trolling.

Many people were easily able to accept option #2 and move on. Others felt that option #1 might have been the case, and if so, well, earlier behavior on twitter was understandably coming to an end.

But Option #1 didn’t really bear out as we observed a few continued playful interactions between G and D on twitter and nothing but positives on Ds end when he spoke about her at a con in January. And then came the Webby’s, which put to rest any idea that there might have been an acrimonious breakup of any kind.

Which circles us all back to option #2. Which is where we are today.

I see a lot of posts claiming that Gillovny fans are “angry” at G for her trolling of fans throughout the past couple years, but I haven’t seen much of that anger. What has been hard to stomach for those of us who have been slow to accept Option #2, is the accusation that I am somehow “not happy for Gillian” because she isn’t “dating who I want.”

This is ridiculous.

Of course I am happy if G is happy. Who she dates is something I have absolutely no control over, nor would I want to. She obviously knows herself, knows what she needs from a relationship, and has her own history with men to work with. I -- and I dare say, none of the folks who shipped Gillovny -- would never suggest that I somehow know better for her than she knows for herself.

And yet, we’re stuck with feelings. Lots of feelings. And I have been trying to pin down the nature of those feelings a little more precisely. It’s not anger, because that would assume there was something to be angry about. And it’s not sadness, because again, why should I be sad if Gillian is happy?

No, the feeling I am feeling is a very serious and intense case of buyer’s remorse.

Because I. Fucking. Bought it.

I bought into the Gillovny ship big time. It honestly was part of what brought me back into the fandom because, lord knows, the narrative of two old sometimes-at-odds costars now blissfully happy to be together (in whatever form) was a damn better narrative than ANYTHING written in season 10. And here’s the crux:

I bought into the Gillovny ship because it was being sold to me. They sold the ever-loving shit out of it for several years.

Some people will say we should not have bought it, that Gillian always maintained it was a game, that David tried to sternly shut it down numerous times. But to say we shouldn’t have bought it is sort of like saying to a person during the subprime mortgage crisis that they shouldn't have taken the stupidly low mortgage rate on a beautiful house that’s sitting right in front of them. Gillovny was sitting right in front of us. It was set up for us to buy into.

And even though occasionally a realtor might pipe up and remind you, “Hey this house has kind of a shaky foundation, perhaps don't buy it,” we did anyway. I bought it. This gorgeous newly renovated Victorian with the wraparound porch and a pool in the back where you can swim all day in your red speedos.

Why did we do this? Mostly, because we LOVE watching them together. The intensity of their smiles at one another could power the fuel needs of a small country. It was the sight of them together that powered us through more than a few (cough *half* cough) lackluster seasons and films of a weird, incoherent show about aliens.

Don’t mishear me, either. I don’t mean to imply that there is NOTHING between D and G. There is obviously a shit ton of chemistry and a lot of affection. That is REAL. It always has been. What I’m talking about is the Gillovny narrative and how far it was teased and toyed with, which is something altogether different.

But now, we look back on this house that we bought, this narrative, and we realize there's never been a foundation. We bought the big beautiful house at the persuasion of the delightful realtors, and now we are left trying to figure out how to pay for it all emotionally.

And our friends down the street who (wisely) never made a down payment on the house, are laughing at us, telling us to grab our stuff and MOVE THE FUCK OUT when we are still enamored of the beauty of the place. We took out a 23-year mortgage and now we’re underwater. It’s hard to just pick up and move.

Not only that, from the moment of Gillian holding up the Duchovny jersey at the 2015 TCAs to the August 2016 Schmoopie shirt, it has been 100% in David and Gillian’s best interest for us to buy into Gillovny. I’ll say that again. Despite repeated denials throughout that timeframe, AND some noteable non-denials (e.g. WHHL), it remained in their best financial interest to fuel the rumors and draw attention to themselves by any and all means. And I’ll add -- it is also in Orlando Jones’s and Bryan Fuller’s, and anybody else interested in harnessing the power of Gillovny to garner attention for their show or project. Gillovny sells, bitches.

Think of it like the realtor trying to sell you the house you can’t afford. Sure, she may occasionally remind you that maybe you shouldn’t buy into this one, but in the end, she’s getting the commission, so why would she really try that hard to stop you?

If you:

bought the XF season 10 DVD,

subscribed to Netflix to watch X Files, Aquarius, or The Fall,

bought photo ops or VIP packages at any of the Comic Cons,

bought tickets to Streetcar,

donated to Lick-my-Face, Childreach Int’l or other DDGA charities,

tickets to David’s concerts,

David’s album,

Gillian’s novels,

Gillian’s WE book and its various causes and events,

David’s novels,

a magazine with their photos on the cover,

a photo sold by a photographer (hi Mark Mann),

started a Tumblr blog (hello there ad clicks),

followed them on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook (hello Q score)

Or any of the other numerous ways in which money can be generated by your interest in and devotion to them as interesting and noteworthy individuals, you have participated in this celebrity transactional relationship.

I am not pointing fingers because I certainly have done about 30% of the things on the above list. The nature of our relationship to celebrities is by necessity one of transaction. We buy what they are selling, and in this case, we were buying the narrative of Gillian and David together. Their chemistry is ceaselessly watchable, so much so that it spills over from the X-Files to fuel interest in their other projects. They have used it to marvelous success.

But remember that every time you spend money on a DVD or a concert ticket, a theater ticket or a book, you're engaging in a transaction between yourself and their brand. NOT between yourself and a real, actual individual.

