#my main goal with this blog is rapidly becoming | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

tammy-trendsflip · 2 years ago

Text

Is iCoinPro The Best Kept Secret?

Introduction:

In today's rapidly evolving digital landscape, cryptocurrencies have emerged as a transformative force. Whether you're a seasoned investor or someone looking to understand this exciting technology, iCoinPro offers a comprehensive membership platform that equips you with the knowledge and tools to navigate the cryptocurrency market successfully. In this blog post, we will delve into the main features of iCoinPro, including its pricing, membership options, and an unbiased review. You can check out the members site here and sign up for free bootcamp.

Disclaimer: Please note that this blog post may contain affiliate links. If you choose to sign up for iCoinPro through one of these links, I may receive a commission at no additional cost to you. Rest assured, my primary goal is to provide you with valuable and unbiased information about iCoinPro.

iCoinPro Pricing: Unveiling Accessible Membership Options

At iCoinPro, the pricing structure is designed to be affordable and flexible, ensuring that anyone with an interest in cryptocurrency can join and benefit from their educational resources. The platform offers two main membership plans:

1. Free Bootcamp:

The free trading bootcamp grants you access to fundamental training modules, comprehensive video tutorials, and a range of educational resources curated by industry experts. This plan provides an excellent starting point for beginners looking to explore the world of cryptocurrencies and learn the basics of what it takes to become a crypto trader.

2. Pro Membership:

For those seeking a more advanced level of education and support, the Pro Membership plan is an ideal choice. It includes all the features of the free bootcamp, along with additional in-depth training materials, live webinars, exclusive market insights, and access to a vibrant community of like-minded individuals. The Pro Membership plan empowers you with the tools and knowledge necessary to make informed investment decisions.

iCoinPro Membership: Empowering Cryptocurrency Enthusiasts

Regardless of your experience level, iCoinPro's membership plans cater to individuals with diverse goals in the cryptocurrency space. Whether you aspire to become a knowledgeable investor, gain insights into blockchain technology, or simply stay updated with the latest trends, iCoinPro offers a supportive environment for learning and growth.

By becoming an iCoinPro member, you unlock the following benefits:

1. Comprehensive Training: iCoinPro provides a structured curriculum designed to build your understanding of cryptocurrencies from the ground up. From the basics of blockchain technology to advanced trading strategies, their educational resources cover a wide range of topics, ensuring you have a well-rounded knowledge of the crypto landscape.

2. Expert Mentors: iCoinPro's membership grants you access to a network of experienced mentors who are passionate about sharing their expertise. These mentors offer guidance, answer questions, and provide valuable insights, enabling you to make better-informed decisions in your cryptocurrency journey.

3. Live Webinars and Community Interaction: Regular live webinars hosted by industry experts allow you to delve deeper into specific topics and stay up-to-date with the ever-changing cryptocurrency market. Additionally, the iCoinPro community provides a platform to connect with fellow members, share ideas, and learn from one another's experiences.

iCoinPro Review: Unlocking the Potential of Cryptocurrency Education

Considering the vast number of cryptocurrency education platforms available today, it's essential to understand the value iCoinPro brings to the table. Here's a balanced review of iCoinPro:

iCoinPro Advantages:

- Affordable pricing plan, making cryptocurrency education accessible to a wider audience. The initial price if you want to become an affiliate is $99.00 and the monthly membership is $39.95. When the new trading portal is added it will be an additional ten dollars for those that want access. This is perhaps one of the lowest online trading educational platforms around today.

- Comprehensive training curriculum covering both basic and advanced topics.

- Access to a supportive community of like-minded individuals and experienced mentors.

- Regular live webinars to stay updated with the latest trends and strategies.

- Well-designed platform and user-friendly interface.

iCoinPro Cons:

- Limited focus solely on educational resources, without investment advice or direct trading features (until new portal launches July 2023).

- The Pro Membership plan might be overwhelming for absolute beginners who need a more gradual learning curve.

Summary for iCoinPro:

iCoinPro is a leading cryptocurrency education platform that empowers individuals to navigate the complex world of cryptocurrencies with confidence. Its accessible pricing, comprehensive training modules, and supportive community make it an excellent choice for anyone looking to enhance their knowledge and understanding of digital assets. While it doesn't provide direct investment advice or trading capabilities, iCoinPro equips you with the skills necessary to make informed decisions in the cryptocurrency market.

Disclaimer: This blog post may contain affiliate links. If you choose to sign up for iCoinPro through one of these links, I may receive a commission at no additional cost to you. Rest assured, my primary goal is to provide unbiased information about iCoinPro and its features.

Remember, before making any investment decisions, it's essential to conduct thorough research, consider your financial situation, and consult with a qualified professional. Remember, all trading carries risk. Start out with a demo or paper trading account which are both free. Practice trading until you are ready to trade real money.

Start your cryptocurrency education journey with iCoinPro today and unlock the potential of this transformative technology!

#icoinpro #how to trade crypto #icoinpro pricing

0 notes

hika-pluto · 2 years ago

Text

For the Love of Posting

A mirror post about apps, social media, enshittification, and the numbers game from my self-hosted blog.

Dead Bird

It’s weird watching people more or less beg and plead for Twitter to continue being the Internet's public square despite Elon being ableist, a transphobe and a COVID-denier, and ruining Twitter since its purchase of it (like, hello? The removal of being able to receive DMs from non-mutuals is just the tip of the iceberg). The main reasons for “This-Is-Fine”-dog-ing tend to be:

Twitter’s one of the few NSFW-friendly sites. (Go to Pixiv or CoHost. Or ask me to put you on my BlueSky invite waitlist.)

A lot of creators’ existing audiences are on Twitter, and they like being able to post to one place with a ton of reach. (Though that reach has been rapidly tanking.)

What’s even more odd is seeing artists big and small try to shame, clown, and dunk other sites in attempts to prevent their audience from leaving. It’s okay to be fed up and draw a line in the sand. The real issue is certain artists choosing to put all their eggs in one basket and refusing to diversify despite the growing elephant in the room (understandably, diversifying one’s online presence is not easy).

Spread Your Wings, I Guess?

Crosspost! Crosspost, crosspost, crosspost! At any moment, a site could disappear! The site can fall victim to enshittification! The algorithm could turn to garbage! The CEO can turn out to be a ‘phobe! At literally any moment! Your connection to your audience shouldn’t live or die on one site.

I currently use Buffer and PostyBirb to crosspost: Buffer for the “big” social media places, and PostyBirb for the art sites and sites with API tools more accessible to the developer. I write my captions and hashtags locally using LibreOffice Writer and simply paste them into Buffer and PB per post.

Artists that have web-stores or take commissions: consider having your repeat customers subscribe to mailing lists so they’re always in the loop. (No advice for good mailing list platforms cause I currently don’t need ‘em.)

Connections over Numbers

My advice for existing on social media is to think of the 1-3 sites you find most enjoyable to scroll on and genuinely interact with other people’s work. Let them know what aspects of their work you find awesome (this can also be a good way to find things you want to improve on). Give likes, and if you can afford to share their work without making your own profile page messy, do so! But, make sure you’re doing it with the goal of just-plain-being-nice and hopefully brightening someone’s day, lest your brain become poisoned by… The Numbers…

The Numbers

The numbers suck. They’re what make execs enshittify websites and what kill the spirits of creatives. Most importantly, they’re the gears in every site with an algorithm.

It’s like this: execs and shareholders (of the big-name sites, this doesn’t apply to indie-socmed like Mastodon,) want people to stay and scroll through their ads for longer. They figure they’re able to do this by showing you content they think you’ll want to see in-between, and the content they think you want to see is the stuff that already has thousands, millions, and billions of likes from people with thousands, millions, and billions of followers, and that’s why discovery on most algorithm-driven sites is garbage.

Ironically enough, I like social media for the connection, and would sit through more ads if it meant I could interact and form allyships with artists of my skill level and follower count.

What Now?

And yeah. Those are just my thoughts, as it stands, I guess. Elon bought Twitter in like, November of `22, but the snowball that is the SocMed-pocalypse feels like it’s rolling at its fastest right now.

IDK what happens next, and that’s why you can find me most anywhere @HikaTamika. It’s also why you can find me, on my website.

#social media #socmed #twitter #threads #bluesky #blogging #pluto.doc

0 notes

yuta-nakamots · 4 years ago

Text

we go up - l.mk

Pairing - Mark x Reader

Genre - Fluff, College!AU

Warnings - one single mention of sex but no descriptions of it

Summary - Growing up was a part of life. Though you were scared of all that the future holds, you looked forward to going through it all with Mark right by your side.

Word Count - 4.2k

A/N - this was supposed to be released 4 days ago ahaha I passed all my classes so that’s really what matters. anyways, here’s this fic to celebrate Milly’s 3 years on Tumblr and 5 years for me and my blog

Written for the Moodboard Collab hosted by @bumblebeenct. Also part of the Neowinter Festival hosted by @czennienet.

Song: We Go Up. Color Set: #1.

Never would you have thought that you’d be on the path to living in the real world so soon. Summers were for relaxing and having fun but you’ll never regret jumping at the opportunity to travel the world with Mark Lee instead.

Mark’s parents were executives for a travelling company that offered a variety of trips all over the world. You knew it was part of their job to visit those countries and survey the different options available and put together plans based on them but with Mark having just graduated from college and you going into your final year, it was soon to be a job shared by both of you as well.

It hasn’t been long since you first began dating him, in fact, it hadn’t been long since you first met him on your first day on campus. Both of you were moving in on the same day and crossed paths as you were lugging your two loaded suitcases in through the main entrance of the dormitory. Your family hadn’t come with you, putting their faith in you to make it to your school on your own, so you could only guess how pitiful you must’ve looked to others.

“Hey those look pretty heavy, I can help you with that if you’d like,” you looked up to find the owner of the voice and were met by a handsome boy with a smile you’d never forget, “my name is Mark, by the way.”

“Uh, y/n, nice to meet you and yeah, actually, if you could take this one it would help me so much.” You told him as you pulled up the smaller of the two suitcases.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to take the larger one? I can handle it.” He looked at you with eyes full of interest, his pupils almost resembling boba thanks to the odd lighting in the hall.

You shook your head before turning to head to the elevator, “I only just met you, I wouldn’t make you do this. Besides, it’s not even that much heavier than the other one.”

“Alright, whatever you say. What floor are you on though? I can help you move in if you don’t have anyone else.” He offered kindly.

“I’m on the third floor,” you informed him, “but don’t you have somewhere to be? You couldn’t have just been sitting around in the lobby.”

You say his expression morph into one of panic before quickly relaxing, “oh, I was just on my way to the university center to pick up my keys and get my mail. Gosh, you made me think I was late to something important.” The laugh he let out was so full and loud, it felt as if it were reaching out to you.

“Are you sure you don’t have anything else you should be doing?” You question as you pressed the button for the elevator. “I’d hate to be the reason why you missed a meeting or something.”

Mark pulled out his phone as both of you waited for the elevator. “No, I’m pretty sure I don’t have anything else planned for today. I just had to move in earlier and that’s it, I don’t have any solid plans.” The doors opened and let out a few other people, who you guessed were also students, before you and Mark stepped in.

“I just met you though,” you pointed out, “how do I know that you’re not some weirdo that’s gonna try steal my stuff?”

He raised an eyebrow at you. “Really? I mean, not like in a bad way ‘really’ but I can promise you that I’m not trying to do anything bad.”

You hummed in mock sarcasm, “mmhmm, that’s what they all say.”

“If you don’t believe me I’ll give you my number if you want or like my room number, even-”

“Mark I was just joking dude.” You laughed, amused by how gullible the boy was.

“Oh��” he breathed, relief settling over him as the doors opened up to the third floor, “but can I still get your number though?”

“Beat me to my room and I’ll think about it.” You took off running in a random direction, unsure which way you were even supposed to go in.

Mark followed close behind, “wait but I don’t even know which room number to look for!”

“Maybe that’s the point!” You shout back.

continue as always, wild and free

Though he did not make it to your room before you, you still gave him your phone number to thank him for helping you with your luggage. Mark was kind enough to stay and help you unpack your things and get your room set up. He even accompanied you to get dinner from the cafeteria since it was already getting late by the time the two of you finished unloading everything.

