#some of u are millennials u have to understand this reference

[ziggystqrdust]

drarry as swan and mercy from the warriors (1979)

horcrux hunt ff + that trope w the stray that just decides they’re part of the group now (they wanna be inaugurated)

[glaivenoct]

( fanfic writer ask game ) ✏️ , 🎧 , 🔬 , ✍🏽 , 🌾 ?

Thank you so much for sending some in! ;u; (Fanfic Writer Asks Here)

✏️ The first fanfiction you ever wrote? (doesn’t have to be a posted fic)

Heh.. back in 2005, a show aired on Discovery Kids that became my favorite show in the history of ever. Wee 9 year old Brina did not understand or even know of the concept of Fandom or Fanfiction - but this show is what I consider my first Fandom ever.

Did any fellow millennials ever watch Flight 29 Down on Discovery Kids (2005-2007)? Man, I loved that show so fucking much. I wrote silly little fics for it in my spare spiral college ruled notebooks! AUs before I even know what an AU was lmao. My favorite was one I called "Agents in Action" where I pretended all the characters in the show were recruited as Secret Agents after being rescued lmao.

I also wrote fics for my favorite ship in the show. Again, I didn't really know what the word ship was, but I knew I liked two characters enough to write fics of them getting together and referring to them with a pairing name. I shipped Jackson/Taylor aka Jaylor! Jackson was the Tall-Quiet-Mysterious foster kid with a questionable past and a sense of being an outsider among his peers, and Taylor was the seemingly shallow rich Mean Girl, who turns out not to be as mean or shallow once you get to know her a little more and she learns some more empathy/self-awareness.

When I wrote these fics, I had no idea what fic even was. But man oh man was it such a happy place for me to write them at the time. I wish I still had them, but I don't know where they went. I used to draw pictures at the back of every page and everything. Good times, good times ;u;

🎧 A certain song you listened to while writing a fic?

MUSIC, YAASS. So! Rare is it for me to make a playlist for just a one-shot, but for my NyxNoct Masquerade Fic I really needed a decent chunk of songs that captured the right vibe to help me write it, if ya know what I mean!

Young and Beautiful is the star of that playlist. I not only imagined Nyx and Noct dancing to the song in the fic, but the playlist also features two different instrumental versions of it too! It was such a big help with that fic uwu.

🔬The fic you had to make the most research for?

Hmm.. there's honestly 3 contenders for this, and the Masquerade fic is definitely one of them - but that was research in the sense of looking up a lot of visuals for inspiration. Outfits/ballrooms/mask designs and things like that

The second has to be cagefighter AU because of the fight scenes. I looked up articles about boxing rings/MMA tournaments/different styles of martial arts and things like that. I think I put at some point in the fic that Nyx leans more towards a boxing style while Noct kinda knows a mix of things thanks to Cor. Come the next time I need to write a fight scene, I'll probably be looking up martial arts/self defense videos again. Which is usually fun for me!

The third would have to be my old and Very Incomplete NyxNoct Wings AU that only has one chapter and no proper plot to this day ;u; Researching wing anatomy and all that. Visual references for different wing designs too.

✍🏽 How much do you plan your fics beforehand?

If we're talking about outlines, never have I ever in my fic life done a proper outline ^^; I'm very "I have all the backstory in my head, the rest of the details of the actual plot will unfold as I go" :'D

🌾 A fic you really want to write but you haven’t (yet)?

So Many ;u; but right now, the main things on my radar after I finish the current WIP are: -An assassination attempt prompt that's been sitting in my inbox for too long -A new possibly probably definitely spicy NyxNoct fic ideally for Valentine's Day. Buuut there's a good chance I chicken out of that one and try writing the next chapter of Cagefighter AU instead.

If I add anything else, I'll be getting too ahead of myself and overwhelmed lol. To anyone who's sent me prompts in the last several months: bear with me please I swear. I either get them done sorta quick or... Not Quick.

Thank you again for indulging me with these! ;u; <3

[chlorine-and-daisies]

so i've been known to make crowley reference songs in my fics, and to allow my own voice to influence the way i write him, AND also to dabble in jpop.

combined, this means i've been longing to fit an OTAHEN Anthem reference into a story somewhere.

and I just CAN'T bring myself to shove it in.

not because i CAN'T see a version of crowley who would quote lines like "today i've brought all u fans ur favorite food!!" and "i'm ur sacred best girl i'm THE justice (no way, no way!)" and even "don't care who, just someone gimme human rights please!"

a chaotic and passionate song from a video game that satirizes "idol hell" and also samples some classical music should be PERFECT for Crowley, right up his alley.

BUT.

the way the song sort of simmers, the way it incorporates fandom slang, the quick mood changes. it comes across to me as very gen z, very internet. And IDK. Because NOWADAYS a very queer portrait of chaos in MY generation has a good 75% chance of being or having been a terminally online weeb. (Guess where on that pie chart I fall.) And again, IDOL HELL.

But in CROWLEY'S generation? Bc the writers have one even though he theoretically shouldn't. He makes some fledgling references to what would become game and internet culture ("Game Over, Insert Coin," the selfies, "That was a thing"). BUT sometimes it seems like he hasn't moved beyond the Millennial understanding of the internet.

And I know the writers aren't, for lack of better words, young and unstable enough to really make him Go There.

So I have a hard time making him go all in on the "urya oi!" especially in a canon-compliant fic, just because I know I would never see ANYTHING at all like it on screen, or in Anyone Else's fic.

I wonder if any other go fic authors struggle with something like this when they're trying to bridge the gap of their own experience and what they like, with what Crowley should theoretically be like and how he is on screen?

I don't have nearly as much trouble giving references to Aziraphale bc he just likes what he likes.

Just a little rant for the night :)

[lqfiles]

i love yapping💓

she def has a lot of good songs but there are so many points made where she’s directly profiting her songs on whichever genre is currently popular and she’s gotten to a point where everything she does now INCLUDING her choice of partners is so clearly for the plot.. not to mention her fake ass activism. (we all know damn well she has the power to speak up for palestine considering how she swayed the 2020 elections w her silly political bf at the time, but she won’t.) her millennial fans are unbearable but to know that there are people my age that love her the same way.. 😰 i won’t deny she does have talent but it only feels reflected in her older songs like folklore and prior (im a bitch for cardigan i eat it up everytime BUT EVEN THEN it coincided w her sudden interest in phoebe/boygenius etc. just like her current fixation w lana???)

ANYWAYS my point is that i don’t like her as a person i couldn’t care less ab her music my issue w her was never ab the music but a lot of her discography does reflect her as a person anyway BUT TO KNOW.. THAT MY ONE OF MY FAVORITE FANFICS… HAS SO MANY REFERENCES TO HER…. IDGAF HOW NON CANON IT WAS IN WHAT UNIVERSE IS EREN JAEGER A SWIFTIE 💔

and what is this about.. dreamzens being swifties… there are like duo edits i can understand being edited to her songs.. but bday edits…

—🪼

i forget how influential she is.. i didn’t know she was THAT influential to influence elections tho?? that’s crazy and you’re so right, this can be said for so many celebs, they have no issue speaking on other political issues but reposting a simple free palestine is too hard? genuinely what can do they lose? most of them are millionaires anyways 😭 her fans feel unreal to me lolll the amount of videos i’ve seen on insta and twt and tiktok of her fans freaking out about her music and having a breakdown is quite funny like the song is THAT good??? really?? also i need to hear more about this profiting off trends to and her bf point 👀 are u saying she is dating that current bf for publicity or to add to her lore? KINDA NEED TO KNOW THE TS LORE NOW i’ve heard stuff here and there and a lot of people seem to dislike her i just don’t know the background lore at alllll ALSO EREN YEAGER A SWIFTIE IS SO HDHSJSHSK 😭😭😭😭

and yesssss i know tiktok is full of edits with ts songs on the regular but some twitter users love to make birthday edits using her songs i remember someone pointed it out like “can dreamzens find another artist to make birthday edits to” lmaoooo its very common, she is loved in dreamville

[realnoira]

You don’t understand how hard I cringe when I hear someone saying shit like “childhood trauma can manifest in adulthood” or “hurt people hurt people”. Like… yeah Sherlock, thanks for unlocking the most basic concept in emotional intelligence. Don’t fucking talk to me you’re a moron if you think that’s news.