Here are my own actual financial Gillovny-prompted expenditures:

Season 10 Revival DVD - $19.95 (free shipping, thanks Amazon prime)

David’s new novel on Kindle - $12

Donation to Gillian’s Skype call auction - $75

Purchase of two of Gillian’s shirts for SAYes charity - $125

Grand total = $231.95

This might sound crass. Or it might sound obvious. But it bears remembering as we work through our disappointment that the romantic narrative we were sold had no basis in reality. Tweets and media mentions are all part of brand creation, and both David and Gillian have benefited from the idea of a relationship between them. It never made sense for them to shut things down entirely as long as there still remained projects and charities to bring attention to. Gillian’s charity t-shirt auctions were a marvelous way to monetize the Gillovny brand for good.

Where we’re stuck now, though, is that all of a sudden, we have been asked to buy something else. Back in the fall, Brand Gillovny went offline, very nearly taking X Files season 11 with it. In its place, we have been offered, Brand The Crown, and Brand Serious Charity Work, Brand Feminism Book and Brand Rockstar. Some folks have made the switch to these new brands easily, while others are still reeling a bit from the sudden change.

What saddens me is the attitude that if someone hasn’t been able to transfer their brand loyalty seemlessly, somehow that means we aren’t as genuine a fan of David or Gillian as we should be. Let’s just remember, none of us has a relationship with G or D. We only have a relationship with their image, and therefore, it is okay not to want to continue a relationship with an image that has changed in a way that we don’t like as much. I don’t have to move into the house next door to the house I actually wanted just because it’s in the same neighborhood.

It’s pointless now to go back over the last couple years looking for clues or debating what was true and what wasn’t. It would be easy to pass all sorts of judgements on the appropriateness of certain branding choices (I’m looking at you WHHL and Schmoopie shirt), but no answers will satisfy everyone.

I hope that thinking about D & G in this way might help those of us who’re reeling from the death of our dream house, and also help those who have successfully moved on understand those of us who may not have done so yet.

Peace fandom. And hope for a great season 11. Because MSR is why we were here in the first place, and fiction is forever.

#gillovny #perhaps an ill-advised series of comments #but there you have it #my thoughts #mywriting

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deviantartheart · 8 years ago

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deli-punk doin' stupid shit (submission)

so hi uhh, just wanted to share a collection of screenshots of deli-punk since he's a ~~~HOT TOPIC~~~ of conversation 24/7

so lets start with

MARCH 20th, 2017

pretty normal stuff. dA trans teen doesn't feel safe at home, needs help moving out. no problem, it is an unfortunately common thing and isn't cool. i'm curious what issues you had with gofundme. was it the cut they take or the fact that you couldn't just use the money instantly to do whatever you wanted? but lets... talk about some timelines here.

MARCH 20th, 2017 to AUGUST, 2017

that a good... mmmmm five months? don't get me wrong, that's a good goal for the amount of money he apparently needs. but for an artist who regularly makes $100+ on adopts, and $60 on lazy sketch "custom" designs, do you really need to beg your watchers for money? i mean... you do take commissions too, right? but okay, benefit of the doubt maybe you just CAN'T draw that much and you can't POSSIBLY make and save enough money to meet that goal. (especially when you send all your money to your mother, like a dumbass[http://archive.is/A0mnv]) it's not like you just.... draw other art instead of commission art... right?

http://delicate-punk.deviantart.com/art/nothing-good-happens-past-2-am-amen-669765749 (http://archive.is/xiGFO)

"i was supposed to do commisisons n stuff today but that doesn't seem very likely"

oh... okay... well. that's just one instance, right?

http://delicate-punk.deviantart.com/art/last-youth-renegade-reference-671204172 (http://archive.is/LBdLa)

"i decided to keep him for now!"

i... well... you COULD have sold that. you do need money by august, right? is keeping a digital dog design, that you could have sold, more important than getting out of your "hostile" situation? also for now... so like, you'll put it up for sale in a few months and upsell it? like you do with almost every single one of the designs you "keep" via taking it down mid auction for "keeps"?

http://delicate-punk.deviantart.com/art/PARIS-you-know-i-held-on-TOO-MUCH-671259684 (http://archive.is/huweG)

http://delicate-punk.deviantart.com/art/i-suspect-the-reason-i-am-numb-671387040 (http://archive.is/xratr)

http://delicate-punk.deviantart.com/art/black-beat-that-ll-haunt-you-671837871 (http://archive.is/59IUG)

http://comments.deviantart.com/1/676019536/4374248415 (http://archive.is/CssM5)

oh look more personal art/gifts. bonus points for that last one - once again another kept adopt (original auction deleted, unfortunately). must have been a really tough choice to think on that $200 offer you got. not like you need the money for your literal safety or anything. for sure a dog design ranks pretty close to personal safety and well-being.

now okay, i know what you're saying. ANON!!! THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH AN ARTIST DOING PERSONAL ART WHILE THEY OWE COMMISSIONS. and you are right, there is nothing wrong with it. why am i bringing it up? because deli-punk consistently says that he HAS to ask for money because he just doesn't have TIME to do commissions and raise the money he needs.