Over the next few days before classes, you hung out with Mark and any other freshmen that you happened to run into. You found out that Mark was a business major and planned to minor in tourism industry management. As for you, your major was biology with a focus in ecology.

Mark seemed to love sharing about himself as seen from the way he eagerly told you about the company his parents worked for and how he was interested in someday becoming a part of it which was why he chose his intended path of study. You had come in the college with the intent of wanting to make a difference in the world and help tackle one of the biggest global issues, which is climate change, leading you to your chosen track.

Mark was a great listener and seemed genuinely interested in everything you had to say. If he thought anything was lame or dumb, he hid it very well because he seemed to be picking up all the information you put down. You had come in knowing that most people in large corporations didn’t think much about the environment. Either Mark was faking it to keep his new friendship with you or he genuinely held the same beliefs as you. You chose to believe it was the latter.

All throughout your first year in college together you and Mark stuck together, always preferring each others company, even within the large group of friends you managed to accumulate with him. Luckily he was only one floor above you so he wasn’t far away at all. If you ever needed anything, he really was ‘one call away’ and would come running even if it was just to catch a bug in your room.

Freshmen year came and went, both you and Mark went back home for summer vacation and came back to campus as sophomores. You both kept in touch and regularly updated each other on things like Mark’s trip to Britain with his parents. That was the first real glimpse you had into his dreams and goals for his future. Meanwhile you just ranted to him about all the terrible customers that came in at your part-time job, though he didn’t seem to mind at all and always offered you his company.

Sophomore year was when he asked you to be his girlfriend. After the two of you had eaten dinner together as usual and were walking back to the dorms, that was when he had finally made a move. “So, uh, I know this may be kind of sudden but I actually really like you.” He told you.

You looked up at him as you continued walking next to him. “And in what way, exactly?”

“In a ‘I like you as more than just a friend’ kind of way.” He replied, looking down at the leaf-covered sidewalk.

“Well lucky for you, I might just like you in the same way.” Mark’s head shot up and his eyes met yours.

He blinked rapidly and his gaze never left yours, as if searching for the truth. “Wait, like really?”

“Yes, really.” You pulled him closer to you so he wouldn’t walk right into the tree that was coming up.

“Does that mean you’ll be my girlfriend?” He asked after mumbling a quick ‘thank you’.

You stopped walking and turned to face him. “If you ask properly then I don’t see why not.”

“Oh, uh,” his eyes flitted left to right before finally settling on yours, “will you be my girlfriend?”

“No.” You tried to hold your laughter in the way his eyes widened but you just couldn’t. “Of course I’ll be your girlfriend you stupid! I didn’t say all of that for nothing, oh my gosh you really are so gullible.”

Mark’s mouth opened slightly before he closed it again and then burst out going “don’t do that to me for crying out loud! You don’t even know how I was actually about to cry if you said no just now.”

You grabbed his hand and quickly interlaced your fingers with his. “There, I’m sorry. Do you feel better now? Do you want me to kiss you to make you feel better?”

“Uh, yes? To both?” He spoke, still shaken from earlier.

You raised his hand to your lips, kissing that back of his hand with a smile. “Thank you for choosing me.”

i’m gonna try flying a little further

Things continued on in this way in your relationship, always keeping things lighthearted and never too serious. Thankfully both of you had past dating experience and weren’t completely clueless on how to act toward each other. One thing led to the next and you had your first kiss with him the day he was leaving to go home for winter break. “I love you, stay safe, don’t die.” You called out to him as he got into his uber.

“Got it babes, love you too.” He sent you a kiss before shutting the door which you happily caught and held to your heart.

It was during that break that the two of you told your parents about each other and things went surprisingly smooth of both ends. Mark had even informed you that his parents were interested in meeting you after he told them about your field of study. “Yeah they were so intrigued by it! They’ve been looking into more sustainable and eco-friendly options for a while now so I think this must’ve struck a chord with them.” He chattered excitedly over the phone.

“Dude, don’t make me even more nervous about meeting them-”

“Hold up, did you just call me dude?” He questioned.

“It’s not like you don’t call me dude as well.” You commented.

Mark let out a laugh on his end. “Alright, fair enough. But not to alarm you or anything, but they said that I could bring you along for one of our trips during summer if you’re down.”

“Oh my gosh, seriously?” You exclaimed.

“Yes, seriously,” he confirmed, amused at your enthusiasm, “should I tell them that you’re interested?”

“Mark is that even a question? Of course I’m interested.” Your excitement was almost bubbling over from the way everything seemed to be working in favor of you and Mark.

The next summer, you did indeed tag along with Mark and his parents to who were more than happy to meet you and share information on their company while visiting Nevada. Mark wasn’t lying when he said that you interests ‘struck a chord’ with them. Sometimes it seemed like you were more like their child than he was with how much his parents talked with you about possible green options to inquire for. It was thanks to them that you decided to minor in tourism industry management like Mark, even though it would set you behind one year in graduation.

Going into your junior year, you were able to put together a small scrapbook of sorts with all the pictures from the trip to Nevada and gave it to Mark to celebrate your one year anniversary. “Wait, when did you even take that picture of me though?” He asked while looking at the picture of him spread out on a hotel bed like a starfish.

“You smacked me with your arm so I woke up and it was like, seven in the morning so I decided to just fool around and take pictures of you,” you explained with a smile on your face, “if you look in that bottom corner, you can see my foot because I had to stand over you but not too closely so my legs were like a triangle over you.”

Mark shook his head as he laughed at your antics before gently closing the book. “I love you, you know that right?” He placed a kiss on your cheek and sat back to adore you with his eyes practically sparkling.

“How could I not? I’d be worried that you may not know that I love you.” You told him playfully, setting the scrapbook aside and straddling his lap.

“Baby, that’s the last thing you need to worry about.” His voice fell into its lower ranges as he began kissing you in a way he never has before. It was on that night, the night of your first anniversary that the two of you made love for the first time in your shared campus apartment.

make me beautiful in the memories

When you brought Mark home for the holidays, your family was more than thrilled to meet him and you thanked whatever supreme being existed out there for blessing you with him. He got along well with your parents and even became a favorite of all the younger kids, especially when he joined them in making a snowman out in front of your house.

“Look y/n! Marky helped us start building a snowman!” Your younger sister exclaimed before running off once again to join some of your cousins.

You watched as Mark helped them roll the largest ball of snow around the yard until it was at least a third of his height. “Come join us y/n!” He called out. “You can get the rocks and sticks to make his arms and face.”

One of your younger cousins came by to join you as you sifted through the snow to find nice rocks to use. “When are you and Marky getting married?” He asked.

“Married? We’ve only been together for a year.” You told the little boy.

“Oh, hmm, well it’s never too early to start thinking.” He decided before finding a cute little stick that he deemed fit to function as a nose for the snowman.

You joined Mark in rolling the second ball of snow while the kids made the last one. “So what was that I heard about getting married?” He questioned.

Suddenly your cheeks felt warm and your eyes darted away from him and back to the mound of snow in front of you. “Uh, nothing, one of the kids just was asking if we plan on getting married.”

“He’s right, you know,” Mark spoke quietly, “it’s never too early to start thinking about it.”

“I mean, we’re still so young though.” You told him.

“That doens’t mean I don’t see myself having a future with you.” Mark commented as he picked up the ball of compacted snow.

“Gosh, you’re so chessy. What next? Names for our kids?” You joke as you watch him place the ball on top of the largest one at his knees.

He winked at you once the snowman had his torso complete. “Already on it.”

Spring semester was spent planning for Mark’s graduation in the following year and getting the classes for your minor arranged. His parents invited you to go with them to Hawai’i which you politely declined, as you did not know much about the people and culture and did not have time to accurately research before going thanks to all the summer classes you were taking to ensure that you’d graduate on time.

You and Mark decided to live off campus for his last year in college and though it was inconvenient to have to cook your own meals and walk a little bit further to get to school, it was all worth it when you got to make the memories you did with him.

“So you just crack the egg and drop it in the pan?” He hesitated, the said egg hovering over the edge of the frying pan.

You rolled your eyes at him, “Mark, how many times do I have to tell you? You just crack it and let it fall into the pan. It’s not that hard.”

He mocked your expression after you said ‘it’s not that hard’ as he cracked the egg into the pan, yelping at the way the oil splashed up at him. You left to freshen up a bit, having been woken up by the ruckus Mark had made in the kitchen only to come back five minutes later to another bout of him yelling for help. “What now?”

“I, uhh, I think I burned the egg.” His face was tinged with shame as you came over to the stove, sliding the egg in question onto a plate before lifting its side to see that it was indeed burnt.

“I don’t know how you manage to burn an egg after I leave you for such a short amount of time.” You tell him as you pull another one out from the refrigerator. “Here, try again. You’re lucky it’s the weekend.”

“You’re not gonna let me stop until I’ve successfully cooked an egg, huh?” You shook your head to answer his question, causing Mark to let out a sigh before going to add a little more oil to the pan.

look time fly, we fly, changes come with time

Days like that were normal for the two of you, though more often than not, you chose to order food since Mark was clearly not very trustworthy in the kitchen and you weren’t all that better yourself.

Living with Mark was not always happy and fun, though. Sometimes the two of you fought and sometimes it was over the smallest things like how he didn’t put his clothes into his hamper after changing out of them or how you’d leave your belongings strewn about the apartment.

Being with him taught you that a relationship is a two-way thing. Everyone has their flaws and if you truly love someone, you’ll learn to work with them to get solve problems that arise or get around them.

Getting to live with Mark and see him everyday was certainly a lot more convenient, especially when both of you were swamped with finals and had little to no time to go out on an actual date. Falling asleep in each others arms and waking up to the sight of the other was enough for those times. In those mornings where you woke up before Mark and didn’t want to get out of bed just yet, you took the time to be thankful for the path of life you were on and how thankful you were to have met the boy in front of you.

It was moments like those that made it all worth it.

When Mark graduated in the following spring, you sat in the crowd alongside his parents, watching him and your past classmates walk across the stage and receive their diplomas.

“Ah, he looks just the same as when he graduated from high school.” His mother commented. She even pulled up his old pictures and showed them to you, making you laugh at how cute he was back then. You could hear his voice in your head, whining about how he’s not cute but you paid it no mind.

The rush of emotion you felt when the name ‘Mark Lee’ was called and he stepped out in his cap and gown was truly something else. You stood up and cheered alongside the rest of his friends who were seated around you, the bunch of you only getting louder when his head jerked in your direction and he smiled and waved to you all.

the reason why i can be fearless is because you’re looking at me with your two eyes

“That’s going to be you next year, you know.” Mark’s father stated nodding over to where Mark was playfully chest-bumping his fellow graduates. “Okay, well not like that, but you know what I mean.”

You let out a laugh as you watched Mark stumble and nearly fall. “Yeah, I know what you mean.”

“Do you have any plans for summer, dear?” His mother inquired.

“I have a few classes from June through July but I believe I do not have anything for the latter half of June until school starts again in August.” You informed her.

“Would you like to come along with us to Paris then? We missed you greatly last year and felt you would have enjoyed the experience more than Mark did.” She explained as she pulled up more pictures of Mark though this time it was him in a botanically garden getting scared from all the bugs. “I’ll send this one to you.”

You thanked her with a smile on your face and graciously accepted her offer to travel with them to Paris. Mark was over the moon when he heard that you’d be going with them, especially since this was going to be the first time he’d be allowed to lead the meetings and events.

It felt like school hadn’t even finished from the way you went right back to work for your summer courses and Mark got to putting together his first few projects for the company. He was intent on showing the executives that he was a fully capable individual and was not trying to simple ride off of his parents achievements. You were proud of him for that.

By the time you all got to Paris, it felt like a much needed breath of fresh air from the constant hustle of school and work. One of the first places Mark took you to was one of the local night markets near the hotel you were staying at. You pulled out your light blue polaroid camera which Mark had gotten awfully used to within these past few years and took multiple pictures of him eating street food and walking around under the stringed lights.

i need you right here

“Oh, that fountain looks kinda cool.” He exclaimed, walking out of frame.

“Mark you can’t just do that when I’m about to take your pict-”

“Yeah yeah, you can take pictures here instead. It looks prettier.” You both paused to admire the sculpting of the stone and the way the water and the coins at the bottom of the fountain glittered under the night lights. Mark sat down at the edge of the fountain after a bit. “Here, you can take them now.”