Also this is completely unrelated but I recently have been feeling strongly towards millennials who act like millennials and try too hard to seem quirky and approachable, I just want them to fucking relax it’s making me sad. I know how exhausting it is to have to put on that bubbly happy persona to appear okay and the desperate need to keep everyone happy and to be perceived well. I can see how exhausting that is to them. I just wanna tell them it’s fine you literally don’t have to it’s ok, but ofc that’ll never register because the damage is already done. I’m a millennial too but I’m like a pick-me millennial cuz I’m not like the other ones. I do feel exactly the same need to control and keep everyone happy and pretend everything is ok as they do but I’m disgustingly aware of so I try not to act on it, still feels shitty though.

Another unrelated thing is that I’ve recently been so annoyed with people who fucking suck at maintaining a normal conversation online. I’m specifically referring to online conversations with people you don’t know very well (AKA not your friends). It infuriates me how, not just zero, but negative effort some people are willing to put in. This level of laziness is such an insta turn off to the entire dead boring interaction. If you start a conversation with “hi” or anything similar to that, or a random qUirKy gif, or worst of fucking all… a song, I’m instantly mad. Instant resentment. Blacklisted. That’s so fucking boring oh my god I want to scream. You’re dumping all of the conversation carrying on the other person. What this says is “I’m so fucking boring there’s no interesting way I can start a conversation with you but I want to, so I need you to do the carrying”. Please stop. Why would you think someone would find it interesting to interact with that? If someone does, then they’re boring as fuck too maybe you two are fit. It’s infuriating because people don’t realize how bad this makes them look. In my experience it’s either that or a sudden trauma dump that nobody fucking asked for. Y’all need help. Sick and tired of letting all that crap pass by. NO MORE! I WILL SHAME U INTO BECOMING DECENT CONVERSATIONERS MFs.

[rivaltrainer]

ok so i got extremely sick this week and made some bad decisions. this was an infuriating experience for many reasons but if u want to hear my thoughts:

i hateread things often because i like to be an informed hater but i ended up enjoying…. parts of gtn and htn (i’m halfway through nona). the truly aggravating part was the writing style because it feels like any moment of tension is ALWAYS ALWAYS undercut by some cringeworthy 2014 tumblr joke. the worst example was by far the none pizza with left beef joke that made me so angry i had to put down the book for multiple hours. i understand the humor of god being a cringe millennial but come the fuck on. people have died

that being said there was actually a lot i liked here once i got past the writing… harrow is great ianthe is great (but could be eviler) gideon is… usually great but again held back by the incessant tumblr references and funnyman writing style and homestuck inspiration. on the topic of ianthe with the way my friends talk about her i expected her to be so much worse but she’s not even a character i “love to hate” or whatever… i just liked her. she was funny and maybe slightly more evil than the other characters but EVERYONE is evil in this series so who really gives a fuck honestly. i can only imagine she gets this controversial reputation because of her thing for harrow which is HILARIOUS and everyone who hates on her for it is lying when they say they want evil lesbians. she tried to create a love triangle w harrow and gideon not knowing that harrow and gideon are already in a love triangle with a dead body... this was the exact reason i caved and read this series i wanted to see lesbians act insane

other than that the worldbuilding is… abstract? like it’s fine i guess but this series deals a LOT in abstractions. in a similar vein a lot of gideon’s backstory is made up of abstractions… we’re told a lot more about harrow’s childhood in htn but gideon’s is kind of vague and fuzzy and while we know harrow treated gideon terribly we’re not given specifics on HOW terribly harrow treated her or how terribly gideon treated her back… which annoyed me a bit

anyway idk if i would call it “good” but it’s silly and one of few scifi/fantasy books starring lesbians so i’ll take what i can get (everyone go read this is how you lose the time war rn.) it was clearly created in a lab for people who had middle school experiences like me so. i’ll probably finish nona i guess

if the fun lesbian book drought doesn’t improve soon i’m gonna have to read the locked tomb. sorry

[dweetwise]

Hi! Can I request a hc where David, Jeff and frank have an s/o who has peak gremlin hen z energy? Like they make so many jokes about ‘kermitting self-death’ or squaring up to a killer and t-posing (as the killer in question then picks them up and throws them across the map as the s/o sCREAMS) I need me some good old fashioned gremlin reader ngl. Love ur work and I hope u have a good day! :)

i’m like painfully out of the loop with memes but i tried my best ok 😭

David, Jeff & Frank X memelord!reader

David

David is like boomer level bad with technology despite his young age. He’ll have no idea what you’re talking about most of the time, and only realizes what a meme even is after you go all the way back to “I can has cheezburger” times.

He’s 100% onboard with your insanity though. Want to throw a trial and t-pose on a hill until the killer sees you? David is going to be standing at the foot of the hill illuminating you with a flashlight for added luls.

You ask David to help you loot every chest in the trial and take the items to the basement into a big pile. When he asks why and you simply cross your arms and respond with “Stonks”, he shrugs and does it anyway.

When he outplays the killer, you give him a big smooch and tell him he’s “Such a Chad”. Confused, he reminds you that his name is David.

David appreciates your TikTok dances and will sometimes join in, often adding some lewd moves to the choreography, until the other survivors are wheezing from laughter at your combined efforts.

Jeff

Jeff is a well-read millennial, known to indulge in memes every now and then. He gets some of your references, and when he doesn’t, you get to call him a boomer so it’s a win-win.

Imagine you, dodging Huntress hatchets and yelling “Yeet!” every time she misses one, with a concerned Jeff running after the killer and trying to take aggro.

Jeff just accepts that sometimes your brain defaults to memes before actual words. If you’re together in a trial and your eyes go wide and you croak out a “Monka s”, Jeff immediately knows it’s a stealth killer coming your way.

Jeff doesn’t really get insecure about his size, but he still finds it endearing when you snuggle up to him and call him your thicc boi.

You absolutely lose your shit when one trial, you and Jeff see Meg get brutally moried nearby and Jeff just utters a simple “F”.

Frank

Frank is from the 90′s and super out of the loop through no fault of his own. So when you first start talking in references he doesn’t understand, he snaps at you, thinking you’re taunting him.

As he starts picking up on the context, he’s quick to adopt a lot of the terminology and becomes a huge menace to the other killers, egging you on to join him.

When you boop the Pig’s snoot and she roars, Frank screeches and picks you up and you both run away laughing.

You approach Frank after a bad trial, when he’s just sitting in a corner and appears to be sulking. “Frank?” you try, reaching a hand toward him. “Am angy,” he says with a pout, but the corners of his mouth keep twisting up as he tries not to laugh.

You see Jake take a hit for an injured Dwight and Frank, frustrated, snarks out a “Quit simping for Dwight!”. It ends in both survivors downed on the ground while they look at Frank with varying levels of disbelief and you try not to laugh.

[greatfay]

since ur answering asks and shit can u explain what u meant by generational differences in communication

Damn it’s like 2015 tumblr when my inbox used to be WET. So if you’re talking about the controversial opinions post, YES, like I totally understand where people are coming from when they say that generational divides aren’t real (because they aren’t, they’re arbitrary) and distract us from real problems and yes they paint past generations as collectively bigoted when Civil Rights protestors in the 60s (who are in their 70s and 80s now) are mirrors to BLM protestors today, who could be of any age, but the most vocal and famous (at least online, especially irt to the founders, like Patrisse Cullors who is 37.

But how we communicate is sooooo different. I really point to the Internet and Social Media as a major influence in how younger millennials (more Tom Hollands and less Seth Rogans—see even there, I feel like there are two different types of Millennials) and Gen Zrs/Zoomers and even Generation Alpha behave and communicate. We live in a world where we grew up either knowing right out the gate or discovering the hard way that what we say and do has permanence, the kind of permanence that prior generations have never experienced until today. The dumb things kids have been saying since forever can now follow them... forever. We have an inherent understanding of how online spaces work. Compare that to, idk, let’s say you posted on your Facebook (for the first time in 18 months) “All these big and bad grown ass Senators going after actual child Greta Gerwig lol ok, you’re so brave for attacking a CHILD over climate change” and then your aunt, who’s turning “forty-fifteen” in May replies to your post with “So happy to see my passionate niece! Much love from us, hope you’re doing well. Paul is doing great, waiting on his screening results. Tell your mom I said we miss her, we need to get together, we forgive her for last Christmas.”

Like... ok there’s a lot going on there, but your hypothetical aunt is oversharing on a publicly accessible post. And even with the most strict of privacy settings, she’s oversharing where your other Facebook friends (which may include classmates, coworkers, etc.) can see. But she’s saying things that would only be appropriate in a 1-on-1 conversation. This Aunt doesn’t have an understanding of such boundaries, she’s not as technologically literate and hasn’t grown up in a world of Virtual Space, she still gets most of her news from TV, she trusts what a reporter on Channel 4 will read off a script more than what actual video footage of an incident might reveal on Twitter, and she has no clue that she’s been sharing her location data with every post she makes.