"Right now I’m barely able to get commissions done due to college,"

so you don't have time for commissions but you DO have time for person art... hmm... okay. i hear ya buddy. again i wouldn't bring this up if he wasn't asking his watchers to donate money to him, he as in a pretty successful dA artist who already makes quite a bit of money selling half-finished dog designs and commissions.

that's not even the best part, folks, oh it gets better-worse.

fun fact! this is an active cache of deli-punk's profile! all you gotta do is use chrome and type "cache:" in front of the URL to see this!

may 19-21; rock on the range june 4th; foster the people august 13th; all time low & swmrs august 31st ; green day

wow!! those are important dates!! are you... planning on going to those concerts? true this isn't confirmation that he's going but man, ranks up there with last day of classes. feel like it might have something to do with him besides the fact that he likes those bands. don't you think that maybe it would be better to spend that money towards getting out of your mother's house? like you were so desperate to do? nah. spending earned or donated money on concert tickets is totally the right choice here. and if you bought your tickets well before this happened, not gunna try to sell them? if i needed 3k in five months i'd probably start selling shit that isn't a necessity and can be sold for pretty-okay money. like concert tickets.

i get that you're probably calling the dog a saint, not your mother. or i hope at least, feel free to use that as an excuse even if you were referring to your mother. but yah wow, that mother that you said was so hostile and you just felt so unsafe about. totally chill to just casually mention now? guess you guys worked it out? can't cut off that gravy train just yet, amiright?

but hey. in the end... who said it better than yourself?

"mommy issues daddy issues < actual issues" (fixed your typo, yw).

c'mon dude, you know this shit! while it's fucking stupidly obvious that you're talking about Mafune and not your actually-dead-sister, if you want to keep denying that, fine. you look fucking stupid, but if you want to keep pretending that everyone else is also that stupid, please go ahead. you're only making yourself look worse. but ignoring that, you did still say it about someone, doesn't matter who, you still said it about someone who was asking for help. and wow what a surprise, the minute you need help due to a "mommy/daddy" issue, your attitude sure changes fast... but no, i get you don't worry. everyone ELSE'S problems? nah that shit is weak, those aren't real problems. but YOUR problems? fuck, that shit important. you need help, fuck all those other people when they ask for help. am i right? did i get pretty close? let me know, baby. xoxoxoxo

shit. almost forgot. pizza > money-so-i-can-move-out. right. i'll write that one down.

#drama #submission

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ihatebnha · 3 years ago

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this is gonna be a bit long and possibly confusing i’m so sorry! anyways my oc is an antihero. she has grey morals and acts kind of similar to yennefer from the witcher but a bit softer? (idk if you’ve seen that show but basically she’s a complex bad bitch) i have her backstory mostly figured out, she was forced to be an assassin/spy and escapes to try and redeem herself as best she can etc. but idk how to go about her getting in a relationship with deku or bakugo, y’know? the only thing i can think of is the classic hero hears about “villain,” hero goes to hunt villain, they fuck blah blah and that doesn’t really fit since she wants to redeem herself and is also kind of a ghost meaning no one really knows she exists

Oh shit, oh fuck, because even though I haven’t seen the witcher (i actually have the book tho hmmm), I absolutely LOVEEEEEEEE antiheroes, so damn, OKAY, let’s go..........

Because you mention that she manages to escape her life as an assassin-spy, as well as that she wants to redeem herself as best she can, if it were in your shoes, I might go the vigilante route… and would think about making it so that she either fights villains secretly, and/or goes to crime scenes + villain fights on the down low in order to gather information.

This would allow for her to be in the same vicinity as Heroes such as Dynamight + Deku, but also allow for her to be doing her own thing. For example: Bakugo finds her picking through the wreck of an earlier villain fight and is like WTF ARE YOU DOING HERE??? except that he keeps running into her all. the. time. Or maybe, Deku and her show up to fight a different villain at the exact same time, WOAHHH!

BUT, another idea I immediately think of, too, is rather than crime fighting, maybe there are bunch of heroes (see: Dyna + Deku) going after the people who turned her into an assassin-spy, or maybe something related to that? And because she wants to free herself from her past associations, gets tangled up with them by either, 1. having the same goals of taking down the enemy as them, or by 2. discovering who they are and then following them around to see what they’re doing (to which she is obviously confronts them or is eventually found out)…

The reason I suggest both of these ideas is because I honestly just really love the the trope of characters from different sides stumbling across each other while searching for or fighting against the same thing… creating this dynamic where, even though there’s tension, there’s still opportunities to continue to see one another and a reason to bond (being that they have the same goals).

Another thing you could think about is maybe… your OC and Baku/Deku meeting in a situation outside of hero work or fighting… like at a bar, needing a quick hook up, grocery store shopping, ANYTHING… not realizing that the other is a hero/former assassin/an enemy…

Like, maybe you/your OC gets out of the shower at Deku’s place… only to find a bunch of papers regarding something they’re interested in on his desk that they may want to steal or use in the future… or you’re running around at night, and Baku’s like… “Wait a minute… weren’t you the person I argued with over the half-price salmon at the grocery store last week? Come back!!!” (Lame, I know). Another one is calling either of them for help in a fight… despite them not knowing your backstory.

But I’m not really sure! These are just what popped into my head immediately at hearing your dilemma… of course, there are other things too, such as maybe… meeting at some kind of hero meeting or auction (masked?), needing the same doctor or repairs, being introduced to one another through inconvenient circumstances (such as being forced to work together under the Hero Commission's demands)… you name it.

I'm sure whatever you end up choosing will be perfect, though... and I expect an update about it soon!!! You obviously don’t have to use any of these suggestions if you don't want to... but hopefully I gave you some ideas, or at least helped with the process a teeny weeny bit...❤️

Good luck!!!

#this was so fun to think about omg #you have to tell me what you end up choosing!!!#also baby u dont have to apologize for anything... i understood perfectly and wanted to help!#so everything is totally gucci #hopefully this is useful to you!#ask #anon #oc talk

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androidmediocrity · 4 years ago

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Every day I like to browse through critique and criticisms made by others on the internet. These can take a wide variety of subjects, from centuries-old literature, to contemporary films. But one this that every single one of the plebeian critics had something to say about the state of modern art. I mean just look at it. Multi-color smears of paint on a wall. Boring plastic cubes in position. At least these attempt to look the part. Some artist don't even bother painting the canvas. Leaving it completely blanks. Some modern art doesn't even resemble anything close to art. A popular urban legend says that a whole exhibit was accidentally thrown out by a janitor, he thought it was trash. So that begs the question, what happened to art?