You took a few before handing of the camera to him so he could take a few of you. “Have you ever thought that this is where we’d be after all this time?” He asked after giving the camera back to you and joining you next to the fountain. “Like, back when we were freshmen, we didn’t know where we’d be within the next few years and here we are, together, three years later.”

“I think you’re jet-lagged, babe, but yeah I see what you mean.” You agreed, falling into the rhythm of the way the water spilled over from the top tier into the lower ones and out from there into the base at the bottom. “We went from clueless freshmen to young adults breaking out into the real world.”

You watched as Mark dug around in his pocket, pulling out a single coin and enclosing it in a fist. “I wish for things to stay the same- no, for us to- wait, no, I wish for us to remain happy together while facing all the challenges that our lives have to offer us.” With that, he tossed the coin into the fountain and you both followed it as it sunk to the floor.

He pulled another coin out and offered it to you. “I wish…” you began, trailing off as you thought of what more you could possibly say, “I wish for us to stay together for as long as time allows and that we will get to watch each other grow and fulfill whatever plans that life has for us.”

As your coin hit the bottom, Mark pulled you in for a hug. “I really do love you, you know.”

“Yeah I know.” You hugged him back, enjoying the feeling of his arms around you.

“Look at me, babe.” He whispered, causing you to glance up at him. Whatever you were about to say was cut off by Mark’s lips against yours.

It felt like nothing else mattered at that moment. Nothing except your lips against his, his arms around you, your hearts and souls connecting as one.

we go up

153 notes · View notes

justice4sasuke · 4 years ago

Photo

This is the best image in Naruto. This is the best thing Kishimoto has ever done. I am not accepting other opinions at this time.

The reason this is so good isn’t just because of the art, though of course it is really good and I feel accurately captures Sasuke’s heartbreak.

Everything up until now has been the culmination, learning about Sasuke as a character, what his life has been like, what he’s been through and learned, and this is the release. And it is a damn good release.

But let’s back up a second because in this series called Naruto, it’s not the main character that has this moment. And that is probably another reason why Sasuke is so polarizing (I say polarizing because while I think he gets more hate than love, it really is either one or the other. I don’t think you can find anyone that’s Sasuke neutral). One because of Kishimoto trying to frame Sasuke as “in the darkness”, “misguided” and/or “wrong” and people falling for it. Two because Sasuke gets these emotional climaxes and struggles that a main character gets instead of Naruto.

Naruto’s story is essentially one where we are told at the beginning that he has a troubled life, but all we ever actually see is everything getting handed to him. Whether that is strong and famous teachers and parents, friends, jutsus, the near inability to die (if you want to put the fox in a good light), Jesus powers, hokage-dom, etc. What does Naruto have to work through? Thinking about how we could have ended up like Gaara or Sasuke but not? Wanting to bring Sasuke back and continually failing but Sasuke doesn’t want to come back and their relationship wasn’t developed enough to warrant much sympathy? Jiraiya dies but how does that really inform Naruto as a character? Does that truly break him? No, he’s upset for a couple chapters, if that, and ends up seeing the man who killed him, Nagato, as a friend. Speaking of, the village gets destroyed but Naruto talks to Nagato enough that he brings everyone back to life and they can rebuild so all's well that ends well and Naruto and Nagato are BFFs now. What I get from Jiraiya dying and the village being leveled isn’t for Naruto to experience a hardship, but so he can tell Sasuke he knows what wanting revenge feels like and because he decided against revenge like the paragon he is Sasuke should do the same or else he’s bad. Which leads to my last point, we are told through shippuden by various characters that Naruto will have to make a decision between the village and Sasuke, a decision which he refuses to make and then gets what he wants by throwing hands with Sasuke for two mintues (no matter how little sense it makes) as if the universe itself is bending to his will.

And then there’s Sasuke. We see his childhood, growing up as a kid who loved his brother more than anyone else, how he comes to want recognition from his father on his own terms and not just as “Itachi’s brother”. We see the source of his trauma. We see him as a stand-offish preteen, more concerned with his own development than teamwork. We see him learn the importance of working as a team and becoming the de facto leader of Team 7 in a sense. We see him struggle with his superiority complex as he watches Naruto rapidly improve. We see him retraumatized. We see him struggle with his own progress and see how he doesn’t get the support he wants from those around him. We see him leave Konoha because he sees that as his best option to reach his goal. In shippuden we see him single-mindedly going after this goal until he achieves it. And finally we learn the truth along with Sasuke of the whole situation. Now I’m not going to say this all hit with every reader, clearly it didn’t or else I wouldn’t have this blog, but the fact is that this is all well done.

And it’s because we’ve seen Sasuke’s journey and we’ve seen how Sasuke, after the initial trauma, doesn’t process much of his emotions except when lashing out in anger in part 1 that this image of him finally processing and expressing his grief hits like a fucking semi-truck.

#Justice4Sasuke #despite the fact that it is off center for no reason i can discern

149 notes · View notes

retphienix · 4 years ago

Text

youtube

I'm not sure if I should make this the finale post or not to be honest because I plan on playing some of the DLCs soon, so I'll make this a 'light' finale post because I'm sure I've said more than enough through my playthrough.

Morrowind genuinely surprised me. I heard all the oldguard TES fans saying it's way different and some claiming it was miles better.

Specifically I remember when Oblivion came out I heard from somewhere that Oblivion was just "dumbed down Morrowind" and kid me was like "What the heck are you talking about, Oblivion is the best game in the world (right now)???"

But man, they weren't wrong, but that's hardly what I'd point at in Morrowind in comparison.

Then again my memory of Oblivion is all rose tinted nostalgia and half memories.

What Morrowind is to me today is a fantastic fantasy game with some really interesting lore, a villain I love, a world that feels alien, troubled, imperfect and intriguing, and a gameplay cycle that felt really satisfying to me from the very start to roughly level 20 or so.

I REALLY like how pitiful and overwhelmed I felt at the start of this game- it felt fucking awesome to me and I know for some that's a weird statement and others it's the most obvious thing in the world but man is it true.

Level 1 in Morrowind as a newbie who doesn't know up from down is like waking up in the woods naked with the sound of hungry wolves all around you.

It's brutal, and exciting- every little victory- a potion, a new dagger, a new piece of armor- feels like the world to you.

I LOVED the early game in Morrowind, more than I ever liked it in Oblivion, Fallout 3, Fallout NV, Skyrim, or Fallout 4 (yeah I'm looping the bethesda engine NV in).

Because I constantly felt like I was punching up at a behemoth but I was getting away with it from time to time until I started to feel more on par with the behemoth, and eventually I overcame and hit end game and really became the behemoth and that was fun in its own right.

But I've been "mega end game god" in like 900 dang games at this point, it's always fun! And feeling like I earned it (like here) makes it feel better! But the journey often beats it and Morrowind's journey was so fun to me.

But yeah, beat the main quest. I did a lot in this game, and barely scratched the surface.

Beating it immediately made me think of how fun it would be to challenge myself to beat it- or another objective- right from the start without dumping hundreds of hours into leveling because that early game is a treat.

About the only things I didn't fully love were most of the quest designs showing their age.

Nothing super egregious, but there really was a lot of extremely simple "fetch thing" "Kill thing" "Walk to place" quests that didn't hold additional story value to make up for it.

Not to say simple is bad, but to say having a LOT of my playtime being killing various creatures for no real story reason beyond being asked to makes some actions feel pointless and like busy-work.

There were also quests that DID tie story in, which was really nice to see- things like inter-guild relations becoming a thing for some quests, or some quests having consequences further down the quest chain depending on how you completed it, and of course (as implied) some quests having multiple solutions with some of those solutions being interesting in how you find out about them.

I mean I think it's really neat how the fighter's guild has like 4 quest givers and if you blindly follow them you'll be doing all kinds of questionable stuff with questionable end goals, but if you talk to each of them you'll find that one of them is much more trustworthy and honorable than the rest, and it becomes a common loop to be sent on a quest for the FG and swing by him to ask if the quest sounds legit- AND MANY AREN'T! AND HE OFFERS ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS! THAT'S COOL AND LET'S YOU MAKE THE MISTAKE OF BEING TOO LOYAL AND FORGETTING YOUR MORALS BECAUSE YOU ARE "JUST PLAYING A GAME" BUT REWARDS YOU FOR QUESTIONING THAT LOYALTY AND SEEKING ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS! THAT'S AWESOME! Though the solution almost always being "just talk to the good guy before you do the quest" was slightly lacking, but such a cool idea.

But there wasn't a ton of this, but there also wasn't not a lot of this- it was an idea they clearly considered playing with and did when they could- I just wish there were both more and that it was used more on the menial tasks you're asked to do as well. I'm a sucker for multiple solutions is all, and consequences appearing later and altering how events play out or quests line up is always cool and I think it only happens a couple times in some guild quests if I'm not mistaken-

But again, I didn't do much in the grand scheme of things lol.

A TON of time invested and still, a metric fuckton to do including 100% of both expansions lol.

So- Morrowind. I really like this game :)

I think it's my favorite TES game, though I might change my mind whenever I revisit TES4, but I can at least say it's my favorite early game BY FAR and PROBABLY my favorite TES game.

I wonder if I can get buff enough to kill Dagoth Ur with like potion abuse. I haven't looked into it, all I know about him (and I knew before this gameplay also, I was just attacking out of curiosity) is that phase 2 rapidly regens health at like 2 billion a second or something, so you have to one shot him if at all possible.

Also I knew that he was supposed to be weaker depending on how many ash vampires you killed, but that that wasn't properly implemented (and I don't think the morrowind code patch bothers fixing it?).

Anywho- great game. I've been playing a lot of good games lately now that I think of it. I mean most of this blog is me playing good games, but I feel like, and I could be mistaken, but I feel like there was a stint there where I was playing "complicated" games and "games I don't enjoy but want to see the merit of so I'm being a sourpuss while I play".

Now I feel like the last 10 dang games were strictly good and or great. Can't say that's a bad thing :)

If you haven't ever played Morrowind before but you're familiar with say Skyrim, I'd honestly say give it a look. A look first- because it's a thick game to begin and you might be able to discern it's not for you based off a look- but a look none the less.

It's Skyrim with more RPG nonsense going on and a more brutal "rags to riches" hero story for your protag. Might be up your alley as much as it ended up being up mine :)

So up next is EITHER an entirely different game with some ocassional Morrowind posts as I touch on the expansions, or more direct Morrowind content as I emphasize the expansions until I finish them, but I'm leaning towards the former.

I think beating the main quest has earned Vaksten the Idiot a short break.

#RetPlays #Morrowind #TES #The Elder Scrolls #Also maybe I should make a new character for the expansions so I'm not OP but I dunno #might just crank the difficulty to max instead of leaving it unaltered and say that's good enough :P #Youtube

12 notes · View notes

dangermousie · 4 years ago

Note

Heelo mousie! Love your blog! Do you mind recommending some of your favourite Chinese BL novels or shows?

I've seen the untamed and read it. I'm currently reading heaven's official blessing and I saw the donghua. Anything other than these two?

Awww, thank you!

Novels: I am gonna be lazy and literally copy/paste the entire danmei section of my top 10 web novels post (except MXTX’s stuff since you are already reading it.) Let me know if you need help finding any of these.

Lord Seventh - I am only partway through this so far, but it’s already on the list because it’s smart and somehow intense AND laid-back (not sure how this works, but it does) and is honestly just a really really solid and smart period novel, with the OTP a cherry on top of a narrative sundae. Plus, I love the concept of MC deciding he is not going for his supposedly fated love - he’s tried for six lifetimes, always with disaster, and he’s just plain done and tired. When he opens his life in his seventh reincarnation and sees the person he would have given up the world for, he genuinely feels nothing at all. (Spoiler - his OTP is actually a barbarian shaman this time around, thank you Lord!)

Golden Stage - my perfect comfort novel. Probably the least angsty of any danmei novel on this list (which still means plenty angsty :P) It also has a dedicated, smart OTP that is an OTP for the bulk of the book - I think you will notice that in most of the novels in this list, I go for “OTP against the world” trope - I can’t stand love triangles and the same. Anyway, Fu Shen, is a famous general whose fame is making the emperor antsy. When he gets injured and can’t walk any more, the emperor gladly recalls him and marries him off to his most faithful court lackey, the head of sort of secret police, Yan Xiaohan. The emperor intends it both as a check on the general and a general spite move since the two men always clash in court whenever they meet. But not all is at is seems. They used to be friends a long time ago, had a falling out, and one of the loveliest parts of the novel is them finding their way to each other, but there is also finding the middle path between their two very different philosophies and ways of being, not to mention solving a conspiracy or dozen, and putting a new dynasty on the throne, among other things. It always makes me think, a little, of “if Mei Changsu x Jingyan were canon.”