There’s such a huge difference. I think it even affects how we experience and express stress and frustration. I think growing up partially in online spaces has made me more accustomed to conflict and consequence-free arguing than someone who never had to worry about that. I’ve been exposed so much to harassment and bullying, triangulating and echo chambers in forums and threads, and vastly opposing point of views at such an early age that it’s had an effect on how I see the world. Compare this to a customer I helped two weeks ago who was looking for a specific type of supplement for children. I found it for her, I handed her exactly what she was looking for, even though her description of the product actually matched several different products; to make sure I’d done my job thoroughly and that she leaves happy and satisfied and doesn’t bother me again, I then show her more products that match her description so that she knows she has options. And she proceeds to freak out, saying “NO, NO, I’M LOOKING FOR [X] AND IT HAS TO BE [XYZ]” and when I say freak out, she looked stressed and PANICKED. And being a retail employee wears you down bit by bit, and add COVID on top of it and little shit like this makes you snap, sometimes. So I have to cut her off like “Why are you screaming and freaking out, jfc you’re holding what you said you wanted. It’s in your hands. I gave you what you wanted, I’m just showing you more things.”

That customer is not an exception, she’s not a unique case. She’s representative of a frightening percentage of her generation, the kids who watched Grease and The Breakfast Club and Ghost in theaters when they were originally released. This is how they communicate and process information. She could not, for some reason, register that her need had been fulfilled, and defaulted to an extreme emotional response when given new and different information.

I’ve yet to deal with someone younger than 35 act the same way, the exceptions being the kids of very wealthy people at my new job who reek of privilege I gag when they walk in—but even they are like *shrugs* “ok whatever” and understanding when there’s something I can’t do for them.

Me: “sorry, we are totally out of that one in your size, but I can order it for you, it’s 2-3 day shipping at no cost to you and we ship it straight to your house”

A rich, white, attractive 22-year-old who’s had access to organic food, a rigorous dermatologist, and financial security since she was born: “mmm... sure, I’ll order it”

A 47-year-old of any socioeconomic background, of any race, in the same situation: “AHHHHHHHHHHH”

I just think it’s crazy how three generations of kids and young adults raised in a world where everything moves so much faster, where knowledge and entertainment and communication can be gathered so much faster, are often so much more polite and patient and understanding. Yesterday I told an older man (mid-50s) whose native tongue is the same as mine, as clearly and succinct as possible, that what he’s looking for is “in aisle 4.” He proceeded to repeat back, “Aisle 7?” four time before I dropped everything to show him what he needed in aisle 4, despite his insistence that he didn’t need me to walk him there. 4 and 7 sound nothing alike in English. There’s just something going on up there 🧠 that’s different.

Oh, other generational divides!!! We have different approaches to labor and working. Totally different! I’m a “young” millennial where I’m almost Gen Z, and I’ve noticed an awful trend among my demographic where people actually brag about working 90 hour work weeks. Or brag about how they skip breaks and live on-call to get the job done for “the hustle” like this “hustle, become a millionaire by 30″ culture that’s dominated these kids, idk where tf that came from. Like why are you proud of being a wage slave, getting taken advantage of by your millionaire/billionaire overlords. Compare this to my mother’s generation (she’s a borderline Genius X’er, she and her best friend were a year too young to watch Grease when it came out and had a random older woman buy tickets for her; she went to Prince concerts, took photos of him, then sold the photos on buttons at school, that’s her culture and teenage experience), where she’s insistent on her rights and entitlements as an employee, and these things she instilled me: “whatchu mean they didn’t schedule a break for you and you’re working 12 hrs today? oh no, you’re off, don’t answer your phone cuz you are NOT available!” There are Gen X’ers who entered the workforce at a time that America was drifting toward this corporate world, with more strictly defined regulations, roles, and understandings of labor rights (and also, let’s talk about how the 80s there was so much more attention on workplace harassment, misogyny and gender divides in wage gaps, etc. etc... not that much has changed, but at least it was talked about!). There are young people today who are taken advantage of because they aren’t as informed or don’t feel as secure and valuable enough to claim what belongs to them.

At the same time, those generations (Gen X and older) have a different viewpoint of hierarchies in the workplace and respect irt our direct supervisors. That’s how you get this blurring of boundaries between Work Life and one’s Personal Life that leads to common tropes in media written by their generations, where oh no! I’m having my boss over for dinner and the roast beef is still defrosting :O is such a “relatable thing” for them... meanwhile us younger generations are like I don’t even like that you know where I live, and if I see your 2017 Honda Civic pass my place one day, we’re going to have a problem. I think older generations have a different relationship with the word “Respect” than we do. Like, my grandma, who’s turning 87 (?) this year, and the other seniors in my area, they have a different concept of honor and an expectation of professional boundaries that I, and my mom and her generation, just don’t see (so then there’s something in common with Gen X’ers and the rest of us.) My dad grew up in a world where talking and acting like George Bailey and knocking on someone’s door with a big smile could get you a job, a job that could pay for college and rent no problem. My mom grew up in a world that demanded more prestige, where cover letters and references could get you into some cushy jobs if you’re persistent and ballsy enough. And I grew up in a world where potential employers literally don’t see your face when you apply unless they lurk on any social media profiles you have publicly available and they hold all the cards, and you need all those CVs and reference letters just to make minimum wage... so I feel like I am powerless in the face of such employers.

[literature-islit]

Cory Doctorow - Little Brother & Homeland (2020)

I was certainly not the only person both frightened and intrigued by reports of millennial being stalked and finding dead bodies while messing about with an app called Randonautica (which I would most certainly NEVER EVER download to my phone and view kind of on par with ouija boards - but I’m highly superstitious and get bad vibes from it lol)

But researching randonautica (and by researching I mean spending a whole hungover Sunday obsessively scrolling the associated reddit page and the supernatural forum on 4chan) introduced me to the work of ex randonautica founder (probably not the right descriptor but u get me right lol) Nick Hinton, and his theory that the world ended in 2012.

you may remember the hype

From Mandela Effect Facebook groups, to conspiracy forum threads devoted to the CERN facility, the idea that there was some kind of timeline jump in 2012 that has led to life not being quite the same since is surprisingly quite common... 

... but, I have to say, I don’t buy it. 

What I think is happening, instead, is that technology and technological advancements have been moving so fast, that we’re all too busy racing to catch up to really recognise what an impact and change it has had on the way we live, the way we interact with the world, and how the bombardment of stimulus from all the screens we browse simultaneously changes our relationship with our reality (less present in our moment, geographically and in time; spending more time sucked into vortexes of news, communication and advertisement). I read books supposedly set in the present time, and watch TV shows, but aside from the fact that people use iPhones and stuff I don’t think anything has accurately captured what it truly means and feels like to live in this day and age, and I think maybe some people are a little in denial about it. 

Enter... Cory Doctorow and this masterful collection of two of his books Little Brother, and the sequel Homeland. 

Let me keep this review short and sweet, because there isn't much to say except that YOU HAVE TO READ THIS BOOK. 

But amid the amnesia-inducing automatic refreshment of news feeds of all social media corporation varieties, it is so REFRESHING AND REASSURING to have a thick volume of corporeal text in my hands that encapsulates EXACTLY the events that happened between 2008 and 2015, and puts them together in such a way that really makes sense of what has happened to our world. 

Maybe it’s controversial to feel that way. There’s certainly a lot of idealistic thought contained here (and its YA fiction, so some of it is incredibly unrealistic, such as the protagonist taking on the entire US DHS) that governments and corporations have had plenty of column space to teach us how to reason our way out of agreeing with, and Wikipedia even informs me that it was pulled from one high school reading list because its themes were too much about questioning authority.

And maybe my love for it is a little bit romanticised and personal, because the events and the technologies and the talking points it references are EXACTLY the things that were current in my life throughout the years of 2008 and 2015; I was this awkward kid with my nose buried in my MacBook and always searching, always exploring more and more and more, and things like Occupy Wallstreet and stuff WERE my culture, in a way, because I saw them happen on the internet in real time. 

And (I could continue this tangent forever) maybe it’s kind of messed up that these things I experienced only through the medium of the screen can mean so much to me when I wasn’t there physically... but it means a lot to me, all the same, to see them recounted and reappraised because they are happenings that I have no physical objects to solidly prove they happened, and people like my parents are probably not even aware they happened, but they were formative to me all the same. 