In the beginning man has created some form of art, one way or another. People have found cave paintings in France that go back thousands of years. People would decorate their tools and furniture. At this time, art as we call it today, more specifically fine art, did not exist. Art then was ornamental in nature, used to decorate the things around man to make more aesthetically appealing. When churches where built they were special occasions, Cathedrals even more so. To decorate these monuments skilled craftsmen were employed to decorate it. Statues and glorious murals were used. When the Sistine Chapel had empty wall space, the church hired Michelangelo to cover it up with art.

Sometimes when I am bored I look at concept art for major motion pictures. These sketches often look better than what I see in the film, but that beside the point. When browsing I hop from one professional to another until I dip into the waters of amateurs. I find the art mixed, especially with certain communities. Different art styles, differing levels of detail, levels of skill even. But one thing I see time and time again among the amateurs is the commissions box. For a price you can have this artist draw what ever within their own personal domains. I found this quite strange the first few times I saw this. Why would an artist, on this level, charge for art? I mean you are not a professional, you are free to do as you please. Make all the beautiful art you want. And yet they ask for payment.

It was around this time I came to a revelation. All this information about art reached a conclusion. I believe that there are three principles of art. There are: beauty, expression, and value. Beauty is the most broad of all of the principles, it defines the objective beauty to be found within it. The adherence to natural rules and higher platonic ideals. Expression is the most personal value. It encompasses the story and person behind here piece of art. A man has a hard life, he is pushed down by society and he has an individuality within himself. Everyday it expresses the individuality through sculptures made of silver foil and rubbish. This is his soul expressed through the medium, this is expression. Value is the most important principle, because it deals with society. They say every man has a price, and so does art. That painting on the wall there, was bought somewhere. The very rug beneath my feat bought elsewhere. It was with this last principle that it all came together.

Have you ever seen the movie Wall street? Well I have so I'll cut to the chase. In a scene in the movie the main character is at his rich boss's house. This man is very well off and has decided to use a lot of that wealth it what he considers to be important pieces of art. An art collector. At one point in conversation with another character the main character makes a joke about the painting was bad and boring to look at. Only to be informed that it sold for millions at an auction. A seemingly boring piece of art was in fact extremely valuable. This value was not apparent because the beauty of a piece did not convey it.

Now I want you to look at the rug beneath you, really look at it. Look at that abstract floral pattern. Would you say it's beautiful? I mean it's not an ugly rug for sure, but it would seen out of place in an art gallery. I mean maybe besides an contemporary, but besides an 18th century still life of a plate of waffles. It pales in comparison. This form of art is merely decoration: buy it at Ikea. But lets say you had a bit of wealth, a beach house in Miami and a Penthouse in New York. Would you put an Ikea rug down when your dinner bill is in the tens of thousands before you hit dessert? No! you'd hire an abstract artist who specializes in twisting metal wire into vague human shapes and have it above you fireplace. You'd go to an auction and spend millions of a yellow square on a canvas. Fine art is about the money and tastes. The only art found on the high end is loaded with vague symbolism and even vaguer beauty. Sounds dreadful does it? I thought so too. When I heard about the film Hello Vincent, a film created through painting. I realized that there is still talents out there. If you want there to be beautiful art out there, buy it. There are tons of classical painters in any given place, talented people. Patronize them!

#contemporary art #rant #speech #original writing #short essay

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endenogatai · 4 years ago

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Google’s ‘no choice’ screen on Android isn’t working, says Ecosia — querying the EU’s approach to antitrust enforcement

Google alternative Ecosia is on a mission to turn search clicks into trees. The Berlin based not-for-profit reached a major milestone earlier this month, having used ad revenue generated by users of its privacy-sensitive search engine to plant more than 100 million trees across 25 countries worldwide — targeted at biodiversity hotspots.

However these good feels have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. Ecosia has seen its monthly revenues slashed by half since COVID-19 arrived in Europe, with turnover falling from €2.6M in February to just €1.4M in June. It’s worried that its promise of planting a tree every 0.8 seconds is at risk.

It has also suffered a knock to regional visibility as a result of boycotting an auction process that Android OS maker Google has been running throughout this year, as a response to a 2018 Commission antitrust decision that found the tech giant had violated EU competition rules in how it operates the smartphone platform — including via conditions placed on phone makers to pre-load its own services (like Google search) as device defaults.

An auction process now determines which rival search engines appear on a search ‘choice screen’ Google began showing to Android users in Europe in the wake of the Commission decision. Currently, Google offers three paid slots via the auction to non-Google search engines. Android users setting up a new device always see Google’s own search engine as one of the four total options.

The tech giant’s rivals have consistently argued this ‘pay to play’ model is no remedy for its anti-competitive behavior with Android, the world’s dominant smartphone OS. Although most (including DuckDuckGo) felt forced to participate in its auction process from the get-go. Forgoing the most prominent route to the Android search market isn’t exactly a luxury most businesses could afford.

Ecosia, a not-for-profit, was the last major hold out. But now it says it’s been forced to end its boycott in a bid to remain competitive in the region. This means it will participate in the next auction round for the Android choice screen — scheduled for the beginning of Q4. If it wins any per country slots it will appear as a search choice option to those Android users in future, though likely not til next year given the length of the auction process.

It remains highly critical of Google’s pay-to-play model, arguing it’s no remedy for the antitrust violations identified by the Commission. It also laments that EU lawmakers are taking a ‘wait and see’ approach to determining whether Google’s ‘remedy’ is actually restoring competition, given all the evidence to the contrary.