Sha Po Lang - if you like a lot of fantasy politics and world-building and steampunk with your novels, this one is for you. This one is VERY plot-heavy with smart, dedicated characters and a deconstruction of many traditional virtues - our protagonist Chang Geng, a long-lost son of the Emperor, is someone who wants to modernize the country but also take down the current emperor his brother for progress’ sake and the person he’s in love with is the general who saved him when he was a kid who is nominally his foster father. Anyway, the romance is mainly a garnish in this one, not even a big side dish, but the relationship between two smart, dedicated, deadly individuals with very different concepts of duty is fascinating long before it turns romantic. And if you like angst, while overall it’s not as angsty as e.g., Meatbun stuff, Chang Geng’s childhood is the stuff of nightmares and probably freaks me out more than anything else in any novel on this list, 2ha included.

To Rule In a Turbulent World (LSWW) - gay Minglan. No seriously. This is how I think of it. it’s a slice of life period novel with fascinating characters and setting that happens to have a gay OTP, not a romance in a period setting per se and I always prefer stories where the romance is not the only thing that is going on. It’s meticulously written and smart and deals with character development and somehow makes daily minutia fascinating. Our protagonist, You Miao, is the son of a fabulously wealthy merchant, sent to the capital to make connections and study. As the story starts, he sees his friend’s servants beating someone to death, feels bad, and buys him because, as we discover gradually and organically, You Miao may be wealthy and occasionally immature but he is a genuinely good person. The person he buys is a barbarian from beyond the wall, named Li Zhifeng. It’s touch and go if the man will survive but eventually he does and You Miao, who by then has to return home, gives him his papers and lets him go. However, LZF decides to stick with You Miao instead, both out of sense of debt for YM saving his life and because he genuinely likes him (and yet, there is no instalove on either of their parts, their bodies have fun a lot quicker than their souls.) Anyway, the two take up farming, get involved in the imperial exams and it’s the life of prosperity and peace, until an invasion happens and things go rapidly to hell. This is so nuanced, so smart (smart people in this actually ARE!) and has secondary characters who are just as complex as the mains (for example, I ended up adoring YM’s friend, the one who starts the plot by almost beating LZF to death for no reason) because the novel never forgets that few people are all villain. There is a lovely character arc or two - watching YM grow up and LZF thaw - there is the fact that You Miao is a unicorn in web novels being laid back and calm. This whole thing is a masterpiece.

Stains of Filth (Yuwu) - want the emotional hit of 2ha but want to read something half its length? Well, the author of 2ha is here to eviscerate you in a shorter amount of time. This has the beautiful world-building, plot twists that all make sense and, at the center of it all, an intense and all-consuming and gloriously painful relationship between two generals - one aristocratic loner Mo Xi, and the other gregarious former slave general Gu Mang. Once they were best friends and lovers, but when the novel starts, Gu Mang has long turned traitor and went to serve the enemy kingdom and has now been returned and Mo Xi, who now commands the remnants of his slave army, has to cope with the fact that he has never been able to get over the man who stabbed him through the heart. Literally. This novel has a gorgeously looping structure, with flashbacks interwoven into present storyline. There is so much love and longing and sacrifice in this that I am tearing up a bit just thinking of it. If you don’t love Mo Xi and Gu Mang, separately and together, by the end of it, you have no soul.

The Dumb Husky and His White Cat Shizun (2ha/erha) - if you’ve been following my tumblr for more than a hot second, you know my obsession with this novel. Honestly, even if I were to make a list of my top 10 novels of any kind, not just webnovels, this would be on the list. It has everything I want - a complicated, intricate plot with an insane amount of plot twists, all of which are both unexpected and make total sense, a rich and large cast of characters, a truly epic OTP that makes me bawl, emotional intensity that sometimes maxes even me out and so much character nuance and growth. Also, Moran is my favorite web novel character ever, hands down.

Anyway, the plot (or at least the way it first appears) is that the evil emperor of the cultivation world, Taxian Jun, kills himself at 32 and wakes up in the body of his 16 year old self, birth name Moran. Excited to get a redo, Moran wants to save his supposed true love Shimei, whose death the last go-around pushed him towards evil. He also wants to avoid entanglement with Chu Wanning, his shizun and sworn enemy in past life. And that’s all you are best off knowing, trust me. The only hint I am going to give is oooh boy the mother of all unreliable narrators has arrived!

The novel starts light and funny on boil the frog principle - if someone told me I would be full bawling multiple times with this novel, I’d have thought they were insane, but i swear my eyes hurt by the end of it. I started out being amused and/or disliking the mains and by the end I would die for either of them.

The Wife is First - OK, this one did not make my top 10 web novels but it’s a sweet, fun gay cottagecore fest. Our ML, a royal prince, and his spouse, a smart if delicate aristocrat, keep house, eat noodles, play with their pet tiger, make out and spoil each other rotten, while occasionally fighting battles and outwitting their court enemies. It’s so very mellow. That couple redefines low drama - they are both nice and functional and use their brains. It’s as if a nice jock and a nice nerd got together and then proceeded to be wholesome all over the place.

I mean, the set up could be dramatic - our ML the prince, lost his fight for the throne and is about to be killed. The only person who stayed loyal to him is his arranged husband the aristocrat guy who ML never treated nicely since he resented marrying him (marrying a man in that world is done to remove someone from the ability to inherit the throne.) And yet the husband stood by him not out of love but beliefs in loyalty blah blah. Anyway, he transmigrates back into the past right after their wedding night and is all “I got a second chance OMG! I don’t want the throne what is even the point? I want to live a good long life and treat the only person who stood by me really well!” And he proceeds to do so to the shock of the aristocrat who had a very unpleasant wedding night and generally can tell the man he just married would rather eat nails than be married to him. But soon enough (no seriously, it’s not many chapters at all) he believes the prince is sincere blah blah and then they get together and they pretty much become cottagecore goals.

In terms of dramas, I only do period dramas (or novels) so I am not the person to be able to recommend any modern BLs. There is a flood of upcoming (hopefully) period BL dramas but it’s relatively thin on the ground now. The two I will recommend is Word of Honor (which is AMAZING) and Winter Begonia (which I just started watching but which owns me already.) I have a tag for both - the one for the former is huge and I cannot recommend either strongly enough. I’ve heard good things about The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty, but I am not big on mysteries so haven’t watched it for myself.

In terms of the upcoming BLs, the ones I am most looking forward to are Immortality and Winner Is King, but The Society of the Four Leaves also looks promising.

#asks #cdrama #cnovel

46 notes · View notes

keichan · 4 years ago

Text

Paint Me This

Request: DUDE I LOVE YOUR BLOG SM CAN I REQUEST KAGEYAMA X READER?? Liek the reader loves to paint and becomes manager because she knows Yachi and they fall in love and kags tries to confess and fails like the bab he is 🥺🥺? Fluff please!

A/N: AHHH THANK YOU SM! This is my first request ever! I don’t think that this is as fluffy as I wanted it to come out but I still enjoyed writing it 🥺I hope you like it

Genre: fluffffff, pinch of angst

WC: 2262

★Kageyama x Reader ★

”Y/N! I’m so glad you were able to come!” Yachi grinned, beckoning you to meet the team. It was you and Yachi’s second year at Karasuno and you have yet to meet her volleyball team she manages, though now was a better time than ever. Your club that you have attended for the last year had unfortunately shut down due to lack of members, but luckily your best friend was able to save your ass, per usual. Not only is it your first time meeting these guys, but your first managing gig as well

“Yachi-san, who’s this?” A small, orange haired boy peeked between two of the taller members of the team, his mouth agape. A taller boy with bluish-black hair nudged him to silence.

“This is my friend, Y/N! Since our goal is nationals again, she’s here to help us out this seaon! So be prepared to see her more!.”

“A new manager?” Two boys practically yelled in harmony with each other.

Yachi giggled before nodding in agreement. She quickly turned it over to you for your self introduction.

“My name is L/N F/N. I’m a second year. I’m in class 2-3. Uhhh- I really enjoy painting in the courtyard during lunch so you can always find me there.” You laugh nervously at all the sets of eyes staring at you.

“Nice to meet you!” You said abruptly before dipping your body into a bow. As you drew your head your line of vision met with the tall bluish, black-haired boy from earlier. That’s when it clicked in your mind.

“Kanayama! We’re in the same class aren’t we?”

He automatically stiffened before nodding his head jerkily. A pink hue barely painted his features.

A tall blonde behind him snorted.

“Are you even going to say anything?”

“It’s Kageyama!” He stuttered.

“I’m so sorry!” You laughed rubbing the back of your head. You gave him a warm smile before breaking off to individually meet everyone else. Not before long, practice began.

Kageyama and Hinata silently peered over your shoulder in the courtyard to see what you were painting today. With your headphones in, you quietly hummed to the rhythm and your brush strokes followed.

He usually passed you everyday to see what you were painting, but today was the day that Kageyama accidentally lost his footing leaning forward and toppled onto your picnic table, rather hard. You jumped in your seat as the tall setter awkwardly regained his posture. He sent a glare to Hinata who instantly scurried away.

Kageyama cleared his throat and brushed off his pants.

“Sorry, I- uh was tryna see what you were painting there and I uh”

You quickly set down your brush to wave your hands.

“Don’t worry about it Kageyama-kun! You can help me judge this peace if you wanna! Go ahead and take a seat.” You absentmindedly patted the bench beside you.

He stepped his long legs over the bench before firmly sitting next to you. You presented a small canvas in front of his face and his mouth morphed into a small ‘o’. It was the scenery of the mountains behind Karasuno high. He saw it everyday on his way home. It was a beyond perfect painting.

“Beautiful.” Was all he could manage.

“Me or the painting?”

He froze in place before you nudged his shoulder playfully. Your eyes traveled from the painting to his with a smile so wide, your eyes squinted shut. “I’m just kidding, Kageyama-kun! Thank you!”

A small shadow appeared on the boy's lips.

“Of course.”

Now that he thought about it, he meant you.

A month later, it has now been integrated into your schedule that Kageyama sits next to you at lunch time bearing a carton of milk for himself and a canned coffee for you. Some days he chose to paint with you, though his paintings never came out as well as yours, you definitely acted like they did. He was definitely becoming a prodigy in your world as you were learning his. Anything that you mentioned you like, he’d attempt to paint. Meanwhile, he was more than happy to explain volleyball to you. Sometimes you’d pretend to not understand, only to see how happy he becomes when he gets to talk about what he is passionate about. You adored the setter with all of your heart.

Today the two of you sat against the wall of the school, with a sketchbook in your hand you were jotting down new ideas for personal projects when you felt a weight gently press onto your shoulder followed by a faint snore. Kageyama had passed out, though it made sense with the boys overexerting themselves for the upcoming game. With a faint smile on your face, you slid your phone out of your pocket to take a quick picture of him. He was precious, though it was definitely a potential blackmail photo. You closed your sketchbook and rested your head atop of his until the bell rang.

Months later and the boys volleyball team had become your family to the extent that it felt like you’ve known each member for years. You knew their quirks, their antics, what made them tick. Especially Kageyama. If anything you’ve been spending more time with him than Yachi. You always put in extra hours to help him practice and study. One could not be seen without the other.

Though for the last two weeks you haven’t been at your usual place on the courtyard. When Kageyama asked, you told him that you had supplementary lessons, though it didn’t make sense to him due to the fact that you have never struggled academically as far as he knew. In fact, if he ever needed a tutor, you were always there to help him.

Now he handed you your daily canned coffee in silence at the start of each after school practice. Anytime he’d attempt to talk to you, you’d shy away and stutter nervously. If you wanted to blatantly avoid Kageyama after all this time, he was just hoping that you’d be a little more direct. After a while , he finally gave up on showing up to the courtyard for lunchtime

The evening breeze was chilling to the bone as the cold front rolled in. It was now late December and Kageyama was zipping up his jacket to begin his walk home. At the edge of campus he heard his name being called.