And also the fact that we sure are not living in 2015 any longer, and the time that the book is set in doesn't exist, and still lots of media and stuff haven't caught up, is also strange to think about. Technology is superseded all the time and I’m sure that kids turning 18 today feel like they’re growing up in an even crazier and more unique time, and i don’t know, maybe i have to tune in to TikTok or something to fully understand what it is like for them, or maybe one of them will pick up pen and paper and write a book about it some day so i can learn and relate, despite creative writing degrees being severely defunded by the government. 

I hope they do.

But i’ll keep this summary short sharp and sweet and just say - please. Please read this book. It is one of a kind. It is a little soppy and cliche in the vein of most YA. it has a bit of a male-wish-fulfilment vibe about the protagonist’s girlfriend. BUT. It’s fantastic and heartbreaking and incredible all the same. AMAZING AMAZING 10 STARS.

[dragracereviews]

My Ultimate Top 10 Favorite Drag Race Queens

#10 - Kameron Michaels: NGL, Kameron is partially on this list because I would fuck her in a heartbeat. I actually plan on making a list later of queens I would sleep with in and/or out of drag and you will definitely find Miss Michaels high on there. I’ve seen her live on the Werq the World tour and I 100% regret not getting Meet and Greet though I probably would’ve just drooled on her and made a fool of myself so maybe it’s better that I didn’t. It’s a known fact that Kameron is an incredible lip syncer (if you haven’t watched season 10, please do so just to see her in action because honestly, she’s one of the few good things about that season) and she did NOT disappoint. Her dancing was only beat out by Vanjie who you may or may not see later on this list. Kameron if you’re out there reading this (LOL, we all know she isn’t) and you ever feel like experimenting with an actual biological woman, hit me up!

#9 - Sharon Needles: And here we have another attractive man out of drag! Sharon was the OG underdog and while I’m not going to sit here and bash Phi Phi O’Hara because she’s actually talented AF (checkout her Harry Potter cosplay, it’s soooo good), Sharon definitely didn’t deserve all the shade thrown at her on season 4. Her drag aesthetic has always been equals parts spooky and equal parts fabulous, but she’s actually improved over the years and it’s made me love her even more. My favorite Sharon moment ever is during a “Queens Reading Mean Comments” video on WOWPresents’ Youtube channel where someone said they liked her old teeth better and she just goes, “Well my old teeth just looked ridiculous with my new lips!” Get ‘em, girl.

#8 - Jinkx Monsoon: I want Jinkx to be my mom. There, I said it. Also, if you don’t get that reference, get your shit together and subscribe to WOW Presents on Youtube you fucking bumpkin. Jinkx was the loveable weirdo on her season and received a lot of hate from her fellow queens but I loved her from the start. I have since forgiven Roxxxy Andrews for her cattiness because of her rudemption on All Stars 2 (insert her Read U Wrote U verse here) but nothing was more satisfying than watching Jinkx go from the underdog to America’s Next Drag Superstar. I don’t know what’s more iconic; her tendency to fall asleep at inopportune times, her laugh, or all the jokes about her being a full blown swamp witch. Either way, it will always be Monsoon season in my eyes.

#7 - Nina West: Hands down, the DEFINITION of Miss Congeniality! This choice was so obvious, I don’t even know why they took a vote. I think that even if they left it up to the fans, it would’ve been her. I fucking LOVE Nina. I’ve actually met her IRL and my first thoughts were 1: she’s HUGE (hello, she’s a six foot tall man in like 6 inch heels and I’m barely over five feet) and 2. she just radiates happiness! She is the only queen I’ve met that asked me my name (though shout out to Plastique Tiara for calling me gorgeous as if she’s not the most beautiful creature on the planet) and she didn’t make me feel like an idiot when I just stared at her adoringly and just word vomited “you’remyfavoriteiloveyousomuch”. Class act people!

#6 - Bianca del Rio: Do I even need an explanation for this one? Hands down, the undisputed winner of season 6, and that’s coming from a die-hard ***** fan (see entry #2). Did she wear the same silhouette 10+ times? Yes. Can she kind of be a bitch sometimes? Definitely. But is she the funniest fucking person alive? Probably! My love for Bianca is infinite but I still wouldn’t want her to read me, at least not in person. Actually, scratch that, I’ve seen her Twitter feed and getting read online is almost worse. I fucking love Hurricane Bianca and the sequel even though it’s one of those so-bad-it’s-good type of film series. I sadly missed her last tour because it was the same night as Sasha Velour’s Smoke & Mirrors show and as amazing as Sasha was, my heart was broken that I couldn’t go to both. But you better believe the next time she’s in town, I’m forking out lots of $$ for VIP and I may or may not faint at Bianca’s feet #noregrets

#5 - Vanessa Vanjie Matteo: Mother. Fucking. Vanjie. OKAY, I’ve met this bitch IRL and let me tell you, she is the cutest fucking thing. Like Nina, it shocked me how apparent it is that she’s a man (square jaw, hello?) but she can still paint for filth and look fishy AF even with her boyish features. Also, AMAZING performer! I waited 3 hours after the M&G for her to actually come on stage and perform only two songs (that’s a story for another day) but let me tell you, it was worth the fucking wait. I showered that bitch with Canadian monopoly money and I would’ve given her more if I wasn’t such a broke millennial. And to top the whole night off, I got woken up at 5 am to my friend screaming because Vanjie had reposted my photo in her story so I was essentially Instagram famous for all of like, a day. Thanks girl xo

#4 - Bendelacreme: I love me some Dela. This queen proved in both her regular season and All Stars that she is a force to be reckoned with. Season 6 wouldn’t have been the same without her and did I want to yell at Darienne Lake for being a bitch to her? Absolutely! (Gia Gunn pun intended) And I honestly think that if she hadn’t eliminated herself, she would’ve won AS3 (though if you read my #1 entry, I am 100% satisfied with who did win). She completely deserved her Miss Congeniality title, and while I see where the others AS3 queens were coming from when they suspected she was trying a little too hard to keep up that image, I did appreciate her trying to play the game with some class, because we don’t see that often on Drag Race. I also love her friendship with Jinkx and it’s definitely on my bucket list to see one of their shows one day. You know what they say, the Creme always rises to the top!

#3 - Brooke Lynn Hytes: Full disclosure, I’m Canadian but that’s not the only reason why I love Brooke (she is the Queen in the North though, and I’ll fight you if you say otherwise). This queen is fucking TALENTED! Season 11 would have failed without her, IMHO. She can design and sow a complete outfit, read people to filth, sort of sing (I still listen to Queens Everywhere daily, especially her verse), dance circles around ANYBODY, and lip sync like her mother fucking life depends on it. Did she, by the end of the season, forget that’s there’s more to a lip sync than being on pointe? Yes, absolutely. But that doesn’t change the fact that she is literal perfection and I think that’s why Ru gave Yvie the crown instead of her (though I love Yvie so don’t come for me). Brooke’s biggest downfall was the fact that she wasn’t relatable and I am 100% okay with that. Sometimes you just have to worship the unattainable. The only issue I have with Brooke is her and Vanjie not being officially together anymore because yes, I am one of those fans that ship queens together, especially queens that have actually dated. I will never get over #Branjie, just saying.

#2 - Adore Delano: "I'm a fucking Libra!" As soon as these words left her mouth, I knew I was in love with Adore Delano. Season 6 is by far my favorite season (spoiler alert if I decide to make a Top 10 Best Seasons list) and if it weren't for my #1 pick, she would 100% have the top spot. Hell, before I discovered WOW Presents, she WAS my #1 pick (read my next entry to understand what I mean). Adore is simultaneously adorable (pun intended) and fierce AF. She's beautiful, hilarious, and did I mention beautiful?! She is the reason I say "party" at inappropriate times. She is the reason I wish I was a Libra instead of a fucking Scorpio. She is the reason I insist everybody start their first Drag Race binge with season 6 because I know they’ll fall in love with her as much as I have. Adore, if you’re reading this, I fucking adore you.