“The main reason why we boycotted the auction is because we think it’s highly unfair and anticompetitive,” says Ecosia CEO Christian Kroll, speaking to TechCrunch via video chat. “Not only do we think that fair competition shouldn’t be sold off in an auction but also the way the auction is designed basically makes sure that only the least interesting options can win.

“Since we have a business model where we use most of our revenues to plant trees we basically can’t really win in an auction model. If you’re already a search engine that’s quite well known… then you have a lot of cannibalization effects through this screen. So we’re basically paying for traffic that we would get for free anyway… So it’s just super unfair and anticompetitive.”

Kroll expresses emphatic surprise that the Commission didn’t immediately reject Google’s auction model for the choice screen — saying it seems as if they’ve learned nothing from the EU’s earlier intervention against Microsoft’s tying of its Internet Explorer browser with its dominant desktop OS, Windows. (In that case the saga ended after Microsoft agreed to implement a ballot screen offering a choice of up to 12 browsers, which paved the road for Google to later gain share with its own Chrome browser.)

For a brief initial period last year Google did offer a fee-less choice screen in Europe, pushing this out to existing Android devices — with search rivals selected based on their market popularity per country (which, in some markets, included Ecosia).

However the tech giant said then that it would be “evolving” its implementation over time. And a few months later an auction model was announced as incoming for new Android devices — with that ‘pay-to-play’ approach kicking off at the start of this year.

Search rivals including DuckDuckGo and Qwant immediately cried foul. Yet the response from the Commission has been to kick the can — with regulators offering platitudes that said they would “closely monitor”. They also claimed to be “committed to a full and effective implementation of the decision”.

However the missing adjective in that statement is ‘fast’. Google rivals would argue that for a remedy to be effective it needs to happen really fast, like now — or, for some of them, the risk really is going out of business. After all, the Commission’s Android antitrust decision (which, yes, Google is appealing) already dates back two full years.

“I find it very surprising that the European Commission hasn’t rejected [Google’s auction model] from the start because some of the key principles from what made the choice screen successful in the Microsoft case have just been completely disregarded and been turned around by Google to turn the whole concept of a choice screen to their advantage,” says Kroll. “We’re not even calling it the ‘choice screen’ internally, we just call it the ‘auction screen’. And since we’re now stopping to boycott we call it the ‘no choice screen’.”

“It’s Google’s way to give the impression that there’s free choice but there is no free choice,” he adds. “If Google’s objective here would be to create choice for the user then they would present the most interesting options, which are the search engines with the highest marketshares — so definitely us, DuckDuckGo and maybe some other players as well. But that’s not what they’re trying to do.”

Kroll points out that another German search rival to Google, Cliqz, had to pull the plug on its anti-tracking alternative at the start of this year — meaning there’s now one less homegrown anti-tracking rival to Google in play. And while Ecosia feels it has no choice but to participate in Google’s auction game Kroll says it also can’t know whether or not participating will result in Ecosia overpaying Google for leads that then mean it generates less revenue and can’t plant as many trees… Or, well, any trees if the worst were to happen.

(NB: Kroll was speaking to TechCrunch ahead of signing an NDA that Google requires participants of the auction to sign which puts a legal limit on what they can say about the process once they’re involved — which, in turn, is a problematic element that another European search rival, Qwant, has also complained is unfair… )

“We don’t have any choice left, other than to participate,” adds Kroll. “Because we want to have access to the Android platform. So basically Google has successfully bullied everyone to play to its own rules — and it’s a game where Google is not only the referee but also they get a free ticket and they are also players…

“Somehow Google magically convinced the public but I think also the European Commission that they need to generate revenue in an auction because they have so many costs through the Android development and so on. It is of course true that they have costs… but they are also generating massive profit through the deals that they then make with the device makers and those profits are not at all shared.”

Kroll points out that Google shells out a (reported) $12BN per year to be the default search engine in Safari on Apple’s iOS platform — even as it pays nothing to get in front of the vast majority of mobile searchers’ eyeballs via Android (and does the same with Chrome).

“If they would pay the same amount of money for those platform they would soon be bankrupt,” he argues. “So they are getting all this for free and they are also getting other benefits for free — like having the Play Store preinstalled, like having Google Maps preinstalled, YouTube preinstalled and so on — which are all revenue sources. But they’re not sharing any of those revenue. They just try to outsource all of the costs that they have to their competitors, which is I think very unfair.”

While Alphabet, Google’s parent entity, doesn’t break out Google Play revenue specifically from within a generic “advertising” bucket when it reports its financials, data from SensorTower for the first half of 2020 suggests it generated $17.3BN in Play Store revenue alone over this six-month period, up 21% year-over-year. And Play is just one of the moneyspinners Google derives via ‘free’ Android.

Since the Commission’s antitrust 2018 decision against Android Kroll argues that nothing has changed for search competitors like Ecosia which are trying to offer consumers a more interesting value exchange for their clicks.

“What Google is doing very successfully is they’re just playing on time,” he suggests. “Our competitor, Cliqz, already went bankrupt because of that. So the strategy seems to work really well for Google. And we also can’t afford to lose access to those platforms… I really hope that the European Commission will actually do something about this because it has been done successfully in the Microsoft case and we just need exactly the same.”

Kroll also flags DuckDuckGo’s design suggestions for “a fair choice screen” — which we covered here last year but which Google (and the Commission) have so far simply ignored.

He suspects regulators are waiting to see how the market looks in another year or more. But of course by then it may be too late to save more alternative search engines from a Cliqz-style demise, thereby further strengthening Google’s position. Which would obviously be the opposite of an antitrust remedy.