“Kageyama-kun!”

He turned on his heel to the sound of your voice with his heart beating rapidly.

He stood in place until you ran up to catch him.

“Kageyama-kun!” You panted. “I have something that I need to give to you

The setter dug his hands in his pocket with a blank stare on his face. He tilted his head. “Y/N-san, we’re about to go into winter break, I’m sure this can wait until we get back.”

However he felt the opposite.

You were already digging through your bag before the words finished pouring from his mouth. With both hands on a canvas you presented it to him with your head dipped.

“Happy early birthday, Kageyama-kun!”

He carefully took the canvas from you and gazed at it with awe. It was a painting of him setting the ball. You perfectly captured his features. The face he always makes concentrating. The details on his fingers, his hair, his nose. Everything. It looked lifelike.

He studied it for minutes in pure amazement. It was one of the kindest things anyone had done for him. The joy in his heart was overwhelming.

“I’m so sorry that I’ve been distant from you lately, Kageyama-kun. I wanted to do something really special for you, though, I’m not good with painting people so I’ve been going to the art teacher’s classroom for lunch. I’m awful with secrets and surprises, so I apologize for acting the way I have I-”

You were pulled into a hug. Long arms wrapped around your body as Kageyama’s head buried into your neck. His warm breath tickling your skin against the cold.

“Thank you.” He mumbled. “I love it. You're the best.”

The compliments sounded odd rolling off of his tongue, but you couldn’t help but smile.

“So I’m forgiven?” You pulled away from his embrace, a sly smile resting on your lips, your faces inches apart.

“Of course, Y/N-san.”

Luckily for Kageyama, mother nature was on his side or else his face would be beet red.

He walked you to your home with many questions in his mind. The main one being how can he make you his?

You were startled to see Kageyama waiting at the gates, you figured that he’d be at the gym in the early morning with the spring interhigh right around the corner.

“Good morning!” He said with a smile painted on his lips. Slightly unusual, but you couldn’t help but mirror his expression.

“What’s got you in a good mood?”

He glanced over to you with the corners of his lips upturned. “So there’s this girl that I really like-” Your heart automatically sank to the ground, but you kept an eager expression on your face.

“I really want to ask her to get dinner with me at this place in town this weekend before we all leave for Tokyo. I think she’s super pretty, she helps me out in a lot of ways…” She must be so lucky to catch his eye. After all, a lot of girls at the school fawned over Kageyama Tobio. The two of you halted at your classroom door before he turned to you.

“Y/N, I really like-”

The morning bell rang.

You rest your hands over his and give him a reassuring smile.

“I’m sure she’ll say yes.”

You quickly walk into the classroom, leaving the setter with his chest aching.

“So, how’d it go?” Yachi popped in front of you as you silently flipped through the pages of your manager notebook, practice for the evening was finally drawing to a close.

“What?”

“Didn’t Kageyama-kun ask you out? He texted me that he was going to do it after break?”

“WHAT?” You shouted making the entire gym come to a screeching halt. Balls quickly thudded to the floor. You quickly used your notebook to shield your face from everyone else.

“Are you saying he didn’t?” She whispered as if the whole gym’s eyes weren’t on the two of you.

“C’mon guys! Keep it moving!” Enoshita called. You lowered the notebook slightly only for his eyes to meet with yours briefly. With a nervous look on his face he quickly hustled back to his position on the court.

“He was talking about some girl he liked today!” You yelled in a hush whisper.

Yachi gasped. “That’s you! He really did try! Well it was the best he knew how to. And I’d like to say it’s obvious that you two like each other. I’m pretty sure the whole school knows”

Heat rushed to your face and you did your best to hide how flustered you were. Your eyes followed Kageyama as he played with the team.

“I thought I did my best to hide it.”

“I think your three-week long painting project of him kind of gave it away.”

“Shut up.”

After cleaning up, you waited at the stairs of the clubroom for Kageyama. At the top of the stairwell he paused before walking down and carefully tapped your shoulder.

“Y/N, I-”

“Kageyama-kun!” You turned to smile at him, nerves eating you alive.

“I-I just wanted to apologize for earlier. That was out of character for me-” he looked off into the distance with his hand messily running through his hair. “Just don’t worry about what I said I-”

You swiftly walk towards him taking the collar of his team jacket nervously in your hands. You catch his gaze and his speech slowly comes to a halt. You gently pull him down to your face to place your lips softly on his. Kageyama’s lips move slowly against yours as his hands travel quickly along your sides to cup your face delicately. He pulled away with his lips lingering on top of yours, his eyes searching your features for an answer to his silent question.

“I like you, Kageyama-kun. I really really like you. Sorry I misread your confession earlier, I… I uh kinda thought it was for someone else...”

A sheepish smile appeared on his lips as he leaned in to capture your lips once more. Your arms traveled around his neck to gently move into his hair while his hands moved down to hold your hips.

“Well I’m glad that’s cleared up now. Also, just call me Tobio.”

Your eyes twinkled as you studied his face.

“Give me another kiss, Tobio-chan!”

“Get a room you two!” Tsukishima’s voice cut the atmosphere like a knife. Yamaguchi snickered behind him.

“Shut the hell-”

You grabbed his sleeve and gave it a slight tug. He smiled down at you before giving Tsukishima a scowl. Interlacing your hands together he began to walk you home. You waved goodbye to the boys before using your free hand to wrap around his arm.

You swung your intertwined hands marvelling at Tobio under the streetlights. The walk so far has been quiet, but calming. Suddenly Kageyama came to a halt, pulling you by his side.

“Y/N… Would you uh. Um… Be my- err- be my- uh-”

“Yes, Tobio.”

You quickly gave him a peck on the cheek before walking ahead of him.

He grinned from ear to ear.

“Wait up!”

#haikyuu!!#haikyuu fluff #haikyuu fanfiction #kageyama #kageyama tobio #kageyama x reader #kageyama x yn #kb takes on requests!

20 notes · View notes

eldritch-elrics · 4 years ago

Text

this summer, me and my brother watched four whole shows. at long last, here is my comprehensive review of all of them!

in the order we watched them, these shows were:

avatar the last airbender (ATLA)

mob psycho 100 (MP100)

demon slayer / kimetsu no yaiba (KNY)

fullmetal alchemist: brotherhood (FMAB)

they were all very very good!

i’m not going to try to rank them, but, as is probably obvious by the state of my blog, my favorite was FMAB :) if i had to pick a least favorite, then, it would probably be KNY—not by any fault of its own, but just because it didn’t appeal to me quite as much as the others. still a very good show!

i will review each show by:

giving a quick plot-based pitch discussing the show’s hook or appeal

discussing one element that i believe it does better than any other show on this list—in other words, a quality that i think it stands out for

discussing one element that didn’t appeal to me or that i had issues with—a criticism

putting forth my favorite character and favorite episode or arc, just for funsies

including various other commentary. mostly positive, as, again, i did really like all of these!

(i’ve tried to make this whole thing free of specific spoilers, but if you’re planning on watching any of these shows and want to go in more-or-less blind, it might be best not to read this.)

first of all, i’d just like to discuss all four of these shows as a whole! it was definitely interesting watching one after another and noting similarities between them.

all of them have siblings in them! which is, perhaps, fitting, as i watched them with my brother

two include a pair of siblings in which one has powers and one doesn’t (at least at first), and part of the narrative involves getting better at using those powers (ATLA, MP100)

two include a narrative centered around a pair of siblings and something tragic that happens to them, resulting in the older one being traumatized and forced to train to become a soldier, and the younger one turning into something (arguably) inhuman. the protagonist’s major goal is to return his younger sibling to the way they were before (KNY, FMAB)

ATLA and FMAB are both fantasy political dramas, which is rapidly becoming a favorite genre of mine

most of these are historical, or historically inspired in some way, which is interesting!

all of these shows are really really good at character building. all the main characters are interesting and complex, and the relationships between those characters are similarly nuanced and very well written. they make you really care about both the protagonists and the side characters!

avatar: the last airbender

pitch: as the ever-growing imperial force of the fire nation threatens the earth and water nations, a kid from the long-lost air nation turns up and it turns out he can control all four elements and he has to save the world and all that. sorry i tried to write this pitch like five times and realized that well at this point i think everyone reading this will know the plot of avatar

stands out for: avatar has possibly the best worldbuilding i have ever seen in a show—it takes the time to introduce us to so many places and aspects of its world, both explicitly and subtly. the main highlight of this is the magic system. by creating a magic system based in body movement, the process of using magic and learning to use/control it better becomes immediately obvious to the viewer. combine that with the philosophy behind each type of bending and the way that characters take bending inspiration from types different than their own, and you’ve got a system that is complex, flexible, believable, internally consistent, and just plain fun! it makes action sequences a blast. i especially liked the moments when bending was stretched to its limits in totally logical ways (metalbending, bloodbending). not to mention the way that bending is seamlessly integrated into the world of avatar! the example that comes to mind is the earthbending-powered transport system of omashu. a whole essay could be written on that topic alone!

criticism: i know this is a sentiment shared by many people, but the first season was kind of boring to me. some of the humor and the plots felt hit-or-miss. of course, it needed to take that time to establish the world, and it does a great job of doing that. it just didn’t hook me until the second season.

favorite character: i love toph she’s so much fun :) iroh is a close second! and zuko is great, too, of course

favorite arc: i loved ba sing se a ton, especially the episode when they get there and everything feels off. it felt so resonant with real life, in a very fun way. there’s a reason “there is no war in ba sing se” is a meme…

other commentary: what can i say? it’s a classic for a damn good reason. the plot is tight, and it does a great job raising tension and introducing new elements and twists. i also love the care put into the antagonists, especially azula, who has a fascinating arc.

mob psycho 100

pitch: a middle schooler and a charismatic con artist team up to smite ghosts using extrasensory powers. thing is, only the middle schooler actually has ESP, and it happens to be really, really powerful. can he navigate the difficult world of middle school while also getting a better grip on his powers—and his bottled-up emotions?

stands out for: the way that MP100 uses animation is excellent. it takes a little getting used to but it’s just so fun, combining all sorts of different techniques to create an experience rich with drama and emotion. it’s playfully exaggerated and self-parodying, adding to the show’s fantastic sense of humor as well as its truly emotional moments.

criticism: the way that ESP works makes suspension of disbelief tricky. it’s a great feat to introduce a character who is essentially all-powerful and still make them interesting (even in fight scenes), but at times (especially the second season finale) it felt like a magic system with too much breadth and too few limitations. this might just be my bias for hard magic systems talking, though.

favorite character: other than mob and reigen? probably teru. he’s loads of fun AND all the season 1 episodes he’s in slap hard

favorite episode: the one where the girl asks mob out on a date as a dare.. it’s super cute

other commentary: thank you mp100 for being the leftist propaganda we all deserve <3

in all seriousness though, this show is a blast!! it does a great job switching between silly and serious in the blink of an eye. i also really appreciate the way that it balances comically huge stakes with much smaller, more personal stories. for example, the conflict between mob and reigen in season 2 is especially well-done. in general the emotions just feel so real? characters whose emotions tie into their powers are an excellent trope, and mob is a wonderful protagonist who exemplifies this really well.

finally, on a more critical note—there are so many characters in this show! and it feels like only a handful are fleshed out? however, this may be due to the fact that it’s not an adaptation of the entire manga (which i haven’t read). there’s a lot more to go! more characters to dive into! so i probably shouldn’t try to critique it in the same way as a finished work.

demon slayer / kimetsu no yaiba

pitch: demons kill a boy’s family and turn his sister into a demon, so he decides to try and figure out a way to turn his sister back into a human. what follows is a demon-killing adventure that’s in equal parts harrowing, poignant, and hilarious.

stands out for: there’s not much i can say about this other than “please just take a look” but the art and design is phenomenal. it does a much better job of integrating 2D and 3D than a lot of other animated series, and overall it is just so so pretty! all the character designs are complex, memorable, and fit the characters perfectly. the color choices are interesting and satisfying. i also really like the sound design? not often that i notice that in a show. i’ve watched so many KNY amvs by now lol it’s just amazing animation

criticism: the narration style leans too heavily towards tell instead of show. this is mostly an issue with the first few episodes, but i got super annoyed by how much the show would narrate every single one of tanjirou’s thoughts instead of letting us infer those thoughts through his actions and reactions—the latter, i think, would have been more emotionally impactful. sometimes silence speaks louder than words! tanjirou was also not the world’s most compelling protagonist in my opinion, though i think that mostly has to do with my own tastes.

favorite character: *holds up zenitsu* I Just Think He’s Neat. i actually kind of lost it when he first used his powers, like… damn i love characters with weird relationships with their magic like that. i also think the narrative about how having a solid foundation is sometimes more important than knowing a ton of different moves was really powerful. and he’s just funny! pathetic boy i love him

favorite arc: really just the whole spider arc. fucked up man… i love it. they pulled off that last twist so well, and all the family stuff was so weird and complex and emotional…

other commentary: it’s just a really solid and very well-written show! the team of tanjirou, zenitsu, and inosuke is so much fun… bro bonding :) i also quite like the horror elements; it’s fucked up but in a good way. finally, this is very specific, but the demon that can alter buildings/rooms through drumbeats? appealed to me very much. it’s a cool and unique power!

fullmetal alchemist: brotherhood

pitch: two kids do some fucked up alchemy and end up getting parts of their body stolen by god. now they’re on a quest to get their bodies back, but find themselves wrapped up in crazy government conspiracies and alchemy more powerful than they ever could’ve imagined…

stands out for: plot. by this i mean less overall concept (though the overall concept is pretty great too), and more that the pacing and progression of the story is extraordinarily tight. for the most part (the first few episodes are a little weak but i’ll let it slide), it does an excellent job establishing its premise and building on it logically, adding layers and layers that extend naturally from what we already know. everything has a reason for happening; everything is revealed in good time and all the twists are super satisfying. there’s great balance between exciting moments and quiet moments. it’s just very good at being a story!