#1 - Trixie Mattel & Katya Zamolodchikova: Of course these two are tied as my number one spot. Individually, these queens are fucking fierce and extremely talented (go download Trixie's country albums if you don't believe me), but together they are pure gold. If you've only ever watched their run on season 7, you probably don't understand why I love them so much, so do yourself a favor and go watch All Stars 2 & 3, as well as their web shows "UnHhhh", "The Trixie & Katya Show", and “Queens Who Like To Watch”. I can even give you a list of other stand alone videos of them to watch (ex. "Besties for Cash", "Fashion Photo Review", compilation videos of the pair in Palm Springs... I think you get the gist). Truth be told, I'm absolutely obsessed with these two, so much so that I may or may not have indulged in some online fan fiction about them from time to time...don’t judge me, okay?! I love a friends-turned-lovers love story, and I know I’m not the only one wishing #Trixya would happen IRL. I've also shelled out so much money to Trixie alone on her merch and makeup, and I'm waiting very impatiently for them to go on tour together so I can go full Futurama and just scream "take my money" as I buy the most VIP package they have. Trixie and Katya are the ultimate definition of All Stars and I'll fight anyone who says otherwise.

[freshleadprovider]

As a service provider, I share my observations from many of your comments and site audits.

Daily, I find many posts about optimization problems and few of you contact me directly for help. You seem to be confident (in some instances, very confident) about your website but, still wonder why it's not performing good. I have following points to share (all points may not apply to all of you): Search Intent. Few of your websites are doing good in handling search intent but, many of you need to improve on this. This is a very vital factor. Many of you argue that you have written a lengthy content but, I see that it does not properly match search intent hence your efforts are wasted. So, make sure to understand searchers intent and accordingly build content. Keywords. Keywords help top or tank your site's rankings. Period. Merely interspersing keywords in your content is not enough. Their contextual relevance, placement and style also matters. Judiciously use them in titles, meta descriptions, headings and through out the content. Some of you are still doing keyword stuffing. Avoid them. Say no to keyword stuffing. Content quality. You seem to be confident about content quality because the website is your baby and you look it from your perspective. Trust me, I was in the same boat. But, when I reached people for feedback, I was amazed to learn different perspectives. I will not get into details about 'quality' as it differs from case to case. But, with reference to your specific context, I found many of your website's content can be optimized for best. Think about it - if your content is strong then why isn't it ranking? And, every other ranking factor depends on content, including speed. Google favors quality content over speed. What's the point of having a super speed load of a page and having all greens for CWV when content itself is not worthy enough? Content length. Some of you think writing lengthy content is good for SEO. It's a myth to write a long content. Content length must depend on your audience tastes. For instance, if your target audience is millennials, do you thing writing 3k words will attract them? They hardly have an attention span for 1k words and if you give them 3x of that, they just bounce. There are pages/blogs that have 500-1000 words and still outrank greater number of words pages'. So, decide on content length keeping in mind your target users. Quality over quantity matters. Content type. Most of you only depend on blogs. Well, if a video is more relevant, then leverage that medium. Don't just stick to writing blogs. And, if SERP shows videos for your targeted search intent, then writing blog does not have a chance to rank at the top. And, now a days even podcasts are appearing on the scene. Think of alternatives that best suit your audience. Thin content. Some overdo with content and others have hardly enough content. When this is the situation, what will the page rank for? Without sufficient content, it's impossible to rank. I also noticed product collection/category pages and product details page with hardly any description and for some even that was missing! All you have is a dump of images with 7-10 words of product description which is not compelling enough to take an action. Even product details page do not have description, just product specification details. They will not convert. Titles. This is one of the key areas for improvement, after content, as they are gateway to your page. Keyword stuffing is a common problem. And, to my shock, I even found unrelated words in titles. Your titles can be much, much, optimized for the best. You hardly get a second or two's attention for it. Don't just copy competition, be unique and make sure they are impressive. Meta description. Same as titles, they are gateway to your page. Hence, make them compelling enough to take an action. Describe about the page as best as you can. Don't stuff keywords. I even found grammatical mistakes. These small things make a big impression. Make sure to convey your intent within first 25 words matching search intent with impressive wordings. Page Headings. Where are your H1s and H2s? Some of your sites don't even have H1s. WTH? Few of your sites have just a dump of images at the top with hardly any good description. That's not acceptable. Every page must have a good title that must be contextually related to the page. And, do use sub-headings to describe sections. Avoid "Welcome" headings in the home page. Image's ALT attribute value. Most of my audits find either missing or improper or keyword stuffing for 'ALT' attribute values. This is not good. Well, I agree that all images need not have a value but, where required provide a good value. Again, avoid keyword stuffing and writing two or three words just for sake of providing a value. Rather, describe about the image. User Experience (UX) And User Interface (UI). Most of your websites have good user interface but, lack in user experience. And, few need a lot of optimization for both of them. Actually, UX encompasses UI but, many treat them differently hence specifying them separately. There's and art and science behind UX & UI. This is a specialization in itself. Make sure to have a wow factor. Expertise Authority And Trust (EAT). Most of your content does not handle these factors properly. Though some of you have information to establish trust factor but, you are not properly utilizing it. There are ways to convey expertise and authority for your business / profession and you must use them to the best. Ignore them and your site suffers ranking. Speed. Remember the count down seconds: 3.2.1. Try to load the page within 3 seconds. All small sites must achieve this goal. I found, even, some basic sites with few images take lot of time which is not acceptable. If your site is on a shared server, move them ASAP to dedicated one which is a must for all shopping and professional sites. Some of your shopping sites are really good at loading, I must congratulate. Google is very serious about page speed. Take care. Having said all this, try to improve page load but, do not get obsessed with it. Remember from point #3? "Google favors quality content over speed." Internal links. They are very, very, important both from user and Google standpoint. For users, they help navigate to another page which is very obvious but, I found internal links missing from your websites! No internal links result in high bounce rate. For Google, they help discover and index others pages. So, make sure all pages are contextually connected to each other. Backlinks. Boy, backlinks! Most of your sites have contextually irrelevant and poor quality backlinks. Having spammy links is one thing and having backlinks that try to manipulate rankings is another thing. The difference being you don't desire earlier one. They happen without your intention. But, you explicitly put efforts on later one to build authority. Rather than investing your time, effort and money on thousands of contextually irrelevant and poor quality backlinks (which is not worth) focus on creating high quality backlinks from niche specific and authoritative sources. Few good backlinks are much better than thousands of shoddy backlinks. And, the list goes on. From few of your comments it's clear that you want to impress Google. But, understand that Google will be impressed if you impress your target users. So, focus on users and not just on Google. Google is merely a recommender, impress the king - your users. What I strongly feel is that you are thinking from your perspective only. Give your websites a chance for new eyes to have a look. You are unable to see it but, your websites are screaming for help for optimization. And, they have a very good potential to rank and achieve conversions. I highly recommend you to get your sites audited. Many SEOs are willing to carry out an audit for free here. I too did free audits for many of you and everybody were highly satisfied. This can be corroborated from my posts if you can dig into history from my profile. But, I stopped auditing for free. Nevertheless, this group has many SEOs who are ready to audit for free. Get their recommendations and optimize your websites ASAP. May the G be with your site! submitted by /u/sannidhis [link] [comments] https://www.reddit.com/r/SEO/comments/mh6acz/as_a_service_provider_i_share_my_observations/

[michaelandy101-blog]

What Is Demographic Segmentation, & How Do You Do It?

New Post has been published on http://tiptopreview.com/what-is-demographic-segmentation-how-do-you-do-it/

What Is Demographic Segmentation, & How Do You Do It?

One of many biggest music movies ever made (in accordance with MTV) was launched in 1990, successful Finest Choreography and the hearts of followers and parody-creators alike: “U Can’t Touch This” by MC Hammer. This rap video (and people harem pants) made reverberations which can be felt all through popular culture at present. However why am I speaking about it on HubSpot’s Advertising weblog?

In 2020, Cheetos purchased a Tremendous Bowl advert spot to advertise their model, and so they knew it needed to resonate with as a lot of their goal market as attainable, which was most definitely Gen Xers and older Millennials.

Earlier than you dive additional into this put up, take a gander on the video under:

For those who laughed on the absurd concept that MC Hammer got here up with the lyrics for “U Can’t Touch This” whereas his Cheetos prevented him from touching the keyboard, this business is for you. However in case you have no concept what I am speaking about, then you definately’re not a part of the viewers Cheetos was focusing on with the advert.

Now, if their goal market consisted of younger children or older adults, they most likely would not have gone on this path. Luckily, they’d a robust instrument at their disposal: demographic segmentation.

What’s demographic segmentation?

Demographic segmentation separates your goal market into particular, accessible teams of individuals primarily based on private attributes like geography, age, schooling, occupation, and earnings. By leveraging demographic segmentation, you may create personalised marketing campaigns for every slice of your goal market.

Demographic segmentation also can optimize your sources and time as a result of distributing personalised marketing messages to every slice of your goal market will resonate with extra individuals and result in extra conversions than spraying a generic message to your total goal market.