Commissioner Margrethe Vestager already conceded last year that another of her interventions against the tech giant — the Google AdSense antitrust case — is an example of “enforcement that hasn’t succeeded because it has failed to restore competition”. So if she’s not careful her record on failed remedies could dent her high profile reputation for being an antitrust chief who’s at least willing to take on tech giants. Where competition is concerned, it must be all about outcomes — or what are you even doing as claimed law ‘enforcers’?

“I always fear that the point might come when big corporates are more powerful than our public institutions and I’m wondering if this point isn’t already reached,” adds Kroll, positing that it’s not clear whether the EU — as an economic and political project now facing plenty of its own issues — will have enough resilience to be able to enforce its own competition law in the near future. So really his key point is: If not now, when? (Or, well, how?)

It’s certainly true that there’s a growing disconnect between what the Commission is saying around competition policy and digital markets — where it’s alive to the critique that regulatory interventions need to be able to move much faster if they’re to prevent monopoly power irreversibly tipping these markets (it’s currently consulting on whether to give itself greater powers of intervention) — and its hands-off approach to how to remedy market failure. tl;dr there’s no effective enforcement without effective remedies. So dropping the ball after the fact of a decision really defeats the whole operation.

Vestager clearly recognizes there’s a problem in the digital context — telling the EU parliament last year: “We have to consider remedies that are much more far reaching”. (Albeit, still not committing to having much more far reaching remedies.) Yet in parallel she preaches ‘wait and see’ as her overarching philosophy — a policy ‘push-pull’ which seems to be preventing the unit from even entertaining taking on a more agile, active and iterative role in supporting markets towards actual restoration of competition. At least not before a lengthy consultation exercise which further kicks the can,

If EU lawmakers can’t learn the lessons from their own relatively recent digital antitrust history (Microsoft tying IE to Windows) to effectively enforce what is a pretty straightforwardly similar antitrust case (Google tying search & its other services to Android), you have to question why they think they need new antitrust tools to properly tackle digital monopolies now. Given they don’t seem able to effectively wield the tools they’ve already got.

It does rather look increasingly like the current crop of EU regulators have lost conviction — and/or fallen prey to risk aversion — in the face of platform power moves. (To wit: There are whispers the Commission is preparing to wave through Google’s acquisition of Fitbit, on paper-thin promises from Google, despite major concerns raised about privacy and increased data consolidation — which, if true, would again mean the Commission ignoring its own recent history of naively swallowing other similar tech giant claims.)

“My feeling is, what has happened in the Microsoft case… there was just somebody in the Commission crazy enough to say this is what the decision is and you have to do it… And maybe it just takes those kind of guts. That’s then maybe a political question. Is Vestager willing to really pick those battles?” asks Kroll.

“My feeling is if people really understand the situation then they would care but you actually need to do a little bit of explaining that it’s not good to have a dominant player that is in such an important sector like search, and that is basically shutting down the market for everybody else.”

Asked what his message is for the US lawmakers now actively eyeing antitrust concerns around Google — and indeed much of big tech — Kroll says: “I’m a fan of competition and I also admire Google; I think Google is a very clever company but I think there is a point reached where there’s so much concentration of power that it gets dangerous for society… We’ve been suffering quite a lot from all the dominance that Google has in the various sectors. There are just things that Google are doing that are obviously anticompetitive.”

One specific thing he suggests regulators take a close look at is how much money Google pays Apple to be the default search option on Safari. “It’s paying more money than it can actually afford to win the Safari search volume — that I think is very anticompetitive,” he argues. “They already own two-thirds of the market and they basically buy whatever’s left over so that they can just cement their dominance.

“The regulators should have a very close look at that and disallow Google to participate in any of those bids for default positions in other browsers in the future. I think that would even be beneficial for browsers because in the long term there would finally be competition for those spots again. Currently Google’s just winning them because they’re running out of options and there are not many other search providers left to choose from.”

He also argues they need to make Google repair “some of the damage they’ve done” — i.e. as a result of unfairly gaining marketshare — by enforcing what he calls “a really fair choice screen”; non-paid and based on relevance for users. And by doing so on Android and Chrome devices.

“I think until a year ago if you visited Google.com with your Safari browser or Firefox browser then Google would recommend to install Chrome. And for me that’s a clear abuse of one dominant position to support another part of your company,” he argues. “Google needs to repair that and that needs to happen very quickly — because otherwise other companies might [go out of business].”

“We’re still doing okay but we have been hit heavily by corona and we have a huge loss in revenue. Other companies might be hit even worse, I don’t know. And we don’t have the same deep pockets that the big players have. So other companies might disappear if nothing’s done soon,” he adds.

We reached out to Google and the European Commission for comment.

A Google spokesperson pointed us to its FAQ about the auction. In further remarks which they specified could not be directly quoted they claimed an auction is a fair and objective method of determining how to fill available slots, adding that the revenue generated via the auction helps Google continue to invest in developing and maintaining Android.

While a spokeswoman for the Commission told us it has been “discussing” the choice screen mechanism with Google, following what she described as “relevant feedback from the market, in particular in relation to the presentation and mechanics of the choice screen and to the selection mechanism of rival search providers”.

The spokeswoman also reiterated earlier comments, that the Commission is continuing to monitor Google’s choice screen implementation and is “committed to a full and effective implementation of the decision”.

However a source familiar with the matter said EU lawmakers view paid premium placement for a few cents as far superior to what Google was offering rivals before — i.e. no visibility at all — and thus take the view that that something is better than nothing.