(fun fact: i’m reading the manga right now and so far it’s even better paced than the show, which is super interesting! it’s especially good at how it lays out pieces of the backstory and then fills everything in later in a really satisfying way.)

criticism: this is incredibly specific but it’s what comes to mind as something that bothered me: winry’s character arc was really disappointing. for most of the series she’s a pretty strong character, but in the end it feels like she gets pushed aside, defined only by her relationship with ed. what happened to her wanting to take action more? that was a specific desire she expressed—wanting to be less passive! since she’s such an important character, i wish she could have had more presence in the last season other than as a sounding board for the elric bros’ emotions. (even though her one scene in the last episode was really good and emotional…)

favorite character: other than the elric bros, absolutely ling. he fits into multiple of my favorite character archetypes (fun, silly, bastard, gets possessed…) and he’s just overall a delight. plus his relationship with greed is really really good. bro bonding at its peak!! (my other favorite is pride. i will not say why because spoilers. but if you know me.. you know)

favorite episode: this is really really hard to choose but i’m gonna go with envy’s death because. holy shit.

other commentary: i’m a really big fan of the complex and nuanced way in which FMAB breaks down militaristic, imperial regimes from the inside. many of the characters have done awful things, and the story forces them to grapple with that and accept that all they can do now is be better in the future. the moral complexity is just really good! characters with flaws—we love to see it!

finally, parts of this story seem so so catered to Me Specifically that it’s no wonder i got so into it. like just the entire premise? the way that so much of the conflict is built out of identity crisis and exploring the nature of consciousness and human vs inhuman? beautiful. i love ed and al so much

if you made it all the way to the end, thank you so much for reading!! glad to have finally gotten this done (3 months late…) and put all my thoughts down. i hope this inspires someone to try watching one of the shows i discussed!

#avatar the last airbender #mob psycho 100 #kimetsu no yaiba #fullmetal alchemist #my post #long post #then for my own tagging purposes..#atla #mp100 #kny #fmab #i really hope some people read this! i put a lot of thought into it

14 notes · View notes

gallickingun · 4 years ago

Note

I hope you don't mind me asking... How did you get followers? I want to start my own blog but I want to make sure I can reach audiences I want to reach. I don't have any friends who know I write, and honestly I'm not sure I'd want them to read my works anyway. I get embarrassed easily. It's much easier for me to talk to someone that I don't have a face for. Does that make sense? Probably not. But how did you start your adventure here?

I want to preface this with follower count can make sense, or it can’t. I’ve made friends with some of the most amazing, most talented writers who have less than a thousand followers. I’ve made friends with amazing, talented writers who have thousands of followers. I genuinely don’t know how to trick the algorithm into listening to you, haha, but just know that numbers don’t equal talent; popularity does not always equal skill. So please, even if you don’t have the high follower count of someone else, don’t let it discourage you from writing! Everyone starts somewhere, and everyone grows differently.

But, I’ve found that it all depends on who you write for, what you write, and how often you write.

Who you write for: Bakugou is one of the most popular characters. I truly didn’t know this when I entered the fandom, but it was really what got me started on the upward climb. I’m by no means a big blogger, lol, but I know that writing for Bakugou was what helped me out initially. He was originally the only character who I could write for because he was my favorite and I hadn’t really gotten too far into the show. I think the same goes for other fandoms - if you write for the more popular characters, who have more content in demand because they have more fans, you’re more likely to gain more followers.

DISCLAIMER: Do not let this keep you from writing for other characters who are less popular, if you prefer to write for them. Content is needed for all characters! I am desperate for some Sugawara content, but he’s not one of the more popular characters that people write for (see: Kuroo, Ushiwaka, Bokuto, Oikawa, Iwa, and Akaashi). If we only focus on the popular characters, the ones that get us the most growth, but those aren’t the characters we love, the content can seem disingenuous, if that makes sense. I got lucky by Bakugou being my favorite. But like, when I try to push out Kaminari content, I find that it’s a real struggle for me because I don’t necessarily vibe with Kaminari as a character. The same goes in reverse. If the minor characters have your heart, but you try to force out content for the popular characters, it can be tough to write and come across like you don’t really want to write it. Write who you want to write!

What you write: This is a really big deal right now, but I’m just gonna say it lol. NSFW gets more notes. I don’t say that to force you into writing NSFW content - I actually had never read/written NSFW content until this past March, and I’m 22, going on 23. Originally, when I decided to start writing, I wanted to be NSFW-free, but some stuff changed in life and in writing and I chose to make the change.

Also, I’ve found for each fandom, different things are more prevalent. For instance, the BNHA fandom seems to do a lot of AU’s and full length fics, but the Haikyuu!! fandom seems to do more traditional works that follow canon and then the content itself is mostly headcanons and short scenarios. I think you have to find what works for you and write it to the best of your ability. I suck at headcanons, I’ve never really been able to do them and they stress me out. So I stick to full length fics. I know this means I’ll do better in one fandom versus the other, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to start only doing headcanons just because it’s what’s popular.

DISCLAIMER: This does NOT mean that just because someone wrote 10k words of smut, that it’s better or more involved than your 10k words of fluff/angst/domestic/etc. writing. Unfortunately, there are horn dogs out there who are especially touch starved during quarantine. It doesn’t make anyone better or worse because they choose to write about being naked versus being clothed. Please don’t let this discourage you from writing SFW-only writing, as there are tons of people out there who are just as desperate for some comfort fics about cuddling completely clothed.

How often you write: When I first started, I had a lot more time on my hands and was able to pump out content much quicker. I grew pretty rapidly in a short period of time because I was able to consistently put out content. Since I’ve gotten more busy and my mental illness has reared it’s ugly head, I’ve not been able to write as much and I can tell my follower count growth had tapered off. But the pace in which you post content generally helps increase your follower count, because people know that you will continuously feed them with the goods! Sometimes it might be good to set a schedule so others know when you’ll be posting - say a new fic every Friday? Or sometimes it can be good to keep your followers engaged with thirst posts (SFW or NSFW), or specific nights where you do events that focus on a certain character or genre.

DISCLAIMER: DO NOT FORCE YOURSELF TO PUSH OUT CONTENT. Please be aware within your own self what your limits are. Just because one writer can sit at home and push out tons of short scenarios and drabbles during the day, but you can’t, doesn’t mean either of you are doing anything wrong. It just means that one person has a different availability than you. I don’t really do thirst posts a ton in the same respect that others do them, because I know that I’ll want to write a whole fic out of the couple of sentences that my followers might send in. However, there are many others within the fandom that can respond with a few paragraphs that take a few minutes to type out. It doesn’t mean that they’re better than me and I’m a horrible writer, it just means that in this area, they’re more skilled or have more time.

Also, don’t be afraid to tag people and send out DMs! I promise your writer idols are not nearly as scary as you think they are. And they’re probably just as excited to get a DM from you as you are to talk to them! I was really hesitant to reach out to anyone before, because I never really did much chatting in other fandoms, but the anime fandoms I’ve been apart of have been very kind and welcoming, and helpful! I made some of my closest friends because I tagged them in my works or I joined a server with them in it, or I read their stuff and reached out to them to fangirl over it. Don’t be afraid to reach out, even if you just keep the conversation focused on your writing, it’ll still be worth it in the end! The worst thing that could happen is they don’t reply or the conversation fizzles out. Either way, you will have made a connection, and blasted one another with some serotonin.

Remember to take breaks. Take a hiatus every once and a while! Take some time for yourself to recharge. If this begins to feel like a job, like an obligation, and you feel yourself dragging your feet just to put out content, please step back and reevaluate. This is a hobby, it’s supposed to be fun. Once it stops being fun, take a breather and reassess what you’re doing. Sometimes this means closing requests, sometimes this means opening requests, sometimes this means participating in collab fics, sometimes this means disconnecting entirely. This is just tumblr, in the end, and you should be able to take care of yourself first rather than pinning yourself into a corner to try and post content for the sake of your followers. In the end, everyone wants you to be happy and healthy, so you can put your best foot forward in life and in your hobbies. So please, for the love of everything, take a break every now and then. Disconnect, recharge, and regroup.

I also had a blog before this one, my main, so I’ve been on tumblr for eight year prior to this. I’m not going to even claim that I begin to understand how this hellsite works, but I will say that I’ve been writing on here for a while now, since way back to my band blog days. Eventually you just write what you want to write, and chat with your followers and your friends, and you’ll grow organically. When you start to pressure yourself over it, it can become like a cloud looming over you, and then when you don’t perform up to your preset standards, it might be a little disappointing. Follower milestones are cool to want to achieve and celebrate, but don’t pour all your focus into them. For the most part, I use milestones for celebration events to give back to my followers, or to set goals for myself like opening commissions! But they don’t determine my worth as a writer, because sometimes the tumblr algorithm is more giving to some rather than others.

Whew, this was a doozy. But I hope it helped! Some of these answers might come off a little crass, but I’m just trying to be honest. Don’t let anything deter you from doing whatever the hell you wanna do.

You wanna write that rarepair? DO IT. You wanna write character x character? DO IT. You wanna write about your Original Characters? DO IT.

Whatever it is you want to do, do it! And have a helluva time doing it 💕

#morgan gives advice #Anonymous #morgan gets mail

16 notes · View notes

janz3289 · 4 years ago

Text

The most effective method to Start An Email List As a New Blogger (In 5 Easy Peasy Steps)

Is it true that you are thinking about building an email list, yet have a few questions regarding why it is required? Numerous bloggers and entrepreneurs don't understand the significance of building an email list when they're first beginning.

Anyway the vast majority typically adjust their perspective when they see the effect email records can have on another person's traffic and income.

In this article, we will share the top reasons why assembling an email list is significant (with genuine contextual investigations). We will likewise tell you the best way to begin constructing your email list – bit by bit.

Presently would you say you are prepared to figure out how to begin an email list?

No?

You have a blog and you're focusing on the most proficient method to begin adapting your blog.

I get you. I did that identical thing, yet I did it a smidgen in an unexpected way. Rather than rapidly adding a partner connected to my blog entries, I began an email list.

Pause! How does beginning an email list equivalent bring in cash with your blog?

At the point when you take apart what every one of the large bloggers say about making a pay with their blog, the main technique they use is email showcasing.

Not web-based media promoting.

Not substance showcasing.

Or on the other hand influencer promoting.

Simply fundamental email.

Why is email so compelling in driving deals?

Why Starting An Email List is For You

Alright.

You might be thinking, admirably I'm an independent blogger. I just began writing for a blog three months prior and I just have 3 posts. For what reason would it be a good idea for me to begin an email list?

Here are a few reasons why it's significant you start today.

You Connect With Your People

Your kin are your devotees. These are your pursuers, analysts, pinners and that's just the beginning. They need to become more acquainted with you as the blogger and having an email list does that.