Why is demographic segmentation vital?

Demographic segmentation permits you to present a extra personalised expertise, full with messaging that higher resonates together with your viewers.

In impact, you are capable of be extra particular with popular culture references and slang to elicit a selected emotion. You may even be higher geared up to craft the subject of your messaging as nicely as a result of the needs, wants, fears, and pains can fluctuate from phase to phase.

It comes all the way down to this concept: 

Once you communicate to everybody, you communicate to nobody. – Meredith Hill

In response to Accenture, “91% of consumers are more likely to shop with brands who recognize, remember, and provide relevant offers and recommendations.” In different phrases, when a prospect sees themselves in your messaging (as a result of it is personalised to them), they’re extra prone to react positively.

This does not simply apply to advertisements. In actual fact, MailChimp discovered that open charges and click on charges soar when utilizing segmentation in e mail marketing.

Nonetheless, it is vital to be extraordinarily intentional about the best way you employ demographic segmentation in your marketing. In spite of everything, you do not wish to:

Make false assumptions a couple of explicit phase

Alienate present or potential clients

Stray too far out of your model voice

Fail to watch traits which can be occurring with different segments

To learn the way most manufacturers phase their goal market, try some examples of demographic segmentation components that can be utilized:

Demographic Segmentation Examples

1. Geography

Geographic segmentation slices up your goal market primarily based on their geographic location. Since individuals have completely different wants and pursuits throughout geographies, like the necessity for chilly climate outerwear in Minnesota or the demand for swimwear in South Florida in the course of the winter, it’s vital to grasp precisely how your goal market’s completely different climates, landscapes, and cityscapes impression their preferences.

2. Age

Age segmentation slices up your goal market by particular age ranges or generations, like Era Z, Millennials, and Child Boomers. The individuals in every of those teams grew up throughout the identical time, encounter comparable experiences at present, and share comparable traits, habits, and opinions, so it’s essential to distribute personalised campaigns catered for every technology.

As an example, focusing on Gen Xers with a nostalgic advert about The Princess Bride may obtain an outpour of reward, however focusing on the identical advert to Gen Zers may not even get a point out on Twitter.

three. Training

Training segmentation slices up your goal market by college, space of examine, and diploma. A whole lot of manufacturers goal by schooling as a result of most individuals have deep emotions of loyalty for his or her alma mater.

In actual fact, BuzzFeed leverages education segmentation to write down articles a couple of particular faculty’s tidbits that solely their alumni would know. And by writing most of these articles about virtually each faculty in the USA, they’ll relate to the bulk of people that went to varsity within the nation.

four. Occupation

Occupation segmentation slices up your goal market by job operate, job seniority, and job title. A whole lot of B2B manufacturers goal their viewers by occupation as a result of they should entice particular varieties of professionals who’ve the authority to make shopping for choices on their staff or at their firm.

5. Earnings

Earnings segmentation slices up your goal market by earnings vary. By understanding how a lot discretionary earnings your potential clients have, you may market to the individuals who can really afford your services or products, set your costs in accordance with their earnings, and design pricing tiers for every slice of your goal market.

Getting Private

These days, generic, spray-and-pray marketing campaigns don’t fly with customers anymore. For those who can’t relate to every phase of your goal market, then you definately may as nicely pause all of your campaigns.

Nonetheless, in the event you can harness the facility of demographic segmentation, you may create personalised marketing campaigns for every slice of your goal market and resonate with them as a lot as MC Hammer did with Cheetos’s goal market.

Editor’s word: This put up was initially printed in March 2019 and has been up to date for comprehensiveness.

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[armeniaitn]

Armenia 3rd President Sargsyan: Did we win or lose in April 2016 war?

New Post has been published on https://armenia.in-the.news/politics/armenia-3rd-president-sargsyan-did-we-win-or-lose-in-april-2016-war-52790-19-08-2020/

Armenia 3rd President Sargsyan: Did we win or lose in April 2016 war?

YEREVAN. – At the beginning of his press conference Wednesday, Armenia’s third President Serzh Sargsyan read his introductory remarks that were made at his meeting with the National Assembly inquiry committee which investigates the circumstances of the hostilities in April 2016. These remarks are as follows: 

Before answering the questions of interest to you, I would like to address the panel with a brief introductory speech. Also, I suggest attaching it to today’s meeting’s minutes.

First of all, I will explain why I decided to accept your invitation, come and answer any question that might be asked in here, although many of my supporters, members of the political team urged me to avail myself of my right to reject the invitation on the grounds that the Commission seemed to have been set up for political considerations, and its members had repeatedly expressed biased and incorrect opinions about the April events.

But I decided to come over, even if their concerns were relevant, since I wanted to look straight in your eyes trying to understand whether there is anyone to question the victory of the Armenian side in the Four-Day April War. Is there anyone who can professionally substantiate that Azerbaijan is on the winning side while it has lost most of its elite units? Can anyone tell me that the Armenian side which stopped a large-scale offensive with numerous examples of unspeakable courage suffered a defeat? Can anyone provide evidence of a war ever waged in the history of mankind where only soldiers fought and won without commanders?

The question may arise as to why I have so far failed to speak out about the April War and downplay the speculations on this topic. To be honest, at first there was no need for it, and then there was no expediency. That is why I proposed to hold a commission hearing with my participation at the end of the state of emergency, so that after the hearings I could have the opportunity to address the issue in the presence of media outlets and disclose all relevant information.

Let me now address some issues that have unfortunately become the subject of speculation.

Before arguing about whether we won or lost by repelling the April aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan, one ought to have a clear idea of what victory is, and what defeat is in a war.

It is obvious that wars are not an end in themselves, they always pursue political goals. War is the “continuation of politics” in other ways. It is a victory for the defending side when it succeeds in aborting the aggressor’s plans with minimal losses. No warfare can be deemed successful for the attacking side if it does not achieve at least part of its political goals.

Before answering the question of whether we won or lost the April War, let me briefly touch on whether we could prevent or avoid the war. Now I can confidently state that it was impossible.

Why? Because Azerbaijan was not ready to accept any compromise acceptable to us: I am convinced that they are not prepared to acknowledge the right of the citizens of Nagorno-Karabakh to determine the status of their country by free will. Thus, there was only one way to avoid war: unilateral concessions, which, of course, was not even discussed as it was unacceptable for us.

As I said, victory comes when one’s political goals are materialized through war. What political goals were pursued by Azerbaijan? Those goals have been formulated in the findings of both domestic and foreign expert studies, in the comprehensive analyses carried out by competent authorities, as well as in the decisions and statements made by the leaders of foreign states, including the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs.

They pursued an ultimate goal of achieving a U-turn in the negotiations. They wanted to prove that the conflict might have a military solution as the negotiations were not in their favor. [Azerbaijan President] Ilham Aliyev demonstrated it best in 2016 during the October, 2007 cabinet meeting of the Government of Azerbaijan, when he acknowledged that behind closed doors the international community had been urging him to recognize Nagorno-Karabakh’s independence.

Second, Azerbaijan was striving to give to oblivion the fact that Artsakh was a party to the conflict as vividly evidenced by the tripartite ceasefire arrangement signed as early as in 1994.

Third, it was extremely important for Azerbaijan to root out the loser’s complex in the minds of its own people and in the army by representing themselves as winners. Instead, they were trying to get the winner’s psychology of our troops changed into the psychology of a loser. I can cite other goals as well, but let us stop on what was said.

Now let us see whether they achieved their goals or not?

First, the failures on the battlefield did not allow Azerbaijan to confront the Armenian side and the international community with “fait accompli” and force us to negotiate their own agenda. In the meantime, there was a breakthrough in the negotiations concerning the agenda that we had been insisting on ever since 2013 with a view to setting up an international mechanism for investigating ceasefire violations.

After the April War, Aliyev had to agree with this reality in Vienna and then in St. Petersburg. By the way, this was a key component in the legacy left by the former Armenian authorities. I will explain it in more detail, if necessary.

Thus, as a result of the April aggression, Azerbaijan suffered huge losses not only in military terms, but also in the diplomatic arena. It came to prove that Azerbaijan was unable to solve the problem through the use of force.

Second, having failed on the battlefield, Azerbaijan was forced to be back to the table of negotiations together with Russia. We were expected to agree to Azerbaijan’s proposal for signing a new ceasefire agreement. But we refused, insisting that the 1994 agreement was still standing as it was signed for an indefinite term. That is, we refused to sign a new ceasefire document, which in fact would push Artsakh out of the peace process as an equal party to the conflict. Later on, we received a clear-cut position on the part of the Co-Chairs, with the official statement spread in the OSCE, which reaffirmed the deadline-free nature of the tripartite ceasefire agreement of 1994.