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kurniaindri · 7 years ago

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Tips for Getting Cheaper Holiday Holidays

As a Marketing Director running on a travel or holiday company, I myself will usually always be asked how best to save money during the holidays. Since I am currently able to find out more information about the price of a vacation package, then I will always feel happy especially when I can share information like this with friends and family. And here are 6 of my best tips.

Currently there have been some things you can use in getting the benefits and even the initial order. And some are not like that. Usually indeed, for the price of the hotel will indeed be down and even they will be getting closer to the date of his arrival. But maybe do not be surprised because you could lose the date and even the location of your choice. Villas and even similar apartments like holiday companies are usually sold to fit instead of letting them just empty. But, maybe it will be more successful if you can successfully book through travel companies directly rather than travel agents - travel agents have nothing to lose if it does not sell because they work on commission basis.

Sometimes it's a good idea to make a late request to an owner on a "direct owner" website but be careful that they are usually unattached or protected by regulation, so standards open trip karimunjawa may slip for "cheaper" bookings. Exceptions to this reservation are very early, when a travel company often gives discounts (or free car rentals) for advance bookings (usually more than 6 months in advance). Flights - predictable, they are different! As a general rule, they tend to raise prices from their discharge to the flight date, so initial reservations are suggested. And rent a car - make sure you book from home because you do not want to see the price once you arrive at your holiday destination!

There is nothing wrong if you can book one property from auction activities, transactions and or a club that has many reputable companies and they usually will indeed be bound. Currently they have a lot of running various process of travel auctions that exist. And through an auction site like eBay that will indeed be directly on their own site. Now there are even more tricks and other innovations. Like the "Buy one get one for free" holiday, usually for people who can afford (and be ready) to travel off-season.

There are a number of "club" holiday spots that offer their "members" vacation discounted by a very large percentage. Never be tempted to pay to be a "member" but go to several people to accept their offer - and always check the price before ordering to make sure they are actually offered at a discount.

Whether, you've been aware that vacation bookings may be different at every step. And when you are aware of it, it is very important for you to be able to bag a variety of offers that exist. For example, various villa companies can make more sales in the coming summer after December and also January. They may be more likely to cut the price. But, on the other hand they will indeed really want to be able to sell some apartments and hotels. But there is little demand - at times like this, you can often negotiate an agreement on something less desirable. Another seasonal factor is your arrival date. In the Greek Islands, this season runs from May to October, with the peak being July and August.

Vacation companies will take contracts in their villas and apartments during the entire season and know that they tend to sell availability in peak seasons, when demand is high, but it is unlikely to sell on the shoulder month. Consider traveling in May, September and October, when you are more likely to get a discount, and if you are a couple or a smaller party, you can ask for a villa for the price of an apartment - this can sometimes work because the family villa Less popular outside School holidays - and just enjoy the extra space at no additional cost.

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glassbirdheart-blog · 7 years ago

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“My ring was on ebay for $5000 so why did the jeweler offer me $1000 for it?” We can explain!

The newest installment of, "Yes, we get that question a lot" is about online auctions, online retail prices and why they never reflect the actual market value of your diamonds or jewelry.

This happens often: a client comes in asking questions, very confused about what they learned in their self-guided research into estimating the actual value of their item. For the sake of brevity and simplicity, we are going to use one example of a woman wishing to sell her wedding set after divorce.

She has an appraisal on it from about 15 years ago. She also looked up some well known retail sites, including some internet-only diamond sources that claim to buy back at retail or buy back if you trade up. She looked at eBay and some questionable, "We estimate free! Just fill in the info.." type sites that offer free estimates based on info you provide. She puts it all together and sees no pattern.

Her appraisal from 15 years ago says the full replacement value is $16,000.00 so that is what she expected to sell it for. Online, she found wedding sets just like it offered for anywhere from $10k to $20k so that $16k appraisal seems legit to her. She found a few eBay listings for sets like hers in which the starting bid was $9k but the Buy-It-Now price was listed as $10k. The client is happy when she assumes she should soon sell her wedding set for at least $10k easily. If she shops it around, she believes she may be able to get the full appraisal value. So, she sets out to visit all the local jewelers hoping to make a great deal and end the day with a check for some big money.

The first three jewelers she sees explain the soft market and offer her melt value for her gold and they make what she thinks are low-ball offers for the center stone in her engagement ring. She's secretly insulted, assuming they are simply trying to rip her off and get over on her. She keeps going to another jeweler who explains she'd be better off consigning than selling it and then offers her $3,000 for her center diamond and a credit in trade for the gold and "accent stones". (They're called melee in the diamond industry and they're not worth much, truly.)

She scoffs again and assumes jewelers are just a shady bunch who are not honest and are only looking to make thousands in profit. Surely an honest jeweler would offer her the appraisal value because that's the official value, right?

It's not right. It's very wrong.

Here's what you need to know to help you make sense of it all.

The appraisal value is a document meant for insurance purposes. The gemologist who appraised your items assigned the MAXIMUM RETAIL REPLACEMENT value on your items based on the market as it was that day and the specifications measured and observed while appraising your item. The appraisal maps out your piece(s) and allots a maximum value meant to REPLACE your items if lost or stolen. Your insurance company uses the appraisal as a guideline for replacement: specifically, they look at the appraisal to see exactly what you need to buy or commission to replace what was lost and then they pay UP TO that amount. Sometimes. It varies but that is the basic gist.

That value put on your appraisal tells the insurer and future appraisers and other jewelers what it is in industry terms and what the MAXIMUM RETAIL value might be to remake it. That is not the ACTUAL value. It's not the sale price, the market price or any price at all. It's a tool meant to help you recover your item in the event of a loss, nothing more. That number on your appraisal has nothing to do with the price you paid nor does it reflect in any way the actual wholesale or market value. It's tempting to believe that appraisal value is what you should expect to recover in a trade or sale because it's always far more than you paid for it and it's always inflated to allow for wiggle room during insurer-jeweler negotiations.