Bloggers can share more close to home things to their email list. It's select and just those that need to become acquainted with a blogger joins their rundown. At any rate it is for me. I'm on some of numerous blogger's rundowns and I love understanding them and becoming more acquainted with the in the background life they have

So an email rundown can begin constructing that association between you, your blog and your perusers. This is the means by which you can make raving fans and steadfast adherents.

Your Email List is Yours

Did you realize that any day Facebook could close its entryways? Or then again Pinterest? It can occur as past online media profiles have closed down.

You invest this energy attempting to become your Pinterest devotees just to see that they will not assist you make a pay.

Your email list is your property and you are building your pay on your foundation. This implies you can invest energy developing your email list and being guaranteed that all that time you spent will bring about some type of pay.

You Figure Out Who Your Reader Is

An email rundown can assist you with understanding your pursuers. What their identity is, the thing that their difficulties are and how you can help them. By knowing which gift they pick into or the answers and stories you get from your messages you will draw you much nearer to your crowd than if you just published content to a blog.

But how can you get to know your subscribers on a deeper level?

Ask them a question at the end of your email to open up a discussion.

Create a survey and ask them their biggest challenges in your niche topic

Tailor your content by listening to your subscribers

Your email list is here to help you…help them. You want to serve your audience with the best content to help them with their problems. Because remember, the people coming to your blog, typically have some problem.

For example, readers that come to being a freelancers or blogger struggle with:

How to bring traffic to their new blog

How to start a blog successfully

How to turn their blog into a business

How to grow their email list

and more

These core topics are the most challenges my readers have. If my blog and courses can help them achieve more, then they will become subscribers and loyal fans.

Okay, so we know the why behind starting an email list, so how do we start an email list?

1. Have a Clear Purpose

This goes beyond the why behind starting an email list; you need to know the true intent of your email list. Some questions to ask:

How many emails do you want to send per week?

Do you eventually want to sell a product or service?

What’s the end goal of starting an email list?

With your emails, you want to get an idea of how often you’ll be sending emails to your subscribers. Too little and people might report you as spam; too much and people will unsubscribe.

For my email list, I usually email once a week. There are times I forget to email and there are times when I email more than once a week, but usually, it’s just once a week.

When starting your email list you need to know if you eventually want to monetize your list. Do you want to promote products that you’re an affiliate for? Or, do you want to tell your list about your projects?

Finally, you need to know the end goal of starting a list. Building a subscriber base takes commitment on your part. These people signed up to your list wanting exclusive content from you. If you can’t deliver that on a long-term basis, you may tarnish your blog and brand.

So, knowing your end goal – to make a living as a blogger, to sell my products, to attract leads to my service etc… – is important in realizing the time commitment needed.

2. Become Familiar With An Email Service Provider (ESP)

There are a lot of email service providers that are free and are paid. Which one is the best for you? I suggest using GetResponse for new bloggers. Let me tell you why.

If you started a blog with the intention of monetizing it, GetResponse can help you achieve that. Yes, it sounds cliché, but it’s the truth. Shortly after starting, I knew I wanted to find an email service provider that was simple enough for me – the non techie person.

You can try out GetResponse for free (up to 1 month). Yes, before you commit to using Getresponse, you can try it out for an entire month for free by using my special link.

Click here to have access for the best autoresponder.

GetResponse has automations to help you grow your blog. What this means is that you can create a free email course or deliver multiple freebies or have a welcome series or an automated sales funnel – to help you grow your blog. Professional templates, easy design tools, and first class deliverability. Pages that convert your traffic and leads into more business. Bring your customer journey to life with automation flows that grow with you.

3. Create an Opt in Freebie

How do you start and email and get people to sign up? Sure, you can ask your mom and your mom can ask her friends and so and so on. But, don’t you want readers from your blog to sign up instead? Those that WANT to learn from you?

To do that, you need to offer them an incentive.

This is called a lead magnet or opt in freebie. Incentives usually solve a problem from your audience. It’s also usually a quick win – something that they can start applying and using that day.

And the best freebies are ones that you would pay for. For me, I’d gladly pay for a book of preschool printable or e-book for business and finance that are theme related. If I can find a blogger offering that for free, I’d gladly sign up to her email list 🙂

But, how do you come up with that amazing freebie idea?

Look at your posts with the most comments or shares. This can tell you that people want to know more about that topic.

Look at other blogs in your niche and see what their opt in freebies are. This can inspire you to create your own.

Look in Facebook groups and see what your audience is asking questions for.

Once you figured out your freebie idea, you need to think about how it’s delivered. Do you want a:

Checklist

Cheat sheet

Video course

Email course

PDF guide

eBook

There are many options to choose from. My suggestions, if this is your first lead magnet I would go with something simple and a quick win.

4. Start Growing Your List

Now that you created a freebie to offer your subscribers, you need to know where to place it on your blog to make sure you get some subscribers. How do you collect subscribers on your blog? With an opt in form.

But, where do you place those forms?

The best place is within a blog post. By doing this, you need to ensure that your opt in freebie relates to what you are talking about.

So, if your post is about 51 Free Date Night Ideas, an opt in freebie might be 5 Date Outfits to Make Your Husband Swoon. A person reading this is interested in some free date options. Since going out requires a nice outfit, you can offer some date outfits as your freebie in the post.

But, you can also promote your freebie at the end of your blog posts. I also do this and sort of treat them as a content upgrade, meaning the freebie I put at the end of a blog post relates to the content you are reading.

When you have some forms on your blog, the next thing you need to do is start promoting it on social media. Facebook and Pinterest are two great platforms to share your opt in freebie.

To share your freebie you need to make a landing page on GetResponse you can make landing pages easily.

Once you have that you can share it on Facebook and Pinterest easily. Some strategies to share your freebie:

Join Facebook groups and Pinterest groups

The best way to grow your traffic is to join groups on Facebook and Pinterest.

Make sure that you share your freebie on the days you can 🙂

Use Personal Headlines on Pinterest

Pinterest users like to see them in pins so if you can relate to them by saying, “I” or “Me” or “My,” it will make a pinner more likely to click on your pin.

Tell a Story in Your Facebook Post

For Facebook, you want to entice a scroller to stop and read your post to click on your freebie. To do that you need to relate to that reader by featuring their problems and telling a story.

When you hook a reader, they are more likely to click over and see what you are talking about. You can start by asking a “yes-type” question. It can relate to a struggle they are having.

Some examples:

Have no time to plan meals?

Up all night with your little one?

Want an easy 1-2-3 method for creating Pin images?

From there you can tell a story about that “yes-type” question. For example, It’s 4:00 pm and you have no idea what to cook for dinner. So what do you do? You go out or you end up eating leftovers (that no one wants!).

From there, you offer the solution (your freebie).

5. Figure Out What You Want to Email Your Subscribers

It’s time to send a newsletter! But, what should it be?

You can tell them about your latest blog post, but that can be a bit boring week after week. Instead, you want to share some exclusive tips to your subscribers.

To help you out, I’ve created a little info graphic of 8 emails you send to your subscribers.

What Experts are Saying About Building an Email List?

Don’t take just our word for it, listen to what all top marketing experts are saying about email marketing:

Out of all the channels I tested as a marketer, email continually outperforms most of them.

– Neil Patel – Crazy Egg and Quick Sprout

Getting an email address is the first critical step to figuring out who my reader is, and hopefully in the future, my customer of some sort.

– Joe Pulizzi – Founder Content Marketing Institute

If you’re not building an email list, you’re making a HUGE mistake.

– Derek Halpern – Founder Social Triggers

Email is the most predictable driver of growth and sales in our business. I prefer email marketing over all other traffic channels.

– Syed Balkhi – Founder WPBeginner

Many expert marketers say their biggest mistake was not building an email list when they first started out.

With all the reasons above, we hope that you’re convinced that building an email list is important for all businesses.

Click here to have access for the best autoresponder.

#affliate marketing #email list #autoresponder #makingmoney

2 notes · View notes

heatherjeff · 4 years ago

Text

2020 Book List

It has been ages since I have written and, like everyone else, there seems to be a bit more unstructured time in my everyday life. It makes perfect sense the impetus for a return to blogging is books, reading is fundamental!

My friend, KDaddy, annually shares the list of books he’s read. The first time I noticed his list I was thrilled, took notes, commented on how happy I was, and proceeded to read many of his recommendations. When it became clear 2020 was going to be a little different books became an even bigger part of my days as well as an escape from the grind of the news and the pandemic.

When KDaddy tagged me with his book list this year, it occurred to me I have a little platform where I can post my own year in review. Books are the best and reading has served me well my whole life, 2020 was no exception.

First, a few facts. This year I read 35 books, for comparison I read 24 in 2019. That makes me happy especially since there are not a million things about 2020 to invoke a sense of accomplishment. I have long kept a book journal since my title and author memory is similar to a sieve. At the start of the pandemic everyone in my house was gifted a kindle, I was not a fan of the plan, paper books are my love language. As this time has worn on, the kindle has proven to be a brilliant and magical purchase. Libby is a completely modern wonder and the next time I am in NYC I will, for sure, treat myself to a library card from that library system.

With no further ado let’s talk books.

Definitely Read:

The Nightingale: A Novel by Kristin Hannah

Two sisters reacted to the unfolding atrocities of WWII in very different ways. Both were fierce, suffered in ways unimaginable to most of us, and illustrated the many ways women are impacted by a war. Such a powerful read.

The Home for Unwanted Girls by Joanna Goodman

Great read based on a true story about a teenager who became pregnant. Her family forced her to give up her baby and it was placed in a mental institution for the sole reason the child was an “orphan”. Many more plot twists follow, this was a gem of a book.

Women in Sunlight: A Novel by Frances Mayes

This book kicked off as total cliche and morphed into complete life goals. Three older women, all single for a variety of reasons, strike up a friendship and move to a Tuscan Villa. I want to be them someday in Italy living with the locals.

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer

YA This came highly recommended from my youngest. It opened his eyes to the world in a huge way and he was very committed to sharing this story with all of us. William is a complete force of nature and against (truly) all odds changes the trajectory or his family, his village, and his life with ingenuity and desire. Love this book so much.

Little Fire’s Everywhere: A Novel by Celeste Ng

Heard so much about this book and completely loved it all. So. Many. Plot. Twists.

Dear Martin by Nic Stone

YA read from my kid, a MUST read. This book was chilling on a 1,000 different levels. Race, police profiling, education, culture- Nic Stone packed it all in and it opened my heart and sparked some good conversations in our home.

Girl, Woman, Other: A Novel by Bernardine Evaristo

This thoughtfully constructed book was a gift from another reader friend and is one of my favorite reads of the year. It shares multiple first person layered viewpoints from British women who span every part of society. Great read.

Dutch House by Ann Patchett

Let’s be clear, I love Ann Patchett. Love. Whenever she authors a new novel I am jazzed and the Dutch House is no exception. The house becomes an actual character in the story and has everything to do with the brokenness of family who moves into it.

Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike by Phil Knight

Unpopular opinion, I am not a fan of Nike. I am a tremendous fan of Phil Knight’s innovation and hustle. Phil is a visionary and expert storyteller.

The Tatowist of Auschwitz: A Novel by Heather Morris

The novel is based on interviews with Lale Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew who used his position of relative privilege to positively impact the lives of as many fellow prisoners as possible. I had to read this book fast since it impacted my sleep, which it should. Incredible read.

American Dirt: A Novel by Jeanine Cummins

Ooofff, this book is hard to read. I started and stopped because I could not sleep and opted to read it during daylight hours only. It is seriously terrifying in a million ways. It is about a family who has to flee from Alcopulcio to the United States due to extreme violence from the local and very well connected drug cartel. This book is a testament to the grit of illegal immigrants and an eye opening read about the terror they face.

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson

True story of Bryan Stevenson’s quest to navigate the criminal justice system in the rural south where he aims to help the most disadvantaged in the system. Timely, eye opening, and full of action items we all need to help with for the betterment of our society.

City of Girls: A Novel by Elizabeth Gilbert

Books by Elizabeth Gilbert are some of my favorites and I was concerned when I started this book, it was a struggle. It came together and I ended up loving it. A story about NYC in the 1940’s centered around a girl/woman who is sent to live with her aunt at her playhouse full of showgirls. It was such an unrelatable read, it transported me to a time I have never really considered and it was a trip worth taking.