Third, as I said, Aliyev wanted to raise the fighting spirit of his own people and army through war in order to create some myth of “victory.” They had even mobilized special groups to quickly publicize the expected success. But it did not work out thanks to our soldiers’ bravery.

Going a little further, I should say that I deeply regret to see that some forces have been serving this very goal inside our country over the past few years.

For four years now, myths and absolute lies have been fomented about our soldiers’ being left without food and fighting with shovels. To make things worse, some used to claim that our armored vehicles were filled with water instead of diesel fuel. This is just a shame, even from the point of view of achieving political goals.

After all, was the April War a victory or a defeat for the Armenian side? I have never questioned it, since I am convinced that this is our victory, the victory of all of us.

Did our military-political leadership work effectively? Despite some minor shortcomings, almost all military, political, state and civilian parties did their best during the hostilities. As for the shortfalls and lessons, there is the Top Secret Report drafted by the Armenian Ministry of Defense and the General Staff of the Armed Forces that I suppose is available for commission members’ reference.

Was it possible to reject the armistice and try to restore our initial positions? I think so. But it was very likely that we would have dozens of new victims, new mourning parents, new orphans, and new widows.

Could we reject the ceasefire in order to punish Azerbaijan by expanding the security zone with new territories? Without ruling out the possibility of success, I would say that it would be an adventure fraught with unpredictable consequences, up to the outbreak of a full-scale war, as a consequence of thousands, maybe tens of thousands of victims, destroyed towns and villages.

In view of the above and taking note of the opinions of the Minister of Defense, the Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces, the President of Artsakh and the Commanders of the Defense Army, and in my capacity of Commander-in-Chief, I decided to accept the proposal of ceasefire.

This perhaps a little long introductory speech was meant to foster a substantive discussion of issues arising from the Commission’s goals and mandate. I am prepared to answer your questions for the good of our state and people.

You yourself understand that the Four-Day War is a small part of the millennial history of the Armenian people who are fighting for their dignity, freedom and survival. Please remember that regretfully the war is not yet over.

Read original article here.

[sherylsi99]

DOWNY CAMPAIGN

=#Much More Than Just Comfort is a mock campaign created for Downy.

Client: Procter & Gamble

Product: Downy Fabric Conditioner

Campaign Objective: Reintroduce the product to millennial consumers

Proposition: Fabric conditioner not only makes clothes and linens feeling soft and snuggly, it also boosts personal morale.

The No.1 fabric-conditioner brand in the world and the company is finally seeing an upswing in sales after years of decline. According to Downy maker Procter & Gamble’s head of global fabric care, millennials “don’t even know what the product is for.”

Product Issue 

"Millenials are fine without fabric softener" 

#1  Detergents have gotten better, as have washing machines, resulting in clean clothes that don't feel so stiff or scratchy. Moreover, fabrics have improved and become heartier, able to withstand multiple washings without needing additives.

#2  More young people wear athletic clothes, which comes with warnings not to use softeners because it can impede the fabric's ability to absorb and wick away moisture.

#3  Millennials are far more concerned about chemicals in the products they buy than their parents ever were. There are numerous reports of allergic reactions to fabric softeners, in the form of asthma and rashes. Many of the ingredients are linked to reproductive problems, difficulty breathing, and cancer.

#4  Millennials are not only more health-conscious, but also more budget-aware than previous generations of shoppers. For example, fabric softener can easily be replaced by essential oils that will give clothes a great scent without chemicals

POSTER 1

POSTER 2

POSTER 3

POSTER 4

This a group project. Hence, my role in the production is to design the posters, write for headlines, body copy and do photo shoot for creatives.

CRITS:

1. Abigail Tan

For proposition, good note on boosting personal morale. needs stronger rationale on how scent plays a role in boosting one’s confidence.

For first copy, headline “Feels alright” If you’re trying to appeal to an audience, don’t sell the brand short. It’s not a matter of what “millennial speak” is (as in shortened carefree phrases). But rather how you present the brand to its audiences. They are not going to buy a brand that “feels alright”. Doesn’t align with proposition that seeks to boost morale.The description of the copy is good, evokes a feeling of confidence, like being the only one in the room where all eyes are on you.

For second copy, typo with “stastic” (static). - Don’t quite understand the purpose of the headline. How does this tie back into boosting morale of millennials? If you’re incorporating children in the visuals, you need research done on millennials’ parents and how they approach on selecting household products for their children.

For third copy, the tone of this poster is in 1st person. It’s not consistent with the first 2 posters. Overall copy fine.

For fourth copy, good copy that incorporates job interview. Which is a key point in most millennial’s life. This is the strongest out of the 4, followed by the first poster, third poster and second. Again, needs to be consistent if you want the copy to be referred in 1st person or otherwise.

2. Radhi San

The color tone (brightness & Contrast) are different from all the ads, so, if all of this is a series of ads, it does not link. The color looks dull. It doesn’t show quite the confident feeling and comfort feels. Positioning of the brand name to varied, some on the left and some on the right and in the middle. just make it on one place so it shows continuity on the visual. The visual with the baby, its better shows the baby without the face since all the others u did like that. just shows parts of the baby's body. On the last visual, too many wide space. It looks loose on the visual.

3. Valery Koh

I feel like the campaign should be a little more integrated. The idea is interesting but the posters doesn’t carry the message well, maybe because they don’t have a strong enough visual plus typography combination. 

[sylviaaliceblogs]

MY TOP ALBUMS 2019

Below are my top albums of 2019. Each album was a project that came out during the year and are ranked in no particular order. I have described them and added the general feeling(s) I associate with each and a stand out track from each album. I hope you all enjoy xx

Euphoria (Original Score) -Labrinth 

Labrinth has outdone himself and gave me one of my favorite scores of not only this is year but also of the decade. I can’t sing high enough praises. Plus the show its self is at the pinnacle of good television and truly a must watch.

Feeling: How you feel right before you wake up from a really good dream. 

Stand Out Track: Forever -- “Ooo, ooo, ooooo, woooooooooo” 

The Big Day -Chance the Rapper 

I’ve said it before and I will say it again if you like hip hop but don’t like Chance you just don’t like being happy. For his first official “album” in the traditional sense he confess both his shortcomings and achievements as a lifepartner in a way that could make any noncommittal Millennial want to try the whole boo’ed up thing. Also big up to Chance for bring the skit back to hip hop in 2k19.

Feeling: The summer you first fell in love in high school with that kid from the opposite side of town.  

Stand Out Track: Eternal -- “Side chicks make their Kool-Aid with Splenda”

HOMECOMING: THE LIVE ALBUM -Beyonce 

I was split 50/50 with the Lion King soundtrack but what edged this Beyonce project to top for me this year was just how much work went into the entire performance. If you love a good horn section this album is for you. If you are looking for an incredible live album this album is for you. If you love to hear a nearly 2 hour reimagined in a HBCU band style medley of some of her best songs from the past 10 years this album is for you. If you don’t get already, no matter how you may feel about Beyonce this album is for YOU and anyone else you who loves just real good musicality. 

Feeling: Like you just saw your musical hero front row at one of the biggest music festivals. 

Stand Out Track: Drunk in Love -- “Ride it with my surfboard (Man, I got that swag)”  

IGOR -Tyler, The Creator 

I have to admit I never was a huge Tyler fan. On the other hand my brother is unquestionability the BIGGEST Tyler fan of all time. I listened to an occasional Yonkers here or Deathacmp here, but IGOR was one of those albums that changed how I think about an artist. After some pushing from my brother and a little resistance I listen to IGOR and was pleasantly surprised with a raw and emotional album about loving someone that can only hurt you. I also really liked the number of super talented people with “uncredited” vocals on the album (i.e. Solange, Santigold, Lil Uzi, Charlie Wilson). Lastly I had the pleasure of seeing him perform like 95% of the album in concert 10/10 would recommend. 

Feeling: Kinda like your loosing your innocence about youth, the type of album you listen to in your mom’s car on the drive to tennis practice at a rich country club that your family doesn’t belong to. 

Stand Out Track: A BOY IS A GUN* -- “No, don't shoot me down (Okay)”  

Cuz I Love You -Lizzo 

Lizzo said something along the line of “a decade can change a lot” in a recent tweet regrading how 10 years ago her dad had died and she was living in her car trying to pursue music. It was nice seeing how far she has come in the last couple years as a fan who had been listening to her since 2016 and knowing how much her music had developed in the last couple years. A pop star in 2k19 if we ever saw one. Added bonus Lizzo has the stage presence a lot of acts have lacked in the last couple years. 