But what about the online prices? And what about the eBay auctions?

They aren't reliable ways to gauge value, either, They're actually very misleading and often the source of great confusion for our clients. The reasons are simple, really.

Any online retailer can ask for any price they hope to realize. They may claim to be wholesalers while they aren't. They're usually retailers trying to capture your sale with a gimmick, like "conflict free Canadian diamonds" (more on that another day). They still have a high markup, even the ones selling in bulk on smaller margins. They still have to make enough profit to stay in business and nobody makes money by wholesaling to the public. It simply doesn't work like that in any industry. If it did, you'd never shop at a Target, a car dealership, a grocery store, a mall, you name it. You'd be shopping directly from manufacturers if you were buying at wholesale but you don't because that's just not reality.

Everyone who sells you something is doing it to make money. We are. We're not shy about admitting that. We don't believe in pulling the wool over your eyes to gain your confidence. We tell the truth in hopes of winning you over with transparency, reliability and service you feel is worth more than 'the cheapest price around'. We could easily convince you with some clever marketing that we're not retailers, we're wholesalers to the public! But we like to sleep at night and we don't believe in sheer deception nor do we need to lie to make money.

You already know this part. You accept it when you buy jeans at The Gap or a set of sheets from WalMart. You never question retailers when you shop for anything. You also don't expect to resell a car for what you paid for it even if you only put 50 miles on it. You already know that businesses sell you items for more than they paid for it to make money. Accept that jewelers do it, too. Even the ones who lie or bend the truth or simply tell you misleading things due to their own ignorance. You won't recover the retail price because the person who sold it to you padded the price enough to make a profit End of story.

As for the online auctions, that's even easier to explain. Any seller can ask for any price they hope to get. Asking prices mean nothing in the auction world, be it online, eBay or even auction houses. Any auctioneer will tell you the only price that matters in auctions is the price REALIZED. By the way, did you know the owners of Drummond's were licensed auctioneers? Surprise! We speak from experience and we talk about what we know.

Asking prices and Buy-It-Now prices and even "estimated sale price" are only the prices the seller hopes to see. The realized price is what the buyer was willing to pay. That's the auction market value. Seem a little open ended? Like maybe the same item could be offered for a starting bid of $5k one week and then offered up at a starting bid of $2k the next week only to never get any bids at all? And then yet again the same item is auctioned elsewhere and realizes a sale price of $7,700.00? You'd be right to think it's a bit of a gamble and a crap shoot. That's the nature of auctions in general. The price the seller wants versus the price realized can be worlds apart and can change from month to month or city to city. Auctions are never a smart way for the Average Joe to guesstimate the actual market value of their jewelry. Unless you're a gemologist or long time professional jeweler or even a professional auctioneer and auction appraiser, you will get confused by the extreme variations between asking prices, realized prices, retail prices, wholesale prices and more.

We get it! That's a lot of numbers and info and a lot of "But let us explain the truth..". It's just a lot to absorb in general. We only know this stuff because it's our job. We've been doing this for decades and we have the knowledge, experience, education and all that to know what we are talking about here. We don't give medical advice because we're not doctors or nurses. We don't attempt to tell system admins how to best do their jobs because they would know a lot more than we do about it!

You're getting free insider advice when we post these posts and tackle the big issues and questions we see our clients struggling with each week. We take the time to write these and share these with you and even with our colleagues in the industry because we believe an informed customer is the best customer. We're in business to make money, too, but we're also in business to be jewelers because that's what we love to do.

So, that begs the question of how, then, can you get a true feel for what your item's value is? Easy. Call you local independent jeweler and ask for a consultation. Ask to speak to a graduate gemologist or someone in the store with a good number of years of experience. Ask them exactly what they would pay for it. Ask them how they can get the most for it- most indie jewelers will be honest and tell you they have multiple channels they can use. They can buy it outright from you, they can consign it for you for a fee, selling it to their own customers for an agreed price, they can shop it to dealers you would otherwise never have access to, they can help you figure out if the whole set should be sold as one item or if it would be better to be broken down and sold to different outlets in pieces. Any honest jeweler will explain all of this to you. An honest jeweler will advise you how to proceed to realize the biggest possible sale. An honest jeweler will tell you they want to sell/broker for you because they will make a profit, after all, they want to make money, too, so they will beat the bushes to get you the highest bid they possibly can. The higher they sell it, the more money they make and the more money you go home with. A good rule of thumb here is to listen and see if the jeweler tells you straight up they have several plans to present and they leave the choice to you. A fair jeweler will talk and explain everything instead of offering one price and sending you out the door as fast as possible. Any jeweler worth their salt will make you understand why they offer what they do or advise as they will and will never leave you in the dark, wondering what else you could have done. You should never leave with doubts or questions that went unanswered.

Should you expect to pay for this kind of consultation? Sometimes. We don't charge for this kind of advice or for a consultation. We do these services for free in the hopes that even if you sell or consign elsewhere, you will always come to us for answers you trust. That's how we've built a 17 year long client base. That's not to say any jeweler who sets a fee for this is dishonest as that isn't the case at all. After all, time is money in any industry and expertise is a valuable commodity. That said, we leave it up to you to decide if you should pay for a consult or not. Our only advice is if you do sell to the jeweler who charged a consult fee, negotiate that fee into your sale or consignment contract. Don't get taken!

Have more questions? Is there a topic you would like us to address? Post them!! We'll make it a column and you'll get a straight answer from actual jewelers for free. We hope to hear from you!!

#jewelry jewelers diamonds engagement rings gold

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