Totally Enjoyable:

True Colors by Kristen Hannah

Reads like YA fiction and I loved it. It’s about a ranch family, their horses, land, siblings, their live father and deceased mother. It is not deep and is a fun read.

In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware

This book was intense, fun, & slightly scary. A “hen party” in a, literal glass house, becomes the scene of a murder.

The Queen of Hearts by Kimmery Martin

This is a fun read about two best friends who become doctors together and then the plot thickens. Can’t say more, it is complicated.

Freud’s Mistress by Karen Mack

This was my last library loan before the pandemic. It is a fascinating read based loosely on the dynamics of Freud’s family, drugs, affairs that feel a bit like incest, a huge male ego, this should not sound familiar in any way!

The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

YA, loaner from my kid (which came to my nightstand highly recommended). This is a sweet, sweet love story of two teenagers who have very different backgrounds and lots of big feelings. The whole book takes place over the course of one day.

It All Comes Back to You by Beth Duke

This was a surprise hit and it sucked me in. The story is about a nurse in a retirement community who befriends a resident who lived a big life.

The Queen’s Fortune: A Novel of Desiree, Napoleon, and the Dynasty That Outlasted the Empire by Allison Pataki

I admit, I am a fan of royalty, it is so intriguing and this book was completely spellbinding. The story is based on Napoleon's France and it was messy.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

NF This book is amazing. A poor black woman has cancer cells removed from her body, these rapidly reproducing cells become known as HeLa cells and change the trajectory of modern medicine. There are so many consequences from this seemiling small discovery and the impact to the medical world and to Henrietta’s family are far reaching.

The Woman in the Window: A Novel by A.J. Finn

Read this in one day at the beach, I was sucked into this story of Anna Fox and her salacious neighborhood drama.

The Last Romantics by Tara Conklin

I know I liked this book and made a note about the “pause” taken over the summer when the kids in the family basically ran wild. That’s all I’ve got.

Untamed by Glennon Doyle

There was a ton of hype around this book and it is well deserved. Glennon tells it like it is and, like it or not, she has a lot of points that hit. I read this on my kindle and think I would have liked reading the physical book more.

This is the Story of a Happy Marriage by Ann Patchett

Short stories from Ann Patchett? Yes, 100% yes. The story of her relationship with Lucy, of Truth and Beauty: A Friendship, was wonderful as was the explanation of her book store in Nashville.

After You: A Novel (Me Before You Trilogy) by Jojo Moyes

I have zero idea that Me Before You was a trilogy! It is a total candy read, you are not going to learn much about your soul or the universe, but it is fun and better than TV. And yes, I will read the third book in the trilogy because candy is good!

The Saturday Night Supper Club by Carla Laureano

Also a trilogy, another happy surprise. This book is fun, another candy read, and so appealing. When I was a kid I wanted to have a restaurant so this story made my heart happy. It is a bit too clean, a bit cliche, and an enjoyable read.

Daisy Jones & The Six: A Novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid

This novel will transport you to a land of sex, drugs, and rock and roll. I read this was loosely based on the story of Fleetwood Mac, true or false, this book captures a moment in history and reads a lot like a play and is completely enjoyable.

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

This is the book written before Little Fires Everywhere, similar deal- family strife/mystery, kind of riveting with lots of twists. Solid read.

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed by Lori Gottlieb

NF, look at a therapist who finds herself in need of therapy. It is kind of a russian doll type of read with layers, upon layers, hidden within each other.

With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo

YA, another loaner from my kid. Such a great book about a kid who wants to be a chef and express herself through her cooking. She is a teen mother living with her abuela, it is a heartwarming book and I love the main character’s spirit.

Sidenote: schools around here are closed for the duration yet students can reserve library books and go to the local library of your choice where their school librarians greet them, warmly, in the parking lot for a drive by pick-up. It is a wonderful and much appreciated service being offered to our kids.

Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty

This book is ridiculous, it had a strong start, went sideways but was fun and overall enjoyable. The premise is nine people descend upon an exclusive health retreat. The woman who is in change morphs from motivating to overlord, obviously.

No Thank You:

13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher

YA read, loaner from my daughter. I did not like this one bit, it made sucide seem so glam. Glad I read it and am always happy when my kids share books with me and I will always hate stories of kids’ suffering.

There There: A Novel by Tommy Orange

This book was hard to follow, had too many characters, and there was a very dark thread that I did not enjoy.

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

This book hit me at the wrong time this year. The dystopian nature felt a little too close to home. I know it is a work for the ages but it was all ouch.

Wow, that felt good to reflect on and process. I have never really looked for threads in my own reading and knew a few things already but like seeing the balance of candy books and hard, timely topics. All in all I feel great about my 2020 reading list and hope there are titles that interest or resonate with you too. Here is to libraries reopening someday in the near future so we can browse the shelves with abandon.

#bybye2020 #don't call it a comeback #maybe a comeback

2 notes · View notes

spelldoncauldronello · 4 years ago

Text

RULES

————–

MUTUALS, FOLLOWING, UNFOLLOWING

This blog is Sideblog Friendly! Just let me know it’s you who you are.

I am one of those people that becomes chummy with the people I write with!

We don’t have to be mutuals to RP with me.

We can still RP, even if I unfollow. (unless stated otherwise)

I will not RP or I’ll Discontinue RP if:

I find your character to be extremely OP

I feel forced or badgered to reply

I feel that my partner is inconsistent with the story/ plot/ characters

NSFW:

NSFW is a thing might happen on this blog, but rare at best

All ships must be with writers that are over 18.

NSFW or Questionable posts will also be tagged as such

I will not post NSFW images here, at all. You are safe.

SCHEDULE:

First and foremost, I am a mother of two, a full-time employee, and a wife first.

If I feel a strong muse, I will post rapidly. If I don’t, I might post later or none at all.

My goal is to check in once a week, at least.

THREAD TRACKING AND DROPPED THREADS

I will keep my tracker as updated as I can.

I will post or message before dropping a thread

You and I both have the right to drop a thread at any time.

As mentioned, there will be times where I (or the muse) no longer engaged in the thread. It will be dropped if the posting frequency is too spaced out, or we feel it’s a good place to stop. It does not mean I am bored with you or your muse. Please don’t take it personally.

VERSES

I currently have no other verses besides my MAIN and Default, but I am open to splitting off.

More explanation on verses are on that page/post

All crossovers will be their own verse.

All threads with people with the same character happen in different verses and will be part of default canon. Please see my “about” and “verses” page.

SHIPPING

Canon ship is with the Kieran Valentine. My main is @askthevampireoflove.

I will RP with other Valentines, but asks are referring to my mains unless the asker specify otherwise.

All Kieran Valentine’s are not automatically shipped. All start out as “just met” with initial attraction. The rest depends on RP. I will not auto-ship with any Valentine.

This is a multi-ship-friendly blog (For now).

Mains must be mutual in that status and just as engaged.

Different ships exist in their own verses unless otherwise stated.

I do not ship characters to anyone automatically. Period.

CHEMISTRY AND BUILD-UP is my jam!

Shipping with OC’s is welcome, but will take a lot of building.

TRIGGERS

I, personally, have no particular content triggers.

I will tag triggers and content warnings where requested or where I feel appropriate.

Most will start with tw: —– or cw:——

I may miss triggers because I am human. Sorry in advance. Please let me know.

It is a kids show, but being monsters might cover heavy material that exist in that genre. This blog is no different.

DISCORD RPS & IM’s

I RP and talk on Discord, too. If you would like to RP there, I am always open to thread. Please message me and we can talk about it.

ARTWORK, GRAPHICS, ICONS

Only the artwork that is tagged 💻 Mun Art is mine and drawn by me. All other artwork is tagged as Fan Art.

Items that are tagged as 🔎 Reflections is his official look for this blog.

All current icons and images of the my design was drawn by theycallmekaibara and commissioned by me. I spent my personal money to commission work for this character. I have also spent a lot of my time making his graphics.

DO NOT STEAL OR REPOST COMMISSIONED WORKS!

Please don’t use my icons, banners, or promos without asking.

==============================

ABOUT THE MUN

Name:: Vexxica

Age:: Over 25

Timezone:: Eastern (USA)

Relationship:: Married

Gender:: Cis Female

Pronouns:: She/Her

#iCoffin Pages #Rules

4 notes · View notes

speakvulcantome · 5 years ago

Link

I apologize for this entry, which doesn’t really belong here: it’s a piece of fan fiction, or actually fictional history, with only a slight bit of relevance to the problems this blog is about.

Like many scientists I have a grudging admiration for the Star Trek franchise: grudging because the science is so often silly, and could often have been improved easily without spoiling the stories; admiration because it has created a hopeful vision of the future, some fun stories, and some enduringly interesting characters.

In Discovery we heard about the Logic Extremists, a dissident faction of Vulcans who wanted to leave the Federation. But we didn’t learn much about their core beliefs! They seemed rather similar to the Vulcan Isolationists, who came about a hundred years later. There seemed to be an interesting untold story lurking behind the name.

So, I went to T’Karath and spent a couple of weeks poring through the historical documents on this movement. Here’s a quick sketch of what I found.

In the first half of the 22nd century, the central government had become corrupt, with Romulan operatives infiltrating the Vulcan High Command. Some Vulcans, the Syrannites, attempted to reinstate and develop the original teachings of the Vulcan philosopher Surak. But around 2140, another small group decided that Surak had not developed logic with sufficient thoroughness.

This group of thinkers argued that all deductive reasoning should be formalized, all inductive reasoning should be Bayesian with explicit probabilities on hypotheses, and all decision-making should maximize utility.

This group, who called themselves the Pure Logic movement, moved to Xir’tan and set up a commune there. They began a program of formal concept analysis so that all words would have precise definitions. Before each meal they bowed, seemingly in prayer, but actually to optimize their activities to come. Children were schooled in an even more disciplined way than usual: less high-tech than the skill domes of the 2200s, but with an intense focus on logic, semiotics, probability, and statistics.

Conflicts erupted in 2200 between what we would call Jaynesian-Bayesians and hardcore subjective Bayesians. The former advocated entropy-maximizing priors. The latter argued that no prior counts as “right” without further assumptions, so one is free to start with any prior.

As the Pure Logic movement became established, they spread and set up communes the main continent, especially in Gol, Xial and Raal. They started influencing the political establishment, first locally and then at the federal level.

As this happened, factions with radical positions gradually gained influence. Especially important were the subjective Bayesians who argued that ethics could not be logically derived, so that instead of maximizing utility, a rational agent was free to maximize any chosen quantity. Their motto was remarkably similar to a saying credited to Hume:

From an “is” one cannot derive an “ought”.

Going further, the most extreme subjective Bayesians adopted spreading the Pure Logic movement as their only goal. All decisions were to be evaluated based on how much they furthered the spread of logical thinking. They took a vow to this effect, and pressed this vow on other citizens as a prerequisite for holding office of any sort. Their opponents dubbed them “Logic Extremists”, and the term stuck.

In 2226, in a hard-fought political struggle, these extremists triumphed and completely pushed the Jaynesian-Bayesians and moderate subjective Bayesians out of power. Two years later V’Arak took control: a charismatic leader who asserted with 100% prior probability that the Federation was trying to subvert Vulcan culture and stop the spread of the Pure Logic movement.

Any attempt to reason with V’arak and his supporters, or compromise with them, was interpreted as further evidence of an increasingly elaborate Federation conspiracy. Most Vulcans repudiated this stance, and as the Logic Extremists’ public support shrank they turned to terrorism.

The violence came to a head around 2256, when V’latak (shown below) attempted to assassinate Sarek before the peace talks on Cancri IV, saying:

My sacrifice will be a rallying cry to those who value logic above all. Vulcans will soon recognize and withdraw from the failed experiment known as the Federation.

At this point support for the Logic Extremists rapidly dropped and the movement began to dissipate, though Patar still managed to infiltrate Section 31.

However, the most interesting aspect of the Logic Extremists are their early theoretical writings — especially those of Avarak, and Patar’s father Tesov. They were an extremely bold attempt to plan a society based purely on logic. I hope they’re translated soon.

#radicalism #extremism #logic #extremists #protest #riot #riots #looting #violence #vulcans #logic extremists #vulcan #spock #star trek

10 notes · View notes