Feeling: Loosing a person that you really loved in a platonic way but then coming to a really good resolution and understanding (but you’re also still not friends anymore). 

Stand Out Track: Heaven Help Me -- “If love ain't dead, I'ma kill it 'cause it's killin' me”

Anger Management - Rico Nasty

The angsty edgy punk 15 year old me would have loved this album and let me tell you this still angsty not really edgy wannabe e-girl at 22 loves this album. Rico Nasty is under-appreciated and underrated. Also shout out to Kenny Beats on the production of the album. 

Feeling: You know what today we ARE going to punch racist annoying Karen at Walmart in the chest and pop her low-grade silicon boob implant.  

Stand Out Track: Hatin -- “Kennnnnnnnnnyyyyyy!”

WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? -Billie Eilish

Who knew a 17 year old girl “who dresses like a quarterback" would turn the music world upside down with an album written by her and her brother mostly about her nightmares, not I for one. But nevertheless she did. People have said they don’t like her whisper signing but I think that is the quality that gives the whole album the eerie and spooky vibe and makes it an instant yet unusual classic. 

Feeling: Beat drop --> head bang, but make it vsco girl, make it e-girl, make it fashion.  

Stand Out Track: all the good girls go to hell -- “She will want the Devil on her team”

Horary Mentions: 

7 - Lil Nas X

-- Lil Nas X doesn’t care about what you think of him and “7″ tells us he also doesn’t care to define his music in just one way. Nirvana samples to horses in the back to Chowder references there’s something for everyone.  

Jesus is King/Born - Kanye 

-- I said what I said. If you a Kanye fan and gospel music fan then you’ll like it. Production per usual if fyre and if nothing else we got a Clipse reunion with a saxophone solo from Kenny G which no one saw coming. 

thank u, next - Ariana Grade 

-- had to do it on them, jk I was a little shook that she was one on my top Spotify artist from this year but also I texted a guy “breakup with your girlfriend i’m bored” so it must have resonated

Chixtape 5 - Tory Lanez 

-- I was so glad I waited to post this list because if I had done it when I wanted I would I have missed the brilliance of this album. It defines my whole childhood with a lite trap remix feel. I was transported to ridding the bus in middle school. I appreciate you Tory. Plus you guys already know I love me a great skit. 

[compunctionjunction]

11 facts about me

i was tagged by @1of1prism​ to post 11 facts abt me!!! thank you <3 

(sophie i literally copy and paste ur old posts into my new posts so I’m probably gonna copy some of ur facts whoops) 

1. hi my name is marina ((but that’s in my basic blog description so i’m gonna pull a sophie and give u 2 facts in one thing even though it’s CHEATING)) and I am...... a millennial sjw ...............smh millenials..............,,,,,,,,,,,, 

2. I’m at uni and i study social justice stuff and also geography (migration...immigration.....urban planning....) and I’m pretty good at writing essays but i procrastinate like nobody’s business lol (yikes!!!) and i like to read (which i guess is good cause i probably have 200 pages a week!! not including when i have to read (a) whole book(s) ie english!)

3. I’m not like a masterchef but I can do a recipe i’ve never done before and generally have it turn out pretty good which is apparently impressive to some? i like baking with friends as a fun thing to do but I’m also really controlling in the kitchen so it’s probably not that fun after all LOL

4. I’m allergic to almost everything lol. including:

dogs, cats, any furry animal that exists

birds and feathers

dust, mould, etc

trees and grass, 

some random medicine i dont know the name of (i didnt know this until like last year cause i went to emerg but ya thats a thing it apparently gives me a rash)

5. i’m an anxious bean but like under really like......inconsistent (?) circumstances? or more like uh....non-.......whats the word like when it doesn’t match what your brain thinks something it would be (WHATEVER) anyway like yesterday I almost cried cause i didn’t understand a card game but one time when i was a kid my little bro had a seizure and my parents had to rush him to the hospital and we had to call my grandma to come over, and like my sister was all !!!!!!??? boo hoo hoo and i was all like “gimme the phone i’ll do it”. like sometimes i keep a very cool head in situations you wouldn’t think i would and sometimes im a mess in a situation u’d think i wouldn’t be u know what i’m trying to say

6. I really like music but i’m not like that Musical Person friend. Like I listen to a lot of music of a bunch of different genres and time periods and in elementary/high school I played the trumpet (i also did piano and euphonium but like if u gave me one of those now I wouldn’t be able to do much with it whereas if u gave me a trumpet.....man). I really like acoustic songs, and songs with violins and saxophones in it, HARMONIES, songs where people’s voices go really “raw” sounding, songs where people’s voices have that like “radio voice” filter, songs that start off kinda soft and then BUILD!!!!!, and songs that have a bunch of different parts all doing their own thing but then they all come together for this multilayered goodness!!!!!. If anyone other than John or Sophie is reading this (bless your soul if so) and if u have song recs for me, like, lay them on me i always need new music

7. I don’t get a lot of mainstream references but I have a weird um...pool of reference material that I can pull from?? like i’m not like That Guy who’s like rly obnoxious always talking abt those obscure movies but my parents are both like from drama stuff and like movies/shows and are also huge nerds so i’ve seen like a wide array of genre-d stuff. plus i took a film course so i’m basically an expert. did you know that plot and story are two different things? Story is whe---

8. My family’s kinda complicated. (wow i sound like an emo blog in 2006 but i just didnt want to start another long rambley sentence so here we are) My mom’s side is italian and my dad’s side is british so my italian relatives weren’t too happy abt that (i just learned this the other day but apparently at their wedding my moms uncle [who’s a dick] was saying something inappropriate to my dad, who was like “uhhhh...” and then her other uncle was like ‘ay! tony! leave the asshole alone!’ LOL) and then the british side is full of drama and alcoholics lol. and then the communication in my like... regular fam is a bit bad lol ((also i have like......30+ cousins, (20ish regular and a shit ton distant but less that i actually know) and yet we keep in contact with each other so what a weird ironic twist that is eh))

9. I can like kind of swim but I also like can’t swim cause I don’t float even though everyones like “ya u do!! people float” i just sink down lol. tho i’m kind of practicing a bit every summer at my friend’s house. i also like to pretend that it’s because of childhood trauma cause i had swimming lessons on two (2) different occasions  and they were both awful

when i was like 6 , and i refused to put my face in the water so my instructor was like “Right!” and shoved my head under lol!

when i was like 10 and i was embarrassed enough being like an older kid learning like... level 1 swimming right before these like 5 year olds who were doing the same thing (also in retrospect my instructors were only like 16 im pretty sure, like they seemed rly old to 10 year old me but they were really young lol) and the same thing happened as the other one except with diving lol. like i didn’t want to jump off the deep end and sometimes i would do it myself but at least once this girl pushed me in (basically every time either way they had to pull me up from the bottom which was kinda useless like if ur gonna teach me to dive whats the point if u dont teach me to come up from a dive right?? right)

10. I’m kinda quiet and shy but when I have the chance and am comfortable i go on HUGE rants and also go off on like 12 different tangents while trying to tell a story. like you could probably figure out this about me by reading this post but i just wanna let you know this isn’t a one-off thing just because it’s a Fact Post like i do this in real life and the way i talk is probably just as broken up and confusing as how i type!!! ahhaah

11. I used to be a hater but now I’m like actively trying to not be a hater cause hating on stuff for no reason is boring and liking stuff is fun (tho it’s harder in person cause i’m really sarcastic and pessimistic and i literally can’t stop complaining about things). Some things I stopped hating on recently:

Aesthetic things that are like “basic”/”simple” (i have an aesthetic blog now! who knew!) like pictures of like......curtains?? i used to be like “wow thats dumb” but man textures and also the weird mood that’s connected with your aesthetic it’s so calming

K-pop LOL :) 

Honestly?? memes. 

Boys apparently??? I dunno how true that is but @1of1prism​ knows me better than I know myself most of the time (but i still dont give 2 shits abt boys)

fanning over stuff in general tbh like.... enjoy things

people in a judgemental sense (im working on it....)

Intrigued by this post? Interested in my life? Check out my /tagged/about! Follow me on tumblr for more quality content! 

(Jesus i’m done this legitimately took an hour)

i tag @purewhiteflames​ as well and i also tag @nuliflyer​ just to ruin ur “i’ve only been tagged once” so ha ha